Neighbors West-Northwest and Friendly House are pleased to partner with Portland United Against Hate and the Office of Community and Civic Life to host these Civic Dialogue Workshops. These workshops provide an opportunity to come together as a community to learn more about systems of oppression, and how we can work together to create change for the better.
Join us for the last workshop in this series! April 28
The Trauma of Anti-Immigrant Hate: Impact and Intervention from a Trauma-Informed Perspective – Apr. 28, 5-7pm
This workshop offers a trauma-informed perspective on the impact of hate incidents on immigrant and refugee communities and explores trauma-informed interventions. The impact of anti-immigrant hate incidents is not limited to individual victims alone and includes communal effects that present further challenges to social integration and communal resilience for immigrant and refugee communities. The workshop explores challenges to transitional processes from cycles of victimization to cycles of healing that may result in greater social alienation and marginalization if unaddressed. Despite the challenges in place, immigrant and refugee communities showcase tremendous resilience and strength to persevere against those challenges. The workshop relies on evidence-based knowledge supported by scientific research as well the experiences of the presenter working with immigrant and refugee communities domestically (Multnomah County) and beyond (The Middle East).
Harout Akdedian is victim advocate and Program Manager at the Crime Victim Advocacy Programs (LCSNW) in Portland (OR) and Vancouver (WA). He is a visiting scholar at Portland State University’s Middle East Studies Center and non-resident senior postdoctoral fellow at the Central European University in Vienna and Budapest. He holds a PhD in Islamic Studies and worked as a research consultant for international organizations such as the UN – Economic and Social Commission of Western Asia (ESCWA) on post-conflict rehabilitation and resilience in war-impacted communities. He has over ten years of experience spanning across research, policy, direct service, and community outreach with a programmatic and thematic focus on war impacted communities and immigrant, refugee, displaced, and underserved populations.
*Completed in December* Interrupting Hate in Public Spaces
Ensuring the safety of our communities is paramount. Yet public vitriol is skyrocketing, tensions flare at a moment’s notice and Oregon is consistently ranked in the top five states of per capita hate incidents. Participants will learn how to identify, understand and overcome the inhibitions that prevent them from supporting targets of hate. They will learn and use tactics for interrupting verbal hate; while centering and empowering the target. They will understand the risks involved in intervention and how to de-escalate a situation.
Offered by As the Spirit Moves Us.
*Completed in January* Transgender in America
Culturally enforced binary gender role stereotypes have erased the inclusive and expansive understandings of gender identity and expression embraced by indigenous cultures and customs. This oppression has marginalized and silenced the voices of gender expansive children, youth and adults for more than 400 years. “Transgender in America” facilitates conversation and reconsideration of a binary gender understanding through greater awareness of historical events, laws, ideology and personal stories at this time when violence against Transpeople is on the rise.
Jenn Burleton, Director of the TransActive Gender Project at Lewis and Clark (she/her) is an internationally recognized educator and advocate on transgender and gender expansive children, youth and their families.
*Completed in February* Health, Hate, Housing and History: Lessons at the Intersection of Our Two Pandemics
The intersection of systemic racism and the COVID-19 health crisis continue to expose the racial inequities created by so many of our institutions, including housing and community development. Join us to learn more about how the history of hate and exclusion often has intersected with health and also led to the disparities in outcomes that have given rise to today’s civil unrest. Can we envision a just future by remembering a history of exclusion? Log on to learn more about how housing discrimination and racial segregation have played a role in racial disparities showing up in the COVID-19 pandemic and driving the calls for justice on our streets today. Join us to understand these connections in “Health, Hate, Housing and History: Lessons at the Intersection of Our Two Pandemics.”
Presented by Allan Lazo, executive director of the Fair Housing Council of Oregon (FHCO), a private non-profit civil rights organization with a mission to end housing discrimination and ensure equal access to housing in Oregon.
*Completed in March* Understanding and Addressing Islamaphobia
Anti-Muslim bigotry and racism including institutional and individual prejudice against American Muslims have been on the rise in the US affecting millions of individuals and families. This workshop teaches the causes and effects of Islamophobia as well as the knowledge, tools, and strategies to address and effectively combat Islamophobia and anti-Muslim prejudice. Participants will leave understanding how to combat Islamophobia, be an ally to Muslims, and create healthy, safe environments free from the effects of Islamophobia.
Jawad Khan, Muslim Educational Trust (he/him) is currently the Director of Programming at the Muslim Educational Trust (MET) and a member of MET’s Board of Directors. He was born in Houston, Texas, to Indian immigrant parents. He has spent 20 years with MET as a teacher, guidance counselor, and administrator. He has delivered workshops about Islam and about combating Islamophobia to numerous colleges, schools, goverment agenices, and non-profits throughout the Portand metro area. Before joining MET, Jawad previously worked in the high tech industry including Kavi Corporation, before starting his own startup, AI Graphics, along with his classmates from college. He has degrees in Business Administration and Economics from Portland State University and currently resides in Beaverton, Oregon.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in these workshops do not necessarily represent those of the City of Portland. Funding for the Portland United Against Hate Workshop Series has been made possible in part by a grant from the City of Portland, Office of Community & Civic Life.