A look back at Portland’s housing history by Kimberland Moreland, followed by a roundtable conversation facilitated by Allan Lazo/Fair Housing Council.

Special Guests:

RANDAL WYATT - TAKE OWNERSHIP PDX

DARLENE SOLOMON-ROGERS - SABIN CDC

LAQUIDA LANDFORD - AFROVILLAGE

IVORY MATHEWS - HOME FORWARD

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The roundtable will be followed by a 30 minute performance of

POORLANDIA

Devised by Vin Shamby and Matthew Kerrigan. An Opera - a conversation - a painting. This devised, traveling performance art piece, was developed to engage audiences in a jazz-like conversion with artist Vin Shambry as he talks (and paints) about his experience as a black man dealing with homelessness, whiteness, and the real Portlandia. Join our conversation as we explore a new way of storytelling and audience engagement in this visually stunning (totally instagramable) new work.

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2022 marks the 80th anniversary of the building of Vanport, once Oregon’s second largest city, and the largest WWII federal housing project in the United States. At a time when exclusion and racial segregation were the norm, Vanport was a place of belonging for a multiracial working-class community.

This thriving small city was also home to the Vanport Extension Center (VEC), the first publicly supported institution of higher learning in Portland. It opened in 1946 to offer housing and college education to returning veterans under the G.I. Bill, and later became Portland State University.

On May 30, 1948 a flood destroyed the entire city, killing at least 15 people and forcing Portland to open its doors to thousands of local refugees. Many stayed, forever changing the social, economic, and political fabric of our region.

Eighty years later, at a time when today's many crises have highlighted our city's continuing inequities, what can the history and living spirit of Vanport tell us?

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This event is part of THE VANPORT MOSAIC FESTIVAL 2022, May 20-June 7: three weeks of memory activism opportunities to explore the many silenced histories that surround us through screenings, tours, performances, exhibits and dialogues. Full program at www.vanportmosaic.org. Contact info@vanportmosaic.org

A Place Called Home: Past, Present and Future of Housing Our Communities