Moreau Center Social Justice Programs

Carrina

3/8/24: Emmett Till

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On Friday, March 8th, during the last day of the Civil Rights Immersion we had the privilege of visiting the Emmett Till pilgrimage in Greenwood/Glendora/Sumner, Mississippi. Emmett Till’s story inspired many social and justice activists, including Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat on the bus. In an immersive experience, we learned about Emmett Till’s story by visiting key places that played a significant role, such as Bryant’s Grocery & Meat Market, the Black Bayou Bridge, the Interpretative Center Museum, and the courthouse. Emmitt Till’s story is incredibly powerful and has left a lasting impact on my life by empowering me to stand up and advocate for those who are unheard and unjustly mistreated.

– Elena Mulul

3/6/24: “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in” – Rosa Parks

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On Wednesday morning, we departed from Montgomery to visit the last of the three cities in Alabama, Birmingham.

Our first stop that day was the City Hall where we met with Mayor Woodfin’s department of Racial Equity and Social Justice. There we were greeted by a few of their staff that gave their time to talk to us about what they have worked on since the mayor created the division along with other staff who walked by to say hi to us. A few of the things they mentioned to us was the PEACE Act which focused on police accountability and creating a better connection with citizens, civic engagement classes that last for 7 weeks and collaborate with police departments, and Birmingham Promise which gives financial support to students to attend a university in Alabama. We also talked about how Redlining has been an issue for a long time. One side effect of these almost-century-old maps that might not be known are health implications. One way that these side effects have been shown in the community is by the fact that minority women have the highest maternal issues. Another issue that they have to navigate is the fact that Birmingham has Dillon Rule, bills have to pass through the state capitol, and that has been a barrier for progress. Something that I thought was really great on the mayor’s behalf was that he has his Thursdays free for anyone in the community to chat with him for 15 minutes about anything that they want to, and that showed to me how much he wants to listen to the people he impacts the most.

Next, we paid a visit to Kelly Ingram Park. There they had a listening tour that you could hear by calling the number provided. There were monuments and statues remembering the events that had occurred in the 60s. The bombing of 16th street church which killed 4 little girls, the children’s march which was attacked by dogs and fire hoses before arresting hundreds of children, racial discrimination in surrounding white owned businesses, and much more. The statues and monuments in the park had very animate expressions and it seemed surreal to me that we were standing in the same place where those events had happened only a few decades ago.

Our last stop in Birmingham was the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. The experience felt like a story of black history in the United States that you could walk through. It gave an idea of what it was like to be a person of color during the Jim Crow era. There were exhibits visualizing standard of living differences, segregation practices of “colored” and “white” facilities, freedom riders’ bus replica, Civil Rights heroes especially Dr. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, and A.G. Gaston. There is so much to learn about when it comes to how the Civil Rights movement began and how necessity and courage fueled everyone’s drive for permanent change in the name of social justice.

– Cristopher Diaz

3/5/24: Selma

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Upon arriving in Selma, we had anticipated a simple day of museum visits and learning about the historic Selma to Montgomery Marches of 1965. However, our experience surpassed expectations as we embarked on an immersive journey guided by our tour leader. Transported back to the years spanning 1526 to 1867, we were deeply moved as we attempted to walked in the shoes of individuals of color. This day, above all else, left a profound emotional impact on myself and my fellow travelers. Reflecting on our experience, words failed some, evoking feelings of disgust and anger, yet ultimately leaving us all motivated to confront the ongoing racism in our world.

Amelie Polk

3/5/24 – Eloheh Farms

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We woke up bright and early today to prepare to visit Eloheh Farms.

As we learned the previous night, Eloheh Farms is an indigenous owned regenerative farm. What this means is that they use organic, non-gmo, open pollinated seeds which are then stored and kept to be replanted.

Eloheh is a Cherokee word which means harmony, wholeness, abundance, and peace. All of which are values which the owners, Randy and Edith Woodley, embody in their day-to-day lives. They’re truly such loving, welcoming people, and it was an honor to get to hear from them. One thing Randy said that stuck with me was how he believes indigenous practices, the ones used by the original caretakers of our land, are instrumental in helping to restore a hurting mother Earth, a perspective which I found insightful.

After getting a tour of the farm, we spilt up to work on the farm. Some tasks we accomplished included helping build a coop house, make compost, snip poison oak, or pull out Himalayan blackberry roots in my case. Some of the blackberry were growing right under the fence so it was difficult to get out, but you could say I got right to the root of the issue and preserved.

We finished with questions, getting to view their rather impressive seed collection, and reflection. All-in-all, the day felt highly successful, and I think I can speak for everyone when I say we learned a lot on the farm.

P.S. Shout out to the cats on the farm, they were the real stars of the show.

