Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 15, 1994)
JiM tovt ? H y 15. 1 M 4 ▼ • __________YOUTH__________ Making it happen Portland woman represents sexual minority youth at national event ▼ by Martha Allen achel Ebora wasn’t even bom 30 years ago, when thousands of concerned youths risked their lives to register African American voters in the South. R But the mother of a college stu dent who was killed by Ku Klux Klan members during Freedom Summer ’64 remembers the im pact that youthful activists had on the country. And through her memories, the mother created Free dom Summer ’94, a project that took Ebora from Portland to Washington, D.C., and on to the south last month. Ebora, 22, was selected to participate in Free dom Summer ’94 through her involvement with Oregon Sexual Minority Youth Network. The group, which works with lesbian, gay and bisexual youth throughout the state, was one of 20 youth programs chosen to join in the nationwide project— and the only sexual minority program. “OSM YN is the only queer youth organization in the project,” Ebora said. “There were other queer youth there, but, because I was representing OSMYN, I felt like it was my responsibility to counter the homophobic reactions, both within the * project and from the | people we met along the 1 h A Freedom Summer '94 was created by New York resident Carolyn Good- man in memory of her son, Andrew Goodman. An- drew and two companions, James Chaney and Mi- chael Schwerner, were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in Philadelphia, Miss., for the Mississippi Summer Project. The project volved thousands of stu- dents in a voter registra- tion drive to help African Americans realize their conflict resolution, training and public relations tips. “We went to a church, the last place where Andrew was seen alive,” Ebora said. “We came in the middle of a service, and we had to stand up, say our name and who we were representing. It was the scariest thing, here we were in the middle of nowhere, Mississippi, and I had a fear there would be so much homophobia there. But I did it.” Later, at a reception after the service, Ebora found her bravery rewarded when she met some women from Camp Sister Spirit, the women’s conference center under attack in Ovett, Miss., about 100 miles from the church. “I was able to talk with them about the climate and the lack of support they are facing,” Ebora said, adding that the women had dealt with both verbal and physical attacks from hostile residents. “That was really hard to hear,” she said. “It’s so discouraging.” Ebora left Portland on June 17 and returned June 26. Her trip included a brief stop in New York City, where she took in some of the cultural events Rachel Ebora (center) with Jesse Jackson and other youth representatives the hope that youth can change the country. “As opposed to the negative media images, that Generation X thing, this gives the hope that we can get together and form our own agenda to change some of the fucked-up things in this world,” Ebora said. To that end, some of the youth representatives were given a chance to meet with President Clinton 9 M : 9 9 f 9 I l l l l ^ 9 ^ 9 I ^ O M 3 > 1 I 1 IV M 1 f t f t I I 0L ^ W?' -t <■ ■ ¿'$391 J f* * ' j9 9 9 f ft 1 * ** f« h * 9 * > 8 * | constitutional right to vote. “M y son and thousands Bus rides and congregating in southern churches helped recreate the atmosphere o f Freedom Summer ’64. and other high-ranking political officials. Six youths cial barriers com m onplace back then,” G oodm an o f others saw past the ra- were chosen to go to the conference, and Ebora was said. “It’s going to be up to young people once going on in conjunction w ith Gay G am es IV before one o f the six. Three got a chance to m eet the again to reject the prejudices that cripple our soci traveling to W ashington, D .C ., w here she m et w ith president, but Ebora was not am ong them . the Sexual M inority Y outh A ssistance League ety.” “W e m et w ith m em bers o f C ongress at the “ It was my vacation from my jo b ,” Ebora said. This sum m er’s com m em orative p ro je c t de C apitol,” Ebora said. The youths also m et m em voted to A ndrew ’s m em ory, took representatives “1 w anted to get the m ost out