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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 2021)
M artin L uther K ing J r . 2021 special edition Page 10 January 13, 2021 Advancing Justice, Equality c ontinued fRoM p age 3 people and apprentice hours on the project were filled by minori- ties. Additionally, 80 percent of the sub-contractors on the site were either women and or minori- ty-owned businesses, she said. At a cost of $10 million, the 19,829 square foot headquarters was also designed to serve as a re- source to further support and invest in communities across the state. The ground floor, for exam- ple, houses a “Center for Great Purposes” to foster greater col- laboration with the public, a gathering space for up to 100 people. A “Mission Library’ fea- tures inspirational quotes from leaders, including Fred Meyer, and showcases a collection of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and scholarship that touches on as- pects of diversity, equity and in- clusion. The property’s landscape uses native plant species selected due to their historical significance as a primary food, medicine or com- modity resource for Columbia River tribes. photo by M ichael R ubenstein p hotogRaphy A new headquarters for the Meyer Memorial Trust at 2045 N. Vancouver opened this fall in the historically Black Albina Community of north and northeast Portland, a testament to the organization’s mission to create a transformative future for people in Oregon where there is more economic opportunity for people of color and less hate and injustice. Rep. Janelle Bynum on fight for Racial Progress c ontinued fRoM p age 6 proving the number of mental health pro- viders, for loan forgiveness and reducing the number of hours clinicians have to be supervised, the opportunity for those incar- cerated to become counselors and thera- pists, and addressing, in a very bold way, the lack of mental health services available to us,” she said. Bynum was among several other law- makers who sent a letter to Gov. Kate Brown in November that the state’s mental health system was broken. “The inequities that communities of color have faced by the COVID-19 crisis has only expanded the need to create bet- ter-supporting structures for them,” she wrote. “Our communities are struggling on multiple levels, including economically and with mental and physical health.” Bynum grew up in Washington D.C. and both her parents were teachers. Her family moved from the area in the 1980s as vio- lence brought on by the crack cocaine epi- demic soared, she said. “That’s why I’m so super sensitive to the increase in gun violence in Portland, as well the incarceration of young men,” she said. Bynum attended a girls’ boarding school in Virginia, where she found life-changing support. “It was transformational for me, because as long as you don’t know what you don’t know, it’s hard to aspire, to know how high to reach,” she said. “But there I was ex- posed to be anything I wanted to do, and any dream you had was supported.” From there Bynum went to Florida A&M on a scholarship from Boeing, grad- uating with a degree in electrical engi- neering and worked for several years for General Motors, including a stint in Tai- wan working on hybrid vehicle technolo- gy, before getting her Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Michigan. Bynum, 45, has lived in Portland for 20 years.
