As our state leaders prepare for a special session this August to address transportation funding, we invite you to read our advocacy update to catch up on what you missed during the 2025 legislative session. Learn which programs were impacted, key updates at the local level, and important wins we’ve secured for the community through the power of collective action.
Read the full Research Justice Institute (RJI) community report here and join us in crafting equitable futures.
It’s been a busy few months here at CCC. Read our latest newsletters to learn what our program teams have been up to, including ways you can get involved for your community.
The Coalition of Communities of Color (CCC) seeks a new member of its team to lead our advocacy strategy. The Advocacy Director is responsible for developing and implementing a strategic advocacy program including member engagement, legislative strategy, coordination with political allies, liaison with formal and informal coalitions, and organizational involvement in ballot measure campaigns. The Advocacy Director reports to the Deputy Director and works closely with other program staff.
The Coalition of Communities of Color (CCC) seeks a Climate and Energy Policy Manager to support CCC’s environmental justice program. The ideal candidate will perform in a fast-paced environment that consistently pursues new mission-driven opportunities as well as thrive in a dynamic, multicultural environment and be motivated by the CCC’s mission, including its commitment to environmental and climate justice. They will understand how to be collaborative, inclusive, and accessible while leading in development of climate and energy policies that meet the diverse needs of Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities in Oregon.
Welcome to Leaders Bridge, CCC’s quarterly newsletter highlighting our programs, leaders, and opportunities brought to you by the Bridges Leadership Initiative, our members, and key partners.
Leaders, members, and CCC partners interested in sharing events and opportunities are encouraged to submit requests to SeeEun@CoalitionCommunitiesColor.org.
We are heartbroken and outraged by the recent attacks on our Black community. The killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, and the racist act of invoking the police on Christian Cooper, are only recent examples of an appalling history of racist violence perpetrated against the Black community. As our mission is to address the socioeconomic disparities, institutional racism, and inequity of services experienced by our families, children, and communities; and to organize our communities for collective action resulting in social change to obtain self-determination, wellness, justice, and prosperity, we stand in solidarity and encourage our members to speak out against Anti-Black racism. Please read the Open Letter to Community written by Marcus Mundy, CCC’s Executive Director, to learn what we must do to commit ourselves to action.
The primary goal of the CCC is to advance racial equity through leadership development, policy analysis and advocacy, culturally-appropriate data and research, equity-based funding, and partnership and coalition building. Formed in 2001, the CCC is an alliance of culturally-specific community based organizations in the Portland metropolitan region with representatives from six communities of color: African, African American, Asian and Pacific Islander, Latino, Native American, and Slavic.
Now more than ever, we need representative leadership. Since March 2020, we have engaged in a strategic planning process to revamp the Bridges Leadership Development Program and recommit ourselves to our mission of advancing racial equity in Oregon through a stronger pipeline of leaders of color with more development opportunities, a denser network of connections linking leaders of color to each other and to leadership opportunities, and the dismantling of structural racism that constrains all our communities.
See Eun Kim
Leadership Development & Training Director
The Coalition of Communities of Color is excited for the transformation of our Bridges Leadership Program led by our new Leadership Development and Training Director, See Eun Kim. See Eun has hit the ground running and, even in these turbulent times, is working with the program coordinators for each leadership cohort to make this responsive to the needs of alumni, and current and prospective cohort members.
I hope that you appreciate the incredible and refreshing updates she has made to outreach, programming, alumni offerings, job placements, boards and commissions participation, etc. We look forward to providing as much support as we can to all of you.
The leaders and alumni of these programs are the future of Oregon, and we are honored to be able to help you further your journey.
Marcus C. Mundy,
Executive Director
UNID@S for Oregon is one of six culturally-specific leadership programs within the Bridges Leadership Initiative. Led by Joaquin Lopez, UNID@S has gradated 155 participants since 2012 and continues to provide leadership development training to mid-career and established Latino leaders in Oregon. Learn about how UNID@S adapted their programming during COVID-19 and key highlights from this year.
