West Linn Alliance

Clackamas County's Indigenous Peoples Day Celebration
2022-10-09 11:00 - 15:00 UTC | OR
Indigenous Peoples Day Celebration will take place on Sunday, October 9, 2022.
Clackamas Community College in the Environmental Learning Center, 21 Inskeep Drive, Oregon City 97045
This year Clackamas County will hold an in-person celebration of Indigenous history and culture. Immerse yourself in Indigenous Peoples Day with food, music, storytelling, and vendors. This vibrant cultural event will feature:

Sisters Fry Bread
Loom with a.c. ramírez
Storytelling with Darlene Foster and Ed Edmo
Flutist, Jan Michael Looking Wolf
Red Lodge Transition Services Master Recycling
Free books with Libraries in Clackamas County (LINCC)
A variety of Indigenous artists selling handmade creations
Scavenger Hunt for youth

What It Takes to Migrate
2022-09-22 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
The West Linn Alliance and West Linn Public Library are pleased to host a free online presentation and facilitated discussion on Thursday, September 22. The topic is:

What It Takes to Migrate
Registration Link: https://calendly.com/wlpl-programs/wla-sep-2022

Not every refugee fleeing violence in Central America gains asylum in the U.S. The work of several U.S. attorneys involved in providing legal support to asylum seekers is documented in a new film, Las Abogadas: Attorneys on the Front Lines of the Migrant Crisis. (West Coast premiere is at the Portland Film Festival this October.) Learn firsthand from the attorneys and the film’s producer about one migrant family’s quest for safety. Discussion follows.
Here is a link to the trailer of the film. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLafqoDcJF8

About the Speakers
Rebecca Eichler has over 20 years of experience practicing immigration law in the Washington DC area and providing disaster legal aid around the world, working with clients seeking protection under U.S. and international law. In fall 2018, she spearheaded central Mexico’s legal aid response to the migrant caravans, providing individual consultations and know-your-rights presentations to hundreds of migrants on what to expect at the border. She currently lives and works in Mexico as a human rights advocate, advising deportees from the U.S, migrants in transit, and asylum seekers at the U.S. border. Her work is documented in the film.
Careen Shannon, executive producer of the film, is an attorney, writer, and former law professor who has focused on U.S. immigration law and policy for nearly 30 years. She is the co-author of several books, and the author of hundreds of articles, about immigration law and global migration. She has made numerous trips to the U.S.-Mexico border to provide pro bono legal services to immigrant families held by the U.S. government in detention camps in New Mexico and Texas. She also sits on the Board of Directors of Safe Passage Project, a New York-based nonprofit that provides free lawyers to immigrant youth, as well as the Latin American Relief Fund which supports Albergue ABBA, a migrant shelter in central Mexico.
Laura Seltzer-Dunn, social impact producer for the film, produces social issue and historical documentaries featuring unsung heroes and the people they help. Laura has produced many stories about migration, the plight of refugees, and their efforts to resettle. She is an award-winning PBS documentary and educational filmmaker. With her latest PBS film, Nobody Wants Us, about Holocaust refugees, she has taken outreach and audience engagement to a new level, creating a robust social impact strategy that includes nonprofit, film festival, and university screenings, as well as the creation of a middle school curriculum.

Lake Oswego 2022 Cultural xChange
2022-09-18 12:00 - 20:00 | Millennium Plaza Park, 200 First Street, Lake Oswego, OR, 97034, United States
Join in a full-day festival that celebrates the diversity of our community. Channeling the feeling of a bustling market abroad, the event showcases different cultures through traditional dance and music performances, artisan vendors, food vendors, nonprofit groups, and more. Festivities take place at Millennium Plaza Park with performances at two stages throughout the day. There will be many unique vendors to visit and a wine & beer garden too!
(More Information)

CCEC Quarterly Meeting - community safety and the history of policing.
2022-09-15 16:30 - 18:00 | Online
The Clackamas County Equity Coalition will hold its quarterly meeting on:
Thursday, September 15, 2022
4:30 pm
Guest speaker and local pastor, Aric Clark, will offer an information session on community safety and the history of policing. Breakout discussions to follow.
Register: https://bit.ly/3cGJLaG

Freedom to Read
2022-09-06 18:30 - 20:30 | Online
Response to Racism LO is holding a community event entitled – Freedom to Read: What’s at Stake. Attacks on school and public libraries around the country are on the rise, with vocal minorities seeking to control what others can read. The acquisition of knowledge is perceived as a danger by some who see exposure to ideas they disagree with as unacceptable. The expansion of individual awareness and intellectual horizons through reading is at stake.
Register at: respondtoracism.org
(This is a virtual event)

