TICKETS $15

Doors 6:30 p.m.; Event 7 p.m.
Select Showtime to Purchase Tickets

Click here to learn more about accessibility at the Tomorrow Theater. 

THE EXPERIENCE

Tough Shit is an onstage conversation about the most challenging questions Portlanders are facing. We’ll bring together four people with very different experiences of and perspectives on the city to talk through some shit with help from the audience and a moderator. The questions will be tough, and this shit will not be resolved in one night; We expect to leave with more questions than answers, plus some renewed hope for the future. And if not, well….

Speakers include Sankar Raman, JT Flowers, Kayla Kennett, and Georgia Lee Hussey, and the conversation will be moderated by Adam Davis of Oregon Humanities.

Note: Oregon Humanities may email guests after this event with a short request for feedback to help shape future programs. 

ON STAGE:

Sankar Raman

Sankar Raman is the founder and board president of The Immigrant Story, a nonprofit that chronicles stories of immigrants and refugees in a variety of formats to advance a national dialogue about immigration and to dispel myths about new Americans. Raman immigrated to the US from India to attend graduate school, earning a masters in physics and a PhD in engineering from Purdue University. After a successful career in high tech, he now applies his technical knowledge, managerial skills, and pragmatic mind to leading the nonprofit organization he founded. Raman is an award-winning digital art photographer, storyteller, community leader and a motivational speaker.

JT Flowers

JT Flowers is a lifelong Portlander born and bred in the heart of inner-Northeast Portland’s historic Albina district. Raised by a single mother and grandmother, neither of whom graduated from college, JT went on to earn his BA in political science with distinction from Yale University. A Truman Scholar, Flowers also made history by becoming the first Black Rhodes Scholar in Oregon’s history. He holds master’s degrees in US history and music performance from the University of Oxford. JT serves as Senior Advisor at the Albina Vision Trust in addition to representing District 5 on TriMet’s Board of Directors, which encompasses large portions of North and Northeast Portland. He also serves as the Board Vice Chair of the Williams & Russell CDC and is the founder of Article V, an organization geared towards helping working communities across Oregon secure an economic and political future built by our hands and to our benefit.

Kayla Kennett

Kayla Kennett came to Portland from New England ten years ago as an AmeriCorps volunteer, stopping along the way for service terms in Reno and Austin. Over the past decade, she has worked with and around many local community organizations, including Open School, POIC, Lines for Life, Impact NW, North Star Civic Foundation, The Street Trust, and City Club of Portland. She currently serves on the boards of the Hosford-Abernethy Neighborhood District Association, Portland: Neighbors Welcome, and The People’s Nonprofit Accelerator. In her free time, Kayla writes poetry and makes photos and photo-based graphic design, largely inspired by neighborhood walks.

Georgia Lee Hussey

Adam Davis, Moderator

HOSTED BY: Oregon Humanities

Oregon Humanities is committed to bringing people together across differences of background, experience, and belief. Each year, we offer hundreds of public conversations and programs across the state, train and support dozens of discussion facilitators, and award grants and fellowships that help people connect, reflect, and cultivate a stronger sense of agency in their communities. In our magazine and on our website, we publish stories that explore the thoughts, perspectives, and experiences of Oregonians. Our long-term hope is that the work of Oregon Humanities will make broad and significant contributions to a more cohesive, inclusive, and imaginative democratic culture.