PDX Black Rose Podcast

With the mission to provide meaningful representation to Multnomah County, Jessie Burke joins Alex Gebreab and John Washington to talk their sports career, the development of North Portland and ChinaTown, and more on PDX Black Rose Podcast 

Living in North Portland, Jessie has a long history of serving on neighborhood and business associations, and understands the valuable role they play in our community as sort of micro governments for neighborhoods. She even restarted the Kenton Business Association after years of dormancy, bringing membership to nearly 60 members and co-founding the Kenton Street Fair in 2010.

Andrea Bontemps has an inspiring story from childcare service to opening her own restaurant and catering business called LeBontemps in 2021. She has had many successes, some struggles, like all business owners, and job opportunities for chefs. The redevelopment of Portland has an impact on all small businesses and we can listen to the story of one of them. 

Hear about her development as an entrepreneur, how the Nike store closing impacted her business, and the life of being a small business owner in Northeast Portland. She is joined by John Washington and our Host Alex Gebreab. 

Head to Le Bontemps for some Cajun Creole food or order catering

Andrea Bontemps has an inspiring story from childcare service to opening her own restaurant and catering business called LeBontemps in 2021. She has had many successes, some struggles, like all business owners, and job opportunities for chefs. The redevelopment of Portland has an impact on all small businesses and we can listen to the story of one of them. 

Hear about her development as an entrepreneur, how the Nike store closing impacted her business, and the life of being a small business owner in Northeast Portland. She is joined by John Washington and our Host Alex Gebreab. 

Head to Le Bontemps for some Cajun Creole food or order catering

In this episode of the PDX Black Rose Podcast, Debbie Kitchin joins to discuss her intent to run for the City Council in District 2 NE Portland, Oregon. 

PDX Black Rose Host, Alex Gebreab talk with Debbie Kitchin about:

• The new Portland City Council format 

• Her plan to engage and represent with diverse communities 

• Ensuring transparency and accountability in her Council role

• Addressing environmental and sustainability issues in District 2

• Building up youth entrepreneurship and leadership programs 

• Handling community concerns and feedback 

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So This Summer has been a very interesting one indeed. During the hiatus, I started an activism project with emerging technology. To make a long story short, I Made an Augmented Reality App that Triggered Racists. With all this stuff going on in the world: COVID, Social Unrest, Police Brutality, I decided to make a statement with my work. I had to make an Augmented Reality app for the movement.  

Dr. Ayeesha Hankins is originally from Anchorage, AK. She and her husband have been living in Portland, OR since 2018.

Her family has roots in both cities, but Anchorage is the place she calls home.

Dr. Hankins runs an online business that provides research-based individual and group coaching services to help driven and growth-minded Black women 10x their confidence and believe in their capabilities, so they can achieve their life goals.

Sis, this is a heartfelt and hug-filled invitation to join me – Ayeesha, for Ready 2020, a transformative online event you won’t want to miss!

After working with dozens of Black women to help them identify and achieve their goals. I realized that we all share a common goal: We want more for ourselves and our families.

I know I do, and I know you do, maybe now more than ever.

That’s why I created READY 2020 – 3 inspirational talks (TEDx-style short films) + live Q & A calls for Black women and family with the purpose of inspiring and readying YOU to achieve more.

Join me by watching the Ready 2020 talks (coming June 27th) + signing up for the live Q & A calls where you will learn the how to implement the tools and strategies you will need to take your life to the next-level!

Esperanza Tervalon-Garrett from Dancing Hearts Consulting (@Dancingheartsconsulting) joins us on the PDX Black Rose Podcast for great conversation about the Census, Blackness in Oregon, and adapting Juneteenth to a livestream during COVID-19.  She is a queer, Afro-Puerto Rican woman, and a native daughter of Oakland, California. She is the founder and CEO of Dancing Hearts Consulting, LLC, a progressive consulting firm that curates innovative ideas, programs, and campaigns to challenge the status quo and test emerging strategies that change the political game to win long-term change for the people most impacted by systemic oppression. Esperanza was the first woman of color to lead a 501c3, 501c4 & PAC collaborative civic engagement formation focused on mobilizing progressive voters of color in the United States. Her ability to build grassroots power in neighborhoods, at the ballot box, and at City Hall has earned her solid reputation as a savvy electoral strategist, a seasoned political organizer, and a power-building innovator among Social Justice activists and Philanthropic leaders.

