August 1, 2006

Intercultural Organizing Gives Portland a Purpose and a Vision

by Sherry Harbert

Immigration continues to trigger heated debate in Congress, along the U.S. southern border and in communities in every part of the nation. With all that talk, no real solutions have emerged to take immigration into a new direction. It is the vision and passion of one man in Portland to change that.

Kayse Jama, founder and director of the Center for Intercultural Organizing (CIO), has created a venue to bring all the issues of immigration, refugees, race and community service. CIO brings together people to address misconceptions and work towards solutions. It is a vision shared by his wife, Stephanie, in response to events following September 11, 2001. It will continue in a second forum, “Sharing Our Dreams” Aug. 19 at Portland City Hall. The event features leaders from the African, Slavic, Muslim, Latino and Asian communities, along with Mayor Tom Potter, his visionPDX project, the Office of Neighborhood Involvement and local immigrant and refugee organizations to build an inclusive environment for all residents in Portland. Portland State University Capstone students and 22 community leaders helped launch the December 2005 event. The Aug. 19 event builds on that effort.

It is an ambitious project, but one that has already shown results with improving relations between minority groups and City Hall after the first forum, “Bridgetown Voices.” Much of its strategy evolved from the vision and unique organizing talent of Jama.

A Road Out of the Conflict

Jama was born into a nomad tribe in the war ravaged country of Somalia, where communities fracture exponentially and there are more guns within its borders than people. It is an unlikely beginning for anyone, but even more when an ability to organize people blossoms at an early age. His life changed dramatically when his family moved to Somalia’s capitol, Mogadishu. Jama said his organizing talent began when he was eight and through middle school. By the time he reached high school, he was organizing fellow students. He attended classes in the morning and taught classes to students one year behind him during the afternoons. It not only reinforced his education, but created one of the first venues for his talents.

“My organizing came from songs and poetry,” said Jama. “When the war was happening, I used poetry and songs to tell stories and start organizing.” But as the war grew worse, Jama had to leave or face an uncertain future. He left in 1991 and eventually was accepted as a refugee in the U.S. His talents would be recognized by Lutheran Community Services, which brought him into its refugee resettlement program as their African youth coordinator. He soon began reaching out to other refugees, assisting the Somali Women’s Association. Since then, the African Women’s Coalition has emerged as a strong voice for African women in the Portland area. (Note: Jama gives all the credit to the women who founded and maintain the coalition.

His life took another dramatic turn following the events of September 11. Over the next year, Jama would witness a growing anti-Muslim attitude that included the arrest of Portland Imam Sheik Mohamed Abdirahman Kariye at Portland International Airport. The arrest compelled Jama to do more than watch. He and his wife organized their first protest outside the federal building in Portland. The response from Muslims and other immigrants gave Jama enough encouragement to create his organization. It was first called the Community Language and Culture Bank but was changed more recently to Intercultural Organizing (CIO) to encompass more of what it does and reflect the vision it has for the future. “My vision is for the community to make decisions and use CIO as a catalyst to mobilize,” said Jama.

Jama said it was difficult to build his organization at first. “CIO wouldn’t have existed from day one without the critical support of the McKenzie River Gathering Foundation.” MRG was created in 1976 in Eugene as a grassroots funding agency to support progressive groups throughout Oregon. From MRG’s initial support, Jama discovered its vital connection to him and others. He now serves on MRG’s board to share his expertise and give to others.

The Mission of CIO

Jama’s untiring dedication to building the CIO has evolved into a diverse organization that is structured into four essential focus areas: education, policy advocacy, organizing and community mobilization, with intergenerational leadership development as its fourth tier. Under education, public forums like the Aug. 19 “Sharing Our Dreams,” provide open dialogue between groups. Another vital area is the Refugee and Immigrant Solidarity Education (RISE) workshops. The intensive courses are designed to foster understanding in immigration policies, history, political influences and refugee issues.

“Immigration is a big part of the American culture and we have to understand more about it,” said Jama. “After 9-11, anti-immigration bills were used as vehicles for racism.” Jama said the current wave of anti-immigration movements has been successful in targeting race without overtly mentioning it. “9-11 gave them a green light to exercise racism. No one went around passing new laws after Timothy McVey blew up a building.”

Jama says racism in the U.S. today uses inferred references like, “The neighborhood has changed or they are impacting the quality of life.” Such attitudes permeate much of American society. Jama said the Civil Rights’ Movement in the 1960s discouraged racial language, but racism only moved to new areas. It never disappeared. Jama’s position that racial profiling is prevalent was reinforced with the May release of the Stops Data Collection report by the Portland Police Bureau. “Security has given them a code name to target people of color,” he said. Though Jama remains pointed in his belief that minorities are stopped more often than whites, he and the city worked to host five listening circles to discuss report and its implications. The City denied any intentional profiling.

It is denial that Jama sees as the newest barrier between understanding different cultures and peoples. “Racism is not in a vacuum,” he said. “We must decide who we are and what we want to be as a nation. We can hope that means inclusion.”

Jama generates inclusion in all he does, but it is not always easy. “When historically disenfranchised, it is difficult to get different groups talking about the same issues,” he said. “You may be from Russia or Somalia, but there are common issues. The problems and challenges are the same.” Jama says he tries to get immigrants and refugees to address wedge issues together to find common ground between groups where sometimes divisions run deep. He points to the latest debate of legal and illegal immigrants that has been used to wedge people apart. “We can focus on causes or we can focus on people. There is a balance. We build with that consensus in mind.”

The CIO is continuing to build around its foundation. Jama said the CIO is soon to become a membership-based organization, a strategy to reach more people and to strengthen its infrastructure. He said his organization is growing because of the passionate volunteers that work hard to make things happen. Even when faced with challenges in language barriers, cultural understanding and religious diversity, Jama said CIO continues to find new ground to change thinking.

After the first public forum at City Hall last December, “Bridgetown Voices” evolved into a forum for dialogue every other Thursday evening. It now includes a community blog for even more dialogue.

Outreach beyond CIO

Jama’s CIO is amazing in its scope and success and even more so in that he operates it around a full-time job. His work with the CIO, along with teaching the politics of immigration at Portland State University led to a fellowship offer in 2005 with the Western States Center. As organizer and trainer for its Oregon office, Jama is busy putting the final details in place for the annual Community Strategic Training Initiative at Reed College this weekend. The three-day event features speakers, organizers, leaders and volunteers for civil rights, immigration, gender justice, women’s leadership and electoral organizing from eight Western states.

For all of Jama’s work, the constant theme is communication. Seeking dialogue with immigrant and refugee groups, civic leaders and the public has kept CIO and Jama’s dream alive. It has propelled him to seek ever greater dialogue possibilities. And in those possibilities are the keys to creating Jama’s ideal of stronger, vibrant and more inclusive Portland.

© 2006, Foreign Interest

(Author’s note: The correct acronym for the Center for Intercultural Organizing is CIO. While the Capstone students at Portland State University helped with the first “Bridgetown Voices” event in December, 2005, they were not part of the organizers for the Aug. 19 event. Also, clarification between the Somali Women’s Association and the African Women’s Association were made in the article. SH, Aug. 17, 2006.)

For more information:

www.interculturalorganizing.org

www.westernstatescenter.org