Black Book Talk on 05/05/11
Hosts Patricia Welch, O.B. Hill and Emma Jackson Ford speak with former Oregon State Senator Avel Gordley about her memoir Remembering the Power of Words. Avel Gordly is the first African American woman elected to the Oregon State Senate. Remembering the Power of Words is the inaugural volume in the Women and Politics in the Pacific Northwest Series, and recounts the personal and professional journey of Ms. Gordly. OSU Press describes the book as:
a brave and honest telling of Gordly’s life. She shares the challenges and struggles she faced growing up black in Portland in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as her determination to attend college, the dedication to activism that took her from Portland to Africa, and her eventual decision to run for a seat in the state legislature.
That words have power is a constant undercurrent in Gordly’s account and a truth she learned early in life.
Important as a biographical account of one significant Oregonian’s story, the book also contributes “broader narratives touching on Black history (and Oregon’s place within it), and most particularly the politics associated with being an African American woman,” according to series editor Melody Rose.