WEBVTT

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music

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So a long time ago, when I was 14 years old, 

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I used to love getting an allowance. I used to love just sitting around the house and

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letting Mom and Dad go out and do all of the adulting kind of things and I didn't have to worry about it.

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Never would I have considered showing up on a Saturday for free

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playing in front of adults for a serious "issue"

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of Black History Month, so would you thank the band?

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applause

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Yeah I did that.

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My name is Pastor Frank Morris. I've been a resident of Oregon

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for 30 years and that's nearly half my life.

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I have seen this community do a lot of things and do very little.

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I have seen this community try to do

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various things and succeeded very little.

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It is one of those things we're taking an opportunity for a month.

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To recognize Black people in our own community, in our own nation.

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It's an honor to stand in front of each every one of you.

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Join me in a moment of prayer.

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Father God, each and every one of us here comes with an opinion,

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each and every one of us comes with an insight, each and every one of us comes here with a personal truth.

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Let us share our ideas, let us share our visions, but most of all,

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let us share truth and love one to another.

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Next, we're going to have the Land Acknowledgement.

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Following the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855, Kalapuya people

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were forcibly removed to the reservations in Western Oregon.

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Today, living descendants of these people are part of the Confederated Tribes

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of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians."

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Subnote:

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My father was just here and gave us a history lesson

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and there are 142 treaties written in the United States of America

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for Native Americans.

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Can you guess how many have been broken? 142.

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Can you guesswho broke them? The US government.

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One of the things as we're standing here and we're celebrating and everything else,

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don't forget where you stand

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and don't forget upon what you're standing.

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Gosh, I'm gonna, okay I'm gonna take some time.

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Oregon was established as a free Black, or free White state.

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That meant no slaves could come into this state.

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That meant if you were Black, you needed to leave this state.

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That meant if you were married to a White person, once a year

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you were taken to the town center and beaten 

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until you chose to leave the state.

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When some of my friends, and this is the characteristic of Oregon,

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when some of my friends found that out at BiMart, they thought it would be fun

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to take me out to the center of town and beat me.

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And I suggested that they don't do it.

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We need to understand where we are.

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What kind of place this is. This is a free, White state. 

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It wasn't intended for Black folks

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and we just happen to roll in and be here.

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There's a law, was a law in Dallas, I don't know if it's still in the books, 

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as a Black person, I had to have a $5 bill in my wallet.

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If it was less than $5, I was a vagrant. If it was more than $5, I was a thief

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and could be put in jail.

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These are the things that we're talking about. Though they seem subtle,

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they affect me every day. 

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I got to do, we went to Minnesota, I got to marry one of my family members there.

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While we were there, we got to go by the Black, the George Floyd Memorial.

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If you can imagine, in front of Rick's Place, a mural on the wall.

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Flowers, crosses, candles, and somebody died there.

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with a knee upon them while we videotaped.

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That's what the George Floyd Memorial looked like.

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And in that midst of that moment, I cried,

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but I had to keep moving cause you're in the city square and everything else.

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When I came back here, this is gonna make me cry.

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hesitation

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On the one year anniversary in our town center

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we had a memorial for George Floyd and during it I gave a cardboard testimony which means I don't speak.

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I got down on one knee and held up cardboard that had written on it,

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the words that were spoken while George Floyd was held on the ground. Nine and a half minutes.

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And the words were like, "Come on man, can't you see he's moving? Should we let him up? Should we turn him over?

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He deserves it. This is what you get."

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And during that nine and a half minutes, during that time I was standing there, the people I go to church with,

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had a bible study and didn't come out to find out what was going on.

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This is the town I live in.

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These are the things I face and I ask you to help me.

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I am terrified at times to go outside my door.

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I am terrified at times to tell you the truth.

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When Obama was elected president, I didn't get to celebrate.

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I had to be quiet.

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Cause all the people around me were really mad.

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That's why we have this history. 

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That's why we have this month. That's why we have this time together.

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So we're going get back to the anthem

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I'm gonna quit talking for a moment

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I apologize, no I don't. I'm so tired to apologizing.

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I am glad you got to share my tears and my pain.

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I have tears, I have pain. I need your help.

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I need union with each and every one of you.

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Please, join me in fighting racism.

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Done. Alright, come on out guys.

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music: "Lift Every Voice and Sing" 

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Grace Berdette singing: lift every voice and sing

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Till earth and heaven ring

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Ring with the harmonies of Liberty

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Let our rejoices rise

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High as the listening skies

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Let it resound loud as the rolling sea

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Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us

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Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought

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Facing the rising sun of a new day begun

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Let us march on till victory is won

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acapella: Let us march on till victory is won

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applause

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Pastor Frank: I forgot to put on my mask, I'm sorry.

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I say that to my wife.

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Interim Present Jay Kenton, last time

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laughs

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last time we were here, I mentioned that he's interim, which means

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he really doesn't have, you know, do that much right now. He can kind of pass through.

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There's nothing going on. Everything's fine.

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And then I make fun how it isn't as easy being an adult

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and he's got it fully sitting on his shoulders.

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There's opportunity right now in this university to do a whole lot of things.

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We're coming out of two years, two and a half years of, "What the heck was that?"

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and in the midst of coming out of it,

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a format, a level field, a solid foundation can be set

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and this guy, is the guy that has to do it.

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So welcome, the interim president Western Oregon University

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who has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders.

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President Jay Kenton: Thank you Paster Morris

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and welcome to Western Oregon University

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and to the closing event to for our Black History month celebration.

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I again want to thank the city of Monmouth for co sponsoring this event.

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Perhaps we need to remember our common humanity.

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The fact that in the end, we are more alike than we are different.

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The villains are rare as the true heroes.

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Why is there so much hate in today's world?

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Are we born this way?

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No, hate is taught and passed down to generation to generation.

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Hate feeds off fear

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and before we know it, we're in the exact situation that we find ourselves today.

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woah

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But the silver lining is that we can change this, we can educate ourselves.

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We can help educate each other.

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There is no better time than right now to start.

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I wanna read some of the lyrics to one of my favorite musicians Stevie Wonder's, "Love's in Need of Love Today."

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And I wanna thank Elisa Maroney for suggesting this as I was looking around for something

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to talk about today.

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The song goes as follows: "Good morn or evening friends

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Here's your friendly announcer

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I have serious news to pass on to everybody

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What I'm about to say

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Could change the world's disaster

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Could change your joy and laughter

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to tears and pain

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It's that love's in need of love today

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Don't delay, send yours in right away

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Hate's goin' 'round breakin' many hearts

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Stop it please, before it's gone too far

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The force of evil plans to make you its possession

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And it will if we let it destroy everybody

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We must all take precautionary measures, if love and peace you treasure,

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then you'll hear me when I say, that love's in need of love today

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Don't delay, send yours in right away

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Hate's goin' 'round breakin' many hearts. Stop it, please, before it's gone too far."

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Thank you for coming today.

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I wanna conclude briefly

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because I'm really looking forward to hearing from some of our amazing faculty, staff, and students and other speakers.

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But please spread the joy through love

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and fight the hate present in today's world.

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Working together, let's make the world a better place for all.

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Thank you all very much.

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Pastor Frank: Jon Carey, part of the City Council here in Monmouth.

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Sometimes we look at somebody and, all the time, we look at somebody and we already know what they're like.

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We look at somebody and we see their skin color, we see how tall they are, how fat they are,

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male, female, we all got it figured out.

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And one of the things reading about Jon Carey that you don't know that's important to know is

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he nearly died.

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And if it was not for somebody else reaching into the car,

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putting themselves in danger,

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he would not be here today.

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One of the things that we kinda dismiss is miracles.

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One of the things we dismiss is, "It happened to them. It'll never happen to me."

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Because of his experience of somebody reaching into the car and pulling him out and saving his bacon,

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he's going to reach into our lives. Part of his work in the City Counsel is to save lives. 

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Is to give opportunity to people in the community and everything else. 

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Jon Carey was in a car crash. The car caught on fire and they pulled him out in time.

