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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 1972)
M ,» F r a n c « » Sebeen N e w rp a P * » ' « o o rn L l b i a r y / U n l v . o f O te g o . E g 'c a e . Ore 91403 POR I LA ND 1 97 2 10< p e r co p y C oalition selects Vann, Casson fo r C ity Council Public schools expand Black Caucus chooses Jones desegregation program An ex|«mled administrative transfer prog ism w ill le in operation with tie opening of school tills fall in tl» P o n iani! Public Schools. l ie administrative transfer program lias leen Inexistence since IM m . Under tie seven- year-old progiem , students from schools with high con centrations of economically deprived fam ilies and low achievement can voluntarily transfer to other schools with hlgtier achievement levels, provided tie receiving school lias tie s|*ce to accomodate them. The program is ex pected to Involved only alxxit two per cent of tie d la trlc t's 72,(XX) students. School officials said tie rs are two main reasons for tie anticipated Increase In num ber this fs lly . F irs t, due to tie declining enrollment In the d is tric t, more apace Is available to accomodate those who wish to transfer; and, second, a team of community agents lias wot ked fo ra some what longer je rlo d of time this sum m er Informing parents about tie availability of tie program. Cost of transporting tie students are la id from o tte r than local property tax resources, school officials said. C urrently participation In the program ta confined to students from Inner city schools. Harold W illiam s (right), d ire cto r ol tire PSU Educational Center, is congratulated by assistant d ire cto r Harvey Rice on successful completion of work at the University of Zagreb. W illiam s re ceived his Masters degree from PSU on August Kith. 'Education is the w a y’ by Nan P hillips Last March 20, M r. Harold W illiam s, d ire cto r of tie P o r t la n d state University Education Center at 2611 NJ£. Union, left Portland fo r Za greb, capital of Croatia, fo r five weeks of intensive study at the University of Zagreb. The trip was made possible through a special fellowship grant and the help of D r. Charles White, professor of H istory and assistant Dean fo r International Education at Portland State. D r. White was M r . W illiam s’ advisor (Please turn to pg. 8, col. 5) The Albina M in iste ria l A l liance, the NAACP and the Urban League have joined hands to present to the P ort land C ity Council two black men, C. Don Vann and E llis Casson. The organizations are requesting that tie coun c il consider these men as appointees to f ill the vacancy on the C ity Council created I by the election of Commis sioner Neil Goldschmidt to the position of M ayor. The three organizations re present approximately 18,000 persons, the vast m ajority of whom are black residents of Albina. The recommendations are part of a community ef fo rt to obtain the appointment to the city council fo r a black. The black people of Portland, having no elected city, county or sute officials, are asking the city council to place a black on the council. AMA, N.AACP and the Urban League did not consider the Community Convention, which met Saturday and chose Chal mers Jones, to have been representative of the black community. The convention was poorly attended, and in tire eyes of the spokesmen fo r the coalition, was not o r ganized in the best way to achieve community support. C. Donn Vann is a Portland C. DON VANN taisinessman. operating Vanns M ortuary on W illiam s Ave. Vann has been a resident of Portland fo r the past 18 years. Vann attended Michigan S ate U niversity, Northwes tern School of Law, St. Louis College of M ortuary Science and Portland Su « U n ive rsity. He is liseensed to practice Michigan, Oregon and na- i tionally. Active in tire Urban League fo r many years, Vann is a Past-President of the Urban League of Portland and cur rently is a member of the Board of D ire cto rs. He is a member of the Executive Board of the NAACP, P o rt land Branch; the Board of D ire cto rs of the N a t io n a l Funeral D irectors and M o r- ticians, Inc.; the Portland Chamber of Commerce; and the Coliseum Kiwanis Club. He Is a member of the Trus tee Board of the Vancouver Avenue F irs t Baptist Church. Vann Is a fo rm e r member of the Albina C itizen’ s War on Poverty Committee and was among those instrumental in funding the Albina M u lti- Service Center. E llis Casson is the Re gional C ivil Rights O fficer fo r Region 10. He