Reconciling Oregon’s History with Taylor Stewart of The Oregon Remembrance Project
Our guest for this episode Taylor Stewart, founder of the Oregon Remembrance Project, talks with us about how his organization's work is impacting Oregon.
The Oregon Remembrance Project focuses on reconciliation efforts with Oregon's history of sunrise towns and lynchings. This episode is a must-listen for those who want to better understand how learning, organizing, and collective acknowledgment can make way for more welcoming and conscious communities to thrive.
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Our Host
Ari O'Donovan
Our Guest
Taylor Stewart, Founder of the Oregon Remembrance Project
Taylor Stewart graduated from the University of Portland in 2018 with a degree in Communication and a Master’s in Social Work from Portland State University in 2021. Taylor started the Oregon Remembrance Project in 2018 to help communities unearth stories of injustice and engage in the necessary truth telling and repair required to reconcile instances of historical harm. His work connects historical racism to its present-day legacies in order to inspire contemporary
racial justice action. In what started as simply a way to memorialize a man named Alonzo Tucker, the most widely documented African American victim of lynching in Oregon, Taylor has grown to see the power of reconciliation to rectify further instances of historical injustice.
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Transcript:
Ari O'Donovan (00:00):
Thank you so much for listening to boosting our Voices. This program has been brought to you by Boost, Oregon. You can find them online@boostoregon.org.
Taylor Stewart (00:13):
And so what we want to do is create a level of intentionality about when people of color into the community, how can we actually retain them and create a community in which they can thrive.
Ari O'Donovan (00:28):
Welcome back y'all to boosting our voices. We have our latest episode for this episode. We're going to be talking with Taylor Stewart, the founder of the Oregon Remembrance Project. He was also our keynote speaker for our latest Boost Oregon Fundraiser Building Bridges. We like to talk about anything that Bipa communities are gonna be interested in. This one focuses on the black community. Not everything we bring to you on this podcast is gonna be Sugar Suite. We have some information today that's gonna be a little bit more of an in depth and difficult conversation, but it's definitely one worth having. So Taylor, can you tell me a little bit about your life and before you get started, I'm super excited to be having this conversation with you and to have you as a guest. So thank you for being a guest.
Taylor Stewart (01:20):
Oh, thank you. It's my pleasure. My name is Taylor Stewart. I'm the executive director and founder of the Oregon Remembrance Project. I help communities with truth and reconciliation projects about repairing historical injustice. The goal is to connect historical racism to its present day legacies in order to inspire contemporary racial justice action. And I started this work all because of a trip I took to the American South in 2018. Went to the Equal Justice Initiatives, National Memorial for Peace and Justice and Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, where I first came in contact with the history of lynching in America. I had lived in Oregon my entire life, and I couldn't believe that I had to go all the way to Montgomery, Alabama just to learn that there had been at least one widely documented lynching of an African American. Here in Oregon, the Equal Justice Initiative has documented nearly 6,500 lynchings of African Americans between the years of 1865 to 1950.
Taylor Stewart (02:23):
When you enter the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, you're met with these six foot high pillars that have the name of the state, the name of the county, and then the names of everyone who was lynched in that county. It was a profound encounter with history for me to take what had always felt like this abstract history, but to have it personalized with the names of people who were lynched in this country, especially seeing names with the last name, Stewart, Knowing that simply time and place separated me from the names on that pillar. And so I left the museum wanting to share this history with others. I couldn't believe that I had gone 22 years in this country knowing nothing about this history, and I wanted to help educate other people in my life about this history because I felt it was a shame that this isn't a part of our collective memory.
Taylor Stewart (03:11):
And so luckily, in conjunction with the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, the Equal Justice Initiative has also started what's called the Community Remembrance Project. The Community Remembrance Project aims to work in the communities where the lynchings of African Americans took place to find healing and reconciliation through a sober reflection on history. There is an interest form online about getting involved in the Community Remembrance Project. And I would love to say that when I first saw that, I was immediately like, Sign me up. How can I help? But in reality, I was too nervous to fill out the interest form after all, I was a recent college grad with zero relevant experience, and I ultimately figured to myself, who am I to really think that I could be of any help? So I decided that I wasn't going to fill out the interest form, but thankfully two encounters from the rest of my trip inspired me to change my mind.
Taylor Stewart (04:05):
The first was a quote from John Lewis, longtime civil rights icon, and congressman from Georgia who asked, If not us, then who, If not now, then when? I don't remember where I was when I first read that, but I remember reading that and being like, Are you talking to me? Um, I was like, I really like this feeling inside of me, but like, I'll think about it, when we were in Mississippi, we visited the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, where there they just focused on the everyday stories of Mississippians who did their part to pave the way for justice. So there was no Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, these individuals who we kind of deify and are hard to relate to. And so from that experience, I learned the lesson that you don't have to be an extraordinary person to do extraordinary things. And so those two encounters, John Lewis's quote in the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, is what inspired me to have the courage to reach out to the Equal Justice Initiative four years ago. And here we are, and I've been doing this work ever since.
