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As I See It
The Oregon Black Agenda
Part II
T h u n d a y , August 31, » 7 2
by Lenwood G . D avis
Th« N o rthw est’s Best W eekly
A
Black O w n ed Publication
PubUshed every Thursday by E xie P ublishir^ Conipa v,
2201 N . K illin g s w o rth , P o rtland, Oregon 97217
Subscriptions - $5.25 p e r y e a r in T ri-C o u n ty area by m a il.
CMitsale the T ri-C o u n ty area - $ 6 .00 p e r y e a r by m a il.
Phone: 283-2480
M a ilin g adress - P . O . Box 3137, Po rtland , Oregon 97208.
A L F R E D L E E HENDERSON, P u b lis h e r/E d ito r
inpa
_ T i * ° bTe rV e r s j£ ilc » 1 position is expressed only in its
P u b lis h er s Column (The Observation Post) a id the E d ito r’s
A ’ i ' . ^ ny 3 ^ ' ' m ,c e ri* 1 tf'r °Ughout the paper ,s the opinion
of the individual w r it e r o r sub m itter and does not n ecessarily
re fle c t the opinion of the O bserver.
Any erroneous reflection upon the c h a ra cte r, standing o r
reputation of person, firm o r corporation, which may appear
in the Portland O ts e re e r w ill be cheerfully corrected upon
being brought to the attention of the E d ito r.
The
Editor’s
Desk
il
Black Republicans called
status seekers
F o r many decades w ithin the
Republican p olitical arena the
A L F R E D L E E HEM5ERSCN
Black Republican continually
found him self in a state of non
existence. having to be the
‘ Invisible M an ” which is equal
to being a "Q u a s i M a n ” :
Representatives of the Albina M in is te ria l A llia n c e , the
meaning in name only. H is po
N A A o E and the Urban League selected two black men to te
litic a l situation has not a l
presented to the city council fo r appointment to C o m m issioner
lowed him to establish power
N e il G oldschm idt's seat, in selecting two candidates, the o r
among his constituents within
ganizations sought to avoid giving the com m ission er’ s an easy
the general population.
way out of one candidate does not m eet th e ir approval.
The Black Republican is now
T h e re is some advantage to uniting behind one'candidate
and always w ill be a m in o rity
and presenting a solid front on his behalf. T here is also ad
in the Republican P a r ty . He
vantage to providing a num ber of acceptable candidates from
found h i m s e l f supporting
wnoog whom the com m issioners can make a selection. With
Black D em ocrats who a re the
three o r m o re candidates, each w ith the support of a portion
m a jo rity .
T h is is why it is
of the com m unity, i t wUl be d iffic u lt fo r the city com m issioners
hard to distinguish between
to say a qualified black cannot be found.
the Black Republican and the
The w h llr press and the white power structure can use this
B lack D e m o c ra t.
opportunity to say the black community is divided. But the
As f a r as we have beenable
black com munity is not divided -
it is the city council. It
to le a rn 40 some odd states
is only natural that In a d iv e rsifie d population of over 20 000
have produced 60 Black D e le
persons there would be d ifferences of opinion as to who w k ild
gates fo r this 1972 convention.
be the best person to serve In thia capacity. And we can no
The meaning of the above sta
longer govern our actions by what we expect to be the reaction
tis tic if it holds true is that out
of the white p re s s .
of 1300 Republican Delegates
The action of A M A . N.AACP and the Urban League a re in
only 60 a re supposed to be re
no way a reflectio n on the Black Caucus o r on C h alm ers
presenting the Black m asses.
^ ° " e s ’ L.The Black Caucus ‘ S an organization of Individuals
T his would be five p e r cent and
and each person who attended the Com m unity Convention
would be rep resentative of the
w hether a m em b er of the Black Caucus a n d /o r other organiza
“ Quasi M an ” , with an appro
tions. voted as an in d iv iA ia l.
Attendance at theC cnferen ce
xim ate addition of one per
was s a m ll. but the vote reflected the opinion of those present
cent
representation of other
T r L V^ "
“ " ° * , y 56 bindlng on a ll black citizen s.
m in o rity groups across this
, Tb* Black Caucus is an im portant movement fo r the future
nation.
* 2 ^
i f* ? PleK -ln Oreg° n’
We look t0 11 wlth * re a [ hope,
The Black observers who
p e r a c u l.r ly in the political a re a . But it is a young o rg .n iz a i
w ill be attending this 1972 con
X o ‘ re voice
fo r
^lack community
vention w ill find as th e ir com
panions highly e x p e rt public
The A lbina M in is te ria l A llia n c e , representing n early 50
relation s advisors brought to
X r^ d ” offlth^ l N A A C P
L rt* n Le,gUe> throuSh ' h e ,r
gether by the P re s id e n t’ s top
e l ® c » o ffic ia ls , represent approxim ately 18,00 black people
aide Robert J . B row n. These
° f Whl“ S-
ThCSe tbree o rg ^ iz a t.o n s have a
e x p e rt public relation s advis
long record of accom plishm ent in Portland and have a re lia b le
o rs task w ill be to extend into
constituency.
