Page 4
The
Portland Observer Black
Competition Heats Up!
moves as they prepare to compete
in the regional finals of the August
Wilson Monologue Competition,
named in honor of the late African-
American playwright.
Three of the students will be se-
lected to participate in the mono-
logue finals on Broadway in late
BY O LIVIA O LIVIA
spring. Actor Russell Hornsby, who
T HE P ORTLAND O BSERVE
has been working behind the scenes
Portland high school students with the students on their perfor-
from across the city have been learn- mances, will emcee the competition
ing their lines and practicing their on Monday night at Portland Cen-
Helping
students of
color in the
dramatic arts
History Month
February 25, 2015
Grimm TV Actor Russell
Hornsby works with Kyra Orr,
a drama student from Grant
High School, and one of the
local students he is
mentoring through the August
Wilson Monologue contest.
ter Stage.
Hornsby is known for his star-
ring role in NBC’s Grimm, ABC
Family’s Lincoln Heights and HBO’s
In Treatment, among a myriad of
other artistic achievements.
The monologue competition is a
program of the August Wilson Red
Door Project, a not-for-profit orga-
nization working to bring more ac-
tors of color into the dramatic arts
and more diversity in the audiences
that attend theatrical productions.
Practicing for the competition has
been a transformative experience
for many of the students. They have
received one-on-one coaching and
have had the chance to work with
professional actors on honing their
performances.
Red Door Project Co-Founder
Kevin Jones, a black playwright and
artistic director from Portland, lik-
ens the effort to promoting a diverse
ecology.
“Every city is comprised of dif-
ferent cultures. We are working to
bring the marginalized parts of the
continued
on page 8
Making Amends
continued
from page 3
draw from a process of filing a claim
with the Civil Rights Division of the
Oregon Bureau of Labor and Indus-
tries.
He said when Peters issued the
apology and stated that this was an
employee mistake, the chapter de-
cided to back down and accept
"As an organization we seek to
engage in meaningful dialog and
conversation,” Edwards said. “We
came together to resolve an issue in
our community. Moving forward I
think Ambridge is going to be a
much stronger business because of
this."
The Portland Office of Neighbor-
hood Involvement had considered
moving their annual community
summit scheduled for this Saturday
because of the controversy. The
city requires meetings held in loca-
tions deemed to be non-discrimina-
tory and open to the public.
Amalia Alarcon de Morris, pub-
lic involvement manager for the of-
fice, said they have received a writ-
ten statement from Peters detailing
their non-discrimination policy and
affirming they are “an open and
welcoming venue.”
In addition, she says Peters told
them the Ambridge Event Center
plans to provide sensitivity training
to all their staff to ensure this does
not happen again.
“We are monitoring the situation
closely and will provide updates if
circumstances change,” de Morris
said.