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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 1978)
Portland Observer Thursday. April 6. 1978 pa_e 3 Behind the wall U r r y Baker #35021, O.S.P Correa tondent Prior to June 1976 when an O.S.P. prisoner was railed over the loudspeaker from the recreation yard, job assignment, or even the showers, to report to the control center to see his counselor, it w u very normal to see him climbing the stairs leading to the ‘Inmate Counseling Floor' looking raggedy, hair uncombed and sloppily dressed. But during June 1976 at least 145 prisoners out of the 1500 population found themselves instructed Phil U n e #39520 Aaal. Correa,tondent to report to their counselor, Ms. Sandy Moore. Many were suddenly caught with an astonishing look on their faces and in a loud questioning voice shouted...“Sandy who?" As the male prisoner began to climb those same stairs he would search out a fellow prisoner coming from the Counsel ing Floor to ask, "Hey man, I was told my new counselor was a Ms. Sandy Moore. This has got to be a joke - isn’t it?” A CASE WORKER ON TH E I.M .F. FLOOR Patience...no. Love of her work...doubt itl Perhaps... Concern for what individuality that can still be found in the fog from the many roles forced upon both our person through this rat race called “Prison Existence"... She seems to flow with the many avenues I've come to transverse in my course of understanding these elements constituting the dual purpose of Rehabilitation...and...Punishment A smile or encouraging word when needed or A healthy slap whenever Ego pokes its head too high She sees not the Blackness of my skin, nor my past deeds, but whether or not her energy can be a lever in eliminating existing problems Through endeavors known to an inner consciousness of her being, she envokes sincerity, in our need to under stand the whys and why nots of this place existing in the realm of deceit, confusion and lies...but most of all - her actions to me...a Black Man proves, that there is still, a Tomorrow. J.D. Snowden #38013 Julius I). Snowden #38013, Poetrv Editor 1 ne descending prisoner would reply. No, that s right, the people who run thia joint, have gone and hired a woman.” As the reporting prisoner walks up to the correctional officer on the counseling floor, he is directed to have a seat next to another prison inmate who is also waiting outside the door with the name plate reading "S. Moore.” Both prisoners sit nervously, one pulls out a comb and begins to groom his hair, while the other begins to straighten his clothes. “Hey man, you know what?”, says the prisoner who has just sat down with the other, “I have been around here twenty years and we've never had a woman work as a counselor inside these walls. What is going on? Has Cupp, (O.S.P. Superinten dent) gone stone crazy? Has John Akin (Counselor Supervisor) gone and joined the E.R.A. (Equal Rights Amendment) crusade?" “I'll be damned if I know,” answered the other prisoner, “We got our rights, remember. We have the right to remain silent and not say one dog-gone thing to her. That alone should drive her up a tree. How do they expect any woman to counsel any of these old con's? Remem ber, some cons are in thu joint because of a woman.” As the door to "S. Moore” opened and a prisoner was leaving her office, both inmates searched for an expression on his face. Funny thing, there was none. The story of Sandy Moore's first appearance at O.S.P. as a ‘male prison inmate' counselor is history now, because she is still here and so are many of the prisoners on, her original case load. The slender built woman with stylish short brown hair, in her mid-forties, had climbed a “stairway" of her own to make her qualifications equal to any of the other twelve co-workers - not as a woman, but as a counselor. Born in a run-down, integrated section on the southside of Chicago during the “Depression" Sandy and her younger sister many times found their biggest excitement came when the tax collectors made their yearly rounds and the family’s furniture had to be hidden. Both parents worked as telegraph operators. Sandy’s father was eventually forced to move his family to a farm at Cobool, Missouri, because of health reasons, and there Sandy spent her first years in grade school. She moved to Portland, Oregon in 1947, and attended Lincoln High. She held after school jobs, such as babysit ting. hospital aide, and pastry clerk, to e help supplement the family income. In 1951 Sandy enrolled at the Univer sity of Portland, but after her freshman year, fell in love and married, so she dropped out of college and acquired SPECIAL VALUES: h o m e fu r n is h in g s fa m o u s, to p - q u a lity Whirlpool SANDY MOORE another professional career called “full time housewife and chasing babies" - seven of them to be exact. It was not until 1968 that Sandy was able to return to college and obtain her degree in Education at Oregon College of Education; after which she worked as a substitute teacher in junior and senior high schools in the Salem school district. She also volunteered many hours at the Oregon State Hospital and Salem Rehabi litation Center. Working toward a master's degree, Sandy worked as a practicum student with the Marion County Juvenile Parole Department and in 1975 she received her master's in Education, only to obtain employment as a clerk typist with the Oregon Corrections Division. It was in June of 1976 that Sandy found herself applying for a counseling position at