“ ““
the Black com m unity and re g
to
T l ? “ U rb *'n LM gU e a r ® not a nem pting
is te r B lack people so that they
l ,
K
action of the Com m unity Council o r to force th e ir
w ill vote. Another task of the
” th6y m C re,y w ,n t t0 * l w o l *»d
public relation s advisors w ill
in u * poliUcBl life of the com m unity.
also be to make available
T T . im portant issue is that the city council knows that we
sm all business opportunities,
fte bU ck people of P o rtland, want and believe we are en-
and a pro m ise to fu lfill those
repre8en “ U° n • * !
the only way that re p re s e n ta -
broken d ream s of o u r Black
J
f0 « * e « b i e future is through appointm ent.
sons and daughters that they
bUCk men’ ° r ,n y otber b l,c k Person I®
w ill now be able to particip ate
appointed, the community must unite behind him to provide
in the main p olitical and finan
^ n J 2 C0Ur’ ^ ? ent lnd * UPP° n b® * 1U need-
And the ap-
cial m ain stream of the A m e r i
polnw- , on the other hand, m ust understand that he was out
can way of life .
m u s i X ’ rt
bUJ k CO,nmUnlty ,nd tbat hls
Attending this convention
0
noeds ,nd «»plratlons of black people as well
a re
Black display "statu s
as the o verall benefits of the P E O P L E of P o rtland .
s e e k e rs "
who are meeting
Unity in diversity
;
\
z
;
V
Letters to
IF ,
D e a r s in
¡¡f; :
• '
r > * i'
£*■5 « .
T h is la an open le tte r to
protest the so-called com
m unity convention held on
Saturday, August 26, at the
Vancouver Avenue F ir s t Bap-
Oat Church.
We are esking that the city
council and the M a y o r of
Portland d is re g a rd what hap
pened because there la reason
to believe that the election
was rigged, and that our
Black com munity la quite cap
able of g etiim g m ore than
seventy people out to a m eet
ly
if lt la open and w a ll-
publicized.
I t was rum ored at least a
week ago that D r . L ee Brown
had decided that M r . C lw l-
m e rs Jonas would be the p e r
son elected a t the convention.
It was also rum o red that D r .
Brown would not allow other
"s e rio u s " names to be placed
into nomination. I t was fu r
thered
rum ored
that D r .
Brown would personally p re -
wsnt the nominations of any
• tv
individual whom he fe lt to be
"airw orth y’ ’ .
Hearing these rum ors, but
not re a lly believing them be
cause we thought we knew
the man, D r , Brown, we young
people attended the conven
tion and stayed until the
voting.
A fte r observing the pro
ceedings and talking to many
of the people there and those
living within two blocks of the
church, we found the follow
ing things to be true:
1. M any people there w ere
there to r a lly around M r .
Jones;
2 . M any of these people
w ere personally Informed of
and Invited to the meeting by
D r . Brown;
3 . People living on the
block of the church were un
aw are that there was a "c o m
m unity convention";
F- D r . Brown did prepare
le tw r a to d is c red it individuals
and to keep certain names out
of nomination.
5 . A t least one such le tte r
litor
was voted off the convention
floor;
6 . D r . Brown did not at
tend the convention, but had
selected certain people to
introduce the le tte rs In the
event certain individuals ac
cepted a nomination from the
d oor;
As residents of this com
m unity, we say this was D r .
B row n’ s convention, and that
it should be labeled as such.
As fo rm e r students of D r .
Brow n, we say we are deeply
disappointed in the m an. As
concerned young people, we
say if a convention is neces
s a ry , let’ s plan one and have
hundreds of people fro m our
com m unity making a respec
table decision.
O u r com munity has never
been controlled by one man,
«nd, D r . Brown, nothing haa
changed.
