Colored Pencils Fundraiser for Survivors of Asian Diasaters

OCTOBER 30, 2009    

6-8PM 

at PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY - SMSU BUILDING

come and join poets, artists, dancers, singers from the Asian region share the names, lives and stories of the affected and help raise funds that will support the long-term recovery of our peoples

Dear Friends:

For many of us in Portland, the headlines of the Philippine floods, Samoan tsunami and Indonesian earthquake bear other pieces of news: family relatives who had to flee their homes to find safety, friends who have no more belongings to their names and communities which no longer exist.

For me, it is about Gus - a longtime Filipino activist who has dedicated his life building the voices of forgotten and ignored communities whose modest possessions are now buried in mud. It is about Auntie Alma, whose children benefitted from the kindness of strangers when all the nearby stores had lost all their inventories of food. And it is about my mother, who tirelessly rallied her church amigas to adopt homeless families in the time after the flood.

As a Filipino immigrant living in the US, the 6000 miles apart is both a bane and a boon. It is a bane because I cannot be part of the immediate struggle for recovery and rehabilitation. There is no comfort being so far away and unable to help clear away the debris, shelter and feed those with need, or participate in the rituals of loss and grief. And yet, there is relief in what I can do here in my adopted home of Portland - which is to help bring community together in a time of struggle, need and solidarity.

So on Oct 30th, from 6-8pm at Portland State University Smith Memorial Student Union, Colored Pencils is dedicating their monthly pan-immigrant artists + community gathering to the survivors of the various Asian tragedies. Please come and join poets, artists, dancers, singers from the Asian region share the names, lives and stories of the affected and help raise funds that will support the long-term recovery of our peoples.

The incredible gift of Portland is its generosity. Already, so many people have come forward, offering their talents, their art, their wealth to make this night happen. We would be so honored and grateful if you and your friends would join us!

in solidarity,
Aimee Santos-Lyons