BIPOC In Rural Oregon | Black Comedians

• Black Lives Matter organizers in rural Oregon are figuring out the next steps for their movements. In Bend, Riccardo Waites started the Central Oregon Black Leaders Assembly, a nonprofit aiming to reduce police violence and racial discrimination in the community's schools. In Umatilla, Selene Torres-Medrano is organizing to keep School Resource Officers out of school districts. And in Hermiston, John Carbage is pushing local officials to talk about systemic racism and the racial profiling he has experienced from local law enforcement.

• For Portland Black comedians Christian Burke and Dahlia Belle, writing jokes can be a way to process traumatic events, challenge social norms, and build community through laughter. Many Portland comedy events have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, but Black-owned production company Dirty Angel Entertainment has recently started holding socially distanced open mics again. We hear from Burke, Belle, and Dirty Angel Entertainment executive producer Courtenay Collins about the role of comedy in both the Black Lives Matter uprising and the pandemic.

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