Grace Ireland

3/4/24: Artivism, Hoyt Arboretum, and Broken Treaties

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Today we met with J’reyesha and Santi at the Student Commons at PCC. We were formally introduced to each of them, their history in the environmental activism scene, what their current occupations were, and how they approach environmental Justice in communities around Portland. Specifically, they introduced to us Artivism, which is the use of art as a means to promote activism. J’reyesha highlighted a few of the projects she helped coordinate, such as the painting of electrical boxes to help brighten up communities. Afterwards, they introduced the activity we did, which were zines. Zines are a collection of different text and images to display particular message. Each of us created a singular page for our own zine using a variety of different magazines, focusing on what environmental activism meant to us. Once everyone finished, we glued each of our pages to the zine layout to finalize our art. 

After meeting with J’reyesha and Santi, we went to the Hoyt Arboretum to go on a hike. We encountered a variety of interesting plant life, including the only redwood to produce pinecones in the western hemisphere. 

Later in the day, we watched the documentary “Broken Treaties”. The documentary covered the extensive history of the colonization of indigenous Americans in the Pacific Northwest by White Americans and the American government. The documentary covered the numerous treaties in which indigenous tribes gave up their tribal land in exchange for resources and commodities. The resources and commodities were never provided due to the treaties never being ratified in Congress. Thus, indigenous American groups, tribes, or nations were forcefully migrated to unwanted land with no resources or commodities to help them survive.

Brandon Pham

3/3/24: The Braided River Campaign

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Today was the first day of the immersion and we got to spend the day with Sarah Taylor. She is a founder of the Braided River Campaign, as well as a midwife and a retired principal. 

Learning about the history of the development of the river was very interesting. I didn’t know that the Willamette River was originally a braided river with many shallow branches and nearby ponds that supported the local indigenous tribes. However, it was altered to be a deep, single channel river. Furthermore, the heavy industrial infrastructure that has been built up has severely polluted the river and contaminated much of the riverbed’s sediment, making it harmful to swim or eat many of the river organisms. 

It was also cool to see the gallery that Sarah Taylor and the Braided River Campaign created in the Lloyd Center. The gallery is full of the stories of many local marginalized people as well as interactive activities that address the local environmental and social justice issues. 

Much of the conversations we had with her have inspired me to try to do more and attempt to get UP more connected with the community and with current environmental justice issues in the area.

-Jenner Easland

3/2/24 – New Orleans

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Care
Open
Volunteering
Emotional
Nonprofit
Assistance
Neighborly
Transformative

Helpful
Others-first
Understanding
Selfless
Empathy

We started off the day volunteering at Covenant House. This organization and location
specifically provides housing for New Orleans youth ages 16-22, no matter the reason. First, we
spent a couple hours going through the donated clothes and sorting out the ones to keep. After
sorting and folding the clothes, we got to take some to hang up in the clothing closet. Then we
got to walk around and do a mini-tour of the building and also discuss Covenant House’s
mission. What stuck with me the most is how open the doors to covenant house are. This place
has no waitlist whatsoever, and is not just a shelter but also a place that provides resources and
support for the youth staying there. For example, some of the things mentioned were job
searches/resume building, connecting with family, food and clothing, healthcare, parenting for
youth who are current or expecting parents, among many others.

Our next activity was visiting an exhibit called The Trail They Blazed. This was a traveling
exhibit that was at the library of the university we stayed with (University of Holy Cross) near
the New Orleans area. It covered multiple events and organizations during the civil rights
movement in New Orleans area from the 50s-70s. The Desire neighborhood at the time became a
hotbed for activism, which led to the formation of the National Committee to Combat Facism
(NCCF), which is associated with the Black Panther Party. The NCCF provided free breakfast
for school kids, political education classes, voting transportation, grocery shopping for elders,
and distributed the Black Panther Party’s newspaper. Another topic the exhibit covered was
boycotts, many of these led by college students my age. They organized sit-ins to desegregate
lunch counters, advertised and led consumer boycotts, despite the risk of expulsion from their university (which unfortunately occurred to many students). Their efforts eventually led to integrated dining and restrooms, fairer hiring practices, and appropriate accommodations being made. Being a college student, this exhibit made me realize how much power we have to make the changes we seek. Now more than ever, it is crucial that we use our voice to speak up for injustice, whether here or the other side of the planet.

Kaylee Gunderson

5/21/2023 – Self-Care Day

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Today was short and sweet in events. We started with going back to IMAN to do some ceramics. For many of us, it was our first time so Ariya, the ceramic studio manager, guided us through. We began by cutting a piece of clay and kneading it to a dense state. We then slapped it onto the pottery wheel. Starting to spin, we pushed against the clay to get it centered, which is easier said than done. Many of us had to repeat this state numerous times but once done, we had to poke our finger on the top of the clay to “enter” and create a hollow inside. Although we couldn’t keep our creations, we still enjoyed the experience of playing and connecting with the clay.