UNID@S learned a few things along the way that made the difference when presenting retreats and meetings through teleconference. We adapted and learned! Here are some takeaways, experiences, and tips:
Technology is not the connection - to capitalize on Zoom teleconference when creating unique educational content, one must also conceptualize that everyone is in their own physical personal space. Even during a pandemic when we cannot physically connect, there are other ways of connecting, physically.
Create session packets - for all virtual sessions, every participant was given a packet with agendas, bios, snacks, and any other workshop materials. This allowed for a human connection to happen through hardcopy paper and physical objects. Delivering them to people's homes became the glue that bonded everyone together.
Appreciation cards - this long-lost art is an excellent way to connect people to each other. Every session, participants were given a card with an assigned participant to send it to. It allowed folks to engage physically in the world with each other, get to know each other more, and to appreciate each other's talents.
Be forceful in your facilitation - call on people instead of calling for volunteers. The all too familiar silence becomes dead space and stops the flow of energy and people tune out. When people log on and arrive, call their name and welcome them; make them feel seen.
Utilize the senses - utilize all the senses to present content - visual, auditory, read/writing, kinesthetic. Use your imagination to invigorate all the senses. Learning will increase.
Keep meetings to 90 minutes - otherwise people get bored regardless of how amazing you are!
UNID@S Intergenerational Mural
For the last couple of years, we have created an UNID@S Intergenerational Mural. Charged with the task of creating a mural during the time of the pandemic, muralist Rodolfo Serna created a magical experience. He drew a heart on a canvass and cut it into 24 pieces for the twenty-three cohort members and me. Then gave every participant two extra mural pieces for fun. He and I created paint kits with the mural pieces, and I delivered them to everyone's home! On the day of the retreat with everyone in their own private Zoom space, Rodolfo guided us into painting our collective UNID@S heart. His mentor shared stories of intergenerational leadership from his experience as a Native American elder working with youth. The cohort painted their reflections on the two mural pieces from his stories, in addition to their heart piece.
Now, Rodolfo will bind all the pieces to create one mural mosaic to represent the fact that while we may each be in our own individual pandemic world, we are yet bound together with love, culture, and leadership!”
“Creative power can pull down mountains of evil and level hilltops of injustice.”
2021 marks Bridges’ 10 Year Anniversary. Throughout the years, we have gone through different iterations of leadership programming. We will build upon the foundations of our previous leaders and enhance our services to meet the needs of our community.
The CCC envisions an Oregon where new, creative thinking flourishes by providing for the opportunities necessary to make the invisible, visible and to empower communities of color to self-organize, network, develop pathways to greater social inclusion, build culturally-specific social capital and provide leadership within and outside communities of color. Leadership development in communities of color will increase outcomes for children and families of color, and increased outcomes for children and families of color will improve outcomes for all Oregonians. The CCC is committed to this work in the long-term and we recognize that meaningfully changing the face of leadership in Oregon is a multi-generational effort.
For more information regarding our new vision, please join us for our 2020 Bridges Convening. In lieu of an in-person gathering, we will be hosting our 2020 Bridges Convening online! We will be sharing the results of our Strategic Planning Process, including how we have implemented the feedback we received from you all in the Alumni Engagement Survey. Please stay tuned for more information.
Online Directory
Update your profile on the Bridges Online Directory. Upload a new headshot, update your bio, and indicate which leadership opportunities you are interested in. We will be using the Directory to vet alumni for various opportunities in the future.
Professional Development Support
Need a professional headshot, resume and/or biography review, interview preparation assistance, etc.? Let us know and we will help! Contact See Eun Kim atSeeEun@CoalitionCommunitiesColor.org
Priority Access To Job Opportunities
Have priority access to jobs posted on our website. Log into your Bridges Account and click “Jobs and Leadership Openings”.