Resolving Hate in America: A Group Discussion
2022-06-23 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
The West Linn Alliance, in partnership with the West Linn Public Library, is pleased to host a discussion on Resolving Hate in America.
Location: Online
Event Registration: https://calendly.com/wlpl-programs/resolving?month=2022-06
Date: June 23, 7:00-8:30 pm
Week after week we witness more massacres of Americans in shopping malls, grocery stores, places of worship, streets, and schools.
Last June, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas told the Senate that the greatest domestic threat is homegrown terrorism from “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists,” specifically white supremacists. Last September, FBI Director Christopher Wray told a Senate committee that “lone actors” are our greatest threat. The most recent report by the Southern Poverty Law Center, tracking over 1,600 U.S. hate groups, states that the extremist ideas mobilizing these groups “now operate more openly in the political mainstream.”
So how can we resolve some of this hatred and violence and restore a modicum of civility?
We have much to learn from the life story of German-born, former neo-Nazi TM Garret, who now lives in Memphis. In a 2021 interview with C-SPAN host Bill Scanian, he explains why he got involved with white supremacists, why he turned away, and how he is now dedicating his life to helping people move out of the rut of hatred. This interview will be the basis for our online, facilitated discussion.
Link to the C-SPAN interview: https://www.c-span.org/video/?508578-4/washington-journal-tm-garret-discusses-white-supremacy-domestic-terrorism

Oregon Rises Above Hate
2022-05-14 10:00 - 21:00 | OR
Join together to celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month and the AANHPI (Asian, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander) community in its resilience and commitment to combat the continued rise of anti-Asian hate.
12:00-600pm
Cultural heritage institutions will be open for free to encourage exploration of AANHPI culture & history, including Japanese American Museum of Oregon, Lan Su Chinese Garden, Oregon Historical Society, Oregon Jewish Museum, Portland Chinatown Museum, and others.
6:00-9:00pm
Vigil and memorial at Lan Su Chinese Garden to honor those that came before us and those that we have lost during the pandemic, featuring Michael Looking Wolf’s land blessing, Fear No Music’s concert, Chinese calligraphy demonstration, and floating lantern release at dusk.
Read more…

Unraveling Othering
2022-05-14 09:30 - 12:00 | Online
This free online workshop, co-sponsored by the West Linn Alliance and the West Linn Public Library, focuses on our perception of others, some of which is rooted in our biology and some of which is rooted in our cultural experience. Through mindful writing and other activities, we will come to know more about our encounters with “the other” and experiences of being viewed as “the other” in a creative, safe zone.
Registration is required for planning purposes: REGISTER

About the Facilitator
Tamara Gilbert, owner of Creative Openings, is an expressive arts facilitator and communications consultant. A Brown University graduate, Ms. Gilbert earned her MA in Dance Ethnology from UCLA. She has taught dance/movement for over 20 years and has earned numerous awards for her creative work in the field of environmental communications. Since graduating from Tamalpa Institute, Ms. Gilbert uses a holistic approach to expressive arts to help groups tap into their creativity and build community.

Jewish Community Relations Council Gubernatorial Candidate Forum
2022-05-12 12:00 - 13:00 | OR
Join the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland for their third Gubernatorial Candidate Forum. This is an opportunity to hear from Republican candidate and former Oregon House Minority Leader Christine Drazan.
REGISTER

WLA Outreach Committee Meeting
2022-05-09 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
The West Linn Alliance holds regular monthly meetings to plan our community outreach activities and to share progress on the implementation of our strategic plan. Everyone is welcome to attend.
The next meeting takes place on May 9, 7:00-8:30pm.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84527977706?pwd=[REDACTED]

Including All Abilities: A Panel Discussion
2022-04-28 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
The West Linn Alliance is pleased to partner with the West Linn Public Library for a virtual panel discussion about including people of all abilities in our community.
Date: April 28
Time: 7:00 to 8:30pm
REGISTER
After being signed into law on July 26, 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guaranteed that people with disabilities would have the same access as anyone else to employment, transportation, public education, and other government programs. Although much progress has been made, there is still room for improvement. Our four panelists will share their personal stories with time for questions after the presentation. Closed captioning will be provided.
Panelists

Scott Hatley, mobility impaired, Executive Director of Incight
Bill House, parent of adult child with Rett Syndrome, Director of Archean Enterprises
Katy Mawson, hearing impaired, audiologist with Pacific Audiology
Emily Purry, vision impaired, principal of Purry Consultants

