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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 17, 1977)
, .. . Page 4 Portland /<«'< I Thursday. February 17, 1977 The Albina and North Portland Libra rise have scheduled local talent to help celebrate Black Awareness Month. Saturday. February 19.2:00 p.m. at the N O R T H P O R T L A N D B R A N C H . 512 N . Killings worth. Trace Y e a r Roots • A b IRastraHea of C sasalag y . presented by Deforce I seem. Clark College librarian and Black History teacher. Also a Wead Carving D im aas tr a t i sa by Ran Faber and a Poetry Reading by Gerald W hite. Saturday. F ebruary 28.2:00 p.m. at the A L B IN A B R A N C H , Black B egiaaim p - Black History io Music, Poetry and Song under the direction of D orothy Hodbey. A ll programs are free. F o r more information call the Albina Branch, 287-7147 or the North Portland Branch. 284-5822. “R O B IN A N D ST A R " :A ll CatcH foBINSoN. foZ/ftMUF AMM TW AREN’T VMi \ Ä I EXG i T ed ? ¿MS *rrY If* Bet» Psi Chapter of D e lta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. is sponsoring a Black H e r itage Brunch on Sunday. February 27, 1977. This Annual Black Heritage pro gram is a fund raising event for the D e lta lE d l by Allen R O BIN B E L L A N D SKY Robin Bell and Sky is currently appearing at the Downtown Thunderbird M otor Inn. The group is comprised of Angelo Lee on base and vocals. Ed Hughes on Piano. Al Cleand on drums and Robin Bell on lead vocals. I find it just as rewarding reviewing artists that I’ve never heard before, as w ith those of national and international prominence. It's important to keep in mind th at those artists w e’ve heard down through the years didn't get there overnight. I t takes years of practice, dedication and talent to reach those higher levels of performance. But you would hardly call the Thunderbird a greasy spoon or dive, which is where most of today's heavyweights played their gigs on the way up. Every member of the group is very talented and it shows right through their performance. Tim ing is probably the single moot quality I look for when reviewing a show, by no means discounting the importance of singing, arrangements, showmanship and all the things so essential in making a performance successful But I have noticed that if the tim ing and phrasing is together, all of the other factors will follow Robin Bell and Sky do have good tim ing and phrasing. And yes, everything else fell into place. A true sign of a professional. T heir musical selections were mixed enough to offer the audience the versatility needed when you are playing hotels. They did tunes like: “You A re The Sunshine O f M y Life". Memories' “T he Look Of Love". “Ease On Down The Road", “Proud M ary", and many more. Ann Henry, Musical Coordinator for the T-Bird chains was also on hand to check out the group. Ann Henry, a Black woman who danced her way to fame years sgo is keenly aware of the ins and outs of show business. I f Ann and I agree that Robin Bell and Sky is a quality act. then * they must be! J E W E L IA ’S P R E S E N TS : T H E BONG SHO W • e e asset ks the form M “G E N T L E M E N “ Geee Dfoamod, L ow fo e B a to n T ria im d T h mna w iththie “BONG SHO W " The show is patterened after the television variety series but, also innovations in their programming, w ith a Tuesday Night kick off w ith the “BONG SHO W ". The show is patterened after the television variety series the "Gong Show". Designed to attract amateur talent the opportunity in showing the audience what they can do best in the way of entertainm ent. If you think that the television version is humorous, you should have stopped in Tuesday , and seen for yourself. This weeks w inner was David Davis who read a Poem entitled "TR E E S ". Judging the acta were O ra Lae M artin and W alter Bridges, long time big band performer. I f you think you can sing, dance, act, tell a joke, read poetry and etc., sign up for the Bong Show at Jewelia's. You’ll have a ball. W IN O R LO SE so come by on Tuesday Nights and enjoy the entertainment. P tvdl pi&m th* Poet by Ulysses In America the land of the free A Black Man's place is usually the hanging tree Maybe he doesn’t really get hanged But the injustices he suffers mean just about the Who is there to blame? Him . You, and me. B ecau se w e allow this to be. Through-out his history he's been a soul-searcher. He's been divided But never conquered. He is basically the moat humane being I know. But he is destined for extinction unless he changes. O r B R IN G S A B O U T