Indigenous People's Day 2024
2024-10-19 10:30 - 2024-10-20 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Stevenson Union, SOU Campus, Ashland
Honor the past | Empower the Present | Inspire the Future
Speakers, Good, Indigenous Artisans Market, Danders, Ativities
Saturday October 19
Welcoming 11:00 AM
Salmon Lunch: Noon – 4:00 PM ($10 a plate, cash only)
Guest speakers and open sharing 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Sunday October 20 10:30-4:00 PM
Indian Tacos & frybread hosted by SOU NSASU (cash only)
Guest speakers and open sharing all day

Artisan Market sat and sun 10:30 AM – 4 PM
For more infro contact Kenw ani Kravitz at kravitzk@sou.edu or 541552-6937

Pride Parade
2024-10-05 10:00 - 13:30 | Main Street, Ashland, OR, Main Street, Ashland, OR
Pride Parade, Saturday, Oct 5, 10 AM
Celebrating the freedom to love
Parade down Main from Union Street to Lithia Park. Bring your pride and march with us, or be a spectator.
Don’t Miss “Lizard Boy,” aka Justin Huertas who is our grand marshall this year
Festival at the Bandshell 11-1:30
Drag, Aerial, Live Music, Vendors, Food Truck
Learn more at SOPride.org

What is Ranked Choice Voting?
2024-09-12 17:30 - 18:30 | Ashland Public Library, 410 Siskiyou Blvd, Ashland
What is Ranked Choice Voting, or RCV, exactly?
And how does it promote racial equity?
Come learn about Measure 117 and Ranked Choice Voting!
Sponsored by RepresentUS and Jackson County Library Services
This November, Oregon voters will decide at the ballot box
if we should change how we vote for federal and statewide races and begin using
a process called Ranked Choice Voting.
Time and Location: Ashland Library on September 12th at 5:30pm
Meg Wade with the Represent Us Education Fund will facilitate
an interactive, visual RCV demonstration so you can see firsthand
how the process works in order to make an informed decision,
and get your questions answered about what is in the ballot measure
that the state legislature recommended to voters.

Can’t make this event, but want to learn more?
This program will repeat at the Medford Library on Thursday, October 10th, from 5:30pm-6:30pm.

RSVP and details for the Ashland event : https://jcls.libcal.com/event/12675192
RSVP and details for the Medford event: https://jcls.libcal.com/event/12710513

From Thorns to Blossoms: A Japanese American Family in War and Peace.
2024-08-19 18:30 - 20:00 | Carpenter Hall, 44 S Pioneer Street, Ashland, OR, 97520
Mitzi Loftus shared her story to a standing-room-only crowd in April 2024 at Bloomsbury Books in Ashland. Did you miss that event?
Ashland Together is glad to bring Mitzi and her son David Loftus back for an encore presentation of their book From Thorns to Blossoms A Japanese American Family in War and Peace.
Monday, August 19, 2024, 6:30 – 8pm
Carpenter Hall 44 S Pioneer St Ashland
About Mitzi Loftus
From Oregon University State Press new books 2024:
“Born on a fruit orchard in Hood River, Oregon, in 1932, Mitzi Asai Loftus spent three years of her childhood in government incarceration camps in California and Wyoming. For more than seventy years, she has given public talks about her family’s experience to audiences of all ages. Having lived much of her adult life in Eugene and Coos Bay, she now resides in Ashland.

About David Loftus
Writer, editor, actor, and voice artist David Loftus is a native Oregonian. The author of several books, David has acted on stage and in film, recorded books for the blind, and read literature aloud at bookstores, coffee, shops, and pubs in a series he calls “Story Time for Grownups.” He lived 10 years in Boston but has been a Portland resident since 1991.

Photo credit: Bob Morse

This PBS video is posted with permission from the producer and director Rory Banyard

If you wish to support Ashland Together’s work, please make your tax-deductible donation here. We want to thank Peace House for their fiscal sponsorship of Ashland Together.

