Conversations After the West Eugene Strides for Social Justice Walk

In this very special episode, a group of high school students discuss their reactions to the Reynolds' Family legacy, the KKK's presence and impact in Eugene, and their own experiences with racism here, after embarking on the Strides for Social Justice walk through West Eugene. They also discuss their thoughts on what might create a more inclusive community.

You can read more about the project, about Wordcrafters in Eugene, about our sponsors and community partners, and send in your own Lane County, Oregon stories at StoryHelix.Wordcrafters.Org.

Thanks for listening!

Transcript

 00:00:10.439
 You're listening to StoryHelix: intertwining
 stories past, present, and not yet
 imagined in Lane County, Oregon.
 What's up, earthlings, I'm Leah Velez
 and I'll be your host. The
 stories we're about to hear are from high
 school students as part of a unit
 on local history. The students chose to
 remain anonymous and gave permission to share
 their words with the community. The students
 went on walks with their teacher along
 the Strides For Social Justice app. You
 can find this fantastic app put together
 by the Eugene Marathon and Peace Health by
 typing "Strides for Social Justice" into whatever
 app store you use. Let's open up
 our ear nuggets and give these community
 submitted stories a listen. 
 
 
 00:01:03.390 
 Q: We just went on the West Eugene Strides for
 Social Justice Tour and learned about the Reynolds
 Family. What's something that you learned
 about the Reynolds family today that you didn't  know? 
 
 00:01:11.319 
A: That if they were one of
 the biggest families out here and they still
 hold it together. How they were
 able to get a house, get
 a job and go to church and
 stuff like that, without without getting hated
 on and being taunted by white people. They were nice and they weren't a
 stranger to anybody. They were helpful, they knew a lot of people around
 the area and they went to
 church, to that Black Church that's over by West Eleventh near the EMX station. 
 
 00:01:49.000 
A: I learned like a lot. It was kind of overwhelming. There was
 a lot of, I guess, separation
 between them and the community and it
 seemed like they seemed to be more outcasted.
 

 00:02:01.000
 A: I learned that there's a street named
 after Sam Reynolds and I learned that
 they went to the Saint Mark's church
 and I learned that he has a plaque
 at the EMX bus stop.

  00:02:24.800 
 A: I learned about like all the hardships and racism they dealt with in Eugene and
 they were like treated unfair just because, obviously, because they were Black. A: What I learned is
 kind of like how their community struggled to
 have a tie in Eugene and kind
 of be a part of this community,
 because they were receiving so much pushback
 from the people that lived here. But
 they persevered. It's a hard thing
 to do,  to persevere and
 like push forward when someone's telling you
 you can't do this or you can't be
 here, and I think that was
 really important. 
 
 00:03:02.599 
Q: What feelings were you feeling when we were at the plaque today? 
A: I was just like kind of shocked
 almost that there was just such a
 segregated part of town that was they chose
 that street specifically to name Sam Reynolds, when it's like so secluded and like
 barely anybody knows that it's there.
 I feel like that definitely has something to
 do with like way back in the
 day when that street was first put there,
 and I feel like it's just sad
 and kind of sickening to learn about.
 
 00:03:46.719
 A: Well, there was no plaque. So it made it seem kind of
 like nobody really cared enough to keep
 maintaining the area. 
 
 00:03:58.639 
 A: I feel like that should be put in a better spot
 then a bus stop... and it was kind
 of like unkempt. (That's a good
 point).  A:They made it seem like it
 was better to forget what happened than
 to maintain and remember.
 
 00:04:15.120
 Q: So you've been living in Eugene like most of your
 life, right? A: Yes, I was
 born here. A: Have you seen any
 racist language or symbols or like acts like
 done in Eugene? A: I've seen racist
 symbols on the way back from from Walmart
 with my partner and his family and
 I was looking out the window and I
 saw spray paint on the side of
 a building that was the n word.
 
 00:04:48.800 
 Q: Is that the only time you've seen
 like racist stuff like that in Eugene.
 