was pre viously Adm inistrative Assis tant fo r Intergroup Relations to the Superintendent of the Portland Public School. He is a form er deputy d ire cto r ELLIS CASSON of Model C ities and was a field representative fo r tlie C iv il Rights D ivision of the Oregon Sute Bureau o fLabor. S ute Youth Commission; a Portland Urban League. Casson is currently P resi board member of the YMCA; Casson received his BA dent of the NAACP. Portland a vice-president of the Na from Seattle-Pacific College Branch. He is chairman of tional Conference of C hris and his Bachelor of D ivin ity tlie Oregon Sute Commission tians and Jews, O re g c ^ i degree from Evangelical on lntergroup Human Rela Region; and a member of the Seminary. He is a ssisu n t tions; and a member of the board of d irectors of the pastor of Bethel AME Church. ( I le following a rticle Is a special report to tie Portland Observer.) by Jim Rogers In a h isto rica lly significant meeting, Sunday, August 26th, •’ P- m -» at the Vancouver Ave., F lra t lia p tist Church, Portland’ s firs t Black Com munity Convention elected C la lm e rs Jutes, state ad m in is tra to r fo r special pro- giam s In the Department of Human Resources, as tie Black com m lnlty’ s candidate fo r tie C ity Council post to be vacated Jan. I. when Nell Goldschmidt lecomes mayor. Chalmers Jones, active in tie lilsck commlnlty in social six! civic affa irs since 1SM3. defeated Black lawyer John Toran, community leadei and member of tie Executive Council of tie Oregon Black Caucus. T ie convention invocation and welcome was delivered by Rev, O.B. W illiam s, pastor of tie Vancouver Ave. F irs t Baptist Church. In his open ing rem arks. Rev. W illiam s charged the audience with the responsibility to work In har mony and unity fo r the greater good of the total community, since in Rev. W i l l i a m s ’ opinion "to o long have we lingered In the desert of in decision.*' A ttorrey John Toran, tie c le lm ia n of the convention, established the rules govern ing the nomination and selec tion of tire candidate; and tie contents of a pledge of a l legiance to be signed fry tire candidate would serve tie interests, needs, and desires of all members of the com munity. CHALMERS JONES M r. Jones was nominated by David M. Nero, Black busi nessman; and the nomination was seconded by Dennis Payne. In his acceptance speech to tire nomination, M r. Jones said that ’ ’ this was truely a mementous occasion In it« history of the Portland Black community . . . and the Black community had two op tions now opened to them that related to their destiny; that (I) this was the beginning In Portland of tire firs t stages of operationalunp -mandatory if tie Black Community is to sustain itself; and (2) an understanding of the channels of power and progress to achieve an improved quality of life in our com m unity." M r . Jones said that he "was committed to both options." M r. Jones added that he would "w o rk hard to assure that the real needs, desires and (Please turn to pg. 8, col. 1) Congress of African peoples hold annual conference Un Agust 31 through Sep- tember 4, 1972, tlie Congress of A frican People w ill hold Its 2nd Bi-Annual Inter national Assembly In San Diego, C alifornia. The As sembly w ill le hosted by tlie Western Regional Coordinator of the Congress of African People, Imamu V e r n o n Sukumu. Tlie 1st Congress of African People International Assembly was in 1970 In A t lanta, Georgia, at which time tlie theme of "u n ity without un ifo rm ity” was the firs t put Into action with speakers from a diverse background of ide ological Influence, from tlie late Whitney Young, J r., of the Urban League, to M ln iste r Louis Farrakhan of theNatlon of Islam . The 2nd International As sembly w ill focus more speci fica lly on Nationalist and I ’an- A frika n ist development not only in tlie U.S. hut around tlie w orld. It w ill be using as its tlem e "K a z l (Swahili fo r " w o rk ") is tlie Blackest of a l l" . Speakers fo r the 2nd Assembly w ill include Imamu Baraka.C.L.R.Jam es. Owusu Sadaukai, and repre sentatives from Organization of A frican Unity, TANU (Tan ganyikan A frican Nationalist Union), PDG (Democratic Party of Guinea), FRol I.'I (F ro n t fo r the Liberation of Zlmbatxve), Roy lnnis of CORE, Nelson Johnson of SOBU, Malcolm X Liberation U niversity, Joe W aller of JOMO, Edward Vaugh of Pan A frican Congress. P art of the overriding con cern of tlie 2nd International Assembly is I) the question of what should be the position of Nationalists and P anA fri- kamsts with regard to the newly set up National Black Assembly 2) What should be the role of Nationalists and PanAfrikanists r e g a r d in g th e ir leadership In relation ship to tlie media created c iv il rights oriented leadership of Black people, and 3) how to proceed, i f possible, with tlie concept of "u n ity without uni fo rm ity ” when there are clear differences between the ide- (Please turn to pg, 8, co l. 3) Senator Morse warns against Constitutional crisis ■ I- 2- * 3 - cWhy not invent locally? C T IZ a rrC z t f t l / t Savings on deposit with us go to work here in Oregon. B en j.