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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 11, 1971)
Blacks are American as any P l KTLAND/OBSERVKR F fc b .ll, 1971 The Northwest’s Best Weekly A Black Owned Publication Published even Thursday by Exie Publishing Company, 2726 N.E. Union Ave.. Portland. Oregon, 97212. Subscription rates: 60 cents per month by earner, $5.00 per year; $6. (Ml per year by mail in Tri-County area; $6.25 per year by mail outside Tri-Countv area. Phone 232 0929 ALFRED LEE HENDERSON, Publisher and Editor Model Cities (second series) Program . New Construction : Acquire vacant lots and land occupied by dilapidated structures for constructin of new housing necessary to meet various needs of local residents. U tilize Neighborhood Develop ment Program fo r financing land acquisition and all avail able public and private financ ing fo r construction. Neighborhood Development Program : U tilize urban re newal program to achieve hous ing g o a l by establishing a Neighborhood Development Pro gram fo r theentire Model cities area. Public Housing : A ssist the Housing Authority of Poi tland in expanding its le a s in g pro gram fo r existing housing and provide vacant land fo r const ruction of needed new housing. Encourage modification of rental increase procedures based on increased renter in come. Residential Development Pro gram: Study the m e a n s of organizing a citizen ow ned and controlled non-profit corp oration to expedite new hous ing construction and rehabilita tion. By nature of this program RDP is a natural means fo r the participation of citizens in the economic and social bene fits arising from the total Model C ities housing program . This is the second in a series ol stories to provide Portland Observer readers with intorniation about Model C ities Program . The Model C ities planning process is based on the con cept that citizens should be involved in determining th e m ajor issues that w ill shape their neighborhoods and af- th e ir neighborhoods and aliect their lives. During the Planning Year fo r Model C ities citizens participated in work ing committees to set th e five year objectives and strategies fo r the program . In the areas of housing some definite objectives are planned. In the areas of phy sical housing strategies are the following: Maintenance : P re s e rv e and improve the condition of a standard single and m u lti-fa m ily h o u s in g by encouraging owner maintenance and clean-up programs and by developing an ellective code enforcement program . A va riety of financial s o u r c e s w ill be utilized. Rehabilitation : Rehabilitate substandard housing w h e re economically feasible. U tilize Housing and Urban Development programs, the Neighborhood Development Program and grants and loans from a seed money pool from the M odel C ities Residential Development K e lly ’s MOBIL SERVICE 2 6 4 3 N.E. 7th 2 8 2 -2 8 5 8 Auto Repair Tune Ups & Brake Jobs have been elected to high tree Negroes in Am erica. office in cities, 1860 there were 463,070 . government towns and the federal govern The number of free Negroes ment. Among the large cities in 1800 in Maryland w as towns now ruled by Blacks 53,942; in V irg inia, 58,042 ; are Cleveland, Ohio;(5th la rg North Carolina, 30,463 ; Louisiana, 18,467; District est in Am erica), Gary,Indiana; Springfield, Ohio; and several of Columbia, 11,131 ; Ken other, in which there are tucky, 10,638, o r 250,787 in Black M ayors. Fayetteville , the South. another town Blacks contributed to the M ississippi, is where recently a black mayor development of Am erica in has been elected. Senators, music, in politics and govern Congressmen, and even mem ment, in agriculture and in dustry, education, h e a lth , bers of the President’ s cabinet. commerce, war science, re l Blacks are represented. The igion, labor, and in fact, in current president of the I J.S. every other field of labor. does not fascinate Blacks’ res There are many fields. Blacks pect and support by his ignor haven’ t just been inc hided, ing them fo r cabinet posts. but they have outstripped the There are m illions of Black whites in several fields. children in the schools, colleges Blacks have contributed more universities today. W ilberforce and have made more p ro r- U niversity, (AJM.E.) Church, is the oldest Black U niversity, own ress since emancipation in Volumes could be said Am erica than any other group ed and operated solely by Black o r w ritten on the above ques perhaps in the world history. in Am erica. Howard U niversity tions without exhaustion. But Blacks have and are u tili founded in 18b7 by General we shall only touch on a few zing the great possibilities Howard, is probably the only vital areas. Negroes were in Am erica, is not a gainsaid educational institution , in with the fir s t whites who Am erica that depends on the fact. came to A m erica. Alonzo Blacks therefore should con federal government fo r support. was pilot of the P ietro sider themselves m erely a d is Althoughit is usually regarded one of the ships Nina, tinct race with its own cul a Negro Institution, it is op of Christopher Columbus. tural and historical background erated for students of all races Negroes were with Vasco Bal but as also an American c iti creeds and both sexes. boa who discovered the Paci zen like all other Am erican. Blacks have always tiail the fic Coast . They were also It is fo r Am erica’ s benefit support of some liberal whites with Herman Cortez in and advancement that the in tlie ir efforts to secure Mexico and the explores of Negro strives as well as fo r freedom, security and hap Guatemaela, Chile, ire and his own. While