the complex community that I love so may
1993 my family and I my mother’s and my
mother not mothers mother and three
sisters we get off this airplane and we
are greeted by strangers strangers who
overnight become family I’ll never
forget it it was a bright day you walk
out the airport lights were extremely
hot it felt like greeted by all these
truthfully white folks we’re in Portland
and they’ve got balloons and they’ve got
flowers and they welcomed us and
strangers become family and a community
becomes home we had just gone through
this war were originally from Liberia
West Africa a country that was found by
freed enslaved blacks they go back
shortly after emancipation and they say
you know let’s let’s start anew
well the complicated part about it is
these people end up enslaving the
indigenous people right the complexity
of that well I’m a direct descendant of
one of those people who enslaved the
indigenous people I’m also a direct
descendant of some of the indigenous
people so years later we get on this
plane and we come to this country and
this community becomes our home and this
community becomes a place where we not
only grow but we become something new
and it welcomes us so we’re living at
interesting times
and so much around us is it’s
essentially telling us we’re either or
you know it tells guys like me I’m a
black man and because I’m a black man
there all of these things that come with
it
it tells some other folk you know your
your lesbian or transgendered whatever
you are
and over the last couple months as I’ve
wrestled like I’m sure most of you are
wrestling I’ve been trying to figure out
so what is what does this mean and who
are we as a people and Who am I
and what’s my role in all of this and
I’ve come to a conclusion that it’s
about intersectionality all right so I
am a black man but I’m a father I’m a
son I’m a husband but most importantly
I’m a person I’m a person with
complexity and nuance and what happens
oftentimes and what whiteness and sort
of this country has done to us is it
minimizes the complexity of that so one
of my favorite authors is James Baldwin
and Baldwin famously says that we live
in a complex nation that often tries to
simplify itself that often tries to make
us the other and as a black man I’m
often made the other I’m often tried
they try to but I don’t fall into this
trap anymore they try to make me become
something they try to label me right
they they over-sexualize they talk about
things there there are these innuendos
right because we live in a Portland you
know a nice community but I’ve reached
this point where when I embrace
intersectionality I realize something I
realized that being good as a person has
less to do with the forces around me but
it has more to do with the spirits of
those who have come before me about a
year ago I lost someone who was really
important to me my grandmother and my
grandmother taught me something that’s
absolutely profound and that is she
taught me to believe in people
she taught me hope you know I’ll never
forget we’re going through the war in
Liberia and once we were at her house
and what would happen is the rebels
would go to houses and they would take
you out and they would go in and either
rape folks or they’d kill you and so
this come
Oshin this interplay occurs where my
mother and my grandmother’s so they’re
banging at the door we’re in the house
and her house is a square and we’re in
the middle of this square and they’re
banging at the door and they’re saying
come out and they’re using profanity and
my mother says we’ve got to go out
because what would happen is if you
don’t go out they’ve set the house on
fire and my grandmother says no we
should stay in so finally my mother
grabs us by the hand and and as we’re
walking a bullet is shot and what’s
crazy is so I went back a year ago and I
looked and the bullet hole was still
there so we finally would get out and
we’re lined up and they’re gonna kill us
and my mother looks at us and she says
pray and we begin to pray and the gun
that was jit that was shot moments ago
he it and he pulls the trigger and
that gun was jammed hope so that person
who went through that experience is now
in this community that person who is now
32 years old a father of two a husband
runs an organization doing amazing
things in the world is a dreamer a
dreamer who believes in this community’s
potential to be great a dreamer who
believes in this community’s potential
to rise to this moment and say something
new so why do I believe in this so we
come to this country and were embraced
we’re embraced by a church community
that helped ground me and faith but
we’re also embraced in a school
community so I went to Whitaker middle
school when Whitaker existed before you
know displacements happened and we were
promised a new building we never got the
building Louis I’m still upset about it
we can’t tell
but at Whitaker I learned something at
Whitaker I learned community
I learned community at Whitaker I was
introduced to people who didn’t have the
family dynamics that I had but yet they
cared for me and to this day there’s
still some of my closest friends at
Whitaker I learned not only in the flaws
