Skip to main content

New Beginnings

The City of Portland Mayor’s Office is seeking nominations for participants to serve in the Immigrant and Refugee Task Force – the culmination of many months of grassroots work by numerous volunteers, community leaders and individuals who are passionate about bringing equality, fairness and social justice to all Portland residents.
The City of Portland – indeed, all of Oregon – has grown by leaps and bounds in the last decade. The ethnic and racial makeup of the largest population centers in the state has changed dramatically, and will continue to evolve. Consider the following statistics presented at a recent TACS event.


Establishing the city’s first ever Immigrant and Refugee Task Force is a solid first step toward nurturing a culture of inclusiveness throughout the city. It’s encouraging to see that city officials are making a heartfelt and sincere effort to reach out to communities of color – native or foreign-born, immigrants or refugees.
I had an opportunity to talk with Kayse Jama, founder of Center for Intercultural Organizing, one of the core groups working toward raising awareness about unique challenges faced by immigrants and refugees in the city.
Jama credits the tireless efforts of Bridgetown Voices, a grassroots immigrant and refugee-led collaboration empowering immigrants and refugees throughout the region. Volunteers have collaborated to develop a unified voice, advocate for their rights, and create an environment in which they are recognized and supported as valued residents of our city. The group’s work has been instrumental in bringing about the City of Portland Immigration Resolution, essentially “a progressive position on federal immigration reform, acknowledging the need for a realistic and comprehensive approach that provides a path to citizenship, addresses the immigration backlog to unify families, and provides a safe, legal and orderly avenue for migrant workers to enter the U.S. and benefit from worker protections.”
There’s a lot of work that needs to be done, but Portland is a city rich with people who come from various cultural and ethnic pasts and presents. There’s a lot of vitality among the diverse communities that call Portland their home. For example, Cambodian-Americans in Oregon are a flourishing civic force – a well-organized and close-knit group of volunteers have helped the Cambodian-American Community of Oregon achieve many accomplishments in such a short period of time.

CACO is a volunteer-driven organization whose primary mission is to provide opportunities for Cambodian-American youths and their families. Members maintain close ties to their native Cambodia, and do much to give back. Success of CACO in drumming up support for various programs has drawn the attention of foundations and grants programs, including the Asian Reporter Foundation. Volunteer-led efforts have been successful at lending a helping hand serve hundreds of needy children in Cambodia and supplying soccer uniforms to Afghanistan. In 2006, community members also helped advocate for a child of Cambodian refugees who, because of cultural barriers and misunderstandings, was taken away from her family and placed in a foster home.

Attending the group’s fourth annual Khmer Heritage Night, it’s easy to see why the community has come a long way from the trials they endured under the oppressive Khmer Rouge regime. Kilong Ung, president, summed up the core strength of the community in an e-mail to community members thanking them for another successful year: “You are not alone because you are part of the community which is made up of people who care. There is nothing we cannot do as a community; lean on one another.”

There is wisdom in that sentiment for all who call Portland home – regardless of race, ethnic background and socioeconomic status. The work ahead involves forging alliances and partnerships across many cultures, seeing the big picture of the wayforward for the City of Portland. In my opinion, the goal is to establish a solid foundation upon which we can build confidence across all communities, so we may nurture relationships that are respectful, personal, trusting and more importantly, accountable.

Pictured below, Mayor Tom Potter and wife Karin present the Khmer Heritage Month proclamation to the Cambodian-American Community of Oregon. In the background are Sinou Tauch and Kilong Ung.




Popular posts from this blog

Lucky Tomorrow: Stories

Deborah Jiang-Stein's debut collection of short stories explores the lives of people who are often overlooked. From flower street vendors to families torn apart by ambition, to a woman on death row awaiting redemption amidst a tumult of memories, Jiang-Stein vividly depicts their struggles. Each story is set in various cities where she has lived: Seattle, Minneapolis, and Tokyo. While these settings differ, they share a common indifference toward human suffering. In "Lucky Tomorrow, " each vignette offers a glimpse into harsh realities that are often difficult to confront, yet are grounded in the lived experiences of those frequently unseen and cast aside. The stories convey powerful themes of longing and fleeting hopes for fresh starts that may never arrive. Although the themes are specific to the characters, they resonate with the universal human experience. As an activist and advocate, Jiang-Stein has made a significant impact through her extensive work with women...

Memento - Embracing the Darkness

Dennis "Dizzy" Doan Stories about overcoming and persevering through family dysfunction, poverty, and mental health challenges offer hope and the promise of better days. Dennis “Dizzy” Doan’s memoir Memento: Embracing the Darkness is one such story, with the added complexity of being raised in an immigrant Vietnamese family. Doan’s parents dealt with the mental and emotional aftermath of war, which forcibly uprooted them from their homeland. In the United States, they struggled to create a safe and stable life for their two sons. Doan shares his journey of finding himself, his craft, and eventually a successful tattoo business in Southern California despite personal strife and run-ins with the law. Doan is best known for developing the aesthetic language to combat anti-Asian hate that erupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. His art series titled “Model Minority” went viral, sparking conversation about Asian American identities and harmful stereotypes. In Memento, Doan showcase...

Medicine Wheel for the Planet

Jennifer Grenz, PhD       Working toward ecological healing requires awareness of how Indigenous ancestral knowledge and living ways can complement Western scientific approaches to environmental restoration and protection practices. Dr. Jennifer Grenz (Nlaxa’pamux mixed ancestry) worked for more than two decades as a field researcher and practitioner for environmental nonprofit organizations, where she worked with different levels of government, including First Nations in Canada. "Medicine Wheel for the Planet" compiles Grenz’s most potent realizations about the lack of forward movement in addressing an impending ecological catastrophe.  A warming climate impacts not only human lives but also the natural balance that relies on reciprocal relationships rooted in deep connections to the land. She uses the metaphor of the four directions of the Indigenous “medicine wheel” to invite openness to Indigenous teachings, letting go of colonial narratives, merging lessons f...