Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons^™

Psu Black Studies At Risk, Professor Says: Administration Called Out For Toxic Environment, Beverly Corbell, Ethan Johnson

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

This school year is the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Black Studies Department at Portland State University, a momentous occasion for celebrating the formation of a degree curriculum devoted to the history, culture and politics of black people, but the African-American director of the department doesn’t feel much like celebrating.

Ethan Johnson, who has headed the department for the past 15 years, says the university is failing to support the black studies curriculum and even more is failing to listen to the concerns of minority students and faculty at the school, a result that is disastrous to their …

Understanding The Politicization Of Oromo Identity In The Diaspora: Re/ Locating The Bones Of The Oromo, Madeline Jaye Bass

Dissertations and Theses

The Oromo people of Ethiopia share a common language, worldview, set of sacred meanings, and a historic system of governance. The rise of the Abyssinian Empire in the late 1800s led to the colonization of the Oromo; their language and religion were made illegal, their homeland was expropriated and renamed, and they were forced to live as slaves on their own land. After the end of the Abyssinian colonial era, historic discrimination was institutionalized into the new Ethiopian state form through the politicization of identities. Ethnic identities become political identities when cultural traits are used by the state as criteria …

Culturally Responsive Social Work Methods For Use With Indigenous Peoples, Sara Davidson Cowling

Student Research Symposium

The history of the American social work profession and its interactions with Indigenous people is intimately connected to colonial imperialism. Social workers have been complicit and outright participatory in various forms of settler state violence, especially in the form of forced cultural assimilation through the Indian Adoption Project and Indian Residential schools. While these institutions are now closed, and federal law ostensibly prevents such harms from recurring, Indigenous people are often rightfully suspect of social workers and the work they do.

How can non-Indigenous people approach the profession of social work through a decolonizing lens? How can we center Indigenous …

Katanga Secession: The Growth And Manipulation Of Ethnic Associations, Hannah L. Mohtadi

Young Historians Conference

The Katanga province in the Democratic Republic of Congo remains one of the most minerally rich regions in the world, leading to many political and social interferences by foreign powers hoping to secure a part of the wealth. Following decades of oppressive colonial rule, the Democratic Republic of Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960, sparking a violent political shift and allowing a secessionist movement to take place in Katanga. While it is commonly held that foreign powers manipulated indigenous leaders in order to remain a powerful source within the community, this assertion is inaccurate. Although external powers undoubtedly shaped …

Damming The Columbia River And Its Impact On Celilo Falls, Dalton R. Stormo

Young Historians Conference

This paper discusses the history of Native Americans at Celilo Falls and in the Dalles Area, as well as the impact of white settlers moving there. It focuses on the impact this had on the river itself, through fisheries and various damming projects, and how it affected the lives of the various tribes surrounding the river. It examines the impacts of damming the Columbia River at various points along the river, and what that did to life for the River Tribes. The thesis of this paper is that the flooding of Celilo Falls by the Dalles Dam was a final …

Raven’S Work In Tlingit Ethno-Geography, Thomas F. Thornton, Douglas Deur, Bert Adams

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This is a chapter in Language and Toponymy in Alaska and Beyond: Papers in Honor of James Kari.

Book description:
It is difficult to imagine place names research in Alaska without the work of James Kari. Through his tireless field work and advocacy, Dr. Kari has collaborated with speakers of all of Alaska’s Dene languages to help build a comprehensive record of Dene geographic knowledge. When Jim came to Alaska in 1972, the documentation of Dene languages was fragmentary at best, and the only records of Native place names were those found inaccurately spelled on maps and gazetteers. Now …

Occasionally, He’S A Somniaticidal Maniac: Stephen Graham Jones Reclaims Home And History, Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr.

