M artin L uther K ing J r .
Page B 1 2
W
special edition
January 10, 2007
Following in King’s footsteps
continued
The journey toward freedom
began with a bus ride.
from B7
todeal with this, being black
in America.”
You m ay not know
McGee is a native of Africa
by site or speech alone. She
came to the United States in
1992 with her mother, two
brothers and two sisters to
join her father who had been
granted political asylum.
The West African coun­
try of Liberia was a founded
by freed American slaves.
piloro by S ean O ’CoNNORfTiir P ortland O bserver
McGee is eager to share Charlene McGee adjusts to being black in America.
stories about her native cul­
McGee now works for Multnomah County,
ture, where she was raised with humility to
understand the importance of community and organizing the African American HIV/STD
family. But she says she will never let go of her Elimination Project.
My work is in sexual health disparities, but
ethnic identity, despite the pressure by some to
today 1 believe it’s addressing all disparities,”
identify as an Oregonian.
“ I’m not,” she said. “I believe knowing who she said. "My life is about being a social activist,
taking what I know to empower the black com­
you are empowers you.”
This belief has shaped her role as an activist munity.”
Even as she strongly identifies with her Afri­
in America.
Her experience among a clash o f cultures can heritage, she recognizes that Africans and
led her to become an advocate for fellow African Americans have the potential to move
African and African American students at beyond what she calls the “us versus them”
Oregon State University, where just a couple syndrome.
“As a young African woman in America my
hundred black students join nearly 20,000
heart aches. As black people we have to address
white students.
"In Liberia, the Lebanese were considered issues in the black community in order to move
’white'. We knew we were black and we saw forw ard. This means I have to put fires out in my
racism, but here it is different. People are pro­ house and then help my neighbor.”
McGee’s parents, brothers and sisters live in
filed and pulled over for the heck of it."
So McGee organized outreach for ethnic and Portland, and she has extended family around
cultural minorities at OSU and continued her the United States. She tries to return to Liberia
advocacy as an admissions counselor after gradu­ once a year for a family reunion, and hopes to
travel home again this summer.
ation in 2004, until June 2006.
ore than 50 years ago, Rosa Parks went to jail when she refused
to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. organized a boycott and went on to spread
word throughout the nation about what freedom really means.
M
Dr. M artin Luther King Jr.
January 1 5 ,1 9 2 9 -April 4,1968
Join us in remembering a man and a movement
that changed the course of history.
Emerging young leader draws on past
continued
from B7
system to close the achievement gap between
minority and non-minority students. He was just
19 at the time.
He lost the 2(X)5 election, but felt the cam­
paign for public office was the best learning
experience he ever had.
Transportation is crucial for equal opportunity. TriMet is committed
to providing high-quality transit service to everyone.
“I see joy in everything that happens,” McGee
says. “I believe that everything happens for a
reason.”
McGee continues his dedication to commu­
nity activism by addressing education, racial
profiling and gender inequality issues.
continued
TR l © M E T
See where it takes you.
on page B14
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G F F F A /F F /F F
C Û M P A /V K
M arine F itter I W elder
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