Power of Place // Juneteenth Event
- Thu, Jun 19
Event Runtime: 120 min.
TICKETS $15
Doors 6:30 p.m.; Event 7 p.m.
Select Showtime to Purchase Tickets
Come early to meet the folks in the film and shop local Black businesses.
Click here to learn more about accessibility at the Tomorrow Theater.
THE EXPERIENCE
Celebrate Juneteenth with an evening of film, conversation, and community. We’ll kick things off with two compelling short films—Dear Young Black Portland and Where We Goin: The Power of Place—each capturing personal and collective stories rooted in Black identity, home, and belonging. After the screenings, stick around for a live, interactive conversation with the filmmakers and local voices who bring these stories to life. Together, we’ll dive into what it means to claim space, build community, and honor the power of place.
ON SCREEN: Dear Young Black Portland
Directed by Devin Boss. Written by Donovan Scribes. Runtime: 7 minutes. Not Rated.
Sharon Gary-Smith—a Portland native in her 70s who is the former president of NAACP Portland—once lost her childhood home through eminent domain. She has loved, lost, and mentored. She used to want to burn it all down. Now, from this side of the mountain, she shares the wisdom that time, reflection and love have brought her to the next generation in a not-to-be-missed visual letter.
ON SCREEN: Where We Goin: The Power of Place
Directed by Devin Boss. Produced by Zoe Piliafas, Donovan Scribes, Devin Boss, Elizabeth Stock. Runtime: 29 minutes. Not Rated.
Devin Boss is on a quest. And he wants you to join him as he explores this simple question: Where We Goin? A millennial Black filmmaker and artist raised in the heart of the whitest city in America—Portland, Oregon—Boss ventures out to uncover the deeper truths that have shaped not just his city, but his very identity. Boss invites us all along for the ride as he explores the work of Black creatives, cultural stewards, and changemakers past and present. He aims to snatch back the narratives about community resilience, and innovation as he examines his roots, dreaming of what’s next for him and all the future ancestors.
ON STAGE: Michael Alexander, Albina Vision Trust Board Chair
Portland State University named Michael Alexander, the former president and CEO of the Urban League of Portland, as interim vice president for Global Diversity and Inclusion in May of 2018. He served in that role until his retirement in June of 2019. Prior to his time at PSU, he headed the Urban League from 2012 to 2015, when he was widely credited for restoring fiscal discipline to the organization and reconnecting it with community partners. Prior to that, he served in executive roles at Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon, Magellan Behavioral Health, Human Affairs International and Aetna, including four years as vice president and executive director of the Aetna Foundation.
He currently chairs the boards of The Albina Vision Trust and the Black United Fund. Additionally, he serves on the Portland Planning Commission, the board of Providence Health Plan and the community advisory board of Wells Fargo.
ON STAGE: Donovan Scribes, Executive Producer of Where We Goin: The Power of Place
Donovan Scribes (fka Donovan M. Smith) is an award-winning writer, producer, and communications consultant. A former journalist, he has written for publications like The Oregonian and iHeartRadio, in addition to co-hosting and producing the top 100 iTunes podcast Uprising: A Guide from Portland. He served as Vice President of the Portland NAACP and secured $3 million+ to reimagine George Park in North Portland. Scribes recently produced a commemorative issue of the Portland Mercury to commemorate the 5 year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder titled BLACKOUT: a 5 Year Retrospective on Portland’s Racial Justice protests released in May 2025. A fourth-generation Portlander, Scribes uses multimedia art forms to elevate history and creatively shape our futures.
ON STAGE: Intisar Abioto, Multidisciplinary artist and curator
Intisar Abioto is an artist and storyteller currently living and working in Portland, Oregon. Working within and between the forms of dance, photography, collaboration, prose, and poetry, Abioto explores the meaning of time, space, and belonging within the construction of who, where, and what composes the African diaspora. Abioto has traveled across North America, Europe, and Africa to tell stories of personal identity and collective belonging. Her work interprets the tradition of Africans who can fly into contemporary and local landscapes, highlighting the fluidity of migration across national and natural boundaries With the five women artists in her family, she is a cofounder of Studio Abioto.
ON STAGE: Devin Boss, Executive Producer and Director of Where We Goin: The Power of Place
Devin Boss, a Northeast Portland native, is a director and the owner of North East Productions. Under his leadership, North East Productions creates documentaries and short films that explore culture and the fascinating lives of characters on journeys to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. North East Productions has earned significant recognition, including two Telly Awards for social impact and short-form broadcast documentary, as well as the Best Short Documentary award at the Portland Film Festival.
Devin also directed the short documentary What We Lost Along the Way, funded by the Outdoor Adventure Film Grant from Travel Oregon and Oregon Film. The film won the Best Shorts Award at the worldwide Best Shorts Competition and was well-received at its screening at the November 2024 Portland Film Festival.
