Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 15, 1972)
Nigeria hosts Black cultural festival lortlind/obaerver Ttorsd.y, June |S, 1972 Wallace shooting worried blacks I I » Second World Black By Vernon E . Jordan, J r. nial domination. ond World Black Festival of Festival of Arts aisl Culture Participating countries w ill Arts and Culture are generally will take place In 1974 In La By now the national news be Invited to organize their for Intellectual, spiritual and goa, N ig eria.O rig in ally known media have dissect«! the i r own Festival Co-ordinating human fulfillm ent ami in par as II» World Festival of Ne rational attempt on t l * I lie ol Committees ami, m particu ticular; gro A rts, the F irs t Festival Governor George Wallace la r, to stage their own Festi . . . to bring together Black was field In Dakar, Senegal In from almost every angle. The vals not later than end of Sep Artists from all over the 1966 on the initiative of tie Af shock ami horror all Ameri tember 1973, with a view to world, and especially toenable rican Cultural Society anil the cans feel, including those of u selecting their entries for tl» Black A rtists from beyond the Government of the Kepubllcof who see in him a force that is 1974 World Festival. Thus Atlantic to perform period Senegal, and uniter the chair dangerous for the country, p. participation by the United ically a "re tu rn to orlgui;” manship of President Leopold real. States w ill he organized by a . . . to facilitate tl» growth of Seder Senghor of Senegal. At I he immediate,gut reaction Cixnmittee in th e!l.sjL .un d er Black Artists; tl» Festival Nigeria was hon of many black people was the direction of a Black A m er . . . to bring to light and life oured with the role of "S ta r ican Vice-President, and with "Who shot him? Was it a black all that tlw Blackman has con Country." man?" I here was tear l«hmd tl» eo-ope ration of the most tributed to the gieatuniversal The aim of these two Fes thaï reaction, feat that in a 'juellfled American organiza movements of thought and art; tivals, and of those that w ill tions. violent country whose racial . . . to lead to better Interna V e ro n E. J o r d a n , Jr. follow In future years. Is to tensions are endlessly boiling It Is evident that a great Im tional ami inter-racial under present Black Culture in Its over, there mighi be a brutal pact w ill be expected from the standing. highest and widest conception. blacklash that would hurt in participation of Black A m eri E arly this month, a high In order to achieve this goal, nocent people. cans because of the distinc powered II-m a n delegation each Festival w ill bring to It was only after the woi I tiveness of their art and tech hesd«l by Chief Lnahoro, and gether Black Artists from all was released that the assailant nical and füiancial means including D r . About» Diop over tire world, so that styles and Ideological difletences to was a young, blonde, white which they ami their country visited the United States and ami talents can confront one obscure the sanctity of human man, th jt many black [eople can put at the disposal of the held a senes of meetings with another, ami so as to Illus life. Racism ami seg legal ion could breathe a bit easiei arid organizers. The artistic ex many Black leaders and trate the diversity ami the en preceded any single spokes turn to hopes that reprisals perience of Black Americans oiganlzations. The team vis tity of Black Culture, A rt and would not occur. man for those causes and they w ill he highly prized I7 Black ited New York, Washington, Civilization. The Festival will will continue for a season, for This is something that puz Peoples everywhere lo r It D . C „ Philadelphia, Balti favour the promotion of Black they are rooted deep in tl« zles a lot of people. Governor constitutes t particular di more, Chicago, Nashville, Artists and bring to light the darkest corners of the national Wallace is a self-proclaimed mension of tl» artistic genius New Orleans, Atlanta, San diverse contributions of Black psycl«. It is only wl«n the rout segregationist much of whose of Black Civilization. Francisco and Los Angeles. Peoples to the universal cur causes and conditions chjnge program is diam etrically op At the Second World Festi At a meeting by tl» delega rents of thought and of a rt. that they w ill be ended. posed to black rights ami in val, all tl» disciplines oí art tion with representatives of a At the F irs t Festival, there terests. Yet the immediate H e are now in for