Ura F ra n c e s S chosn-I oH T prip-r P o n
U n iv e r s it y o f Cr ro n L ib r a r y
.
PORTLAND
V olu m e 3, N o. 37
P o rtla n d . O regon
*N
fO U A l OPPORTUNITY IM P lO V i«
1
OBSERVER
T hu rsd ay
lo n e 21. 1973 IBe per copv
_____________
POIC survives administration shakeup
POIC has a new adm im s
tration but th e principals in
■i
I
J?
?
?
Shag Thomas returns
Mr. James Thomas, the
short stout man known to us
all aa Shag Thomas, is hark
on the wrestling scene again
after a 6 months vacation. It
was Shag's first vacation in
20 years.
His wrestling career began
17 years ago while attending
Ohio State College.
When
asked if professional wrest
lers really do all you see on
television, Shag replied. “No
body's giving away money.
Believe me, it's real.”
During his career Shag has
wrestled with the toughest
and the best.
He has
w re a tle d
alongside
such
names as Gene Caneski and
Pat O’Connor. He wrestled
for the world championship 5
times and, although he never
raptured the title he has
gained popularity and respect
the world over.
Shag is now the referee at
Portland Sports Arena every
Saturday night. Sports an
nouncer for K P T V wrestling
coverage, F ra n k Bonema.
commented in regard
to
Shag's refereeing abilities:
"Shag is one of the best, if
not the best, wrestling ref
erees on the West Coast."
On A pril 7th of 1972 Shag
opened his own Arena.
A
combination restaurant, bar
and nightclub at 1470 N.E.
Killingsworth.
Shag has
now. however leased out his
restaurant.
James Thomas
Jr. manages the nightclub in
which live entertainment is
offered on weekends.
James Thomas Jr. is one of
Shag's six children. None of
his sons have followed him in
the wrestling world. Shag is
pleased at this.
He ex
(Please turn to p. 8 col 5)
Pageant
schedules
Johnson
The eighth annual Miss
Black Oregon Pageant will
he held this Friday, June 22,
at the Memorial Coliseum.
For the first time T .V. cov
erage of the Pageant will be
provided by K l’T V Channel
12. Television viewing of the
affair is being planned for
the following evening.
Highlights of the Pageant
feature ventriloquist Grover
and his partner Joe: Rosalie
Booth, vocalist; and Channel
12 newsman Harold Johnson
as Master of Ceremonies.
The Portland pageant is
produced by Jimmy "Bang
Bang" Walker.
The four contestants will
compete for the title in
swimsuit, talent and evening
wear competition. The win
ner will make the traditional
trip to New York where she
will compete with young
ladies from all over the
United States for the honor
able title of Miss Black
America.
Previous winners include:
Carolyn Randolph. 1966: Jo
Ann T w itty . 1967; Debbie
Davis, 1968; Jennifer Was
son. 1969; Betty Harris. 1970;
Tina Ia th a n , 1971; Jo Ann
Bryson. 1972
Grandparents serve children
by Rosemary Allen
If you've reached the age
of 60, and it suddenly dawns
on you that you're 'Over the
Hili', don't be alarmed. There
is plenty going on 'Over the
Hili'. The following is a little
bit of the action.
The Foster Grandparent's
Program, the first of it s kind
in Oregon and the entire
nation, began in 1965.
It's
purpose is twofold:
Direct
ing itself to the individual
and social needs of both
older adults and deprived
children.
Adults ranging from the
ages of 61 to 84 who meet
poverty criteria receive sti
pends la fixed pay unrelated
to the amount or value of
services renderedl of $1.60
per hour and transportation.
They work five days a week,
4 hours a day.
Supportive
services including social
secu rity in fo rm a tio n , help
with housing, free physical
examination's free medical
care and cold, influenza and
other immunization shots are
provided.
F o s ter G ra n d p a re n ts is
90% funded by the Depart
ment of Health. Education
and Welfare.
10% of the
funding comes from non
Mrs. H ayes, foster g ran d m o th er at P rovidence Child C en ter,
federal sources.
All Fo.-tei ‘plays with one of her special children.
Grandparents must work in a
Center and W averly Chil
brought to the children and
licensed facility.
They pro
dren’s Home.
received by each foster
vide individual attention and
The program is funded for
grandparent is as priceless
personalized care for children
only 36 grandparents and a
as the rarest of gems.
with special needs in insti
tutionalized settings. Three waiting list exists. However,
(P lease turn to p. 8 col. 61
it is to be acknowledged that
facilities now being utilized
the love and happiness
are Providence Ghild Care
Salute
to Black
Business
Black officials ask
equitable revenue sharing
Aroused Black elected offi
cials across America have
fired the first volley in their
organized assault on the
Treasury Department's ho-
hum responsi- to appeals for
an adjustment in equitable
revenue sharing allocations
policies.
Current allocations formu
las. based in part on popula
tion statistica, fail to take into
account the I 88 million Black
Americans who are not in
eluded in official population
figures resulting from the
1970 census, the Black of
ficials argue.
