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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 2012)
Page 4 A p ril 25. 2012 Fighting for Social Justice c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 3 talking, and then she looked at me and asked, ‘Are you Klamath, did 1 see you on TV?’” Following their talk of the elections, the woman said, ‘you might know my husband.’ “And I did,” said Williams. “He was the CPS worker when I got my children taken away,” she said. “While I didn’t appre ciate him in 1993, he is respon sible for me walking around with these pins (made for her campaign) today.” “Sometimes when you look at people, you feel like they were part of a divine interven tion for you, but you just didn't feel it at that time,” she said. Williams added there have been several members of both the Native American and Afri can American community who have helped her become the strong woman she is today. "These people in this commu- nity watch over you, and they have watched me grow,” she said. Today, Williams is a known advocate for com munities of color and low income commu nities in the workplace. She has also been educating students on Environmental Justice issues for over 10 years through speaking engagements, conferences and teaching a senior capstone class at Portland State University for five years. At the Office of Neighbor hood Involvement, she manages Diversity Leadership Programs. Williams said her current pas sion is on the cleanup of the Willamette River. “If you spent 50-years on that river as a fac tory polluting that river, then you should spend the next 50- years cleaning it up because it is our children’s legacy,” she said. "We need to create green jobs off that river, clean up and re store that river with schools teeming with fish you can eat,” she said. In Native American ways we plan for several generations, not just five years, she said. Williams, who founded the organization Survivor to Survi vor, also a d v o c a te s for survivor’s rights, and the group helped in the creation of the new seven bed shelter for com- A photograph o f her grand children is a keepsake for City Council candidate Jeri Williams, 51, a mother and grandmother o f eight. Williams said Portland needs to do a better jo b o f representing communities o f color in government to help lead the way for a more ju s t future for minority youth in the city. photo by M indy C ooper / T he P ortland O bserver SEASONS ¡M A R K E T by a n d ta s te ite m s from our n ew Spring Menu! Our Chefs u se th e fin e st in g red ien ts to craft the d eliciou s en trees and sid es th a t fill our d eli ca ses. They are resp on sib le for th e fabulous foods th a t you find in our sto res every day. Check out our Easter and Passover menus! EASY & FUN TO SHOP • SENSIBLY PRICED • LOCALLY OWNED & OPERATED A R B O R L O D G E • 5 0 3 4 6 7 .4 7 7 7 In te rs ta te A v e & P o rtla n d B lv d C O N C O R D IA • 5 0 3 2 8 8 3 8 3 8 N E 3 3 rd & K illin g s w o r th w w w .n e w s e a s o n s m a ir r k k e e t t.c .c o o m f 6 mercially sexually exploited chil dren, as well as aided in the development of the last six human trafficking legislation over the last three years. “For me as a woman in Port land, I don’t want to see women get the short end of the stick,” she said. “We have a lot of jobs for women that provide no w o rk ers c o m p e n sa tio n , no health insurance and no unem ployment benefits, and that is treating women as second class c itiz e n s — m any w hom are young m others and deserve much better.” Knowing first-hand what it is like for a minority working single mother, Williams said she wants to see women be empowered in Portland and be able to be the head of the household and also make a living wage. She said the barriers for many residents living in Portland need to be addressed through collec tive action. “My little tag line for my campaign is ‘opening doors,” ’ she said, a message for people who have been h isto rically underrepresented. If you want government to be smaller, you actually have to make community larger, which requires an increase in mean ingful community involvement, she said. “But it is exciting,” said Wil liams. “To shift what you once believed was unshiftable.” For more information on Jeri W illia m s, v isit jeriforportland.com .