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So when you see this man come up here

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see a survivor, someone who needed somebody else's

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help, assistance, full commitment to save him

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and realize this is his commitment to us.

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Jon Carey.

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Jon Carey: Thanks for sparing us the graphic details of that auto accident.

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I am, and I appreciate you acknowledging that.

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Very fortunate because 

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had and unexplained loss of consciousness and were it not for a 

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actually a Lincoln County sheriff coming to Western Oregon to participate in a Criminal Justice Day

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happened to see me drive off the road.

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You know, had the training and courage and did pull me out and so

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aside from a wrist that doesn't work very well and a bit of limp,

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I'm in good shape and I haven't thought of that for a while,

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Frank, but thank you.

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Good afternoon folks, and as Frank said I'm Jon Carey.

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I am a member of the Monmouth City Council and by virtue of

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being there for a while I am the council president.

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and today I'm representing our Mayor Cec Koontz

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who if you were here last time

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you would've heard her.

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She couldn't come today. She has an engagement that's taken her out of town.

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Before I begin, and this is my tradition and the tradition of many, I'd like to introduce

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any elected officials that are here,

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fellow city council,

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person I guess. Sorry for the gender error.

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Carol Mckiel is right here

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and doing good work for us. 

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applause

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I'm told that Rebecca Salinas Oliveros is online so

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we miss you, Rebecca, and we'll see you on Tuesday. 

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laughs

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applause

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And at any rate, thank you all and because I recognize what the service entails

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thank you for the service that you both provide and we all do.

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I've lived in Monmouth for nearly 35 years.

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I'm a retired faculty member and director athletics.

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In the last 20 years of my career here and

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it's with that that I welcome you to Western.

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I echo President Kenton's welcome to you

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and on behalf of the city counsel I'd like to welcome you

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to Monmouth to those of you that aren't residents.

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We're proud to be participating in this event

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and we hope that it continues in the years to come and I'm certain that it will.

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One of the things that I when I was asked to fill in for the mayor I went, "Well okay, a welcome. That's pretty easy.

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Is there anything else that I could add?"

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And my first thought was, "No" and then I thought more on it and thought, "Maybe I could."

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As we pull the curtain down on this year's

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Black History Month

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I hope that it doesn't signify an end and this'll be a theme I hope,

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but it's rather a continuation.

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A, "To be continued" and not just that discrete, finite event that it often is.

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As an educator, I like to recap what was covered at our last meeting.

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and then move from there to the new material.

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And so let me share with you some of the things that resonated with me

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in last time's gathering.

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And I'm sorry for this.

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I can deal with this fine if it doesn't bother you. I'm fine with it.

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It was good 'til Frank got a hold of it and then he's leaning on it.

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laughter

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I was struck by two things that Senator Lew Frederick said

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in his remarks last time.

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He said, "Our job as adults and as a city counselor,"

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I'm going to sort of insert with a slash,

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to make sure that things are better for those

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that come after us."

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He also said that, "Our focus needs to be on determining where we need to go."

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And, again, that resonated with me.

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In our work at the Monmouth City Council,

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our council, and our mayor, and our city staff

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is dedicated and committed to making things better right now,

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but certainly into the future for all that come

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beyond us and we're forever trying to answer that question,

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As the council, we've done many things over the last couple of years

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some four, five years ago, some more recently,

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but in the context of this gathering, there's a few things that I'd like to focus on that may be of interest.

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In 2017, in response to a widespread surge of anti immigrant

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and racist behaviors and rhetoric across the country,

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directed at immigrants, ethnic, and racial minorities,

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the the city council adopted a Statement of Inclusivity.

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Declaring Monmouth is a welcoming city

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and that all residents are included, welcome, and to be treated fairly.

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Now, this was an aspirational comment, or an aspirational statement

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because we know that doesn't always happen.

00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:58.000
But nonetheless, in our opinion, it established the bar against which all behavior is to be measured.

00:20:58.000 --> 00:20:64.000
So we're living in, for all of our failings, in an inclusive city.

00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:12.000
Last year, the city began the process of reviewing zoning and housing code.

00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:18.000
This spring, we'll begin to revise those codes and remove unnecessary barriers to development

00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:24.000
and improve access to fair and affordable housing for all residents.

00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:29.000
Last year, our council at our council goal setting session,

00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:33.000
we adopted a series of core values

00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:39.000
that included a diversity, equity, and inclusion statement.

00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.000
Those values are, and this is in quotes because it's part of the document, 

00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:52.000
These principles guide the work of the council,

00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:55.000
they guide the work of our city staff, 

00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:64.000
and they guide the work of our service departments that provide service to you all.

00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:11.000
This spring and into next year, the city is going to be involved in launching programs to promote inclusive entrepreneurship.

00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:16.000
Now that's a long word, but what it means to you is,

00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:19.000
we're gonna convene individuals in groups

00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:23.000
who can encourage, assist, support,

00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:29.000
small businesses, particularly with a particular focus on

00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:32.000
minority owned and operated businesses

00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:39.000
allowing them to flourish and to build capital necessary for stability and growth.

00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:42.000
Recently we hired a new police chief.

00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:49.000
He's a Western Oregon graduate and he understands and is committed to the city of Monmouth.

00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:55.000
Already, he's initiated training for our officers in diversity awareness

00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:57.000
anti bias training,

00:22:57.000 --> 00:22:63.000
conflict deescalation, and other modern, progressive policing techniques.

00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:09.000
We think that this is a start of making things better

00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:14.000
for those that follow and much more obviously needed.

00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:18.000
Another of our values is community engagement.

00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:22.000
We wanna engage our community, all levels of our community.

00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:28.000
We reach out, encourage all members to participate in our local government.

00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:37.000
I invite each of you to seek opportunities to help answer the question, "Where do we go from here?"

00:23:37.000 --> 00:23:42.000
Back to Senator Frederick, help us answer that question.

00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:46.000
There are opportunities there and we're doing our best to get 'em out.

00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:54.000
Well, none of these examples are landmark, watershed decisions,

00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:63.000
they do acknowledge that progress is being made. We're making Monmouth a more welcoming and inclusive city.

00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:06.000
I've taken longer than I've intended.

00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:09.000
Frank's tappin' his toe over here says, "That's enough Jon."

00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:13.000
But I do appreciate the opportunity to provide this welcome

00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:18.000
and I look forward to all the speakers that are yet to come.

00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:25.000
But I'll have to say nothing more than my friend and former colleague, the great Darryl Thomas.

00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.000
He's up next or soon to be, following Senator Merkley,

00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:39.000
and when I talked to Darryl when I got here I said, "There's something that I'm gonna share with people that not many know."

00:24:39.000 --> 00:24:44.000
And you don't, most of you are not gonna know this. There might be a couple been around long enough.

00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:52.000
When Darryl arrived on the campus, Monmouth, nearly, and I say 20, but he says 25 years go,

00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:55.000
think of Monmouth 25 years ago,

00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:58.000
there's one thing that made him stand out.

00:24:58.000 --> 00:24:61.000
He was immediately recognizable.

00:25:01.000 --> 00:25:08.000
It's probably different than what you're thinking if you know Darryl.

00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:16.000
He was the first person, and perhaps the only person, ever to ride a Segway scooter in Monmouth.

00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:21.000
Remember those Segways they got the big wheels on them and you stand up like this?

00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:27.000
Well Darryl could get from one end of campus to the other quicker than anybody imaginable.

00:25:27.000 --> 00:25:32.000
He was fast, but on that thing he was really fast. The only thing that slowed him down

00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:36.000
was when they put speed bumps in on Monmouth Avenue.

00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:38.000
That slowed him up a little bit.

00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:43.000
So in his remarks, perhaps, he'll mention that he tells me he still has it.

00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:47.000
But he's a good guy and I'm glad that he's on our program.

00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:51.000
You will all be better for hearing him.

00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:55.000
Once again, thank you for attending,

00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:62.000
welcome to the city of Monmouth, and we hope for those of you that are coming and going and going away we hope your stay is

00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:09.000
is rewarding and for those of you that live here, thank you very much and find ways to participate. 

