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7 <br />Upon viewing the official portrait of Michelle Obama in February 2018, a woman online said this: “I love <br />it that today's children of color are being allowed this distinct opportunity to feel like a part of <br />mainstream. I grew up having so many questions from a very young age that I did not talk about, <br />because you did not in those days. Imagine what it was like to be a person of color, but only in one's <br />home and neighborhood, while the media, museums, public buildings, radio, television, in paintings, <br />movies, plays, much of government, in history and so many other areas, it was as if we did not exist, we <br />were completely ignored, and not represented in any appreciable way. This kind of progress came not <br />on a silver spoon; freedom does not work like that. It is not 'awarded', it is not 'a given', it must be <br />fought for in most cases, and in virtually every country in the world where it has been desired, it was <br />given to some degree maybe, but certainly not without a fight. My Grandmother had a painting of a <br />white woman with two young girls standing with her in her kitchen, and I would look at it, baffled, and <br />wondering who they were, and why she had this painting in her house, but she died, and I never, ever <br />asked her. I just wondered why she did not have a painting of 'colored', or Negro children in her <br />house...” <br /> <br />This comment describes well how the City of Eugene, as a whole, can benefit, when all of Eugene’s <br />marginalized communities are represented in the artwork displayed in our new City Hall. <br /> <br />WeCU (“We SEE You”) is the name of our work group. Whole Eugene Community United. <br /> <br /> <br />September 12, 2018, Work Session - Item 1