Indigenous Nations Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Environmental activism and preservation of the land, acknowledgement of our shared responsibilities to the planet, to unci maka, to Mother Earth, to our home; these are obligations of love we as human beings embrace with devoted regularity. But what happens when we look at stories that might destroy the world entirely, might remold, reshape, reclaim and remake (or perhaps even “rename” in a restorative move) our histories and homes? What is the reception for works that defy the expectations of devotion to the environment in Native American literature one genre at a time? That address historic erasure by reshaping the …

Reorientations; Or, An Indigenous Feminist Reflection On The Anthropocene, Kali Simmons

Indigenous Nations Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Destruction of homelands. Loss of kinship species. Exposure to deadly contaminants. Mass extinction. Transformed lifeways. In the face of these radical changes, a question lingers: How long will life be possible? Recently the academy has also felt the urgency of these environmental problems and proposed to address them within the framework of the term "the Anthropocene." Indigenous studies has offered various responses to the Anthropocene, some arguing that it has utility in framing the violence of colonialism and others critiquing the limitations and assumptions behind the "anthropos" …

Student Movements In The United States And Mexico: A Testimony, Roberto M. De Anda

Chicano/Latino Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

The author reflects on his experiences teaching and going to graduate school in Mexico City in the late 1970s and early 1980s. I discuss my participation in Chicano Movement organizations before moving to Mexico, and the reasons that propelled me to go to graduate school there. I highlight lessons learned teaching as a volunteer at a normal popular, or people’s teachers college, and as a professor at the Universidad Autónoma Chapingo (UACh). I also describe my graduate studies at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). The conclusion focuses on the impact that these experiences had on the author’s professional …

Housing Segregation And Resistance In Portland, Oregon, Carmen P. Thompson

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Local researchers Greta Smith, Melissa Cornelius Lang, and Leanne Serbulo gathered at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland, Oregon, for a public history roundtable discussion moderated by Carmen P. Thompson, adjunct professor of Black studies and African American History at Portland State University. Inspired by the fiftieth anniversary of the federal Fair Housing Act, these researchers have uncovered and analyzed new sources related to the history of housing segregation — and resistance to that discrimination — in Portland, Oregon. This is a record of that event.

Indigenous Nations Studies Newsletter, Fall 2018, Portland State University. Indigenous Nations Studies

Indigenous Nations Studies Newsletter

Table of Contents:
-- Welcoming New INST Director by Dr. Winston Grady-Willis
--Fall 2018 Welcoming by Dr. Ted Van Alst
-- Events
-- Winter 2019 courses
-- Student Reflection: Abroad in South Africa
-- Student Reflection: Walking Time
-- New Works: Ho'esta Mo'e'hahne
-- Recent Publication: Sacred Smokes
-- Dear Native College Student: You are loved
-- Course Planning Guide: INNAS Major & INST Minor

Notes From Underground: Fugitive Ecology And The Ethics Of Place, Sarah L. Lincoln

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this essay, I argue for “fugitive gardening” as a form of “poaching” or “resignifying,” a radical appropriation of hegemonic spaces and practices that both deconstructs the logics of mastery and hygienic possessiveness that underpin colonial culture, and articulates what we might call a fugitive ecology: a dispossession of self in relation to the environment, a refusal to conceive of land, soil or planet in terms of property. Fugitive gardening sets itself in opposition to the prisons, camps and forts that index South African political history, restorying place, environment, and the self as grounds for community formation, dialogue and cooperation. …

Indigenous Nations Studies Newsletter, Winter 2018, Portland State University. Indigenous Nations Studies

Indigenous Nations Studies Newsletter

Table of Contents:
-- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
-- Continuum Blood Quantum
-- Indian Education Blues
-- Faculty Spotlight: Sara Siestreem
-- Undergraduate Spotlight: Maiya Osife
-- UISHE Naimuma Pow-Wow
-- Cully Park: Native Gathering Garden
-- Other Futures Festival: Exploring New Perspectives Through Science Fiction
-- Native Wellness Brunch
-- Student Projects
-- Heritage High School Pow Wow

Black Wax(Ing): On Gil Scott-Heron And The Walking Interlude, Derrais Carter

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

The film opens in an unidentified wax museum. The camera pans from right to left, zooming in on key Black historical figures who have been memorialized in wax. W.E.B. Du Bois, Marian Anderson, Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglass, and Duke Ellington stand out. The final wax figure, a Black man, sits with an empty card box in his right hand and a lit cigarette in his left. The film’s narrator appears: a slim, afroed Black man. He sits to the right of the figure. The only living person in a room full of bodies, he reaches over to grab the …

