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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 1972)
Pige 2 Portland Observer Thursday. N ovem ber 2 . !9?2 Haitians poor but proud Top 10 Survey ä ¿s No. by Sherman Briscoe P C R T -A U -P R IN C E . H aiti (N N P A )- I am sure that the im pression most tourists are likely to take away from this country is one of a poor b u t prowl arxi friendly people who work eery hard and are s till determ ined to succeed de spite nearly 2(W years oi po litic a l setbacks and enormous economic d ifficu ltie s . This impression is made by the swift pace of pedestrain an m o torist a like, by the heavy lo a d s they w illin g ly and gracefully c a rry on th e ir head or push o r pull along the road to m a rk e t, and by the pride that glows deep in the s m il ing eyes of even the poorest peasant. The products on th e ir head are e ith e r made o r grown with th eir own hands. T here are beautiful baskets, attractive pieces of porch furr.iture(woad and m etal , bouquets of lovely flow ers, baskets of fru its aid vegetables, and even bags of charcoal. They can leave th e ir w ares by the roadside overnight and nobody bothers them. A t the docks where the big ships anchor, handcarts, in stead of m o tor tru c k s ,d e liv e r most of the im ports. And the w orkers do it quickly and enthusiastically. At sea, fish erm en harvest thousands of pounds of seafood. Along the highways and side roads, one sees more homes and other buildings going up. Busy craftsm en are digging foundations in the mountain side o r the rocky soil, constructing form s, pouring cement, plastering w alls, carving ornate doors, M inting houses in colorful pastels, and beautifully land scaping yards. T here is no siesta: they work through the heat of t ie day with the same vigo r of the morning hours, ever, though the average diet of the people is only l.W O calories a day. In addition to this w ork, an increased number of Haitians are seen on >ots in sm all A m erican-financed factories where they make dozens of i e m t fo r export to the L \S . These include: Baseballs, sportsw ear, belts, b o o ts , b rassiers, handbags, fishing lures, electronic p arts, sm all tools, women's wigs, men's hairpieces, th e ir own carved figures, and stuffed toys. These export products were valued at $17 m illio n l a s t y e a r. But the p rincip al occupation of the H aitian people is fa rm ing. F o u r m illio n o r $0 per cent of them liv e on two- acre farm s , raisin g coffee, sugarcane, cotton, bananas, s isal, fru its and vegetables in addition to c a ttle , hogs goats , and p ou ltry. How ever, farm in g is d iffic u lt in t h i s mountainous country that is slightly s m a lle r than M a ry land. But the people seem determ ined to succeed at farm in g o r w hatever else they do. lie r 's beautiful palace, die legislative building, the post office, and other a ttrac tiv e government buildings. \n d we saw proud statues of the lib erato rs: Toussaint L o u - v e rtu re , Jean Jacques P e s - salines, and E m p e ro r H enri Christophe. Also we saw a statue that the late President Francois D u v a lie r had de signed of a young Haitian No. 1. 2. Booty— — — — — — — PunKedellc be Around— — — — - - - T h e Spinners I 'l l 2 3 3. Good T im es---------- --------Kool and the Gang 4 4. F re d d ie 's D ead-— — — - - - C u r t is M ayfield 5. M em phis at S u n r is e ---— — - - - - - Bar^Kaye 6 . D o n't take m y Kindness fo r Weakness— The Saul C h ild ren 7. If You let M e - - - — — Eddie Kendricks 8 . If you Don’t Know me by N o w -- — — Harold M elv in and The Blue Notes 9. W o rk to |e y ({r o tle r a 1 8 Loose 10 9 0 10. W om an's Got to Have It— — Bobby Womack 5 Listen W eekly To The Soul G iant of The Northwest slave with bulging muscles, blowing a conch-she 11, the country’ s symbol of lib e rty . We