Page 12
July 21, 2021
Helping Women
C ontinued froM P age 5
“It’s creating spaces for women
to heal. It sets an atmosphere where
you can be somewhere that is safe.”
The program doesn’t force
someone into a mold, but rather
meets women where they are. Any-
one can take part, no matter their
faith, or even if they don’t practice
a faith. Comparable to practices
and traditions such as Inipi (Lakota
sweat lodge ceremonies) or yoga,
Connecting
C ontinued froM f ront
excited about us and wants us to
apply for another grant” for next
summer.
Because many public places,
including public swimming pools
and other recreational sites were
off limits to Blacks historically
because of racism, many never
learned to swim or learned about
the outdoors, Brannon said.
Teaching the young hiking
guides are Metro staffers Jazz
Bias and Jason Ligons, both Afri-
can-American and environmental
professionals.
“Kudos to Metro staff,” Bran-
non said. “It’s the first time I’ve
worked with a quasi-governmen-
tal organization where everyone
was BIPOC (Black, Indigenous
and People of Color).”
“It’s good exposure (for the
kids) to see these careers,” she
added.
Both Bias and Ligons hope
some follow in their path, she
said.
“One of the things Jason and
Jazz said was that if one of the
kids went on to pursue environ-
mental education as a career, it
would make the entire program
worthwhile,” Brannon said.
The young guides carry out
mindfulness exercises and learn
things like how some native
plants have medicinal uses, like a
salve made from the green part of
the work is meant to reach people
who desire a connection to healing
and spirituality.
“The program is about a connec-
tion to healing and faith, and what
Black women have identified as their
needs,” she stressed.
FaithBridge is also centered on
authenticity and lived experience.
“I’m very transparent about my
own story. When we start I say, ‘Tell
me your story, instead of how you
are,’” Saunders said.
with
Most women, when they’re in a
traumatic place, don’t want to talk
about themselves, Saunders says.
“I ask them, ‘What did you want
to be when you grow up?’ Do you
know how many women can’t ad-
dress that because they’re emotion-
ally stunted? Time stops at places of
trauma.
“What we have to do is find where
the door got opened and work to shut
the door. We move through the why
— why are they doing what they’re
doing, not where they’ve been.”
Saunders’ work is changing lives.
“I’ve met women from the very
first week who still call me,” she
says.
She mentions one client in par-
ticular who has post-traumatic stress
disorder and other behavioral health
challenges, leading her to relapse
from time to time. “But she keeps
going,” Saunders says.
“I continue to give her hope, so
she still calls. I start over with her.
We go through the work and she’s
back on her feet again and back
connecting with her faith. She may
fall down again and then we’ll go
deeper. But the answer for her is
healing.”
Nature
plantains, she said.
“People normally pull out plan-
tains, which is considered a nui-
sance plant, but is actually really
useful,” she said. “It’s really good
for moisturizing when you mix it
with coconut oil. It’s good for the
skin.”
The hiking groups have been
small because of Covid, she said,
and have mostly been families
with kids, but everyone is wel-
come.
The benefits of being out in na-
ture are myriad, Brannon said.
“The hikes are so they can build
positive memories out in nature,
and also includes mindfulness and
stress release to include meditation
and the stress of racial trauma,” she
said. “We talk about safe spaces and
how nature clears your mind. They
get exercise and get away from cell
phones,” even though some kids
“freaked out” with no cell service
at Oxbow Park.
Another move that will help
ensure the safety of Black com-
munity members and other peo-
ple of color is the recent passage
of Oregon Senate Bill 289, en-
vironmental equity legislation
that carries penalties for people
who do hate crimes in nature, she
said.
“It falls in nicely in line with
trying to get Black folks in nature
that hasn’t always been welcom-
ing,” Brannon said.
While all the hikes currently
Someone’s community may hold
and reflect back a certain narrative
about their life, Saunders says. “And
everybody knows your story. So how
do you take your story back?”
“For many African American
women, faith is what we relied on
for our existence. Through slavery
and the trauma, what we turned to
was faith. It was a faith we had prior
to coming to these shores. Long-term
healing is what is needed.”
(Editor’s note: Thank you to Jes-
sica Morkert-Shibley of Multnomah
County Communications and her
team for contributing this story.)
In a publication by the Portland
Audubon Society, Slaughter ex-
plained the reason many Black peo-
ple are not as acquainted with the
natural world as they should be.
“Black people and other peo-
ple of color sometimes experi-
ence verbal abuse, threatening
behavior, and even physical
attacks while enjoying the out-
doors,” she wrote. “As a result,
going outdoors to enjoy nature
can feel like a potentially danger-
ous thing to do.”
But spending time in nature can
lead to healthier, happier com-
munities, she wrote. “It’s more
important for people of color to
connect with nature. It’s critical.”
A new hiking program geared to Black kids and other young people
of color build positive memories out in nature. “We talk about safe
spaces and how nature clears your mind,’ said J’reyesha Brannon,
chair of the Portland NAACP’s Environmental Justice committee, a
lead organizer of the program.
are accessible by car, Brannon
would like to see transportation
made available to area parks in
the future.
“Eventually we’d like to get a
shuttle bus, and we’ve got another
grant in the works (from Portland
General Electric) for an EV (elec-
tric vehicle),” she said.
The grant application is for
$80,000 and Brannon said she is
not super optimistic because of
the high price tag, but she’ll keep
trying.
“We want to make sure these
hikes are accessible,” she said.
Thanks to Metro’s support,
Brannon said the program will
not only continue next year, but
will be expanded and will likely
include other groups with similar
missions, such as the People of
Color Outdoors Meetup group,
founded in 2017 by Pam Slaugh-
ter, who helped write the Senate
bill, Brannon said.
“I hope next time I can partner
with her,” Brannon said. “She’s
already doing this and that will
make it even better for the kids.
Monique
Johnson
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