Can Reducing Income Inequality Decouple Economic Growth And Co2 Emissions, Julius Alexander Mcgee, Patrick Greiner

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the past two decades, income inequality has steadily increased in most developed nations. During this same period, the growth rate of CO₂ emissions has declined in many developed nations, cumulating to a recent period of decoupling between economic growth and CO₂ emissions. The aim of the present study is to advance research on socioeconomic drivers of CO₂ emissions by assessing how the distribution of income affects the relationship between economic growth and CO₂ emissions. The authors find that from 1985 to 2011, rising income inequality leads to a tighter coupling between economic growth and CO …

Indigenous Nations Studies Newsletter, Fall 2017, Portland State University. Indigenous Nations Studies

Indigenous Nations Studies Newsletter

Table of Contents:
-- Fall Welcoming
--Scholar in Residence
--Upcoming Events
-- Innas: Proposed Major

Escalating Language At Traffic Stops: Two Case Studies, Jamalieh Haley

Dissertations and Theses

In recent years, the public has seen a rise in recorded footage of violent encounters between police and Black American citizens, partially due to technology such as cell phones, dash-cameras, and body-cameras. This linguistic study examines how these encounters get escalated to the point of violence by asking 1) what kind of directives were used, 2) how were they responded to, 3) how the directives contributed to escalation, and 4) how might power and authority have played a role. I use two case studies to analyze directives and their responses. Findings reveal that repetition of directives on the part of …

Indigenous Nations Studies Newsletter, Summer 2017, Portland State University. Indigenous Nations Studies

Indigenous Nations Studies Newsletter

Table of Contents:
-- Directors Note
-- A Case for Collaboration
-- Faculty News
-- Student Voices
-- Student Spotlight
-- Events, Courses, & Programs
-- Meet the Faculty & Staff
-- Congratulations

Notable Women Of Portland, Tracy J. Prince, Zadie Schaffer

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

The story of Portland, Oregon, like much of history, has usually been told with a focus on male leaders. This book offers a reframing of Portland’s history--starting from 10,000 years of Native American women, to pioneer women, to women of the Progressive Era, WWI, WWII, post-war women, and chapters on Women in the Arts and Women in Politics. Many women made their mark and radically changed the Oregon frontier, including Native Americans Polly Johnson and Josette Nouette; pioneers Minerva Carter and Charlotte Terwilliger; doctors Marie Equi, Mary Priscilla Avery Sawtelle, and Bethina Owens-Adair; artists Eliza Barchus and Lily E. White; …

African American Teacher Recruitment: A Case Study In Oregon, Deborah Miller Allen

Dissertations and Theses

The public school teacher population of the United States is predominantly White, while the demographics of P-12 student population continue to grow increasingly diverse. Across the nation, there has been a call for the recruitment and retention of culturally and linguistically diverse teachers. The state of Oregon passed the Oregon Educator Equity Act, originally called the Oregon Minority Teacher Act, in 1991, and with recent renewed attention, the preparation of more culturally and linguistically diverse teachers in the state has gained prominence. Refocused consideration to the lack of diversity in the teaching workforce is overdue, as evidenced by the low …

The Minorities Within The Minority, Gloria P. Aiten

Student Research Symposium

The poster is based off of the research paper I am currently doing, it is about how in the Western Society the Asian-Pacific Islanders are categorized as one, but in reality they're two different ethnicity and how the PI are being misidentified. In other words, imagine putting a dog and a cat into one category. Yes they're both house pets, but they're two different species. That is exactly what's happening between the API community.

