Page 6 Po rtland /O bserver Thursday, August 31, 1972
Davis publishes bibliography
Theater
seeks teens
Janet MacLachlai stars as Wanda, the rebellious daughter
of the firs t black P “ ’ »dent of the United States, in Paramount
P ictures' "The Man'
The Theatre Workshop of
the Portland Bureau of Parks
announces the formation of
a new group to teach the ele
ments of musical comedy pro
duction through d ire ct p a rti
cipation. The group, called
TW<2, w ill produce Its own
shows in addition to taking
classes in acting, singing and
dancing.
Any teenager wishing to
I » ruei(ia« is invited toattend
any of the rehearsals or
classes which are held every
night, except Saturday, a t 7:30
p jn . in the Laurelhurst Park
Building. S4£. 39th A Stark.
TW#2 is designed so that
a student may participate as
much or as Unie as he is
able. There is a two d o lla r
registration fee.
Virgin Islands invite Americc
Governor M elvin H. Evans
has extended invitations to
Americans,
especially
to
A m erica’s Blacks to come to
his U.S. V irg in islands and
stop by and v is it with him
upon a rriv a l.
To make itm o re economical
fo r fam ilies to v is it the V ir
gin Islands, during the month
of September, hotel directors
are offering a special "Tw o
fo r One" package.
V isito rs to the three islands
of St. C roix. St. John or St.
Thomas, during September,
w ill be given double accom
modations at the single room
rate.
Accroding to John P. Scon,
Commissioner of Commerce,
"T h is w ill mean tremendous
savings to the tra ve le r during
this
period.”
Scott said.
"W ith rates already at th e ir
low off season level, up to
400 per cent off peak season
rates, this added reduction
w ill certainly be a dollar
stretcher.
Rates w ill be available from
as little as $7 per day to an
average of $24 per day,’ ’
Scott added.
This special fall package
has
been made available
to coincide with the firs t
“ M iss Twins UJS.A." beauty
pageant to be held in the
V irg in Islands during Sep
tember. Twins from many
The explosive story
of the first black
President of the
United States.
of the states and te rrito rie s
w ill be converging on the th ree
islands to compete fo r the
title and the chance to repre
sent the Uj5. in the "M is s
Twins W orld’ pageant to be
held in 1973.
Bargains are not unusual
to the V irgin Islands. As a
free port, merchandise ;'rom
a ll over the w orld is avail
able at much lower prices
than the same items can be
purchased fo r in New York.
The U.S. V irg in Islands is
s till the only place in the
Caribbean where one can bring
home $200 worth of merchan
dise duty free.
In addition, each v is ito r 21
years of age and over may
return with one gallon of
liquor.
Other counties are only a l-
loted one quart by U. S.
Customs.
GALA HRFMIFKF X 0 l k
CINEMA 21
> * w
a < ■ T «
« O VT
.
C a
a «711
Lenwood G. Davis, who taon
the faculty of Portland State
U niversity, was notified re
cently by the Council on Plan
ning L ib rarians of M onticello.
Illin o is , that the publication
date is set fo r November of
this year fo r his latest book,
BLACKS IN THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST: 1788-1972.
Hts book la p rim a rily de
signed as a reference fo r those
who wish to learn more about
the achievements of Blacks in
the P acific Northwest from
their e a rlie st a rriv a l to pre
sent. The bibliography at
tempts to lis t everything that
has been w ritten about Black
people in that section of the
United States, whether books,
a rticle s in newspapers, pe
riodicals, and official govern
ment documents, as well as
manuscripts.
P rofessor Davis wrote a si
m ila r cotnprefiensive and ex
ha us l iv e
bibliography on
BLACKS IN THE STATE OF
OREGk'N that was published
last year. He is considered the
leading authority on the histo
ry of Blacks in Oregon and the
P acific Northwest. He lias
published several a rticle s on
Blacks in Oregon and the Paci
fic Nortiiwest for the leading
professional quarterlies and
journals. The author and pro-
Lenwood D a v it
lessor lias also taught classes
on "B la cks In the Pacific
N orthw est", as well as lec
tured all over that area on the
history of Black |<eople.
