Submitted by Sheryl on Fri, 2010-01-22 14:02

Filed under:

• Social Change in Oregon
• Legacies
• Transitions

I have a new folder on my desk with the sad title of "Memorials." It is both sad and humbling to see the lives of such powerful leaders end. It makes me grateful for the courage of those who have come before.

This summer, MRG’s community lost its founding donor, Leslie Brockelbank. Earlier in the year, it was Bonnie Tinker, founder of Love Makes a Family, who was killed in a bicycling accident. And before her, longtime peace activist Del Greenfield passed away.

Just this week, I attended the memorial service for Bobbi Lou Gary, a dynamic and fierce leader in Portland who paved the way for civil rights. As the pastor who recited her eulogy said, she passed the torch on to those of us who remain. It is now our turn to push forward towards justice.

Bobbi Gary served on MRG’s Board of Directors and Grantmaking Committee from 1986 – 1988. She was the first black PTA President in Portland. She had lost count of how many times she was arrested here in Portland for protesting apartheid in South Africa.

Perhaps her greatest achievement was the legacy she left to her daughters and granddaughters -- a sense of pride and a knowledge that they could accomplish anything they were able to dream of.

MRG is so fortunate to count Bobbi Gary’s daughter, Sharon Gary-Smith, as a supporter and to have her granddaughter, Mariotta Gary-Smith, as a member of our Justice within Reach Committee. It's a great example of the next generation taking leadership in their own way for a better world.

These leaders who have passed on can claim many victories in their own right. But they have also left behind a legacy of leadership that is carrying the work for justice forward every day, in communities throughout Oregon.

While I am saddened by the passing of these people I so admire, I take comfort in knowing that there are others who are taking the lessons of the past and creating a path for a future in which those who face injustice today will live better lives tomorrow.

Guest blog post by Sheryl Sackman.