This message is an excerpt from a speech Mayor Wheeler gave to the Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church during their annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration 2022.
Year after year, we meet to honor the life, the message, and the dream of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And year after year, it becomes difficult to remain hopeful as we reflect on the ways we are still striving to live up to his legacy.
Our city surpassed the deadliest year of gun violence that we have witnessed in decades. And too often, the loved ones lost to that violence are members of our Black community. Too many of our neighbors are houseless, living in unsafe and unsanitary conditions. We are about to enter a third year of battling a global pandemic that has threatened the health of our families and friends and left our economic future uncertain. And despite all of these challenges being seen and experienced across the country, there is a sense of divisiveness that makes pulling together at a time when we need it most seem unattainable.
Dr. King said, “If you lose hope, you lose the vitality that keeps moving, you lose the courage to be, and the quality that helps you go on in spite of it all.” The most powerful part of that quote for me lies in the last 5 words: “in spite of it all.”We remain hopeful in spite of it all.
We have hope in spite of the challenges we face, because it is that hope that fuels the vitality, the courage, the compassion and love that we channel when facing the challenges in our city.
While we are still striving to fully realize the Reverend Dr. King’s dream, his teachings continue to inspire and guide our work towards building a safer, healthier, and more resilient community.
All Portlanders deserve to feel and be safe in this city. It is the duty of our public safety officers that they protect and serve this community and that they do so justly. We are in the midst of reimagining our Public Safety system, ensuring transparency, accountability, and community oversight are central to our emergency response.
Like so many cities, we are navigating a humanitarian crisis. Houseless Portlanders are struggling to survive in unsanitary and dangerous conditions. We recently pooled resources with Multnomah County to put nearly $40 million towards getting as many houseless Portlanders off the streets and out of the elements as quickly, and humanely, as possible.
Income inequality, increased competition, and ever-changing work models are challenging our workforce and local businesses. We are working to support more equitable and sustainable economic prosperity across the city.
In spite of it all, our elected officials, faith leaders, business owners, and others continue to show up for their community because we have not lost hope.
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. devoted his life to advancing equality, social justice and opportunity for all. He acknowledged that building a more perfect union required work, hard work. And he knew that the work ahead is best completed when done together.
Together, we will continue to build a safer, healthier, and more resilient Portland.