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MLK Weekend 2022

After careful consideration and assessments, we have determined that we are shifting how we show-up during the weekend that honors Dr. King. After 14 years, the United Way and Hands On Greater Portland will no longer host the MLK Weekend of Service, and instead focus more energy on supporting DEI and racial justice resources, events, drives, and ways the community can help from home.

This event began as a community response to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on his federal holiday by uniting in service. We know there are limited volunteer activities that community partners still need support for, so we are posting those opportunities here, along with other events that are facilitated online/virtually in honor of his legacy. 


Volunteer Activities:
 

Please visit our Project Calendar to view projects on January 17th and throughout the weekend: https://www.handsonportland.org/calendar

 

 

 SOLVE is hosting 4 different clean up projects on Monday, January 17th: https://www.solveoregon.org/mlkpdx


Pre-registration is required, please click the check-in location below. 

 

Blanchet House is recommending making care kits: 


Honor the life and service of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the upcoming holiday by making care kits for the houseless. Bags containing essential items like rain ponchos, hand warmers, socks, and snacks are given out daily to our guests. These kits are so appreciated!

Instructions at BlanchetHouse.org/care-kits.

Send us a photo of yourself making them at info@blanchethouse.org.

 

 

Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO)

Please join us on Monday, January 17, to support IRCO’s newest program, Refugee Resettlement and Placement. IRCO offers two ways to get involved: Volunteer, or Donate Items!

New arrivals from Afghanistan are arriving every week!

Furniture & Supply Mover: Need your help on Monday, January 17! We are hosting pick-ups from homes and businesses around the Portland metro area. You don’t have to have a truck, but willing to put on an IRCO t-shirt and lift a few boxes with us.

Donate kitchen items & furniture!

Join us in creating new homes for incoming families. There are a number of items that every individual needs in order to set up a new life here. However, we are particularly short of kitchen items and furniture at the moment.

LIST OF NEEDED SUPPLIES

A furniture pick-up will be arranged on Monday, January 17. If you would like a pick-up at your home or business, please email Fundraise@IRCO.org and share photos of your intended donation.

 


Community Events:
 

The Skanner Foundation 36th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast:


Monday, January 17, 2022 at 9:00AM (Online Event)

The Skanner Foundation again invites the community to share breakfast and celebrate the life, work, and vision of civil rights icon the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. with its 36th annual celebration the morning of Jan. 17, 2022.

In past years, the breakfast has hosted more than a thousand attendees, often including the governor and both state and U.S. senators and representatives. Out of caution for yet another forecasted surge in the pandemic, the foundation has elected to hold its celebration on a virtual platform for a second year.

For more information, or to purchase a table or make a donation, visit the Skanner web site.

 

World Arts Foundation Inc. presents KEEP ALIVE THE DREAM

Monday, January 17, 2022 at 3:00PM at the Hollywood Theatre

This historical film documents African-American communities in Oregon honoring the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Since 1978, World Arts Foundation, Inc. (WAFI) has hosted an annual MLK tribute event. With King’s work as a guide, KEEP ALIVE THE DREAM highlights pioneering activists, community leaders, artists, musicians, and youth whose valiant efforts have left lasting impacts in Oregon’s African-American community.

In addition to the film, the program will feature live music and a Q & A with community members.

Admission is free but a ticket needs to be claimed for entry: https://hollywoodtheatre.org/events/keep-alive-the-dream/

 

Portland State University's MLK Living The Legacy Series

VIRTUAL KEYNOTE: “THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF THE CIVIL-RIGHTS AND BLACK POWER MOVEMENT"
REV. DR. LEROY HAYNES, JR.
Tuesday, January 18, 2022  |  5:30 PM (Online Event)

Rev. Dr. LeRoy Haynes, Jr. has dedicated the majority of his life to the pursuit of racial justice and religious faith. In addition to earning a master’s degree in theology and a doctorate of ministry,

Dr. Haynes has also served as a youth organizer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a field organizer for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, and a co-organizer of the Black Panther Party.

Register now ›

 


United Way of King County's Advancing Racial Equity: A Conversation with Clint Smith

 
Wednesday, January 19, 2022
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM PST (Online Event)

Listen and learn from educator, poet, and New York Times bestselling author, Clint Smith and then participate in a discussion with local experts specializing in African American history in our area. 

Clint Smith is a staff writer at The Atlantic. He is the author of the narrative nonfiction book, How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America, which was a #1 New York Times Bestseller, and the poetry collection Counting Descent, which won the 2017 Literary Award for Best Poetry Book from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award.

Please join us to listen, learn and be in community with one another. More information, including tickets are available here.

 

Portland State University's MLK Living The Legacy Series

DEFINING ABOLITION
BLACK PEOPLE LIBERATE THEMSELVES VIRTUAL RACIAL JUSTICE TEACH-IN
Saturday, January 22, 2022  |  10:00 AM  - 3:30 PM (Online Event)

This MLK Virtual Racial Justice Teach-in is presented by the Campus Collaborative -- a coalition that Portland State is a part of that seeks to create programming that centers the history and narratives of Portland’s Black community during, and around, Martin Luther King Day, the only national holiday committed to a Black leader.

Rooted in Black/African Diasporic feminisms, abolition has defined anti-oppression, anti-colonial, and anti-racist organizing nationally and globally. In keeping with the abolitionist tradition, this event seeks to create a space where Black community activists can convene to envision a world liberated from white supremacy, colonialism, and racism.   Learn more and register ›

 

 


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