Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Black History Month at Sylvania – a reflection and a look forward

Photos and story by Deborah Crawford

Portland Community College celebrated Black History Month in February with each campus hosting a week of events.  Here is a quick recap of how the week of events went at Sylvania as well as an exciting upcoming event.

The “Lift Every Voice: A Report on Black LGBTQ Oregonians” lecture and discussion was a powerful event looking and the issues around the oppression of Black LGBTQ people. The lecture also provided a unique opportunity for student leaders to see how research can influence social change.  A talking point of the presentation revolved around a report that has been recently created by local agencies regarding how this specific community is affected by health care, education and bullying.

The “Why Aren’t There More Black People in Oregon?: A Hidden History” lecture was well attended with over 100 people present.  The event was coordinated by ASPCC student leader Victoria (Victory) Lafara.  The presentation provided extensive education around the Black culture that helped sustain communities during turbulent times, the strength of those communities, and the history of racism in Oregon.

In addition to the presentations and lectures, the Illumination Project put on a powerful performance about creating a campus community that values people of all backgrounds.  The piece focused on racism and challenges faced by people of color.

On Thursday, Feb. 28, David Rogers gave a powerful presentation around “Education, Not Incarceration.”  The lecture was sponsored by the Multicultural Center.

If you missed these amazing opportunities to learn and get involved with Black History Month – you have another opportunity!

Due to scheduling conflicts, Dr. Andraé L Brown was not able to be here in February. The Multicultural Center was able to reschedule his workshop for Tuesday, April 9. Dr. Brown will define the Liberation Based Healing model as a framework and discuss how it can be used as a tool for social change and provide local examples of what this work looks like. Liberation Based Healing