Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 1977)
■ i RT LAND 7 No. 41 • • ,H -, Thursday, October 6, 1977 Eliot II h 10c po» copy Matthews joins House committee Leodis Matthews, Deputy District A t torney for Multnomah County, has been appointed Senior Staff Attorney for the United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations. He will assume his new position on October 10th. Matthews was graduated from W y ’ East High School in Hood River. Oregon, in 1967, and attended Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario and Lewis and Clark College in Portland. He received his legal education from the Northwestern School of Law, graduating in 1973, and has been employed for the last four years in the District Attorney's Office. Leodis Matthews has served on the Center for Community Mental Health's Board of Directors since 1975, and was re-elected to the Chairmanship for a second term in April, 1977. According to Center Director Ocie W . Trotter, M a t-. thew's tenture in leadership at the ■ Center for Community Mental Health was marked by a concern for quality and high standards for the agency. The Center, which provides counseling, con sultation and neighborhood development services in the Northeast community, has been well served by M r. Matthew's expertise and commitment. The ground breaking ceremony for the Housing Authority of Portland's 60 unit project for the elderly will take place on Friday, October 7th at 11: 00 a.m. at Russell and Rodney Street. Participating will be Robert King, Chairman of the Eliot Neighborhood Association; Warren Chung, President of Northeast Business Boosters; and Fred M. Rosenbaum. Chairman of the Housing Authority of Portland. The event will be followed by a Completion Ceremony at Dawson Park at 11: 30, an opening of Knott Street at noon, and from noon until 3:00 p.m. the Knott Street Fair - music, food, bazaar open house at M att Dishman Center and Emanuel Hospital tours. The H A P project is a highlight of seven years of work and planning by neighbor hood residents, with the assistance of the Portland Development Commission. The eighty efficiency units are the first of two proposed housing complexes, the second to be homes for low-income families. In 1970, the Portland Development Commission opened its Eliot site office breaks groun with Ms. Betty While as coordinator, and Two of the goals adopted by the with a federal grant, assisted the neigh Neighborhood Association were to ll borhood to organize and begin planning establish a balanced residential common for the redevelopment of their area. In ity, encouraging a diversity of income July of 1972, the U.S. Department of groups, social class, family size and age Housing and Urban Development ap through rehabilitation of existing housing proved Eliot as a Neighborhood Develop and redevelopment for new housing. ment Project. Particular emphasis should be placed on in November of 1972 the Eliot Neigh constructing moderate'and low income borhood Association hired the consulting housing and housing for the elderly. 2) firm CH2M Hill to assist them in drawing Provide an opportunity for displaced up their development program. The next residents to remain in the neighborhood March, the City Council adopted an urban in new housing. renewal plan for Eliot II , declaring it an The area between Knott and Sacra urban renewal area and making residents mento from Williams to Rodney was eligible for relocation funds. designated the Second Eliot Neighbor Although much of the housing in the hood Development Project. N D P money Eliot neighborhood was old and run was used to acquire and clear the site. In down, because of its location the area was 1974, acquisition of the land and reloca considered prime land for light industry tion of the residents began. and commence) use. Much of the housing In the fall of 1975, PDC hired Dick on the western portion had been removed Brainard to produce the Knott Street for the expansion for Emanuel Hospital Improvement design. During 1976 and and to the south the School District was 1977 Knott Street was reconstructed and acquiring property for it* educational landscaped, street and sidewalk im center. The funds for home rehabilitation provements were made and storm sewers had run out before they reached Eliot. (Please turn to page 2 col. 1) i Ida F. Johnson has been named o,'erations officer at United State* National Bonk of Oregon'* Eastport Plaza Branch, announced Robert J. Brunmeier, vice president and —»»«g»»- of the bank's n it r o rust region. Johnson joined U.S. Bonk'* otaff in 1969 aa a teller a t the firm '* Mam Branch in Portland. A fte r working aa a note teller at the bank'* Union Avenue Branch, «be 'a rtic r’ated in U .8 . Bank's managepnent trainee ¡wegram. In 1976 she wa to o;'eratiae* *u;«ervi*or at the firm '* Eaat;wrt Plaza Branch. Johnaon serves aa a don lender for Cub Scout Pack 23. NAACP organizes youth branch The N A A C P, Portland Branch, has organized a Youth Chapter under the leadership of Ora Nunley. The Chapter, which is open to youth to the age of 25 years, is committed to carry on the work of the N A A C P in the field of Civil Rights. Officers elected by the group are: Brenda Knapper. President; Lucreti Full er. first vice president; Julie Ann John son, second vice president; Desiree King, recording secretary; Eileen Clark, mem bership secretary; T e rri Powell, corre sponding secretary; Leonard Lombert, treasurer; Spencer B arrett, Chaplain; and Benita Payne, President of the Board. Among the activities planned for the near future is a Youth Awards Banquet. March, ra lly address Bakke case N A A C P Credit Union Officers: Mrs. Lucile Session, M r*. M r . Chauncy Hays, Secretary; M