Wall of Moms may have imploded but Black-led groups are picking up where it left off in Portland

As Demetria Hester walked to a bank of microphones — wearing a red “Know Your Rights” t-shirt, a fist raised high over head — a crowd broke into applause.

The Portland activist had spent the night in jail after her arrest during protests against police brutality and racial injustice in the Oregon city and supporters and reporters had gathered outside the justice center to await her release.

“This is about our future. This about our peace, our peace of mind to walk down the street and care for each other again,” Hester said leaning into the microphones as two other women stood beside her in a video captured by CNN affiliate KATU.

Already a known activist against racism in Portland, Hester has emerged as a prominent voice among the city’s community of activist moms as one of the Black women leading Moms United for Black Lives.

Along with Mxm Bloc PDX, the group arose out of the collapse of Wall of Moms amid allegations of anti-Blackness and are pushing to ensure that Black people — roughly 6% of the population in Portland — remain the focus of the movements that directly impact their lives.

“Always but particularly now, we wanted to come together and channel that mom energy that came together in Wall of Moms into supporting the organizations in Portland, supporting the Black and other communities of color,” Raschelle Chase, who leads Mxm Bloc PDX, told CNN.

Leaders with ‘skin in the game’

Both groups have been growing quickly.

Hester led a group from Moms United to March on Washington for the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s iconic speech, which she called a “beautiful and epic moment in history.”

Part of the success of the groups has come from the “visceral difference” of the leadership of Black women who have “skin in the game,” Chase said.

Black mothers have been fighting for their communities and their families for centuries, which has given them insight into the pain of oppression and a vision for the future, Hester said.

“It hits us really hard,” Chase said. “Every time there is another murder, it’s really it feels like a death in the family.”

The mothers have their own experiences with racism and violence. Hester testified in the trial of Jeremy Christian, a White man convicted of killing two men who confronted him over his racist rants on a MAX light-rail train in Portland.

The night before the killing, Hester confronted him, too. He then attacked her and left her eye swollen, and though she went to police over the incident he was not arrested before attacking again. Hester said she couldn’t help but think her race contributed to her story not being heard.

She got the chance to assert her story at the trial, holding steady even when he addressed her and targeted her directly in court, she said.

But voices like hers were not being elevated in the original iteration of Wall of Moms, some former members of the group said.

Origins in conflict

Wall of Moms formed in the heady days of the Portland protests when federal agents descended on the city and clashed with protesters. The moms of varying ages and races, clad in yellow shirts and bike helmets, made national headlines when they used their bodies to form a barrier between protesters and the agents.

The show of solidarity, according to some members, was short-lived if it existed at all, and soon Wall of Moms imploded under accusations that its founder was not valuing and elevating the voices of Black members.

Conflicts arose between members, clashes broke out with Hester as the head of Don’t Shoot Portland and eventually the group’s founder, Bev Barnum, was removed from leadership, former members said.

In a statement to CNN, Barnum disputed some of those claims.

“I included, and encouraged Black voices during the entire Wall of Moms viral process,” Barnum said in a statement. “I believe that the BLM movement is the most important fight of our time. I know it’s not the only fight though… After everything, I have only love for everyone going forward because we need everyone to bring about systemic change.”

A vision for Portland

But despite disagreements, the result has been the formation of two groups that are focused on advocating for the Black community in Portland, which Chase said has been disconnected in the predominately White city.

And though former members felt division between White and Black moms in Wall of Moms, Mxm Bloc strives to be a touch point of community for Black moms in Portland as well as bring along White moms to show where they can be of service, Chase said. Sometimes, she said, it is gestures of solidarity as simple as sending ice cream or a houseplant.

Hester and Moms United are in the thick of Portland protests, but both her group and Mxm Bloc are mobilizing local moms to encourage groups working for racial justice to exchange funds and labor to support one another.

Mxm Bloc connects all caregivers — not just moms — with causes that could use their monetary donations and labor to support food justice, equitable housing, education, reparations and healthcare for the Black community in Portland, according to the group’s Facebook.

Moms United is providing resources, including therapy and financial assistance, to families of police violence, Hester said.

“It’s such a mental strain to worry about your loved one being killed and then if your rent is paid,” Hester said.