- Being light-skinned is a different way to move through the world, it is a different experience, period.

We're able to slip into spaces and then hold the door open.

(mellow music) - AJ has always been AJ.

She has always been somebody who is a force to reckon with.

- I graduated from Benson High School in Northeast Portland.

I went to Xavier University in Louisiana.

I was in Les Femmes Debutante which really helped shaped my interest in community service.

- Ever since I've known her she's really kind of been a little stubborn about getting done what she truly feels needs to get done.

- Work-wise, my background is in marketing and development around fundraising, and I hated it.

I've always wanted to do this kind of work directly for my community and be able to live off of it.

And so during the pandemic, I actually created that job.

(upbeat music) When I think about community, I think of a circle.

We're raising money for equity, we're actively giving.

And the word circle is encompassing all of the things that we are doing.

We have a food program where we are buying produce from Black and Brown farmers and giving that produce weekly to Black and Brown families across the Metro area.

We've started some other little projects, including The Plant Jam.

And it's just an ask for white folks to give plants to BIPOC folks, Black, Indigenous, People of Color.

- [Woman In Denim] We are providing reparations to the community through plants.

So we have a wall right here, also like hanging, look at all the different nooks and crannies of course, 'cause there's something everywhere.

- It's just a really beautiful way to create community care.

And it's also a way to teach and practice reparations.

'Cause we're practicing sharing things that we have with other people, no strings attached.

You did it with a plant, now you can do it with money.

- [Woman In Denim] You want a little box?

- [Woman In Pink] Yes.

- [AJ] Having the right team has made all of this work possible.

We really do care about the families that we serve, and we want to serve more families.

- [Deoshia] Let's put those here.

- So when people say this box feels like it was packed with love and care, 'cause it was.

♪ Hey (upbeat music) - [Deoshia] So I've been in the nonprofit world now for about seven months.

I was the executive chef at a restaurant here in Portland.

Due to COVID, I pivoted and made the transition to doing fantastic work for the community.

- [Liz] This week, our protein is eggs, our carbs is potatoes, every box gets one of each onion.

- [AJ] So this is Liz, one of our CSA food directors.

- [Liz] We've got cabbage, squash, greens, brussels, and it looks like we've got some peppers as well.

- [AJ] Perfect, Liz has been one of the most amazing parts about building this.

- [Liz] And these are heavy (laughs).

- [AJ] These are really heavy.

The details in food systems and food delivery is not my skillset.

It's really exciting that I get to learn, 'cause she's an amazing teacher.

- [Liz] Awesome, have a great day, thank you!

- [Man] Bye.

- [Liz] I enjoy doing this work because I get to connect with my ancestors in another way.

So especially during these tumultuous times, it's nice to tap into that, and do something my people have been doing for a long time.

(soft music) - [AJ] Getting to build with a team of Black women, Black femmes and Indigenous women in Portland, Oregon, is profound.

We're creating community healing, we're creating jobs.

We're celebrating, it's the best feeling.

♪ I can get fly off a fly ♪ Fly off a fly ♪ I can get fly off a fly ♪ Fly away ♪ Do see the light, don't hesitate now ♪ ♪ There's too much in front of you ♪ ♪ To take a hit now ♪ Fly off a fly ♪ Fly away, yeah yeah E-G-C's work really is about creating dignity and care and love.

And there's a lot of food programs that happen in our city, state, and nationwide that are horrible.

They're just expired food, not culturally specific food.

And they do not include the Black and Brown food purveyors or farmers.

(mellow music) So we're at Headwaters, this is an incubator program.

It is helping the farmers get situated as a farmer, teaching themselves, offering them different resources.

So we're gonna go out and see Little Sun Farm, one of the Indigenous farms that we work with.

It's so pretty out here.

- [Reiden] Hey.

- [AJ] Hey!

- [Reiden] Thanks for coming.

- [Liz] Thanks for having us!

- [AJ] Reiden is one of our Indigenous farmers.

She's from the Pueblo tribe, growing a lot of foods that are from her background, from her cultures.

- [Reiden] They are edible.

(women laughing) - It's so good, it's super sweet still!

- [Reiden] Right, the frost actually does that.

- [AJ] Does it taste like dirt?

- That's just on the outside.

- [AJ] Hopefully our program will help more Black and Brown farmers and Indigenous farmers.

Ooh, I like that color, these are my favorite.

We really believe in giving people food that we as a group would want to eat.

And so on the same tip, we are paying market rate.

Which is really awesome for the farmers, so that they can actually have a chance of surviving.

Reiden, I'm taking this home with me.

Let's do business in a way that's sustainable for everybody.

Should have brought my fancy basket.

- [Liz] I see why people want to be out here working, 'cause that view is amazing.

- [Reiden] Alright, hoop house time.

- [AJ] It's been really cool to get feedback from the families.

Having access to farm fresh veggies is helping their health, helping their wellness.

Supporting Black and Brown farmers, supporting Indigenous folks, supporting women-owned businesses is the root of our work.

So we get to support people that look like us, that move through the world like us, it's magic.

Our generation, who are now moving in spaces of power professionally, our ask is different.

The way that we think is differently, the way that we show up is differently.

Like this is the recipe for amazing things to happen.

My name is AJ McCreary and these are my expressions.

(upbeat music)