r. J J . Manns, M r. JJP. MBea, Across the nation, scores of organiza Gertrude Crowe, M r*. Ida Mae Henderson. M r. La Velie M r. Eddie Butler. Not pictnred:Mrs. Doris Hayden, Mr. E.O. tions representing thousands of people M r. Jame* W. Jackson, M r. Jame* Lee, President; Johns, and M r. C.C. Corvey, Vice President. are coining together to focus as much pressure as possible on the U.S. Supreme ♦ Court to reverse the Bakke Decision and declare special minority admissions pro grams constitutionally valid. One of the greatest accomplishments of has been in continuous operation ever Unions, it offers opportunities for saving the Portland Branch N A A C P , is the since, with a paid staff, and currently In Portland, a picket will be held on and for loans. N A A C P Federal Credit Union. Member with an office at 2752 N. Williams October 12th, the day the U.S. Supreme "Join the NAA CP, then come and learn ship in the Credit Union is open to all Avenue. Court will hear arguements in the case. about the Credit Union,’* James Lee The picket will be held at noon in front of members of the local Branch. The organization has had four presi advises. “The Credit Union is an example The credit union was founded nearly dents: Bill Thompson, Phil Reynolds, the Pioneer Courthouse. of economic development. We can all twenty years ago by Phil Reynolds, a Alice Butler and for the last five years. On October 15th, a march will begin at work together to build a better commu the North Park Blocks (Burnside and long-time N A A C P worker. The group James Lee. Like all Federal Credit nity." Park) at noon and procédé to a rally at 1: 00 p.m. at the Pioneer Courthouse. Credit Union aids community development Washington joins State Board of Nursing Elizabeth Washington has been ap pointed by Governor Bob Straub to serve on the Oregon State Board of Nursing until January of 1960. A t present she is head nurse of the Psychiatric Crisis Unit at the Oregon Health Science Center. Ms. Washington is a graduate of Portland Community where she received her LPN degree and of Clark College in Vancouver where she obtained her Associate Arts degree and her Associate Nursing de gree. She is currently working on her RN and BS degrees. The busy life she leads outside her professional hour* reflect the interest and concern she has for the welfare of others. She is Chairperson of the Oregon Nurses Human Rights Commission and served as delegate to the Oregon Nurses Association Convention. She is Secretary of the Nurses Bargaining Unit of the Oregon Health Science Center, and holds membership in the American Legion Post 614, Vancouver, Washington; the A ffir mative Action Committee of the Oregon Health Science Center, the Student M i nority Recruitment Program Advisory Board of Oregon Health Science Center, and the Nurses Audit Committee of the University of Oregon Health Science Center. Ms. Washington and her husband Al live in Vermont Hills. H er hobbies are golfing, swimming and travel. Police actions called 'proper’ The Black community has long been crying police brutality and the cries have appeared to fall on deaf ears. Mrs. Vesia Loving charges that al though she witnessed and reported police brutality, the Police Bureau found the actions of its employees “proper”. On August 26th, the police were called to the home of Donna and Nathan Mayes, to settle a domestic problem. Mrs. Mayes is white, her husband Black. Four police officers answered the call and when they arrived, Mrs. Mayes took her baby and left the house. The four police officers stayed in the house. “From the front of my house I heard beating against flesh and a lot of commotion,” Mrs. Loving said. “Two of the officers left, straightening their clothes and hair, and when they got outside they asked me where the ‘little red headed lady’ went. Later two more officers came out with M r. Mayes handcuffed with an officer on each side. M r. Mayes cried, 'You see what they are doing to me?' and strug gled a little bit. A t this point one of the police grabbed M r. Mayes around the neck in a choke or hammer lock and they forced him into the car.” When he called for her to notify his mother, they police rolled up the car window. Mrs. Loving reported. Mrs. Loving wrote Mayor Neil Gold schmidt and Commissioner Charles Jor dan. She eventually received a call from the Police Bureau's Internal Affairs office from “someone who wanted to know whu I was so interested in this. His attitude had a lot to be desired in talking to me, a citizen who was doing her duty to report actions of the people we tax payers are paying to protect us.” Later she received a letter from Police Chief Bruce Baker, stating that his office was investigating the allegations. On October 5th, Mrs. Loving received another letter form Chief Baker stating, “Careful examination and evaluation of the evidence established that the actions of the concerned employee were in accordance with the standards of per formance demanded of members of this Bureau.” “W hat Bruce Baker said to me was that it is alright for four police officers to go into a man's home and beat him up and that this is standard police method, ” Mrs. Loving said of the reply. “Once again the Black community’s cry for justice has fallen on deaf ears.” continually hammers away at the theme of eradicating both white and Black racism. Thousands of whites, both Mozambican and foreigners, remain in Maputo - though most of the 200,000 Portuguese chose to leave before independence. But there are still some 10,000 20,000 Portu guese in the country, as well as a smattering of Tanzanians, North Ko reans, Eastern Europeans, Chinese, Cu bans, South African exiles, and even Americans. going a four to six month course, concen