PORTLAND
I htiraday, lie c e m lie r 21, 1972
4?
OBSERVER
A black view of black movies
Section 11
by Rosemary Allen
Elizabeth Ingersoll
I ha Albina A rt Center w ill present an evening of poetry,
music and a n on December 23td, blglnnlng at 7:30 p jn . at
the center, 8 N . KUIlngsworth.
Ib is w ill 1» the C enter's fir s t occasslon to have an open
poetry leading combined with m usic. Poets reading th e ir
works Include Flooney, Al H a rris , Ucuin and Joy B yrd.
A n will he shown by a n is ts associated with tie center and
with tie community.
T ie A n Center, under acting d ire c to r Charles Tatum, is
reconstructing Its program to r tie coming year to he more
relevant to the needs of tie people of Albina and of the broader
community. The center hopes to attract persons who are
Interested In tie arts hut who have no outlet. 7 he center also
attempts to identify and encourage talent and to provide an
atmosphere fo r learning fo r anyone who is Interested in
persuing any typ«e of a rtis tic endeavor.
Notice
Rambling Rose
by Rosalie Booth
C ultural A its proudly pre­
sent Joll Southwell.
When
one speaks of what makes a
fellow human being tick, one
should geographically dlsect
where lie's coming from .
That person Is none other
than Jotl Southwell, a young
handsome derivative from the
tropical Island of AntKjua,
holding m em lerahlp In the
I eeward and Windward group
In tin East West Indies and
holding a state m em lershlp
In associated states under tin
B ritis h
protectorate since
D67.
"The Bible states that ye
shal, know ite m by the fru it
they te a r ." since this young
and
enterprising
b ro tlie r
planted his feet on American
soli, he is fast becoming a
lege nd.
The c a ly p s o s o n g s t e r
chants:
**t»h lsi.in n tin sun
W in re my , fopie have lived
since time ingun
tho | m ight sail on many
of seas
In r shores w ill always In
home to me . ,
Antlqua Is a tropical para­
dise where you can feast and
romance by torch lig h t. With­
out a lover, you can In
serenaded by w ater fa lls o r
just enjoy a lazy afternoon
rafting on a winding tropical
riv e r surrounded by lush
green vegetation, A s a native
from a neighboring Island
where tourism Is the largest
economy, Antlqu.i also makes
Its eontrtfutlon serving a high
to u rist trade. There are al­
ways Jobs fo r anyone who
wishes to w ork. Jo ll South-
well had such a job.
lie
operated as a young csb
d riv e r, a job that was passed
on to him by an older brother
during the peak of the tourist
season. Thus, being In the
rig h t place at the right time
paid off fo r young J o ll.
On
his firs t day one of his fares
just happened to be the fa ln -
lously wealthy Howard Walls
from the P acific Northwest.
who has huge holdings In
lum ber. He immediately took
a liking to this sm iling, even-
tempered,
finely
chiseled
faced young black man. Thus,
sponsorship and college was
eminent.
Don't
fo r
one
second think that this lad had
the s liv e r spoon In his mouth.
J o ll worked very hard in
unerica r maglng the W alls'
large estate to earn Ids way
through college. Many eve­
nings le would have loved to
relax by the roaring fireplace,
Ixit be twee. chores md col­
lege examinations J o ll was
a young dude on die go.
J o ll Southwell now holds a
Bachelor of A rts degree and
is currently working on his
M asters.
Everyone knows
that this Taurus (a stro lo g l-
c a lly speaking) with h ill-
headed determination w ill
complete
Ids educational
goals. Jo ll worked fo r a lew
years fo r Crown Zellerbach
and then was appointed as
d ire c to r to the Senior Adult
Service Center now operating
on Union Avenue. M r. South-
w ell employs 56 employees
and runs a highly specialized
service staffed by senior
adults.
The Senior Adult Service
Center
aids other senior
citizens that can't leave the
house fo r prescriptions fo r
fo r those who need assistance
In household duties, o f just
w ritin g a le tte r o r keepings
doctors
appointment. M r.
Southwell's
agency covers
many phases In the commu­
n ity . Ills service to the com­
munity allows each of the 56
employees at the Senior Adult
Service Center to obtain an
Income fo r th e ir services,
and thus establishing a higher
liv in g allowance to supple­
ment
those
sm all social
security payments the gov­
ernment expects them to live
o ff.
