Respond to Racism

It has been less than a week and a half since our initial Zoom meeting to discuss and strategize how we could respond as a community to the COVID-19 pandemic and the systemic inequities that are resulting from it. Infections have grown exponentially and the government recently passed a controversial (to say the least) bailout package. That said, in our last discussion, we came up with a number of ideas and connected each other with a variety of resources we could support in r

Update: The Spring BIPOC Speaker Series has been cancelled in light of the COVID-19 pandemic until further notice. Respond to Racism LO is thrilled to once again partner with Mary's Woods Diversity Task Force and the West Linn Alliance for Inclusive Community to host our Spring BIPOC Speaker Series. The series will feature discussions with Walidah Imarisha, Dr. Markisha Smith, and Jacqueline Keeler and will be held at Mary's Woods Dunn Community Center in Cascadia Hall. For m

On Nov. 25, 2019, Respond to Racism hosted a student panel for the Lake Oswego School District's Professional Development Day featuring a diverse group of students from Lakeridge and Lake Oswego High School. During the event, the students discussed the pervasiveness of racism in the school district, how teachers and staff tend to respond, daily microaggressions, and more. It should be noted, that while these panels can be enlightening, the ultimate goal is for community membe

LO doesn't always do the greatest job of celebrating the history makers in our midst. With that in mind, we would like to congratulate RtR steering committee member Gloria Brown on publishing her new book "Black Woman in Green: Gloria Brown and the Unmarked Trail of Forest Service Leadership." You can read more about the book here. #gloriabrown #usforestservice #history #respondtoracism #racism #oregon #california #government

Author's Note: This Week's 5 is a weekly collection of stories designed to provide insight into how racism works and serve as an easily accessible resource for people trying to have nuanced discussions about these issues. For more explanation on how This Week's 5 works and descriptions of each of the categories, click here. Overt I’ve never been great with acronyms. Right now, I’m workshopping a variation of KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). Version 1.0 is BIRS, or Blackface Is R

Author's Note: This Week's 5 is a weekly collection of stories designed to provide insight into how racism works and serve as an easily accessible resource for people trying to have nuanced discussions about these issues. For more explanation on how This Week's 5 works and descriptions of each of the categories, click here. Overt School districts get sued for racism often for a reason. There’s only so much shoulder shrugging parents can take when racist teachers keep getting

Author's Note: This Week's 5 is a weekly collection of stories designed to provide insight into how racism works and serve as an easily accessible resource for people trying to have nuanced discussions about these issues. For more explanation on how This Week's 5 works and descriptions of each of the categories, click here. Overt Some white supremacists make a point of covering their tracks. By making their bigotry appear subtle (or even questionable to the untrained eye), th

Author's Note: This Week's 5 is a weekly collection of stories designed to provide insight into how racism works and serve as an easily accessible resource for people trying to have nuanced discussions about these issues. For more explanation on how This Week's 5 works and descriptions of each of the categories, click here. Overt When I started This Week’s 5, I imagined the overt racism section would be the weekly racial slur report. However, white supremacist terrorists have

Author's Note: This Week's 5 is a weekly collection of stories designed to provide insight into how racism works and serve as an easily accessible resource for people trying to have nuanced discussions about these issues. For more explanation on how This Week's 5 works and descriptions of each of the categories, click here. Overt If you want to know how committed white supremacists are, look no further than the Emmett Till Memorial. Vandalized, destroyed, and rebuilt over and

This Week's 5 will be taking a break for the month of October. To everyone who has been reading, commenting, and sharing, thank you. The column will be back in November, strong as ever. In the meantime, while This Week's 5 serves as a weekly recap of specifically curated stories on racism, it also functions as a resource that readers can always revisit. During this mini-sabbatical, please feel free to check out past editions of This Week's 5 in our Opinion archive. #thisweeks