Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility

The Greenfield Peace Scholarship 2021 application deadline has passed, and we received 43 qualifying entries in a wide variety of mediums from youth all across the state. The anonymous judging process has been completed and the winning entries selected. The Greenfield Peace Scholarship 2021 Awards Ceremony will be a virtual event premiering on Oregon PSR’s YouTube channel on Thursday, April 29th beginning at 6:30 PM.

Learn more about our Greenfield Peace Scholarship 2021 judges:

Leah Altman

Leah grew up in the Portland urban Native American community and comes from a background in Portland-area social service and environmental justice nonprofits, primarily in grant writing and donor development. She works for the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation and is on the Board for Advancing Gender Equity in the Arts and the Advisory Board for Portland State University’s book publishing program. She has been published in several magazines, including Indian Country Today, PSU’s Metroscape, and online brass magazine, and she is working on her first book.

Yukiyo Kawano

Yukiyo, an artist, performer, educator, Cascadia Arts Film Festival co-coordinator, and Oregon  PSR Advisory Board member, is a third-generation hibakusha (atomic bomb survivor) who grew up decades after the bombing of Hiroshima. Her artwork is “a direct response to the tragedy of the past,” she states, “but the past I depict wants to remember the present. People say my work is like a dream; it is not meant to deliver certainties. It asks us to remain in the present, so that we can develop a new relationship of mind and body, confront the ongoing deceptive rhetoric that surrounds us, reject violence, and save ourselves from our own extinction.”

Lamarra

Lamarra (she/her) emigrated from Kingston, Jamaica to Portland at the age of 7 and has been in Portland ever since. Her high school art teacher, Charlene Simmons, helped foster Lamarra's interest in art. Lamarra creates colorful 2D mixed media work. She sometimes shares that work on Instagram @melancholymaker.

Kezia Setyawan

Kezia is a recent graduate of the University of Oregon where she majored in journalism. She is currently a general reporter at The Courier and Daily Comet newspapers in Houma-Thibodaux in south Louisiana. Setyawan believes that beauty is found in small details of behavior. Her work centers and amplifies the voices of those who have been pushed to the margins through storytelling.

Matt Smith

Matt is from Phoenix, AZ, but before arriving in Portland, he taught in South Korea for four years as an ESL teacher. He's been writing for eleven years and had short stories published in a handful of digital publications. He is currently working on his first full length novel, a sci-fi tale about captives in space.

Thanks so much for joining us for Remembering Fukushima 10 Years Later: A Film Screening & Panel Discussion. In case you missed any of the panel discussion webinar, or to watch it again, you can view video of the panel discussion here.

We were honored to have the filmmaker, Hitomi Kamanaka, along with panel members Norma Field, Ruiko Muto, and Leona Morgan, discuss the film and the disastrous impacts on communities from radioactive contamination released from the explosions at the Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima on March 11th, 2011. Our distinguished panelists also shared their thoughts on nuclear technologies, from uranium mining at the beginning of the nuclear cycle to the precarious and dangerous burial of nuclear wastes.

In many ways, the state of Oregon has been at a crossroads: amid the unprecedented and traumatic crises of COVID-19, wildfires, and white supremacy, our state has been faced with choices between the status quo or a bold path forward towards a healthy and livable future. We cannot afford to go “back to normal” when “normal” wasn’t working for far too many people. Instead, our lawmakers have the opportunity to lay a foundation for a world where everyone is treated fairly, lives in a healthy home, and has a bright future.

Oregon PSR and Oregon Justice Resource Center are continuing our discussion on mass incarceration and public health with regard to Oregon state prisons and adults in custody in Oregon. We are entering into our second year of working together to both better understand and better advocate for the health and well-being of adults in custody in Oregon state prisons.

On January 22nd, 2021 the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force and became international law. With the entry into force of this groundbreaking treaty, nuclear weapons are now illegal under international law. Our sincere appreciation to everyone who joined us and our partners at Washington PSR on January 21st for an online celebration to mark the Treaty’s entry into force and explore how it advances nuclear justice. It was so inspiring to celebrate this watershed moment for the nuclear justice movement with you, share a celebratory toast, hear from a few speakers working for nuclear justice, and connect with each other and celebrate together.

Oregon PSR is excited to announce the 2021 Greenfield Peace Scholarship, which is now open for submissions. The theme of this year’s scholarship is Art & Creation: Self Expression, Activism, and Social Change. Now in its 13th consecutive year, this has historically been a writing scholarship open to all Oregon 11th and 12th grade students. This year, though, Oregon PSR is asking young Oregonians who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) and who are high school juniors or seniors or the equivalent to respond to the prompt by creating a work of visual art. The scholarship’s goal is to illuminate the perspectives of Oregon's youth on issues of peace, health, justice, and safety in our world.