Ari O'Donovan (05:12):
And how old are you right now, if you don't mind me asking?
Taylor Stewart (05:15):
I am 26. Um, you
Ari O'Donovan (05:18):
Are so young,
Taylor Stewart (05:19):
Uh, <laugh>. Thank you. Yes, I, uh, definitely feel, uh, new in this work. So I was born December 5th, 1995 and 40 years prior to the day December 5th, 1955, Martin Luther King gave his first large public address when he was named president of the Montgomery Improvement Association. He did so at the age of 26. And so I figure, you know, granted, you're like, Oh, if Martin Luther King can do it, I can do it though. But you know, it's sort of, uh, that example, that age doesn't have to be a restriction when it comes to leading this fight for justice and equality.
Ari O'Donovan (05:58):
Absolutely not. I'm just amazed. I've seen a lot of presentations that you've already given, and when I found out about you, I did all this research and digging, and I took notes while I was listening to some of your presentations. I was just so amazed that someone so young especially can get out here and do this kind of work that a lot of people might be afraid to do, afraid to talk about, but it needs to be discussed. And you're doing a fabulous job, and I'm just amazed. But
Taylor Stewart (06:29):
Thank you,
Ari O'Donovan (06:30):
<laugh>. Yeah,
Taylor Stewart (06:31):
I've learned that, you know, it's not because I was the right person to do this work, but I've learned that it's less about being the right person for the moment as it is about doing the right thing for the moment. I've also learned that ordinary people have the power to do extraordinary things by simply asking the question, Why not me? So that's what I hope to try and give that gift to others, the impetus to ask that question, Why not
Ari O'Donovan (06:57):
Me? That's really important. Tell me a little bit now about the Oregon Remembrance Project and what is your goal in its creation and ongoing development?
Taylor Stewart (07:08):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, so much of, you know, what started this work for me was to simply do for others what was done for me. I've grown and learned so much from becoming more aware about our histories of injustice, specifically learned about our history of injustice has inform my approach to justice in the present day. And so this work started with the memorialization of a man named Alonzo Tucker, the most widely documented African American victim of lynching in Oregon, who was lynched in COOs Bay, Oregon in 1902 after being wrongfully accused of sexually assaulting a white woman. And so I believe that within this idea of reconciliation or three R words, remembrance, repair, and redemption, and then in order for us to get to that last R word of redemption, we need to have the courage it takes to undertake the first two. So for three years, I worked with the community of COOs Bay, Oregon to engage in this process of reconciliation.
Taylor Stewart (08:10):
February, 2020, we held a soil collection ceremony near the spot of the lynching. And June, 2021, we unveiled a historical marker in the community. I like to say that the historical marker was more than just a retelling of history. It was also the making of history As over 600 people doubled, that who were at the 1902 lynching gathered at the unveiling ceremony to add this new chapter to Alonzo Tucker story. There are two dates of significance on the historical marker 1902, when the lynching occurred in 2021, when the historical marker wasn't failed. And we can't fully understand the story of Alonzo Tucker only focusing on the 1902 date, as the story now continues on into 2020 and 2021 when that same community where his lynching occurred, used his memory as inspiration for becoming a community more committed to the ideals of truth, justice, and reconciliation. And so that's sort of what I try to do with stories of injustice, just simply feeling like, if you know you don't like the ending to a story, create a new ending.
Taylor Stewart (09:15):
If we are feeling unsatisfactory about these stories of injustice, let's write a new ending to those stories. So that's what I try to do, give people the feeling that they have power in these seemingly powerless feeling situations, that we do have the power to change the narrative, to rewrite the ending to these stories of historical injustice. And so that's what I'm doing with the Oregon Remembrance Project, coming up with new endings to these stories of, within our history, I've mostly focused on lynching in COOs Bay, but I've now expanded into doing work around Sun Downtowns and the community of Grants Pass, and uh, focusing about a man named Jacob Vander Pool, the only known person expelled from Oregon under the state's black exclusionary loss and working with the city of Oregon City to memorialize him.
Ari O'Donovan (10:03):
Wow, I really love that you're branching out into other Oregon communities. A lot of people don't know that Oregon has quite a racist past. If you really look into the history, it was literally written in the Constitution that black people could not have residents here. I learned that some years ago in college, but when I found that out, I was really amazed because I had always thought, and I'm sure there's a lot of people out there that may have thought it's better in the North. It's not nearly as bad as it was in the South, but racism was everywhere and it still is everywhere. It just, there's less black people here to begin with and it just takes on a different form, but it's always been present.
