Page 12
M Artin l uther K ing J r .
2019 special edition
January 16, 2019
Advocacy Work Transforms Young Leader
Now 27, Whitten’s
efforts addressing
inequities grows
D anny p eterson
t he p ortlanD o bserver
Cameron Whitten’s advocacy work
for marginalized communities in
Portland has taken many forms over
the years, from being an organizer of
the Occupy Portland movement, to
co-founding Portland’s Resistance in
response to the election of President
Donald Trump, to starting a non-profit
to leverage community grounded ini-
tiatives to make justice and econom-
ic prosperity a lived experience for
black, brown, and indigenous people
in Oregon.
Now, as the executive director of
the Q Center, the largest LGBTQ+
center in the Pacific Northwest, he’s
continuing that fight using a lens of
intersectionality—a term that denotes
the multiple identities that people
hold, and the sometimes compound-
ing affects of oppression that go along
with that, coined by black civil rights
advocate and scholar Kimberle Cren-
shaw.
“Intersectionality affects me every
by
photos by
D anny p eterson /t he p ortlanD o bserver
Cameron Whitten, the recently named permanent executive director of
the Q Center, located at 4115 N Mississippi Ave., is taking his activism
background to a new level, helping the non-profit’s mission of providing safe
spaces, community building, and empowerment for those in the LGBTQ+
communities.
day. Every day I know that somebody
somewhere will look at me and either
I will be not black enough, too black;
not queer enough, too gay. I’ll be too
loud, too quiet; too direct, not radical
enough. And because of this I’ve been
denied so many opportunities,” Whit-
ten told the Portland Observer.
Named the permanent executive di-
rector of the Q Center, located at 4115
N Mississippi Ave., back in December
by its board of directors, Whitten has
already brought many successes to the
organization since joining as interim
executive director in July.
He has been credited with helping
expand staff and volunteer opportuni-
ties at the center, partnered with the
group’s development manager to raise
more than $134,000 at their annual
fundraiser, SHINE, and worked with
the board to develop strategic plan-
ning documents and host regular town
hall meetings, among many other ac-
complishments.
The Q Center, which has been
around since 2003, provides safe
spaces, resources, and advocacy for
people “at the intersection of identi-
ties,” Whitten said.
Originally from northern Virginia,
C ontinueD on p age 23