The West Linn Alliance
Celebrating Diversity and Promoting Inclusion
We are neighbors working together with local government, schools, organizations, and businesses to make West Linn a safe and welcoming community for all.
The West Linn Alliance recognizes that we continue to see hate-related incidents in West Linn. We know these incidents are not representative of our community as a whole, and we urge West Linn residents to stand against such actions and promote an environment where all people are welcome in our community. We believe everyone who decides to live or work in our community should be able to do so without being subjected to acts of bias, prejudice, or hate.
Event
Minoru Yasui Day
(Saturday April 1) In 2016 Oregon’s legislature designated March 28 Minoru Yasui Day to honor the state’s only Presidential Medal of Freedom awardee’s tireless fight for equality, justice, democracy, and civil rights. This year the Min Yasui Day program will include a dedication of the Multnomah County jail cell where Yasui spent nine months in solitary confinement fighting for justice for all Americans. This year’s program will also feature reflections on the life and legacy of Min Yasui from Dr. Homer Yasui and Dr. Robin Yasui as well as a panel discussion with Jessica Asai, Weston Koyama, and Anna Reutin on the importance and relevance of Yasui’s work across generations.
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Event
The Making of American Whiteness
(Thursday April 6) The Making of American Whiteness: The Formation of Race in Seventeenth-Century Virginia changes the narrative about the origins of race and Whiteness in America. With an exhaustive range of archival documents, Carmen P. Thompson demonstrates not only that Whiteness predates European expansion to the Americas — as evidenced by European participation in the transatlantic slave trade since the fifteenth century — but, more importantly, that Whiteness was the principal dynamic in the settlement of Virginia, the first colony in what would become the United States of America.
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Event
Supporting Equity-minded Candidates
(Thursday April 13) Join the CCEC Quarterly Meeting, 4:30-6pm. Zoom.
Panel participants will share information on supporting equity-minded candidates. Breakout rooms to follow for discussion.
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Event
Oregon Jewish History And Jews In Clackamas County
(Thursday, April 27) In partnership with the Clackamas County Historical Society (CCHS), Gail Mandel, Deputy Director of the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education (OJMCHE), will deliver a presentation from 7-8pm in the Murdock Gallery. She will provide an overview of the history of Jews in Oregon – where they came from and where they settled – and share the stories of Jewish individuals who lived or worked in Clackamas County.
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Event
Rising Up for Human Dignity: Justice and Repair
Framing Forgiveness
This panel will feature local community leaders who will complicate their quests for Justice, examining the nature of Forgiveness as illustrated in the book, The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limitations of Forgiveness, by Simon Wiesenthal. Panelists will be invited to speak about their journeys to right the historic and current harms suffered by African Americans, Native Americans, Japanese Americans, and survivors of other systemic persecution.
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Opinion
An Orwellian Dilemma
Nine o’clock at night is not when I would hope to be online waiting to deliver a message to our local School Board. Yet there I was, sitting at my desk, waiting for my allotted three minutes to address the Board. It was my first attempt to use their newly available ‘virtual testimony’ system. I reflected that, despite the hour, sitting quietly in my home office was more comfortable than sitting for three hours in the actual meeting.
I was motivated to sign up for public testimony when I realized that the Orwellian dilemma sweeping the nation was now at my doorstep — the Thought Police had arrived.
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Resource
Celebrating Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Literature Fellows
The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) is excited to announce the release of The Larger Voice: Celebrating the Work of Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Literature Fellows. This is the first publication by NACF that highlights the work of many of our National Artist Fellows in literature. Free PDF copies of the book are available here: www.nativeartsandcultures.org/programs/literary-anthology
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Blog – Opinion
Jewish Community Relations Council Condemns Supreme Court Decision Overturning Roe v. Wade – The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation (JCRC) strongly condemns today’s Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning Roe v. Wade, holding that there is no longer a right to abortion under the federal constitution. Access to safe, affordable, and legal abortion and reproductive health care is a priority for JCRC. We are outraged by this decision, which we do not believe represents the will of the people nor is in the best interest of the country.
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Blog – Clackamas County Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Council
We want our members to know that Clackamas County has an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Council.
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