Taylor Stewart (10:49):
Yeah, I remember growing up and people would sort of have the attitude of like, Well, there's no racism because there's no black people where you're like, Actually, there's no black people because there's racism. But you know, when it comes to, for instance, Oregon's history and specifically this history of sun downtowns, most of Oregon outside of urban centers were sun downtowns. And sun downtowns are actually an interesting phenomenon in American history. And that they didn't actually exist in the traditional south. They were a north and west phenomenon. For those who are unaware sundown towns or communities that purposefully excluded African Americans and other racial minorities from living in or simply passing through the community through a culture of fear, violence and intimidation. Very often there was a sign in town within the city limits that said, don't let the sun come down on you here.
Taylor Stewart (11:43):
There was actually one of those signs in Grant's Pass into the late 1960s, early 1970s. So we're working with that community to rewrite the ending to the story of a sun downtown. In the case of grant's past, what we're trying to do is create this vision of a sunrise community, essentially the opposite to a sun downtown. What I love to tell people is that I wish it was my idea to use the word sunrise, but that idea came from a 69 year old white male truck driver from Grants Pass. But you know, that's sort of what it's about, bringing together ordinary people to do extraordinary things. And we are looking to culminate our work in the installation of a historical marker, one side talking about racial exclusion in Oregon, and Grants Pass on the other side function is the community stated commitment to inclusivity, this commitment to being a Sunrise community. But what's exciting is if we're successful, this will be the first ever historical marker about sundown towns in the United States, and the goal is to expand across Oregon and create a blueprint for communities across the country to follow.
Ari O'Donovan (12:46):
That's truly groundbreaking. I didn't really know the name of these types of towns, and that is some information that you would think you'd only find ever happening in the South, but that's a fine example of how it's in Oregon here too. Wow.
Taylor Stewart (13:03):
Yeah, So sundown towns appeared and sort of at the start of the 20th century, African Americans as a people group we're actually more widely dispersed across the country in 1890 than they were in 1930. During that time period, some historians have used the phrase, the great retreat where African Americans moved from rural spaces into condensed urban settings because these sundown towns started to appear across the country. Sundown towns actually weren't spaces in which white people went into and then were like no black people more frequently, they were spaces that were interracial to which black people were then forced out. So there's the phrase going sundown sun downtown. And so I very frequently it was lynchings that spurred sun downtowns where a community with Linton African American and threatened violence to the rest the community unless they left. And so very much so, it was violence that created and maintained sun downtowns across the United States.
Taylor Stewart (14:04):
And so this is a very unique phenomenon in American history because we know about it. But those signs that said, don't let the sun come down and you here, they're actually is no picture of one of those in American circulation, but we have oral history that can attest to them in dozens if not hundreds of communities. And so it is very odd phenomenon because it was so widely practiced, but so little documented. And so one of the things that we're trying to do in grant's past is a find a picture of the sign. So it can become sort of the defacto image for this history, as well as one of the things that we're doing is doing an oral history project to collect the memory firsthand memories of those who are member sundown towns in Oregon, both white individuals and African Americans, because there are people still living today with firsthand memories tied to this history. And we really only have about 10 to 15 more years to collect this history before the storytellers are no longer with us. And so we really feel sort of an impetus to make the most of these next 10 to 15 years to preserve this history, this era of American life and this era in Oregon for future generations.
Ari O'Donovan (15:17):
Storytelling is so important, and my mom has grown up here and lived here all her life, and she has seen, not that specific sign, but similar signs about specific establishments and businesses. So I know this oral history is true, and I hope you can find the images that you're looking for and collecting this information from the people before, like you said, they're gone. It's something that needs to be done now.
Taylor Stewart (15:45):
And also there's a component to collecting this oral history to preserve what was an element of resiliency on the part of African Americans who had to navigate sun downtowns and Oregon had to navigate, you know, just simple travel across the state and having to figure out where there were allies in communities. And so when we, you know, our unearth this history, not all of it is negative. For instance, there's a hotel in Grant's Pass called the Motel Del Rope that used to actually provide African Americans a place to stay when they were performing in town. For instance, the Harlem Globetrotter stayed there when they were performing because the motel is just outside of the city limits. And so there were sort of pockets of communities or individuals who push back against that sun downtown culture. And in talking about this history, we do also wanna preserve the positive stories to sort of the idea that we are continuing that legacy, that there are two stories being told about a community, one of exclusivity, and one of inclusivity. And how can we make that story arc of inclusivity, the predominant story?
Ari O'Donovan (16:55):
Absolutely. I think it's important to include both. There's a lot of negative information out there, and it's hard for people to learn about. It's hard for people to discuss, and it's worth discussing and it needs to be discussed. But we can also think about the positives too. So I think that's really important. You had a recent Ted Talk, you mentioned a little bit about that, and it was entitled, How Do We Reconcile a Lynching? Do you wanna share a little bit more about that, and what is the call to action that you mention in that TED Talk?