Esperanza is the Co-Chair of the Funders Committee for Civic Participation, a network of civic engagement institutions that move $170M to the field each year. She is also serving as the Statewide Campaign Manager for the Oregon Hard to Count Census Campaign that aims to engage 1M people. Esperanza is married to wife Christine and her proudest accomplishment is her brilliant and tenacious son, Santiago. They live at Dancing Hearts Ranch, a 16-acre ranch, in the Cascade Mountains of Southern Oregon.

Torrey Dooley aka the Hood Nurse (@Thehoodnurse) joins us on the PDX Black Rose Podcast. As a father, nurse, and entrepreneur, Torrey Dooley has been keeping pretty busy since the Coronavirus hit. Now working towards his masters as a nurse practitioner, Dooley finds himself back and forth from the hospital and home. A self-described hood doctor, Dooley sends messages of health using hip hop and rap culture through his social media. Dooley started out professionally as an auto body tech but Observing the nurses that cared for him, being a nurse felt like something that Dooley could do as someone who found joy in caring for other people as well. After graduating, Dooley plans to open a clinic in the hood so that those who have not had access to healthcare in the community can have it.

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Lillian M. Green is CEO and founder of North Star Forward Consulting LLC. She has worked as a teacher, school district leader, professor, and state agency director. Most recently, she led the integration of equity and inclusion into the early learning system for the state of Oregon as the Equity Director of the Early Learning Division. She has 10+ years of experience in the field of education and equitable policy development. Ms. Green is also a fourth-year Education Leadership EdD student, interested in exploring how critical consciousness is developed and cultivated in agencies as a tool to create equitable practices, policies, and procedures. Ms. Green views her life’s mission as one in the service of children and families. She believes that every child has the right to access high-quality education. To make this possible, she believes that we all have to critically analyze the systems that we operate in and interrupt institutional racism and oppression that causes and perpetuates disparate educational and health outcomes.

Operation Back to School:

Vincent MaGee (@vnprt) joins us on the PDX Black Rose Podcast. If you’re familiar with the local music scene in Portland you’ve probably seen Vincent around. Whether he’s djing, building relationships with artists and business owners, or coordinating events for DUG,he’s steadily on the move. Even during times such as these where work seems to have dwindled, as he puts it: “ we been bartering and we been broke before all of this.” When it all falls down, Vincent relies on the relationships that he’s built over time and valuing the community above making money.” A Portland native, Vincent is a proponent of sticking to craft no matter what other people think, say or show (via the internet). He remembers the days of the 90s and early 2000s of tape cassettes and Napster where music and craft were more cherished and not as “easy come, easy go” as art put on the internet these days. Given his tone, Vincent could come across as old fashioned. But ultimately what’s behind his critical gaze is a desire for quality and elevating community and the craft of art, music period.

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Tavares Hubbard joins us on the PDX Black Rose Podcast for great conversation about what it is like navigating the educational space of Portland during the Corona virus. Tavares Hubbard is originally from Pennsylvania and have been living in Portland for the past 3 years. He is currently working at a PPS elementary school in NE Portland, is involved in a music duo A.L.F. (Alternate Life Force), and enjoys all things Portland has to offer.

Tavares Hubbard never wanted to be a teacher and never saw himself getting on kid’s backs to finish their assignments. But Hubbard had tried working with adults and he didn’t like the way they behaved. Hubbard, who is from a town in Pennsylvania and studied psychology in college, values having a good time, cracking jokes, laughing and being honest; something he found easy with young people.

With encouragement from his second Mom who told him one day he would be great with kids and wanting to be someone akin to what he had growing up in older mentor figures, Tavares moved to Portland and took a job at Kairos as an educational assistant. From there, he moved to the support team to help kids deal with any problems that they might be having in or outside of school. That’s when he knew that one of his callings was to help kids emotionally and therapeutically. As of now, Hubbard works at Portland Public Schools as a therapeutic intervention coach. But that’s not all of Hubbard’s story, which includes music and bringing people together through shows and events.