o f i t bers o f C linton’s C abinet, and Jesse Jackson. The youth involved in the project represent all from 20 youth organizations to the nation’s capitol “1 actually got a chance to talk,” she said. different backgrounds, Ebora said, and their groups and on to M ississippi for five days o f w orkshops, “T here were so m any people. But I feel like I will learning and inform ation exchanges. The sessions target very diverse young people [see accom pany actually be able to keep in contact w ith them .” w ere intended to m eet each youth group’s need for ing list]. The best part o f the p ro je c t Ebora said, Ebora said she spoke to an assistant to D onna leadership skills, planning, fund-raising strategies. was the reason they all were there— getting to gether to share ideas and resources, and to sustain ■ $»>■&*£$£« m -M ä m m - ~ •• •; . tentatives from the follow ing j ¡n é * Think i young people to uSe w riting, and perform ance to express com m unity concerns. r o o m tiiMib» fS ih m y g«nf PffM iwyief f ijaator . Lexington , M iss .— W orks ro im prove public edu cation in H olm es C ounty, th e fifth poorest in the U nited States. E a st B ay A sian Y ou th C a n te r, Berkeley. C a / ^ ~ Jnvestigates violence am ong A sians, w ork- - m g w ith fo rm er gang mem bers r - - - - ------------ - •Yifatfri fom.- to have them deal w ith th eir hom ophobia better, because I am a w om an and a person o f color,” s a id E b o ra , w h o is Filipina. “T here w ere m any people o f colo r in the project, and because o f that, m y m ain goal w as to get them to w iden th eir analysis o f oppression to include queer discrim ination— oppression because o f sexual orientation. “ I am able to speak to a m ore com m on philoso phy, rooted in oppression based on race,” Ebora said, “¡tried to get them to understand th at’sn o t the only thing. There are a lot o f oppressive forces out there, targeting other m inorities, including queer youth.” . ■<' ■pK K | G iv e , m p p o rtto gay, lesbian wm w ith youths in rural counties to deal w ith drugs, and o th er issues. . N a tiv e A c tio n , L a m e D e e r, M oor.— H as young people w orking w ith adults to get a high school on their reservation, N u b ia n B o o ts, R oxbw y, A fa w — Involves teens in com m unity politics. O p e ra tio n B re ak a n d B u ild , Kansas City, Mo .— Form er and current gang m em bers w ork to address police/youth relations, violence, ami other issues. \ V-- *->i' •. - : 4 . _ ífígw&sp i m m Shalala, secretary of the federal Department of Health and Human Services about the needs and concerns of queer youth. “I told her, ‘There are a lot of things that are not being addressed as far as gay, lesbian and bisexual youth are concerned.’ I told her, ‘You need to look at these things more closely.’ She said that was true, and asked what the Department of Health and Human Services could do. I said, ‘You need to listen, and give us a voice in whatever is going on. ’ She told me about a con- ference, and invited OSMYN to participate. That was one of the many things that came out ot that reception.” Ebora, who works as a union organizer, said her career training as well as her involvement with OSMYN had prepared her to get the most out of the project. “I feel like I’ve been m ore effective in talking to people, and been able address racial tensions am ong students. S e rio u s T e e n « A c tin g R e s p o n s ib ly , Hardyvilte, S.C.— O rganizes w orkshops to teach skills to teen-agers. ! T h e U n ity d u b . Cleveland, Ofuo -W o rk s w ith P arentT eacher A ssociations, religious groups and housing authorities to establish com m unica tion am ong students. youths from 13 L os A ngeles schools in com m u nity service. U rb a n X , New York City — W orks to p rovide a voice fo r youth in developing city policy o n issues relating to youth. Y o u th P eacem ak ers. Minneapolis —Strength ens th e cultm al identity o f its m em bers, m ainly N ative A m ericans. Y o u th U n ity , Philadelphia --T e a c h e s youth how to get along peacefully w ith police and how to reduce racial tensions, ~ Freedom Summer inform ation tine: 1-800-Fret 415. OSMYN inform ation: 228-5976 i* *l* ‘ t ■ *>< ■ —>» — 1*1» m mm m -* m « .,» • m m « V *