of our public policy but I also learned
about the dimensions of human human of
humanity and how people with nothing can
make something and they can dream anew I
learned about the complexity of this
community but also learned about hope so
we’re living in weird times and it seems
like so much around us is moving like
literally sometimes and it feels like in
these times were being questioned to be
different or be new sometimes truthfully
it feels like we’re going back but
there’s hope so if you know anything
about me you know there was a time of my
life what I wanted to go into the
ministry that was that was short-lived
there’s an old song that says my hope
was built on nothing less than Jesus
Christ and righteousness my hope I won’t
sing my hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus Christ and righteousness so
in this moment we’re in this time and
we’re all searching we’re all looking so
here’s my three things embrace
complexity don’t allow the world to
minimize you to a caricature or an a
singular being embrace your wholeness be
dynamic recognize intersectionality
so a couple of nights ago my wife and I
are sitting there and we’re talking
about how do you end racism right like
these are things that I talk about late
at night and so I don’t get invited back
to a lot of parties you know and she
says something extremely profound that
has stuck with me she says if you want
to end racism figure out how to change
white women never thought about that so
I asked her why she says well think
about it who raised his children
overwhelmingly mothers think about the
feminism movement when women in this
country particularly white women said
they were going to get their rights they
talked to the husband’s talk to their
fathers and what happened eventually
they got a lot now we got to do that
we’ve learned from yesterday that the
fights not over but something did happen
and the third and the last thing let’s
always remember that we’ve seen darker
days and moments don’t define us we
define moments one of my favorite quotes
is by a guy by them of Benjamin Elijah
Mays dr. Mays was the president of
Morehouse College and he once said I
have just a minute
only 60 seconds in it forced upon me
can’t refuse it didn’t seek it didn’t
choose it but it’s up to me to use it I
must suffer if I lose it give an account
if I abuse it just a tiny minute but an
eternity is in it we’re in these times
for a reason the fights not over but
here’s what we have to do we have to
fight here’s the more important part we
have to fight together thank you
you
1993 my family and I my mother’s and my
mother not mothers mother and three
sisters we get off this airplane and we
are greeted by strangers strangers who
overnight become family I’ll never
forget it it was a bright day you walk
out the airport lights were extremely
hot it felt like greeted by all these
truthfully white folks we’re in Portland
and they’ve got balloons and they’ve got
flowers and they welcomed us and
strangers become family and a community
becomes home we had just gone through
this war were originally from Liberia
West Africa a country that was found by
freed enslaved blacks they go back
shortly after emancipation and they say
you know let’s let’s start anew
well the complicated part about it is
these people end up enslaving the
indigenous people right the complexity
of that well I’m a direct descendant of
one of those people who enslaved the
indigenous people I’m also a direct
descendant of some of the indigenous
people so years later we get on this
plane and we come to this country and
this community becomes our home and this
community becomes a place where we not
only grow but we become something new
and it welcomes us so we’re living at
interesting times
and so much around us is it’s
essentially telling us we’re either or
you know it tells guys like me I’m a
black man and because I’m a black man
there all of these things that come with
it
it tells some other folk you know your
your lesbian or transgendered whatever
you are
and over the last couple months as I’ve
wrestled like I’m sure most of you are
wrestling I’ve been trying to figure out
so what is what does this mean and who
are we as a people and Who am I
and what’s my role in all of this and
I’ve come to a conclusion that it’s
about intersectionality all right so I
am a black man but I’m a father I’m a
son I’m a husband but most importantly
I’m a person I’m a person with
complexity and nuance and what happens
oftentimes and what whiteness and sort
of this country has done to us is it
minimizes the complexity of that so one
of my favorite authors is James Baldwin
and Baldwin famously says that we live
in a complex nation that often tries to
simplify itself that often tries to make
us the other and as a black man I’m
often made the other I’m often tried
they try to but I don’t fall into this
trap anymore they try to make me become
something they try to label me right
they they over-sexualize they talk about
things there there are these innuendos
right because we live in a Portland you
know a nice community but I’ve reached
this point where when I embrace
intersectionality I realize something I
