More Context
The future and the thriving of BIPOC communities: A collective/community [macro] agenda-setting conversation.
As the anchor institution in Portland and as Oregon’s most diverse institution with a strong reputation for community engagement and innovation, Portland State University is leaning into identity-specific and cross-affinity dialogues and discussion on the critical need for strengthening and supporting Oregon’s BIPOC communities. Racial justice is President’s Percy’s highest priority, one of three presidential priorities including advancing equitable student success and leaning deeper into our “Let knowledge serve the city” motto for all of Oregon’s communities. The future calls to us to act in the present to mitigate threats to the thriving of BIPOC communities. The disproportionate impact of job displacement due to automation; the under-resourced and leaky BIPOC talent and leadership pipeline; differing projections for post-secondary access and different success rates for different communities; the changing nature of learning and work, and the enduring racial wealth gap; much is required to ensure that technological change, demographic shifts, and BIPOC community prosperity are positively correlated now and in the future.
Portland State University recognizes that it has not always lived up to its motto to "let knowledge serve the city" where BIPOC communities are concerned and seeks to move closer to expectations, responsibilities, and aspirations through intentional action, community partnership, and accountability.
We applaud the conversations happening in different spaces across the city and state, and are encouraged by many of the important recommendations being articulated and implemented. Portland State University aims to come alongside these conversations to facilitate the development of a shared macro agenda and spur action by convening stakeholders from BIPOC communities and cultural organizations, education, community-based organizations, business, philanthropic bodies, and government entities. Recognizing that the complexity at stake will require more than any one of us, PSU aims to help us be greater than the sum of our parts by convening, synthesizing, and acting in partnership with our various stakeholders.
It is important that the future of BIPOC communities be defined and shaped by BIPOC communities, honoring the theme “Nothing about us, without us.” As such, we will lean even further into our commitment to be BIPOC-centered and led in this work, and invite our BIPOC-led and serving organizations, especially those anchored in BIPOC communities, to be conversation conveners and designers. As such, we host a series of affinity-specific conversations through September 2022 and we will host a macro conversation later in the fall that synthesizes themes across conversations and elevates identity specific needs.
PSU’s October 2020 Summit was themed “Time to Act” and these convenings are an extension of that work, broadening the conversation beyond our internal borders and agenda. The time to act for the future is now. The future is calling to us. We will, and must, respond.