Tools of Survival: Tribal Education, Relationships, and Sovereignty in Oregon
2022-04-21 12:00 - 13:30 | Online
Since the early 1800s, Native peoples in the place that became Oregon have used a variety of tools to resist genocide and cultural erasure. The US government and the dominant culture have employed practices including land theft, violence, boarding schools, political and economic discrimination, and termination policy in repeated attempts to destroy tribes and their cultures. Because of the power of Native resistance, those attempts have failed. Today, tribes in Oregon are working to heal from the centuries of trauma while forming relationships with and educating non-Native organizations, students, and neighbors about the histories, cultures, and governments of their people. Join us for a discussion with Lisa Watt and Brent Spencer about what Tribes have been forced to do to survive and how they are utilizing education, relationships, and sovereignty to maintain their cultures and benefit the broader community today.
Presented in partnership by Never Again Coalition, Oregon Historical Society, Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, Portland State University’s Holocaust and Genocide Studies Project, WorldOregon, The Immigrant Story, Japanese American Museum of Oregon, Portland Chinatown Museum, Five Oaks Museum, Native Arts and Culture Foundation
REGISTER

Jewish Community Relations Council Gubernatorial Candidate Forum
2022-04-21 12:00 - 13:00 | OR
Join the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland for their second Gubernatorial Candidate Forum for an opportunity to hear from former Oregon Senator Betsy Johnson. Betsy is running for governor as an independent leader unaffiliated with any political party. After her presentation, she will take questions from the attendees. The final Forum will give you the chance to meet the Republican candidates (date TBD).
REGISTER

Resisting Cultural Erasure in America
2022-04-07 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
Ethnocide, a word first coined in 1944 by Jewish exile Raphael Lemkin (who also coined the term “genocide”), describes the systemic erasure of a people’s ancestral culture. Just as the concept of genocide radically reshaped our perception of human rights in the twentieth century, reframing discussions about race and culture in terms of ethnocide can change the way we understand our diverse and rapidly evolving racial and political climate today. Join us for a conversation with author Barrett Holmes Pitner and historian Jennifer Fang on ethnocide in America, and its particular impacts on Black and Chinese Americans, who have endured that erasure for generations. Pitner and Fang will discuss the personal lived consequences of existing within an ongoing erasure—and how to combat it.
Presented in partnership by Never Again Coalition, Oregon Historical Society, Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, Portland State University’s Holocaust and Genocide Studies Project, WorldOregon, The Immigrant Story, Japanese American Museum of Oregon, Portland Chinatown Museum, Five Oaks Museum, Native Arts and Culture Foundation
REGISTER

Jewish Community Relations Council Gubernatorial Candidate Forum
2022-03-29 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
Join the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland for their Gubernatorial Candidate Forum-Democrat Edition for an opportunity to hear from State Treasurer Tobias Read (7:00-7:40 pm) and former Speaker Tina Kotek (7:45-8:30 pm). Each will present separately and then take questions from the community. Forums to meet the Independent and Republican candidates coming soon.

REGISTER

Refugee Restart Kits - Collection day
2022-03-27 10:30 - 13:00, 2022-03-26 09:00 - 12:00, 2022-03-03 08:00 - 17:00 | OR
West Linn Lutheran Church Lower Entrance – 20390 Willamette Drive

March Program: Can We Get Along?
2022-03-24 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
West Linn Alliance is pleased to host the Oregon Humanities program, Can We Get Along?
This virtual event will be held on March 24, 7:00-8:30 pm
Chisao Hata will open the program with a presentation followed by small group discussions.
Event Registration Link: https://calendly.com/wlpl-programs/get-along?month=2022-03
Rodney King’s iconic question still resonates today. Despite decades of social justice movements, police brutality and divisions persist in the United States. COVID-19 has only added more challenges. How can we connect to each other during these times? What holds us back from connecting with each other? How do our personal experiences contribute to barriers, or have the potential to break them down? Join facilitator Chisao Hata as she holds space to examine individual questions on race, cultural values, and what brings us together and what separates us.

Refugee Restart Kits - Collection day
2022-03-20 10:30 - 13:00, 2022-03-19 09:00 - 12:00, 2022-03-13 10:30 - 13:00, 2022-03-12 09:00 - 12:00, 2022-03-06 10:30 - 13:00, 2022-03-05 09:00 - 12:00 | OR
West Linn Lutheran Church Lower Entrance 20390 Willamette Drive

Outreach Committee Meeting
2022-03-14 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
The West Linn Alliance Outreach Committee will meet on March 14, 7:00-8:30 pm.
The meeting will be online over Zoom.
Zoom Link: TBA
Agenda: TBA

Refugee Restart Kits - Collection day
2022-03-11 14:00 - 17:30 | OR
West Linn Library – Community Rm.
1595 Burns Street