a spat ol including sculpture, painting, numlwr of Black National or weie 3,(100 participants ami glib questionings like those and overwhelming black re craft, music, ballet, plays, ganizations in New York on 20,000 visitors. The Second which follow«! the tragic sponse was to condemn tie poetry, novels, essays, cine Wednesday, May 10th, 1972, Festival is expected to attract shooting and to hope for the murders ol Senator Robert ma and dressing fashions will M r. O ss» Davis was selected 10,000 a m a ts ami 100,000 Kennedy sml D r. King in 1968. Governor’ s recovery. be represented, shows and as Chief Convener of a fuller visitors, many of them from The same old questions come That shouldn’t puzzle any exhibitions will display tradi n«eting of Black American the United states of Am erica. u p - " A r e we a violent na one. We have felt the lash of tional as well as modern art. organizations to decide on the Preparations ami planning are tion?” , etc. My feeling is that the whip ami have seen beloved Prizes w ill distinguish the organization of A m encanpar- •I reedy well underway both by we may get so hung up on the leaders like tl« Kennedy greatest talents of tl» Black tlclpation. In that capacity, the Nigerian Government and brothers, M ed g arE v ers,M al questions that we don’t get World. ' I I » panels of judges M r , Davis la t e m p o r a r y peoples - hosts to ll» F e s tiv a l anxind to providing the an colm X and M artin Luther af the Competitions will be Chairman of the 11>. Commit - and the International Secie- swers. Kü’lî. J r , fall before the guns compos«! of qualified Black tee. other members of the tarlat of the organlzlrqt body of of twisted kille rs . Enough On tl« question of violence, Persons In each discipline of American Planning Commit the F estival. Chief Anthony for example. Black people blood has heen shed, enough an. tee include: Lnahoro, Nigeria’ s Informa have been the victims of m artyrs have been created. The. Festival w ill last for tion and Labour M ünster, has four 'weeks, during which These terrib le deeds have on American violence for 400 M r . Charles Diggs, C hair been appointed President of ly wedded usever more firm ly years. An assassination at there w ill also be a collo- man Congressional Black the Festival. Presalent-Poet to the conviction that bullets tempt doesn’ t make a whole i/ilm on the theme: Caucus, Leopold Senghor of Senegal have no answer for our prob country "vio len t,” txit persis M r . Imamu Baraka, Con and the Niger tan Head of State, lems. tent racism and a stubbornly " BLACK C IV IL IZ A T IO N ” gress of African People, General Yakuhu Gowon. are lingering, escalating war that It Is of the gieatest impor D r. Charles Wesley, Assis (Mir disagreements with Grand Patron and Patron res kills many thousands every tance that the values of civ ili tant forStudyofN egrol.de and Governor Wallace cannot ob pectively of the 1974 Festival. year does. zation, specific 10 Black Peo History, scure two very basic e le The F a le ra l Government of Present-day political vio ples, be defineil sml brought D r. H. R. Branson, Pres ments. F irs t, that our chal Nigeria is building a reception lence in Am erica, like so much to the knowledge of tl« widest ident of Lincoln University, lenge to him and the ideas be infrastructure worthy of the of our past politics! violence, public m the world. With this D r. Ms.Ssmella Lewis, Na represents must be through high tearing of the occasion. seems to be the product of goal in miml, the colloqutm tional Conference of Artists, (lie medium of f r ee speee h a no Indeed the 1974 Festival will lone, disturbed minds. There will study the technical means M r. Samuel L . Evans, P hil legal and political action. In be the greatest gather ing of may be very little a democra and teaching methods which adelphia Bicentennial Corp., an open socety with free ex Black Peoples ami the greatest tic society can do to prevent are moat appropriate for the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Direc pression for all ideas, the manifestation of their art and sick individuals from running diffusion ami teaching ofthese tor of Operation Push in Chi marketplace of the ballot box culture that the world has ever amok. But it doesn’t have to values of civilization at all cago, should decide among differing make it easy for them ,either. levels of world opinion. It will Miss Dorothy Height, Na viewpoints. The rule ol the Nigeria, aa host country, The prevalence of cheap also dlacusa (he Important