Avel Gordley will speak at LaSells
First African American woman of the Oregon State Senate will read from her memoirs
Joce DeWitt
Issue date: 5/17/11 Section: News
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Avel Gordley, the first African American woman elected to the Oregon State Senate will read from her memoir "Remembering the Power of Words," based on her commitment to public service tonight at 7:30 p.m. in LaSells Stewart Center.
"I enjoy this time in my life where I have the opportunity to pass on all that I have learned about servant leadership," Gordley said. "I say that as one who believes that public service is a noble calling and profession."
Gordley, now an associate professor in the Black Studies Department at Portland State University, was elected to the House of Representatives in 1991 and then became the first African American woman to be elected to the Oregon State Senate in 1996.
"I think it's important to be identified as the first," Gordley said.
The former senator attributes the significance of her career to her peers, including Margaret Carter, the first African American woman elected to Oregon Legislature, and Jackie Winters, the first African American woman to serve as a Republican in the legislature.
"We haven't done well in lifting up the stories of the wonderful people who have provided great public service in Oregon," Gordley said. "We need that story because they all contribute to building Oregon; we can't let those stories get lost."
In "Remembering the Power of Words," Gordley provides an analytical interpretation of the state government in which there is "nepotism that we still find rampant."
Her memoirs also include her upbringing in the '40s and '50s, a setting in which social discrimination imposed the challenges that later motivated her lifelong commitment to public service and African American representation, especially for the Northeast Portland area.
"I will probably read some passages that describe the experience of acting on a call from community to look at service in the legislature and talk about how I made that decision," Gordley said.
Gordley also plans to provide insight on her partnership with the Oregon Health and Science University through the creation of the Avel Gordley Center for Healing, a behavioral health clinic aimed at meeting the mental health needs of the African American community and Oregon's diverse populations.
According to Gordley, culturally specific services are being provided to people of the community through the clinic.
"As a black woman at one time looking for a mental health counselor and not being able to find someone who could identify with my need to talk about the place I'm raised and racism in my life," Gordley said, "there is a need for treatment professionals who have some deep understanding of the background and culture and history and tradition that people of color bring with them."
Gordley's presentation, sponsored by Oregon State University Press, is open to the public and free of cost. She will be signing copies of her biography after the reading.
Joce DeWitt, staff writer
737-2231 news@dailybarometer.com
