Around 100 Portlanders, including the Portland protest frogs, filled The Old Church’s sanctuary Tuesday night for a forum on political civility. The event, titled Restoring Civility in Chaotic Times, was organized by a coalition of Oregon civic groups, including The Art of Living, Oregon Peace Builders, and Senior Advocates for Generational Equity (SAGE). Cameron Whitten, founder and CEO of the racial justice nonprofit Brown Hope, led the organizing effort. Whitten said the goal of the event was to ease political anxiety and promote solutions to polarization.
Happy International Day of Peace! This holiday is celebrated September 21 every year as an effort to promote nonviolence, ceasefire, and human rights. The United Nations declared the Theme for 2025’s International Day of Peace is Act Now For a Peaceful World. Brown Hope is taking action on this important day by making our Code of Peace publically available, a document we first created for the We Are The Bridge week of action in memory of George Floyd.
Demonstrators marched peacefully through Southeast Portland on Saturday to remember George Floyd. This weekend marks five years since he was murdered by former police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, triggering racial justice rallies across the country — including more than 100 consecutive nights of protests in Portland. “This is the time. There is too much chaos and division and violence happening in our country right now. And it is time for more bridges,” said event organizer Cameron Whitten, founder and CEO of the nonprofit Brown Hope.
A local organization is rallying support for their Black Resilience Fund in honor of Juneteenth. Dozens of businesses have committed to supporting a unique pilot program this holiday weekend - to help transform lives right here in the Portland metro area. “Our mission is to inspire racial healing,” Cameron Whitten, Founder and CEO of Brown Hope, said.
The Black Resilience Fund, dedicated to the healing and resilience of Black Portlanders, presents Juneteenth 2023, a campaign supported by Portland’s small business community to raise awareness and funds for BRF’s new income guarantee initiative.
Participants gathered together for the first time on Tuesday night at Brown Hope, a local nonprofit in Northeast Portland that runs the program.