BBQ Fundraiser for BASE
2024-08-08 18:30 - 21:00 | OR
Open to the public. We seek your support.
BBQ Fundraiser: We invite everyone from the community to join us for a BBQ Fundraiser from 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM. This event is open to everyone and aims to support BASE programming. Come enjoy:

Delicious BBQ plates for $20 each
DJ music and fun field games/activities
Raffle prizes and gifts
Hear from BASE youth about their experiences and the impact BASE has made on them

This is a fantastic opportunity to support BASE, our youth and celebrate achievements while enjoying great food and company.

Everybody's Out - SOPride Dance Party
2024-07-20 18:00 - 22:00 | OR
Help SOPride Celebrate Pride and raise funds for Ashland’s October Pride Parade.
Time & Location

Jul 20, 2024, 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Ashland Hills Hotel, 2525 Ashland St, Ashland, OR 97520, USA

About the event

DJ & Dance Party
Games, Silent Auction
Cash Bar & Hors d’Oeuvres

Learn More

Say Their Names Rebuild
2024-07-20 07:00 - 2024-07-21 13:00 | Railroad Park, Ashland, A Street, Ashland, OR, 97520, United States
The Say Their Names T-shirt Memorial at Railroad Park has been vandalized for the 4th time!

You are invited to join in the rebuilding of the memorial!

Where:
Railroad Park on A Street between 7th and 8th

When:
Anytime on Saturday, July 20 7:30AM to 10:00AM AND Sunday, July 21 7:30AM to 1:00PM

How:
Kits including names, five t-shirts, a permanent marker, and zip ties will be provided to those who show up to help. Stay and complete the shirts in the park or take your kit home and install the shirts on the fence by Tuesday, July 22. Bringing scissors, cardboard pieces to flatten the fabric, or wire cutters to clean up the debris on the fence would be helpful, but is not necessary.

Donations:
Cash to help pay for supplies and/or T-shirts (used or new) for future rebuilds can be donated to a volunteer at the fence during the above times on Saturday and Sunday.

For questions regarding the rebuild contact: SayTheirNamesCollective@gmail.com

An Empowering Conversation About Fire, Climate Change and Community.
2024-07-15 18:30 - 20:00 | Carpenter Hall, 44 S Pioneer Street, Ashland, OR, 97520
Monday, July 15th, 6:30 to 8:00 pm PT, Carpenter Hall (at OSF)
Special Guests:

Marko Bey – Founder & Executive Director Lomakatsi Restoration Project
Belinda Brown – Tribal Partnerships Director
Collaborative Forest Restoration: A Win-Win for People and Nature
In the face of climate change and the new reality of wildfire in the West, collaborative, community-based forest restoration is a proven solution to help protect communities and natural resources. Lomakatsi will share their model for leveraging federal and state agreements with local partnerships to build long-term, landscape-scale forest and watershed stewardship projects. These agreements can bring millions of federal dollars to help create fire-adapted ecosystems and communities, while supporting sustainable jobs and local economies. This hands-on stewardship approach enhances wildlife habitat and helps prepare the landscape for beneficial fire.
Elevating Tribal Nations in Restoration Initiatives
Lomakatsi will discuss the importance of meaningful engagement with Tribal Nations and tribal communities, and how ecological restoration—combined with indigenous fire knowledge—can help promote tribal sovereignty, support co-management, and protect cultural beneficial resources.
The presentation will include the screening of the 20-minute short film Tribal Hands on the Land, centered on Lomakatsi’s Tribal Youth Ecological Forestry Training Program. The film explores how collaboration with tribes and tribal communities is setting the stage for the return of cultural fire and building more resilient landscapes and communities.
About Lomakatsi
For nearly 30 years, Ashland-based nonprofit Lomakatsi Restoration Project has partnered with local, state, and federal agencies, Tribal Nations, nonprofits, and many others to restore thousands of acres of forests and miles of streams. Through this work, they advance social equity by layering in education, tribal partnerships, and workforce training programs while leading an all hands on deck approach to create more resilient ecosystems and communities.

It’s fire season.
Be part of the solution.
Bring your friends and neighbors.

Partners: Ashland.News, OSF and Ashland Together
We invite you to subscribe to Ashland.news to keep abreast of what’s happening in our town.

