This is the question that Byrd posed to Descendants and Survivors of the Emanuel Hospital expansion forced displacement. She recently came across a closet-sized collection of children’s outfits from the early 1970s, and her admiration of the “fly” clothing of the era crashed into her recognition that those were the same outfits that would have been worn by the actual children whose homes were razed to make way for a hospital expansion that never happened. The land stands empty today. Byrd asked the sobering question at one of the community meetings of EDPA2 (Emanuel Displaced Persons Association 2), and it was met with the same depth of emotion that she felt.
That question was the impetus for the “Sunday Dinner” EDPA2 hosted on February 19, 2023, in First Unitarian’s Eliot Center reception hall. EDPA2 invited Portlanders, including Descendants and Survivors as well as allies of EDPA2’s campaign for restitution: members of First Unitarian Portland, members of Oregon Synod ELCA Lutheran Reparations Task Force, BIPOC Faith Leaders for Black Lives, and a few other special guests. The Sunday Dinner featured a soul food meal along with spoken word pieces and vignettes shared by EDPA2 Descendants and Survivors about Black cultural hallmarks: Sunday Dinner, clothing, food, family, and story.
The Dinner helped create unity among the families as they continued the work for restitution, most notably through the historic, pending lawsuit. It was also a chance for a diversity of Portlanders to come together as people and to share stories of the multigenerational Black experience in Portland. These stories are rich, deep, and nuanced and reach into local history, social justice, redemption, the quest for restitution, public policy, what it means to live in Portland as a Black person born and raised here, and the long-lasting impact of gentrification on children.
Sharing the Sunday Dinner, table conversations, and the rich program, guests were immersed in what EDPA2 supporter Gahlena (affectionately known as “Momma G”) called “inner attainment.” The intention was not to entertain but rather to deepen the connection and to hold sacred the lives and communities present. In our debrief, we talked about what it means to hear the stories of people impacted by racist repressive policies. Byrd reflected that we all are trained to receive information based on the color of our skin… At the dinner, Byrd posed the question, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get somebody to believe you?”
Naturally, the event impacted those of us in the room differently. Descendents and Survivors reported it was an opportunity to share two specific areas of culture that existed in Central Albina. It allowed the audience an immersive experience of what Central Albina really was as opposed to how it is often misrepresented and reported. We heard from Black community members who were not from Portland that the Sunday Dinner was both resonant with their cultural experiences and a valued opportunity to learn about Portland’s particular cultural history. From white guests we heard that it was an honor to be invited and welcomed to learn from the cohesiveness and beauty of Black culture and the lived stories of what was disrupted and torn apart by Portland’s relentless targeting of thriving Black neighborhoods in the name of “development.” This cultural harm falls into the category of what EDPA2 identifies as “incurable losses” in their groundbreaking report in partnership with FutureLab of Portland State University: Reclamation Toward the Futurity of Central Albina: Dream World Urbanism.
One piece of this story that we are holding with care is how to convey both the honor and responsibility that members of First Unitarian’s EDPA2 Accompaniment Team and the Lutheran Reparations Team experience in organizing alongside EDPA2. First Unitarian and the ELCA Oregon Synod provided the funds for the special soul food meal, catered by Black-owned and operated Trap Kitchen. There’s a story behind the funding and our partnerships.
For several years, members of First Unitarian have been building relationships with EDPA2 and learning from them about how Portland’s thriving Black neighborhoods were targeted and misrepresented by powerful business interests to create a false narrative to “justify” their removal. First Unitarian has been honored to co-organize several events to amplify the stories of Descendants and Survivors – in their words, through their experience – and support EDPA2’s efforts for restitution. One such event was the “sneak preview” of the must-read Reclamation Toward the Futurity of Central Albina: Dream World Urbanism. In addition, First Unitarian has sponsored/hosted PSU professor Kristin Tiegen to teach The History of White Supremacy in Oregon online class. Half of the class fees have gone to paying Kristin for her teaching, and half has gone to First Unitarian’s racial justice work. It was those funds that First Unitarian put toward EDPA2’s Sunday Dinner.
Meanwhile, the Oregon Synod ELCA has been actively participating in an interfaith journey called Reckoning with Racism with many other faith traditions throughout the state. Uncovering the synod land story has helped leaders to recognize that the synod offices are located on some of the very land from which EDPA2 families were forcibly removed. (Emanuel Medical Center was founded by Lutherans, and Legacy Health System continues to honor the historical relationship with the ELCA. They do that by donating space to the Oregon Synod for the Bishop’s Office.) Reckoning with Racism has helped the synod recognize the many historical layers of the land, invited Emanuel Medical Center staff to join in educating themselves and working toward reparations, and challenged the synod to move even deeper into a relationship with displaced neighbors. The reparations team from the Oregon Synod continues to share the story of Emanuel’s displacement of the Albina community and our connected complicity in those racist actions through videos, online conversations across the synod, and in-person Road trip events with music, story, and truth-telling in ELCA Lutheran churches around the state.
The Sunday Dinner was the first opportunity we had to be together, in community, to share a meal and share more intimately the power of the truth and the intangible, profound beauty of culture and community.
Together our communities are grappling with the question: What is the “right relationship” for our institutions and those of us who belong to these institutions? What is just as we live into the truth of how money and power have preyed on false narratives of race and a racial hierarchy with very real, present-day consequences of inequality here, where we live? How do we stay committed to restitution for what can be restored, what EDPA2 calls “curable losses,” and committed to the sacred work of mutual liberation? And what are we called to do, each of us in our own lived histories, to commit to the lifelong work of relationship-building, humility, deeper understanding, and shared truth-telling?
We hope you will join us in this ongoing weaving of story and relationship in support of restitution for Descendants and Survivors. Stay tuned for other opportunities to learn more alongside EDPA2 and support their community efforts for restitution.