tional Council of Negro Wo gun must never be allowed to w ill co-ordinate the arrange hand guns made it possible for q u e s t io n : "Who are the men, replace the rule of reason. ments for participation by the Blacks?" prominent political figures D r. Richard Long, Center Secondly, we hold human life Black Liberation Movements like Governor Wallace to be Thus it may be said that the for Afro-Am erican Studies in too precious to allow political of countries still under colo- attacked and it also makes It aims and objectives of the Sec- Atlanta. possible for mno.ent |«ople in tl« ghetto to («come v it - tmis of violent c iim e . It seems to me that it's not enough to ask if we are a vio lent nation - the historic M iieri. an love affair with tl« gun has to ie ended. \s we wish Governor Wal lace a speedy recovery, arxl as we condemn any attempt to m- tiude violence into the normal lemodietic processes, we a l so affirm oui undying opposi tion to segregation and to ra cism. Sympathy for the man in his hour of tria l dues not i« g ite our unending op|>osition to tl« positions and actions he has taken, both past and p re sent. Patrick Gray III, Acting Director of tl« F .B .I., said he will take steps to lure more black agents. He also w ill overturn J. Edgar Hoover’ s policy against hiring women as special agents. The F .B .I. now has 19,875 employees, 8631 agents anti 11,226 clerical. Only I20of the agents are black or chicano. T l« job pays $12,151 a year. WANTED: BRIGHT young t o i I EGE MEN FOR EXEC UTIVE POSITIONS in government must meet physical re - QI/RFMENTS Q U A U ry through special T R A IN IN G COURSE. Here’s a government job with a real future. A pilot ano officer in the A-r Force. An executive-level job in anybody’s book To qualify, college grads enter the Air Force’s Officer Tram,ng Program and upon receiving their commission continue on to flight school. Investigate. You’ll find that as an Air Force pilot you’ll be able to go far, fast. Find yoursdF in the United Slates Air Force Dad ideas. We’ve got lots more ideas where these came from. Now. New lower prices, our entire stock of 0 ° Tribute to the ideals of Kwame Nkrumah By .R . . James Jemes By C C .L .I..R ’ (The following column was written for the Institute of the Black World by guest author C .L .R . James, famed West In dian Scholar and political theorist, and author of "The Black Jacobins." James’ c ri tical appreciation of the work of Nkrumah Is based on per sonal and political association with him and with George Pad- more, of whom he also speaks.) On May 27, we took part, if not In per son at least In spirit, in one of the great political celebrations of the day, A fri can Liberation Day. Osagyefo D r. Kwame Nkrumah died on April 27. 1972. H e d le d ln e x - Ue and away from his family and intimate friends. S o n* of us may say, and with truth, that the exile wasdue to his political mistakes. If he had been alive o n A frlc a n llb - eration Day, I doubt that there are Any who would have ob jected to our letting him know that we, even though seas di vided us, would have heen at one with him, and confident also that he was etone with us. The elementary facts of his life tell us a great deal shout him and, as with all great men, about the kind of wot Id In which we live. Nkrumah grew up as a little African hoy IntheGold Coast, and was fortunate enough to obtain a scholarship to a secondary school. In his early twent«s he went to the Untt«l States and there worked and gave himself an education at LlncolnUnlverslty, then un der the presidency of Horace Mann Bond. He also did work at Pennsylvania University. We have to bear in mind that the future piesident of inde pendent Ghana gave himself this «lucatton often by working with his hands at backbreaking manual labor. I got to know him In 1941, and for two years he was very friendly with me and my associates, although he never became a member of any organization that I know of. 0 0 0 ^ 00000<>000<>0<><><^ ^ C O U P O N SHOCK SPECIALS Bring this ad with yau te any af the Axaciated Tira Center« listed belaw far UNHIARD OF LOW FRICK an all medals af Gabriel Shacks1 GABRIEL HIJACKER SHOCKS 1 BmenPlt • »«rent«« .......... .. ■111 .see.................. .............. . GABRIEL ADJUSTOMATK SHOCKS MoAvy dvty. guwren»««^ long «« (<r GABRIEL HYDROSHOX Heavy 4 w i,— nen e e iv r ie k lv IS 0 0 0 . m il, GABRIEL STANDARD SHOCKS O o fin e l eewiement . . . h r , » 6“ »19« >4 OOO e n l , « . . . . n i , , GABRIEL SPRING OVERLOAD SHOCKS i l OOO ree.lg