Uncovering Difficult Truths
2024-07-08 18:30 - 20:00 | Carpenter Hall, 44 S Pioneer Street, Ashland, OR, 97520
Ashland Sunrise Project presents a conversation with Oregon author Sarah L. Sanderson, Taylor Stewart, founder of the Oregon Remembrance Project, and host Tara Houston, Community and Engagement Manager, Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF).
Sara Sanderson, author of The Place We Make: Breaking the Legacy of Legalized Hate, will share her own story of discovering that her ancestors participated in exiling Jacob Vanderpool from Oregon City in 1851 under the exclusion laws that prevented Black people from residing in Oregon. Taylor and Sara will explore what we might gain from uncovering difficult truths, including difficult truths about what has happened in the past and how we might transform those challenges into opportunities for a new kind of future.
There will be an opportunity to buy a copy of Sarah Sanderson’s book at the event, or in advance from Bloomsbury Books.
This program was made possible in part by a grant from Oregon Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this event, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Kids’ Theater Improvisation Summer Camps
2024-07-08 08:00 - 2024-07-19 17:00 | OR
Brought to you by, CREATIVITY ABOUNDS Inc.
2 WEEKS!
10-13 YEAR OLDS
Mon-Fri 1:00-4:00
July 8th – 19th

Held at Rogue Valley Unitarian
Universalist Fellowship
SIGN UP AND REGISTER NOW
CALL SHANIQUE S. SCOTT AT 541-301-2189
OR EMAIL SHASH1975@YAHOO.COM

Shanique has performed in Several Productions in the San Francisco Bay Area, such as The Bluest Eye, at the Lorraine Hansberry Theater, Well, by Lisa Kron, and Song For Coretta, by Pearl Cleage. Her appearance in festivals include, Women’s Will Theatre Festival, San Francisco Theatre Festival, and The AFROSOLO Theatre Festival. Shanique has received her MFA in Performance at Arizona State University. Her ASU productions include, The Fall of House of Escher, MFA devised production, POVV MFA devised production, The House of The Spirits, by Caridad Svitch, and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. Her Awards include: The ASU Mainstage Best Actress Award for 2012, Special Talent Award, and an Irene Ryan nomination for POVV. Shanique’s latest performance was BUILDING THE WALL, by Robert Schenkkan.

OSF Green Show Juneteenth Celebration
2024-06-19 18:45 - 19:30 | Oregon Shakespeare Festival
The Green Show presents a special program to mark Juneteenth.
June 19th, 6:45-7:30
Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Pioneer Street.
More details

Grants Pass 2nd Annual Juneteenth Celebration
2024-06-19 16:00 - 19:00 | Riverside Park, Grants Pass, OR
Join us for our 2nd Annual Juneteenth Celebration!
> Wednesday, June 19 > 4:00pm-7:00pm> Riverside Park @ the Trillium Pavilion

Kids' Theater Improvisation Summer Camps
2024-06-17 - 2024-06-28 | Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 87 Fourth St., Ashland, OR, 97520, United States
Brought to you by, CREATIVITY ABOUNDS Inc.
2 WEEKS!
6-9 YEAR OLDS
Mon-Fri 1:00-4:00
June 17th-28th

Held at Rogue Valley Unitarian
Universalist Fellowship
SIGN UP AND REGISTER NOW
CALL SHANIQUE S. SCOTT AT 541-301-2189
OR EMAIL SHASH1975@YAHOO.COM

Shanique has performed in Several Productions in the San Francisco Bay Area, such as The Bluest Eye, at the Lorraine Hansberry Theater, Well, by Lisa Kron, and Song For Coretta, by Pearl Cleage. Her appearance in festivals include, Women’s Will Theatre Festival, San Francisco Theatre Festival, and The AFROSOLO Theatre Festival. Shanique has received her MFA in Performance at Arizona State University. Her ASU productions include, The Fall of House of Escher, MFA devised production, POVV MFA devised production, The House of The Spirits, by Caridad Svitch, and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. Her Awards include: The ASU Mainstage Best Actress Award for 2012, Special Talent Award, and an Irene Ryan nomination for POVV. Shanique’s latest performance was BUILDING THE WALL, by Robert Schenkkan.

