M artin L u th er K ing J r .
Page 18
January 16. 2013
2013 s p e c ia l e o ition
We’re in this together.
At the American Red Cross, our clients, volunteers, employees,
donors and suppliers represent a wide array of cultures,
ethnic backgrounds, ages, lifestyles, beliefs and philosophies.
We embrace the rich diversity around us,
and come together to help those in need.
American Red Cross
O r e g o n R e g io n
ALL ABOARD!
RAILROADING AND PORTLAND’S BLACK COMMUNITY
On display January 15-Apnl 21,2013
THF OREGON
COMMUNITY
FOUNDATION
Z q BEGO/ v
0RW °N B IV K
PI9N E E Ç S
OREGON
1200 SW Park Avenue | Downtown Portland
WWW.OHS.ORG I 503.222.1741
' H IS T O R Y M U S E U M
O. Hm
Oregon
Humanities
NRHS
P atrick S mith P hotography
Portland civil rights activist Rev. Renee Ward takes
heart to the national Martin Luther King holiday as a
time ‘to reflect and restore ourselves to be motivated
and get involved, because there is still a lot of work to
be done.’
Walking Among
Everyday People
www.redcross.org/oregon
In this original Oregon History Museum exhibit, learn
about the black community that grew up and worked
around Union Station in the late 19th to mid-20th
century, and the churches, newspapers, and businesses
they built which forever changed the city of Portland.
photo by
Trust Management
Services, LLC
c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 5
With words soaked in experi
ence and inspiration, she advises,
“Y ou’re going to have to serve
and educate yourself, strengthen
yourself and empower yourself,
and dedicate yourself to passing
the baton on.”
Celebrating the national M ar
tin Luther King holiday, she said,
is a time “to reflect and restore
ourselves to be motivated and
get involved, because there is
still a lot of work to be done.”
“I never worry what people
think of me,” she said. “If I were
to worry about what people think
from each day I step out the
door, stranger to people who do,
I w ouldn’t get much accom
plished.”
Unpopular conversations are
an instigator for Rev. Ward. She
references nature’s tiny dung
beetle, which slowly and steadily,
but surely pushes a ball of feces
to its destination.
“It’s not an attractive or popu
lar thing to be pushing,” said
Ward. “I deal with the real, non-
con ventional, uncomfortable con
versations nobody w ants to
have.”
Conversations like AIDs.
In the late 1990s, Ward
watched her husband, Joseph
Morman, suffer and eventually
die from an HIV/AIDS-related
illness. The emotional toll was
painful enough, but seeing his
ostracization, isolation and preju
dice because of the AIDs stigma,
pushed her to a tipping point.
W hen no one else was w ill
ing to speak up, she gave H IV /
AIDS a voice and encouraged
others to do the same.
“I sincerely hope to accom
plish, not a selfish act, but more
a selfless act of making sure
nobody has to experience the
pain and suffering, the isolation
that many folks go through, not
only with AIDs, but socially un
acceptable labels and barriers
that are totally unsolicited an no
fault of their own.”
Following his death in 1998,
Ward founded Chrysalis M inis
tries, a faith-based agency dedi
cated to addressing health dis
parities. Today, the non-profit’s
many volunteers do outreach and
educate com m unities, mainly
African and African Americans
continued
on page 39