Taylor Stewart (17:28):
Yeah, so it was a once in a lifetime experience. I spoke with TEDx Portland at the Mota Center back in May, 2022. And I was just sharing the story about Alonzo Tucker. He was a 28 year old African American from California, who was also a boxer, but 120 years ago, he was wrongfully accused of sexually assaulting a white woman before he was eventually hung from a light pole on the old Marshfield Bridge in front of a crowd of 300. Even children were a part of the lynch mob that left Alonzo Tucker's body hanging there for several hours. And despite this all occurring in broad daylight without a masked man in the crowd, no one would ever be held accountable for this lynching. And so I wanted to share this story with the Ted community, not only to get Alonzo Tucker story out there, but to give voice to the thousands of other African Americans who are lynched in this country.
Taylor Stewart (18:26):
And so the title is How Do You Reconcile Lynching where I sort of go through what that reconciliation process looked like for getting through these ideas of remembrance repair so that we can bring these stories to a place of redemption. And so when it came to the remembrance section, it was all about the, the soil collection and the historical marker where we added these new chapters to Alonzo Tucker story. You know, four years ago, if you had Googled COOs Bay or Oregon Lynching, you would've gotten a variety of news stories from the last three decades that were like, Did you know a lynching occurred in Oregon? But now if you Google COOs Bay or Oregon Lynching, Google populates all the new stories about the reconciliation work. And so we can really tangibly elongate Alonzo Tucker's story and that by the things that we do today, his story doesn't have to end in 1902.
Taylor Stewart (19:21):
And by doing this remembrance work, it actually makes a benefit in the community. When we did the historical marker unveiling, it was part of COOs Bay's first ever Juneteenth celebration. And then this past year, 2022, their Juneteenth celebration grew into a three day event where they unveiled another historical marker and then allowed African Americans from their community in the surrounding area to showcase their history, tradition, and culture, all part of this renewed effort to tell more diverse stories about their local history. And so that is also a part of Alonzo Tucker's story. Now, the fact that the community used his memory as inspiration for advancing justice in their space. And so that's a part of the remembrance. But as meaningful as those acts of remembrance were, and the growth of their Juneteenth ceremony, the lynching of Alonzo Tucker has not yet been reconciled because remembrance alone is not enough to get to redemption.
Taylor Stewart (20:22):
We need repair. In this case, we are called to repair the fundamental question of who our society believes deserves debt, because the answer continues to be disproportionately African American, because at the same time, lynchings in the United States, were going down states sanctioned executions were going up, lynchings simply moved indoors, were all white juries and expedited trials carried out the same verdict as the lynch mob. During the 1930s, two thirds of all executions in the United States were of African Americans between 1910 to 1950, while only making up 22% of the south population. African Americans accounted for 75% of all of those who were executed in this region. And today, African Americans make up 13% of the population, but 41% of those who are on death row, and of that 41% nearly all or African American males, the African American males only make up 6.5% of our population.
Taylor Stewart (21:31):
I believe we need to ask ourselves, how do we get from 6.5 to 41%? And so this is really about transforming the threshold question on the death penalty from, does this person deserve to die for their crimes to do we deserve to kill? Because if the answer is no, then it doesn't matter what the answer is to that first question. And so that's what repair looks like. It is putting into the way that lynching continues to exist today. And so my hope is that by using Alonzo Tucker story in this idea of historical repair, we can bring his memory a semblance of redemptive justice. This idea that by making this substantive change to our society, by advancing good in the world because of this painful incident, we can redeem Alonzo Tucker's story and that it can end in a place of justice that, you know, my hope is that right now when we talk about Alonzo Tucker, we talk about the legacy of lynching.
Taylor Stewart (22:32):
But I hope that we can get to a day where one day when we talk about lynching, we're talking about the legacy of Alonzo Tucker because of the way that his memory has inspired this change throughout our society. And so for me, that's what redemption looks like. I believe that there is a more just organ waiting for us, as long as we have the courage it takes to get there. And so that is, you know, a little bit of a snippet of what my Ted Talk was about. And I encourage anyone to look it up. You can just go on YouTube and check out how do you reconcile lynching, and I hope that you'll watch and share with others
Ari O'Donovan (23:08):
To all listeners. Definitely check that out. I watched it and I've watched other presentations that Taylor has given, and they're phenomenal. I know that you gave a presentation for PSU not too long ago, and I watched the entire hour and 17 minutes of that one, and it brought me to tears. There were so many facts that I didn't know so much information. All the work that you're doing, you're honoring black people who have been victims of lynchings, specific people, and there's so many black people out there that were lynched throughout American history. It was never even documented, probably hundreds of cases at least.