CORE Immersion participants working on ceramics

We headed to Freedom Dream and Chicago Future, an event at the University of Illinois Chicago, where various guests, including the newly elected Mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, were present. The event featured activists and community organizers as guest speakers, who shared their valuable insights on their work and the historical relationship between Chicago and the police force. We got to learn about the selection process and rationale behind the appointment of the new Mayor, which highlighted a strong emphasis on accountability and the shared goal of reducing police-related fatalities in the city of Chicago.

The University of Illinois Chicago Campus
The Freedom Dreams and Chicago Futures event

Introduction to the Inner-City Muslim Action Network

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After spending a day of immersing ourselves in the history and culture of Chicago, we spent Thursday (5/18) getting more localized in the South Side. The two main areas that we found ourselves in today were Chicago Lawn and Englewood, each area with its distinct history and identity. In Chicago Lawn we went to the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN) headquarters where we were able to get a tour of the facilities and the services they provide. As they have expanded in the last years, they have embodied their mission statement by creating a variety of spaces for the holistic care of the individual. With a federally qualified health center, a behavior health center, job training, and arts centers IMAN seeks to empower marginalized communities through their social programs. Due to Gov. Greg Abbott’s decisions surrounding asylum seekers, many find themselves sleeping on the ground inside of Chicago Police Stations. Right now, this is where many of IMAN’s resources are focused whether is by sending their mobile care unit to those stations or providing therapy for those after they have left those conditions. After speaking with Saleem, Ariya, and Abdul-Raheem we gained a deeper understanding of the services offered but also the mission and intention behind offering those services. As individuals are displaced, whether that be through militarization, the justice system, or occupation the trauma and systemic forces that are working against them fuel a cycle that pushes these people into roles that cause more trauma. Saleem says that their work centers on breaking apart this cycle, guided by faith IMAN has multiple programs that seek to do just that. Green Reentry specifically works with those who are reentering society after being incarcerated and puts them through a multi-step process that includes therapy, trades training, and eventually internships and apprenticeships. Abdul-Raheem works with community engagement and safety cultivating a sense of security with the residents around IMAN and those coming in to take part in their services. In the Arts and Culture Department Ariya works as the ceramic studio manager and helps to cultivate a place where people can center and express themselves. After the conversation and tour, we headed East down 63rd towards IMAN’s Go Green Community Fresh Market.

We then had a delicious lunch with Ahmad Jitan, IMAN’s director of organizing, and Ndidi Amatullah Okakpu, director of development. The food was all from IMAN’s Go Green Community Fresh Market, where we were all astonished by the affordability and picked up some groceries on our way out. Our group talked while we ate, practicing making 1:1 connections through conversations about the motivation behind our work. We then listened to Ahmad’s presentation on community organizing. We learned about the Cornerstore Initiative, healing Arab and Black community relationships through conversation, breaking down barriers, and incentivizing access to healthy options amidst a food desert. We were able to discuss a comprehensive overview of community organizing, IMAN’s history, mission statement, and current efforts of their significant recent expansion. There were also cupcakes that were quite yummy.

-Fabian Barba and Shane Ruyle

5/20/2023 – Fajr Prayer with IMAN + Giordano’s Deep-Dish Pizza

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Today we began our morning at 3:45 am to attend IMAN’s Saturday dawn prayer service, Fajr. 

When we arrived at IMAN central, we were greeted by an elder of the community and got to witness him perform a call to prayer in the streets of south side Chicago. While the sun began to rise, we sat in ritualistic prayer with IMAN community members, which was then followed by a cypher. In the cypher, we formed a large circle and one by one offered a prayer to Allah. We each shared our name and one thing we would like group to pray for us. For our group, this moment was incredibly powerful and particularly special. After the cypher, many of the immersion participants stated how attending Fajr helped them feel relaxed and comforted. Over the past few days, we have learned a lot of new things about one another and have grown closer in our mission. Additionally, for many of us, this was our first close experience with the Muslim culture and faith. It is incredible to witness IMAN’s values being reflected in the service and care they offer to their community. After the prayer and cypher, we joined the other attendees over a breakfast meal. This was a great time to meet others in the IMAN community and converse about their experiences of living in Chicago and being part of IMAN. 

We ended the day with dinner at Giordano’s and enjoyed deep dish pizza. This was many of the group’s first time trying the famous Chicago dish. We learned about the history of deep-dish pizza during the presentation night prior to the immersion. We had many laughs, and it was a great time enjoying the company of the group after a long day.  — Mackenzie Thomas-Graves and Betelhem Kefle

CORE Immersion participants at Giordano’s after enjoying deep-dish pizza!