® Franklin B A V I N ., a LOAN a . Robar! M H u m . Pre. • la o n ic e. . Phone 24S-I234 Home Ottlcee Franklin Bldg , Portland. Oregon 87204 Senator Wayne Morse told law students of Northwestern School of Law that lawyers have an obligation to address themselves to the problems In this time of Constitutional c ris is . "Unless we preserve and implement constitutional guarantees we are not going to save a system of consti tutional government.” In speaking of the Brown decision that brought school desegregation, Morse said the American people arenoihelng told the truth. The court has never ordered wholesale fusing lu t has ordered that fusing be used as a tool to prom o» desegregation. The Brown decision found that segregation vlolaws the op portunity fo r equal education of non-white children in tie United S ûtes. Morse said political philosophy has no place in courts. In the Brown case tlie evidence was ana lyzed and the decision was made. Now an amendment to the United States Constitu tion to forbid busing and thereby deny to blackchlldren th e ir constitutional right to equal aiucatlonal opportunity Is seriously being considered. He said, "th e re is no place In America fo r an apartheid society. This issue w ill play a great part In the coming campaign. They w ill seek to deceive the American people to believe that you can have apartheid in the schools and maintain domestic tran q u ility ." Senator Morse said the Su preme Court is not acting to guarantee the rights of c iti zens and warned against a coming constitutional c ris is . The last time the Supreme C ourt moved to prevent un constitutional use of power by a president was when P resi dent Truman attempted to take over the steel m ills during the Korean W ar. The court found there was no evidence of need because of the war e ffo rt. That was the last time the court Intervened against a president. It takes four votes to take jurisdiction and only three ju stice s have teen w ill ing to consider allegations dial presidents have over- asserted th e ir powers. "The American people have a right to have the Supreme Court protect their rights when the presidents excede th e ir con stitutional pow ers." T ie new Chief Justice has challenged the Sth Amendment and ju ry tria ls . He plans ■hanges of procedure which could deny the Individual his rights. "Substantive legal rights w ill never beany better than procedural rights. A ll b ills should be examined as to the procedures they ini tiate and whether those pro cedures w ill deny rig h ts.” President Nixon has placed him self in tlie position of a ju s tic e slnce»*Tias stated that he w ill only appoint men to the supreme Court whowill interpret the law the way he does. The Supreme Court has re fused to take jurisdiction in the case of the Vietnam War, yet the decision of whether o r not the w ar is constitu tional would settle many other questions. The S u p re m e Court has refused to deter mine whether Congress could pass the. economic rule by the president. The Congress cannot legally legislate power to the president. The Supreme Court should also determine how the presi dent has the power to Im pound legislated funds. Only the Congress has the power to appropriate and d ire ct the expenditure of funds. The President’s only power in this m atter is to veto approprla- Qons b ills . But Presidents have been impounding ap propriated funds and Congress has permitted it. The p ré si dents lave also used these funds in places fo r which they were net intended, such as the CIA. "Congress has been supporting a President rather than a C onstitution." Morse warned of a loss of rights through court proce dures and admonished tlie legal profesaion to take leadership In this time of c ris is . Morse, a form er Dean of tlie ’ University of Oregon School of Law, is considered to be one of the nation’ s leading author ities on constitutional law. ¡ \ O -T