M a . Anne Davis
M . C o ll 1r s
2611 N £ . Union
P o rtla n d , Oregon
here in M ia m i. P re s id e n t N ix
firem en; p sychiatrists, psy
on has summoned these " s t a
c h o lo g is ts ;
inspectors;
tus s e e ke rs " in o rd er to make
c h a ritie s ; food stamps; public
an im pression and an Im pact
assistance w ork program s;
on the 30 Black urban colo
drugs; adm in is tra to rs of the
n ies.
w orld; w elfare; social s e r
Some of the w ell known p e r
vices; correction s officers;
sonal ¡ties who are attending
poverty
program s a d m in i
this convention a re : Floyd
strated by the 94 per cent ad
M c K ls s ic k - c iv il rights law
infinitum .
yer; Roy Inm s - Congress of
T o allow the finances to go
Racial Equality a d m in is tra
d ire c tly toward the problem
to r; T he ReverendM anm e L ee
would mean an equal balance
W ilson - Convent Avenue Bap
m this country’ s w e a lth .F re e
tis t
Church; D r . W illia m
dom Is not the rule In the po
H e ra t - head of M alc o lm X
litic a l arena, be it Republican
C ollege; the Fin ancial S ecre
o r D em o crat.
tary of M u s lim Mosque No. 7;
But to the "s ta tu s s e e k e rs "
M r . Jam es F a r m e r - fo rm e r
who have no p ow e ra n d w ill not
P re s id e n t of CORE and a past
acknowledge this fact to tlie
m e m b e r of the Nixon A d m in i
public, and to those who s till
s tra tio n , along with many oth
have a surge o f consciousness,
e r w ell known Black personal
I say that there Isenough Black
itie s .
gold and talent w ithin the Black
Now the o bserver should be
com munity
th a t
tokenism
aw are that these Blacks who
should not move you towards
a re attending this convention
its g rip . Reaching out towards
a re not delegates who can p a r
your own people fo r support is
ticipate In the decision m ak
the absolute pow er. U n i t y
ing nor can they change the
exists but tokenism has conti
tide which is presently pulling
nuously brought you sway
the masses of poordownward.
fro m this unity. U nityw lthout
T h e point that should te raised
a leader is manpower without
is , "C a n these Black 'status
a b ra in . Should we sit around
se e ke rs ’ d e liv e r the untapped
the mahogany table and d is
Black vote?”
These Blacks
cuss how to acquire mass to
have become closely identified
kenism fo r the masses of poor
w ith this present a d m in is tra
across this nation? You " s ta
tion and gobbled up a ll of t ie
tus s e e k e rs " have not as of yet
patronage and have accepted
thanked your people fo r the
its financial tokenism (good
easy com fo rt that you now en
ies, fo r them selves. Now the
joy because of th e ir support.
B lack "s ta tu s seekers” w ill
return to th e ir homes and p e r
suade the untapped Black vot
e r to vote the straigh t Repub
lican tic k e t.T h e "s ta tu s seek
e r s ” w ill return with th e ir tal
ent and explore the p o s s ib ili
ties of th e ir p o litic a l persua
sion in N o vem ber.
The fact is that most of these
"s ta tu s
s e e k e rs " la v e es
caped from the re a litie s of
To lift her spirits, Virginia
th e ir local tie s . T hey know
decided Io become a bleached
little of the sufferings of t ie
blonde She stirred two bleaching
g ra s s -ro o t masses and the
products together and applied the
m asses' m en tality is now fo
mixture to her hair. Result: scalp
cusing in th e ir directio n ques
burns.
tioning the re lia b ility of Black
In short order, she demanded
L ea d e rs h ip . T hey cannot r e
damages from one of the manu
turn fo r the untapped Black
facturers. But at the trial, the
company pointed out that its di
v o te r that die D em o cratic and
rections warned against mixing
Republican p a rtie s a re both
the product with anything else.
seeking.
The fact remains.” said V ir
T h is is due to tie neg
ginia, "that a bleach should not
lect shown to die masses by
become dangerous merely by
tlie Black p ersonalities whose
being mixed with another blew h.”
aim has teen transform ed into
"fo rtu n e s e e k e rs ,” w hile t ie
unfulfilled
d ream s of the
masses and die fru stratio n of
ttiese dream s continue to exist
because of the authority en
trusted to tte s e "s ta tu s seek
e rs "
being neglectfully fo r
gotten.
The "s ta tu s s e e k e rs " are
a m a jo r cause of: drug addic
tion, prostitution; high c rim e
rates, police b ru tality: prison
rio ts, g lettos; inadequate hos
p ital care; poor educational
fa c ilitie s
and curriculum ;
broken homes; continuous ex
ploitation; genocide; confu
sion; birth defects due to poor
w tr ltlo n ; m ental illness; t r a i
tors; Im m o ra lity ; e tc . They
have failed to challenge tie
true Issues.
The "s ta tu s s e e k e rs " also
insure the white ruling class
that th e ir sona and daughters
w ill continue to w ork, making
money off of the m asses In
flicted problem s, such as:
school teachers; doctors; law
ye rs ; judges; social w orkers;
wardens; guards: policem en;
As most iwople know the
Oregon Black Caucus issued
the Oregon Black Agenda and,
needless to say. only tim e
w Ul tell if lt w ill be lin -
plem ented.
