Past events

Thursday, June 16th, 7:00 PM (PST), free online event

A change of plans! ... Greetings to our wonderful Take PART community! We were very much looking forward to Michelle Lewis's talk on healing the trauma of systemic racism. Due to a family emergency, Ms Lewis is unavailable next week.

We invite you to join us instead for a watch party. We will view a 2021 conversation between Senator Elizabeth Warren and author Heather McGhee, who wrote the groundbreaking book, "The Sum of Us." This talk covers concepts from the book, which explores how white supremacy deprives all Americans of quality of life, including public services, social safety nets, education, health, and fair labor practices. McGhee's work details how appeals to racist beliefs undermine efforts to improve life for all of us. The video will be followed by a moderated group discussion. We hope you can join us!

Thursday, April 21st: "Racial Justice and Public Lands"

Join Take PART for a presentation by Dr. Sarah D. Wald on Thursday, April 21st at 7:00 pm. Dr.
Wald, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and English at the University of Oregon,
will give a talk on some of the ways that racial injustice, white supremacy and settler colonialism
structure public lands creation, management and use. She will also highlight contemporary
efforts to create an environmentally just future for public lands.

Dr. Wald’s work engages the intersections of race and environment in twentieth and twenty-first century U.S. literature and culture. She is co-editor of Latinx Environmentalisms: Place, Justice, and the Decolonial (Temple UP, 2019) and the author of The Nature of California: Race, Citizenship, and Farming since the Dustbowl (U Washington P, 2016). She is currently writing a book about racial justice, outdoor recreation, and public lands.

Thursday, March 17: "The 1910 St. Johns Riot"

What does the 1910 anti-Indian race riot in the Portland area town of St Johns have to do with the fight to free India from British colonial rule? This panel presentation will explore the history of the undivided “Indian” community in Oregon, the anti-Indian sentiment that exploded in a race riot, and how it spurred a radical “Indian” community movement in Oregon that contributed to the fall of the British Raj. Join us for a fascinating exploration of this little-known Oregon history!

Note: the terms “India” and “Indian” refer to an undivided India (prior to 1947), which is geographically and culturally very different from the modern concept of India as it does not include regions that today fall into the new nations of Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Johanna (Jo) Ogden is an independent Oregon historian and activist. In 2013 she initiated Astoria’s Ghadar Party Centenary Commemoration and installation of its commemorative plaque. In March 2020 she, along with Navneet, Pashaura and many other activists, planned a commemoration of the St. Johns riot that was unfortunately derailed by Covid. She has spoken across the west coast and in India. Her Oregon Historical Quarterly articles - “Ghadar, Historical Silences & Notions of Belonging” and “White Right and Labor Organizing in Oregon’s “Hindu City” won awards and she is currently completing a book on this research.

Pashaura Singh Dhillon is an 82-year-old Punjabi poet, singer, and activist based in the Central Valley California. Raised in the household of Ghadar Party President Sohan Singh Bhakna back in Punjab, India, he is now a retired Landscape Architect trained by the Landscape Institute London. Despite living and working halfway around the world, he is a poet at heart writing and singing in Punjabi about a variety of social issues, ranging from human rights, gender equality to the environment and Sikh philosophy. His latest collection of poetry, Diva Bale Sumundaron Paar (The Lamp Still Burns Across the Sea), and album, “Awaaz te Parvaaz” is available from his website.

Navneet Kaur, born in Punjab, is a multilingual college educator and community activist in Salem. She translated for and organized support for immigrants unlawfully detailed in the Sheridan Federal Prison, has been active in BLM, worked on inclusive curriculum for Oregon secondary schools, along with other equity projects and movements.

