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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 28, 1971)
\ I P o r tla n d /O b je r v e r T h u rs d a y , O c t. 28. 197 1 P age 4 - 'W - 'Aesop’ India is an Ancient land, like colorful story Fables BUI Cosby is not a manwho digs telling old Jokes - but on “ Aesop's Fables," half-hour live and animat«! special with music to be aired Sunday, Oct. 31 (7:30-8 p u n , PT) on the CBS Television Network, he'll be spinning som.» yarns that go back 2500 yearsl In the role of Aesop, the master sto ry -te lle r, Cosby leads a p a ir of chUdren into the enchanted land of the Fab les, wherein a n in u t« !-c a r- toon animals teach the lessons of life in simple, humorous parables. Appearing with Cosby in the modernized v e r s io n of Mambers of the Metropolitan Area i-C Council Executive Committee: from left, A . L . Aesop’ s story of The Hare and Henderson, Chairman; M s. Colleen Robertson, 3rd Vice Chairman; Lee K eil, Legal Counsel; The Tortoise (Moral:Slow and M rs . Susan Dietsche, is t Vice Chairman. Seated to the le ft: Central A dm inistrator. No’ p.c- tured: M s. Joyce Veterane, 2nd Vice-Chairman; M rs . Pat H ill, Secretary; and M s. C laire Rives, Treasurer. To Be B ill COSBY steady wins the race) are two talented black youngsters, Keith HamUton and Jerelyn F ields. According to producer Norm Prescott, there exists the d istinct possibUity that Aesop him self was a black man. Alm ost everyone has heard of him, and mast of us comm it his little m oralities to memory in childhood, but very little is actually known about the man himself. Nothing at all is recorded about his ethnic background. H istory tells us that Aesop a freedman, came to the court of King Croesus in A sia M in o r some time during the sixth Century B.C. and remained to build a reputation fo r himself among scholars as a w it and as a narrator of m oralistic tales about animals. "Aesop was not a court Jes te r type of fellow,“ saysCos- by of his current a lter ego, "even though he got a lot of laughs in his tim e ." Tbs fable became a powerful political weapon in Greece during the time of the tyrants, when free speech was not only dangerous but often fa ta l. "Everybody talks about 'relevancy'these daysJ'Cosby pointed o u t.‘ ‘ Here's a guy who is as relevant today as he was 2500 years ago." "Aesop's Fables" was pro duced by Lous Scheimer and Norman Prescott; Lee Rich is executive producer. It was d i rected by BobChenauit and Hal Sutherland. Script and special lyrics were written by E arl Hammer J r. Czech Broin The exciting Czechoslova kian folk company, Broin, w ill appear on the stage of theCivic Auditorium in Portland on Thursday, October 28, at 8:15 p jn . fo r one performance only as part of a spectacular firs t North American tour. Broin is the permanent folk comnany of the Czech province of Moravia and is based in the historic capital city of Brno. A t home and on tour, the Broin company offers a program of scintillating folk dance and song, the 35 instrumentalists, dancers and singers providing an endless delight fo r the eye, the ear and the heart. The pro gram is presented in the b ril liant regional costumes of Southern Czechoslovakia and the magnificent display of v ir tuosity w hirls through two hours of endless variety and v ita lity . It is a dazzling pro gram as likely to exhaust the audience as tie perform ers-a glowing spectacle of flowing colors, rhythms and the ro mantic poetry of M kldle-Eu- rope. At home In Czechoslovakia, Broin has enjoyed endless popularity ever since it was founded in 1952, and outside their native land, they have toured Great B rita in , Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and Russia for the past 15 years. 7 Ickets for Broin, priced at $6.00, $4.50 and $3.50 are on sale now at C elebrity A ttrac tions, 1010 S.W. M orrison In Portland. Special rales are available for student. Equal ” Vernon E , J o rd o n ,J r,n e w ly nim<xl Executive D irector of the National LTrban League, has re-inaugurated the week ly newspaper column, " T o Be Equal" , previously w ritten by- Whitney M. Young, J r . The column is sent weekly to ov e r 100 daily and weekly news papers across the country. " I ' l l be giving the black viewpoint on current issues," Jordon stated, " i t w ill be an interpretive column that places news events and topics of concern to all citizens in a black perspective. Most people - black and white - p x k up th e ir papers and read about news affecting the black commun.ty, but they ra re ly get a chance to have that news