Please join us on Monday, March 6 from 6:30-8:30 to explore environmental justice with our guest speaker Dr. Melissa Haeffner.  Register!  — RtR planning team

Actions, Events and Resources - March 2023

February 24th - March 5th Black Restaurant Week:  Discover Black-owned restaurants, food trucks, sweets and more!  

https://blackrestaurantweeks.com/northwest-black-restaurant-week/

Sat Mar 4 & Sat Mar 18 10am-noon Oswego Lake Watershed Council 

Volunteer opportunities at Lake Grove Elementary and Westlake HOA

Mon Mar 6, 5-5:30pm online 

Storytime with Katharine Phelps: Respond to Racism and the Youth Empowerment Committee proudly host monthly story time for K-5 elementary-aged children — and older!   Featuring narratives from a multitude of experiences, voices, and cultures.  Reserve a spot!

Mon Mar 6, 6:30-8:30pm online

RtR Community Meeting:  Join us as Dr. Melissa Haeffner speaks about issues of fairness and equality in the ways different social groups gain access to natural resources.  Register!

Tue Mar 7 & 21 4pm (new time!), LO City Hall 

LO City Council Meetings:  The agenda of each meeting is posted in advance and includes time for citizen comment.  Meeting agenda & materials.  More information: (503) 534-4225; cityrecorder@lakeoswego.city

Mar 7 4:30-5:45 via Zoom Oregon Education Association/OJMCHE

Ethnic Studies Panel Conversation  Join educators from across the state at a special Ethnic Studies Panel Conversation featuring experts from three of our community partners. In this session, we’ll be hearing about the historical and present-day experiences of Black, Japanese, and Jewish Oregonians. 

Weds Mar 8, Lake Oswego Sustainability Network, online

From Policy to Action: A Conversation About Climate Change  Join us for questions and answers from leading NW climate advocates Gregg Small and Meredith Connolly from Climate Solutions.  Get straightforward information on what you can do to reduce your climate impact.

Sat Mar 11 9am-noon, various locations

Tryon Creek Watershed Council 14th Annual Watershed Wide Event Sign up to Volunteer 

Sat Mar 11 1-4pm Portland Community College

Let's Talk About Health and Wellness!  Join hosts Iyesha Rosser and the Coalition of Communities of Color for an afternoon of open and honest conversations about how to create more inclusive health care systems in Clackamas County. 

Mon Mar 13 Native American Arts and Cultures Foundation

Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Applications due for LIFT (early career artists) and SHIFT (transformative change and indigenous arts) programs.

Sun Mar 19, 3pm Circle at 1st & Evergreen in LO

Silent walk:  Co-hosted by Respond to Racism & LO for LOve.  Quietly walk in support of our BIPOC community, thinking of equality, love, belonging and healing.  

Weds Mar 22

World Water Day 2023 is about accelerating change to solve the water and sanitation crisis.

Thu Mar 23 7pm at Mary’s Woods 17520 Mesnard Street

Women’s BIPOC Speaker Series:  Please join us as we hear from Tracey Lam, APR. She is the director of programs and communications at Partners in Diversity, a nonprofit organization that works with employers to enhance diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.  Live streaming will also be available courtesy of the West Linn Public Library: https://bit.ly/wlpl-youtube

Tue Mar 28 7-8:30pm Oregon Historical Society - in person and online

Mae Ngai:  The Chinese Question: The Gold Rushes and Global Politics

By end of March CCEC quarterly meeting

Clackamas County Equity Coalition:  At the next quarterly meeting, Thu April 13 4:30-6pm, the meeting topic will be supporting equity-focused candidates.  If you have recently been a candidate (or know someone) who centered the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion as your platform during a recent election, we would love to have you serve as part of a panel. Please email clackcoequityco@gmail.com

EXHIBITS & THEATERS

Through Mar 4, 2023 hybrid virtual/in-person Portland Community College

33rd Cascade Festival of African Films The Cascade Festival of African Films shows us Africa through the eyes of Africans, rather than a vision of Africa packaged for Western viewers. The films celebrate Africa’s achievements, expose its failures, and reveal possibilities for a hopeful future. 