1:00 Work at PPS, therapeutic intervention coach- behavior support, produce shows

3:27 Teach the kids social and emotional skills, and stay in learning mode

4:45 3 years started at educational assistant at Kairos, Being in Support Team,

7:42  From Pennsylvaina, 1.5 hr from Philly, didn’t know anything about Portland, Wanted to be on the west coast,

13:00 Bachelor in psychology, second mom used to say I’d be good to Kids, didn’t like working with adults

15:00 Always knew I didn’t want to be a teacher, too much busy work

20:15 Playing basketball and started getting in trouble, I had people to tell me to focus on b-ball

24:40 I like to have a good time, crack jokes, laugh, very honest with them, 2nd grader Black Boy in America

Deena Pierott from iUrban Teen joins us on the PDX Black Rose Podcast for great conversation about Promoting science and technology in the Black Community. Deena Pierott is committed to her family and her community. In her own words, it’s “ family and community over everything.” But you don’t have to take her word for it, you just have to look at her track record. The founder of International Black Women's Collaborative, Black Women in Stem 2.0, Mosaic Blueprint and I Urban Teen; all organizations that serve to connect people to opportunities, Pierott has learned that building relationships is the foundation to building something that lasts. That mentality of being a builder and an advocate led Pierott to the White House in 2013 where she was honored as a Champion of Change.

Always a student of entrepreneurship, Pierott learned from that experience that she needed a team, in particular a publicist to let people know what was going on. These experiences of triumphs mixed with stumbling blocks have taught her how to pivot as an entrepreneur on the grind. And pivoting is exactly what she’s doing now in these changing times. Although she is still on the grind, Pierott is learning to slow down, be present and “ meditate on what can we do differently, and what can we leave behind and not take with us after this [pandemic]?” There are so many wisdoms that Pierott has to share, it’s best just to listen in.

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Amir Morgan from Aesthete Society joins us on the PDX Black Rose Podcast for great conversation about being creative in Portland. Amir Morgan has an inventive spirit. Growing up playing baseball and basketball, Morgan always knew he wanted to work with fashion. But going to school and studying bioengineering, his plans changed from fashion to practicing medicine. It wasn’t necessarily Morgan’s idea to study medicine. His parents just wanted a secure job for him, but eventually Morgan had to listen to the voice within that said “it’s more important to have passion for a job” than job security alone. Following that passion, Morgan began to study textiles at North Carolina State University, eventually ending up at Nike in apparel innovation, and menswear among other divisions.

But that’s all he’s done. Working with fellow colleagues and friends, Morgan has collaborated with Weiden and Kennedy, Portland Art Museum and others to bring together diverse audiences around fashion, technology and art for experiential events. In addition, Morgan is now in the process of unveiling innovative bespoke clothing for men through his firm Barnes and Morgan, named for his parents.

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Lisa Alexander joins us on the PDX Black Rose Podcast for great conversation about traveling and branching out of your comfort zone. Lisa Alexander has an enthusiasm for people. There is an openness and an encouraging spirit that accompanies her tone. You could say this is a part of what led her to hospitality and Human Resources. The other part...she isn’t afraid of adventure and trying new things. Originally from Portland, Alexander ventured across the country to attend Howard University where she studied hospitality and jumped at the chance to study language in Japan.

In Japan, Alexander says her learning increased significantly, as she was made to feel right at home by her host mother. Upon returning to school, Alexander was offered a job on the spot from Disney at a recruiting event where she would go on to manage the German Pavilion of restaurants at Disney in Florida. Alexander says that her time in Japan as well as her love of languages was a big part of being chosen for the position. But even more so, Alexander attributes her parents with exposing her and her siblings to so many opportunities growing up.

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Brandon Lawrence joins us on the PDX Black Rose Podcast for great conversation about what it is like to move to Portland from New York and navigate the tech space as a consultant for popular brands and rising companies.

Tia B. Coachman describes herself as “that cool Aunty mothers go to for guidance and help.” Coachman, a Strategic HR Partner for different companies (the mothers), helps these mothers get their house in order as it relates to the people that work for them.