Thursday, February 17, 2022: "Anti-Racism by Intention"

Join Take PART for a presentation by Pastor Cliff Chappell on Thursday, February 17th, at 7:00 pm. Pastor Chappell will shed light on “the dark side of racism,” and he will address how each of us can become Intentionally Anti Racist, with the goal of deconstructing and eliminating the structures of racism which are embedded in our society. Pastor Chappell has been in ministry for more than 40 years, currently serving as Senior Pastor at the St. Johns All

Nations Church of God in Christ in Portland, Oregon. He has dedicated his life to being a community activist, working to promote strong family values. In addition to a Master of Divinity degree, Pastor Chappell is completing a Doctor of Ministry in Cross-Cultural Engagement. Pastor Chappell is also the founder and director of Man-Up, a community outreach program that addresses domestic, sexual and gang violence by healing the “Soul Trauma” in men and women. For his activist work with the Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Pastor Cliff received their distinguished Midori Hamilton Award for Leadership in May, 2018. He is the only man and only pastor to receive this award in their 40+ year history. Pastor Chappell has been married to his wife Diana for more than 46 years.

Thursday, January 20, 2022: "Japanese American Incarceration: My Mother's Experience"

Please join Take PART on Thursday, January 20, 2022 at 7pm for a free online event, at which Toby Asai Loftus will present a talk about the incarceration of thousands of Japanese Americans, including his mother’s family, during World War II. Toby’s talk will cover the arrival of his grandparents in the United States; the anti-Asian laws and racism prior to WWII; Executive Order 9066, which mandated the incarceration of Japanese Americans; his uncles’ service in the U.S. armed forces; and the racism his family faced upon their return home.

Toby’s mother, Mitsuko (Mitzi) Asai, was a fourth grader in Hood River when she and her family were forced to leave their home and sent to guarded “relocation centers,” first in Tule Lake, CA and later in Heart Mountain, WY. The Asais, like more than 120,000 other Japanese people, were rounded up and incarcerated in the barbed wire-enclosed camps during World War II without charge, due process, or conviction for any crime. Their only “crime” was being of Japanese heritage.

Toby Asai Loftus has assisted his mother with many talks on this subject and has accompanied her on pilgrimages to the Tule Lake and Heart Mountain relocation centers.

Mitzi Asai Loftus received a BA from the University of Oregon in 1954, and taught at Creswell High School. She received a Fulbright teacher’s grant to teach English as a foreign language in Shizuoka, Japan. Mitzi is the author of Made in Japan and Settled in Oregon, a memoir of her family's history that includes their experiences during World War II. Mitzi spent 47 years as an educator and raised three sons.

Thursday, November 18, 2021: “Raising Up Socially Conscious, Anti-Racist Communities for Our Children and the Generations to Come”

Join Take PART (Portland Anti-Racism Team) on Thursday, November 18th, 2021 at 7pm, for a presentation by Katharine Phelps on “Raising Up Socially Conscious, Anti-Racist Communities for Our Children and the Generations to Come.” This event is free and online.

Katharine Phelps is a world citizen, educator, and parent currently living in Lake Oswego, Oregon. She has lived and worked in Swaziland, China, Israel, and the US. Katharine has a master’s degree in education from New York University, and has held teaching positions in New York, Washington, and Oregon.

Click here for related resources

Thursday, October 21, 2021, 7:00 PM (PST), online event Watch Party: "So You Want to Talk About Race"

Please join Take PART on Thursday, October 21, for an Ijeoma Oluo watch party. Ms Oluo is the renowned author of “So You Want to Talk About Race,” and more recently, “Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America.” We will be watching a talk she gave in 2018 covering some of the material from “So You Want to Talk About Race.” Please stay with us after the video for group discussion. To learn more about Ms Oluo, you can visit her website https://www.ijeomaoluo.com/.

“[Race] is a difficult subject to talk about. How do you tell your roommate her jokes are racist? Why did your sister-in-law take umbrage when you asked to touch her hair — and how do you make it right? How do you explain white privilege to your white, privileged friend?

