State-Of-Black-Oregon-2015

OREGON SNAPSHOTFOR MAY BATES-PATTEN,IT’S ALL ABOUT FAMILYDespite being Black and lesbian, MayBates-Patten doesn’t worry aboutdiscrimination.The former Benson High Schoolbasketball standout works at both SEI andCharter Communications while going to schoolto become a teacher. On top of that, she playsthe role of second mother to her two daughters.Juggling work and school, she’s focused onproviding for them.For May, family support is crucial. Growing up ina religious family, she was nervous about comingout to her mother. But the family still loves andsupports her to this day.May is open about who she is with anyonewho asks. With her outgoing personalityand ambition, she gets along with almosteverybody. Her ambition was evident in middleand high school, where May says she didn’thave a sexuality. She was too focused on schooland basketball. Her athletic prowess took her tothe University of Arkansas, where she spent asemester before returning to Oregon.May explored many other areas before sherealized her calling to be a teacher. “Adults areharder to fix than kids,” she says. “Kids, you canstill influence them and show them the right way.”she’s going to be discriminated against. Thatcan lead to a confrontational first impression. Ifsomeone interviewed with her, looking for a jobwith that attitude, she admits she wouldn’t hirethat person either.She’s had no problem finding housing. Betweenher income and credit, she’s able to rentanywhere. Currently, she lives in the AlbertaDistrict, close to a host of bus lines, businesses,friends and family. Equal parts Black, Hispanicand White, everyone in her apartment complexgets along. “Everybody’s cool. Their kids playwith my kids.”May hasn’t thought about marriage, but her lackof legal rights makes her uneasy. “It’s not eventrust. It’s like faith. You have to have faith thatwhatever happens I’ll always have my kids.”For May, everything comes back to family.For May, everythingcomes back to family.A key to her success, she says, is that she doesn’tgo into a new situation with the attitude that150