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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 23, 1976)
Blue-nosed reindeer joins Santa's Christmas r PORTLAND •J, , Randolph, Rudolph’s Twin Brothor i T Ne. 6 •fa d , IM O 10a par espy V, ' Ufa twins ware bara at the M * aaneuaeemeato, yeu'd b 8 “Just leek at their they rarely are i them,” was tba bat it sure «aa ■d te de k b a Ì Oh, my, Mam "5 ^ Ta make up my Bat new they e r --y i ... . ' 'iC f “They bath ara vary beaitby, aad « b a t a pleasure it « ■ Ta «etch them grew to aianhaaii — t ’wifl flB my heart i Aad grow — aad grew — they meet rertahdy did— Aad alaag with tbafa- grew bg. a meret «aa Md. N a « Raadeiph aheeld t a l yea, bat KB t a l yea batead I t wee Baadalpb « b a lit ap Ma brother's aaaa ef rad — , 4 ’ ■'7»; I I t ap taa. By paBbg aa a ebaia, Ma bat Yaa, the twins « a ra bath bar discovered it, it was to faaad it eat, ba laved Ma kept Ms ■í’ ■■■- I Carter named Patricia Jimmy Carter Roberta Harria to Ms cabinet as Secre tary of Housing and Urban Development U ra. Harris, a Waahington D.C. attorney, «aa U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg from IM S to 1967. appointed by Presi dent Lyndon B. Johnson. lir a . Harris also tras Dean of the all the ef year Black attorney to hoesin bad the R to the i Howard University L a « School lU _ „ far In 1966 and 1M 7 she eras on alternate delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. In 1972, she served as creden tials committee chairman during the hectic debates over credentials to the Democratic National Convention. Mrs. Harris' nomination has airead,r met opposition from the U .8 , Conference : of Mayors and the National Association of Home Builders, «h o say she is not experienced in the field of housing. Mrs. Harris favors building low-income housing in a manner that will result in integration of racial, aodo-eeoi -a p b fa u a ta a d b in large housing proj« “Our cities are one of our great national resources and the provision ot shelter is on concern to every civilised society," she said in accepting. Carter's nomination. Aad I k ■ ■ Eve, to eld Td stoy at i b the ether ■ _ ne'd be efl, he somewhat seemed to I ng, tfahbg b Ms ear. i never Im e * ef I Black Journal hoftors OSH affirm ative action officer Pearl Spears-Gray, Oregon Slate University’s affirmative action officer, has been honored by the staff of Black Journal, a National Educational Televi sion program dealing « ith Black history and culture in America. Ms. Spears-Gray, «ho has held the OSU position since February, «as recent PEARL SPEARS-GRAY ly named one of Black Journal's ”100 Most Influential Friends" for 1977. The list of Black Americans so honored includes prominent educators, scholars, doctors, lawyers, srtists, public officials and members of the business community. She «as chosen for her commitment to issues affecting the Black community, her use of persona] and institutional re sources to bring about justice, and her ability to use the media to promote racial equality. For Ms. Spears-Gray, 31, the award comes as recognition of many years devoted to making the educational sys tem more responsive to the needs of racial minorities. Reared in Washington, D.C., she «as educated at Wilberforce University and Antioch-Putney Graduate School of Education, «here she earned s master’s degree in secondary education with special emphasis in Afro-American history. A fter teaching high school govern ment, history and sociology courses in Washington D.C. high schools, she «as appointed a coordinator of a federally funded National Teacher Corps project in Providence, R .I., «here she designed African Studies classes for junior high students. As part of her research into Black culture and history, she visited Africa in 1970 on a Rockefeller grant to study a t several African universities. In 1978 Ms. Spears-Gray came to Oregon to serve as associate director of the Portland Urban Teachers Education program, a cooperative effort between the OSU School of Education and the Portland public schools to train minority students in education for teaching in urban schools. Some of the program's graduates now serve as administrators of public school systems or community programs. Among her other duties in Portland Ms. Spears-Gray taught a social studies “methods” course in which she encoursg- ed interns to question, analyse textbooks and recognise stereotypes. “The program had a number of positive spinoffs," she said. “But its most impor tant effects were that it put the school district in touch with minority persons employment in the public schools." Since her appointment as affirmative action officer at OSU early this year, Ms. Spears-Gray has applied her energies to resolving instances of racial and sexual discrimination at OSU. But she sees her office as much more than a monitoring device or a watchdog against discrimina tion. “I view this office as a service to the university,” she said. “We can broaden the awareness of the university popula tion about what is discriminatory. We can be a source of information, a force for change and an integral part of this university in terms of developing pro grams that speak to the needs of women and minorities." Ms. Spears-Gray defines the words “affirmative action" literally - so literally that she recently took the decidedly Sebe« to help at aU, he k b Ms sM be wait, be bad to get ep «as k — a s « « b a t da you si Bshbg ea aad efl Ma H lb * Ou aad e lf the What elee seek Ha had to t e l Twe «h a had i Two to guide S da? There's 1 8a next D e a l thiak Aad U thee« That's jest I twa. tha Mae. > Mgb, aa b tha sky; s i yea ha a sa bays. (Please turn to p. 3 col. 1) Black educators urged to become politically involved Friday Recently the conference of the National Alliance of Black School Educators was held in Miami. Florida. In