Kamelah Adams is a Portlander and a small business owner. She has been using her voice and her platform—Mimi's Fresh Tees—to call for racial justice and change. Last week, Kamelah, her daughter, and her company were featured in a news story.
This week, a death threat arrived in Kamelah's mailbox.
This incident is not isolated, and we’re seeing a disturbing increase in Black people experiencing these and other types of threats to their safety and well being on a daily basis. This is simply unacceptable.
This incident is not isolated, and we’re seeing a disturbing increase in Black people experiencing these and other types of threats to their safety and well being on a daily basis. This is simply unacceptable.
The threatening letter sent to Kamelah is racist, criminal, violent, and frightening. It is disgusting, and serves as a reminder that although Black, Indigenous, and people of color experience racism and hate in our community every day, they continue to be resilient.
However, the burden should not be on BIPOC communities to aspire towards resilience or be resilient in the face of racism's physical and psychological violence. The burden remains on dominant communities and institutions to do the work necessary to make Portland safer, welcoming,
and more inclusive. I am proud that people like Kamelah choose to live in Portland and start families and businesses here. I have connected with Kamelah, and am humbled by her courage in the face of white nationalist threats.
We must acknowledge that our system of white supremacy lays the foundation for white nationalism to exist. This is real. We must support Black Portlanders for whom this is familiar and terrifying, and we must continue the work of reform.
