From Nine to 49

FROM THE DESK OF OFL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ANA DEL ROCÍO

Dear friends,

In the blur of the past 14 months, much has changed in seemingly every area of our lives: at home, at work, in the public spaces we all share.

We continue to face uncertainties, but two things I know are that this pandemic will one day end; and the recovery period that ensues will be one of the greatest opportunities of this generation to transform our healthcare system, our public safety system, our education system – and our entire government, in a way that promotes everyone’s ability to thrive.

In May 2021, an unprecedented number of Oregonians seeks election to local school boards and parks & recreation boards. As I shared with OPB’s Elizabeth Miller last week, among them are 49 leaders of color who have answered calls to lead their districts out of pandemic conditions and into brighter futures:

- 43% (21 candidates) identify as Black and/or Indigenous;
- 71% (35 candidates) identify as women of color;
- 27% (13 candidates) are running to serve districts with large rural and tribal populations.

Every one of these candidates is vetted and endorsed by local BIPOC-led groups and their trusted leaders. Each of them displays boundless imagination, bold vision, and unapologetic rejection of the status quo. They represent just one segment of the locally elected leadership that OFL and its partners have supported since 2014.

Our leaders don’t stop at sharing grim statistics of the disproportionate impacts coronavirus has had on Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color. Through their public service and their campaigns, these leaders embody the moral imperative to respond to systemic injustice with organized action.

Make no mistake: a government lacking in reflective, community-accountable leadership is a root cause of inequitable and preventable suffering in our communities during COVID-19. Better outcomes in the future depend on electing leaders who both reflect their constituencies and effectively pass the bold policies and equitable budgets their communities demand.

The 49 leaders we uplift this month join waves of progressive leaders across the country who organize with renewed vigor in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those elected to serve tomorrow will have only a few weeks to rest before their swearing-in ceremonies, and before the first in a series of Progressive Governance Academy trainings conducted in tandem with OFL's national partner, Local Progress.

If you haven’t already made your way over to Color PAC’s Facebook page, that’s where you can find the names, biographies, and visions of the candidates and future public officials who are leading the way towards a racially just Oregon.

I leave you with a quote from economics and policy expert Heather McGee, who summarizes this moment of action well in her book, The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together.

“...people have decided that a part of being an American and a human being right now is to organize. And that is the space that has always changed lives and changed history. And we are in that space right now.”

At least in Oregon, on these traditional native lands, we are in that space right now.

In solidarity,

Ana del Rocío, Executive Director