Juneteenth
2024-06-15 11:00 - 19:00 | Pear Blossom Park, 212 N Bartlett St, Medford, OR, 97501
Celebrate Freedom: Live Bands, DJ, Vendors, Kids Zone, and more…
June 15, 2024
Saturday 11 AM – 7 PM
Pear Blossom Park, 312 E. 4th Street, Medford, OR
More Info

Juneteenth at Southern Oregon University
2024-06-11 11:00 - 12:00 | 1250 Siskiyou Boulevard, Ashland, OR, 1250 Siskiyou Blvd, Ashland, OR, 97520, United States
Southern Oregon University will observe the Juneteenth holiday at 11 a.m. Tuesday, June 11, in front of Churchill Hall on the SOU Campus, 1250 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland.
Vaun Monroe will be the keynote speaker, with additional remarks by Ashland City Councilwoman Gina DuQuenne, President Rick Bailey, and Assistant Vice President for Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Jonathan Chavez Baez.
There will also be a flag-raising ceremony and refreshments.

Date & Time:
June 11 @ 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Cost:
Free

What it Means to Belong​
2024-05-27 18:30 - 20:00 | Carpenter Hall, 44 S Pioneer Street, Ashland, OR, 97520
The Ashland Sunrise Project is excited to announce, “What it means to Belong,” the second presentation in its speaker series. upcoming event “ This event will take place on May 27, from 6:30 – 8:00 pm at Carpenter Hall, 44 S. Pioneer, Ashland.
“What it Means to Belong,” is a conversation among community activist Cassie Preskenis, local artist Micah Blacklight, Taylor Stewart, founder of the Oregon Remembrance Project (ORP), and Tara Houston, Community and Engagement Manager, Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF).
Blacklight and Preskenis are members of the Say Their Names collective, which is working to erect a sculpture in Ashland to honor the lives of people of color killed by systemic injustices. Blacklight and Preskenis will share the vision for their monument, the importance of Black art, and ways community members can support the expansion of Black identity in Ashland.
Preskenis will present her short video “Say Their Names,” which includes interviews with people of color in our community.
Monday, May 27 | 6:30 –8:00 PM
OSF Carpenter Hall, 44 S Pioneer St, Ashland
This program was made possible in part by a grant from Oregon Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this event, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Uplifting Visions
2024-05-23 13:00 - 16:00 | Fiber Arts Collective, 37 N. 3rd Street
Invitation to Create An Uplifting Vision Square Drop In Thursday, May 23, 2024 1:00-4:00 at The Fiber Arts Collective
Vision Quilt is a nonpartisan nonprofit birthed in 2015 by Ashland artists. Its mission is to address gun violence through the power of art and inclusive dialogue. Please join us on May 23 to find out about our new Vision Quilt 8 x 8 inch FABRIC project, Uplifting Visions.
Founder Cathy DeForest, will be at the Fabric Arts Collective to share 8 x 8 examples from artists, youth and concerned community members. Cathy will also showcase current and past 18 x 24 inch Vision Quilt panels made by people ages 3-96 over the past nine years.
Feel free to make an 8 x 8 Uplifting Vision square on May 23 or be inspired to make one at home.
All ages are encouraged to uplift their visions for social justice by drawing, painting, stitching, quilting, embroidering, collaging, or using mixed media to express their 8 x 8 visions. Examples include uplifting visions of: hope, healing, self care, equity, courage, beauty, disarming hate, and community safety. Fabric squares can include text if desired. If you wish, bring materials to share or use materials provided.
Date: Thursday, May 23rd, 2024 1:00-4:00 pm
Place: Fiber Arts Collective, 37 N. 3rd Street, Ashland
Cost: FREE
Questions? Contact Cathy DeForest: visionquilt@gmail.com