  00:04:55.160 
  A:  I mean other than seeing
 like swastikas drawn on random things,
 but those are the only ones that
 I can think of, like right now
 I'm sure I've seen more but I don't remember
 seeing it or understanding yeah..
 
 00:05:19.000
A: Well, I've seen people in my class.
 I remember in 2018, maybe, that
 some kid like stood up in
 my class and was like, "I don't like
 immigrants, they're bad for this country," or like kind of just saying like...
 praising kind of like the idea of
 building a wall and stuff like that,
 and that was really weird. I
 mean, I obviously felt like really outed and
 kind of almost like targeted. (Targeted?) Yes, definitely targeted. And I've
 heard like stories from my cousin and
 how she's been called like a cherry picker
 and all these like awful things,  like wet
 back and all these awful like names used
 against people like me. And I
 think it's... it's a really jarring thing.
 It's really kind of scary almost,
 because like there's people that think that about you without even knowing you.
 
 00:06:18.879
 Q: How how did you deal with that and what
 was your reaction to it? 
A: I mean my reaction was I was pretty like
 quiet. I mean I didn't say
 anything out loud, I didn't speak out about
 it. I just kind of sat
 there and shocked and I was like wow,
 that actually happened right now. Or
 like when my cousin told me those
 things, I was like the same, like I couldn't believe it. My
 eyes were wide open and I was
 like, "wait, really someone called you that."
  Like, what?
 
 00:06:49.879 
 Q: Sort of like you wouldn't expect that from
 school here, or like? A:  Yeah,
 well, because I've always seen Oregon in
 general as a very liberal place.
 You know, especially like Eugene and Portland,
 I've always seen as very liberal.
 So when I heard about those things and
 how there are people, very close-minded people that say those things, I
 mean it's kind of shocking because you're
 like, "wow, I actually live here and
 there's people that don't like me."
 So yeah, it can be hard."
 
 00:07:24.680 
 Q: What details most surprised you or had
 the biggest impact on you? 
 
 00:07:30.600 
A: When we started learning about how Eugene used to
 be like a super racist community, like
 back in the nineteen twenties or whatever. I feel like that's
 just awful and it impacts me because
 it's just depressing and sad and it's unfair
 that the Black community had to put
 up with that, even though we're all
  human and that makes us all
 equal. 
 
 00:08:05.639
A: I knew it was a big deal before, but now I kind
 of realize the impact that minorities had,
  and that it had on them, from just
 like being treated different from everyone else just
 because the color of your skin.

 00:08:24.759 
 A: That we got to change, and we've came a long way since before, but
 we still have to move forward as a
 society and know what's right from wrong. 

 00:08:39.679
A: Finding out that about all of like the history of our community
 and stuff like that, was definitely a
 shock. Hearing about the place that
 you lived in for a long time and
 just hearing the news that we learned
 is definitely something that not only angers me,
 but also makes me really like feel
 bad about what happened back then,
 (just like makes you uncomfortable to be
 living here.)
 
 00:09:11.799
 A: That it was so recent. Like they
 didn't want slaves, but they didn't want
 any Black people in the state at
 all. It's really confusing to me
 how they thought that was any better
 or anymore like equal. 
 
 00:09:28.720 
A: I knew a bit of it. I did rese---well not research, but I looked it up...
 I learned about it a few years
 before today...but I didn't
 know like the full truth. I
 didn't know that [the KKK] had parades and had
 a whole like kind of monument almost
 on top of was it (skinners?) Skinner's Butte.
 
 00:09:48.600
A: Oh, it's definitely opened my eyes to how like the extent
 of the KKK and how large that group
 really is across the country and it's
 kind of it's kind of uncomfortable, honestly,  to know all about that. 
 
 00:10:07.240
Q: What is it that makes it like uncomfortable?
 
 00:10:13.600
 A: I think the fact that I'm a person of color makes it even more
 kind of like jarring and kind of
 like, "Oh my God, that actually happened
 here?" Because then I
 look back at my family and how like
 they have been singled out for their
 skin color and I'm like, I can't even imagine how it would have been
 like or how it would have been back
 then to be a person of color
 living here in Eugene. 
 
