Transit Justice

By Orlando Lopez, BRU Organizer In 2010 I was part of the first cohort of Organizers-in-Training (OiT). Many of the issues that people faced back then are the same issues folks are facing today. Back then, we were getting on the buses and talking to folks about fighting the pending fare increases and service cuts…

Bus Riders Unite (BRU), Portland’s transit riders’ union, exists to lift up the voices of transit-dependent people, who are often overlooked in decision-making. Bus Riders Demand LIFE: Low Income Fare Equity! Here are the facts: transportation is a critical lifeline, the second-largest household expense for everyone, and even more expensive for people with low incomes.…

“We need to do what I call visionary organizing. Recognize that in every crisis, people do not respond like a school of fish. Some people become immobilized. Some people become very angry, some commit suicide, and other people begin to find solutions. And visionary organizers look at those people, recognize them and encourage them, and…

Today at Portland City Council, commissioners voted to fund YouthPass for the coming school year at Portland Public Schools. We applaud this continued investment in student and community success. But we are alarmed at City Council’s conversation around the issue. “Why is the city responsible?,” asked one Commissioner. “Every year we are gonna be the…

By Maria Gallegos, Organizer-in-Training cohort member I was born in Quito, Ecuador, which is well known for bananas and the Galapagos Islands. But Ecuador is also a victim of US industrialized farming and ecological degradation from tourism. My family and I emigrated to South Side Chicago where I grew up. All throughout my time there,…

Everyone at OPAL is so happy to be working alongside our Summer Organizers-In-Training (OIT) coordinator Nakisha Nathan. Nakisha joined OPAL in mid-June of 2016 to lead our summer internship program offering in-depth training in movement building. The OiT cohort engages around Environmental Justice while learning how to harness the power of storytelling. Members of the cohort conduct transformational organizing…

OPAL’s Community Engagement Coordinator Shawn Fleek was on Portland Community Media’s Community Hotline to talk about OPAL, our current campaigns, and our upcoming Voices of a People’s History Event. The full video is below. Support our intersectional organizing by attending the Voices event. Tickets are nearly sold out – get yours today!

BikePortland.org: OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon is bringing their push for more transportation options and safe streets right to legislators on Monday. They’ll hold a press conference in the plaza outside the hearing an hour before it starts.” Read more here.

OPAL has two free tickets to Helium Comedy Club to give away to one lucky member of Bus Riders Unite. In looking at the list of the hundreds of BRU members, we realized that many of us haven’t paid BRU membership dues this year, so we’re having a contest to win these tickets! Dues are…

This radio program on YEJA’s YouthPass to the Future campaign is fantastic. Special thanks to the folks at XRAY.fm, especially reporter Jenn Chavez of The Five Quadrants of Portland.