January 27, 2016
Page 5
Our Stories Matter
Local group
pushes for
more inclusive
curriculum
O livia O livia
T he P OrTland O bserver
A new campaign to bring more multi-
cultural history into local classrooms is
drawing support.
“Our Stories Matter” is the name
of the initiative by a Portland nonprof-
it known as Know Your City and led
by Cameron Whitten, a young African
American activist.
With the support of Portland School
Board Member Mike Rosen, 2014 Ore-
by
Cameron Whitten
gon Teacher of the Year Brett Bigham,
the Asian Paciic American Network of
Oregon, and other community members,
the plan calls for more resources to teach
racially inclusive history in the public
education system.
“As teachers, we know our students
need an authentic education when it
comes to their own history and culture,”
said Portland Association of Teachers
President, Gwen Sullivan. “If we want to
equip them to change the world for the
better, we have to make sure all voices
are heard.”
Know Your City will ask the Portland
City Council this week to support its ef-
forts and make itself accountable to the
city’s own 5 Year Action Plan that calls
for promoting school curricula that re-
lect the experiences, histories and cul-
tures of Oregon’s communities of color,
immigrants, and refugees to boost stu-
dent investment and performance.
The group feels the city and state has
not adequately implemented its educa-
tion objectives. The Oregon Legislature
passed Senate Bill 739 in 2013 which
urged the Oregon Department of Educa-
tion to diversify Oregon Studies curric-
ulum, something which has not yet been
funded.
Know Your City is also launching the
Human Rights Education Report, a re-
search tool that will document the steps
taken by 25 school districts in Portland
metro area to support inclusive cultural
curriculum that relects the history and cul-
tures of all communities in Oregon.
The education report will be published
in February 2017.
“Oregon has a glaring history of dis-
crimination and exclusion,” said Whit-
ten. “The demographics of our class-
rooms are changing, making the damage
to our students more severe. Oregon
prospers when the culture and history of
all people are uplifted—that’s why our
stories matter.”
Vigil to Remember
Aaron Campbell
Members of the community
are invited to attend a prayer vigil
on Friday to mark six years since
the police shooting death of Aar-
on Campbell, an unarmed African
American man who was emotion-
ally distraught over the loss of his
brother.
The Albina Ministerial Alliance
Coalition for Justice and Police
Reform is planning the event to
commemorate Campbell’s life,
examine the changes his tragic
death brought our community, and
renew the call for police account-
ability in Portland and around the
country.
The vigil will be held at First
AME Zion Church, 4304 N. Van-
couver Ave. on Friday Jan. 29 at
7 p.m. The remembrance will also
mark one month after the Oregon
Court of Appeals ordered the city
to re-hire Ron Frashour, the ofi-
cer who shot and killed Campbell
with a sniper rile and was ired in
2010.
For more information, contact
Dr. LeRoy Haynes at 503-287-
0261.
Human Solutions Shelter
An emergency family shelter is
set to open in outer southeast Port-
land on Monday to help meet the
needs of homeless families.
The non-proit group Human
Solutions is re-purposing what
was formerly the site of a strip
club at 16015 S.E. Stark St., and
will operate the building as an
emergency shelter 24 hours a day,
7 days a week to ensure that home-
less families have a safe place to
be both at night and during the day
and have access to the resources
and support necessary to ind and
maintain stable housing.
Human Solutions relies on
community donations to be able
to provide blankets, pillows, new
and gently used clothes and shoes,
and nutritious food for homeless
children and parents. The shelter
also needs diapers for babies and
toddlers, and educational toys,
books, and other supplies. Com-
munity members interested in
donating or volunteering can call
Danielle Stirnaman at 503-278-
1637 or email her at dstirnaman@
humansolutions.org.
Supporting Community Projects
The Northeast Coalition of
Neighborhoods will award six
grants of $2,000 each to support
community projects, and it’s time
to apply.
The Woodlawn Farmer’s Mar-
ket, which launched last year, is an
example of a community project
that the coalition has supported i-
nancially. The coalition looks for-
ward to funding six more, equally
meaningful projects this year.
Applications are due by Thurs-
day, Feb. 25 by 5 p.m. An optional
information session for applica-
tions will be held Thursday, Jan.
28, at 7 p.m. at the coalition’s
headquarters at 4815 N.E. Sev-
enth Ave. For more information,
visit necoalition.org/grants.
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