Acknowledging the City's Racist Planning Practices
In September 2019, the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) released the report, Historical Context of Racist Planning, to acknowledge how discriminatory practices have harmed communities of color by excluding them from homeownership and wealth-building opportunities.
In response to this important report, BPS and Civic Life worked with community members—Cleo Davis, Kayin Talton Davis, Carolyn Leonard, and Sharita Towne—to explain how a local family was impacted by the racist city planning practices. It is our hope that this resource will help inspire communities to participate in the City’s public processes, from public involvement to civic leadership.
Read "A Dream Rezoned"
"A Dream Rezoned" was created as a free resource.
Civic Life and BPS are humbled to have worked with community partners on this project. Sharing personal stories about the impacts of racist practices can be difficult, vulnerable, and triggering; we are grateful for their willingness to share their account with us.
The zine was also translated into six additional languages. The translated languages are the top three spoken/used in Portland after English and three languages were chosen for culturally-specific outreach.
If you would like to see the zine translated into a language not provided, please email us at civiclife@portlandoregon.gov. We will collect requests with the possibility of translating more in the future.
Download a Version to Print at Home
This English version is designed to easily print the zine as a booklet. Set up the printer to print on 8.5 x 11 and double sided. Once printed, stack the pages, with cover page on top, fold in half and place two staples in the spine!
Why A Zine?
The decision to have the story presented as a "zine" was intentional. A zine is defined as a self-published work of original (or appropriated) texts and images that are popularly photocopied for circulation. In keeping with the tradition of zines, we created this resource to be free and easy to reproduce and distribute. This is the second zine Civic Life has published, the first is all about civic engagement and can be found here.
Thank You Project Partners
This zine was written by Cleo Davis, Kayin Talton Davis, and Carolyn Leonard. It is illustrated and designed by Sharita Towne.
The project was made possible by the following partners:
