Those Who Have Held Us honors the diverse people who have long helped our communities carry life's joys and sorrows.
We use the word Elder not simply to signify age, but to honor wisdom, sustained service, deep relationship, and the trust built through years of showing up.
Long before grief work became a field, profession, or public conversation, people in our communities were holding space for loss, change, healing, resistance, and belonging. Their sustained leadership, advocacy, cultural work, healing, education, organizing, and relationship-building have helped communities navigate profound personal and collective grief.
Those who have spent decades holding our communities deserve to be recognized, witnessed, and held by us. They showed up through crisis and celebration. They advocated, organized, created, taught, mentored, and built places of refuge and possibility. They carried the grief of their communities while continuing to make room for joy and hope.
What to expect
For our inaugural gathering, we honor Kathleen Saadat and Eric Ward for their extraordinary decades of community leadership and advocacy, particularly their contributions to BIPOC, 2SLGBTQ+, and QTBIPOC communities.
Together, we will explore the grief that accompanies a lifetime of community work: the people and places we have lost, the toll of witnessing injustice, the changes communities have fought for, and the ways people continue to create joy, resistance, healing, and belonging.
The evening will invite community members to witness, learn, remember, celebrate, and reflect together:
What have our communities taught us about grief?
What has sustained you through decades of advocacy and change?
Who held you while you were holding others?
About our speakers
Kathleen Saadat is a Black and LGBTQ+ civil rights activist, community organizer, and former public official based in Portland, Oregon, often referred to as the "social conscience of Oregon." For over 50 years, she has pioneered intersectional advocacy for racial justice, women's rights, and queer liberation.
Eric K. Ward is a prominent American civil rights organizer, researcher, and expert on white nationalism, antisemitism, and authoritarian movements. Raised in the Southern California punk rock scene, he was the first American to be honored with the international Civil Courage Prize.
Admission:
Sliding Scale
$5 - $15