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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 25, 1972)
BULK K A IL U. S. POSTAGE P A ID First Black Judge Aaron Brown 1st in 130 year history Judge Aaron Brown, J r . today became the firs t black man in the history of Oregon to win election to a state position. Judge Brown was elected to the I ilsti let Court, a position to which he had teen appointed. Judge Aaron Brown POR TLA M ) THf ONLY N IW S P A P tR IN PORTLAND, ORtGON PERMIT NO Aaion Blown, J r . was born in Bell, Louisiane «r»I at the age ol (oui, hie family moved to lexaa. He giew up in and around Houston, le x is , and considers himself a lexan. Blown w otkal his way thiough Flak Unlvaiaity as a porter on the rullioad ami by doing laid jobs. A lter his graduation from Flak lie was employed as an eighth giade math and science le a d e r , lut the salary was so low that le letuineil to tie rullioad. Brown moved to Portland, ami was a social w olker with tl» Diegon State W elfare Commission foi five yeats. In 195 , he letuined to school, ittemling the Northwest Col lege of Law at night. He giadu.ited in 1919 and passed tlie bar that year, lie then was in private practice for nine years. Brown was appointed judge pro tern of tie Municipal Court in July, 196«. ||e was appointed a lull time judge with tie Municipal Court in November, 1969, replacing Judge Joseph Labsdle, who retired. ||e was recom- mended to the City Council fry Commissioner Stanley E a rl, ami was chosen unani mously. ||e was sworn In by Judge lla ilo w I enon, his OBSERVER AN EQUAL O P P O R TU N ITY EMPLOYER tH t W H O il W IP W O S iO THAT R t A iiY CARLS ABOUT F I O R II McGovern wins Oregon, Wallace surprising second Agenda announced Judge Mercedes DeUw as electai to the newly created posi tion on the Court of Domestic Relations of Hie C irc u it Court. viewed by tie Steering Com mittee composed of chairmen of tie state delegations ami national black oiganizadont on Ma rch 24, 1972, in W ashing- ton, D.C, Pinal review md ra tification occurred on May 6, 1972, In G'eensboro, North Carolina. Although H e re was not ab solute unanimity on the com plete context of tie Agenda, H ere was g eieral consensus. Make no mistake about It, Here was sharpdiffeiencesof opinion on certain Issues, pot example, tie Agemla contains iv sol ut ions on Is rue I and edu cation; these two Issues weiv heatedly debated by those who représentai extteme ends of two poles. We shall accept, ami conti nue to grow on thedifferences amongst us. Just as elected officials at the p a ie ra i, state ami city levels lose votes ami continue to tuncuon, so shall we. p a r (rum bring ho|eless, our differences shall 1« lu ilt upon. Commemorating the birth day of Malcolm X (May 19), we Tlie Agemla which we pre ate distributing to He world sent to the world today Is not copies of the National Black meant to shock or anger. Katb- Political Agenda which was et It represents t he feelings ■levelopal on March 10-12, of the black community. I he 1972, at the now historic Na Agemla Is not meant to c r it i tional Black Political Conven cize oi attack, Ixit to l.lenttfy tion. This Agemla was re - (Please turn to pg. 8, col. 3, On May 19th. tlie blrtlxlay ol Malcolm X, simultaneous pivss conferences weiv field throughout tlie nation to pre sent the National Black Poli tical A g e n d a t h a t was developed ami adopted at tie National Black Political Con vention In Cary, Inliena on May 11-12, 1972. D r . Lee Brown, President of the Oregon Black Caucus ami Oregon's mem le i of tie Steering Committee, p ie - sented the Agenda inportland. I he National Black P o liti cal Convention co-chairmen, tie Honorable Richard Hatch e r, lmarmu A m iri Baraka ami tie Honorable Charles Diggs pre sen tai the Agenda a I He national news confeience. At the same time, piess con ferences were held in tie fifty states ami In Washington, D .C . The following Is the text of H e presentation by D r . Brown: form er law piofessor, on November 15, 1969. Judge Brown became a m e in l« r of the D istrict Court of the State of Oregon In January of 1972, when tie Amina and w iv ed Hie people of the black community. Unlike many blacks who move to the xupburbs when they achieve financial secur ity, when lie lecame a judge Aaron Brown . ontlnued to re sale In Albina and is a shin ing example to black people in particular ami to members of 1266 Municipal ami Dlsti let Courts were combined, since Ida position became elective, le filed for election to tlie post he field with H ielilstrlctC ou rt and was elected on May 23, 1972. other ethnic gioups. When asked if his fiosltion as a judge w-uild Jeopardize hla relationship with blacks. Judge Brown said, '«My al legiance is flis t to Justice.” Although he maintains his relationship with blacks from all walks of life, they realize that If they corne («forejudge Brown’ s court they w ill te dealt with Justly but without fa vor. 1968 As far as Is known only three blacks have been elec ted In tie history of Oregon. Judge Mercedes Deiz was elected to the D istrict