Dear Barbara, Karen, and Marci, 

 

“Thank you again for organizing and facilitating the conversation today. I appreciate all the historical info that was presented, and I was grateful to have an opportunity to talk and listen with a

diverse group of people, in terms of ethnicity, age, gender, and sexual orientation. I also really appreciated the question Barbara posed toward the end: “Who creates these systems?” and the answer she gave: “We all do,” because that way of thinking puts the power back in our own hands. It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed and powerless, but this was a timely reminder that there’s a lot of things that we CAN do on an individual and group level.

 

I do believe that we as a community have the power to change things for the better, and I’m committed to being part of that change, by educating myself more, showing up at marches, supporting the work of Don’t Shoot, and volunteering with Teressa Raiford’s mayoral campaign. I do feel inspired after this talk, so thank you! “

 

- Amy@ Workshop Let’s Talk More About Race on 1.18.2020 at Hands Up Don’t Shoot Portland

 

 

“Our family is always grateful for the Civil Rights actions by the Black People. We appreciate it because we understand American history. We were not born here, but we are real Americans. Some people were born here, but they are not American, because of their prejudice and wicked hearts.

I cried when President Obama was elected. I never thought I would live long enough to see that day. Some people would never accept a Black president, they are racist and came up with all kinds of conspiracies.

To them, I say, "too bad, we won and will again!”

To the rest of us - Black, White, Asian & Hispanic, who understand the rainbow concept, Thank You and we will prevail.”

 

— An Asian American Republican

 

 

“Thank you so much for the opportunity to participate in the dialogue.  Throughout the dialogue, I kept thinking of the phrase “You don’t know what you don’t know,” which I think is often the case with difficult topics, such as racism.  I thought I had a pretty good concept of what racism was, but didn’t realize how much I didn’t know – and still don’t know.  I’m a firm believer in lifelong learning – and continual self-evaluation.  As I look around our department and the community, I already see things I did not see six weeks ago – opportunities to be an ally!  Thanks again and I look forward to our continued relationship.

2010 – Oregon High School Teacher

 

 

April 9, 2013

To Whom It May Concern:

 

It is a pleasure to write this letter of reference for Barbara O’Hare.  I have known Barbara for 6 years.  We worked together for 4 years as co-facilitators for Uniting to Understand Racism Dialogues in the Portland metro area.

 

From 2003 to 2012 I served as Principal of Fern Hill Elementary School in the Forest Grove School District.  In addition to my role as principal, I also served the district as equity coordinator.  One of the responsibilities of equity coordinator was to plan and implement training for all staff on issues around race and culture in schools.  In this role, I was fortunate to be able to work closely with Barbara, who we hired as an outside consultant and trainer.

 

I first met Barbara in 2007 when she co-facilitated a Uniting to Understand Racism (UUR) dialogue for the administrators of the Forest Grove School District.  I later reconnected with Barbara when I was trained to be a facilitator and Barbara was employed by UUR as a facilitator trainer.  Once I was trained, Barbara and I began to co-facilitate 6 week UUR dialogues for the staff and community in Forest Grove.  From 2008 to 2012, Barbara and I co-facilitated 10 dialogues for Forest Grove School District Staff, community members and Forest Grove High School students.  We also co-facilitated a dialogue for NCNM medical students and another dialogue for Adelante Mujeres staff. 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of co-facilitating with Barbara and I learned a great deal about facilitating, about race and about myself during this time.  I always found Barbara to be a consummate professional, a very skilled facilitator and a person with wisdom that comes through many years of experience and reflection.  She is an excellent communicator, has a great sense of humor and has a way about her that conveys listening, empathy and honesty.  She is a natural teacher. 

 

Barbara and I co-planned all of the 6 week dialogues and she was always able to provide rich materials for discussion and was always well organized.   During the dialogues we often had to adjust our plan to meet the needs of the group.  Barbara is very skilled at reading a group, sensing what needs to be done and then making the necessary adjustments.  She thinks well on her feet and is very skilled at meeting people where they are in the process of learning and becoming more aware. 