C H A N G E Preferably Both TO PROTECT THE UNBORN AND THE NEWBORN March of Dimes lished for needy students at local colleges and universities. The theme for this 8th annual brunch is Black Bs B ird s os fbo- turingguost speaker, M rs M axine Mims from Evergreen College, Olympia, Washington and an a rt display. The Brunch w ill be held a t 11:00 A .M . - 2:00 p.m. at the student union building of Portland Community College, Cascade, 706 N . Killingsworth St. Tickets may be purchased from sorority members or at the door. $2.00 for children and $8.50 for adults. The Reverend Gilmore extends an invitation to the community to partici pate in the other Black Awareness activities at Concordia Collage as Hated below: February 21. a film entitled “Black History, Lost. Stolen or Strayed” w ill be shown in the M ary Neils Lounge at 7:00 p.m. The lounge is located north of Holman Street on 29th Avenue. February 24. a lecture by D r. Jacob Carruthers on “Institutional Racism". This lecture w ill take place a t 11:05-12:10 p.m. in the Fine A rts Building, located on N .E . 27th Avenue and L ib e rty Street. February 27, a Church M u s k Festival featuring spirituals, anthems and gospel musk as sung in the Black Churches w ill take place at St. Michaels's Lutheran Church located on N .E . 29th and Dekum. Tim e: 7:00 p.m. Again, the public is invited. Star plans Baldwin play Congratulations are in order for Forrest Jenkins and Star Productions for the tremendous performance given by all in the final showing of, “On the O ther Side of the Coin." The audience applaud ed and showed th ie r general approval all during the play. A l Jamison and Gene Holms should be nominated for beat theater actors of the year, nationally, for th eir performance. I t is refreshing to know that w e have a Black repertory theatre under its founder, Forrest Jenkins that is here to stay. Pu ttin g this company together took many hours of sacrifice, hard w ork and dedication. Commissioner Jordan was in attend enee. H e told the east “A job well done and keep up the good w ork.” The next major production for Forrest Jenkins, will be James Baldwin’s “Amen Corner." James Baldwin had just pub lished his first novel, “Go T ell I t On The Mountain” 11963), when he w rote his first play. “The Amen Corner.” " I was armed.” he wrote. “1 knew , in attem pting to w rite the play, by the fact th at I was born in the eh u rch -I knew th at out of the ritual of church, historically speaking, comes the act of the th eatre, the commun ion which is theater. Many spirituals will be sung in this production. This is a play about a Black family in New York C ity. The “Amen Corner” is holding auditions for those who can sing and act. Please call 8 ta r Productions....288-0680. come from tbs Vauvan argue* “ Great heart.” SHOP KXTLAI» CLEANING WOMS IE N O W S O N I DAY M V I C I BRANDS Grambling moves to Division One by Je rry Byrd South. Only the game sites and the sue of the crowds-changed. S H R E V E P O R T (S P E C IA L )--L ast week, the National Collegiate A th letic Assn, told Grambling's Tigers they could move to the front of the bus. T h a t’s progress for you. For the last five years. Gram bling has been traveling by chartered jets. Gram bling is an enigma in the sports world. I t really doesn’t belong in either Division 1 or Division 2. I f the idea is to put all the schools w ith sim ilar programs and problems in the same division. Grambling belongs in Division 1-G, all by itself. The T ig e r’s football plays a global schedule. W hen they aren't flying off to Tokyo or Honolulu, they’re making the indoor circuit in the United States. Last year they played in every domed stadium except the Seattle Kingdome. But when they come home, i t ’s like stopping into a tim e capsule an going back to the thirties. I f you go to Gram bling today, you aren’t likely to confuse the facilities there w ith multi-m illion dollar athletic plants at places like Ohio State, U C L A or Ala Somehow, Grambling became a nation al symbol of Black pride. Schools like Alcorn. Tennessee State and Jackson State might match th eir talent on the playing field, but they couldn’t match them at the turnstiles. The fact of the m atter is th at many high schools have b etter facilities. Eddie Robinson found out that the mountain wasn't coming to his Mahomet a long tim e ago, so he took Mahomet to the mountain. The Tigers played in Am erica’s biggest arenas, from Yankee Stadium to the Los Angeles Coliseum, and drew crowds ranging up to 78,000. T h e ir schedules didn’t change