Taylor Stewart (23:48):
Yeah. On the Alonzo Tucker historical marker, one of the last sentences, so it's a two sided historical marker. One side talks about Alonzo Tucker, The other side talks about lynching America as a whole. One of the last sentences is that we remember Alonzo Tucker and all other unknown victims of lynching in the pursuit of truth, justice, and reconciliation. You know, as you had mentioned, Oregon has a robust history of racial injustice. And we would be remiss if we thought that there was only one lynching of an African American in Oregon. Alonzo Tucker's lynching just happened to be so widely documented. It actually made newspapers in Washington, California, Montana, even as far as Louisiana and New York. And so there's so much documentation over this killing, but we'd be remiss if Oregon's history of racial injustice didn't create more other lynchings in our state.
Ari O'Donovan (24:40):
Absolutely. And something that I've learned from you and presentations that you have given is that lynching isn't, as you've mentioned too, lynching isn't really over. It's really become more sophisticated. So can you tell me a little bit more about how America's history of lynching is deeply connected to the death penalty today?
Taylor Stewart (25:04):
Yeah, you know, it's just really about this sort of fundamental question of who our society believes deserves death. And also this question of how do we respond to those who have offended us? And in the case of, you know, at this time, most of our history, people responded violently to African Americans that appear to transgress the sort of social existence within the United States. And so many times the reasons behind lynchings involved accusations of a crime, largely due to the fact that white American presumed an element of guilt within blackness that they attributed to their perceived moral inferiority. But also lynchings occurred just from simply transgressing the rules of the Jim Crow South, not stepping off the sidewalk when a white person approaches could result in lynching, not using stir ma could result in lynching. Sometimes black people were lynched just as an innocent bystander when the mob couldn't find who they were looking for.
Taylor Stewart (26:07):
But lynching was also used as an element of social power to subjugate the African American race. And so very frequently they targeted sharecroppers ministers and community leaders who resisted mistreatment or espouse advancement beyond the confines of the Jim Crow air. And so this element of power and this sort of violent response to transgression allowed lynching to evolve into our system of capital punishment. So there's sort of two versions of the death penalty, the death penalty as it existed up until 1972, and then what is considered the modern day death penalty i e, the death penalty as it existed after 1976. It was briefly paused nationally due to its seemingly arbitrary use that very much just fell along race and class lines. So states tried to adopt some new safeguards to make it more, you know, I hate to say it more equitable, but that actually didn't prove fruitful to death.
Taylor Stewart (27:08):
Penalty continues to be really what I believe is the tip of the iceberg for racial injustice in the United States since 1976. For every 10 people we've executed, we've actually exonerated someone from death broke, meaning someone who was wrongfully arrested, wrongfully convicted, wrongfully put in prison, wrongfully upon death broke. And 10 to one is a shocking rate of error that we just sort of seem to accept that we wouldn't accept in any other scenario. I was just at the grocery store today. If one out of 10 apples were poisonous, I wouldn't buy apples. And we also wouldn't be selling them. We would have a mass recall, because 10 to one is a shocking rate of error. And so the question is, what things do we allow that we feel comfortable accepting of a reality for someone else? Because the vast majority, uh, over half of those who have been exonerated from death row have been African American.
Taylor Stewart (28:08):
We as a society just sort of accept that these are the life outcomes for whole populations of our society. I don't believe we're free until we're all free, and we are burdened by this history of lynching. And our failure to talk about it, I believe, is what allowed it to evolve into capital punishment. The unique part of my story doing this sort of racial justice work is that I graduated high school registered Republican with a dream of becoming a top on crime prosecutor. I myself was once a staunch supporter of capital punishment. I gave a speech my junior year of college in favor of capital punishment, and I'm not that old, so that wasn't that long ago. But learning about lynching changed my perception of the definit penalty. I had always cared about justice, but then I learned more about injustice and that our system of capital punishment is built on a foundation of lynching in America.
Taylor Stewart (29:10):
And I realized that if what I wanted to happen, that being the achievement of justice, that it was impossible in this system that was so fraught with injustice. And so that's, you know, why I am passionate about sharing this history is I believe that by educating people about the legacy of lynching, it will change their perception of capital punishment. So at the Alonzo Tucker historical marker unveiling, I made my speech all about ending the death penalty in Oregon. And I did not tell anyone that I was gonna do that. I didn't even tell the Equal Justice Initiative because I was very nervous how a speech about ending the death penalty was gonna go over in COOs Bay, a county with which Trump won by 11 points in 2020. And so I was, ah, man, I was so nervous, I did not know how I was gonna go over, But to my enthusiastic surprise, the community was ready for this message because of their investment in reconciling the lynching of Alonzo Tucker, that this message was met with a standing ovation.