00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:10.000
Thank you.

00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:12.000
Pastor Frank: Senator Merkley

00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:19.000
Right now it's interesting, I was looking in the notes of his comments of things that he's done so far this year and there's 5

00:26:19.000 --> 00:26:25.000
major things that he's done and he's even spoken about the Ukraine and the attack of Russia trying to take over.

00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:31.000
Senator Merkley does not believe that the weak should be taken advantage of.

00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:34.000
Just does not believe that is true.

00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:39.000
Does not believe that just because it's not being used, means you have the right to take it and use it.

00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:47.000
Doesn't believe that at all. Sentator Merkley has a desire to help us

00:26:47.000 --> 00:26:51.000
It's one of those things where I would take a look at

00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:56.000
the Oregon Senate, the bills that are going through right now

00:26:56.000 --> 00:26:60.000
because some of them need assistance from us, the citizens.

00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:02.000
Just an extra little push

00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:09.000
you can look at Senator Merkley's web page and it also lists things that he's interested in and everything else

00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:11.000
and you can also put input in there.

00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:20.000
So don't just take a visual score, "Oh yeah, that was him." Go look at his website. 

00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.000
Find out what he's fighting for and find out how you can join him in the fight he's fighting.

00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:26.000
Senator Merkley.

00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:31.000
Senator Merkley: Greetings to everyone attending today's kickoff meeting. Senator Jeff Merkley here.

00:27:31.000 --> 00:27:37.000
And thanks to the Monmouth City Council and everyone at Western Oregon University who helped organize today's event.

00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:40.000
Black History Month is a time for all of us

00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:45.000
all across Oregon and across our nation to recognize indescribable impact 

00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.000
that generation upon generation of Black Americans have made to our nation.

00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:55.000
To celebrate Black culture and all of its contributions to America's past, present, and future.

00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:61.000
And to recommit ourselves this struggle to achieve and ensure justice and equality for all of our citizens.

00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:04.000
That might seem difficult in today's charged environment.

00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:11.000
There is no question that the tumult and turmoil of the past few years have shown how far we still have to go  

00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:16.000
to achieve that vision of justice and that vision of equality.

00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:21.000
The protests over the unjust murder of Black Americans and the rise of Black Lives Matter.

00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:27.000
A pandemic that has laid bare the vast inequalities in economics of health and housing and access to opportunity.

00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:33.000
A movement by some to erase or white wash the history of our nation's struggle for racial justice. 

00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:36.000
The struggles of Frederick Douglass and Dr. King,

00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:40.000
of D.E.B. Du Bois and James Baldwin, and Harriet Tubman,

00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.000
and Sojourner Truth and Rosa Parks and so many more.

00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:48.000
But that history can't be erased because that history,

00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:51.000
the history of Black Americans, is the history of America.

00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:57.000
We have to learn it and learn from it because it forms every aspect of our nation and our society.

00:28:57.000 --> 00:28:64.000
We can't talk about the inequality of mass incarceration in our prisons without learning and talking about the

00:29:09.000 --> 00:29:15.000
We can't talk about academic inequality today without learning about the Jim Crowe Laws

00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:22.000
that determined when and where a Black person could work and how they could earn a living and where they could live.

00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:26.000
And we can't talk about today's fight stop to stop attacks on American's voting rights without

00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:30.000
understanding the generations long struggles of the Civil Rights movement

00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:35.000
from the end of the Reconstruction to passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:41.000
To understand American history, you have to understand Black history, plain and simple.

00:29:41.000 --> 00:29:47.000
So thank you, again, to not only everyone who have organized the event but to everyone who's participating. 

00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:53.000
Dr. King once said that, "Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable."

00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:60.000
Every step towards the justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle.

00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:05.000
The tireless exertions and passionate concerns of dedicated individuals.

00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:10.000
By being part of today's event, by learning,

00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:15.000
and by sharing the powerful stories of Black history, not just this month, but

00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:17.000
everyday and every month of the year. 

00:30:17.000 --> 00:30:23.000
Each and every one of you is one of those dedicated individual helping to move out country

00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:28.000
step by step toward the goal of justice and equality for all.

00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:37.000
Pastor Frank: So long time ago when, so there's this, I'm going to describe this in my terms.

00:30:37.000 --> 00:30:41.000
There was this beautiful Black man that came into Bi Mart one time. Beautiful!

00:30:41.000 --> 00:30:45.000
Dreadlocks, tall, handsome and everything else.

00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:52.000
And he was the first Black man that I'd seen in this town in 2, 3 years. Beautiful guy!

00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:59.000
And he was a dancer and he was busy and he didn't have time to talk and he left. Aw man, but then I saw him again.

00:30:59.000 --> 00:30:62.000
And so every time I got to see Darryl, it was one of those things where

00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:09.000
there was this beautiful Black man and I just wanted to talk to a beautiful, I just wanted to talk to him, but he's always busy so

00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:12.000
I was at work, he was busy, we didn't get to talk.

00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:20.000
You don't know this unless you read his bio, he is an Emmy award winner.

00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:26.000
At the Kennedy Center he did a performance there during one of their anniversary celebrations and he won an Emmy.

00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:32.000
He's a lifetime living award winner Willamette Valley, one of the

00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:36.000
Willamette Valley hero kind of people.

00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:42.000
He's also traveled to 10 or more countries, foreign countries, doing his dance

00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:51.000
performance instruction and learning as well. The most amazing thing that I like is

00:31:51.000 --> 00:31:55.000
they asked him, "What are you gonna do when you retire?" And he said, "You know, I'm having so much fun right now.

00:31:56.000 --> 00:31:62.000
Why would I? I'm gonna miss this. I'm gonna miss this fun and everything else.

00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:11.000
So let's not kick him out yet. So Darryl, would you and your dance crew come out?

00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:14.000
It's the Rainbow Dance Performers

00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:22.000
percussion music

00:32:29.000 --> 00:32:58.000
Darryl: foreign language

00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:82.000
drums

00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:32.000
applause

00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:39.000
Darryl: Thank you, well, my name is Darryl Thomas and I am Professor of Dance here at Western Oregon University

00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:42.000
and the Artistic Director for Rainbow Dance Theater.

00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:46.000
Valorie Burgman, the other Artistic Director, you'll meet her in just a second.

00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:52.000
I'm very happy to be here this afternoon to celebrate Black History Month with you.

00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:56.000
The dance that you just saw was a dance that's called, "manjani,"

00:34:56.000 --> 00:34:63.000
Manjani, a dance done in the villages of West Africa by young women, who, actually they're girls, girls

00:35:03.000 --> 00:35:07.000
Who want to become young women or recognized as women in the society

00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:13.000
and so they have to learn and do this dance in order to say, "I'm ready to be a woman."

00:35:13.000 --> 00:35:17.000
But even more important about this dance is what it does

00:35:17.000 --> 00:35:19.000
is it builds and forages communities.

00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:24.000
Because as these young girls are learning the dance, they're working together

00:35:24.000 --> 00:35:28.000
to learn the dance, they're building a sense of community, a sense of relationship

00:35:28.000 --> 00:35:33.000
between them that they carry on when they become women.

00:35:33.000 --> 00:35:35.000
They take care of each other's children, they look out for each other.

00:35:36.000 --> 00:35:39.000
They really supporting each other. It's really about foraging community.

00:35:39.000 --> 00:35:44.000
And that's one of the things I'd like to share with you in our time together is this idea

00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:47.000
of how African American culture, coming from Africa, 

00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:52.000
has been used to build and forage community.

00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:57.000
So, why don't we do a little bit of community building right now? As you learn a dance,

00:35:57.000 --> 00:35:63.000
a dance that you can do right where you're seated. I know you're looking at me like, "Is he serious?" Yes, I'm serious, so

00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:08.000
you're gonna take your one hand, your right hand, and go 1, 2,

00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:16.000
actually much older, I can see some people were thinking that. Nope sorry much older.

