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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 1984)
/ Zucchini bread and a game of killer Scrabble by Garcia Phelps Since joining Black Lesbians and Gays United a friend of mine has mentioned that he doesn't think I like him as much as I used to. His statement came as a bit of a surprise to me as I felt that I had always liked him too much for my own good. I would have been pleased at my ability to move him from one region of my affections to another had his distress seemed less genuine and had B.L.G.U. had anything to do with it It hadn’t His concern, however, that an attitude that would prompt me to join B.L.G.U. might also encourage a distance between us is shared to varying degrees among some other friends of mine and I find this notion puzzling. My friend’s reason is that he thinks, based on our name and membership, B.LG.U. is a sep aratist and antagonistic organization. He sees in my membership a part of me not open to him or not willing to make peace with him as white or straight There is for those who have loved me for my race a hard recognition of the fact that they cannot own blackness and that the experience, even if lived through me, is closed to them. What consolation I can offer comes simply to me. Instead of being a brand of easy re assurance, ("There, there. I still think you’re swell.’’), I point out a simple fact B.LG.CJ. meets once a month on a Sunday afternoon for the most innocuous and traditional of functions — a potluck supper and social. The unlikely vision of people planning revolution or encouraging terrorist acts over zucchini bread and a game of killer Scrabble is enough to correct nearly anybody's notion of what B.L.G.U. is. However out of friendship and a desire for understanding I am moved to continue. We do have serious discussions. We are aware of what our position in society can be and are not quite pleased with it. Yet the atmosphere at the meetings is no tainted with resentment toward the world. The common reasoning that we ar an antagonistic organization as sumes that a group of Black people meet only to design some punitive move against society at large. This thinking gives me the same impression as the sight of a man racing desperately for the wrong train. There is such a sense of misguided fear in it — misguided if only because I have never left a meeting of B.LG.U. eager to dissent with whites. Rather I feel an emphasized union with Blacks. The focus changes from people bound together by a com m on oppression to people coming together through common experience and STAR TALK AQ UARIUS The Water Bearer The Sign of the REFORMER January 2 0 - February 18 A Transpersonal, Fixed Air Sign Keynote: Originality “I’m Different” by Douglas Bloch Aquarius the water bearer creates a new order through shattering the forms and structures established in Capricorn. In devi ating from the norm, the nontraditional Aquarian assumes many roles — as the progressive reformer, radical revolutionary or the philanthropic eccentric. Aquarius’ m oti vation for prompting social change is simple: he wishes to improve the lives of his fellow human beings. Aquarius, therefore, identifies with the com m on man and government by democracy just as Leo symbolizes the king who rules in a monarchy. IRA's: How good are they? by Diana Plunkett T am ak Fragrance Specialists There is still time to open or add to an individual retirement account for a 1983 tax deduction. Unlike most tax deductions, January 1 st does not close off your opportun ity to contribute to an IRA. We have until the due date our tax returns, including exten sions, to make the decision on a retirement account An IRA is a savings plan that lets you set aside money for your retirem ent Payments to it are tax deductible and earnings of your IRA are not taxed until they are distributed to you. Anyone who has earned income is eligi ble to set up an IRA. Earned income includes wages, salaries, professional fees, commis sions and net earnings from self-employ m ent If you earn $2,000 or more, you can 3228 SE Hawthorne 234-5375 “ We ship throughout the world’' T a m a k is the sole outlet in the N. W . for • Darveaux Chocolate Fudge Perfume and Cologne • Patrician House Fragrances Alita Corina • Liidi of Switzerland • Anonym • Yendi • Quartz • Opium An inner city Hot Springs 8 minutes from downtown CDM M ON GRQUND a coytr for wrl/nos-— 14 embracing through a shared culture. The people at our monthly gathering echo those of family and past neighbors. The dis cussions proceed not so much through shared politics as through a shared under standing. A recent ad in another local gay newspaper, whose intent was belligerent, was understood immediately. We all knew what it Hot Tubs — Sauna — Massage 2917 N.E. Everett (503) 238-4010 meant and knew that the cords it was meant to pull in us were generations old. We under stood the author and his generation. And to this degree we did not receive its/his power and did not let it inappropriately move us. This com m on knowledge is the reason for B.LG.Cl.’s existence, and is the source of our strength. Aquarius is an air sign and thus social by nature. Hence, many Aquarians work with people in group projects, especially those of a humanitarian bent You’ve no doubt met the idealistic water bearer who joins dozens of philanthropic societies from Greenpeace to the Grey Panthers. When his involvment in causes becomes excessive, however, Aquarius can get lost in his transpersonal ideals, relating to you not as an individual, but as an abstraction. His impersonal, detached mode of relating is especially frustrating to the water signs who desire intimacy and closeness. Thus, while Aquarians make great friends and colleagues, they usually leave the romance and passion to Leo and Scorpio. Aquarius is the sign of the scientist/ inventor, and for good reason. The Aquarian m ind is independent, unorthodox and innovative. It uses logic, and yet transcends logic. Ideas appear in lightning-like flashes. The inventor Thomas Edison used his Aqua rian ingenuity to patent more than a hundred inventions in his lifetime. Foremost of these was the light bulb, whose sudden illumina tion symbolizes the mental processes of the intuitive thinker. contribute a maximum of $2,000 each year even if you are covered by a qualified retire ment plan. Consider an IRA versus a regular savings program. Assume a 30% tax bracket and that 30% o f both principal and interest would be lost to income taxes. If contributions of $2,000 per year were made for 25 years to a savings program where 12% was com pounded continuously, the value of your ac count at the end of 25 years would be $127,155.40. If you contributed $2,000 per year for 25 years to an IRA where 12% was compounded continuously, the value of your IRA at the end of 25 years would be $348,650.49— a difference of $221,495.09! An IRA should be considered only as a retirement program not as a temporary sav ings account Should you withdraw your con tribution before you reach age 59 Vi or are permanently disabled, you have to add it back into your income and pay federal and state income taxes plus an additional tax equal to 10% of the premature withdrawal. A WOMAN’S PLACE I 2349 SE ANKENY 12-6 MON-SAT 20% O FF ON ALL BLACK " *■ UTERATCIREl IN ¡FEBRUARY! Just Out February 3-February 17