Besides teaching, traveling,
speaking, w ritin g articles and
book reviews, the b rillia n t
young and dynamic professor
is doing additional research on
Blacks In the Pacific North
west and hopes to complete it
within tlie next year, IhePSU
A frican and A fro -A m e rica n
historian is tie author of three
other bibliographies, BLACKS
LN THE STATE OF OREGON,
PAN-AFRICANISM. BI ACKS
in
m u c ities , 1900-1972.
He is also the author o il HAVE
A DRBAMl 1HI I II I AND
TIM ES OF M AR TIN I I I 111 K
KING, JR . which was published
in 1*>9.
21 2 5 N . V a n e o
\ u C o n d itio n e d
b ree P a i king
I ive M u s ic I ht
Satunlay
x liu tlle tu s to dog Hack d.uly
l oading tune — 6:30. C a ll
284-1390 (o r infoi madon.
Monday-Wednewlay
Thursday-Friday
Saturday-Sunday
3:00
p.m .
to
t<
to
11:00 a. m .
1:00 p.m .
On being black in Oregon
First black governor
THE QUALITY OF Hl RT, By
Chester Himes, Doubleday.
$7.
a Howard graduate
M elvin H. Evans, the firs t
native Black Governor, won
in the V irg in Island’ s firs t
gubernatorial election in No
vember, 1970.
He was born in C hrlstian-
sted, St. C roix, on August 7,
1917,
and attended public
schools there. He completed
his secondary education at
Charlotte Amalie High School
in St. Thomas, where he was
valedictorian of his class.
Governor Evans was gradu
ated Magna Cum Laude in 1940
from Howard University in
Washington, D.C. He won his
medical degree with honors
from Howard in 1944.
Following his medical In
ternship in New York City,
Governor E v a n s
became
Physician-in-Charge of the
F rederiksted Municipal Hos
pital, a position be held until
1948. Then he was appointed
Senior Assistant Surgeon in
the United States Public Health
Service, Washington, D.C.
In 1950, he resumed his po
sition at the F rederiksted
Municipal Hospital and in 1951
was appointed AssistantCom-
m issioner of Health fo r the
V irg in Islands and Chief Muni
cipal Physician fo r St. C ro ix.
In 1956, Governor Evans be
came a Fellow in Cardiology
at John Hopkins U niversity.
He was appointed Commis
sioner of Health fo r the V irg in
Islands in 1958, resigning that
position in 1967 to enter p r i
vate practice. In 1966 he took
a year's leave of absence to
earn his M aster’ s Degree in
Public Health from the Uni
versity of C alifornia at Berke
ley.
Governor Evans is C hair
man of the Board of Trustees
of the College of the V irg in Is
lands and a member of the
Board of D irectors of the Good
Hope School.
He is also a charter mem
ber of the Rotary Club and has
served as Chairman of the
Board of Medical E xaminers.
President of the V irgin Is
lands Medical Association and
Chairman of the Governors’
Commission on Human Ser
vices.
The Governor is active in
American Medical Associa
tion, the American Public
Health Association, the Na
tional Medical Association,
and the Fan American Medical
Association, and is a charter
member of the American As
sociation of Public Health
Physicians.
He is m arried to the form er
M ary P hyllis Anderson. They
have four sons.
Drug problem aired
a r f ç u n i îl L u L n liL U U JiL i.
Let PfiPPS BOTTLE SHOP bo yuur headquarters for
champagne, wtnea, misers. . at the lowest prices In
town
F o r the fir s t time in tele-
vison history, a c ritic a l pro
blem shared by two nations
w ill be explored via ;rans-
Atlantlc satellite as England
and the United States sim ul-
Watch for grand opening of
TED AND PATS
# 2 RESTAURANT
#1 is open for business now
at 3940 N. W illiam s Ave.
working partner wanted
a wonderful opportunity
Contact Ted 284-0555
taneously present DRUGS VIA
SATELLITE on Sunday, Sep
tember 10 at 2:00 p jn . The
program w ill be seen live on
KPTV, Channel 12, and w ill
orginate from London, Eng
land and from New Y ork.
David F rost, well known on
both continents, w ill host the
telecast.
In tie United states P resi
dent RichardNixon has labeled
the drug problem "P u b lic
Enemy Number One." B r i
tain shares the problem of
drug abuse but handles It d if
ferently. Viewers of DRUGS
VIA SATELLITE w ill meet
the street addict in New York,
who must steal to support a
habit that may cost him $200
a day, and tie B ritis h addict
who lias a legal medical pre
scription fo r heroin.