00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:21.000
Here we go and 1, 2, 3, 4,

00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:32.000
Now, your left hand points down, left hand points down, 1. Flip it over, 2

00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:36.000
Make a box or rectangle, 3.

00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:40.000
Now, bottom hand goes on top, 4. 

00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:46.000
Let's try that again for Dr. Kenton, or Jay over there that haven't been dancing in a while, they haven't been out

00:36:46.000 --> 00:36:48.000
partying in a long time, it's been a minute.

00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:51.000
So we'll try that again for them. 7 and 8.

00:36:51.000 --> 00:36:55.000
Left hand 1, flip 2, box 3,

00:36:56.000 --> 00:36:60.000
bottom hand on top, 4, much better gentlemen, much better.

00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:06.000
Slide it apart 5, wave it 6, fix your coif or your hairdo 7, pose 8.

00:37:06.000 --> 00:37:10.000
One more time, then we'll try it with music. Here we go.

00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:15.000
From the top. And 1, 2, 3, 4. 

00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:23.000
Left hand 1, flip 2, box 3, 

00:37:23.000 --> 00:37:32.000
Bottom hand goes on top 4, slide it apart 5, wave it 6, coif 7, pose 8. 

00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:37.000
Now, some of you might know the name of this dance already, again this isn't the Macarena, but I'm gonna play the music 

00:37:37.000 --> 00:37:44.000
we'll do the dance to the music, and then I'll ask you afterwards to see if you know the name of this dance. Here we go! 

00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:45.000
Let's try it with music.

00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:47.000
Vogue by Madonna plays                                    

00:37:47.000 --> 00:37:56.000
And 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

00:37:56.000 --> 00:37:65.000
Left hand 1, 2, 3, bottom on top, slide it apart, 5, 6, 7, 8.

00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:27.000
Left hand 1, 2, 3, 4, slide it apart, 5, 6, 7, give yourselves a big round of applause, very nice.

00:38:27.000 --> 00:38:28.000
applause

00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:31.000
Ver nice, anyone know the name of this dance?

00:38:31.000 --> 00:38:32.000
Speaker: Vogue

00:38:32.000 --> 00:38:37.000
Yup, you got it exactly, voguing, that's exactly right. What's the big thing, or important thing about voguing?

00:38:37.000 --> 00:38:43.000
Well, voguing is a dance that's originally done, or actually Madonna made it popular back in the late '80s, 

00:38:43.000 --> 00:38:50.000
but it was being done many, many years ago before Madonna made it popular and actually, it was done by

00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:55.000
gay African Americans. Gay African Americans, they would do this dance

00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.000
many, many years ago before Madonna made it popular. What's important about that?

00:38:59.000 --> 00:38:65.000
Well, gay African Americans used this dance as a way to identify the groups that they were

00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.000
and also to forage community amongst themselves 

00:39:09.000 --> 00:39:15.000
because here was a community that was certainly ostracized, or marginalized I should say, marginalized by the greater society 

00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:21.000
but also even within the African community, they were not really accepted totally.

00:39:21.000 --> 00:39:24.000
And so this was one of the ways they could use dance as a way to say,

00:39:32.000 --> 00:39:38.000
Celebrating who they were. So again, dance foraging and building community. I'm gonna sing a song for you 

00:39:38.000 --> 00:39:43.000
and the name of the song is called, "Hambone," Hambone.

00:39:43.000 --> 00:39:47.000
And I'm going to accompany myself, meaning I'm going to play an instrument, but I'm not going to be playing the instrument 

00:39:47.000 --> 00:39:52.000
that's here beside me, the drum. The instrument that I'm going to play is my thigh. I'm going to slap

00:39:52.000 --> 00:39:58.000
or hit my thigh and slapping or hitting the thigh is known as, "hamboning"

00:39:58.000 --> 00:39:64.000
Hamboning with an ing. Here's how ham boning came about.

00:40:04.000 --> 00:40:10.000
Back a couple hundred years ago when Africans were brought to this country, they brought with them the memory of their culture.

00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:15.000
The songs they sang, the dances that they danced here and west in Africa

00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:19.000
And they wanted to do these dances here in this country, but they weren't allowed to do that. They weren't allowed

00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:23.000
to even make or to even play a drum.

00:40:23.000 --> 00:40:27.000
If you were a slave, which is what they were at that point, and if you were caught doing this:

00:40:27.000 --> 00:40:29.000
drumming rhythm

00:40:29.000 --> 00:40:35.000
The police could come and arrest you, and worse, they could even execute you just for doing this:

00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:37.000
drum rhythm

00:40:37.000 --> 00:40:41.000
And you're probably wondering why would they make a law that the slaves could make or play a drum?

00:40:41.000 --> 00:40:46.000
Well, one of the reasons is because the drums can be used to communicate with people.

00:40:46.000 --> 00:40:51.000
And in West Africa is drum is used to communicate with friends and family for over a mile, even today.

00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:56.000
Even with cell phones, people still use this drum, known as the, "talking drum"

00:40:56.000 --> 00:40:61.000
to talk to friends and family for over a mile, that's why. "Hey, come to our house. We're going to have a party, bring lots of food."

00:41:01.000 --> 00:41:05.000
All using the drum. This drum works in a similar way to your throat.

00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:09.000
Inside of your throat you have strands of muscle fibers sort of like this, and when you tighten them,

00:41:09.000 --> 00:41:16.000
you get a very high sound. And when you relax them, you get a very low sound. This drum acts in the same way.

00:41:16.000 --> 00:41:19.000
When I squeeze the strings, it tightens the skin.

00:41:19.000 --> 00:41:21.000
Listen to the sound or the pitch of the drum.

00:41:21.000 --> 00:41:24.000
drum

00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:25.000
When I relax it.

00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:29.000
drum tone raises and lowers

00:41:29.000 --> 00:41:34.000
Now, I'm gonna play something. It's a greeting we often say to people in this country

00:41:34.000 --> 00:41:39.000
when we meet them for the first time. See if you can guess what I'm trying to say or communicate using the drum.

00:41:39.000 --> 00:41:43.000
drum rhythms 

00:41:43.000 --> 00:41:45.000
Anyone have an idea of what that might be?

00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:47.000
Speaker: Hello, how are you?

00:41:47.000 --> 00:41:49.000
Darryl: You got it, "Hello, how are you?" You got it

00:41:49.000 --> 00:41:52.000
drum rhythm repeated

00:41:52.000 --> 00:41:57.000
And so in that way, you can use the drum to communicate if you understand the language of the drum.

00:41:57.000 --> 00:41:61.000
And that's what the plantation masters were afraid of. That's why they made the law.

00:42:01.000 --> 00:42:06.000
Because they were afraid. They said, "If we let the slaves have the drum, they'll communicate with slaves on other plantations

00:42:06.000 --> 00:42:12.000
maybe even organize an escape or a revolt which they actually did back in the 1800s

00:42:12.000 --> 00:42:15.000
and so that's why they made the law that the slaves couldn't make or play a drum.

00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:20.000
So the slaves sad, "Hey, since we can't make or play a drum, we'll make our bodies into drums by slapping,

00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:21.000
slaps

00:42:21.000 --> 00:42:25.000
Or hitting the body, known as, "body percussion," for example:

00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:27.000
snaps

00:42:27.000 --> 00:42:29.000
Body percussion. Or

00:42:29.000 --> 00:42:32.000
applause

00:42:32.000 --> 00:42:41.000
Applause we call it, but it's really body percussion. Using the body to create sound. So, set up my mic here.

00:42:41.000 --> 00:42:46.000
The words to the song, Hambone is the name of the song, and I'm going to, "hambone,"

00:42:46.000 --> 00:42:50.000
slap or hit my body in order to accompany myself with the song. 

00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:58.000
So, the words to the song go, "Hambone, hambone, where you been? Around the world and back again."

00:42:58.000 --> 00:42:61.000
And on the plantation, it was very rare for slaves to get meat.