strivin g fo r piness. But none have ec Venezuela. the common good, Blacks have lipsed (as leader) the late Negroes were thus exp D r. M artin Luther King. The lores anf ussistants to those given America m illio n of men and women in the armed force abolitionists were devoted to who fir s t cam to these shores. many the cause of Negro emancipa Many Negroes cam to A m er during the wars, plus of physicians, den tion. Whites have supported ica as indentured servants and thousands tists, nurses, scientists and the cause of Negro freedom, like that class of whites were others associated with the arm y. equality and opportunity ever in some cases set free after IN GOVERNMENT: Blacks since the days ol slavery; des serving the tenure of their have proved unquestionably their pite the m illions of them who positions of employment. Other ability of successful govern have done otherwise. I he were captured slaves whose ment. Despite their long white support can s till lie condition remained unaltered years of political segregation counted upon. Next to the Black throughout th e ir lives. There and denial of the ballot and Church, 1 think that the NAACP children were born slaves, office. Blacks have wrought HAS been the strongest agency but occassionally a liberal m arvelously in government or organization in the Negro’ s master either freed his Negroes have governed more cause although many other slaves or permitted them than 60 towns and settlements recent groups have risen upon to purchase their freedom. in Am erica. The most fam i the scene. There were 59,557 free lia r and best known of these Negroes in Am erica by 1790 is Mound Bayou, M ississippi, of whom 35,000 lived in the which was founded by Isaiah South. From 1790 to 1810 Cosh and Maxey’s T . Montgomery. It has a very the rate of increase of free splendid population, and is Barber Shop Negroes exceeded that of so well governed that it has slaves. A fter 1810 however, no use fo r a ja il which it 46 0 3 N. William» Avenue the opposite was the case abandoned many years ago. Phone 2 84 -5 188 in most instances. In recent years Blacks By 1850 there were 431,455 The following questions excite interest on part of many as we address ourselves to Black Studies today. They are old questions, but yet im port ant questions. 1. When did the Negro come to Am erica and under what circumstances did he firs t come to these shores? 2. Why did the Negro come) to Am erica and how did he fare? 3. What right h3S the Negro to claim himself an Am er ican? 4. What are his chances of realizing his best achieve ments in Am erica and under what circumstances? 5. How should the Am er ican Negro proceed to achieve his highest freedom and se curity? W H O D HAVE THOUGHT W H ITE CATS W O U L D BE C O P Y IN G BLACK CATS? S a v in g S p e c ia l O n ly *4.00 for 52 issues W IT H THLS C O U PON Hom-, delivery in the Portland O bierver i» available for a »mall extra charge in most of the Portland metropolitan area THE PORTLAND OBSERVER Home Delivery 2726 NJS.UNION AVENUE PORTLAND, OREGON 97212 1 oddrei» $tote & W o p t , «• an y Telephon« Ask anyone in the fashion in- d u s t r y . When a black cat cro sses your path, brother, th at's good luck. ’’The Negro shopper is my g u i d e , "say s an executive at Carson P in e Scott. "If I see him buying yellow shirts I start to buy greater quantities of the color which will Alter down to white men a little later. ("Two years la te r," in the judgment of the people at Kosin, the Detroit menswear store.) Men’s wear magazine agrees. "American Negroes form an in dependent fashion group whose tastes filter down to influence the general men’s wear mar ket." But who influences the influ ences? " I personally feel that the Black news media is the most effective medium around today," concludes the men’s wear buyer at Strawbridge & Clothier. "I'd like to see more manu facturers take out ads in the black news media on the brands that we stock." W ith good reason, Portland O bserver readers s(>end 35% more of their income (median $7,584) on clothes than whites. Eor instance, 75,,; more black liought $100- and- over suits then the city average. And that's almost 10% more than the total city men in $10,000 to $15,000 income class. Furtherm ore, on the national level, the comparison with the U.S. Average, 107% more black men bought at least 7 dress Ixiught at least 16 pairs of hose <285% more thought at least 11 pairs of support hose); 109% more bought at least 4 pairs of shoes; and 80% more txrnght at least 2 hats. Little wonder that advertisers like Manhattan sh irts, London Eog coats, Jay mar-Ruby slacks, Florsheim and Stacy Adams shoes, Stetson hats, and Petro- celli suits turn to the Black news media to influence the black and white cats. T h e r e are some merchants who have a moral conscious knowing that some of their cus tom ers are black take out ads because they want to help Ixiild all community business by plac ing a few dollars back into the community. Many other advertisers of f o o d , drug, home furnishings, automobiles, airlines and per sonal grooming products, they know that the black market (Portland Observer) is a spend more market and cannot lx? overlooked. Besides, Portland Observer advertisers figures that what the Observer readers Ixiy today will "filte r down" to the rest of the cats before long. For further I n f o r m a t i o n , please call Lew’s Man's Shop "House of Style" 113N. Russell 282-4900, William Greaby, Re gional Loan Manager UJ>. Nat’l Bank, Portland, Oregon, Leon Washington, publisher of the Los Angeles Sentinel, East 43rd St. Los Angeles, Calif., Fitz gerald Beaver, publisher of Fact News, Seattle, Wash.
