Coalition of Communities of Color

Mission

The Coalition of Communities of Color addresses the socioeconomic disparities, institutional racism, and inequity of services experienced by our families, children, and communities. The Coalition organizes our communities for collective action resulting in social change to obtain self-determination, wellness, justice, and prosperity.

Membership

In 2001, leaders from communities of color across Portland formed the Coalition of Communities of Color. The Coalition represents six communities of color: African American, African immigrant and refugee, Asian/Pacific Islander, Latino, Native American, and Slavic. The Coalition is made up of over 40 culturally specific organizations, including Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO), Asian Family Center, Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO), El Programa Hispano, Self Enhancement, Inc. (SEI), Urban League of Portland, Slavic Coalition, Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA), and Africa House.

Vision

In the past, communities of color were pitted against each other to compete for resources. The communities came together to overcome this competition and develop a single voice. The diverse communities united to address the socioeconomic disparities, institutional racism, and inequity of services experienced by their families, children, and communities; and to collectively act to obtain self-determination, wellness, justice, and prosperity. The Coalition's vision is for increased political power, greater representation of communities of color in key leadership positions, and influence in decision making. This vision stems from the Coalition's shared values of acceptance and understanding of all cultures, trust, unity, mutual support, and equity and justice for all people. Within the Coalition, the effect of this unity has been building and strengthening relationships, and racial healing across communities of color.

Since its formal inception in 2001, the Coalition has achieved many successes, including the addition of a culturally specific service provision in Multnomah County's SUN Service System and the creation of a funding formula that allocates a certain percentage of funding to communities of color. At the Coalition's inception, 10% of those served by SUN were people of color; today, it's 60%. Eight years later, the Coalition's voice has grown stronger, and advocacy efforts have expanded into many arenas of public policy that affect communities of color.

Advocacy

Current efforts are focused on the implementation of a comprehensive community-based participatory research project to gather population data and needs assessments for the Coalition's communities. The project will help develop policies that accurately reflect and appropriately meet the needs of communities of color in Portland. The ultimate goal of the Coalition's project is to develop a clear understanding of the breadth and depth of Portland's communities of color.

Through its advocacy efforts, the Coalition of Communities of Color has begun to weave the presence of traditionally disenfranchised communities into Portland's identity. Rather than engage divisively, Coalition members struggle together to find solutions that enhance both individual communities and larger networks of communities of color.

The Coalition uniquely and equitably builds consensus across communities. Each community within the Coalition determines, by its own internal process, who will represent the community, thereby ensuring authentic representation. The governance model provides the opportunity for diverse community leaders to work together and build strong relationships that allow for collective action. The Coalition's ongoing work strengthens the presence of communities of color in our region and will help create equality.

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