“El arte nos invita a tomar un viaje más allá de precios, más allá de costos. A dar testimonio del mundo, de cómo es y cómo debería ser. El arte nos invita a conocer la belleza y a buscarla hasta en las más trágicas circunstancias. El arte nos recuerda lo que somos y que pertenecemos aquí.” 
-Toni Morrison

Reflección

Este año hemos visto una multitud de trastornos en todo el mundo y en los Estados Unidos. COVID-19 continúa esparciéndose en Estados Unidos afectando desproporcionadamente a las comunidades BIPOC (Comunidades Afrodescendientes, Indígenas, y gente de color, por sus siglas en inglés). En su esfuerzo por combatir la propagación de COVID-19, las agencias gubernamentales no han logrado proveer un apoyo consistente ni efectivo a la gente más vulnerable. No se han proveído las necesidades básicas tales como el agua potable, refugios, cuidado médico, etc. para los más desfavorecidos por los sistemas opresivos. 

La temporada de incendios forestales, empeorada por la crisis climática, ha marcado profundamente las tierras, ha desplazado a miles de personas en todo el estado, ha puesto en peligro a trabajadores agrícolas, y nos ha mostrado cómo el privilegio determina la supervivencia, aún en situaciones de emergencia.

El movimiento Black Lives Matter (Las Vidas Negras Importan) aboga por los derechos básicos de vida, dignidad, seguridad, y cuidado médico. El movimiento es una protesta a la violencia extrema hacia personas BIPOC que ha sido, y continúa siendo, promulgada por gente racista, los cuales son aún más empoderados por el racismo sistémico y la policía opresiva. Oregón ahora es reconocido por el gobierno federal como un lugar de conflictos y disturbios, lo cual ha empeorado con la acción e inacción de las administraciones locales y federales.  

Durante la pandemia, las crisis ambientales y las protestas por la justicia racial y la responsabilidad policial, el arte visual ha sido una parte integral de la comunicación, conmemoración, y catalización en acción. Como miembros del mundo, de una nación, de un estado, y una comunidad, se nos ha hecho un llamado a buscar la integridad e igualdad en un momento cuando aquellos a los que miramos como líderes hablan, actúan, crean pólizas, y le dan prioridad a otros gastos de una manera que inhibe nuestra búsqueda de la verdad y la justicia. Estamos viviendo en un tiempo donde los sistemas de poder amplían la desigualdad de todos tipos, y los individuos que tienen el poder pueden expresar libremente sus opiniones racistas, sexistas, clasistas, y opresivas. Mientras que el hablar en contra de estos males, aumenta dramáticamente el riesgo de daños, rechazo, y muerte.

Estos eventos y circunstancias pueden ser abrumantes, y los retos pueden parecernos insuperables. Sin embargo, todos podemos escuchar, aprender, hablar, actuar, y esmerarnos por vivir en un mundo mejor y más seguro.

Temas

El arte es una poderosa forma de activismo que puede llegar más allá de las fronteras sociales y culturales. Crea una obra de arte que inspire y represente tus experiencias y entendimiento de los eventos de este último año.

Por favor, crea una obra de arte visual que encarne tus esperanzas, experiencias, y metas en respuesta a la reflexión y preguntas anteriores. Si lo deseas, puedes incluir una composición de artista de 300-400 palabras para ofrecer contexto a tu pieza. Reconocemos que las desigualdades económicas de los participantes pueden tener un impacto en su habilidad de interactuar con el proceso creativo al generar una obra de arte. Nuestra intención es analizar todas las obras recibidas con una mentalidad abierta y comprensiva. Es decir, que la intención y emoción de las piezas serán más determinantes que el costo de los materiales utilizados en la creación de la misma.

Comuníquese con nosotros si tiene alguna pregunta en [email protected].

Envíe su solicitud aquí.

Oregon PSR approaches the work of our Peace Program with an acknowledgement of the interconnected nature of the multiple public health crises that we now face. We work for peace knowing that there can be no real peace without justice, and that systemic failures in our society must be met with strategic thinking, innovative ideas, and direct engagement with our communities.

Working in coalition with our many partners, we bring the trusted voice of health to bear on nuclear disarmament, building peace and anti-militarism, ending gun violence, and supporting the movements for racial justice, immigrant justice, and police accountability. That all of these intersecting societal ills are severe public health threats means that health professionals and public health advocates can play a vital role in creating a more just and peaceful future.

On July 7th, 2017, a United Nations conference adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. On October 24th, 2020, Honduras became the 50th country to ratify the treaty, which will begin to take effect in 90 day. This historic treaty was led by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which received the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for their work. Oregon PSR is the local affiliate of ICAN and in 2019 secured support for the treaty from the Oregon legislature and the City of Portland.

Oregon PSR endorses the following ballot measures in the November 2020 election. Also, please note that our lack of endorsement doesn’t necessarily mean that we oppose a ballot measure, only that our Board of Directors has decided not to make a formal endorsement.