She makes sure the workplace is a safe space and there exists an even exchange for both employee and employer. That means working with companies and organizations that may not have an HR department, haven’t thought about diversity and equity, just need to bounce ideas off of someone or need to get a plan together for their employees when things like the Coronavirus hit.

Coachman wears a lot of hats and after just a few sentences from her, you quickly come to understand how this short, bald, dark skin queen does it all! Coachman is an idea and implementation woman that knows that she knows what she’s talking about. But in her words, it was a journey to get to that knowing. Check out Coachman’s inspiring interview right here!

Kaizen Creed is a self-defined internet explorer. No, not the browser but an “explorer of the internet industry” as he describes it. It’s path or future projection he can’t even quite pin down since the field is so new except to describe it as a field that encompasses media: gaming, music, video, illustration etc.

Bored and wanting to create, Creed ( at this time in high school) went to his brother who is an illustrator and said, “let’s make a fighting game.” From there his research into Unity and game design began. Creed’s work has been posted on social media since then and he has had inquiries from individuals wanting to collaborate and have him take on projects. That’s pretty good considering Creed is only in his second year of college and still figuring it all out. But he says that the Indy game community is extremely open and helpful and there is a lot of room for Black creatives, in particular Black coders, to take up space. Check our Creed’s interview.

At the age of 5 or 6, McCrary began taking apart vacuum cleaners because he figured out that anything with a phillips head screw could be taken apart with a phillips head screwdriver and put back together again. From grandmothers, parents and a community that supported his tinkering and originality at a young age, McCrary’s curiosity eventually led him to be recruited as an engineer for Intel after getting his Phd from FAMU.

But that path, working at Intel, wasn’t enough for McCrary who said he felt siloed. McCrary needed his engineering to be about people and not just completing a task. This inspired him to start Mentorschip, an app that helps students find scholarships locally via their mobile phones. As an engineer for the people, McCrary’s mission is “ to engineer something that's going to change how people live their lives in a positive way.” For McCrary “that’s where true engineering happens” and that’s where he plans to take Mentorschip.

Paula Hayes is a science geek, a fiddler, and a tinkerer. Hayes is also a product development chemist who knew that she had to be herself in whatever she did or it wouldn’t work out. So when it came time for Hayes to pursue a degree in science, she still knew being a doctor or a researcher didn’t fit her personality. Then what?

Fast forward twenty plus years later, Hayes is now the CEO of a cosmetics brand and manufacturing company.

With entrepreneurial spirit in her blood ( Paula’s mother was head of an artistic firm), Paula struck out on what she knew and loved: makeup. Unlike other companies that don’t do their own manufacturing Paula and her team are hands-on and they are flexible. That being flexible came into play one day when it came into Hayes’ mind to make her own hand sanitizer and offer it to others. Since then she has had inquiries from hospitals, municipality groups, and more. In the words of her mentor, ‘ being flexible will be your best friend’ and Hayes is following through on that advice.

Jasmine Streeter has had a love for animals since she was 11 months old. That was the first time her parents put her on a horse. From then on, Streeter was hooked whether it was dogs, cats, you name it. Her parents nurtured that gift and encouraged Streeter to think not just about if she would become a veterinarian but what she would do once she became one. So Streeter did take it seriously and in high school she began visiting vet schools and in college extending her learning into the summer. In her words it wasn’t easy.

Streeter had to make sure she had the right mentors. After dealing with a guidance counselor who would oftentimes tell her she couldn’t do something, Streeter switched to a guidance counselor who did agree with her. Streeter is an optimist but also a realist stating, “ competition for veterinary school is steep and vets don’t make as much money as medical doctors so go into it because you have a passion for it.” One could say this directness was distilled from growing up in a military family or one could say it’s part of her job as a veterinarian - to create safe space for people to make tough decisions about the animals that they love. 

Abriana McKinney has always loved providing resources and services to her community, especially kids. While studying to go into health as a nurse practitioner, McKinney began mentoring kids through dance at Matt Dishman, SEI and a number of other community centers around Portland. McKinney was soon offered a position as a youth services coordinator at SEI connecting youth with opportunities, resources and information. Although it wasn’t a part of her plan, McKinney, being the spiritual person that she is, saw it as an opportunity to go deeper into her purpose and passion for youth and mentorship.