Disinformation, Misinformation, and Fake News
2022-03-10 16:30 - 18:00 | Online
Jane Littlefield
Clackamas County Equity Coalition is pleased to present a workshop on March 10, exploring ‘Disinformation, Misinformation, and Fake News‘
The program is presented in partnership with Jane Littlefield from Clackamas Community College.
The West Linn Alliance is a supporting member of the CC Equity Coalition.
Date & Time: Thursday March 10, 4:30-6:00 pm
Location: Virtual Meeting – Online
Registration: https://forms.gle/g8QxaavFJepvVMj48
Information can be used for freedom and information can be used for oppression. The same can be said for the systems and structures we use to access, create, share, restrict, and withhold information. During this free community presentation, we will explore one phenomenon within the information landscape – misinformation and disinformation – and its impact on equity in our lives.
We invite you to learn how you can better identify mis- and disinformation, how to respond to folks who believe or spread false information, and how you can strengthen your equitable practice as an information consumer and creator. In the breakout rooms that follow, you’ll have a chance to apply your new knowledge and reflect upon how mis- and disinformation show up and impact equity in your communities.
“Fake News” What is it?

Sorting through the vast amount of information created and shared online is challenging even for experts. This guide defines terms including and related to “fake news” while offering resources and information to avoid both reading and sharing it.
These are important information evaluation skills that you’ll use for the rest of your life. The more aware you are of what false information is and how it spreads, the better you will be at avoiding it yourself – and helping your friends and family do the same.

Fake news is a problem. Fake news stories are ubiquitous – everywhere – in the information water we swim in. Current events around COVID-19, social justice, elections, public schooling, healthcare, and many more are all impacted by fake news, as are the choices individuals, families, and communities make based on misleading or fabricated information.
Fake news can hurt you.

You deserve the truth. You are smart enough to make up your own mind – as long as you have real facts in front of you. You have every right to be insulted when you read fake news: you are being lied to by someone or something looking to benefit off of your error in judgement.
Fake news destroys your credibility. If your arguments are built on bad information, it will be much more difficult for people to believe you in the future.
Fake news can hurt you, and a lot of other people. Purveyors of fake and misleading medical advice like Mercola.com and NaturalNews.com help perpetuate myths like HIV and AIDS aren’t related, or that vaccines cause autism. These sites are heavily visited and their lies are dangerous.
Real news can benefit you. If you want to buy stock in a company, you want to read accurate articles about that company so you can invest wisely. If you are planning on voting in an election, you want to read as much good information on a candidate so you can vote for the person who best represents your ideas and beliefs. Fake news will not help you make money or make the world a better place, but real news can.

We hope you will join us for this timely workshop.

Film Discussion Group: How Racism Harms White Americans
2022-02-24 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
The West Linn Alliance February film discussion will review the film How Racism Harms White Americans
Running Time: 46 min
Year: 2013
Kanopy Link: https://westlinnoregon.kanopy.com/video/how-racism-harms-white-americans
Registration Link: https://calendly.com/wlpl-programs/feb2022-discussion
What is the cost of racism on American society? Distinguished historian John H. Bracey Jr., professor in the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst since 1972, offers a provocative analysis of the devastating economic, political, and social effects of racism on white Americans. Focusing beyond white power and privilege, Bracey turns his lens on the high price that white people, especially working-class whites, have paid for more than two centuries of divisive race-based policies and attitudes.
This includes:

the pivotal role slavery played in the American Revolution,
the two million white Americans who died in a civil war fought over the question of slavery,
how business owners took advantage of the segregation of America’s first labor unions and used low-wage, non-unionized black workers to undercut the bargaining power of white workers,
and why Americans do not enjoy the benefits of a national health care system as other European countries have for over a century.

Bracey’s key theme is that failing to acknowledge the centrality of racism not only minimizes the suffering of black people, but also blinds us to how white people have been harmed as well. Well-chosen historical imagery underscores the film’s compelling narrative. A central question for the film discussion is How can our society learn from the past and move toward a more equitable future?

Outreach Committee Meeting
2022-02-14 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
The West Linn Alliance Outreach Committee is meeting on February 14, 7:00 – 8:30 pm. This monthly meeting focuses on strategic planning for our organization.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85433522529?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 854 3352 2529
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Agenda
Minutes

Next Meeting – March 14, 2022

Updates

Review of January presentation

February Presentation

February 24
Website and Facebook
Email list
Theme questions
Introduction and facilitators

March Presentation

March 24
Oregon Humanities Program
How to present and register for program

April Presentation

Disabilities Program
Format
Presentation Platform

Refugee Care Kits

Update on progress

Education Committee

Strategic Plan

Continuing discussion

Speakers Series

BIPOC Women’s Speaker Series
Possibility of moving dates

Miscellaneous

Did anyone attend the school district summit?
Review the sign-up sheet for facilitator and scribe
Mary’s Woods Annual MLK event – January 15
