IN MY SHOES
Storytelling and place-making through youth-led walking tours
In My Shoes is an interactive storytelling and place-making project that invites community members, elected leaders, and public safety workers to gather for a simple premise: walk, listen, and learn. Curated and led by Word is Bond’s community ambassadors, In My Shoes creates space for youth leaders to share their stories and develop urban planning and public speaking skills. All walking tours are led by Word is Bond community ambassadors and offer seasonal tours of their personal neighborhoods and the Historic Albina District. Through the In My Shoes curriculum, ambassadors conduct walking audits of their neighborhoods, attend neighborhood association meetings, and research the history of their communities. They use the data collected in these efforts to propose improvements to city leaders for their community. The tours are designed to highlight the voices, dreams, and experiences of rising Black men as well as the neighborhoods in which they live. Through personal stories, music, and poetry, tours address topics of race, class, community investment, gentrification, community safety, and equity.
Placemaking
In My Shoes provides a platform for young Black men to be part of placemaking, leading to a more collaborative and equitable process of creating community and ensuring that neighborhoods and the city reflect Black cultural identity and history.
Community
In My Shoes walking tours are for the entire community. Folks from all walks of life come out to our tours to walk, listen, and learn.
Informing Public Safety
In My Shoes walking tours are often held in partnership with local public safety agencies. The tours offer public safety agencies an opportunity to learn about the communities in which they serve and how to better engage youth who live in them.
Preserving history
In the Historic Albina District walking tour, Ambassadors share the history of Portland’s Black community, highlighting important buildings and community gathering spaces like Dawson Park, where history is just a memory, it is alive and present.
In My Shoes 5K Community Walk
The In My Shoes 5K Community Walk is held annually in September. This heart-healthy, family-friendly event features fun for the whole community, with guest speakers along the walk, community resources, free food, and live music. It’s a space for the community to meet, learn, and take action!
Request
You can schedule your own private In My Shoes walking tour for your group, big or small. We’ve hosted schools, bike clubs, elected leaders, businesses, and universities. Tours are offered on a sliding scale depending on your group size. Click below to request an idea, and let’s collaborate.
Media
FEATURED ARTICLES
“Celebrating Black History Month? These 5 Cities Are Going All Out” | NY Times
“Want to really understand Portland’s neighborhoods? Give Black youth the megaphone” | OPB
“‘In my shoes’ walking tours offer street-level perspectives from young Black men” | BikePortland
“Word is Bond presents In My Shoes” | Life Inspired
“Walking tours to highlight experiences of Black men in Portland” | KGW Portland
