During Black History Month, The Portland Trail Blazers are hosting the first-ever Albina Rose Alliance game on February 6 when the team takes on the Sacramento Kings. The night will highlight the partnership between the team and local nonprofit Albina Vision Trust to accelerate restorative development in the Lower Albina neighborhood– the Albina Rose Alliance.
Since the 1970s, there has been a deep-rooted connection between the Trail Blazers and the Albina community. Throughout the night fans will see and hear from important members of the Albina and Trail Blazers community through in-game content and special recognition moments. The night will tip off with a National Anthem performance from local artist Zyah Belle, known for creating community spaces in Portland nightlife through music, before Albina Vision Trust Executive Director Winta Yohannes starts the Game Ball Delivery from the top of the arena. At the close of halftime, there will be a special moment of recognition for Albina Vision Trust and all the amazing work they have done for the Albina and wider Portland community.
The Albina Rose Alliance game will also represent the resurgence of the Soul Bus, a historical fixture of Albina’s vibrant Black community and the brainchild of legendary Blazers fan Paul Knauls. As an original season ticket holder and owner of multiple businesses in the neighborhood, Mr. Knauls decided to purchase a bus - Geneva's Soul Train - and drive around the neighborhood picking folks up on the way to watch his Blazers play. When the Blazers won the 1977 NBA Championship, the man otherwise known as the Mayor of Northeast Portland threw a ticker tape parade down Williams Avenue, ending at Geneva's Restaurant and Lounge - one of Mr. Knauls' most-remembered businesses. On February 6, Mr. Knauls will once again be boarding the Soul Bus to gather close friends and community leaders in celebration of Portland’s most beloved sports franchise.
Local Black-owned film production company North East Production, led by Northeast Portland native and current Albina resident Devin Boss, has produced a pair of videos kicking off the Alliance’s storytelling series which will play in-arena and on the night’s game broadcast. Each video highlights a prominent member of the community with direct ties to the Albina community, showcasing how Albina and the Trail Blazers have shaped them as individuals and impacted our wider community.
Once the anchor point for Portland’s vibrant Black community, the Albina neighborhood was destroyed by urban renewal projects, beginning in the 1950s. The Albina Rose Alliance is a first of its kind blueprint for civic participation and restorative development – one centered around the lives of children, the economic and generational well-being of our most marginalized neighbors, and the city that we love. The Alliance draws on the strengths of Moda Center as the state’s largest gathering place, and the Rose Quarter campus to bring diverse people together in community, celebration and hometown pride. The Alliance’s focus is straightforward: to restore Albina as the economic, residential and cultural heart of Portland’s central city. Sustained reinvestment in Lower Albina, including Moda Center and the Rose Quarter that now call the district home, can serve as a national model and the centerpiece for revitalizing the district and central city into a vibrant, transformational space.
The work of the Albina Rose Alliance is unfolding across four areas of strategic alignment between the Trail Blazers and Albina Vision Trust – development strategies, storytelling, legislative and advocacy strategies, and celebrations of community through events like the Albina Rose Alliance Game Night, restaurant takeovers, and other community gatherings.
Source: Portland Trail Blazers