In So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from intersectionality and affirmative action to “model minorities” in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race and racism, and how they infect almost every aspect of American life.” - ijeomaoluo.com

Thursday, September 16, 2021: "Life and Death at the Forest Grove Indian School"

Join Take PART on Thursday, September 16, 2021, at 7pm, for a presentation by Ms Eva Guggemos on the history of Oregon’s Forest Grove Indian School. This event is free and online.

The discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves of Indigenous children on the grounds of residential schools in Canada has shocked and saddened people across the globe. What is less well known is that similar

schools once functioned across the United States. These institutions were designed to break students' ties to Native cultures, languages and beliefs. One of the first residential schools in the nation was the Forest Grove Indian School. This talk will discuss how and why the Forest Grove Indian School was founded; what daily life was like for its students; work that is being done to document deaths and burials at the school; and how we can confront the residential school system's legacy of trauma.

Eva Guggemos is the Archivist and an Associate Professor at Pacific University in Oregon. She has an M.A. in History from Yale University, a Master of Library Science from Simmons University, and a B.A. from the University of Kansas. At Pacific, she has led a project to digitize all the university's records related to the Forest Grove Indian School, which later became Chemawa Indian School in Salem. Her current project is a book on the Forest Grove Indian School.

Resources on this topic

August 2021 Self Study: White Privilege

Welcome to the Take PART monthly self study program. This month we dig into the “invisible knapsack” of white privilege described and explored in the essay by Peggy McIntosh who is an associate director at Wellesley College.

She describes how white privilege is a collection of advantage and dominance one race is issued at birth (and even before) that is carried through life unknowingly. Although invisible and weightless to those who carry it, the burden is heavy and obvious as it impacts people of color. As the writer delves into the

advantages that white privilege draws upon every day she brings to light both negative examples of advantage, and positive ways to use that privilege to spread those advantages to the whole of the human family.

We hope that in unpacking this knapsack of white privilege we will find tools we can use to make ourselves more aware, and to combat systemic racism in our daily efforts.

http://convention.myacpa.org/houston2018/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/UnpackingTheKnapsack.pdf

Some questions we can ask ourselves:

How many of the daily effects were you aware of? What were some of those effects that you hadn’t realized?
In what ways can we use white privilege to combat racism and achieve racial equity?
What examples of active/embedded forms of white privilege have you seen or experienced?

Now that you have read Peggy McIntosh’s essay “Unpacking the Knapsack of White Privilege”, check out these links for different perspectives on her essay and the concept of white privilege:

Jon Greenburg, writing for Yes Magazine addresses white privilege as the ability to be perceived as the standard of “normal”.

https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2017/07/24/10-examples-that-prove-white-privilege-exists-in-every-aspect-imaginable

“What is White Privilege” by Cory Collins explains how white privilege is a product of systemic racism that defines “whiteness” as the standard of normal and relegates people of color to the status of “other”.

https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/fall-2018/what-is-white-privilege-really

Tim Wise's Exploration of Privilege and the Development of Legal Doctrine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_YyxYG5qZM

And finally, Joy DeGruy’s short video on how we can use what Peggy McIntosh described as positive use of advantage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf9QBnPK6Yg

July 2021 Self Study: Critical race theory

Critical race theory has been under attack in multiple states and school systems, with multiple laws and regulations passed banning its teaching. Like many concepts, critical race theory is broad and rich, but can be comprehended in shorter explanations. We offer three resources you may peruse, in short, medium, and long versions.

A short video by noted anti-racism author and activist Ijeoma Oluo in which she introduces critical race theory and gives her response to those who would suppress it:

https://www.facebook.com/ijeoma.oluo/posts/10157870128687676

A medium length article from Vox by Fabiola Cineas with more details about critical race theory and the current attacks on it:

https://www.vox.com/22443822/critical-race-theory-controversy

Want to go all in? Read Richard Rothstein's book "The Color of Law":

https://www.epi.org/publication/the-color-of-law-a-forgotten-history-of-how-our-government-segregated-america/

Thursday, May 20th, 2021: Watch Party

Take PART warmly invites you to a “Watch Party” of a pre-recorded video featuring Isabel Wilkerson, author of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, in conversation with Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation. This free Watch Party will take place on Thursday, May 20th, at 7:00 pm. The video will be followed by a group discussion.