 

In addition to the facilitation work, I had the opportunity to serve with Barbara on the Board of Youth Rights and Justice.  This Portland non-profit law firm represents children and families in the foster care system and advocates for basic rights for children statewide.  Barbara was an outstanding fundraiser and her experience in marketing was very beneficial to the organization. 

 

I consider Barbara a friend, a mentor and a colleague.  I am happy to answer any questions you may have about this outstanding candidate. 

Best Regards,

 

David Dorman

Principal, Cornelius Elementary School /Former District Diversity Coordinator

 

 

 

To Whom It May Concern:

 

It is a pleasure to write a letter of reference for Barbara. Not only are we friends, we’ve worked as co-facilitators on several occasions. Because of our long association with one another, we made the ‘perfect’ team—White and Black anti-racists, complimenting one another’s skills and talents.

Some of our facilitation gigs have been with Uniting to Understand Racism (UUR) where we worked as facilitator trainers, and co-facilitators from 2006-2010; Co-Facilitators at Multnomah County Health Department for a workshop on Institutional Racism in 2012; and Co-facilitators in the Forest Grove School District from 2009-2010.

 

Barbara is a warm and gracious anti-racist who holds no superficial animosity for White people. I say this, because it comes across in her role as a facilitator in mixed race groups. She’s attentive to content, knows her world history about race and racism, and about racism in Portland, Oregon or San Francisco or Salt Lake City.  She speaks to the topics of cultural competence and anti-racist strategies with authority and experience. Barb listens with her heart as well as her ears when people speak. Her facilitator style draws people in, so when she feels the need to challenge someone to think things through a little bit deeper, of any race-people pay attention and engage more.

 

Barbara would be an asset to any organization wise enough to contract her to work with them on issues of equity and diversity.

 

Best regards,

 

Kathleen Perkins, PhD
Long-time educator in Portland and New Orleans;
Four decades of racial justice work;
Eleven years of anti-racist work in Oregon

 

 

To Thom it May Concern:

 

I am writing to recommend Barbara Walker O’Hare as an outstanding facilitator of dialogues about race and racism.  I have worked with Barbara as a dialogue co-facilitator since 1998 and also as a colleague on the Facilitator Training Team for Uniting to Understand Racism.  In short, Barbara is one of the most highly skilled facilitators and trainers with whom I have had the privilege of working.

 

When I first began facilitating dialogues on race, Barbara was my primary mentor.  I was somewhat in awe of her skills and had a tendency to want to take a secondary role.  Barbara encouraged me to realize that I not only could be effective, but that I had a responsibility to do so.  She trained me to realize the importance of knowing each other’s strengths and “hot buttons” so that we could work together effectively as a team.

 

A key requirement for success as a facilitator is self-awareness, particularly in terms of one’s own racial identity.  Barbara is very comfortable in her own identity and celebrates all aspects of her heritage.  She creates a warm, accepting and safe environment in which dialogue participants are able to be vulnerable, to share painful experiences, and to acknowledge the need for growth and new understandings. 

 

Barbara brings to the dialogue a deep knowledge and understanding of the dynamics of racism.  She is truly a lifelong learner, constantly collecting new materials and broadening her own experiences of different races and cultures.  She is able to draw on a large collection of articles and other resources to meet the particular needs of individuals, depending on what they bring to the dialogue.   She has tremendous knowledge about the topics likely to come up in a dialogue about race and a strong desire to share that knowledge. 

 

I especially appreciate Barbara’s sensitivity to recognize when to challenge dialogue participants and when to allow the group to work on an issue more on its own.  Knowing when to “step up” and when to “step back” as a facilitator is one of her key strengths.   Talking about racism honestly is never easy, particularly across racial identities.  Barbara has the skill to keep the dialogue honest while also keeping it emotionally safe. 

 

Barbara has demonstrated over many years a strong commitment to social justice.  She understands that for all of us dealing with the impacts of racism is a lifelong journey, no matter what our racial identity.  Her approach emphasizes challenging ourselves to grow and to learn from each other, not from a sense of blame and guilt, but from a sense of justice and empowerment.  In short, she is a model of an effective, highly skilled facilitator of dialogues on the difficult subject of racism. 

 

Sincerely,

 

Kristie Duyckinck