Mother's day in Portland, Oregon

Two Mother's Day events in Northeast Portland will highlight immigrant rights and support for gay children

• At 10 a.m. Saturday, May 7, at the corner of Northeast Killingsworth Street and Cully Boulevard, Latina moms will advocate for social justice. Supporters will march to Fernhill Park at the corner of Northeast Ainsworth Street and Cesar Chavez Boulevard.

Last year, Adam Cole decided to write an original song to honor his mom on Mother's Day. Little did the Stanford biology graduate student know, his gift was about to be heard by 100,000 people.

Childbirth can be a deadly matter in the U.S., especially if you are middle or working class. But it was when looking at race and income together that one civil rights organization decided it needed a new lens.

Women in the U.S. living in lowest-income areas are twice as likely to die during pregnancy and childbirth, according to a groundbreaking report released today by Amnesty International. In Amnesty’s one year update to their Deadly Delivery report on maternal health, they showed that the U.S. is one of the most dangerous countries to go give birth in the west, especially if you are poor.

In addition to its legislative work to create racial impacts statements and administering a community garden, The Urban League of Portland is working to create a statewide community health worker program, where Black community members will be trained to support Black pregnant women, in the tradition of a doula.

Because, as Purcell says so clearly, “I believe reproductive justice is part and parcel of civil rights and social justice.”

Leona Vogel will celebrate her 109th birthday on Mother's Day — happy to be blessed by God with another day to help others and bring them cheer.

Vogel likes to sit near the front door in her wheelchair and greet people as they enter Harbor Place at Port St. Lucie, where she has lived since 2007.

When staff members walk by, they make a beeline to hug her and chat for a minute.