“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.

This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.” 

- Martin Luther King Jr.

 

PDX Love Over Hate was started by a PPS mom who received a terrible racist threat in July.  Since then, PDX Love Over Hate has been supporting ten Portland families who have been targeted by terrorizing hate like the one she received. As parents, we know how it feels when our children are frightened.  For these families, they are grappling with a level of fear that is beyond belief. 

 

When hate gets directed at any of us,  we fear that hate is the strongest energy in our environment.  Kamelah told us that the drawings from children, and the words from the heart she has received have touched her the most and helped her trust that - despite these terrible experiences -  there are good people all around.  We can help those families reclaim their sense of safety by sharing how we feel about their experience and our wishes for them and the world.  

 

Some talking points for leading into this with your children:

 

-Part I 

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Some people, who are very mixed up, think it is OK to treat certain people badly because of something about them that is different.  When people are mean to someone because of how they are it is just wrong.  Acting mean or threatening to someone scares them and can leave that person feeling very hurt and alone.   It is up to people like us who care, to support those who have been hurt and help them feel loved and safe.  (Click here for a book by Portland author Trudy Ludwig about how every act of kindness counts.) 

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-Part II

 

Some mixed up people have been very mean to families in Portland because they say their skin color is bad.  That could never be true and this hurt those families very much.  We can reach out to them from our hearts with pictures and letters to help them feel better. It is OK to feel anything you feel about it.  Think about what you would want to hear if you were the one who had been hurt.  

 

Please consider going to PDXloveoverhate.org and making a donation of $15 or more.  With your donation you can receive a beautiful yard sign that tells our Black and Brown kids that someone in your house loves them and has their back.  If, when you make your donation, you put the word LEWIS in the notes, we will collect your yard sign for you.  

You can pick it up on Friday February 12 at Lewis between 8am and 12pm.   

 

We can shower our neighborhood - and our city - with love by Valentine's Day on February 14th!  

 

Let's do this, Lewis!

 

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• Please bring many more books like these into your home to read with your children.  

• And share that you are doing this with everyone  you know!  Take pictures and share them on social media (instagram, facebook) with #pdxloveoverhate and include the link for pdxloveoverhate.org.  

• Remind everyone that we can - and should - do these campaigns of love all year round.  

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This is not just a gesture of support, it is a fight for our own humanity. 

 

 Hate harms all of us.  

 

 We must make the kind of world we all need for our children. 

 

Today. 

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