Aug. 6, 2018
It’s hard to be serious in the summer in Oregon. So many people’s minds and bodies seem to be elsewhere – it’s clearly a time for many to escape and replenish. Yet the important issues remain and, as always, require focus and a commitment to some level of action, even when much of the world seems distracted or far away.
A few weeks ago I sat in on an important conversation with a number of peers and other leaders from the environmental community related to immigrant rights and facilitated by the Oregon Environmental Council. The gathering was an opportunity to connect to One Oregon, a statewide coalition working to rebuff efforts by local and out-of-state groups backing an anti-immigrant agenda (and a related ballot measure). Environmental groups have a stake in this because the perpetrators are using a “natural resource scarcity” argument as one of their main thrusts in condemning the influx of immigrants and their “negative” impact on our communities.
Clearly this is misinformation and even outright deceit. The fact that these groups are leveraging people’s fears, especially appealing to those who care about our state’s natural assets, means we cannot be inactive bystanders. There was good discussion about how to be involved and support this work, and the roles organizations like ours might play. (Do click on the link above to learn more.)
But one other notion came to mind as I was working to absorb all this through my Intertwine Alliance lens. We seemed to get activated by an issue like this because it somehow entered our domain, our literal “turf.” So of course we need to be proactive to defend that turf – and make sure we lay straight the arguments and language tied to our work and the work of our many partners. But why are we not just doing this to be the best allies we can be, for something that is clearly a wrong being done to those in our communities? What is the true intersectionality among causes here? Lately there has been some eyebrow-raising about Metro being in the “housing business," promoting a bond measure to support a large community challenge. But aren't homelessness, immigrant rights, and social justice in general something we should all put our collective muscle behind?
Where is the sense of natural allyship? Don’t we want allyship from groups supporting these issues when our nature-focused agendas need support? The Intertwine Alliance is just beginning on a journey to understand how to be the best ally and what roles we can play to make a difference on issues that are all interconnected. There will be more on this in the coming months, all of which will be further shaped in part by a new executive director coming on board. But let’s not forget the importance of showing up, being present, listening and learning how to be the best ally we can be – that in itself is a worthy goal for any organization or coalition. We all have much to learn.