Leadership Opportunities
Interested in joining a board, commission, or committee? Check out the following County sites for current vacancies (Links are Bold): Multnomah County; Washington County; Clackamas County. Also, fill out the Alumni Engagement Survey and let us know the areas you are interested in. We will be building an email list to send relevant opportunities directly to your inbox!
Juneteenth, for African Americans, is known as Independence Day or Freedom Day and is a holiday commemorating the June 19, 1865 announcement of the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of African American slaves. While President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation effectively ending slavery on January 1, 1863, that Proclamation had little effect in Texas until two and a half years later.
The Staff and Board of the Coalition of Communities of Color (CCC) would like to lift up the Black community in Oregon and the United States, honor the sacrifice of all those who endured such unjust and immoral bondage and echo and reaffirm the rising crescendo of those declaring that, in fact, and always, Black Lives Matter.
We at CCC have chosen to use Juneteenth as a day of reflection, inquiry, and gratitude for the gifts that those who have passed before us have bestowed upon us: the opportunity to breathe free. Although we work daily for culturally specific organizations and the underserved, we believe we still have much to learn about anti-black racism and other inequities. Juneteenth is our pause to continue the journey. We hope all can take a moment or two for reflection, as well.
This day also reminds us that we have an obligation to continue to fight for justice, whether it is the civil rights movement of the ’50s and ’60s, the right to vote, the right to be counted in the Census, the right to fair housing and strong education, or the battle for the DREAMers today.
We especially want to acknowledge and lift up on Juneteenth all of the hard working African American and Black Led organizations that are part of our Coalition, and that labor for this community every day: Africa House, KairosPDX, Portland African American Leadership Forum (PAALF), Portland Community Reinvestment Initiative (PCRI), Self Enhancement Inc. (SEI), Unite Oregon, and the Urban League of Portland.
Juneteenth in Oregon can be a day to remember that, even in a state where slavery was illegal, other actions can be almost as unfair and debilitating to the advancement of a people’s progress. Whether it is exclusion laws, lack of access to land, an annual tax for just being of color, being excluded from the vote, a ban on interracial marriage, or insurance surcharges for drivers of color, and we must remain steadfast to our values and continue to battle for all of our communities. As long as we keep fighting, we are truly emancipated.
DREAMers and families were finally given some relief yesterday, June 18th, with the U.S. Supreme Court decision to block the Trump administration’s attempt of ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The ruling impacts approximately 650,000 DACA recipients nationwide, and 11,000 of those recipients are here in Oregon. This decision is the result of the hard work of our Latinx, immigrant & refugee, and BIPOC communities who organized, mobilized, and with hope as a North Star, believed that even our most radical dreams for a better life could come true.
La lucha sigue, (our fight continues), though. The Supreme Court has not banned the Trump administration from ending DACA. Communities across the country continue to mobilize and demand systemic changes to policing and community & public safety. The CCC and our members will continue to advocate for student safety in the classroom, on the way to school. We will continue to advocate against police & ICE presence in schools. We will continue to advocate for the accessibility of quality education & economic opportunities for DACA, undocumented, immigrant and refugee, and BIPOC students.
We appreciate the work of all of our member organizations, through their commitment to elevating community voices & addressing their needs. We want to especially acknowledge and recognize the dedicated efforts of Latino Network, IRCO, APANO, Voz Workers’ Rights Education Project, Hacienda CDC, Milagro Theater, and Verde.
We call on our federal delegation to pressure the Trump Administration to respect the decision of the Supreme Court, end its futile attempts to terminate the program, and ensure that USCIS does not share information with ICE about DACA recipients and their families. We call on our federal delegation to listen to the voices of the DREAMers and accelerate efforts to manifest their visions for their long-term status.
HOME IS HERE!
May 29, 2020
TO: An Open Letter to Community — Portland, Oregon, United States of America
FROM: Marcus C. Mundy, Executive Director, Coalition of Communities of Color
RE: We Can’t Breathe
Eric Garner could not breathe. George Floyd could not breathe. I cannot breathe.