Isabel Wilkerson’s book argues that racial stratification in the United States is best understood as a caste system, akin to those in India and in Nazi Germany.

“The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality,” Wilkerson writes. “It is about power – which groups have it and which do not. It’s an invisible mechanism that keeps people in a fixed place.”

Isabel Wilkerson studied journalism at Howard University, becoming editor-in-chief of the college newspaper The Hilltop. She went on to intern at the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post, and became the Chicago Bureau Chief of The New York Times. She also taught at Emory, Princeton, Northwestern, and Boston Universities. She was the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in journalism.

Thursday, April 15th, 2021: "Art as Activism: an Evening with Arya Badiyan"

Join Take PART on Thursday, April 15th, at 7:00 pm, for a presentation by artist and activist Ms. Arya Badiyan. Ms. Badiyan is a multi-disciplinary conceptual artist. Her most recent body of work explores American values, in light of a 400 year history that fails to uphold them.

“The purpose of this work is to facilitate healing from the diseases of racism, sexism and American exceptionalism,”

notes Ms. Badiyan. “Each piece cuts through oppositional consensus narratives, laying bare the truth and inviting reconciliation of the wrongs that stain our country’s past and present.”

Ms. Badiyan’s body of work includes the “Liberty” series, dealing with themes of systemic racism and the long legacy of America built upon the sacrifice of Black lives; “Heroes and Sheroes,” recasting the greatness of America through the inheritance of our forgotten ancestors; and “Taped,” documenting the history that stains our cherished values.

A recording of the event is available at https://youtu.be/4LFUpoCS6Iw

Thursday, March 18th, 2021, 7pm (PST), online event

"Dr. Carter G Woodson and the Formation of African American History"

Join Take PART on Thursday, March 18th at 7:00 pm, for a presentation by Ms. Ebonee Bell on the life and work of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, known as “the Father of Black History.” Ms. Bell will discuss Woodson’s philosophy, educational achievements, personality, and sacrifices.

Dr. Woodson (1875-1950) was one of the first scholars to study the African diaspora, including African American history. He authored numerous scholarly books on the positive contributions of Blacks to the development of America. In 1926, Dr. Woodson developed “Negro History Week,” the precursor to Black History Month.

Ms. Bell received her Masters degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has been an Amazon Diversity series speaker, a Multnomah County Black History Month speaker, and a speaker at the Tualatin Martin Luther King Day celebration. Noting that “books have the power to change lives,” Ms. Bell has dedicated her career to advancing the education of children and youth through the various literacy initiatives she promotes locally and nationally.

A recording of the event is available at https://youtu.be/gjqAglKuMmI

Thursday, February 18, 2021, 7pm (PST), online event

"The Portland NAACP: Past, Present, Future"

Ms. Sharon Gary-Smith, newly elected President of the Portland NAACP, will be the featured speaker at the next Take PART event, Thursday, February 18, 2021, at 7pm.

A nationally recognized champion of social justice with more than 40 years’ experience, Ms. Gary-Smith is excited about leading the new slate of officers and executive committee members in creating an

environment of accountability, transparency and integrity within the Portland branch.

“We are mirroring the national landscape where Black women are rising, shining and elevating the work of racial and social justice from state houses, to the Capitol steps, in Congress and the Oval Office,” she notes.

Ms. Gary-Smith’s talk will highlight the history of the Portland NAACP, the oldest branch west of the Mississippi, from its original fight for the “advancement of colored people,” through the civil rights movement, up to today’s Movement 4 Black Lives.