00:43:01.000 --> 00:43:07.000
For example, if I lived on the plantation and I got a hambone, I would take the hambone, put it in a pot,

00:43:07.000 --> 00:43:11.000
maybe put vegetables in there, maybe make a soup for my family.

00:43:11.000 --> 00:43:17.000
And I'd use the hambone to season the vegetables. Then I'd take the bone out of the pot and put it in a bowl,

00:43:17.000 --> 00:43:22.000
pass it to my neighbor, and I'd say, "Here Brianne, you take the hambone and you make something for your family."

00:43:22.000 --> 00:43:25.000
And she would do the same thing and she would take it and she would pass it to her neighbor

00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:31.000
and it would all the way around the room or all the way around the community and eventually the bone would come back to me.

00:43:32.000 --> 00:43:36.000
And so that's why the words of the song go, "Hambone, hambone where you been?

00:43:43.000 --> 00:43:49.000
Sings: I said, around the world

00:43:49.000 --> 00:43:53.000
Said around the world

00:43:53.000 --> 00:43:56.000
Said around the world and back again

00:43:57.000 --> 00:43:60.000
Well, hambone, hambone where you been?

00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.000
Said round the world and back again

00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:08.000
Hambone, hambone sure is nice

00:44:08.000 --> 00:44:12.000
Love you with the red beans and rice

00:44:12.000 --> 00:44:15.000
Hambone, hambone, have you heard?

00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:18.000
Hambone, hambone, was the word

00:44:18.000 --> 00:44:24.000
Well now, hambone, hambone, love to roam. Hambone, hambone, come on home

00:44:24.000 --> 00:44:29.000
Hambone, hambone

00:44:29.000 --> 00:44:33.000
hambone, hambone

00:44:33.000 --> 00:44:36.000
Darryl speaking: And that's "Hambone"

00:44:36.000 --> 00:44:37.000
Thank you

00:44:37.000 --> 00:44:41.000
applause

00:44:41.000 --> 00:44:47.000
Now, the first time I ever learned "Hambone" or heard about hamboning was way back in the '50s from my great, great grandfather.

00:44:47.000 --> 00:44:51.000
Who actually was born a slave, but lived on a sharecropping farm.

00:44:52.000 --> 00:44:54.000
And he would always say to me when I was a little boy,

00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.000
And I'd always say, "Sing that cotton song great granddaddy, sing that cotton song."

00:45:04.000 --> 00:45:05.000
He'd say, "Boy, did you hear me?"

00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:07.000
I'd say, "Yes sir, great grandaddy I heard you."

00:45:07.000 --> 00:45:14.000
He'd say, "Boy, I didn't ask me if you hear'd me, I asked if you heard me, if you understood what I was sayin', boy"

00:45:14.000 --> 00:45:17.000
And I'd say, "Well, yes, of course great granddaddy, I understood what you were saying."

00:45:17.000 --> 00:45:23.000
But of course, I didn't really understand what he was saying. I only said that because I wanted him to sing the song.

00:45:23.000 --> 00:45:26.000
But what he was saying was that you were considered a real, "man"

00:45:26.000 --> 00:45:30.000
Or a real "woman" by how much cotton you could pick in one day.

00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:35.000
And a bail of cotton is enough to do all the t shirts in this room here.

00:45:36.000 --> 00:45:40.000
So he said, "Okay boy, I'll sing the song. Now how'd it go? Help me out here."

00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.000
And I'd say, "Gonna jump down, turn around, pick a bail of cotton, great granddaddy."

00:45:44.000 --> 00:45:46.000
He'd say, "Boy, now, what else?"

00:45:46.000 --> 00:45:51.000
I'd always get confused whether it was, "pick a bail or hay," or "pick a bail a day"

00:45:51.000 --> 00:45:54.000
So if I ever said,"Pick a bail of hay, grandaddy"

00:45:54.000 --> 00:45:56.000
He'd say, "Pick a bail of what, boy?"

00:45:56.000 --> 00:45:59.000
I'd say, "Pick a bail a day, great grandaddy, pick a bail a day."

00:45:59.000 --> 00:45:62.000
He'd say, "Alright boy, that's more like it."

00:46:02.000 --> 00:46:08.000
Singing: Said I'm gonna jump down 

00:46:08.000 --> 00:46:13.000
Turn around, yeah, pick a bail of cotton

00:46:13.000 --> 00:46:19.000
Well I'm gonna jump down turn around, yeah

00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.000
Pick a bail 

00:46:24.000 --> 00:46:25.000
Pick a bail a day

00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:31.000
Well gonna jump down turn around pick a bail of cotton gonna jump down turn around pick a bail a day

00:46:31.000 --> 00:46:37.000
Jump down turn around pick a bail of cotton jump down turn around pick a bail a day, woah

00:46:37.000 --> 00:46:41.000
Pick a bail of cotton say, woah, pick a bail a day, woah woah

00:46:41.000 --> 00:46:46.000
Pick a bail of cotton

00:46:47.000 --> 00:46:51.000
Woah, Lord they pick a bail of cotton a day, yeah

00:46:51.000 --> 00:46:54.000
uhuh, uhuh

00:46:54.000 --> 00:46:60.000
Well, said me and my brother can pick a bail of cotton say my me and my brother can pick a bail a day

00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:05.000
Me and my sister can pick a bail of cotton me and my sister can pick a bail a day, woah

00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:07.000
Pick a bail of cotton say, woah

00:47:08.000 --> 00:47:16.000
Pick a bail a day, woah woah, pick a bail of cotton

00:47:16.000 --> 00:47:20.000
Lord yeah they pick a bail of cotton, yeah

00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:23.000
Uhuh, uhuh

00:47:23.000 --> 00:47:28.000
Well gonna jump down turn around, yeah, jump down turn around

00:47:28.000 --> 00:47:32.000
Well now gonna jump down turn around, yeah, jump down turn around

00:47:32.000 --> 00:47:37.000
Well now gonna jump down, turn around, pick a bail of cotton. Jump down, turn around, pick a bail a day.

00:47:37.000 --> 00:47:42.000
Jump down, turn around, pick a bail of cotton, jump down, turn around, pick a bail of cotton, woah woah,

00:47:42.000 --> 00:47:47.000
Pick a bail of cotton, say woah, pick a bail a day, woah woah,

00:47:47.000 --> 00:47:53.000
Pick a bail of cotton

00:47:53.000 --> 00:47:57.000
Woah woah, Lord they pick a bail a day, yeah huh!

00:47:57.000 --> 00:47:63.000
Darryl speaks: That's the song great granddaddy, yeah!

00:48:04.000 --> 00:48:08.000
applause

00:48:08.000 --> 00:48:12.000
Thank you. We have another dance for you and the name of the dance is called, "Gahu."

00:48:12.000 --> 00:48:16.000
Gahu, from Ghana, a country in West Africa. And this is a dance of celebration.

00:48:16.000 --> 00:48:22.000
And we're here to celebrate Black History Month, contributions of Black Americans to American society.

00:48:22.000 --> 00:48:27.000
But what's important to me, well I should before I should say that, I should say that Rainbow Dance Theatre

00:48:27.000 --> 00:48:30.000
in of itself is really a celebration of diversity. 

00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:36.000
Because we take music and dance traditions from around the world, we blend them together, in our own contemporary 

00:48:36.000 --> 00:48:41.000
dance form. So like the colors of the rainbow, that, the beauty of the rainbow I should say,

00:48:41.000 --> 00:48:45.000
is made up of all the diverse colors, we do that with the work that we do.

00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:48.000
And we also that in terms of the dancers that we have as well.

00:48:48.000 --> 00:48:51.000
We have diverse dancers from around the globe,

00:48:51.000 --> 00:48:57.000
not so much recently because of the COVID issue, but previously we've had them from Italy, from China, from

00:48:57.000 --> 00:48:60.000
from Japan, from all over the globe.

00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:06.000
Again, this idea of celebrating diversity. Because diversity, that's what makes humanity beautiful.

00:49:06.000 --> 00:49:09.000
It's what makes humanity strong, it's this diversity.

