Ronault "Polo" Catalani provides a 'bigger voice' for immigrants

This is about a civil rights lawyer who helps the city and the immigrant community understand each other better. This way everyone benefits. DP

by Gosia Wozniacka, The Oregonian

Ronault L.S. Catalani -- aka "Polo" -- is a Portland civil rights lawyer and coordinator at Portland's Office of Human Rights. Catalani specializes in advocacy for the area's immigrants and refugees, with his distinct approach of solving problems "around the kitchen table."

After an alarm went off at Roosevelt High School, Portland police arrested two Hmong teens, members of an ethnic group from Southeast Asia. The youths later were released and found innocent. The police apologized, but many of Portland's Hmong refugees from war-torn Laos remained frightened and confused.

Ronault L.S. Catalani, a Portland-area lawyer and community activist who also hails from Asia, advised an odd repayment.

"I explained to the policemen that, for us, saying sorry is not enough. We have a proverb: 'Respect is not in words, respect is in deeds.' You have to give something to heal the break."

So, one morning Catalani ushered the officers into a Hmong leader's home. The policemen wielded two live chickens. Hmong elders and their families crowded in.
The chickens were sacrificed in a special ceremony, their lives given in an effort to repair the relationships that had been breached.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.