User:Lbkatielb/sandbox

PFLAG Portland, beginning in 1977, is an organization created to support Parents, Families, Lesbians, and Gay individuals in Portland, Ore. PFLAG is a volunteer run national organization that is built up of over 400 locally ran chapters. Chapters are locally ran sub-organizations that fall under the PFLAG umbrella. Portland’s Black Chapter began in 2009 and was PFLAG’s first African American Chapter in the nation.

The volunteer ran organization PFLAG, originally an acronym for Parenting, Families, Lesbians, and Gays, is an organization that supports all LGBTQ+ members. With over 200,000 members across the nation alone, their goal is to celebrate diversity and provide resources to those within PFLAG.

Portland's Black Chapter: Beginnings
One of the 400 chapters within PFLAG was Portland's Black Chapter that was under the umbrella of PFLAG Portland. This was PFLAG's first African American chapter created in 2009. Their focus was to empower youth and to educate families of issues in America surrounding LGBTQ+ and BIPOC individuals. Portland's Black Chapter had members in Portland, Ore. and was ran on donations and helping hands.

Portland's Black Chapter: Rebranding
In 2016, Portland's Black Chapter had disagreements with PFLAG's way of running their organization and decided to become independent from PFLAG Portland. These disagreements were surrounding the way of operating on donations. Portland's Black Chapter was not surviving with donations and needed to pay their staff. In a result of this, Portland's Black Chapter's director, Khalil Edward, created a new website called Sankofa Collective Northwest. This was their new group that had the same goals and agenda as the original Portland's Black Chapter, but now had independence from PFLAG. This organization is no longer in use and ended the same year it was created, 2016.