Marcus Garvey: A Legacy Obscured By Infamy, Gabriel A. Abdellatif

Young Historians Conference

Marcus Garvey was a 20th century Jamaican civil rights leader. Garvey is noted for founding the Universal Negro Improvement Association in an effort to promote black pride as well as establish black economic independence through the creation of negro owned businesses. Despite the contributions he made to civil rights efforts, much of Garvey’s career was shrouded in controversy. Drawing on primary sources including letters written by Garvey and articles written by the foremost thinkers of the NAACP, this papers examines the numerous professional scandals in Garvey’s life, specifically his ties to white supremacy, poor relationships with other civil rights leaders, …

The Trials Of Displacement: Transnationalism And Interdisciplinary Feminisms In Demetria Martínez’S The Block Captain’S Daughter, Elena Avilés

Chicano/Latino Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

From the fifteenth century to the twenty-first century, the interaction between dispossession and displacement are central questions Martinez channels in writing. Her work represents the struggle of contemporary feminist interventions on issues of international migration within the annals of the New Mexican borderlands. The power to generate reflexivity about gendered displacement begins to remap vision of identity in print that brings the reader to wage the multiple values of American society. Innovations to the experiences of women of multiethnic backgrounds are perhaps one of the strengths of her latest narrative.

Albuquerque is a backdrop where shifts and dislocations of the …

Alarmed By Trump: Professor Sees Parallels To Era Of Martin Luther King Jr., Shirley A. Jackson

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Donde Come Uno, Comen Dos: Two Can Eat From The Same Dish, Cynthia Carmina Gómez

University Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

This is a personal narrative and account of the stark learning conditions in a Latino-centric foster care home. From the author: "During my time as an Educational Advocate, more children were deported, incarcerated, or killed in gang violence than graduated from high school. I know of only one who made it to college. The vicarious trauma overwhelmed any fleeting success we occasionally experienced. Depressing, yet we were determined to see our programs continue. It took all of our effort to keep the space functioning, but eventually the home closed and so did La Escuelita. Today, Summer Academia is a part …

Red Pens, White Paper: Wider Implications Of Coulthard’S Call To Sovereignty, Brian Burkhart, David J. Carlson, Billy Stratton, Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr., Carol Edelman Warrior

Indigenous Nations Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Transcript of a plenary roundtable conversation focused on Glen Coulthard's book Red Skins, White Masks, presented at the Native American Literature Symposium at the Isleta Resort and Casino in Albuquerque, NM, on Thursday March 17, 2016.Participating were Theo (Ted) Van Alst (Uof Montana), Carol Edelman Warrior (Cornell University), Brian Burkhart (California State University, Northridge), Billy Stratton (Uof Denver) and David J. Carlson (California State University, San Bernardino).The material printed here consists of revised versions of the remarks made by the panelists at NALS, reflecting ongoing conversation that continued, over email, after the conference ended.

Dear Solitary Black Student, Mychel L. Estevez

University Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Teaching Note, a letter aimed at ways to avoid further marginalizing black students.

Reading Latinx And Lgbtq+ Perspectives: Maya Christina Gonzalez And Equity Minded Models At Play, Elena Avilés

Chicano/Latino Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Through an equity-minded model, this essay addresses the work of Maya Christina Gonzalez and the new visions of gender she offers in children’s literature with My Colors, My World (2007). This essay frames the presence of Chicana/Latina feminist non-conforming perspectives on gender as chillante aesthetics and analyzes Gonzalez’s advancement of Latinx and LGBTQ+ standpoints in the following texts Call Me Tree/Llámale árbol (2014), I Am Free to Be Me: Gender Now Activity Book (2011) and Claiming Face: Self-empowerment Through Self-Portraiture: An Educator's Guide to Building the Powerful Link between Creativity and a Sense of Self (2010).

Black Americans And The South African Anti-Apartheid Campaign In Portland, Oregon, Ethan Johnson

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper argues that in order to understand the anti-Apartheid campaign in Portland, Oregon it must be located within the particular socio-historical context of race and racism in the city and state. Thus, Black people living in Portland had good reason to compare the Apartheid system in South Africa to their own experience. Therefore, the confluence of national and local issues that move the local anti-Apartheid campaign forward is examined; the paper documents the rise and development of critical organizations in the anti-Apartheid campaign in Portland; the paper focus on the closure of the Honorary South Africa Consulate in downtown …

Book Review Of, Paul R. Mckenzie-Jones. Clydewarrior: Tradition, Community And Red Power, Cornel Pewewardy

Indigenous Nations Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Reviews the book, "Clyde Warrior: Tradition, Community and Red Power" by Paul R. McKenzie-Jones.