 00:10:43.919
A: Probably when I saw the Adam Ruins Everything episode, in like
 seventh grade, I think they were talking about Black segregation and Black
 lining and it was kind of like shocking,
 but I still didn't know that much, and so I think really coming
 to Kalapuya is where I learned a
 lot of the stuff that I know now.
 
 00:11:05.360
 Q: Does the history of like
 the KKK being involved in Eugene,  does
 that make you feel any... kind of
 like... you feel like shame almost, or... 
 
 00:11:20.840 
A: Yeah kind of like wow, I live
 in a place where that was happening?
 
 00:11:24.480
A: Yeah, like why? I don't
 understand it. It's so stupid and unnecessary
 and people were put here to be
 treated equally. Q: mhm. A: So I don't get it.
 
 00:11:35.919 
  A: I learned that there
 was surprisingly a lot of KKK involved in making Eugene.
 
 00:11:41.759
Q: Does that make you
 feel like less safe or? 
 
 00:11:48.800
A: it does. I mean it surprised me when I
 when I was told about it. I
 mean I read the whole article to
 my mom and she was she was like
"wow, okay, this is surprising."
 Because we didn't know that the KKK were
 like actually involved and put up signs
 and held parades, which is a big thing. 
 
 00:12:05.559 
Q: That is a big thing. A: And
 it kind of makes me feel weird.
  about the city I'm in. 

 00:12:09.399 --> 00:12:15.879
Q: So, knowing that and seeing your mom's reaction and
 stuff, how do you think other
 people would react that? 
 
 00:12:22.120 
A: I think, like other people like me or that
 are minority? Q: Oh yeah, people who
 are a minority, yeah. How do you
 think that they would react to learning what we learned today?
 
 00:12:30.200
 A:  I think it
 would be a surprising thing, and also kind
 of like a hard thing to think
 about. Because it's somewhere where they live,
 like they have their home and they
 have their family here... So it
 can be kind of a conflicting thing
 to feel like, "Oh, this is
 my home, but, before people didn't
 want me, and I'm sure there's people that
 still maybe don't want me here.
 Q: That is a fair point, yeah.
 
 00:12:56.120 
 Q: How does the skin you're in impact
 how you relate to, or experience these stories?
 
 00:13:07.240
 A: I mean I'm white, so like
 I don't know. I personally don't
 treat other people differently for what color
 skin they have, but I don't know, other white people do. 
 
 00:13:20.759
 A: I think
 the skin that I'm in impacts the way
 I see these stories. When I
 first heard about this, I always felt
 like I was in this almost third
 person view of like this thing that
 actually happened here, that was
 like playing out in my head.  And I'm
 like, "I can't believe they actually
 excluded people of color, because they are
 people of color." I think it
 definitely impacts the way I view it because
 I think if someone were a different
 skin color, or... they may have not received
 that same type of prejudice before,
 they'll kind of be confused and
  and say, like, "why is that
 a thing, like why does that happen?"
 But I really think that it's been
 a thing that has been built on
 for so long that it's almost inevitable
 for people of color to experience and I
 think that I just see it in
 a very different light than other people might see it.
 
 00:14:26.000 
 A: I think for as
 long... like in history, it's always
 been about your skin type and that
 your skin type is like, god I can't find
 the words. Um. I feel
 like, it depends on how
 you were raised, sort of, because if we look back,
 if we remember like Dean back in
 the story, like, his mom was raised
 like with all of the KKK
 stuff, and how she saw certain things, like 
 Tracy's workshops. She saw them
 as like anti-police. But... yeah.
 
 00:15:11.759 
 Q: What are some ways that trauma
 can be passed down from one generation to  the next? 
 
