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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 10, 2014)
4 street roots O ct 10, 2014 — r - ■Hi » ¡as-jt / r 1 jjjg’ ■ J I r » ■ I n llfc f a il T/' Í I Ifc C s S ^ j - -A Zz L \W R I £ P H O T O B Y D IE G O D IA Z Empowering minds Portland's ground-breaking nonprofit, Black Parent Initiative, confronts the challenges facing black youths a n d their fam ilies with community-based solutions ‘Every single day inspires me to do the work that I do.’ BY ANN-DERRICK GAILLOT S TA FF W H IT E R BY ANN-DERRICK GAIL LOT two jobs that allows Robert this space to STAFF W R IT E R ? create. t’s warm on this summer day in the Though Robert is only 15, he presents Southeast Portland art gallery, but local himself with the maturity of someone older, artist Robert Collins stands unfazed — reflective of the other guests at the party, decked out in a slate blue three-piece suit most of whom are adults familiar with complete with matching fedora. The sun Robert and Amanda through the streams through two walls of windows and Community Transitional School, along with lands on the opposite side where Robert’s their volunteer work with the Veterans of paintings hang. Robert greets the well- Foreign Wars and the Military Helpline, and wishers streaming through the door. All are his new high school, Leadership and here to celebrate Entrepreneurship High School where Robert’s artistic Robert hopes to learn more about the world accomplishments and, of business. Earlier this year, Portland of course, to wish Kim Public Schools — in conjunction with the M'^h& a ll h a w the greatest a happy 15th birthday. Black Parent Initiative (BPI) — honored him aspirations lo r o iir children? With a savviness to as one of this year’s Young, Gifted and bat the questions becomes match his wardrobe, .Black Students, an annual formal Robert reminds his recognition of PPS’s high-achieving black oar a b ility to leverage . guests, “Remember! students. . resources? personal All the paintings are Afterward, BPI, acommunity nonprofit com m unity resources? in the for sate!” focused on empowering black children "and “No,” says Robert’s rearing and development oí their parents to succeed in school, honored mother Amanda Robert further by buying four of his these h ld s /r setting out birthday paintings to use in future promotional CHARLES MCÇEE CQ-FOliNOE’ 8 L A C K P A R E N T 1 N IT i A VE cake across the room. materials. One painting of a black mother - “You can have kissing her child on the forehead, graced whatever painting you the posters for BPI’s 5th Annual Parent ; want” She smiles at Symposium, which took place in September. her son who smartly In many ways, Robert represents BPI’s stays quiet on the subject model black student He excels in his Down the hall is Robert’s windowless studies, is pursuing his passion, and is well- studio where he spent the better part of the connected to the social resources Portland summer, waking up at 5 a.m. to bike down has to offer him. to where he would sketch and paint until it But looking at his background, raised by started to get dark. Since starting his a single mother - both well acquainted with freshman year in high schoo in September, housing instability- and headed to a school Robert has had to settle for only going rated “below average” last year in student before and after Classes. Once home in the testing, and you see the work BPI still has evenings, he continues to dr,aw. to do. “I have to tell him, ‘Go to sleep, Robert!’ Some of the challenges Robert and other Amanda says proudly. It is her hard work at I S e e E M P O W E R IN G , p a g e 5 jjf hartes McGee HI and 1 sit outside a coffeshop one late afternoon, but we are far from alone. We are V / interrupted multiple times by passersby who know him and can’t help but say hello. He greets each one like an old friend. “And how’s your mother doing?” he asks in conversation with a woman, walking her dog. He is curious to know about others, and others are curious about him. Even in his office, his phone buzzes. constantly With messages and alerts from the mass of people trying to get a hold of him. Though it seems throughout his life he’s always had many plates spinning at once, these days most of his time and attention are taken up being a husband and father of two young children and the president of the Black Parent Initiative, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering parents to help their black children succeed in school. On one side of McGee’s office is a bookshelf filled with history and educational theory books from which he quotes often when talking about BPI and his hopes for Portland’s future, On the other side of the room stands a table supporting photos of his loved ones, family and friends, his wife and 4-year-old son, not yet one of his daughter bow only a few weeks prior. He points one out in particular, McGee with a black couple smiling in matching outfits, “That’s a picture of my amazing parents,” McGee says. They do it all the time,” he says, referring to their matching yellow ensembles, “It’s kind of excessive,” he jokes. His parents, he says, are the ones responsible for both the strong cultural pride and humanistic curiosity that informs all he does. Today,-McGee wears many hats — ' activist, community organizer, president and CEO - all with the mission of helping parents be the best they can be for their children. With all of the positive energy McGee embodies today, it is hard to imagine that nearly three decades ago he was a young child witnessing the outbreak of one of Africa’s deadliest civil wars. Like many great Portlanders, McGee was not bow in See McGEE, page 5