Taylor Stewart (30:15):
People were enthusiastic about, yes, this is the next step that we need to take as a community and as a society. And so that was, you know, one of the most special moments of my life, that people were, you know, ready for this message. And that even in sort of unlikely places, there's enthusiasm for this work. I believe that no matter where you go, you can find enough people who are willing to choose justice of given the opportunity. It's just a matter of getting them to see where there's been injustice. And so I believe that if this message can resonate in COOs Bay, Oregon, it can resonate across the state. And I really hope that my goal is to use ending the death penalty in Oregon as a blueprint for ending the death penalty across the country. We currently have a moratorium on the death penalty, so it's not quite as a, an urgent.
Taylor Stewart (31:08):
I still believe there is urgency, but it's not quite as urgent as other sort of states. However, both Betsy Johnson and Christine Dresen have signaled their support to reinstating the death penalty. So this could certainly be a change in organ, but there's urgency across the country. The same states that have the most lynchings in the United States, the South plus Oklahoma and Missouri have accounted for 86% of all executions since 1976. So the same region of the country that lynched is the same region of the country that executes. And I don't believe we will end capital punishment in Alabama unless we have sort of a larger national push of ending the death penalty across the United States, and that it will take states like Oregon to lend our voice to this movement when we can't help end the death penalty in Alabama if we still have it here in Oregon ourselves.
Ari O'Donovan (32:03):
Absolutely. And I, I have to say, it's amazing that you were willing to give that speech, and you may have been nervous, but it's something that needed to be done, and it's great that you actually got up and did it. A lot of people have beliefs that are, they're just deeply rooted in, they're not willing to change their beliefs. It's amazing that you decided to take a look at your life and take a look at your upbringing and the belief system that you had and say, maybe there's a way that this might not be the correct way to see things. Maybe there's more to it than that.
Taylor Stewart (32:45):
Yeah. One of the things that I tell people is I don't get people to see new values, but to see the values they already have in a new way. And so it's the sort of like positive bend that, you know, you're like, I believe that you believe in justice, and rather than telling you how you are furthering injustice, let me tell you how your belief in justice can come from this new angle. And that just showing people that in order to continue to live out those values that you affirm you see in them that it's gonna require a new approach. And so that was sort of, that's what did it for me. It was, I always cared about justice, and that part never changed. It was just my understanding of injustice that informed what I believed our system of capital punishment actually produced. And so, you know, when I'm in these other communities, it's, you do want to better your community, You want a more just society. Here's a new approach to achieving those ideals with which you already have.
Ari O'Donovan (33:49):
That approach is the best way, I think, to reach people. Because if you just come at someone and say, I need you to change your entire belief system because it's wrong, people are immediately going to shut down everything you have to say. So if you can work it into things that they already feel, so it's not such an abrupt change, it's a better way to do things.
Taylor Stewart (34:12):
I believe in sort of a positive reinforcement to community organizing that rather than tell a community who they're not, tell 'em who they can be, and then show 'em the steps to becoming that community, allowing them to play an active role in their own journey. So it wasn't that four years ago whose way was the most ideal community to do lynching reconciliation work, but it was telling them that I do believe in the values that you have as a community, and that you can be the community that works to do this reconciliation of work. And you know, similar to, I believe that, similar to the way that they'll be like science studies on students where they give them high test scores on like an S A T, and they watch their performance actually increase in school that by telling communities, you are the community who believes in justice, they can actually start doing things to become more like that community that you've painted the picture of. And so by telling COOs Bay, you are the kind of community who can do this, they were able to actually become the community that could do that thing.
Ari O'Donovan (35:18):
Yes, people wanna feel like they have agency over things. They wanna believe that they can be great, and that's the best way to approach people. That's amazing. Yeah.
Taylor Stewart (35:29):
And you know, the idea that it's never too late to make a difference. One of the other thing that I tell people is, don't let your inability to do everything stop you from doing one thing. And so, yes, we can't restructure capital punishment or the criminal justice system across the entire nation. We can't even do it in Oregon in one fell swoop. But what we can do is take these small steps to eventually get to that goal. And just because we can't change these systems as a whole in one fell swoop, doesn't mean we can't make small gestures moving in that direction. The question of how do you reconcile lynching isn't done quickly. The whole process in COOs Bay took three years. I mean, it was those small steps, those we couldn't have gotten to the historical marker without the soil collection. We couldn't have gotten to death penalty, abolition, enthusiasm, unless we did the historical marker. And it's those small steps along the way that actually build you up for success.
Ari O'Donovan (36:29):
Little steps to make a big difference. That's what it's all about. That's really amazing. Can you tell me what's up next for the Oregon Remembrance Project? I know you shared a little bit, but is there anything you wanna share more details about or something that's immediately happening that you want listeners to be aware of?