dis cussed from the black point of view. 1 plan to w rite about politics, the economic situa tion, and even foreign affairs from the standpoint of the black man's stake in the issues." J ordon, 36, was active in the c iv il rights movement in the south as an attorney, as field d ire c to r fo r the NAACP, and as d ire c to r of the voter edu cation project fo r the South ern Regional Council. Lunch money for needy children Concerned that 30,000 Ore gon needy schoolchildren may have to go without school lunches. Senator Bob Pack- wood (R -O re.) has asked the President to intervene to p re - vent what appears to be an "unlaw ful in te rp re ta tio n " of the National School Lunch Act. Under strong pressure from both Houses of Congress, the Department of A griculture last week increased re imbursement rates fo r school lunches from 35 cents to 45 cents. However, the effective ness of that m:ve was diluted by A g ricu ltu re 's follow-up decision to impose a new upper lim it on e lig ib ility fo r the program at $3,940 fo r a fam ily of four. The proposed regulation would draw a mandatory cut off of aid at the $3,940 income level. As a result, 30,000 Oregon school children would have to pay the fu ll price fo r school lunches o r gow lth- out. In a le tte r to the President, Packwood and 58 other Sena tors, charged that theDepart- ment of A griculture had inter preted the $3,940 national poverty line fo r participation in the school lunch program as a " c e ilin g " rather than a " flo o r ." "E ssentially, the National School Lunch Act established the poverty line as am nimum e lig ib ility standard and al lowed state and local school d is tric ts to make the final dstermination of e lig ib ility ," Packwood said. "B u t the Department of A griculture has a rb itra rily Interpreted the law as a ceiling, and this clearly violates both the le tte r and the s p irit of the National School Lunch A c t," he said. Under the A g riculture interpretation of the law, Oregon's present e lig ib ility level of $4,000 for free lunches and $4,940 fo r leduced-price lunches would be disregarded. “ The Government can't afford to lite ra lly take the food out of the ‘ m.juth of babes' to cut spending. It seems to ID* we would be enforcing poverty among fam ilies of the working poor,” he said. H a ll o w e e n v e iw in g Congratulations on your fine publication - Cassie Jenkins Two m ysteries which have haunt«! the Hud son R iver Val ley fo r generations w ill in trigue KPTV viewers on Hal loween afternoon at 3:00 p.n whan Channel 12 presents an hour-long animated version of "T h e Legend of Sleepy Hol lo w " and " R ip Van W in kle ", Washington Irvin g 's classic tales. (Second of a series) by Carolyn W. Above all India is an an cient land, like stepping into a story hook that has come alive. Immediately you slip back 1,000 2,000 years In a sea of tim e-im m ersed In the Pest, lost in the centuries. | You wander among her streets rich with humanity - beggars, prophets, seers, all are there. Elaboratelycarved stone temples tower mas sively above, their long steps dotted with bearded robes and alive with colored, barefoot saris hastening with flowers sixl coconuts fo r the gods. The gods too are brightly colored - red, yellow, blue - with wreaths of flowers around their necks and offerings of fr u it and flowers by an oil flame in front. They are the most ancient gods in the w orld. Sometimes they are huge stone statues standing mutely. What do they know with those closed eyes, m e d it a t in g through the centuries? In awe you stand and wonder. Bullock carts of bound bam boo with their heavy,creaking wooden wheels; a tiny figure c u rl« ! up half-asleep in front between the two hulking, bony rears of the placid beasts, urging them on. Bullock carts, bicycles, sakl with hands pressed to buses - the centuries are m ix gether like a prayer, indicat ed. Seven thousart I years aix! ing their respect for each oth more lived sidle by side. To e r and a ll people. Even beg day is but a drop in an ocean gars and the poor have human of tim e; this century but a rip dignity and you w ill not sec ple on so deep a sea. them treated as in fe rio r. I'hey are tolerant and accepting of You change your pace, walk slow er. What Is the hurry? A all people. Including we who day, a year, a century more or travel in theirland. Ifteynev e r act refecting or accuse you less makes nodifference. You of doing something wrung, so relax and stretch out Into tim e - tim e which becomes you hegin to relax Insxle and peace atxi seeps Into your very feel the