visited shops, stores, and s m all facto ries, and we E. C. Soul Time KGAR Radio 1550 on your Dial Every Sunday 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Ramsey L ew is and his in o helped to close the final night of entertainm ent at PUSH E X P O , recently held in Chicago, Ram sey’ s hometown. The C olum bia recording a rtis t, whose "L'pendo N i P a m o ja " is one of the best selling albums in the country, is in the process of cutting another L P . to be released in the n ear future. PUSH EXPO draws crowds PUSH E X P O , recently held in A good example of this was our guide , G esner F a - too, whom my w ife and 1 hired the f ir s t day o r two * e w ere in the country, \ f t e r that we rented a c a r and drove and d rove. M essieu r Faton once lived in a shabby house and push ed a handcart at the w a rf fo r a d o lla r a day. But he studied English at night to become a guide. Now he is studying Spanish to become m o re p ro fic e n t and fu rth e r increase his earnings fo r his fa m ily of seven. A t no tim e during his hire to us was he tard y . W alk out of our cote! day o r night and he was there. Seep out of a night club o r the casino and he m et us sm iling at the door. He drove us all over P o rt- a u -P n n c e and P etio n ville and up into the mountains. We saw P resid ent Jean-Claude D w a - saw lib r a rie s , many elem en ta ry and secondary schools, and the u niversity with several colleges, including a college of m edicine. M any of the homes we saw are as beautiful as are to be found anywhere. B u tin the older p art of the capital c ity and throughout much of the countryside, most of the housing and the grinding poverty are a depressing as the w orst m Alabama o rm y native M is s is s ip p i, o r C h i cago o r C leveland. Some tim es we had to fight back Bears and h urry along. How ever, o u r guide ex plained that the F ir s t Lady, the P re s id e n t’ s m o ther, has set as her goal m ore im p ro v ed housing for the people. T k is and economic development w ill be discussed in the 2nd and final installm ent. C -ica g o before close to one m il lion people o ver a five -d a y period, was one oi the best show cases In the country fo r witnessing the increasing de velopment of Black businesses. It was also the mecca of Black entertainm ent during t h a t period, with v irtu a lly e v e ry big name in Black music re p re - sen ted. W hlle ever 20,000 spectators at each of the concerts watched th e ir favo rite stars p erfo rm , other considerations fo r a r tists , such as security and com fo rt, w ere being executed. The man who was m charge of the m a jo r endeavor was Logan H . W estbrooks. In his capacity as d ire c to r of a rtis ts relation s, W estbrooks and his staff of 40 people w ere responsible fo r all non- perform ing a c tiv ities oi the a rtis ts . T his involved hoeel assignments, scheduling of re hearsals fo r the a rtis ts , provisions fo r escorting the a rtis ts a round E X P O , backstage security, and w hatever e m e r gencies that m ight develop regarding the a rtis ts . " M y staff took care of most activities of the acts from picking them up at the a irp o rt, to making sure that they were on tim e fo rth e irp e rfo rm a n c e s , Westbrooks stated. " W e w e re also in charge of taking care of V IP s , suer as Black govern ment o fficials and personal friends of the people who put PUSH E X P O to g e th e r." W estbrooks, who serves as d ire c to r oi special m arkets for Columbia Records, alsow crked closely with Rev. Jesse J a c k- son, president of PUSH, making sure that all program s were coordinated and covered at all stages. W hile working with artis ts of other labels, Westbrooks assigned G ra n v ille White, C o lum bia's R i B regional d ire c to r in Chicago, to handle the Colum bia acts, which in cluded the O ’Jays and B illy P au