Historic Preservation Week 2024 Commemorating Ashland's Chinese Community
2024-05-17 - 2024-05-19 | OR
Historic Preservation Week 2024: Awards, new historic public art
& history of Ashland’s Chinese community
Join us for 2024 Historic Preservation Week events
on May 17, 18 and 19 — Mark your calendars!
Friday, May 17 at Mountain View Cemetery (8:30 am to 4:00 pm) Self-guided tours.
Saturday, May 18 at Railroad Park Gazebo (10:30 am to 11:45 am), Historic Preservation awards and Public Art recognitions; remarks by the Mayor; followed by a walking tour to see the five new historic sidewalk medallions.
Sunday, May 19 at Ashland Library Gresham Room (5:00 pm to 6:30 pm). Learn about Ashland’s Chinese community from the 1880s to the 1920s and the discrimination faced by the Chinese people in Oregon.
Here is more detailed information about the events.
Friday, May 17 event at Mountain View Cemetery:
8:30 am to 4:00 pm: Self-guided tours of Ashland’s historic Mountain View Cemetery, located at the corner of Ashland Street and Normal Avenue.
Saturday, May 18 event at Railroad Park Gazebo:
10:30 am: Welcome by Historic Preservation committee Chair, Beverly Hovenkamp.
Remarks by Mayor Tonya Graham.
10:45 am: Presentation of the 2024 Historic Preservation awards.
11:00 am: Celebration of five new Railroad District historic sidewalk medallions, including remarks by Public Arts committee Chair Ken Engelund. Staff and volunteers who helped steward creation of the new artworks will be recognized. This completes Phase 1 of Marking Ashland Places, a long-term heritage tourism project.
11:30 am: Ribbon Cutting ceremony by the Chamber of Commerce.
11:45 am: Walking tour to visit the five historic medallions. The tour, with history stories about each site by Peter Finkle of WalkAshland, will cover less than one mile and last about one hour.
Sunday, May 19 event at the Ashland Library, in the Gresham Room:
5:00 pm: Chelsea Rose, Director of the Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology, will speak on the topic “The Wah Chung and Company: How a small store helped Ashland’s early Chinese community outfox a racist immigration system.”
5:45 pm: Peter Finkle of WalkAshland will tell stories, both humorous and sad, about Ashland’s Chinese community in the early 1900s.
There will be some time for questions from the audience.
(This event is not sponsored or endorsed by the Library.)
Historic Preservation Week is proudly sponsored by the City of Ashland, Advisory Committees for Historic Preservation and Public Arts, Ashland Chamber of Commerce, SOU Laboratory of Anthropology and WalkAshland.

Base Night at OSF
2024-05-09 20:00 - 21:30 | Thomas Theater, Pioneer St., Ashland, 97520
Join us one week from tonight for
BASE Night at OSF
Thursday, May 9th at 8:00 pm
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Thomas Theater
Currently, there are 25 tickets left for this show.
Click HERE to purchase yours directly
from the OSF box office.
The evening will include a talk back
with Rodney Gardiner
BASE –Black Alliance and Social Empowerment
One Black man’s reckoning with legacy and religion
In this one-man comedy, Rodney Gardiner tries to abandon God despite his deeply Christian roots. For this undocumented Black boy growing up in tumultuous 1980s Miami, racial unrest, an immigration crisis, and the drug war is just another Tuesday. Smote This is an entertaining web of stories and tangents, and OSF is delighted to welcome back Rodney Gardiner, who has thrilled our audiences for years in everything from musicals to Shakespeare.
‘Smote This’ Tells a Seriously Funny Story
He hopes audiences walk away from the show laughing
“and cherishing the gift of life just a bit more.”
Ashland.News

Oregon’s First Black Community: Jackson County, 1850–1900
2024-04-26 19:00 - 20:00 | 812 S. Riverside Ave., Medford, OR
Presented by Zachary Stocks
Free and open to the public
Friday, April 26, 2024
7PM – 8PM
The Backyard Community Food Cart
812 S. Riverside Ave.
Medford, Oregon 97501

The earliest sustained community of African Americans in Oregon was not in Salem or Portland, but in Jacksonville. At the time of statehood, Jackson County’s Black population was more than that of Multnomah and Marion counties combined. Zachary Stocks of Oregon Black Pioneers will share information about the rise and fall of this first Black community in Oregon, and discuss some of Southern Oregon’s nineteenth-century Black residents.

This program is offered as the keynote lecture for the 46th annual meeting of the Jefferson Historical Group, which is composed of archeologists, historians, museum and library professionals, students, and other stakeholders from northern California and southern Oregon. The group meets each year to share ideas and information from across the “Mythical State of Jefferson” and is not affiliated with the modern political movement of the same name.
Learn More

Zachary Stocks is a public historian, interpreter, and the Executive Director of Oregon Black Pioneers. Stocks previously served as Program Director of Historical Seaport and Visitor Services Manager of Northwest African American Museum. He is a former intern of Colonial Williamsburg and Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and a former seasonal Park Ranger at Lewis & Clark National Historical Park. He holds a BA in History from the College of William & Mary with a certificate in Public History from the National Institute for American History and Democracy and an MA in Museology from the University of Washington. Stocks lives in Astoria.