Taylor Stewart (36:49):
Yeah, you know, I invite listeners to check out the Oregon Remembrance Project online or on social media. We're recording this at the start of September, and I'm doing some brand redevelopment. And so by the time this podcast is released, we'll have a new logo, new website. The new logo is a picture of a rose in a jar to sort of symbolize the jar, is the outline of the Alonzo Tucker soil jar to sort of represent the way that the mission that this work was founded on. This all started just simply to tell Alonzo Tucker's story, but the rose represents Portland, the city of Roses, But also the idea that if we make it through the difficult or thorny parts of the flower, there's something beautiful waiting for us on the other end. We're in that same way. If we make it through the difficult parts of remembrance and repair, there's something better redemption waiting for us on the other end.
Taylor Stewart (37:47):
So right now, I've been doing a lot of work to sort of expand the Oregon Remembrance Project. I'm excited about what we're starting to do in Oregon City to memorialize Jacob Vander Pool. And so Jacob Vander Pool was a business owner who was forced to leave Oregon after a competing white business owner conspired to have him arrested. And so he was actually expelled from the state of Oregon simply for the crime of being black. We're looking to memorialize where his business once stood to put up a historical marker, one side talking about Jacob VanderPol. But the other side function is Oregon City's stated commitment to, you know, the opposite of that exclusion, this renewed commitment to inclusivity. So in addition to that ization, I'm working to help Oregon City develop recruitment and retention plans for people of color in Oregon City. While there may no no longer be legal expulsions in Oregon, our state still foments an element of cultural expulsion on communities of color.
Taylor Stewart (38:50):
And so the experience of Jacob VanderPol is still being experienced by people of color in Oregon today. And so what we wanna do is create a level of intentionality about when people of color enter the community, how can we actually retain them and create a community in which they can thrive. But then to go one step further, and rather than being like, Oh, there are no black people here, let's make steps to change that. Let's be intentional about creating the kind of community that people of color actually would want to move to. I would love for Oregon City to become a space where people of color are intentionally moving there because they've heard about this new sort of culture of inclusivity, the opportunities that we're creating for black businesses, black social life, black community, and doing all of this work right now with the idea that that is how we can elongate Jacob Vander Pool's story that Jacob Vander Pool's story doesn't have to end in 1851, but it can continue on until the 21st century where people in that community used his memory to actually improve the live reality of people of color today.
Taylor Stewart (40:04):
Um, and so that's my hope. Uh, it's called the Vander Pool Project, looking to start this in Oregon City because Oregon City is actually where state's black exclusionary laws were formed. And so in order to reconcile that history, we really have to go back to the genesis of it. And so my hope is that Oregon City can then become a leader in this conversation for the state of Oregon, and we can eventually adopt a sort of statewide plan for the recruitment and retention of people of color in Oregon. You know, our racial demographics are what they are, but that's not how they have to be or how they will be in the future. I mean, so how can the state that was founded with racial exclusion laws become intentional about trying to recruit people of color into our state community? We live in a beautiful state, a beautiful city, but much of that beauty feels and accessible to people of color, both within the state and within outside. So how can we change that? How can we change the narrative but actually have the culture to reflect that change in narrative? And so that's what inspires me to do this work, starting in COOs Bay and Grants Pass and Oregon City. My hope is that these communities can become leaders for expanding this work across the state of Oregon.
Ari O'Donovan (41:21):
This new work that you're doing is very meaningful. I definitely believe in people's ability to understand and to love and change. They just need to view things from an appropriate lens. And you have to give people time. Just like you said, I'm so excited for the Oregon Remembrance Project and all the new stuff that's happening. I am here thinking, How can I get involved? How can I support your work? I wanna know all the different kinds of ways. Can you share with listeners how they can get involved?
Taylor Stewart (41:56):
Yeah. One of the easiest ways is following the Oregon Remems Project on social media and sharing the content, and specifically sharing the TED Talk, as well as there's a petition in conjunction with the TED Talk to try and persuade Oregon legislatures that there is an enthusiasm in Oregon for ending the death penalty. The death penalty in Oregon can only be ended with a statewide vote. And so I'm really trying to push an initiative to get on Oregon's 2024 ballot as opposed to potentially 2026 or even 2028. You know that John Lewis quote of, If not us, then who, If not now, then when? So trying to inspire Oregon legislators with that fierce urgency of now. So we really have about the rest of 2022 and then the start of 2023 to make this push. And so share the Ted Talk, share the petition, share the Organ Remembrance project project, and that's, you know, sort of the easiest first step of getting involved.