00:49:09.000 --> 00:49:12.000
But even more than that, for me what's really important about this month,

00:49:12.000 --> 00:49:17.000
is this idea that, yes, we recognize Black American contributions to society,

00:49:17.000 --> 00:49:22.000
but diversity is really broadening and it's really expanding and that's what's exciting for me.

00:49:22.000 --> 00:49:27.000
Not that we're just celebrating these things in the past, but to see in the future.

00:49:27.000 --> 00:49:31.000
What do I mean by that? I mean that for now, we're looking at sexuality

00:49:31.000 --> 00:49:36.000
as diversity. We're looking at ablebodiedness as diversity.

00:49:36.000 --> 00:49:40.000
The people of different abilities that we accept them, we don't just say, "oh they're different," or, "they're special,"

00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:46.000
or whatever, those terms are that we use, but that we're broadening the conversation about diversity.

00:49:46.000 --> 00:49:51.000
And so it makes me wonder, what is it going to be like in the future? How are we going to be more inclusive of people

00:49:52.000 --> 00:49:54.000
and their differences in the future?

00:49:54.000 --> 00:49:59.000
And so this month is really about celebrating, of me about, diversity. About that idea of

00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:02.000
inclusion no matter what your perspective, 

00:50:02.000 --> 00:50:07.000
whether it's ideological, whether it's physical, whether it's sexual, whatever your thing is, 

00:50:08.000 --> 00:50:10.000
that makes you an individual, that we can celebrate that.

00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:17.000
And so we'll do this last dance for you called Gahu in celebration of diversity. Thank you.

00:50:17.000 --> 00:50:40.000
drums

00:50:41.000 --> 00:52:95.000
singing and rhythmic drums

00:53:35.000 --> 00:53:91.000
rhythmic drums

00:54:31.000 --> 00:54:47.000
applause

00:54:47.000 --> 00:54:51.000
Pastor Frank: My wife and I have been going to Ghana for 7 summers now.

00:54:51.000 --> 00:54:56.000
Last year didn't get to go, COVID. One night, they brought us down to the beach

00:54:56.000 --> 00:54:61.000
and 7, 8 dancers?

00:55:01.000 --> 00:55:11.000
And it was dark outside so they had to use flames and everything and it was, wow! And I'd never, I hadn't been humbled like that in

00:55:12.000 --> 00:55:16.000
And it was pretty cool. That was pretty cool!

00:55:20.000 --> 00:55:28.000
Native American, LGBTQ, how many things do you want to put on top of? You know there's this thing of

00:55:28.000 --> 00:55:34.000
in America, we put titles on. My dad, Dr. Frank Gilmore Sr, 

00:55:34.000 --> 00:55:38.000
duta duta duta duta, I think there's fourteen initials after his name.

00:55:38.000 --> 00:55:45.000
My wife, Dr. Elisa Maroney, duta duta duta duta duta. How many things do you wanna put on your life? 

00:55:45.000 --> 00:55:53.000
What's amazing in that is, once you start putting on all those titles and all those things on you, you deserve respect.

00:55:53.000 --> 00:55:58.000
Just for the place that you stand in the lives of America.

00:55:58.000 --> 00:55:66.000
Just for the place where you stand and choose to make it known, "This is who I am."

00:56:06.000 --> 00:56:13.000
The one thing that's really interesting, and I need to say right now, when I say, "Pastor Frank,"

00:56:13.000 --> 00:56:18.000
I don't want you to think that there's a block there

00:56:18.000 --> 00:56:22.000
for a certain type of person in any way shape or form.

00:56:22.000 --> 00:56:27.000
I have walked out of bible study classes because they talked about, "Those people," and, "Them."

00:56:28.000 --> 00:56:37.000
I will not in my life tolerate any form of that conversation and if you bring it into my life, we're done.

00:56:37.000 --> 00:56:44.000
We are not separate from one another by any means in any way shape or form.

00:56:44.000 --> 00:56:50.000
I go to my protest, and this sounds funny, I go to the Red Cross to give blood and platelets. 

00:56:50.000 --> 00:56:55.000
Cause I'm a Black man and I'm gonna put my blood inside somebody. 

00:56:56.000 --> 00:56:58.000
laughter

00:56:58.000 --> 00:56:59.000
I mean it

00:56:59.000 --> 00:56:60.000
applause

00:57:00.000 --> 00:57:01.000
So

00:57:01.000 --> 00:57:02.000
applause

00:57:03.000 --> 00:57:11.000
There's this thing, when you meet somebody that's going to carry their title on them, respect them.

00:57:11.000 --> 00:57:17.000
Because they're fighting to let you see their title and who and what they are. Elizabeth.

00:57:17.000 --> 00:57:20.000
Elizabeth: Help everyone and good evening.

00:57:20.000 --> 00:57:28.000
My name is Elizabeth Braatz and I am a fourth year student at Western Oregon University and I will be graduating this spring.

00:57:28.000 --> 00:57:32.000
applause

00:57:32.000 --> 00:57:38.000
Thank you. I will be graduating this spring with a Bachelors of Science in Criminal Justice.

00:57:38.000 --> 00:57:45.000
Additionally, I honorably serve as the Senate President for the Associated Students of Western Oregon University.

00:57:45.000 --> 00:57:50.000
Tonight I am extremely blessed to be here and to talk to you all.

00:57:50.000 --> 00:57:55.000
But before I begin, I want to take a few moments to acknowledge

00:57:55.000 --> 00:57:58.000
a couple of things that are pressing on my thoughts and emotions.

00:57:58.000 --> 00:57:65.000
I want to acknowledge the events that are taking place between Russia and Ukraine.

00:58:05.000 --> 00:58:12.000
With there being so many unknowns, yet a lot of news coverage, I know as a student and as a person

00:58:12.000 --> 00:58:14.000
It can be overwhelming and scary.

00:58:14.000 --> 00:58:19.000
But we must recognize the monumental impacts in innocent lives.

00:58:19.000 --> 00:58:23.000
That are and will continue to be impacted by this insensible act of war.

00:58:24.000 --> 00:58:28.000
To quote the brilliant Amanda Gorman, she stated,

00:58:32.000 --> 00:58:36.000
With everything unfolding and feeling helpless,

00:58:36.000 --> 00:58:41.000
I took some time to reflect on the fact that this is not the first time

00:58:41.000 --> 00:58:46.000
that I have felt in the long 21 years that I have lived on this earth.

00:58:46.000 --> 00:58:49.000
Russia willingly invaded Ukraine.

00:58:49.000 --> 00:58:55.000
And that is the same terror Black and Brown folks have and continue to be subjected to in this nation.

00:58:56.000 --> 00:58:64.000
Acts of war and terror do not always take the form of air strikes, bombs, military tanks, missiles, and other weaponry.

00:59:04.000 --> 00:59:12.000
Acts of war on terror can be law and policies that control and target Black, Brown, and underrepresented communities. 

00:59:12.000 --> 00:59:20.000
But don't give me wrong, this nation has absolutely partaken in bombings, assassinations, murders, lynchings,

00:59:20.000 --> 00:59:25.000
and other acts of incomparable violence against Black and Brown communities.

00:59:25.000 --> 00:59:27.000
We just don't talk about it.

00:59:28.000 --> 00:59:31.000
I will circle back to this topic in a little bit, but for now,

00:59:31.000 --> 00:59:36.000
I want to take you back to the day that I entered this world as a person of color.

00:59:36.000 --> 00:59:41.000
On August 18th, 2000 I was brought into this world through cesarean section. 

00:59:41.000 --> 00:59:47.000
My birth mother had gone through an intense labor and her blood pressure began to rise and so did mine

00:59:47.000 --> 00:59:49.000
so I was quickly taken out.

00:59:49.000 --> 00:59:55.000
In the presence of my birth, was my mother and my father who took me home the next day.

00:59:56.000 --> 00:59:60.000
For the first 11 years of my life I grew up in San Diego California

01:00:00.000 --> 01:00:04.000
with my mom, my dad, and my brother.

