those other lives

Oh, those other lives out there. Those beautifully luminous, exasperatingly numinous, other possible existences. The ones we paused at the portal of, standing at that dividing of ways, and didn't take. The ones would've made of us other people altogether, with fantastically other things to give the world, or maybe to take from it, or maybe of course both. I have at least a couple of them, those lives, still glowing and embering in Portland, Oregon. The state even whose abbreviation hints at ambiguity and potential. Ursula LeGuin has a wonderful short story about a small Oregon town that unexpectedly, and inexplicably, moves itself to new locations around the state from time to time. Carrying with it its collection of inhabitants, who seem unusually capable of adapting to their strangely mutable lives and geographies. The name of the story is the name of the town: Ether, OR.

But anyway: one of those lives of mine resurfaced today with the email announcement below. The Center for Intercultural Organizing is one of my most-admired Portland nonprofit acquaintances, and one of the first that I met and volunteered with there. They were founded in 2001, as a response to the growing prejudice and all-around ignorance being fostered toward the "other": those from less-understood cultures, spiritual paths, or regions of the world (of which Portland has an amazingly diverse population). Their many excellent efforts, including town hall meetings, public dialogues and educational events, and the annual Global Portland Festival, have brought much light to the city at large, and created sharing and community among people of incredibly varied backgrounds and experiences. Recently, with the '01 ridiculousness a bit more in the past, they have turned their focus more specifically to immigrant issues.

The connection here, for me, is not just a few vibrant experiences with this group. This post is about a work I could probably be a part of now, if I had stayed there. A friend in the Portland Catholic Worker community, with whom I shared an interest in photography and communications, offered more than once to get me into an internship program, doing video production with the local indy media center where he worked. It was a hard offer to decline, and I did so only because I was thinking of returning to New Mexico. And the direct link with the immigrant community, and its advocates, was one I was also forging in the context of 4 or 5 other volunteer and learning efforts. Well, here we are in the now. There must be things to do in this life as well. I can only wish these good people all the best, in their most inspiring efforts. And send them a little contribution toward their work, as they've requested in this post. Their link is at the end, if you'd like to see more of what they're about. But here's the email:

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Now, the exciting news! We have two big announcements that we will be making during presentations at our party, and I wanted to make sure you also heard about them.

WE’RE OPENING A MEDIA PRODUCTION STUDIO
This summer, the Center for Intercultural Organizing will be opening a member-run media production studio. A recent $68,000 capital grant from the Mount Hood Cable Regulatory Commission (MHCRC) is enabling CIO to build an on-site media studio and post-production lab located within our 3,400 square foot cross-cultural community center. The on-site media studio will provide a mechanism for immigrants and refugees to tell their own stories and directly frame their issues. We hope you will want to get involved.

CIO WILL BE PROVIDING IMMIGRATION LEGAL SERVICES
This year, CIO was officially recognized by Board of Immigration Appeals to provide low cost immigration legal services to community members. We recognize that our decision to provide legal services represents a new, yet strategic, direction for CIO. Providing direct assistance with citizenship applications is not simply a service. We see it as an important step to building relationships that can lead to further organizing and mobilization. AND when comprehensive immigration reform happens at the federal level … CIO will be poised to help!

Again, thank you for your continuing support of CIO. We look forward to seeing you sometime in the near future.

In Solidarity,
Kayse Jama, Excecutive Director

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Executive Director | Center for Intercultural Organizing
700 N. Killingsworth | Portland, OR 97217
(503) 287-4117 | (503) 449-3523 (cell) | www.interculturalorganizing.org
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