addition to Black Leaders, Black educators throught the United States were in attendance to express the concerns of Black teachers, counselors, principals, supervisors, dir ectors, persons in higher education, as sistant superintendents, superintendents and school board members. “T w o Hundred Years, Now What?"was the theme of the conference. Black speakers such as Lieutenant Governor Mervyn Dymally of the State of Califor nia were among the outstanding Black officials who made keynote addresses throughout the conference. The honor able Mervyn Dymally spoke to the concept of power, mostoy. and the need for Black people to partake in the economic development ef this country. “Since the days tof the reconstruction area. Blacks h a rt been and will be prim aoly contributors in a successful government. Despite the fact that the reconstruction era lasted only a few months, it bore a dream of political in vo lvem ent. Docum ented evidence shows that Blacks in the political system were not overthrown because of their incompetence but because they were honest. Politics became an impossibility to Blacks because the corruption contain ed within would not allow Black partici pation.” Congresswoman Barbara Jordan sup ported L t. Governor Dymally’s remarks as she addressed the theme, “Two Hun dred Years, N o « What”. Congresswoman Jordan spoke to “Equality in principal, but inequality in practice”, which became the theme of the afternoon. She said, “Progress has come unevenly for Blacks as fundamental righto have been indiffer ent to the educational needs." Congresswoman Jordan reported that in 1901 George W hite was the last Black member to leave Congress. His farewell address noted that Blacks had supported seven colleges, seventeen academies and thirty six schools. This support had come in the face of lynching and burning at the stake. In 1964, less than 66,000 Black Ameri cans attended college. Much of the impetus for educating Black Americans has been established through the courts. Congress has been involved with edu cation in a major way in the education of young Black people since 1966. Con gress passed the Seeondary/Elementary Education Act which was the supportive element that allowed many Blacks the opportunity to further their education. The passage of this act itself was not as important as Congress actually becoming involved in the process of education." She emphasised tha President Elect Carter has suggested an Education Department separate from the other departments. “What are the implications for this enactment? We as educators must realise that we will not get everything we need if this procedure comes into effect. The White House Conference on Education would like to see Black educawM« aad all other educators in Washington with their agenda in tact. Congress has to organise Title 1 and we should be their to give in p u t There is little reason for educators to believe that Congress will make education its primary focus. Budget pri orities, National Health Insurance, and wealth and health reforms will have a higher effect on how the budget dollars are spent.” Congresswoman Jordan contended that, "Congress will act as a catalyst for reform. Cost/Effectiveness has not been an issue while focusing on educational issues, however, now cost/effectiveness will be a focus point. The dollars put into Title I must meet the cost/effectiveness analysis. In the past, the dollars have been spent on peripheral issues instead of substantive issues.” In elosing, Congresswoman Jordan challenged the members of the National Alliance of Black School Educators to participate in the debate that will deter mine how Title I dollars should be given to state and local districts. “The goal for all is equal educational opportunities. The congress will appropriate monies based on the need of disadvantaged children. The educator alone will not determine the cost/effectiveness of Title I funds, but politicans and others will. The answer to the “Now What?", depends on how much each of us is willing to do as we teach and interact with children." She further stated that, “We are forging ahead even though this country has withheld knowledge from us, has haunted us for not knowing and having this knowledge and skill. Black people have been climbing and will continue to climb the ladder of success for there is plenty room at the top.” The Honorable Benjamin L. Hooks in his address to the conference theme, reinforced that the fact that Black people are here TO D A Y , indicates that Blacks are a strong race. Ha recommended the book “Roots” by Alex Haley. A people who were alienated, oppressed and de nied survive the wraths bestowed them. Black people collectively need to read this people experienced. Blacks need not forget out past experiences nor our history, for it is through this knowledge that we obtain the strength to change the future. Hooks gave the group the responsibil ity of dealing with all the differences that Blacks as a people are faced with if we are to solidify as a people in order to do the job that needs to ba done. A t the closing of this session, the National President, D r. Deborah Wolfe, asked individuals ci NABSE to make an offering in support of tha NAACP. In response, an approximated 38,233. was collected. » Wards cannot express the intensity of the feelings of all those present. A sense of “togetherness” prevailed as tha collec tion continued, song and music filled the air and all of those present could not only conceptualise what each of tha speakers intended but could foal tha culture, the unity, in a cerebrial way. The Honorable Maynard Jackson, Ma yor of Atlanta, fait that educators need to do some serious thinking. Ha indicated that the political pressure that is being brought by Black America is possible because there are approximately 4,000 «Please turn to p. 3 eoL 1)
