A History of Exclusion: The Black Eugene Experience and the Black Cultural Initiative
Time: Noon to 1:15 pm
Venue: WOW Hall
291 West 8th
Eugene, Oregon
97401
- Join the Livestream
- YouTube
- Podcast
We will meet at the WOW Hall, 291 W 8th. Learn more: https://wowhall.org/about-us/. Walk, ride a bike or take the bus. You may park on the street or in the parking lot of FOOD for Lane County's Dining Room, across 8th from the WOW Hall. A freewill donation acknowledging the Dining Room's generosity may be made at the meeting.
Lunch will be available for $15.
Topic:
Oregon was considered a “white utopia” for American settlers. As a result, Oregon has a deep history of discrimination which includes but is not limited to:
* Three Black Exclusion Laws, 1844-1857, that made it illegal for Black people to settle in Oregon, and provisions in the Oregon Constitution that prohibited Black land ownership;
* The highest per-capita Ku Klux Klan membership in the United States, with Eugene having one of the highest concentrations;
* Restrictions that prevented Black people from buying property or moving to Oregon without white sponsorship or employment until 1965;
* Eugene was a “sundown town” where Black people were required to leave the city limits at sundown or otherwise face harassment or violence;
* The demolition of the Ferry Street Village community, also known as “Across the Bridge,” in 1949 using eminent domain to disperse Black residents in Eugene;
* An unchanging 1.8% percentage of Black people living in Oregon, and specifically Eugene.
Recently, the Black Cultural Initiative (BCI) has spearheaded the Across the Bridge monument project, honoring displaced residents and their descendants and highlighting a little-known chapter of Eugene’s history.
The Black Cultural Initiative was founded in 2023 by Talicia Brown in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement. It is the first Black-led community center, cultural hub, and business incubator created by and for the Black community in Lane County. BCI’s mission is to cultivate a thriving and interconnected Black community in Lane County. BCI has re-invested over $900,000 in the local Black community since its founding in 2023.
How has the history of Black exclusion in Eugene, and Oregon more broadly, shaped our present-day community? Join City Club of Eugene as we engage in a conversation with Talicia Brown that explores the history, the current situation and future goals of the Black experience in Eugene and in the state of Oregon.
Speakers
Title: Executive Director
Organization: Black Cultural Initiative
Website: https://www.instagram.com/blackculturalinitiative/
Biography:
Biography is provided by the speaker and edited for length/proofreading
Talicia Brown is Founder and Executive Director of the Black Cultural Initiative (BCI), Founder and Producer of the Black Cultural Festival, and owner of Harmony Massage. Founded in 2023, BCI’s community center, or the People’s Collective, is Lane County’s first Black-owned, Black-led community center, business incubator, and cultural hub. It offers year-round programs for youth and families, educational classes, food distribution, gardening projects, workforce development, events, and a community health clinic. BCI is leading a regional monument project honoring the first Black families who helped shape the area’s history. Talicia serves on the City of Eugene’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund Committee, Lane Small Business Development Center Advisory Panel, and Board of the Lane County Cultural Coalition. She has served on the City of Eugene’s Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Economic Development. Originally from San Jose, California, she came to Oregon in 2000 to attend Reed College in Portland, and has called Oregon home ever since.