Born and raised in Oregon, Sharon Gary-Smith became a human rights activist at an early age. At 30, Sharon was selected to lead the local anti-poverty program, Portland Metropolitan Steering Committee, (PMSC), becoming one of the youngest executive directors in the country and one of few Black women leaders. Sharon’s vast list of accomplishments and community awards culminated in 2017, when she received the Emily G. Gottfried Lifetime Achievement Award from the City of Portland Human Rights Commission. On March 11, 2020, Sharon was honored by Governor Kate Brown as an Outstanding Oregon Woman of Achievement, selected by the Oregon Women’s Commission.

A recording of the event is available at https://youtu.be/nDiAe7HaW_s

Thursday, January 21, 2021, 7:00 PM (PST), online event

"Using Conversations to Heal the Racial Divide"

Join Take PART for a free online presentation by noted author and educator, Judi Moore Latta, PhD, on Thursday, January 21st, 7:00 PM. The presentation will be moderated by Ms. Victoria Morgan, followed by an interactive discussion.

Tell your own story and learn how to actively listen to others.
Engage in conversations that heal the racial divide.
Confront history head on and reclaim it on your own terms.
Use the concept of “story-hope,” designed to address racism, one of the most challenging issues of the 21st Century.

Judi Moore Latta is professor emerita of Communications at Howard University in Washington, DC. She was National Public Radio’s first Education Reporter, as well as the creator and executive producer of NPR’s first Hispanic news program, Latin File. While at NPR, Dr. Moore Latta earned the George Foster Peabody Award as senior producer of the 26-part documentary series, Wade in the Water: African American Sacred Music Traditions.

Her two books are: God Ain’t Sleep: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (2015) and Beyond Roses - An Obligation to Speak (2020). Her newest book, Really Dancing Beyond Dreams - The Collective Memory of a Black Love Story, is anticipated to be published in 2021.

A recording of the event is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCIx2Ahuh_I

Thursday, November 19, 2020, 7pm to 8:30pm PST, online event

"Breaking Chains: Slavery on Trial in the Oregon Territory"

R. Gregory Nokes, author of Breaking Chains: Slavery on Trial in the Oregon Territory, will be the featured speaker at the next Take PART (Portland Anti-Racism Team) presentation on Thursday, November 19th, at 7:00 pm. The presentation will be moderated by Mr. Malik Bell, followed by an interactive discussion.

Mr. Nokes’ book details the vehemently debated issue over whether the fledgling state of Oregon would allow slavery when its constitution was written. Few people are aware that there were ever Black slaves in Oregon. Nokes tells the poignant and often painful stories of slaves uprooted from their families in Missouri and brought to Oregon to help develop farms in the Willamette Valley. The slaves expected to be freed, but many were kept in bondage for years by owners who ignored the law.

Published in 2013, Breaking Chains: Slavery on Trial in the Oregon Territory was a finalist for the 2014 Oregon Book Award for nonfiction.

R. Gregory Nokes was a journalist for 43 years, including 25 years with The Associated Press and 15 years reporting for The Oregonian newspaper. During his career, he traveled to more than 50 countries. Other books by Mr. Nokes include: The Troubled Life of Peter Burnett and Massacred for Gold: The Chinese in Hells Canyon.

You can register for this free online event by clicking the button below or by registering on Take PART’s Facebook page.

A recording of the event is available here:

https://youtu.be/rsqEp0MHqqo

Thursday, October 15, 2020: "Local Color" watch party with discussion

In 1991, OPB broadcast journalist Jon Tuttle produced a documentary called “Local Color.” The film chronicles Oregon’s historical background of shocking racist and exclusionary laws against people of color. Real estate redlining continued through the 20th century.

As disturbing as Oregon’s racist history is, the state is also known for people who stood up for civil rights in the past, as well as the present, and who continue to actively work for change.

