Page 14
February 7, 2018
World Stage Theater actors recreate the historic ‘March on Washington’ and Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I
Have a Dream’ speech during a performance of ‘Who I Am Celebrating Me.’
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Who We Are
C ontinueD from P age 11
Americans lived in housing built
for building war ships in Portland
and Vancouver, including the city
of Vanport, the town on the banks
of the Columbia Slough. It flood-
ed in 1948, displacing the commu-
nity to mostly north and northeast
Portland.
Later, a combination of urban
renewal projects, gentrification,
and soaring housing costs con-
tributed to the black community
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needing to find other options, and
now African Americans are deep-
ly spread out across the Portland
metro area.
Sims herself moved east from
north Portland to Troutdale in
2002. In a predominately white
neighborhood, she felt distanced
and isolated, and wanted her chil-
dren to have a sense of kinship
like she did growing up.
Having studied and practiced
theater throughout her education,
she decided to create a production
of her own in the hopes of build-
ing community. That is how Who
I Am was born.
In addition to performing ev-
ery February, the actors and crew
bring the play into Portland metro
schools as a way to teach black
history in an unbiased manner.
Sims herself is a professional
artist, but she is proud of the fact
that the majority of the cast are not
professional. “They are communi-
ty members who want to make art
and perform, and we give them
that opportunity,” she added.
Sims’ hope for the festival is
that it brings people together, and
that it makes more people aware
of black history, including the Af-
rican American community.
Sims said that she didn’t start
learning more about black his-
tory until she was an adult. “I’m
black, I went to Jefferson High, I
was aware of my culture, but not
necessarily my history,” she not-
ed. She wants young black people
to walk away from the festival in-
spired that they “can do something
to change history for the better.”
And her hope for non-black
people who attend is that they
learn more about black history
in America so they are not “in
denial,” she said, noting that we
cannot change the course of this
country’s future if we do not know
about the past.
Sims takes pride in the fact
that the festival is gaining a lot of
buzz, and that many companies
and local black-owned businesses
are supporting it.
“I’m glad that the community
is excited to have a space to cele-
brate our heritage, and I’m excited
to welcome anyone who wants to
learn,” she said.
Tickets to Who I Am, and a
schedule of all festival events, can
be found at blackhistoryfestival.org.