A Rose That Grew From Concrete
2024-04-26 15:30 - 16:30 | Black Box Theatre, University Way, Ashland, OR
A Rose That Grew From Concrete features a talented children’s acting troupe headed by actress and director Shanique Scott.
Back in January, she brought 14 talented youths together for a three month creative journey.
Starting with an original concept, followed by writing, set design and some really unique collaborations with veterans in the world of theatre, their hard work has paid off.
Friday, April 26th
3:30-4:30 pm
Black Box Theatre
Oregon Center for the Arts
University Way, Ashland
(Map provided HERE)
Learn More
Shanique Scott received her MFA at Arizona State University. She’s has performed in both New York City and the San Francisco area. She has won several awards, including the ASU Best Actress Award for 2012. She has taught performance at the college level and has been a teaching artist with youth all over the country for over 17 years. What her students learn goes beyond acting. They walk away with a deeper understanding of collaboration and how to show up in the world as a fellow human being.

31st Annual Powwow​
2024-04-13 - 2024-04-14 | Lithia Motors Pavilion SOU Campus
April 13 & 14, 2024
Lithia Motors Pavilion SOU Campus – Ashland, OR
Grand Entry – Saturday @ 1 PM & 7 PM Sunday @ Noon
Friendly competition for jrs-adult categories
Special Guest Miss Indian World Tori McConnell
Water Blessing to be held in honor of past and future water warriors
The first 10 show-up drums are guaranteed travel assistance (minimum five singers required)
MC: David West
Everyone is welcome.
Admission is FREE.
Arena Director: Ivan Crain
No drugs or alcohol allowed
For more information contact NASU at nasusou1@gmail.com

An Introduction to Racial Justice
2024-04-01 | OR
Together we will unpack what race means historically and socially and how racism functions in American society. We will establish common vocabulary to support fruitful conversations, and we will dive into the history of racism in our country, including how that history has socialized us and where we see the impact of that history today. We will also learn about, discuss, and wrestle with topics like implicit bias, microaggressions, whiteness, IRO and IRS (how all of us internalize messages about race), and racial trauma.
Pre-work will be assigned weekly via email, containing assignments that should be completed before the start of the class (about two hours each week of videos/reading/reflective writing). This prepares students for class teaching and our discussions. Classes are structured to build on previous lessons and topics, so attendance at all six classes is expected, as is a high level of engagement. This is not a class where you will sit back and passively obtain information.
6 sessions on zoom starting April 1, 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Learn More

CURA - Culture of Unity and Repair in Ashland
2024-03-30 - 2024-03-31 | Online
New Cultivation has a two-day online summit coming up on March 30th and 31st
Culture of Unity and Repair in Ashland/The America’s
A yearly catalyst and a safe space for visionary leaders to express the visions we are needing to hear collectively to create change in land use, housing, resources and engage in creating and cultivating a culture of repair.
Online Summit – March 3031
Join us for talks, discussions, and active conversations with experts in the fields of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Gather with community to be in challenging conversations around topics that matter, such as:
• Housing
• Multi-level collapse
• Food security
• Safety for black and brown bodied people
• Land back movements

Uncovering Oregon's Black History
2024-03-18 18:00 - 19:30 | Carpenter Hall, 44 S Pioneer Street, Ashland, OR, 97520
People of African descent have lived and worked in Oregon since before the founding of the earliest English-speaking settlements in the Americas. Despite this, the popular narrative of our state’s history excludes the experiences of African Americans before the mid-20th century. This erasure is the result of historic legal and social marginalization that contributes to the ignorance of Oregon’s Black heritage, as well as influences contemporary disparities in housing access, community investment, and policing. For this presentation, Oregon Black Pioneers will attempt to correct the record by highlighting key individuals and events that characterize Oregon’s unique and centuries-old Black history.