trating on eliminating the causes of the most common diseases in Mozambique: the mosquitos, flies, contaminated water and lack of sanitary facilities. On the political front, F R E L IM O has dispatched groups of political activists known as ‘dynamizing groups" to vil lages, factories and neighborhoods. In the cities they have helped to form food co-ops to hold down prices. In the rural areas, F R E L IM O cadre are encouraging the scattered peasant farm ers - only nine million in a country twice the size of California - to resettle in communal villages. As an incentive, the government provides the newly formed communal villages with electricity, run ning water, schools and medical clinics. worked out. he says. The minimum wage has been doubled to $75 a month, on-the-job training has been instituted to upgrade workers' skills and a production council of workers, government cadre and technicians has been formed to run the plant. But huge problems persist. Foreign Minister Joaquim Chissano claimed in an interview that the closing of the Mozam bique Rhodesian border in March. 1976, is costing the country some $200 million a year. Rhodesian military raids into Mozambique, he says, have taken the lives of 1,432 civilians. The economic strain is such that Mozambique, despite its vehement oppo sition to apartheid, has decided for the time being not to sever its commercial ties with South Africa. Mozambican mi ners still dig South African gold, and elec trical power from Mozambique's giant Cabora Bassa dam still flows to South Africa. I Steve Talbot is aa editor of the “International Bulletin,” and of the Berk eley, California based radio service later- iiews. He recently returned from a two-month trip to Africa. | African revolutionaries build socialist state by Steve Talbot M A P U TO . M O ZA M B IQ U E , OCT. 3 (PN8) - “You know what I keep telling them back at the State Department? I tell them we've got to deal with the Samora Machéis of the world because there are going to be a whole lot more like them.” Thus, in a recent interview, did U.S. Ambassador to Mozambique Willard De pree size up the guerilla leader who has become President of Mozambique, a radical African state which has openly embraced Marxism Leninism. “That's their choice,” Depree shrug ged. “W e can’t reverse this. Machel and F R E L IM O (the marxist guerrilla move ment) are firmly in control here.” A fter waging a 10 year war against Portuguese colonial rule, F R E L IM O took power June 25, 1975. The country has since become deeply involved in the turbulent politic* of southern Africa, leading some western observers to view it as a “pacesetter" in the establishment of “Afrocommunism." “Sure F R E L IM O * M arxist,” said Do pree. “But they keep their distance from Moscow. They're very independent, pro-Third W orld.” A veteran African journalist agrees: "The ‘50s in Africa was the decade of Nkrumah. The ‘60s belonged to Nyerere, and the man of the “70s is Samora Machel. He is a real revolutionary with enormous charisma, energy and intelligence. Ma- ohel and F R E L IM O will have a major impact on Africa." F R E L IM O has already had an enor mous impact on Mozambique. Burdened with a legacy of 600 years of Portuguese colonialism, the country was left poor and undeveloped, with a 90 percent rate of illiteracy at the time of independence. Fewer than 100 doctors remained after independence, most of whom served the whites in the cities. The changes are most dramatic in the capital city of Maputo, formerly lx>urenco Marques, a modern city of wide tree-lined avenues, sidewalk cafes, gleaming sky scrapers and luxury hotels and restau rants which once catered to South A fri can tourist*. Today the city is in transition. Streets which formerly bore names like “Our Lady of Fatima" or commemorated Por tuguese generals are now called “Fried rich Engels Avenue,” “Vladimir Lenin Street," and “Ho Chi Minh Avenue.” The elegant restaurants remain open, but most have been nationalized and are managed by their cooks, dishwashers and tuxedo-clad waiters. The colonial words “master” and “boy” have been replaced by “> e ” which is used for every one from truck drivers to the president. Since F R E L IM O nationalized housing in February 1976, forbidding individual ownership of more than two homes, more than 100,000 persons have moved from the outlying mud hut slums into modern apartments and subdivided villas aban doned by the Portuguese. Residents claim the city’s crime rate, once one of the worst in all Africa has plummeted. And despite earlier report* of a “police state" ruled over by undisci plined troops and police, there are now few police on the street* and virtually no armed soldier*. While the city has definitely been “Africanized," it is remarkably free of racial tension. F R E L IM O propaganda They are known as coo;«erantes and are welcomed in a country desperately short of doctors, teachers and skilled workers. Under the country's new health law, almost all medical care will be free, including prescriptions, hospital costs, diagnostic tests, vaccinations and simple treatments. The sudden accessibility to medical care has resulted in long waiting lines at the central hospital in Maputo. Said one harried doctor, “A t least people are now getting some kind of medical attention - many for the first time in their lives." Some 120 paramedic trainees are under The government hopes that the village will become the basis of the new Mozam bican society and that an agricultural surplus can be created to finance the industrialization of the country. A member of a dynamizing group at Maputo's only glass factory admits “it rained with problems' after indepen dence. But things are slowly being