I was so proud to see
one of the heat organized of­
fices I've seen In a long time,
staffed by senior adults using
the expertise grounded and
learned by many years of
experience, working In full
force
In
all
capacities.
"G o d ’ s Beautiful People.”
M r . Southwell Is m arried
to a beautiful, vivacious young
lady
named Cynthia, who
operates professionally as a
social w o rke r and is c u r­
rently employed at the C h il­
dren Services fo r the State
of Oregon.
Together they
have put together an energetic
bundle of Joy named J o ll, J r.,
1-1/2 years old.
J o ll S r.
speaks w arm ly of his fam ily
and expresses the goals he
would like to achieve by ex­
panding his service to o ilie r
communities on the out-lying
areas.
Many of you w ill
remember a few years back
J o ll’ s participation on the
College Bowl Quiz Program ,
representing Portland State,
and Ids singing contribution
to
the
Portland
opera
Association.
In relating to his island
heritage fo r exotic and spicy
foods, I asked him if he ever
got hungry fo r peas and rice
cooked with coconut m ilk o r
salt fish and ackee, o rc u rrle d
goat and rice , and he just
swelled up with laughter. He
stated that the had no special
food fancies.
He consumes
whatever Cynthia dishes from
the stove.
Indeed, a very
easy man to please (sm ile).
However, lie does possess an
appetite from the Caribbean
w lie re most of his fam ily
s till reside. L ivin g just two
blocks from the ocean in hts
youth, Jotl Southwell is an
avid swim m er and fishing
expert
and also e n jo y s
w re stlin g .
C ultural
A rts
salute this articulate and up-
and-coming
young
perso­
nality.
C ultural A rts wishes each
and everyone season's greet­
ings. Whether we celebrate
C hristm as under a Pine o r
Palm tree, may It he the
m e rrie s t ever.
The students of the Albina
Youth Opportunity School w ill
hold a dance on Friday, De­
cember - to raise funds fo r
the school. The dance w ill be
held at the school, 3710 N.
M ississip p i, at 8:30 to 12:30.
The Heavy w ill provide the
m usic. Admission price is
$1.00.
Recently, I have heard such
m ovies
as Melinda, Cool
Breeze, Blacula, Buck andtfe
P reacher, Superfly. etc. un-
m e rclve ly attacked by white
c ritic s and a few colored
organizations such as the
NAACP, They do not c r it i­
cize these movies by pointing
out poor acting, poor photo­
graphing o r poor direction.
They
simply
label these
m ovies, "B la ck Exploitation
M o v ie s ", and dism iss any
importance, significance o r
re a lty that they might por­
tra y .
These
c ritic s
are
sim ply showing th e ir belief
that anything Black, about
blacks and fo r blacks is
to ta lly destructive.
Personally I find any white
c r itic s attempt to a le rt me
to which movie Is best o r
w orthy enough fo r me to pay
and see hilariously insane. I
don't fee that white c ritic s
cannot c ritic iz e Black movies
because they are not black,
but because they have demon­
strated their inability to c r i­
tic iz e
any movie. T h e ir
fa ilu re
to call the now-
cJasslc, Cone with the Wind,
Black exploitative o r attack
S h irle y Temple’ s frequent u p
dancing treks on the planta-
tlon w ith wide-eyed, sim ple-
minded slaves (which can be
viewed frequently on Satur­
day afternoons) demonstrates
th e ir lack of sensitivity to­
wards the feelings and pride
of black people. But that’ s
enough about white c ritic s .
I would really like to discuss
black movies. What purpose
are they serving, If any? Is
the language that is frequently
used (street language) ob­
scene? And are they, In fact,
exploiting black people?
On all accounts 1 give a
fla t no. Because 1 know that
black people have enough
sense to see the fantasy in
Superfly. They realize that
In the end it is usually the
white man who rises v ic ­
torious and that Superfly is
one of these rare Incidents
when he doesn't. Can you
blame Black folks fo r wanting
to see one of these rare
Incidents.
What is so harmful abour
blacks In film s? W ell, you
may complain that Superfly
is a dope pusher and could
PCC course telecast
Portland Community C ol­
lege w ill join with Portland's
KPTV (Channel 12) to tele­
vise a 15-week college credit
course entitled "M an and
Environm ent.” To 1« offered
Monday and Tuesday at 10:30
p jn . and Tuesday and Wed­
nesday at 9:30 a. m ., the
senes w ill begin January 22.
