Going Public with My Story
For many years, Xiomara Torres avoided telling people she had come into the US as an undocumented immigrant. “There’s so much shame with knowing you were
Category: Portland
Think About What You Want Most
“This country is still the ‘shining city on the hill’ but the path up is getting steeper,” says Ruth Lesser, reflecting on the difficult road she is still traveling to […]
Wedding Party, Kirkuk, Iraq
Samir Khurshid Memory: I carry this photo with me. It is the wedding party of my brother “Noori” when I was in Turkey in 2008 away from my family. I […]
Member of Our Family, Iraq
Zainab Al Qasiri: Tito is a member of our family, I could not leave her behind. I think this story is full of humanity. The hardest time of my lifewas […]
Yilan to Portland, a Lucky Life
In 1960, Chang-Shee Chang’s pharmacology lab partner promised him a date with the runner-up of Miss Taiwan. He eagerly accepted. Alone in the theater
Taking the Opportunity to Shine
Jeanette Amisi Mmunga was born Tosha Kitungano, but has decided to answer to a new name — one she chose for herself. Mmunga was born Feb. 19, 2001,
The Ingredients of Leadership
Although today she is recognized as one of Portland’s best-known chefs, Nong Poonsukwattana confesses that as a child, “I didn’t think (cooking) was
Creating New Narratives
When Naskah Zada immigrated from Iraq to the U.S. in the fall of 1997, she was expecting to eat pizza in front of a big-screen television in either a mansion […]
Around the World Through Music
Every morning, Monday through Saturday, 14-year-old Kim Mai Nguyen woke up at 5:45 a.m. She dashed out the door at 6:20 a.m. to catch the subway. By the end of […]
Celebrating Identity Through Music
In the late 90’s, while employed at Powell’s Books and engaged in the workers’ effort to unionize, Gitanjali Hursh – known to friends and family as Anju
Embrace All Your Cultures
It was her teachers, violinist Inés Voglar says, who gave her the courage to do what she loved the most and to trust that success would follow.
Designing a Better Future
“After the travel ban and after Trump, I had the hard feeling — I felt ignored and voiceless,” says Shiva Farrohki. “I was thinking, how can we change
Live, Love, and Juggle
Every summer morning as a child, Ramazan Yiğit — Rama — would rise before the sun in order to shepherd his family’s livestock until sundown
We Are an Asset to Our Society
It’s a long way from Mexico City to the Revolución Coffee House in Portland, Oregon. But Maria Garcia — business owner, mother, activist, advocate —
When A Dream is Born
Walking down the halls of his middle school, Wilson Nitunga was eating an apple. The bell rang, and students around him rushed to class. A teacher approached