FREE EVENT
Mariah Rocker, Public Programs and Exhibits Manager
Oregon Black Pioneers
Monday, March 18, 6:00 –7:30 PM
OSF Carpenter Hall, 44 S Pioneer St, Ashland

About Oregon Black Pioneers
Oregon Black Pioneers is Oregon’s only historical society dedicated to preserving and presenting the experiences of African Americans statewide. For more than 30 years, they have illuminated the seldom-told stories of people of African descent in Oregon through our engaging exhibits, public programs, publications, and historical research.

Living in My Black Skin
2024-02-28 18:00 - 19:30 | Co-op Community Classrooom, 300 N. Pioneer Street, Ashland, OR, 97520
Looking at our similarities and not our differences
Instructor: Gina DuQuenne
FREE EVENT
FEBRUARY 28, 2024 | 6PM
Co-op Community Classroom
300 N. PIONEER, ASHLAND OR 97520
A robust, open conversation with your city Councilor Gina DuQuenne, the first openly Queer Black American to be an elected official in Southern Oregon. We will discuss micro-aggressions, biases, generational trauma and how we can learn and grow together in our community.

Griot Night
2024-02-21 18:00 - 19:30 | SOU Degital Media Center, 1525 Webster Street, Ashland, OR, 97520
Southern Oregon University’s Black Student Union will be featuring inter-generational storytelling where Black members of the Rogue Valley will share their experiences living here.
Their stories will center the power and magic of the spoken word emphasizing that listening to the experiences of another makes healing possible.
Wednesday, February 21st
6:00-7:30 pm
Location:
1525 Webster Street
Ashland
DMC
SOU Digital Media Center

Storytelling and Potluck Lunch with David West
2024-02-17 15:00 | Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 87 Fourth St., Ashland, OR, 97520, United States
On Saturday, February 17 @ 3:00pm in the Great Hall RVUUF will host a potluck and storytelling afternoon with David West, (Enrolled: Citizen Potawatomi Nation) and Director Emeritus of SOU’s Native American Studies Program.
After inviting everyone to share in a water and food blessing, David will share stories with a focus on water and seven generations planning.
This is a wonderful opportunity to experience traditional oral storytelling from one who was raised and trained in this tradition. As David says,
“Come and listen because in that storytelling there may be one word, one sentence, one story that was meant just for you. And it might answer a question of need that you hadn’t even asked. That’s the wisdom of this storytelling time.”
Bring your favorite potluck dish (hot or cold) to share. Also, please bring your own table setting, mug and silverware.
RVUUF will provide paper napkins, coffee, tea, and water.

Launch of the Ashland Sunrise Project
2024-02-12 18:00 - 19:30 | Carpenter Hall, 44 S Pioneer Street, Ashland, OR, 97520
This event will kick-off the launch of the Sunrise Project in Ashland. The Sunrise Project aims to help former sundown towns reconcile their history of racial exclusion by creating new identities as that of “sunrise communities,” the opposite to sundown towns. After starting in Grants Pass, the Oregon Remembrance Project is now working with community members in Ashland to bring this vision of belonging for all to our community. Learn more about the project and how you can join us in rewriting the ending to the story of a sundown town.
FREE EVENT
(Register Below)
Featured Speakers: Taylor Stewart (Oregon Remembrance Project), Gabi Johnsen (Grants Pass Remembrance), & Anna Sloan (Southern Oregon Historical Society).
Monday, February 12, 6:00 – 7:30 PM
OSF Carpenter Hall, 44 S Pioneer St, Ashland
About Oregon Remembrance

Origin - Special Screening - SOLD OUT
2024-02-10 19:00 | The Varsity, 166 E. Main Street, Ashland, OR, 97520
Special Screening of Origin at The Varsity in Ashland, OR
February 10th at 7 PM
Academy Award Nominee Ava DuVernay’s New Film: Origin
Based on the New York Times Bestselling Book by Isabel Wilkerson
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

Will be followed by a Q&A

NOTE: THIS SPECIAL SCREENING IS SOLD OUT BUT YOU CAN FIND OTHER SHOWTIMES OF ORIGIN HERE:

Get Tickets Here

Community Partners:

BASE, BSOA, OSF, SOU, Peace House, Say Their Names