In addition to the Portland
metropolitan area, KPTV is
carried by sixty-one cable
television companies through­
out Oregon and Washington,
and people living in any area
are e lig ib le to e n ro ll.
In
line with PCC's "open d o o r"
philosophy. H ere are no pre­
requisites;
a high school
diploma is not necessary to
receive c re d it.
The fir s t Oregon com­
munity college to o ffe r a one-
semester course on commer­
cial
television,
Portland
Community C o lle g e w ill award
three tra n sfe r credits In an­
thropology
fo r
successful
completion of the course.
Students w ill e n ro ll by mall
to PCC's Community Educa­
tion D ivisio n . They w ill 1«
mailed learning m aterials,
textbooks, and examinations.
A telephone " h o tlin e " ser­
vice enabling students to d is­
cuss problems with Instruc­
tors w ill be provided.
The fir s t half hour of each
week w ill be a color, sound
film produced by Miami-Dade
TV College In M iam i, Florida
highlighting a specific e n vir­
onmental problem .
Topics
include: "Environm ental Im ­
peratives” , "N a tu re o fM a n ",
" A ir
P o llu tio n ", " W a te r
Supply, Demand, P olution",
"Population Dynamics” , " In ­
dividual Involvement’ ’ . " U r ­
banization” , and others. The
second half-hour w ill be a
panel discussion of the nros
and cons of each issue, bring­
ing into focus specific local
problems. Each panel mem­
ber w ill be an expert in his
o r her fie ld .
The m id -te rm and final
examinations w ill be mailed
to PCC and grades w ill be
awarded on the basis of test
performance.
Geraldine
Pearson, Co­
ordinator of Special P rojects,
sees the program as an ex­
cellent way fo r high school
students to take a college
course in th e ir own living
room, as a potential in­
s e rt ice program fo r teachers,
and as an entertaining and
inform ative
program
fo r
people who may wish to tune-
in without taking the course
fo r cre d it,
K l’ T V 's Program Manager
Gordon White is anenthusias-
tic supporter of public ser­
vice and education programs
on com m ercial television.
W hile says, "W e have a re­
sponsibility to provide the
type of programming that
people In the Northwest want.
We are delighted to cooperat­
ing with PCC In this pro­
g ra m ."
F o r more Information on
"M an and the E nvironm ent"
contact Geraldine Pearson at
Portland Community College,
12000 S.W. 49th Avenue, P ort­
land, Oregon 97219, 24-6111.
M iss June M ille r poses fo r Portland Observer photo with her handsome escort after digging
Superfly at the Alameda.
lead many black youths astray.
Again I say that black people
realize who are the REAL
pus tiers of drugs in th e ir
community and the movie
Superfly definitely a in 't it.
Drugs have been in the black
community fo r fund reds of
years: Superfly prem iered in
1972.
I'm not pushing the
movie Superfly. I'm pushing
black movie« period — be­
cause it har been a th r ill
fo r me to he able to go to a
theatre and identify with the
movie C’ rrn 'v because the
i c t c s arc nlsck like me,
talking like me and some
even living like me. That’s
something fo r any black per­
son to he able to say.
But regardless of what I
o r any white c r itic has to
say, the person with the final
decision on whether there
w ill he any more movies like
Superfly is that brother o r
s is te r who paid his $2.50 to
see it.
It seems tnat the
brothers and siste rs have
said yes, because a sequel
to Superfly with the title
P rie s t
is
already
being
planned.
But to hear what
the
brothers and sisters
re a lly had to say about it,
I took a tr ip dow i to the
Alameda Theatre (the only
black theatre in Portland) and
caught M iss June M ille r and
her escort on th e ir way out
of the theatre after seeing
Superfly. In answer to some
questions
I
asked M iss
M ille r, she said she found
Superfly
entertaining
and
re a lis tic .
She d id n 't think
that it was exploiting black
people and would like to see
m ore movies like Superfly
produced. She also fe lt that
black people should c ritic iz e
black movies.
What do you feel about
Superfly? Are black movies
eaded in the right direction?
W rite
to
the
Portland
Observer
and make your
views known.