About 200 people packed the Multnomah County board room Wednesday night to be part of a unique forum for young African-American men to voice what they need to succeed.
The May 11 forum hosted by county Commissioner Loretta Smith came as the county Board of Commissioners began its public discussions this week over the county’s 2011-12 budget. Smith told the audience the county needs to hear as part of that discussion what the board and the community can do to help the young men succeed.
“It’s about civic engagement,” said Smith, who represents most of north and northeast Portland and is only the second African-American elected to the board.
“You are the next wave of leaders in this community,” Smith told the young men attending the forum.
Tim Logan moderated the forum, which covered a broad range of topics from the need for summer jobs to the value of school-based health clinics.
Participants in the discussion included Dr. Harold Briggs, professor at the Graduate School of Social Work from Portland State University; Dr. Andrae Brown, assistant professor at the Lewis and Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling; Dr. Daymond Glenn, assistant professor of education and director of diversity in the School of Education at George Fox University; and actor Aldis Hodge, who plays Alec Hardison on the TNT show Leverage, which is shot in Portland.
County Chair Jeff Cogen began the evening by welcoming the crowd, saying “this is an important conversation we need to hear.”