August 7, 2019
Page 5
Former Candidate
Hired by District
Salute to a
Fierce Advocate
C ontinueD froM p age 3
C ontinueD froM f ront
“There are few people I would call a
hero. You’re a hero,” remarked Mayor
Ted Wheeler at the special ceremony at
City Hall, calling Edwards the glue hold-
ing the community together and one who
lent a voice to those that had none, declar-
ing July 31 as “Antoinette Edwards Fierce
Advocate Day” in Portland.
Commissioner Amanda Fritz said Ed-
wards was “inspiring,” and Commissioner
Nick Fish expressed gratitude to her for
“being a role model.”
The emotion in the air was evident
when Wheeler read the city’s proclama-
tion aloud as Edwards’ husband, Keith,
shed tears of joy.
Edwards said she was “in gratitude for
the love. I feel the love.” In her closing
remarks she addressed the city directly.
“Portland, we don’t have to make it
great again. Just keep it good and make it
better…my parting words for the commu-
nity, beloved community: we are so much
stronger together,” she said.
Edwards was known for inviting in and
getting buy ins from ex-gang members
who have turned a new leaf and re-inte-
grated back into the community to partic-
ipate in the round table discussions, with
some even being hired to perform youth
outreach for those in gangs or on the cusp
of adopting the lifestyle, in order to pre-
vent them from continuing in activities
that promote violence.
photo by a DaM t hoMpson /t he o ffiCe of M ayor t eD W heeler
Antoinette Edwards, a tireless community advocate and the director of Portland’s
Office of Youth Violence Prevention retired last week. The City Council honored her
by proclaiming July 31 as “Antoinette Edwards Fierce Advocate Day” in Portland.
The office more broadly advanced
trauma informed care to create a space for
healing. Edwards was thanked for being
the change agent to make that possible.
Edwards told the Portland Observer
she was “humbled beyond words” by the
proclamation and attributed the honor to
the power of community.
“I’ve had the opportunity to work with
people and their grief with trauma, losing
loved ones to gun violence… from being
wounded to using their wisdom to help
others…. If it wasn’t for community, I
wouldn’t be here.”
She added she’ll “never retire from the
community,” but is looking forward to
spending more time with her grandkids
and husband.
Edwards served four mayors during her
tenure with the city. She received multi-
ple awards for her advocacy, including
the Gladys McCoy Citizen Involvement
Award from the Citizen Involvement
Committee of Multnomah County in
2009, the 2013 Social Justice Fund North-
west Jeannette Rankin Award, and the
2015 Equity Foundation’s Women Who
Lead Award.
and Engagement team.
“I ran for the board because of my
deep commitment to advocating for
racial equity and social justice in our
public schools and creating deep op-
portunity for our community to be in-
volved. My new role will allow me to
braid the knowledge and experiences
of our community to re-imagine PPS,”
Clarke said.
A career educator who is originally
from Jamaica, Clarke is joining Port-
land’s largest school district after helping
to launch and run a resource center for
black students at PSU aimed at support-
ing their continued education and elevat-
ing their voices, called the Pan-African
Resource Center.
In her bid for school board, Clarke
ran on a platform of incorporating a ho-
listic approach to education, including
doing crisis intervention and focusing on
improving systems to address students’
needs. She cited an audit of Portland
Public Schools by Oregon Secretary of
State’s office showing dramatic short-
comings in outcomes for students of col-
or in the district as helping to inform her
on the needs.
Clarke holds a Master’s Degree in Ed-
ucational Leadership from University of
Northern Colorado where she studied cul-
turally responsive pedagogy and researched
better ways of serving diverse students.