 00:15:18.519 
A: Trauma can be
 passed down through knowledge. If you know
 something that happened back then, that
 happens to your family or someone close to
 your family, you're gonna learn from
 either your great grandpa, because he knows about
 it, or you're gonna learn from
 mom or dad. Another way is, you
 going through it yourself. You going
 through that trauma. It can be passed
 down from you doing it to your
 kids, and if your kids feel the same
 way, they're gonna pass down to
 their kids.
 
 00:15:54.800
 A: I feel like it just depends. It could be genetics.
 It could be like the way that,
 say, how you get raised,
 like if your mom was raised a certain
 way and then she goes and raises
 you the same way, like that
 trauma from when your mom was raised. She passes that down
 to you, because that's the only
 way that she knew.

 00:16:14.559
 Q: Do you think that affects the child's
 morals, like the next generation's morals,
 and like their feelings on certain things? A:  Yeah, it definitely affects them.
 
 00:16:26.480
 A: It being talked about or seeing it
 happen. When, for example, if,
 I don't know, if you're not
 white and you see someone call your
 parents a terrible word or treat them
 terribly, then that can cause trauma.
 
 00:16:48.919 
 A: I think trauma can be passed down
 by like, for example, when my
 mom was born, there was this
 civil war in El Salvador...Q: Oh! A: and it
 Q: That's where my mom is actually from, too! A: Really? Q: Yeah. A: Wow , that's interesting. Both
 of my parents, they're both from
 there and they both told me like these
 like horror stories basically about it and
 how like it was actually really scary to
 live there during that time because they
 were innocent civilians, but they
 were still being put into this war
 with no real choice. And I think
  that was passed down to me, because
 I still feel like when I go there,
 I still love the country that I'm
 from, but it's scary to think
 that that happened there. And I've
 seen El Salvador in a very negative light.
 Even when I first came there,
 I was always like suspicious of everyone
 and scared of everything and I was
 worried that they'd be like gangsters everywhere and
 all that, and I had this
 image in my head because of what my
 parents had told me, and I
 feel like that passed down to me and
 like now I see the country that
 I am attached to, I see it
 in a very negative light, when
 usually people see the country that they're from
 in a very positive light, and
 they're like, "yeah, I'm proud to
 be from there." But I think
 I've just adapted that and I've just become
 kind of scared almost. But I'm
 still very proud. But yeah.
 
 00:18:19.880 
 Q: Do you still think like the Black community
 or population here in Eugene's a little
 invisible or like harder to see?

  00:18:34.880 
 A: Yeah, the majority of the people you see are are White people. It's
 just there's a rare occasion that you see
 a Black person, which is kind
 of shitty. 
 
 00:18:48.599
A: If I were Black and I was I was, you know, looked upon differently, I would feel
 lonely. I mean not lonely,
 but I would feel just kind of casted
 out. If I was
 invisible. That, that would just, that would
 be awful. And the move to
 Eugene. Why? Why would I come to Eugene if
 I would.. if I was invisible? Honestly, I don't think I would.
 
 00:19:11.880 
 A:  I would be proud
 and I would cherish the stories that my
 ancestors and grandparents and parents would tell
 me about how our people survived the hardships of our ancestors.
 
 00:19:22.790
 Q: How did the
 experiences that the Reynolds' faced compared
 with the oppression faced by minorities in Eugene today? 
 
 00:19:32.680
A: Yeah, we have a really low population of Black people,
 or I feel like people of color,
 because of like all the those laws
 that we made a long time ago,
 the articles that we read from people
 of color writing about Eugene...they
 also felt like it was kind of
 a racist place, where I feel like most
 other White people here wouldn't feel like
 that because, I don't know, it's
 not very abundant like you would think
 Alabama racists would be. 
 
 00:20:10.000
Q: What information and values did you grow up around race
 and discrimination?

 00:20:15.599 
 A: Oooh, that's that's a good question. Um, I
 was grown up and raised in a split
 household. So, I
 learned a lot about like, "it's not okay
 to be saying certain things around certain
 people."  I grew up around
 my mom, which made it...
 She was one of the
 very few that actually was like,
 you know, "everybody's a person, you
 have to respect everybody as an equal, not treat one differently than another just
 because the way they look." And
 then on the other side I was also
 told like, "well, they're definitely superior
 people" and stuff like that. And so
 it was it was mainly just me
 picking my mom's point of view over anybody else's. 