Thus, they say in a 2 page
formal letter of appeal to
Secretary of the Treasury
(ieorge Shultz, a hard nosed
refusal by government to
reflect the Black undercount
in revenue sharing allocations
"results in one of every 12
Blacks being literally relegat
S a v e fo r
w e a lth ...
r id e f o r
h e a lt h
The Benj. Franklin has
great buys on bikes for
those who save now!
FOLDING BICYCLES
With $5,000 deposit - $25
With $2,500 deposit - $35
With $250 deposit - $45
10-SPEED BICYCLES
With $5,000 deposit — $45
With $2,500 deposit — $60
With $250 deposit - $75
lk ij.© lT a iik liii
Robert H Hs/sn. Pres • 22 Offices • Phone 248 1234
Home Office Franklin Bldg , Portland. Oregon 97204
ed to the status of ‘invisible
man'."
A t the forefront of this
latest initiative are past and
present leaders of the
Na
tional Black Caucus of Ixtcal
Elected Officials (N B C /L E O I.
the national political orga
nization that is the watchdog
in Washington for the nation’s
approximately 2.700 Black
elected officeholders.
A letter of challenge to
Secretary Shultz, was signed
by Mayors W illiam S. Hart.
Sr. of East Orange, N.J.,
current president of NBCZ-
LEO. and Robert B. Black
well of Highland Park. Mich.,
another past president of
N B C /L E O .
The three Black municipal
executives reminded Shultz, in
their letter that he is em
powered by revenue sharing
regulations issued by his
office to take corrective ac
tion.
They refer to a
regulation that states that
where data used in the
allocation formula "are not
current enough or are not
comprehensive enough or are
otherwise inadequate to pro
vide for equitable allocations,"
the Secretary of the Treasury
"may use other data, includ
ing estimates . . ."
The Black political leaders
emphasized the broad im
plications of the problems.
"A t first blush," they observ
ed. “it might suggest that
Black Americans are being
shortchanged. This is, in part,
true.
But of greater con
sequence is the fart that all
persons
Black and White,
poor and rich
in those cities
(Please turn to p. 3 col. 3)
by Rosemary Allen
In the 1960's Bob was very
active in the Albina Citizen's
Together Committee, was on
the Board of Directors of
PMSC and was active as a
citizen in many other com
munity organizations. How
ever, M r. Hughes says "Be
cause of a lack of support
Many of us in the com
munity are working at dif
ferent jobs bi-cause that's all
we know how to do. A t the
time we should have been
going to school we were
forced to stay home and
raise our children or work in
order to survive.
This week's Salute to Black
Business turns out north to
Budget Cleaners, 7230 N.
Fessendon. Budget Cleaners'
success story applies to the
statements above. Ada and
Langston W a lk e r opened
their business on November
20. 1973.
Ada. a nurses aide, had hurt
her back and was ordered by
her doctor to only do light
work. She worked for some
one else at another Cleaners
for a short while; however,
she didn't particularly like
one person as her boss. She
found that "W orking for one
man, although you may have
ideas of your own, you must
go by only what he says."
T h e re fo re , the W a lk e r's
entrance into the cleaner's
business was twofold: One.
lighter work for medical rea
sons; and two, a new inde
pendence in doing for self.
Mrs. W alker, manager, now
employs three people and
claims that the public is now
her boss.
Buget Cleaners also supply
laundry facilities.
It was
when she saw the complain
ing frowns of bachelor's when
they were doing their laun
dry that Mrs. W alker got the
idea of Bachelor's Laundry.
In bachelor laundrying. Mrs.
W alker actually does the
washing and drying of soiled
laundry for bachelors. This
service caught on pretty
well.
(Please turn to p. 3 col 4)
(Please turn to p. 8 col. 4)
Bob H ughes. E bony's Eligible Bachelor from Portland.
Ebony selects Hughes
Ebony magazine, published
by Johnson Publishing Co..
Inc., a Black owned Pub
lishing Company, each year
selects 50 Black eligible bach
elors of the year.
The
bachelors g en era lly range
front the age of 21 to 40 and
their annual salaries range
from $10,000 a year to an
affluent $100,000.
This year, for the first
time, an eligible bachelor has
been selected front Portland,
Oregon. Read the following
closely ladies:
His name is
Bob Hughes. He's 33 years
old and a resident of Port
land for 22 years.
He
g rad u ated front Jefferson
High School, attended Port
land C o m m un ity College,
Multnomah Junior College
and Portland State Univer
sity for 2 years.
Bob is a professional high
fashion model for commercial
agencies, working strictly in
Portland.
the shift are not vet willing
to discuss th e m a tter. POIC.
affiliated w ith the national
O IC , p ro v id e s v o c a tio n a l
training and rem edial educa
tion to d isad v an tag ed adults.
R everend E ugene Boyd,
J r ., d irecto r of POIC since
it's inception, has left his
position.
He declined to
com m ent on w h eth er he re
signed voluntarily or was
asked to resign. Speculation
is th a t the national office was
displeased over Boyd's lack
of success in g en eratin g finan
cial su p p o rt for the program
through th e national closed
c ir c u it TV p r o g r a m . “ Be
Som ebody", th at was pre
s e n te d in 40 c itie s la s t
O ctober. The program . held
at the M em orial Coliseum,
a ttra c te d only 30 to 10 |M-r
sons, although it featu red big
nam e e n te rta in e rs such as
R oberta Flack and th e Jack
son Five and w as supple
m ented by live local talent.