01:00:04.000 --> 01:00:09.000
I have a very unique family because we all do not share a single strand of DNA.

01:00:09.000 --> 01:00:11.000
Both my brother and I were adopted.

01:00:12.000 --> 01:00:17.000
And my mom was adopted from Greece. In my family we have a joke

01:00:17.000 --> 01:00:21.000
that my dad is the outlier of the family because even our dogs are adopted.

01:00:21.000 --> 01:00:23.000
laughter

01:00:23.000 --> 01:00:29.000
I was so very fortunate to grow up in a diverse community of people where different cultures were prevalent and celebrated.

01:00:29.000 --> 01:00:31.000
My peers looked like me.

01:00:32.000 --> 01:00:36.000
They had accents, had braids and beads in their hair,

01:00:36.000 --> 01:00:41.000
wore cultural scarves, and had cultural markings on their bodies, and sometimes even wore traditional clothing to school.

01:00:41.000 --> 01:00:45.000
As young children, we celebrated our differences,

01:00:45.000 --> 01:00:51.000
but we also absorbed and recognized that we were different from our White peers.

01:00:52.000 --> 01:00:56.000
When I was very young, I grew up around two other Black girls named Chloe and Kenya.

01:00:56.000 --> 01:00:60.000
We were best friends and we called our little posse, "The Brown Girls."

01:01:00.000 --> 01:01:05.000
Our families even referred to us as that because we took great pride in our melanin.

01:01:05.000 --> 01:01:08.000
I loved having peers who looked like me

01:01:08.000 --> 01:01:11.000
and I never felt out of place

01:01:11.000 --> 01:01:15.000
until I moved to an island in Washington when I was 11 years old.

01:01:16.000 --> 01:01:23.000
I moved to a predominantly White town and attended 6th through 12th grade in predominantly White schools.

01:01:23.000 --> 01:01:27.000
I could count the number of Black and Brown people with my fingers.

01:01:28.000 --> 01:01:32.000
One encounter that I remember was when I was in 6th grade.

01:01:32.000 --> 01:01:38.000
And that always stuck with me and this was an incident that I had when I was doing a math project.

01:01:38.000 --> 01:01:45.000
When I was 7 years old I was diagnosed with an auditory processing disorder that severely stunted my academic process.

01:01:45.000 --> 01:01:51.000
However, I had the environmental, economic, and academic means to receive access to resources

01:01:51.000 --> 01:01:57.000
and services that helped me get back on track and provide support during my educational career.

01:01:57.000 --> 01:01:60.000
I also have an amazing family that stood by me.

01:02:00.000 --> 01:02:06.000
And continues to stand by me as I surpass all odds against me.

01:02:06.000 --> 01:02:11.000
Due to my learning disability, I struggled severely in math and science, but my dad

01:02:12.000 --> 01:02:16.000
tutors, and neighbors helped me even into college

01:02:16.000 --> 01:02:20.000
to ensure that I grasped concepts and felt comfortable in those subjects.

01:02:20.000 --> 01:02:24.000
Now back to the incident in 6th grade.

01:02:24.000 --> 01:02:28.000
I had been assigned a project that required using math equations to create a drawing.

01:02:28.000 --> 01:02:33.000
And let me tell you, I'm also not a great drawer. So this project took forever.

01:02:33.000 --> 01:02:39.000
But with the help of my dad, I got it done and was in bed by 9pm which was pretty late for me back then.

01:02:40.000 --> 01:02:46.000
The next day in school, our teacher put up our math projects on the display board in the main hall.

01:02:46.000 --> 01:02:49.000
While I was working on math problems for the daily activity,

01:02:49.000 --> 01:02:54.000
My math teacher came up to me and asked me to come and speak with her in the hall.

01:02:54.000 --> 01:02:61.000
She asked me where my project was, and I told her I had handed it in at the beginning of class just like the rest of the students.

01:03:01.000 --> 01:03:07.000
She said that all of the projects handed in, and my name was not on any of the projects, that she hung up.

01:03:08.000 --> 01:03:16.000
So together, we went and examined the board of projects until I was able to point out my project to her.

01:03:16.000 --> 01:03:23.000
When I pointed it out, another student had erased my name and put their name on my project.

01:03:23.000 --> 01:03:27.000
A little White boy named Alex. At first my teacher didn't believe me

01:03:28.000 --> 01:03:36.000
And believed Alex until she looked a little closer and saw that he, in fact, erased my name and replaced his.

01:03:36.000 --> 01:03:41.000
That moment always felt wrong, but I did not have the vocabulary and the knowledge

01:03:41.000 --> 01:03:44.000
to best equip myself to defend myself in those moments.

01:03:44.000 --> 01:03:51.000
From that point on, 6th grade through 12th grade, I had countless incidents of the same status and worse.

01:03:52.000 --> 01:03:56.000
They all came in forms of aggression and racism.

01:03:56.000 --> 01:03:61.000
And there is no in between. America's education system traumatized me.

01:04:01.000 --> 01:04:05.000
And I would go as far as to say in some ways the failed me.

01:04:05.000 --> 01:04:11.000
It was not until I learned factual history, correct contexts, narratives, stories, and information,

01:04:12.000 --> 01:04:18.000
that I was able to reconstruct, essentially, my entire existence and perception of life.

01:04:18.000 --> 01:04:23.000
When I came to Western, I would say that is when my identity switched on.

01:04:23.000 --> 01:04:31.000
Between 6th through 12 grade I was in survival mode. I had to do what I needed for self preservation and survival.

01:04:32.000 --> 01:04:36.000
When I was young, I was naive to the depravity of this world.

01:04:36.000 --> 01:04:42.000
I stored and I continue to store my childhood in the safest chamber in my heart.

01:04:42.000 --> 01:04:48.000
And I will guard it at all costs because that little girl lived a happy life. 

01:04:48.000 --> 01:04:51.000
And she always saw the best in people and humanity.

01:04:52.000 --> 01:04:56.000
She was happy when she smiled.

01:04:56.000 --> 01:04:62.000
And she laughed and she believed in something greater and bigger than she could ever imagine.

01:05:02.000 --> 01:05:08.000
I yearn for that feeling again, but while I search, I revisit those memories in my dreams.

01:05:08.000 --> 01:05:15.000
I am a Black, Hispanic, Indigenous woman. And I'm proudly and I'm proudly an openly gay woman.

01:05:16.000 --> 01:05:23.000
I represent multiple identities that are stunningly beautiful, brilliant, and brave.

01:05:23.000 --> 01:05:28.000
I am so proud to carry on the existence of my ancestors.

01:05:28.000 --> 01:05:32.000
I have grown into my identities during my time here at Western.

01:05:32.000 --> 01:05:38.000
But truthfully, I attribute that progression to my own self perseverance. 

01:05:38.000 --> 01:05:42.000
And the amazing people I have met along the way during my time here.

01:05:42.000 --> 01:05:52.000
I quickly coined a strong presence on campus due to my advocacy and persistent fight for better educational capacities.

01:05:52.000 --> 01:05:57.000
Curriculum, resources, services, and much more.

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I am absolutely a force to be reckoned with because my ancestors would expect nothing less.

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During my first year at Western, there were acts of antisemitic and racist  vandalism both on and off campus.

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So myself, and the ASWOU president, President Jackson, created, organized, and lead the End Hate March

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to show students in the Monmouth Independence community that we as students will not condone that behavior.

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From there, my advocacy platform launched and I began advocacy at the state level.

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Testifying for state and house bills that impact students in higher education and the BIPOC and underserved communities.

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I will continue to do that for the rest of my life.

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During my Junior year at Western, during the hight of the pandemic, I advocated for the implementation

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of the satisfactory, no credit options for students so that students can focus on themselves, their families, 

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and their mental, physical, and emotional health.

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With a ton of help from the faculty senate and the former senate president of Associated Students of Western Oregon University

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Who is with me tonight. I reformatted and presented statistical and analytical data

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that proceeded to not only gain the support of faculty and the student body,

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but it passed. And it was in effect for the remainder of the academic year.