 00:21:08.640 
A: Well, when I was
 little, my mom and dad would take
 me and my brother to church. It was kind of like an Adventist
 church, but it, basically everyone that
 went there was Hispanic. So everything was
 in Spanish and it was taught from, I think, a certain point of
 view. And I think the way they
 spoke about faith was different than like Catholic
 churches and stuff like that.
 
 00:21:48.559
Q: So what did you learn about discrimination or race and that little church that you went to? 
 
 00:21:53.119 
A: I don't think they ever really talked about it, I'm sure,
 because I don't remember because it was quite
 a while ago, but I think
 remember them talking about it and kind of
 saying like we need to treat people
 equally, and we need to be aware that
 there is racism and that it it
 happens to a lot of people. 

 00:22:15.000
Q: Why do you think religious communities have played
 such an important role in fighting for justice
 and creating safe spaces for people of
 color? 
 
 00:22:25.160
 A: I think religious communities can bringpeople together under like one thing that
 they all believe in,
 
 00:22:30.519
 Q: Being religion, right... A: Yeah, and kind of
 creating a bubble for people to come and
 be like, :"hey, I need help,  I'm struggling with things," and
 talking to people in their church groups...
 like they become family, almost, and they
 kind of learned to have this place
 where they can be together. 

 00:22:52.680 
Q: Why do you think religious communities have played such
 an important role in fighting for justice and
 creating safe spaces for people of Color?

 00:23:07.440
 A: Well, people have to feel safe and secure and I feel, in times
 of crisis, it's a lot, it's easier to
 go to something that you, I
 guess, believe in. So like,
 in a sense, the afterlife or
 something like that, is something that's comforting
 to believe that something greater out there
 is looking at for you. In my
 religious community, well, not very
 religious, but my very few
 couple of years of being in
 a church, I noticed that it
 wasn't very... like it was very one
 sided. The ones that I had gone
 to were, in a in a word,  kind of exclusion... like excluding
 people. Q: Exclusive? A: Yeah, they would
 find ways to get around saying like, "Oh,
 this person is not allowed in,
 but this person is." They wouldn't
 necessarily say that. They would make
 up reasons to allow it.
 
 00:24:23.119 
 Q: Do you have any ideas on how we can
 make Eugene a more inclusive community, welcoming
 community?
 
 00:24:37.559
 A: Well, being more welcoming. [laughs].
 Teaching about racism and talking about it more and teaching that it's wrong.
 
 00:24:44.839
A: Well, for one, we, I mean, we welcome all races.
 We don't exclude all races. I mean
 Eugene's still... Eugene's already like inclusive and
 welcoming... with Saturday Market. There
 are... we don't have to make this
 place welcoming or more inclusive. It's, it
 already is? It already welcomes everybody. We don't need, we don't need to
 change it. I don't think we
 need to change it. Do you think
 we need to change it? I
 don't. We can give the homeless better
 housing, you know, free housing? [background chatter negating what's been said about housing]. 

 00:25:19.880
A: If we see something happening, then we should confront it, instead of
 standing by. And uplifting those who have a
 hard time getting around and finding a
 job or having a home or stable income.

 00:25:33.920 
 A: I think teaching it more in the
 public schools and stuff and like,
 like about the Kalapuya people and about
 Oregon's history is really important, because
 I felt like in public school, I was
 learning a lot of like American history and like American history that they wanted us
 to learn about, but I didn't really
 understand that much about how people weren't
 treated equally til I started going here and
 like the class has made sense and
 stuff. Even if I don't have like
 a lot to personally gain from them. I know it's good for the community
 to have like a space where they
 can... because it's just traumatizing and when the
 trauma gets passed down through generations and
 they need a safe place to talk about
 that. So I think it's absolutely
 a good thing and I don't think it
 really affects me at all. If I
 wanted to go to one of those meetings
 and I was allowed to, I might.