Inner warmth and being. peace tliat they do. You try to catch her song. In fact theiriccapcance is so The song of India is an endless deep that they accept every melody weaving on and on, thing In life - pain, d irt, d is even as her tabla, sita r,e s ra j ease, suffering etc. Even f ill the a ir with th e ir music. these they do not reject. Morning songs, evening songs, This Informal Icy and accep life is the intricate and subtle tance of everything goes to the variations of a day, the rhythm point we would call total lack of heaven and earth, the pulse of organization, and perme of life which links us through ates all government. F or a the centuries in an endless Westerner, only to Inquire at chain of being. Now faint, now the post office about the a ir cle a r, even sadness and tie mall rate to another country m inor keys , all is beauty in may be an agonizing experi tie spell of life . ence. Her people too have the But the spiritual vales of qualities acquired with age. India exist nut only with sim They are natural, simple. In p licity of livuig, but with the fo rm a l. About (he only social utter lack of things. Every rule is to say "N am astey" where they w ill tell you; "W e when you meet someone.other are poor people," and you can than that you go by the feeling not iielp but sec her pain. of the situation and not by outer Eighty per cent of the peo rules. ple live In villages, in grey Tha greeting, namastey, is Low-cost electricity a plug for a safer environment Dark streets aren t the safest places for walking. Or driving Or waiting for your bus The fewer the lights the greater the chances of crime occurmg. Or of someone being injured in an accident Maybe it's never happened to you We hope it never will. But it’s still a bum risk The way we see it, one robbery, or one auto fatality caused by poor visibility is one too many. And Portland General Electric Company is doing something about it PGE is providing the reliable energy needed to keep city streets, parking areas, and alleys safe for pedestrians and drivers alike. It s a simple fact that s been proven again and again; bright electric street lights can make the difference And because electricity is inexpensive, electric street lights cost just pennies to operate That s a small price to pay for something that could save a loved one s life or yours To keep ahead of your ever-growing electrical demands, PGE is building new generating plants which are essential for reliable electric service Energy from the atom, which is clean to make and clean to use, will provide adequate supplies of electricity while preserving Oregon s matchless environment. If you d like a free booklet on Why Oregon needs more power/ write or phone PGE. P o rtlan d G en eral E le c tric C om pany P roviding clean energy fo r a b e tte r life. mud houses with thatch«l roofs. Inside they are almost empty. In one corner Isa mud ring several Inches high with a hole in the front and (Ids la the stove. Usually there lano fuel so they use cow dung which Is pressed into laige flat pad dies and d r in l in die sun. Everywhere you see it plast- eied on die walls - even on die skies of temples. I hen It la burn«! fo r fuel. There are no lights e ltlw i save fo r a tiny, ancient oil lamp. A t night die village la dark and the mxwi picks out the palms and grey walla and shines over die paddy fields In silence. Even water la not to betak en fo r granted. Digging wells is a m xlern project. Most v il lages have a large, square earthen pond which they c a lls tank. During die m insoon it (tils w lthw steraixl then stead ily diminishes month after month until the next rain. It la us«l fo r eve ly th in g -d rin k ing, bathing, even washing die cows and water buffalo. Food too is scarce in a land plaguttt by drought. A fte r the monsoons and one growth of rice die earth on the great plains becomes hard and dry as the ratn holds hack montli after month. The earth splits and crack, ait! grey powdery dust |iuffs up IgliU tl die txi11 ock carts on die road. Most of the people live on i Ice ami dahl (b u ll« ! (wises); or in the N ordiw tieat press«l Into large flat (Mitcakescalled chainialtles. Hut rice with hot apices Is die staple diet, aixl even dds Is not always to be had as die dry earth refuses to yield. Many know only lunger. To my question they answered; "L iv e on what? , . .A ir, su n ... wd cannot Imagine. It la a liv ing death." I he symbol of tlie |«o,ile of India la (his: a figure i educed to the strength and endurance of liune, hut one where the eyes flame in unextlngulshable a p irlt.