l, a rtis ts fo r Philadelphia Intern atio nal, and Ramsey L ew is , a m em ber of the Colum bia ro s te r. Harold M elv in and the Blue Notes. P h ila d e lp h ia In tern a tional a rtis ts did not p erfo rm at E X P O , but did participate in the a c tiv itie s . Westbrooks also used some of his own promotion menu B ill C ra ig , Glen W rig h t, F re d W a re and C lu c k O ffaitt, and his assis tant M a m ie T a tte rs a l, to aid him in the u rxlertakirg. "S ince m ost of the artis ts created the most hysteria of any of t ie acts. " I t was absolutely u n re a l," c o m m e n te d W estbrooks. " T h e r e w ere scream s fo r other a rtis t, but not like they America loves what the Colonel cooks "Its finger likin ' good Buy it by the Box Bucket or Barrel Ä / , 'S T i e U ’Jays, Philadelphia International recording stars, are shown perform ing th e ir just c e rtifie d gold record, "B a c k Stabbers" at opening night of PUSH E X P O , recently held m Chicago. a rtis t forgot to w e a r one of the badges given to him , one of my people had to know - o * to take care of it so that there would he no unnecessary em b arrassm ent on anybody's p e r t." Westbrooks pointed out that although all the acts that ap peared w ere superstars, the Jackson 5, during tr e lr S a tu r - day afternoon perform ance, Jackson 5 . And because of this we had to take special security p re c lu s io n s . But the concert took place with out incident, and everyone hed a good tim e P e rfe c t for P a rtie s , Picnics, Lunch, o r Dinner T ak e It Home, E at It H e re , o r In Y o ur C a r PUSH E X P O , according to W estbrooks, was a huge suc cess because of good planning o v e ra ll. " E X P O showed the country that Black people could work hand in hand to bring oi something that woukl be beneficial fo r them not just Individually, but c o lle c tiv e ly . I was pleased to be involved." Restaurants See Yellow Pages for Store N earest You Sears 3 Days Onlv Prices in effect through Saturday, Nov. 4th. HEAVY-DUTY Shock Absorbers "K H v H»«»» Ibstv Msesrh Guaranteed As Long 4 l.-oH»« r f.e a ru s lrr I f H » «»»I> u t» *h « x k kl»*or(»er fe th du» In fawlt« uuetrriel* end * o r k m in > h ip «r w»er-<»ul » h il» orig in e l p urrhg~ »r <*«*n> ih» r e r , il w ill I*» r»- ple<»d upo n r r to r n f r r » nf rherg». o r th» p u rrh e *» p n r » w ill ►» r»fund»<f I f th» d » fe r ti* e • *»«>» k el»- •o rb e r *» « in«igll»d f>» >»er«. » » w ill in- •te ll n»w «hork • o rb e r w ilh no rherg» fo r lebor As You Own Your Car $7.99 SAVE $2.66 R egular m J each Sizes to fit most Am erican made c a rs , store handling and riding res[x>nae. $26.99 Booster Shocks.. Helps re - $21.99 Sears Guaranteed 18-Month Battery w ere appearing at th e ir own expense, we had to make sure that everything went w e ll," W estbrooks added. " I f ae 12 99 With T r a d e - In G uaranoed fo r 18 months. A giwat value (o r care with few er accessories. Reliable K a rtin g |tower costs so very little at S ears. H u rry In todayl GUARANTEE i\Ce McCOY for State Rep. Comm, Democrat District 15 7413 N Lombard Portland, Oregon 97203 Thanks to you it's working . . . through United Good Neighbors F re e replacem ent within Wl days of p uirh aae If battery proves d efective. A fte r W) daya we w ill replace It w ith a new h a tta iy If defective, charging only fo r t ie period of owneralilp. Your monthly charges fo r ownership w ill le coiii|iuteit by dlvktlng the c u rren t te llin g price less tia d e -ln at the tim e of return, by t ie n u in le r of months of guarsntse, SUNDAY HOURSI 10 AJM. 'T il. 5 I ' M . Shop Monday thru F rid a y , 8:30 A .M , 't il 9 l ’ > 1 . Shop Saturday, 8:30 A .M . '«II 5:30 P .M .. P a rk FR EE SHOP A T OTARS A N D SAVE Setiafertaae G n w e S w f ar Yaer Mowry Berk MASS, B O S S V O t AMO 0 0 . Grand Avenue at Lloyd Itlv tl., Phone 234-3311