Court, after having been appointed, M rs . Gladys McCoy was elec ted to tlie Portland School Board and Jewell limes was elected to tie City Council of G I ad store m November, 1969. Judge M e i.a le s Deiz was elected to the District Court in Novemlei I 1968 after hav ing pieviously leen appoint ed to that position. Judge Deiz e a ite d l e i law degree at Northwestern College of Law ami was admitted to tie Oiegon Bar in I960. Gladys McCoy was elected to the Portland School Board in 1968. M rs . McCoy is a graduate of the Portland State University School of Social Work and teaches at Pacific University. Jewell lim es, the only black lesslent of Gladstone, was e - lected to tie Gladstone City Council in N o ve m lei, 1969. men for this city of 6,500 men for this city of 6,500 South Dakota Senatoi Geoige McGover votes for the Presidential Nomination opponents. Only Senator McGovern amt |. actively campaigned In Oregon. An < McGovern promises to ledlrect the nation to social concerns. Black officer protects McGovern Neil Goldschmidt's people to people campaign brought him success as he swept into office by over a 50$ m ajority. Gold schmidt w ill become M ayor of Portland In January. 1973 T Ionie Improvement f^bVays! J /o j Improving your home will pay big dividends in comlort and satisfaction Home improvements JT* also represent tangible values F that increase year after year k as real estate prices continue to rise Plan'your improvements today get a cost estimate then call the Beni Franklin Home Improvement Depi -d ire c t linn 248-1357 Frank li n » ••« •A » . • * * • * • • A k *A N AOOM Robert M Haron Pr«« • i | Oftieoo • Phono F M 1734 Homo O ttico* FfonlfMn Bldg . Portland, Orogon 87704 four years. M itchell was born in Van- port. attended Geoige and P o rts m o u th Elementary Schools and graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1963. He served with the United States Marines for four years as a cook. Upon letuming to Portland fie heard about the airport po lice from a friend who had just gone to work at the alipoi t. He applied, ami was one of five men chosen from ovei 200 ap plicants. Mitchell felt fortunate to he hired sml believes Hie Port has treated him fairly . He is one of two b la c k officers out of a total of twenty. J he Port of Portland has die highest per centage of blacks on Its foice In the state of Oregon. There are only ten black policemen In Oregon - the two with the Port of Portland, two State po licemen. ami five men with the Portland Police Department - Including one patrolman ami two sergeants. There Is one black policeman In Beaverton, and there are twocorrectlon's officers at Rocky Butte Ja il. M itchell was trained ai the Metropolitan Police Academy. He leilevea the academy pro vides good training, but that more emphasis should be placed on community rela tions. Only six houra a is giv en In community relations as opposed to 25 to 30 hours In marksmanship^ whereas most of a policeman’ s time Is spent on community relations and he seldom If ever has to use e gun. Senator Wayne Morse has defeated Robert Duncan and State >nator Don W lllner in his race for the Democratic Party imlnatlon to the I nlted States senate. M orse, who served as egon s senator for twenty-four years, w ill oppose Sens— i Mark Hatfield in November. Morse Is respected for s stands on C ivil Rights, Education, Collective Bargaining. ? war In Vietnam anil other social issues. O fficer John M itchell of tlie Port of Portland, was part of the team providing security for Senator George McGovern during his airport arriv a l. Mitchell considers his job to be nearly all community re lations as opposed to the city police who are geared to the apprehension of crim inals. He does feel that the city po lice should place more empha sis on community relations and should at lengthen Its Community R e l a t i o n s Unit with more money and manpow e r. In hla present position,M it chell meets many Interesting people Including government officials, movie stars and ath letes. Pot example on May 19th, lie met Roy Wilkins for tlie second time. Mitchell has some opportu nity for advancement as tlie d e p a rtm e n t g ro w s . He plans to stay with the Port of Portland for now, hut Is Inter ested in eventually Joining the Secret Service or the F .B .I. He put In some time an s body guard in the Marine Coipa and likes that type of work. Mitchell dkl not leel the se curity given Senator McCov- em was unusual fo r a man of his stature. Many prominent people ate able towalk through the airport unnoticed and do not leijulre a guan), hut others aie well enough known to le recognized by nearly every one. l ie shooting of Wallace dkl not add to the security measures taken, hut perhaps made the men Involved a little more awaie of their respon sibilities. W illiam McCoy, J r , has won the Nomination of the I e m o cratlc Party to the Oregon House of Representatives, D iatric #15. Long active In the Democratic Party, McCoy defeated fou additional candidates for the newly created position represent ing St. Johns and North Portland.