realized that being good as a person has
less to do with the forces around me but
it has more to do with the spirits of
those who have come before me about a
year ago I lost someone who was really
important to me my grandmother and my
grandmother taught me something that’s
absolutely profound and that is she
taught me to believe in people
she taught me hope you know I’ll never
forget we’re going through the war in
Liberia and once we were at her house
and what would happen is the rebels
would go to houses and they would take
you out and they would go in and either
rape folks or they’d kill you and so
this come
Oshin this interplay occurs where my
mother and my grandmother’s so they’re
banging at the door we’re in the house
and her house is a square and we’re in
the middle of this square and they’re
banging at the door and they’re saying
come out and they’re using profanity and
my mother says we’ve got to go out
because what would happen is if you
don’t go out they’ve set the house on
fire and my grandmother says no we
should stay in so finally my mother
grabs us by the hand and and as we’re
walking a bullet is shot and what’s
crazy is so I went back a year ago and I
looked and the bullet hole was still
there so we finally would get out and
we’re lined up and they’re gonna kill us
and my mother looks at us and she says
pray and we begin to pray and the gun
that was jit that was shot moments ago
he it and he pulls the trigger and
that gun was jammed hope so that person
who went through that experience is now
in this community that person who is now
32 years old a father of two a husband
runs an organization doing amazing
things in the world is a dreamer a
dreamer who believes in this community’s
potential to be great a dreamer who
believes in this community’s potential
to rise to this moment and say something
new so why do I believe in this so we
come to this country and were embraced
we’re embraced by a church community
that helped ground me and faith but
we’re also embraced in a school
community so I went to Whitaker middle
school when Whitaker existed before you
know displacements happened and we were
promised a new building we never got the
building Louis I’m still upset about it
we can’t tell
but at Whitaker I learned something at
Whitaker I learned community
I learned community at Whitaker I was
introduced to people who didn’t have the
family dynamics that I had but yet they
cared for me and to this day there’s
still some of my closest friends at
Whitaker I learned not only in the flaws
of our public policy but I also learned
about the dimensions of human human of
humanity and how people with nothing can
make something and they can dream anew I
learned about the complexity of this
community but also learned about hope so
we’re living in weird times and it seems
like so much around us is moving like
literally sometimes and it feels like in
these times were being questioned to be
different or be new sometimes truthfully
it feels like we’re going back but
there’s hope so if you know anything
about me you know there was a time of my
life what I wanted to go into the
ministry that was that was short-lived
there’s an old song that says my hope
was built on nothing less than Jesus
Christ and righteousness my hope I won’t
sing my hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus Christ and righteousness so
in this moment we’re in this time and
we’re all searching we’re all looking so
here’s my three things embrace
complexity don’t allow the world to
minimize you to a caricature or an a
singular being embrace your wholeness be
dynamic recognize intersectionality
so a couple of nights ago my wife and I
are sitting there and we’re talking
about how do you end racism right like
these are things that I talk about late
at night and so I don’t get invited back
to a lot of parties you know and she
says something extremely profound that
has stuck with me she says if you want
to end racism figure out how to change
white women never thought about that so
I asked her why she says well think
about it who raised his children
overwhelmingly mothers think about the
feminism movement when women in this
country particularly white women said
they were going to get their rights they
talked to the husband’s talk to their
fathers and what happened eventually
they got a lot now we got to do that
we’ve learned from yesterday that the
fights not over but something did happen
and the third and the last thing let’s
always remember that we’ve seen darker
days and moments don’t define us we
define moments one of my favorite quotes
is by a guy by them of Benjamin Elijah
Mays dr. Mays was the president of
Morehouse College and he once said I
have just a minute
only 60 seconds in it forced upon me
can’t refuse it didn’t seek it didn’t
choose it but it’s up to me to use it I
must suffer if I lose it give an account
if I abuse it just a tiny minute but an
eternity is in it we’re in these times
for a reason the fights not over but
here’s what we have to do we have to
fight here’s the more important part we
have to fight together thank you
you
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