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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (June 7, 2013)
■WW» street roots June 7, 2013 African immigrants develop leadership, voice at Africa House ABDIASIS MOHAMED C O N T R IB U T IN G C O L U M N IS T Coalition of Communities of Color he African Leadership Development Project at IRCOs Africa House began in 2012 as a result of a generous contribution by the Meyer Memorial Trust. The project was started as a means of Formed in 2001, the Coalition of Communities developing strong African community of Color (C CC ) is an alliance o f culturally leaders and empowering African immigrant specific community-based organizations with and refugee communities to represent representatives from six communities o f color: themselves in the public arena and advocate African, African American, Asian and Pacific for social and economic equality. Its Islander, Latino, Native American and Slavic. primary purpose is to foster a vibrant, Representation on the C C C is determined by inclusive, and prosperous African individual communities, and all decisions are community that is rich with cultural based on consensus. heritage, equal educational and economic opportunities, and a focused public disparities that African communities face in engagement. economic development, housing, education, The project’s long-term goals are to make and policy and advocacy work. Oregon a state where collaborative and The African Leadership Council has also creative thinking flourish, opportunities are begun to actively engage with city, county provided to make the voiceless heard, and state officials in legislative sessions and communities of color are empowered to self- meet with state representatives one-on-one organize, network, develop pathways to to discuss the issues that are most critical greater social inclusion, and build culturally- to African success and self-sufficiency. specific social capital. It’s goals are also to In turn, these leaders have also give Africans the capacity to act as leaders conducted a number of training workshops within and outside communities of color. within their respective ethnic communities Since its inception, the African that have taught Africans about the Leadership Development Project has American political process and how to successfully recruited 25 African leaders participate in advocacy work and community from around the greater Portland area to organizing. stand up for the interests of the African As a result of these workshops, members community in public forums and to serve as of the African immigrant and refugee community role models for political and community as a whole have become more civic engagement. These leaders represent engaged in local and statewide politics on a a diverse range of African ethnic and level that they have never been capable of cultural backgrounds and have been trained before. to engage in political advocacy and lobbying As a result of these workshops, and the activities by representatives from the city of direction of the African Leadership Council, Portland Office of Neighborhood many Africans throughout the state of Involvement and other partner Oregon have begun to actively participate in organizations. Subsequently, four distinct various public meetings, city and county committees were created by these leaders budget hearings, and other public forums with the purpose of developing specific where they have provided testimony on goals and strategies to address the behalf of the African community and its T Abdiasis Mohamed, originally from Somalia, moved to Oregon in 2006. He is currently pursuing his masters o f social work degree at Portland State University. He is the Program Coordinator at Africa House, and has been advocating for equity throughout the Portland metropolitan region for the last five years. Is it love or is it hate? By Griffin Chaska ♦ Is it love or is it hate? All I see is darkness. Life is bitter and cold. Nobody cares about me. No happiness. All sadness. No Love. There’s nothing left. Do I need help or don’t I? I need friends that understand my pain and help me through the pain. Nobody understands what I’ve been through. Nobody seems like they don’t know. I just wish I had someone that understood. Slowly I’m giving up. Does it even matter if I’m giving up slowly? Why should I care about you if you don’t care about me? Am I messed up? I’m Lonely and Cold. I’m so lonely. I have stopped caring for my loved ones. M y heart is going in the darkness. I don’t see the end of this. I’m falling into the darkness. I try to grab out for help but there’s no one there. I see all the death that happened to me. I see Angie again. All I want to do is hold her Tell her I love you but when I try to talk she’s gone I’m getting weak I need her Should I end it all or shouldn’t I? I want to live but I ’m to weak. interests. They have started to publicly voice their concerns about disparities in economic and business development, housing equity, educational achievement, disproportionately high rates of poverty, unemployment, and incarceration among other issues. Furthermore, the African Leadership Council has started branching out on their own to build partnerships and form bonds with other ethnically based organizations and leadership groups through the Coalition of Communities of Color. They have successfully worked with these groups to promote cultural diversity throughout the State of Oregon and to collectively bring awareness to the issues that all communities of color presently face. In addition, they have effectively collaborated with these partner organizations to develop mutual strategies to reduce disparities among ethnic communities as well as to support statewide legislative efforts that seek racial justice and equality for all in Oregon. Going into the future, the project is preparing to seek out and foster the development of even more African- leaders who will represent the interests of the community, teach additional African immigrants and refugees about responsible political and civic engagement, and develop activists and allies from within their respective ethnic communities. The African Leadership Council is continuing to strengthen existing partnerships and build new bonds with ethnic organizations and government offices that will ensure a mutually beneficial and constructive dialogue about the inequalities that affect communities of color. Finally, the African leaders remain actively committed to training and community outreach that will prepare them to submit their own legislative proposals starting in the 2014-15 state legislative session. The autobiographical poems on this and the following page are submitted as part of a special project at Hudson Bay High School in Vancouver, Wash. All students are 9th grade boys. One was a free write on how the student was feeling at the time, and the other two are intended suppose to reflect on their individual life, family, culture, history, etc, I wish I could be the old me that wasn’t so cold and didn’t cut himself. Can I make it? Am I gone forever? Am I going to be in the darkness? Am I going to be so cold and bitter? What do I have to live for? I’m trying to fight Can someone help me? The last light is going dark All my hope is fading away Why am I still here? All pain no game and create a short poem using sensory words. Each stanza was to begin with “I am from... I am from... By Thaddaeus Jimenez. I am from a creative quote that explains life and richness a clown that’s never happy. A Taurus by birth, a Gemini by expression. I am from a world of love and hate that Putting on a fake smile I’m dead inside My life is all about death When is the pain going away? When can I be me again? Why me? Why all this pain? Is this going to be the last night of this pain? Where’s my happiness? Where’s my joy? Can I be happy again? Can I have fun again? Where’s my family when I N EED them? Where’s everybody when I N E ED them? seems to always go away a passion that can’t be forgotten a true love that 2 share as 1. I am from a spoken person, that I never hear from but in a mirror I’m a twin, he hates what he sees knowing what he’s going to be and become. I am from the birth of a beautiful woman that cares, tends, and provides. A Mom of 3 others but always has time, she doesn’t regret me but the person she made me with, is a joke that never seems to enlighten my day but who cares about him he is the joke in my life.
