When Justice English walked into journalism class as a high school junior five years ago, she met a teacher who changed her life: S. Renee Mitchell, former Oregonian Metro columnist and the only Black teacher at Roosevelt High School.
That year English found the guidance she was looking for and eventually became one of three students to join Mitchell in creating I Am M.O.R.E. in 2019 to help Black youth. The organization offers services and support based on the idea that trauma, equity and social-emotional learning — a teaching modality focused on communication and emotional processing — are all connected. Social-emotional learning can include practices like breathing exercises, developing friendships and making healthy choices.
Finding mentorship
English remembers working two jobs in high school and worrying about her siblings as the middle child in a family experiencing poverty. She stayed with a cousin during her junior year when her mother was homeless. Although it was always a struggle to find a quiet place for homework, she earned good grades in school.
“When we were homeless, the one thing I had was my journal and one time, I carried a letter I had written to myself about my plans,” English said.
Mitchell nurtured English’s love of writing, and English wrote a poem about her life. She read this poem at a Portland Public Schools leadership training, school assemblies and a downtown music festival.
With encouragement from Mitchell in 2018, she submitted the poem for Stand for Children’s Beat the Odds college scholarship. English, Jeanette Mmunga and Johana Amani, all members of Mitchell’s high school Black Girl Magic Club, each won. Each winner documented their experiences, including poverty, bullying and sexual assault. That’s when the idea for I Am M.O.R.E. was born, and it has evolved since then.
On the road to empowerment
“Why I do this work is some of it is an expression of what I wish I had,” Mitchell said.
When it comes to helping young people in the community, Mitchell said she believes in taking cues from the youth the organization provides for, adding youth need to be seen and heard. The healing work is intentional and based on scholarly research, outlined in the 2022-2023 Impact Report for the Black Youth Leadership Fund, Mitchell said.
“You have to pay attention to be intentional,” Mitchell said. “You have to ask questions. When you pay attention, you start to notice how you can serve.”
Last summer Shiloh Day, now an I Am M.O.R.E. youth engagement coordinator, participated in the organization’s internship program. From the first day, it was different from what he expected. Each day started with breath work, and interns chose classes they wanted to take. Choices included African drumming, videography and art for self-expression, along with financial literacy, Black history and entrepreneurship.
At first, Day said he was insecure, but being surrounded by people with a growth mindset changed that. He said he learned to use his voice and now takes leadership in his work with youth, something he could not have done at the beginning of the summer.
“My family told me they saw a visible change in me,” Day said. “I was walking taller, felt lighter and was smiling more.”
Mitchell said I Am M.O.R.E. paid interns for the number of classes they took, and it was all about growth.
In addition to paying interns, Marshall Goss Jr., youth and family advocate mentor at I Am M.O.R.E., said staff worked to ensure interns had access to food throughout their internships.
“Another key component to what we do is to make sure our community is fed,” Goss said. “Food was never a hurdle for interns throughout the summer. There are some spots in Portland specifically where there are food deserts.”
Behind the community activities and provisions, strategies are in place to make this time purposeful.
Welcoming young people and building their confidence is part of what Mitchell calls “empowered resilience,” which starts when they join I Am M.O.R.E. She said there are three steps to help youth move forward by addressing their feelings, looking at racial issues and expressing themselves through creative arts.
“First, they have to realize that they have some control … how they interpret their lives and how they move forward from it,” Mitchell said. “That’s the inside-out process. Outside-up is giving them opportunity. Then up and beyond they’re in front of an audience on a stage. That’s the transformational process.”
According to its website, I Am M.O.R.E. offers awareness-raising workshops for educators and parents. Adults learn about the ways that trauma impacts communication with children. For example, sometimes children may seem non-compliant when they actually can’t do something because of emotions. Understanding is key.
Helping others stems from the empowered resilience theory at I Am M.O.R.E., Mitchell said. Mitchell developed the theory while working on her doctoral degree at the University of Oregon in 2021. The idea is that when someone is centered in their power and sense of purpose, they can share this gift. I Am M.O.R.E. participants have a theme song, “When I am in my power, I empower.”
A teacher to lean on
English remembers Mitchell’s teaching approach was unique. English said students sat in a unity circle with the teacher, their voices amplified and their stories valued. They were taught unity is power.
English described Mitchell as a person students could turn to, and she provided food in her classroom for anyone who dropped in. She helped students form the Black Student Union and offered a yearbook class. She also took students to conferences where they shared their stories with others with similar life experiences.
Mitchell said she knew many of her students had trauma, food insecurity and little or no emotional support because she had experienced those things herself.