I fo r one have
faith In the Oregon
Black
Caucus and le lie v e tliat lt
w ill insure that a ll of lts
demands are adopted.
In my opinion, the section
on Education could have teen
stron g er. How ever, the p re
face set tlie tone of our Black
awareness as It re la te s to the
e d u c a tio n a l
process in
A m eric a and its double stan
dards fo r people of c o lo r.
T he Education p reface s u r
m ised:
In every phase of our his
tory in A m eric a , we have le e n
seriously lnqeded because of
unequal educational oppor
tunities and in fe rio r educa
tional p ro gram s. O urchU dren
have tee n exposed to racist
teachers who a re m o re dedi
cated
to
controlling than
leaching.
O ur schools are
the most poorly e<juipped and
m aintained. O ur children are
e ith e r
forced out of the
schools, m ls-educated. o r I l l -
p re p a re d . F u rth e rm o re , the
racism that runs ram pant in
our society is perpetuated by
the
educational
process.
» «•
(a) A m andatory and con
tinuous ln -s e rv lc e training
program fo r t r a d e r s c over
ing human relation san dethn lc
culture;
(b) A human relations p ro
gram fo r parents.
(c) T ra n s p o rta tio n sche
dules which allow fo r p a r ti
cipation in e x tr a -c u rr ic u la r
•c tiv ie s ;
(d) P rovisions to care for
any Illness that occurs at
school.
The Black Agenda called
fo r the development of a Black
Educational Resources C enter
and an extension of com pre-
henslve child c a re centers in
(P le a se turn to pg. 7, col. 7)
die high schools.
The Black
Agenda also demands that die
State System of H ig h er Edu
cation aggressively re c ru it
Blacks fo r e nrollm ent in die
various professional schools
throughout
die
state; fo r
exam ple,
m edical, dental,
nursing and law schools. T h a
essential point In the Educa
tion section is that die Agenda
WANTS Q U A L IT Y ED U C A
T IO N FUR o U R C H IL D R E N .
It must te stressed that t ie
Oregon Black Agenda believes
diat these changes w ill also
lib e ra liz e our Brown, Red.
and Yellow B ro th e rs. Indeed,
even those white A m ericans
who truly te l levs In treedom ,
justice and equality w ill join
us in form ing a teautlA il
K aleldoscu|e of colors, m ov
ing
like giants Into this
decade, arweeplng away Injus
tice te fo ie us.
NOTE:
P a rt
111 of " T H E
ORBOON BLACK A O M D A "
w ill a p ie a r text week.
udest Brewery
Blitz-Weinhtird Company P ortland , O regon
Thz
New Items Daily!
FAMOUS LABELS
LIQUIDATORS OF FRUCHT
D A M A C ICOOOSAND
MANUFACTURES CLOSEOUTS
3 Corner Stores • 283-3171
North Killingsworth at Albina
HIS & HERS
PANT SUITS
Reg. to $70.00
100% Polyester Double
Kalt«
99
nCAK
1
»
IrtMa Rocket. ZI r -
r r d ootaido Rocket.
tf o/ com . Small,
moo., Iirgo.
From
9x12
12x15
9x12
w io
s29”
WOOD FRAME
LINOLEUM
RUGS
ATTACHE CASE
B
■ ■ TO
R®9«lorly $19.95 to $50.00
Bee Price
STUDENT
ZIPPERED
However, the court turned
down Virginia’s claim. The judge
said she had meddled with the
merchandise at her own risk.
W ith increasing frequ ency,
manufacturers are being held li
able for harm inflicted by their
products. But if the consumer
had substantially tampered with
the product before using it. that
usually will let the manufacturer
"o ff the hook.”
This is true even if there is no
specific warning against tamper
ing.
Another case involved a ladder
which collapsed under a man’s
weight, throwing him Io the
ground But before using it, he
Lenwood D avis
t1 M O w
TH E
FAMILY®
LAWYER s
Meddling with
Merchandise
« ».èm
W h ite -c o n tro lle d . W hite run.
and W hite-valued schools have
pursued goals that a re con
tra ry to tlie w e ll-b e in g of
Black people.
Therefore, U
w© t i -© to achieve a new era
of Blackdevelopm ent, we must
defliw the educational p ro
cess which we le e d , and we
m ust move to create the
necessary conditions fo r Its
re a liza tio n .
I he Black Agenda believes
tliat losin g should he con
sidered only when It meets
die needs of Black students.
F u rth e rm o re , If Black c h il
dren are bused, there shall
be:
$3”
K ÏS
♦7”
" V ix T "
*5"
SCENIC
PICTURES
24"x48"
... 5 3 9 9
TO $10.95
12x15 "V v T, h u A" M 0 -
W
WITH THIS AD
REMEMBER - WE HAVE CROCERIES
R xnk A kk Ricasnl