These are carry - out prices. Installation is available. F’ rlces goal through June 30. ASSOCIATED TIEXÌL CENTERS 2600 S.E. Holgate 5734 E, B urnside 7301 N. Lom bard 12040 N .E . Halsey IN WOODBURN: 1140 N. Pacific Hwy. 233- 5542 234- 7322 286-1669 255-2241 5811 N.E. Sandy 288-6461 2002 S.E. Stark 235-3118 6841 N .E. Union 283-3118 633 N .E . Broadway 282-2581 COUPON IN M cM INN VILLE: 1515 N. Baker Ptge , ■■■ ■■ A ll who knew him were working committee of the Uni struck by his intellectual en ted Gold CoastConvention and ergy and acuteness, the ele laid before them a program gance and grace of his person, which he hed written thatvery end his capacity very quickly morning. In It he divided the to establish good relations in stages of political work into whatever company he found three parts. himself. But it would be a mis The firs t period was for take to believe, as some have tuilding the organizational done, that these social gifts units all over the Gold Coast. were the sec ret of his political The second period was to be success. marked by constant demon He left the United States in strations throughout the coun 1943 and spent four years in try whenever there was a po England In close association litical c ris is . In the third with George Padmore, and this period he was to convene a was one of the great political Constitutional Assembly of the associations of the century. Gold Coast people to draw up To the energy, social gifts, a constitution for self-gov anl political determination to ernment and national indepen free Africa, which were al dence. ways characteristic of Nkru The way this was to be mah. he was now able to add achieved was by organized the enormous political sophis demonstrations, boycotts, and tication of George Padmore, strikes, the only weapons to who today rightly bears the support the pressure for self- title of "The Father of African government against British Emancipation." I who knew im perialism . I am s t i l l them both cannot think of Pad thrilled to he able to say that more without Nkrumah or this program was carried Nkrumah without Padmore. through by Nkrumah to the last Yet Nkrumah was, of neces comma in 27 months. This is sity, the man of politically ef one of the great revolutions of fective action in A frica. The the 20th century. The story of Africans of the Gold Coast the Gold Coast revolution is a were a people who suffered for tract for the times, not an epi two centuries from slavery sode In the history of backward and then 100 years from colo Africa. nialism . But fo r the work of a There was nothing backward few devoted Africans, men like shout the Gold Coast revolu Rev. J j j . Aggrey an.IJ.Case- tion. The backward, the bar ly-Hayford, those few A fri barous, the politically igno cans who had managed to get rant. sat In the GoldCoast ad an education would have heen ministration and the Colonial taught to see the world through Office of the British govern the eyes of the British Univer ment. sity mentality and the govern It would be a mistake not to ment officialdom. recognize that Nkrumah fa ll« ! In this stifling environment to establish a viable regime Nkrumah built a political party In Ghana. end the way this was done Is But too many African states one of the great political have followed the same course achievements of our time. and forced us to recognize that Nkrumah return«! to the the failure was due not to a de Gold Coast on December 19, cline In personal or political 1947, He had been away from character hut to the failure to Africa for 12 years, living and overcome tl« Immense d iffi working for his education In culties which newly indepen the United States and spending dent states have to face In the some years In England, with efforts to lift their countries the purpose of passing the bar cut of the enormous messes examination and becoming a the im perialists are leaving lawyer, but In reality devoting behind. himself to politics. That Is the way we should On January 20, 1948, Nkru think aboutNkrumsh. and what mah called a meeting of the he did and did not do. ¡HfNÍ O rig. $15 UBI Now $13 O rig . $17 Now $15 These two price ranges of mens easy care slacks now at new lower prices.Fabu lous F ath er’s Day gifts at great savings toyou.Penn- / J#/ O Prest polyester knit slacks need no ironing when machine washed and tumble dried. Fashion leg with belt loop styling. Your choice of fashionable, solid colors or fancies. Mens sizes 30 to 42, Great sav ings. 1 < 7 JCPenney The values are here every day.