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The grading option I created and helped implement now serves as the permanent satisfactory 

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no credit grading option at this institution.

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Those are just some of the actions I have taken to advocate and fight for the BIPOC and unserved communities. 

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But I will not stop there. I intend to make it all the way to Capital Hill

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where I will ensure that what I fight for will pass,

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be implemented, and change lives.

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Black History Month ends in two days. In month of February, the shortest month of the year,

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this nation officially recognizes 28 days dedicated to Black history. 

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But I stand here today, that on March 1st, I will still be Black and Black people will still be Black.

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And the systemic, political, educational, and institutional barriers will continue.

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I could've spent my time up here talking about historical events that I want you all to know about.

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I could've spent my time talking about the historical timeline of how Black people were stolen, 

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murdered, and enslaved into this country. I could've taken a lot of paths tonight.

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But today, I wanted to stand up here and remind you all

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that Black folks will still be Black and the persistence of basic human rights, freedom, prosperity, and liberty

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will continue to be a fight, not only in the Black community,

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but for all communities who are not White and identify within the constructed binary spectrum.

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Black History Month has brought us all here together, but I urge you all to keep showing up.

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Doing the research.

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Having the hard conversations, being honest with yourself

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and always stand up and do the right thing.

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Doing the right thing doesn't always mean it is clear and simple.

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But it means that you are standing up for what you believe in.

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All of my ancestors stood up for what they believed in and they always did the right thing.

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And over 400 years later, I am living proof that doing the right thing will always prevail.

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Thank you all for showing up today and thank you Carol, 

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and all of the other city council members, for giving me the opportunity to speak to you today.

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It is important to amplify Black voices and I am grateful for being here today

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because many of my brothers and sisters my age don't make it.

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My brother says that I am the light of my family. 

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But I now believe that I am light for than just my family.

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I believe all my ancestors came together from all of my identities to ensure that on August 18th, 2000, I was brought into this world

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To light the way to a better future.

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But it can't just take one light. We all must light the paths for not only a better future, but for a better world.

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Where it is the norm to strive to be better for the underdogs for of not only this nation, but for the world.

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We all must light the way. As the late John Lewis said, "My philosophy is simple. When you see something that is not right,

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not fair, not just, say something. Do something. Get in trouble.

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Good trouble. Necessary trouble."

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And I for one believe and partake in good trouble.

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Necessary trouble. Because that is how history is made. Thank you all for coming tonight

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and forever in solidarity. Black Lives Matter.

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applause

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Speaker: Carol just asked me to introduce the band so that is what I will proceed to do. Over here on the drum we have Corbin.

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Corbin already graduated from the high school we attend, but

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Corbin already graduated the high school we attend, but he took time out of his day today

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And out of this last week practicing to come play with us tonight because he felt like that was something

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That would help with this event.

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applause

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applause

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We have Elijah on the trombone, Johnathan on the trombone back there, too.

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Johnathan has helped a lot in planing this, it's not just me. He's pretty much the other person planning this.

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We have Joana on the trumpet, she's the only trumpet here which is pretty hard to do

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so I think that's something that

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applause

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deserves recognition. We have Campbell on the saxophone 

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which he's also the only alto sax here so he's gonna be representing his section, I guess.

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applause

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We also have Koya on the tenor saxophone which is also a really cool thing.

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applause

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And then, last but not least, we have Landon on the baritone saxophone. That's also a cool thing.

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And then I'm just gonna be playing the piano and we're just high schoolers.

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Yeah

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applause

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music: Domino by Van Morrison

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applause

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Pastor Frank: There's an article written, New York Times, "Black History Month Is Out Seeing America Clearly,"

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I'm gonna hand it out

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When we look at American history, one of the things that, do you know who the Buffalo Riders were?

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And why they got their name?

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Their skin was dark and their hair was fluffy.

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Did you know that Teddy Roosevelt's big march up the hill was actually done by a Black army troop first?

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And then Teddy Roosevelt went second.

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The Airforce. There's a lot of Black history that we've kinda covered over and moved and set aside and everything else.

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In doing that, find out about Black history.

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When my dad was here and he spoke three weeks ago,

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and he handed out a booklist and I'm gonna try and get the booklist and all of the books over at the Monmouth library.

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One of the books in there that I find most interesting is How the South Won the War. 

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And I don't mean this as a hate speech or anything else, but I do mean it as it really bugs me.

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All the statues that we have of the heroes from the South

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are from the folks that tried to overthrow a government.

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Traitors in a sense.

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And we set up monuments to these guys. 

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The 20 dollar bill. You wanna make me really mad?

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The man on the 20 dollar bill is responsible for the death of 12, estimated, million people.

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He moved them from here to there, forced them to march, starve, die,

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Took their lands, yet we put his face on a 20 dollar bill.

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There is still things we have to learn.

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From one another and give opportunity for one another to speak to each other.

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I'm just one guy.

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But there's a story that I have to tell.

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There are stories that each of you have to tell.

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And I'm willing to learn it if we're willing to share that information with one another.

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Last closing remark cause I know I get, I can get a little long winded.

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Lorenzo Marsh is the name of my great, great grandfather.

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Sold into slavery, branded in Africa, sold into slavery in South Carolina.

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In South Carolina, Lorenzo Marsh had 14 children. At the age of 34, Lorenzo Marsh was sold to Alabama.

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There, Lorenzo Morris had 14 children. 28 children.

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And I will never know the other, I don't know who the Marshes are. Within his children

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the second son, Lorenzo Morris my great grandfather, decided that each and every one of his kids was gonna go to school.

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So one at a time, they would send the oldest and everybody would work, and pay the bill for the one.

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And when he graduated, they sent number two and everybody would work, making sure number two got through.

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Then number 3, number 4, number 5, and it went all the way through.

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And of the 12 surviving children, they all have degrees.

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They all made it.

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My dad is the third PhD within the Morris family.

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But my dad is a US Ambassador, retired Foreign Service, 

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Retired President of the Black Caucus Foundation, retired President United

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Universalist Church, he retired, buh buh, buh buh, buh buh.

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And I couldn't be more happy, proud of that man than everybody else. The one thing is though, I grew up with him

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and I'm tired of his stories. laughs

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But he has stories, he can tell you things that I could never tell, but if you want to know what it's like to survive

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a university system in the 1960's as a Black man?

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It's not easy. Those are the stories we need to tell one another.

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I need to know your stories, you need to know mine. So for the rest of the year, find out.

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Ask the question. Don't be invisible.

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And go ahead and be a little uncomfortable.

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Wear a t shirt that says something on it. 

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Find a Black coffee company. Find a Black woman who, women's t shirt company. Find something.

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And start doing everything with them.

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Grow a Black company. 

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Grow a foster system within the foster system in this area. At 18 years old the family's no longer responsible for the kids.

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Not at all, "We don't get paid by the state, get out."

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Help a foster kid that's 19.

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Help somebody else. And when everything gets so hard on yourself, the easiest thing to do is look out and help the next person along.

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So my charge to each and every single one of you is don't let this month end.

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Let this February run into the next February.

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Let our activity here today be the beginning of the activity you carry on throughout the year. Don't be invisible.

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Don't be hidden. Let your voice be heard.

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And when people don't understand you, keep yelling.

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Cry a little. Hug somebody.

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Be a part of somebody else's life.

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And in that you will grow your life and you will grow their life. I'll close in a quick prayer and then I'll let you go.

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Dear Lord, thank you. Thank you most of all for the volunteers that have put this together

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not because they were forced to, but because they wanted and desired to.

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Let the desires of our heart lead the steps that we walk. Let us walk up to one another

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thankfully and lovingly. Let us share the hurts

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and the sorrows of one another so that we can find joy, we can find peace, but most of all,

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let us not forget that each and every one of us is a part of each and every one of us.

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None of us is less than and none is greater than.

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We are yours and I pray that in Christ's name, amen.

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music: Blues in the Night