When we called ourselves Cultural Workers...a moment in time.

In December, 2018 I came upon this archival film posted by the Oregon Historical Society in 2017.  Portland's own Elaine Velazquez made this short film commissioned by the National Organization for Women in the mid-1970's. It captures a moment in 'Portland time' when my friends and I were finding and defining our paths as artists and activists.  Elaine and her partner Barbara Bernstein have gone on to create many powerful works of socially relevant art, and each of the women featured in this film has continued, in her own way, to contribute as artist/activist through the years. It's important to encourage each other, and those subtle to brilliant shades of storytelling that reveal our humanness and remind us that stories are interwoven in the DNA of our beings. Stories can be false, misleading, destructive and separate us by fearful, angry means, and stories can intrigue, delight, unite, inform and inspire us to act for the common good. The latter are the kind of stories I want learn to from, create, and share. How about you?