I, my brothers, my son, my cousins, my friends – Black men all – watched in abject, stultifying horror this week as yet another Black man died at the hands of yet another policeman in yet another video broadcast to the world as if it were some rerun detached from reality. It was not detached from reality. It is reality. Our daily, inescapable reality as Black men in America.
We know all the victims’ names by now. We know the outcomes. We all know, step by inexorable step, the Kabuki theater that ensues after each such incident, the choreographed recitation of the injustice. The video is shared; the indignation is palpable; the protests begin; the lawyers go on television;usually, the perpetrators are not punished; the laws don’t change; police training doesn’t change; the cycle begins again…
Many tears were shed as we collectively and individually watched replays, on the daily news no less, of the very life oozing out of a man who looked just like us, right in front of our eyes. Such frequency of these events, I believe, attempts to numb us to its harshness, but: it cannot, not for Black men or those who love us. Our mere existence in the world as Black men should not evoke such rage from others, and such callous indifference for human life should evoke outrage, not just from Black people, but from all people.
I would trade a million virtue-signaling lawn signs stating “Black Lives Matter” and “In Our America, Love Wins” for a single day of those epigrams being realized. Arbery, Bland, and Cooper must not be the ABCs of Black life in America. They should be our societal wake-up call.
As the Mayor of Minneapolis reminded us, “If you had done it or I had done it we would be behind bars right now.” But it wasn’t the mayor, or me, or you; it was a craven Minneapolis “peace officer” who committed this incomprehensible act as his three equally culpable and enabling colleagues looked on. No charges filed, investigation underway. So here we go again.
Fannie Lou Hamer once plaintively said, over 50 years ago, “…I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.” She was speaking about civil rights then, but that phrase should apply to all of us right now, especially when it comes to the incessant, inhuman ways that Black men are treated in America. This person violated not just the civil rights Ms. Hamer was speaking of, but the most essential human right: the right to live.
After witnessing the replay of the slow motion demise of George Floyd, many of us feel horror; but that horror no longer means anything without action. Our bromides and platitudes and good intentions and righteous indignation, however heartfelt, are as a flatus in the wind unless we are prepared to work for change, and respectfully demand that change.
I reflected today that the mission of the Coalition of Communities of Color (CCC) is to “address the socioeconomic disparities, institutional racism and inequity of services experienced by our families, children and communities; and to organize our communities for collective action resulting in social change to obtain self-determination, wellness, justice and prosperity.” If little else is clear, institutional racism and inequity of services are real, and evidenced in the treatment of George Floyd. We must see what is happening in the world and, with our mission in mind, commit ourselves to action.
We must, and immediately:
work to remove any policies on our existing jurisdictions’ books similar to those in Minneapolis, which may permit the use of the procedure used to kill George Floyd;
work to facilitate and codify the implementation of suggestions developed by groups such as the Portland Police Reform Network, the Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice and Police Reform, etc., in a formalized process;
work to strengthen the Independent Police Review Division and the Citizen Review Committee, with the goal of adding power to compel testimony;
seek to facilitate and codify change in Oregon State Statutes, as appropriate, for use of deadly force by officers;
work to have jurisdictions commit to training/retraining all law enforcement officers on proper use of force decision making matrices;
work to have jurisdictions commit to explicit, comprehensive Diversity, Equity, Inclusion training for all law enforcement officers, as well as heightened de-escalation training;
work to seek and acquire a commitment from all police unions, governmental leaders and officers in Oregon to condemn illegal or immoral behavior from police officers
The CCC urges all of you to take the steps we have outlined, with us. There is more than one pandemic raging in America, and none will be solved without collective action.
Join us. Help us end the reruns of “Another Black Man Killed Today Show”.
Join us. Help us breathe again.
“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
The health, safety, and well being of our community members is our top priority at the Coalition of Communities of Color. We are all impacted by the public health emergency in our communities due to the COVID 19 virus, and acknowledge the impact is especially felt by communities of color, small business owners, elders, those experiencing houselessness/homelessness, and those with underlying conditions and their families.