Led by lived experience
Mitchell said her life experiences and research inform her practices with young people. Mitchell came from a background of poverty and trauma, having experienced bullying and racism as a child.
Feeling invisible and often the only Black student in her high school classes, she turned to academics and earned college scholarships. As an adult, she was subjected to sexual assault and later domestic violence.
However, she triumphed in her 25-year career as a journalist, writing the Metro column for The Oregonian and being nominated twice for the Pulitzer Prize. She once won first place among all columnists entered into the Society of Professional Journalists’ Pacific Northwest Excellence in Journalism competition.
She taught at Roosevelt High School for about five years and left in 2019 to focus on I Am M.O.R.E., receiving the Spirit of Portland Award for her community work.
Since starting I Am M.O.R.E., Mitchell has won three Social Emotional Learning Innovation Awards from the NoVo Foundation. She earned the Gladys McCoy Lifetime Achievement Award from Multnomah County in 2021.
As a self-described “cultural revolutionist and heARTivist,” Mitchell has an extensive background combining art with activism. A couple of years ago, Mitchell performed in a play based on her novel called “Tangoing with Tornadoes,” about domestic violence. She has also written “The Awakening of Sharyn: a Shy and Brown Super Gyrl,” a children’s book celebrating courage.
Youth find their way to I Am M.O.R.E.
I Am M.O.R.E. is housed at the Soul Restoration Center in the former Albina Arts Center at 14 NE Killingsworth St. Mitchell and many helpers decorated the space with colorful art, drums, big pillows and couches to make it a welcoming cultural retreat for Black youth and elders.
Young people find their way to I Am M.O.R.E. through the outreach programs in neighborhood schools, through friends and family, social media and word of mouth.
“We also interact with youth because of our partnerships with other organizations,” Mitchell said. “Multnomah County, for example, had pulled us in to do ‘Reclaiming Black Joy’ in the parks. We set up the parks to be more culturally welcoming and had activities and entertainment and food trucks. We put together a youth activation station in front of the Portland Art Museum.”
With multiple pathways for encountering youth, Mitchell sees that the need is there. Goss stays in touch with youth and sees the community work as far-reaching.
“We’ve done a good job of being present for the community,” Goss said. “It’s intentional and impactful.”
Day and Goss do outreach in Portland schools, including Ockley Green Middle School, McDaniel High School, Jefferson High School, Alliance (Meek), Harriet Tubman Elementary and Ivy School. They work with the Black Student Union at Ockley Green Middle School and some high schools. Goss and Day provide group sessions at schools for self-healing, empowerment and leadership.
“In quality, quantity grows,” Day said. “Tapping into one student can lead to tapping into three and can grow.”
Funding comes from donations and partnerships with organizations and some grants. Through speaking engagements and ongoing work, people see what’s happening and want to help.
“I appreciate when people see what we’re doing and want to donate because they love the work we do,” Mitchell said.
The future
“I definitely see the future as growing, serving more youth,” Mitchell said. “I also see us doing more trainings around the country.”
She said she plans to teach educators how to infuse joy back into social-emotional learning and to offer hope. Mitchell also wants to spend more time with the V.I.B.E.-In Collective (Valuing Intuitive Black Excellence). She hopes to work with other organizations to access funding as a group.
“It doesn’t make sense to me that every individual organization has (its) own grant writer,” Mitchell said. “My intention is to be a conduit for people accessing excellence at a lower shared cost.”
Travel plans are in the near future for Mitchell and I Am M.O.R.E. staff. This summer, they will take a group of about 10 high school and college students to Ghana. Mitchell said this will be a time for discovery, and these young people will apply what they learn to be leaders when they return.
“Because we focus on healing, landing in Africa is the ultimate source of healing for us,” Goss said.
I Am M.O.R.E. has future plans, and so does Justice English.
“Five years ago, I never would have thought I would be right here,” English said of her upcoming graduation from the University of Oregon.
She is earning a bachelor’s degree in ethnic studies with minors in Black studies and anthropology. She has future plans to be an educator, write a book, earn a doctorate and own a home. She wants to change the educational system and maybe study law. Her partner and their two young children will see her graduate. She plans to decorate her graduation gown, celebrating the fact that she will be the first person in her family to attend a university.
“I am going to stand out,” English said.
From the poem Justice English wrote in high school, entitled “Write That I”:
“I saw an advantage to reaching back and helping others coming behind me
To find their path to being successful — in spite of what naysayers might think,
I pursued my purpose,
Despite circumstances that would tell you otherwise”
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