The
addicts w ill confront each
o tte r on the program, com
paring their lives under the
two systems. Other experts
of each nation w ill also dis
cuss their divergent points of
view on the best vzay to handle
a problem that Is destroying
lives,
increasing
violent
crim e, and invading the en
tire social structure of our
w orld.
Through this examination
of two societies it is hoped
that some light w ill 1« shed
on wliere both America and
B ritain have been and wliere
we are going in relationship
to heroin and other dangerous
drugs.
Several weeks ago before a
meeting of the Oregon Black
Caucus, I had the good fortune
of talking with an articulate,
m iddle-aged Black woman
(m other of four) who ex
pressed her life-long " a m
bition to w rite a really good
novel . . . mainly, about Black
people in P o rtla n d ." 1 re ite r
ated my inclinations in th a td i-
rectlon, and we both lamented
the fact that Oregon Blacks in
a professor in a Southern
their more than 300 year his
Black college and his m o tle r
tory in the state had produced
was a dynamic lady of consid
no creative w rite r of m ajor
erable influence in tie Black
significance. The woman said
middle class of Cleveland,
that she had known "one tal
Ohio. Chester was encouraged
ented young Black w rite r, in
to attend Ohio state U niversity
his early twenties . ..whohad
where heselJorn went toclass.
fled the state fo r Paris ...a n d
Instead 1« spent much of his
there m arried some French
time with the "h ip ste rs, push
woman . . . and never wrote a
ers and p ro stitu te s" off-cam -
single important lin e !"
pus where ( * entered a life of
1 told her that this had be
crim e and violence. And it is
come a common practice of a
here chat tlie young Chester
considerable num ter of Black
Himes learned the tricks and
authors since th e Harlem
connlvings ot the crim inal e l
Renaissance of the 1920’ s.
ements in Cleveland and des
That some of our very best au
perately seeking money be
thors ll'as James Baldwin,
cause of his gambling obses
W illiam D e m b y , Richard
sion, txirglarlzed the home of
W right and others; had be
a rich , white suburban fam ily
lieved fla t the social, p o liti
and had to flee to Chicago
cal and psychological environs
w fere he was appretiended
of America were so intol
while trying to peddle the stol
erable and repressive to their
en jew elry. As long as Himes
creative and psychic con
crim es were confined to the
sciousness, that they returned
Black community, he was
to Europe o r A frica todlscov-
largely free ot harrassment
er sanctuaries where th e y
from the law; but since he
could he in relative peace with
committed a ertme against
themselves and th e ir "neces
wealthy and powerful whites -
sary w ork.”
he was tortured Into making a
One such exceptional Black
confession by tlie tough Chica
talent is Chester Himes, the
go police who were not inter
author of THE QUALITY OF
ested in the crim e he had com
HURT, an Im portant autobio
m itted back in Ohio, but wanted
graphical firs t volume of fo r
him to confess to having stol
ty-five years of his life and
en jewelry from a white wo
lite ra ry
works. C h e s t e r
man In Chicago, who was a
Himes, who now lives In A li
g irl-frie n d of one of the police
cante, Spain, was bom In Jef
o ffice rs. (Shades of Portland!;
ferson C ity, M issouri in 1909,
Himes resisted the Chicago
and a fte r too many frustrating
policemen’ s Intimidation and
years
of "searching f o r
dishonesty, but lie was finally
peace" in ra cist America, left
transported
lack to Ohio
the country fo r Europe In 1953,
wliere lie was Imprisoned to r
Himes w rites: "T h is vol
seven and a half years. It is
ume of my autobiography
In prison fla t Chester Himes
recounts all that memory re
began w ritin g Ids fir s t novel,
tains of the fo rty-five years
CAST THE FIRST STONE, In
of my hurt. Am erica hurt me
1952, which Is s till one of the
te rrib ly , whether rightly or
definitive works on Black p ri
wrongly Is not the point. When
soners in Am erica. It is here
1 fought back through w riting
that he decides that he liad
it (America) decided to k ill
something Important to say
me, whether because I was a
about tlie Black Ex|<enence In
degenerate e x -c o n v ic t (his
White Am erica.H im esw i tea:
words) who refused to wear
"T lie seven and a half yea. s I
sackcloth and ashes, a Negro
actually served did not seem to
who refused to accept the Ne
hurt me at all . . .theonly ef
gro Problem as my own, a
fect It had on me was to con
" n ig g e r" who would not con
vince me that people w ill do
form to tie existence pre
anything - white people, black
scribed fornlggers, o ra Black
people, all people....up to tlie
man who pitied white women,
age of 31, 1 liad leen hurt emo
I w ill never know. I do know
tionally, sp iritu a lly and physi
that when America k ills a nig
cally as much as 31 years can
ger it expects him to remain
bear; I fed lived in tie South;
dead. But 1 didn't know tliat 1 I had fallen down ari elevator
was supposed todie. I s till had
shaft; I had leen kicked out of
hope. I s till believed tbedevll.