 00:26:37.000
  A: I mean, I stick up for the Black community as much as possible and
 I honestly care about the Black Lives Matter
 protests and I feel like they're really
 positively affecting this community. I just feel
 like, as much as I do
 already, to stick up, not only for
 the people I'm around that are of
 color, but like of the people in
 society who are of color and just
 supporting their community as a whole. Like  on my own. 
 
 00:27:07.390 
A:  I feel like we just don't need to discriminate against people
 from we need to take from like
 what's from the inside. 
 
 00:27:21.160
 Not treat people something just because of their skin color. I
 mean, if you see it happening,
 you just like tell the person, "that's
 not cool. You know."
 
 00:27:32.440 
  A: I think just dipping your toes in the water
 first and taking baby steps onto doing that,
 like going to an all white school
 that can be tough for some people
 of color, and just like focus
 under work and focus on homework and studying
  and stuff like that. 

 00:27:45.559 
A: I feel like I personally can't do anything to make
 the circumstances better because I don't know, I'm... there's not really anything I can
 do. I can be nice,
 I can like respect everybody, and treat
 everybody equally, but, me just like
 being one person, that... there's nothing I could do.
 
 00:28:07.799 
 Q: Do you feel like
 you wouldn't know how to help and like
 in what ways to help minorities in Eugene? Do you feel like it's
 difficult for you to understand how you
 can help them? 
 
 00:28:22.880
A: Yeah, I think that's what's difficult. I think it's
 hard for me to understand what I could
 even do to help, because I
 know sitting and being nice and treating everybody
 equally isn't going to make anything go
 away. But that's, that's all I can
 really do. Like I said,
 I'm just me. It's not like I
 can make racism just disappear. I
 mean, if I could, I totally
 would, because I think it's messed
 up and not okay. But there's
 absolutely nothing that I could do about
 it just by myself. I don't know
 if I see it I can step
 in and stop it, but, like
 I was just saying, me just
 as a person, I don't think I
 could really change anything. I mean
 I probably could make a difference, but
 not a super huge one.
 
 00:29:08.920
Q: So you would kind of stand up for who I was being attacked and kind of
 be like hey, that's not okay?
 

 00:29:11.960
 A: For sure. That's... I don't like
 seeing that type of stuff, not in
 the community where I live. Not... I don't. I just don't like
 it. Like in general, everywhere, it needs to be gone. Racism
 is bad and stupid and I don't
 understand why people can't just treat other people
 the way they want to be treated.

  00:29:40.790
 A: It's hard. It's definitely a very hard and it's definitely a process they have
 to learn. It's just a hard thing
 to do because I feel like a
 lot of people like to hold grudges and
 being okay with whatever happened and
 just letting it go is... it takes a
 lot of work and it takes a
 lot of self work and self reflection.

 00:30:04.000 
 A: I feel like love is a really
 necessary part of the world. Like,
 if you don't feel love for at
 least yourself, then you're not going to
 be able to love others or anything. So having that like sense of love
 and care for yourself and for others can just really impact the world.
 Because if you yourself aren't negative,
 then you're not spreading it,  and you're
 not making other people feel your negative
 energy, and you're not like spreading more hate.
 
 00:30:45.720 
 A: Just if you're in a better mood. You're just,  you'll be a better person.
 
 00:30:48.519 
 A: If you're in
 a situation where you don't feel loved,
 you can't really like project love onto
 other people. But if you're in a
 situation where love is being thrown at
 you and you can kind of just lean
 into it, I feel like it's
 a lot easier to project all that onto your community. 

 00:31:08.759 
 Q: So you're saying,
 like, if love were to be shown
 to you, you should embrace it? 

 00:31:18.640
A:  Embrace it and spread it. That is, that is what I'm saying, I guess. 
 

 00:31:23.000
Q: And do you think love plays an important role when it
 comes to intervening in racial discrimination?
 of kind of saying, like,
 I don't believe in this hate. 
 
