RtR Community,

Today, our Joy for Juneteenth campaign celebrates the life of beloved Lake Oswego community member and Respond to Racism volunteer, Bruce R. Poinsette who died one year ago today, May 8, 2024 at age 77. Throughout his life, at home and in his career, Bruce R. worked for community education, mentorship, storytelling, and social change. 

Bruce R. was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and was inspired by growing up in the Jim Crow South with a family deeply rooted in the Civil Rights Movement. He lived in Eugene and Portland before settling in Lake Oswego with his life partner, Willie B. Davis Poinsette, and their son, Bruce. 

In his career, Bruce R. worked with Associated General Contractors, Liberty Northwest, and GEW as a safety and loss control consultant, and an educator at Portland Community College, and as Chapter President of the Columbia-Willamette Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers. Outside of work, Bruce R. also invested in his local community, serving as a multi-decade member of the Southeast Portland Rotary Club, an active member of Ainsworth United Church of Christ, and a Clackamas County Precinct Committee Person.

Throughout his life, Bruce R. educated those around him about politics and history as well as pushed for representation in spaces that have historically excluded Black and other marginalized groups throughout Oregon. His very death, due to complications from a low risk heart procedure, made him a pernicious statistic of the disproportionate negative impacts the healthcare system has on Black communities. 

We are working toward a goal of $25,000 by June 19 to keep the critical work of Respond to Racism going. When it comes to investment, Black and people of color-led organizations receive only around 4% of total grants and contributions from private and corporate gifts, and about 1% from community foundations. Like most Black-led organizations, Respond to Racism operates on a budget below $200,000 and your contribution will go to much-needed general operating funds that support our volunteers, youth programs, consultants, and paid staff, which includes Bruce R. and Willie’s son acting during this difficult year as executive director. In remembrance, we ask you to honor Bruce R. Poinsette’s legacy of investing in local communities by making your own contribution to our Joy for Juneteenth campaign. 

We will continue to update you through this month and into June on our progress.

P.S. We understand money is uncertain right now, so know there are many ways to give. Consider giving of your time and talents for one of Respond to Racism’s ongoing committee opportunities; find more information and sign up here.  

P.P.S. Send this email to a friend who is not on the Respond to Racism mailing list yet and encourage them to join in the joy of building community safety and co-creating social change in Lake Oswego and all of Oregon.

In solidarity, 

Troy

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