Continuing her purpose for connection and following her passion for dance, McKinney founded a dance group to showcase her talents and those of her friends. As she and her friends danced around Portland, they noticed the lack of opportunities and events geared toward  black young people. From there, her dance group morphed into Damn Events, an initiative to create space and good times for black millennials to come together. As McKinney’s purpose for movement, youth, advocacy and connection continues on, find out more about where it will lead her next.

Being a tall Black child, Nicole Robinson would always get asked if she was going to play basketball. In protest of the questions and assumptions, Robinson started drawing. In her words, all she wanted to do was draw and learn Japanese. As her skills developed so did another interest: comics. While working at a daycare, Robinson discovered that comics were a pretty big deal among 4 year olds who wanted to dress up on any given day to portray super heroes. On one of these days during recess, a little black girl asked to join in the group ( made of 4 year old white boys). She was promptly shut down. Although Robinson tried to come to the girl’s aid by name dropping black women and girl superheroes to convince the group that the girl could play a superhero too, it did little to convince them that she had something worthy to contribute. From then on, Robinson knew that she had to make comics and stories, not just for herself but for that little girl and everyone who needed to see themselves as a superhero and for others to know that they could be. This led Robinson to also create a meetup group in Portland for creatives of color to learn how to draw, make and distribute their own comic books. Currently working for ABA teaching adolescents and teens with mental disabilities, Robinson is creating  a comic that helps people learn how to navigate relationships, sexuality, anxiety and illness. Check out Robinson's story here.

Rosalie Lee knows how to hustle. As a behavioral interventionist serving kids with chronic illnesses and disease, Rosalie’s lived experience prepared her for the rewarding yet gut wrenching work that was to come. Working her way through school as a model, volunteer, and student researcher at OHSU all while starting her organization Spare Change primed her for a non stop 24/7 occupation of service. However, even if you love the work you do, it doesn’t mean that you won’t get mentally, physically and emotionally burned out. In this interview, Rosalie and I discuss how her experience as a first generation girl from the Philippines by way of Korea and Japan ushered her into womanhood advocating for others in a system that fails too many. Now with extra time on her hands from COVID’s effects, I was able to catch up with Rosalie to reflect on her journey of advocacy, health and selfhood up until now and what she invisions for the future.

Jeff Martin, a sports writer of two decades has had to stay the course to find his voice and his unique offering to the world. His love of sports began early on as a consummate consumer of sport’s pages. Even though his love of sports ran deep, Martin always knew his entry into sports would be different from the athlete’s course. Embracing his own path, Martin began his career as a sport’s journalist in his hometown of Vermont almost straight out of college at Boston University.  Now twenty years into the field and having worked at major papers in Kansas, Texas and Oregon, Martin is now following his vision of running a media relations and communications consulting firm with his wife, who is also a writer. As COVID-19 has changed the course of many people’s businesses, Martin has seen his business stay steady and even climb as more people are taking to the internet to engage and have a presence online. Here, Martin shares lessons from his past job hunting experiences to thoughts and wisdoms about family, business and moving through challenging times.

Singer Andy Stokes joins us for a conversation about finding his purpose with his talents, and how Portland was influential in his career.

Dr. Steven Holt joins us for a chat about what it was like to grow up as a black Portlander post segregation. We talk about why it was so important to have a seat at the table.

Hailei Aberson, a native of Northeast Portland, Oregon, joins us on the podcast this episode. Being of mixed race, she talks about her identity as a biracial kid growing up in one of the whitest urban areas in the nation.

For the first episode of the Black Rose PDX Podcast, we honored with the presence of John Washington. John is the CEO and Editor-in-chief of Flossin Media, and the Chair of the Soul District Business Association. On top of that, John also spearheads many initiatives in North/Northeast Portland that directly impact and empower the community. During the podcast, we dive deep into how John came to be such an influential figure. From his childhood growing up in on the east coast, to finding athletics, to retiring and philanthropy, John Washington takes us on a rollercoaster ride of many of the highs and lows of his life. This action packed 1.5 hour long interview will exhilarate your morning and give you a greater desire to continue building a legacy for yourself.