Thursday, August 13, 2020: "An Evening with Marcus Mundy"

Mr. Marcus Mundy is the Executive Director of Portland's Coalition of Communities of Color (CCC), an alliance of community based organizations representing African, African American, Asian, Latino, Middle Eastern and North African, Native American, Pacific Islander and Slavic people.

The CCC's mission is to address socioeconomic disparities, institutional racism, and inequity of services experienced by our families, children and communities; and to organize our communities for collective action resulting in social change to obtain self-determination, wellness, justice and prosperity.

Mr. Mundy joined the CCC after serving as Principal of Mundy Consulting LLC. His practice assisted clients in achieving equity, diversity and inclusion in the areas of personnel, contracting, supplier diversity, development and administration. Prior to his role at Mundy Consulting, Mr. Mundy served as the President and CEO of the Urban League of Portland, and was the Vice President and Regional Compliance Officer for Kaiser Permanente Northwest. He continues to serve in several leadership positions within the community. He acknowledges that his greatest achievement is being a father to his four children.

A recording of the event is available here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7o-fUvmppQ

Thursday, July 16, 2020: "Dismantling Systems of Oppression and White Supremacy in Local Government Structures"

Dr. Markisha Smith previously served as Director for the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the Oregon Department of Education. In that role, she provided leadership, guidance, professional learning, and support to school districts, various education partners, and community-based organizations on education equity throughout the state.

The mission of the Office of Equity and Human Rights is to provide education and technical support to City staff and elected officials, leading to recognition and removal of systemic barriers to fair and just distribution of resources, access and opportunity, starting with issues of race and disability.

In an interview with the Skanner newspaper Dr. Smith has indicated that “There is an urgency to sustain equity work as an asset, through equitable outcomes, high expectations, meaningful engagement and consultation, and through honoring the rich and diverse experiences that have influenced the bureau’s creation and development over the past seven years. It is imperative that organizations examine systems of oppression in order to interrupt their power and influence on marginalized communities”

A recording of this event is available here:

https://youtu.be/FxKdtEieX5c

Thursday, June 11, 2020: "Building Equity in Communities of Color During Covid 19"

Bahia Overton, Director of the Black Parent Initiative, will speak about the impact of the Corona virus on communities of color in the Portland Metro area. She will talk about the impact the virus is having and the practical steps that nonprofits are taking to address the crisis.

Ms. Overton holds an MS in Social Work. She is completing her Ph.D. in Social Work Research, focusing on the experiences of African American female adolescents in foster care.

A recording of this event is available here:

https://youtu.be/mOGArL-iEXU

Resources related to this presentation

Thursday, May 14, 2020: "Black Death: the racial disparities of Covid-19"

Dr. Tenisha Dandridge, DAOM, will present a talk on “Black Death: The Racial Disparities of Covid-19” via Zoom on Thursday, May 14, 2020, at 7:00 pm (PDT). Dr. Dandridge will explore the disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on communities of color. Brown and Black people face continual challenges in obtaining sufficient, timely medical care, which in the case of Covid-19, is a matter of life and death. A time for questions and discussion will follow the presentation.

Dr. Dandridge received her Doctorate of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine from the Pacific College of Health and Science. She is also the author of Unusual Tale of Acupuncture, Racism and African American History in the USA, and is the co-founder of BlackAcupuncturist.com.

Thursday, April 9,2020, 7pm to 8:30pm

"Does Social Media Encourage Racism?"

Join Take PART (Portland Anti-Racism Team) on Zoom for a talk by Donna Stewart, “Does Social Media Encourage Racism?” Donna’s on-line presentation will address
how social media can manipulate users to become unwitting pawns, based on innate racial biases, to create profit and power for others. She will also address how we can protect ourselves from these influences and become better online citizens.

We’ll have time for discussion following Donna’s presentation.

Thursday, February 13,2020, 7pm to 8pm, light refreshments to follow

"Understanding Micro-aggressions" with Maruska Lynch

Portland Baha'i Center