O.S.P. The challenge was there, not because Sandy was a woman, but because she was Sandy, the counselor. As one of her male co-workers witness es of her work at O.S.P., “Sandy has the golden touch with a silver expertise in counseling prisoners." Ernest Watson, one of Sandy’s clients states, “We can deal with the hard fact and the bare truth with Ms. Moore as a counselor.” Robert Motton, another of Sandy’s clients admits, “By Ms. Moore’s counsel ing guidance in helping me, she has become a finished piece of art." Another prison inmate stated, “Hey man, respect that lady? Who doesn't - her middle name has become ‘Help’.” So Sandy Moore has made her mark upon the male prisoner's at O.S.P., but is that enough? A few weeks ago Sandy applied at PSU to work toward a doctor ate in Administration of Jusice and Cor rectional Management. When asked why Sandy Moore replied, “I feel there is a need for much expertise in the Oregon Criminal Justice System, and because of my caring for what happens to people, I will be of assistance." With this type of dedication and ability, the administrator for the Oregon Cor rection Division might someday shout from his office after just being told that a woman has been chosen to head one of his state correctional programs, “Sandv who?” That s if he doesn't already know who Sandy Moore is...He will. 2-Speed, 3-Cycle WASHER An economy washer with features you'd expect to find only in higher priced models. Two washing and tw o spin speeds. Three cycles: NORMAL, G EN TLE and SO AK. Cool-down care for Per manent Press fabrics. 3 Wash/Rinse water temp selections; 2 load-size water-saving selections. E a s y -to -c le a n f ilt e r . Heavy duty 'A hp. mo tor; super SURGILATOR agitator. Bac-Pak Laun dry Information Center. 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Luncheon speaker is Reverend John Jackson, pastor of Mount Olivet Baptist Church and President of the Portlanl Branch NAACP. Afternoon work sessions, beginning at 1:15, will be on: Education, Employment, Media/Communications, Health/Nutri- tion. The General Session will be held from 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. Banquet speaker for the 7:30 p.m. banquet is James Loving, Coordinator of the King Neighborhood Facility and Chairman of the Northeast Coalition. Sunday's schedule will begin with breakfast with Black candidates at 7:00 a.m.; General Session, 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. and Candidate endorsement at 10:15 to noon. President of the OABA is Calvin O.L. Henry of Corvallis. . . . UNION OR COMPANY DENTAL INSURANCE is a valuable asset . . . your health and appearance COMPLETE COOPERATION ON A LL D E N T A L INSURANCE CLAIMS W E H A N D L E A LL T HE D ETA ILS OF COMPLETING YOUR C LA IM FORMS NO APPOINTMENT NEEDED Come in at y o u r c o n v e n ie n c e li PARK FREE-Any P a rk n Shop Lot HOURS: Weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dr. Jeffrey BRADY, (Continued from Page 2 Column 6) These are just a few walls of the pictures that are not shown of the Black man in today's society; and Black women, when it is said that the Black man is weak, look from whence your strength cometh and know why you are able to be strong, know why everyone wants to copy you and run after you because the Black man has given the ultimate so you can be radiant. Know that the smiles and the sparkle in your eyes are there because the Black man has given his best. Look into his face and know the agony of his disgrace and know why he fails in life. Black women often times contribute to the failure of her man as illustrated by Elliot Liebow the author of “Tally's Corner.” Society, as mentioned before, has programmed the Black man (e fail regardless of his efforts. “...He is jobless simply because he cannot find a job. He carries this failure home where his family life is undergoing a parallel deterioration. His wife’s adult male models also failed as a husband and a father and she expects no less from him. She hopes but does not expect him to be a good provider, to make for them a family and be head of it, to be ‘the man of the house.' But his failure to do these things does not make him easier to live with because it was expected. She keys her demands to her wants, to her hopes, not of her expectations. Her demands mirror the man both as society says he should be and as he really is enlarging this failure in both their eyes. Sometimes he sits down and cries at the humiliation of it all. Sometimes he strikes out at her or the children with his fist, perhaps to lay hollow claim to bring the man of the house in the one way left open to him, or perhaps simply inflict pain on this woman who bears witness to his failure as a husband and father and therefore as a man. Increasingly he turns to the street corner where a shadow system of values constructed out of public fiction served to accommodate just such men as he, permitting them to be man once again provided they do not look too closely at anothers credentials. It pays 696 interest a year. For a s little a s $100 y o u c a n a c tu a lly g e t 6.27% e ffe c tiv e a n n u a l in terest. The 6 Plus Bond is a new kind of U. S. Bank time certificate of deposit that’s negotiable. It earns a handsome 6% interest rate. And it’s insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corpo ration to the same extent as other deposits. U. S, Bank compounds that 6% interest every day, so the effective annual rate is 6.27%. 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