Feb 8 - Mar 26 Portland Playhouse

What I Learned in Paris by Pearl Cleage - A tangled web of romantic intrigue, set against the backdrop of a historic campaign win for Maynard Jackson, who has just been elected Atlanta’s first first African American mayor. BIPOC performances:  Wed Feb 15 7.30pm;  Sun Feb 26, 2pm;  Fri Mar 3 7.30pm

Feb 11 - Mar 26 Portland Center Stage

Young Americans by Lauren Yee - This intimate, music-led comedy veers back and forth in time, offering a fresh look at a U.S. road trip through the lens of the immigrant experience.  BIPOC affinity night Fri Mar 17 at 7:30.

Feb 25 - Mar 26 Portland Center Stage

Where We Belong by Madeline Sayet - An Indigenous theater-maker journeys across geographic borders, personal history, and cultural legacies in search of a place to belong.

Sun Mar 26 7:30 Portland5

The Black Violin Experience Tour showcases the two-time Grammy- nominated duo Black Violin, brought to life by Kev Marcus and Wil Baptiste, invoking a mystifying musical fusion of exquisite classical sounds and exhilarating hip-hop beats. A concert performance that boldly merges centuries of music and unites audiences with a message of hope and possibility. 

Current exhibits Portland Art Museum

Multiple exhibits feature the works of Oscar Howe, Jeffrey Gibson, Isaka Shamsud-Din, and more!  

Upcoming events at the Oregon Historical Society

Through July 23, 2023 Pittock Mansion

This IS Kalapuyan Land at Pittock Mansion is an exhibition of contemporary Indigenous artworks alongside a selection of historical panels curated by Steph Littlebird (Grand Ronde, Kalapuya, Chinook)

RESOURCES

The Oregon Water Futures Project is a collaboration between water and environmental justice interests, Indigenous peoples, communities of color, low-income communities, and academic institutions.  Through a water justice lens, we aim to impact how the future of water in Oregon is imagined through storytelling, capacity building, relationship building, policymaking, and community-centered advocacy at the state and local level.

Right to Be  Five different methods to support someone who’s being harassed.  

Unite Against Book Bans is a national initiative to empower readers everywhere to stand together in the fight against censorship.

Banned Books Book Club:  A monthly book club, library and fund dedicated to reading and protecting the most important books for our generation.  Currently reading:  Kindred by Octavia Butler

The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition was created to lead the pursuit of understanding and addressing the ongoing trauma created by the U.S. Indian Boarding School policy of 1869.  Bookmark this site to follow and support passage of legislation to establish a Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the US (HR 5444, S 2907) 

Suicide & Crisis Lifeline:  988  If you’re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, the Lifeline network is available 24/7 across the United States.  

Sanctuary Promise Hotline: 1-844-0924-STAY [1-844-924-7829],

1-844-6-AMPARO [1-844-626-7276]

The system is designed to help Oregon DOJ investigate suspected violations to Oregon’s Sanctuary Promise Act and provide support where possible.  Advocates on the hotline are multilingual and identify as members of supported communities.  Interpretation services are available in 240+ languages.

Bias Response Hotline: 1-844-924-BIAS [1-844-924-2427],

Oregon Relay 711 

The Oregon DOJ Bias Response Hotline is a non-emergency reporting and referral service designed to support bias victims.  Any victim or witness of any age can report a bias incident or hate crime online or by phone.  If you believe a crime has occurred and want it investigated, contact your local law enforcement agency.  For emergency assistance, dial 911.

Stop AAPI Hate: The reporting center tracks and responds to incidents of hate, violence, harassment, discrimination, shunning, and child bullying against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States.

Racial Equity Support Line (503) 575-3764 is a service led and staffed by people with lived experience of racism. They offer support to those who are feeling the emotional impact of racist violence and micro-aggressions, as well as the emotional impact of immigration struggles and other cross-cultural issues.