Taylor Stewart (42:58):
If you're looking for any sort of deeper form of engagement, please reach out to me via the Organ Remembrance project. I'm, you know, currently small where I don't have necessarily a lot of like cookie cutter volunteer opportunities, but when people reach out to me and tell them about themselves, we're able to create something, you know, unique or specific for that individual in order to sort of help me advance this. Cause for instance, someone reached out and they're like, I, you know, I'm a business lawyer, but I would really like to help support your work. And I'm like, Well, that's convenient. I need business legal help. Or someone reaches out and they're like, I do graphic design. And I'm like, Great, I need a logo. And so reaching out, telling me about yourself is sort of another way of helping support this work. Eventually, financial donations will be a very easy way to contribute, but in the time being, I'm simply asking for people's time, for their willingness, their vulnerability to share this work with their community, to what would it look like to not just share on social media, but to talk to someone.
Taylor Stewart (44:08):
We end the death penalty in Oregon, one conversation at a time. I believe that most people are against the death penalty. They just don't realize they care. And helping light this fire across the state is what people can do. It's that asking, what can people do is ask that question, Why not me? And then use that to figure out how they can get involved. Knowing that just because you can't do everything doesn't mean you can't do one thing, and that you don't need to be an extraordinary person to do extraordinary things. When I was younger, I used to think that it was remarkable people that did remarkable things, But the older I've gotten, the more I've realized that it's remarkable things that make remarkable people. And I hope that your listeners will choose to be a part of something that I think is remarkable. So I thank you and Boost Oregon for giving me this opportunity to share with everyone. I, and I'm grateful to be able to be a part of your Building Bridges fundraising event. I'm, and excited for our future partnership for years to come.
Ari O'Donovan (45:10):
We are so excited to stay connected with you, Taylor. I follow the Oregon Remembrance Project personally on ig Facebook. I definitely boost Oregon follows too. I encourage everyone to follow on social media, share information with family and friends, have the these conversations when you're ready to talk to somebody about this kind of thing. I am trying to do all of those things. I'm just so amazed with your work, and I just can't wait to see where the Organ Remembrance Project goes and everything that you've talked about in here, don't have me get teary eyed. Again, <laugh> crying in this podcast episode <laugh>. But please tell us before we end, what is the main takeaway that you want people to know after listening to this episode?
Taylor Stewart (46:02):
Yeah, my, you know, main takeaway beyond lynching in the death penalty, Sun downtown's, racially exclusive laws, really is just that idea that you don't need to be an extraordinary person to do extraordinary things. Four years ago, I was really just a random college kid that took a trip to the South. John Lewis talked me into reaching out to the Equal Justice Initiative and just taking that first step and being involved. This project has completely changed my life. And my hope is that even if it's not racial justice related, that people will take that belief that they do have power to be the change they wanna see in this world. And that people know that you don't need to make it all the way up the staircase. You just gotta go up one step and then figure out how to get up the next and then the next four years ago.
Taylor Stewart (47:01):
So I filled out the interest form with the Equal Justice Initiative, and a few months later, they sent me the emails of three other people who had filled out the same interest form. I was like, I don't know how to do this project, but what I can do is work up the courage to send the first email. And so I sent out the email, not surprisingly, everyone was from Portland. And I'm like, Great, I still know zero people in COOs Bay, <laugh>. And so we met at a mc Minimums downtown. And I remember driving there thinking to myself, I can't wait to meet. Who's gonna lead this? And I remember driving home and I was like, Oh, no. I was like, What just happened to me? And at no point, at no point in this process have I ever been qualified or ready for what's next. But the whole idea that it's not about being the right person, but it's about becoming the right person. And just simply by taking that first step and then having the courage to keep going really is transformative. So that's what I hope people take away, is that they too can be a part of this work. They too can be the change they wanna see in this world. And that regardless of, you know how much you've been involved in this work before, it never is too late to make that difference.
Ari O'Donovan (48:22):
Taylor's Stewart, you are a remarkable person and you inspire me and every listener to be remarkable as well. I am so grateful that you found the time to be a guest on this podcast and develop a connection with Bruce Oregon. We look forward to partnering with you in the future with all the new stuff that you're going to be doing. I encourage all listeners to follow the Oregon Remembrance Project on social media. Learn more about them on the website. Find out as more information as you can, look up different presentations that Taylor Stewart has given and his TED Talk. Make sure you watch that. It's brand new and amazing. Make sure you take the time to do that. These are conversations we need to be having, and now is the time it doesn't need to wait any longer. Thank you, Taylor Stewart.
Taylor Stewart (49:17):
Oh, thank you very much.
Ari O'Donovan (49:23):
Don't be a stranger. Email us or send us a voice memo at boosting our voices@gmail.com with your health related questions. Your questions may even be featured on an upcoming podcast episode. Follow Boost Oregon on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok. You can find all of our social media and our website information in the show description below. Until next time, thank you for listening and we will.