much. They still played Morgan State. Tennes see State, Southern U niversity and other Bieck schools scattered throughout the I t is hard to pinpoint the reason:was it Robinson's class, or publicist Collie Nich olson's bold promotions, or president Ralph W aldo Emerson Jones’ charm? I t was probably a combination of all three ingredients, plus a few more. F o r w hatever reasons. Grambling's footbal team became a big-league draw ing card long before the N C A A voted them into Division 1. Robinson hopes Division 1 status will help him schedule "name" opponents like Oregon State of the Pacific-Eight Confer enee, which Grambling defeated a couple of years ago. But changes, if they come, will be gradual. Neighboring schools like Louisiana Tech, Northeast and Northw estern are still keeping the same company they had in Division 2. Southeastern Conference and Southwest Conference schools aren't beating th eir doors down. The difference of course, is th at G ram bling is a draw ing card. Classification has very little to do w ith it. I t isn’t likely that a Big Ten or Big Eight school w ill play Grambling because the N C A A says it is now in Division 1. But if a m ember of any conference has trouble filling its stadium. It m ight consider a game w ith the Tigers. But when and if it happens, don’t give any of the credit to the N C A A . A ll they did was jum p on the bandwagon. “W e've been try in g to get some people to help us. but we don't seem to be getting very far w ith It." Division 1 status, he says, will help Grambling's recruiting. “People use a whole lot of things to recruit w ith, " Eddie notes. Robinson thinks Gram bling is very close to signing Carroll (Monroe) wide receiver J .D . W rig h t, the only m em ber of our “tru e blue” list of 16 Louisiana blue chippers still unsigned. As always, he views the future w ith optimism. “I think it has opened new avenues for us,” Eddie says of Division 1 status. “You just w ant to be in the N o .l division, that's the way it is." In reality, Gram bling has been there several years. The N C A A is just now getting around to m aking it official. Grambling vs. N o tre Dam e at State F air Stadium? Don’t count it out. Stranger things have happened since Eddie Robinson left a Baton Rouge paper mill to start a coaching career in a Lincoln Parish village 37 years ago. “I don’t think w e're going to rush into anylBteg." says Robinson. “I t w ill prob ably Take a little tim e to change. But thia gives us a chance to upgrade our schedule and probably make a little more money.“ Almost all Division 1 schools have made up th eir football schedules for several years ahead, and Grambling's schedule for next season is filled except for a couple of dates. Because of the sixe of its stadium. Grambling couldn't play a home-and- home series w ith one of the heavyweights unless the Tigers use Shreveport's State F air Stadium for th eir “home” game. “O ur facilities are not equal to any of the other state schools,” Robinson says. Drive begins Concordia's m inority affairs director, M r. Rozell Gilmore, has announced the “kick-off" of the E. Shelton H ill Scholar ship Fund campaign. Named after Con cordia's 19®6 recipient of the Citizenship A w ard, this annual scholarship fund cam paign is designed to collect money for financial aid and educational grants for m inority students. M r. H ill is a long tim e Black leader in Portland and for many years was president of the Portland Urban League. T he 1977 goal for the E. 8helton H ill Fund has been announced at $20,000. Solicitation has already begun, especially among Portland businesses and indus tries. $6,000 has been received thus far, $4.000 from the Oregon Community Foundation and $500 each from the First National Bank of Oregon and the W illiam iore Foundation. Recipients of grants E scholarships from the E. Shelton H ill d are announced early in the Fall. Contributions are encouraged from |ev«<yone. M ake checks payable to IConcordia'a E . Shelton H ill Fund. KUO«,, KRAZY KAT Mooo's kom ix 1035 UNCLE HOMER'S JAZZHOLE COVER o u r longest running ja z z p i-o g ra m 200 cm JAZZ RAP vV GEORGE cookin ja z z & b lu e s a ll a fte r n o o n & 0 0 KDNEY STEW blues vVJohn Head 8-00 YOUR UNO OF SOUL SHOW bold, b la c k & to g e th e r m u s ic W M ichael D. co llages o f ro c k , ja ___ z z ___ and s o m e tim e s a v a n t- g q a a i r d e m u s ic vVRick M itchell and Dan Chinn 10-00 RADIO LAB surprise gift you know V A R IE T IE S - V A D s« very 9 Free FO R NORTH A NX. 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