“Hello, I just want to introduce myself. My name is Emma and I am conducting a research project, traveling around the country and collecting stories from immigrant women in agriculture. I heard about your market and was wondering if there might be someone here I could talk to.” It was not my normal way of acquiring research subjects. Usually, these conversations materialize after a couple of emails back-and-forth, a forwarding to a co-worker, a referral…
Adelante Mujeres means “women rise up,” an apt name for an organization invested in empowering and educating low-income Latina women and their families. Since 2002, Adelante Mujeres has lead programs in early childhood education, Latina girls empowerment, conflict management, sustainable agriculture, small business development, and healthy food access. I had the pleasure of volunteering with the Adelante Mujeres Sustainable Agriculture Program during one of their CSA packing events, and plan to volunteer with them again. On…
Portland is white. Portland is, in fact, 70.4% white, according to the most recent U.S. Census. Last Saturday, the white-nationalist, far-right group “Patriot Prayer” conducted a racist protest in Portland. When Portland police officers were called to the scene, they responded with pepper spray and stun grenades, attacking not the white-supremacists, but the anti-facist, anti-racist, counter-protesters instead. I missed the commotion. I was on a Saturday morning 10-miler organized by the Portland Running Company, weaving…