  00:31:36.319 
A: I don't think it like is just completely
 based on love. I think love has
 a big part to do with it, because you have to have at least
 a little bit of love and you
 wouldn't want to stop something like that.
 But I think it's just having the
 right morals. Like you have to be
 morally right to want to stop something
 like that. You have to be a
 good person. So love does tie
 into it, but it's more about being
 like a decent human being,
 and having the balls to tell somebody to stop doing that. 
 
 00:32:02.790
Q: So you're saying
 like having morals is an important part when

 00:32:07.839
 it comes to... A: Yeah. Love is Important.
 A: Nowadays, through social media and like
 just the movie, when we went
 and watched... the interview, they did just
 brought the light back onto the case
 and set an innocent man free, and
 through social media you can just
 bring the light onto things more than you used to, like could. 
 
 00:32:32.599
A: Talking about
 it, posting about it, if you
 are going to talk about it,
 like make sure you know the facts and
 you're not actually making things up, and
 posting, and reposting reliable sources and
 spreading the word. Because I feel
 like nowadays that's one big thing a
 person can do to help out: 
 spread the word. 
 
 00:33:01.680 
Q: What do we gain from making space for these uncomfortable truths? A: You
 gain a lot. You... it might be
 an uncomfortable situation talking about it, and
 you might not feel like you should be
 talking about it, but to learn
 the truth: knowledge is power, and if
 you know what has happened before,
 you can watch out for it and just
 have more information. Pretty much.

 00:33:31.599
 A: Hmm, I think it's just more of an understanding of Eugene's history, because in
 regular high school we're not really taught about
 where we're from. It's more of
 we're taught all the things outside. 
 Not really a lot of history about
 our town and you know, where we're growing up. 
 

 00:33:49.440 
Q: And do you think that learning
 those things about your town, even if
 they're really bad things, do you
 think that's still important to feeling comfortable and
 also just knowing? Do you feel
 like that's important? 
 

 00:34:06.839 
A: Yeah, I think it is. I mean, I'm the type of person that's just really chill. I don't
 really... I don't want to say I don't
 care, but it's more of ...
 It's just, "Oh, that's cool, that's interesting." 
 
 00:34:20.599
Q: How does this space, this street, feel different
 to you now that you know this history?
 

 00:34:27.719
 A: I mean, I didn't really know
 that that street was even there before
 and that was the first time I've
 ever even been on that street or to
 that bus stop or like in that
 part of town, not in a car.
 So I don't know, it's surprising
 to see something I haven't seen before
 that was just right there the whole
 time. 
 
 00:34:50.760 
A: I feel like I'm a lot less safe because knowing all the history, I don't know, I feel bad
  about it all. Like it
 makes me really sad. But I mean
 I never really felt safe because of
 the place that we live in, but
 I felt a lot less safe knowing
 everything that I learned.
 

 00:35:13.199 
 A: Their children pass on their stories to the next generation
 and their plaque tells their story and their
 legacy at the EMX station
 and along the bike path.
 I'll remember their legacy and their names
 just driving past and and just looking at
 the Black people's church and thinking about all
 the stuff that they did for their people.
 
 00:35:36.119 
 A: I think it ... gives me
 hope almost, seeing how much they persevered
 through that. And even though it was
 hard, it makes me feel hopeful. Because
 I didn't know anything about it until
 recently, and I think it's a very inspiring  and amazing thing. 
 
 00:35:54.199 
Q: So what part
 of everything inspires you? 

 00:36:00.790
A: I think the way they fought back and the way
 they pushed back on the people that were
 kicking them out, literally to a different
 side town [Question asker repeats, "yeah to a different side of town"] and I
 think that's very important. When you're trying
 to change something, even though everyone else
 is telling you, "Hey, it's
 wrong," that you should stand up and
 stand up for what you believe in
 in your home. [outro music]
 

 00:36:27.760 
  Host: Thanks for listening. You can find us wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you've got your
 own Lane County story to tell,
 we'd love to hear it 
 at StoryHelix.Wordcrafters.Org