Bishop W .L. M cKinney re
signed from his position as
chairm an of t he Board of
D irectors. Bishop McKinney
said his decision w as due to
health problem s anil the pres
sure of local and national
church work.
H ow ever, he
will still rem ain a m em ber of
board.
J im - W ashington, acting as
lem porarv d irecto r, had no
com m ent to m ake about the
adm inistration of the POIC.
except th a t th e program is
stable and th at it will con
tinue to o p e ra te as usual.
O p p o rtu n ities In d u s ) ria li
zation C e n te rs tO ICl is a
m anpow er train in g program
that w as founded in I’hila
delphia in 1961 by R everend
Leon I! Sullivan. R everend
Sullivan began on the prin
ci pa I th a t men and women
can develop pride and self
esteem through the develop
m ent of m arketable skills.
T rainee« a re train ed in skills
in which th ere is available
em ploym ent and a re pro
v ided g e n e r a l e d u c a tio n
classes and |«t-r«onal coun
si-ling.
The program , with an aa
nual budget of $17 million in
p riv ate and federal funds and
c en te rs in over KM) cities,
train s persons at a cost ol
about one half th at of o th e r
training program s.
P o r tla n d O IC w a s o r
ganized in 196M bv a group of
m inisters who hail seen th e
S eattle OIC in operation and
w orked to bring thi- p rogram
to P ortland.
Minority workers ask
greater job percentage
The new Piedm ont Plaza,
bounded by N orth Missis
sippi. N orth M ichigan, N orth
Je ssu p and N orth Sim pson,
is a $1.2 million ren tal hous
ing ren tal project for low or
m o d e r a te in co m e fa m ilie s.
The project, which is being
built by H ammond D evelop
m ent C orporation, a sub
sidiary of Ross B. H ammond
Com pany. Inc. of P ortland, is
financed u n d er th e FHA 236
program . This is the first
sizeable 236 project in the
Model C ities area.
On F riday. Ju n e 15. mem
b ers of th e U nited M inority
W orkers sh u t construction
activities down at the Pied
mont building site.
I MU
claimed "E qual em ploym ent
plans a re not being im
plem ented," as the reason for
th eir closure.
It w as originally planned
th at th e project would use
four m inority sub contractors:
C hristian E lectric. William T.
Flem m ing C om pany. Com
plete G radening S erv ice and
Baldwin S an itary S ervice
In an article in a daily
new spaper, J.M . M iller ex
pressed asto n ish m en t th a t
the project w as th e first
ta rg e t of UMW pickets. He
said "W hat we a re doing has
been w ith the cooperation of
the Black com m unity and
m inority group people."
M r. G e o rg e C h r is ti a n ,
president of the Albina Con-
iP lease tu rn to page 8 col. 3 )
Black doctor performs
first heart surgery
Eighty years ago this sum
mer. in a stifling little oper
ating room on Chicago's south
side, a Black surgeon opened
the chest of a young man --
and opened an era in medi
cine.
W ith that swift stroke of
his scalpel. D r. Daniel Hale
Williams also brushed aside
fear of censure and ridicule
by his colleagues, which he
definitely risked.
For pre
vailing medical dogma said
that one did not operate on
the heart. But D r. Williams,
37. decided that sweltering
night of July 9, 1893. that
operation was the only way
to save the patient's life. So
he went ahead, leading the
way into a field of surgery
that has since saved count
less thousands of lives.
On the sultry night of July
9, 1893, a young Black ex
pressman named James Cor
nish got into a fight in a
saloon and was stabbed in
the chest. He was taken to
nearby Provident Hospital,
which D r. W illia m s had
founded in 1890.
The wound appeared to bi-
minor
an inch long cut
just to the left of the breast
bone, between the fourth and
fifth ribs. There was little
bleeding to be seen.
But soon Cornish com
plained of pain over tin-
heart and showed signs of
shock. D r. W illiams decided
that either a major blood
vessel, or the heart itself,
had been damaged. If it was
the heart, there was only one
accepted course of action:
hands off. The only advice
offered to physicians then
was to keep the patient cool
and quiet, pack him in ice if
it was available and, if not,
to put him in a cool cellar.
No one. therefore, would
have criticized Dr. Williams
had he chosen merely to
keep the patient cool.
But
he decided to try and save
Cornish's life.
He sent an
aide to round up any in
terested observers and six
physicians
-
four white
and two Black - crowded
into the operating room to
watch.
Working without sophisti
cated anesthesia methods,
blood transfusio n s, a n ti
infection measures or any of
the surgical tools taken for
granted today. D r. Williams
began. To minimize shock,
he knew he had to work fast,
and conservatively.
He first lengthened the
stab wound into a 6 inch
incision between the ribs,
then ru t the cartilage of the
rib away from the breast
bone, making an opening
l>
t urT|
p g ro|