college; I fed served seven and
But at age fo rty-five , while
a half years in prison; 1 led
trying to make a white woman
sui-vlved tlie hum iliating last
feel safe, 1 suddenly realized
five years of tie Depression in
1 had never been safe. Fear Cleveland; and s till I was com
erased my hurt. | became
plete; functional; my mind was
afraid to liv e . Fortunately, tie
sharp, my reflexes were good,
desperate struggle fo r life in
end I was not b itte r,"
formed me that the only place
Yet, Himes fled to Europe
where I was safe was in my (England, France, Spain) be
skin, 6 June 1971, Alicante,
cause le " ju s t wanted out of
tlie United States . . .1 led had
I
Alameda Theater
3 0 0 0 N.E. Alberta
287-2887
Jarnos (Doc) Rogers
I t ! ” Yet, In Europe, fa r dis
tant from the Black community
and its oppression and prob
lems, Himes discovered no
lasting peace. Many Euro
peans lie discovered were as
racist and unreasonable as
American whites. Yet,Him es
in his wisdom is grateful dec
his "e n u re life had condi
tioned me to a constant expec
tation of catastrophe . . .a ix ll
didn’t expect Europeans to le
greatly d ifferent. A fte r a ll.
Americans were theirdescen-
dants. 1 just wanted out from
tlie United States."
You liked it before
so h ei back
with more
He met some of the great
w rite rs of tills o r any time; In
cluding R ic h a r d
W right,
James Baldwin. Jean-H aul
Sartre, Andre Malraux. Rob
e rt Frost and others; and tie
had a num ter of sexual adven
tures and affairs with women
ol all racesand ages anil Inter
ests. And I shall here allow
Chester to sjeak fo r himself:
"W fe re women areconcened
1 have always teen an ass . . .
just to put a Black man into a
white woman's bed Is to sug
gest an orgy . . .outside of her
body, tie most appealing thing
about a woman Is her sense of
humor I"
I ’m afraid I can’ t agree with
C fe ste r on a ll of his conclu
sions. He Is much more im
pressive when le w rites:
"T h e American Black Is a new
race of rnan . . . " and he le -
lleves that In time we w ill con
quer our oppressors and our
problems. I heartily suggest
you Ixjy and read this rem ark
able biography, If you wish to
know tie author of IF HE HOL
LARS LE T HIM GO: THE
LONELY CRUSADE; PINK-
TOES and other valuable con-
trilu tlo n s to Black lite ra ry
5HAŒV
BIÖ5CDRE-
Legend of HiggerCharley
ainft r u n n in g
a r t.
Young Black poetess, N ikki
Giovanni t o ld Chester Himes
during an Interview on tie
television show, "S o u l", tliat
"h e was tie Father of contern-
porary Black n o ve lists." I
don’ t agree with thateither.
Yet, C fe ste r Himes’ T H E
QUALITY OF HURT Is an lm -
portant lan, iark In Black bio-
graphics.
Get your., i f a copy. And,
hey . . . take care. These a re
dangertxis
rimes fo r our
people.
By James (Doc) Rogers
i
I
j
I
Fred W illie marni D 'U rv ille M a rtin Ikon IV d r
Screenplay liy M a rtin Goldman arai L a rry G.
Story by James Bellah Produced by L a rry G.
Directed liy M artin Goldman
Soundtrack allium available on Paiemount Records
In Color A Paramount Picture
Final week
Too much sun can lie a dan
ger, the American Lancer So
ciety warns. Use hats, beach
umbrellas and lotions to safe
guard against skin cancer.
O p e n M o n d a y thru F rid a y 7:0 0 p .m .
S aturday 5:3C p.m.
Sunday 2:45p .m