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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 1979)
King dedicates community park, asks safety check Dedication o f the new King com munity park w ill be held on October 3rd, with o fficials o f the C ity o f Portland, Multnomah County and the P ortland School D is tric t. However, prior to the acceptance o f the park by the City, the community wants assurance that the playground is safe. Ms. Linda Johnson, representative to the park committee from the King school Parent Advisory Committee, and Ms. Marian Duwan, representa tive o f the King N eighborhood Association, brought their concerns to the King N eighborhood Association at its regular meeting Tuesday. Their questions include the design o f the play equipment as it differs from that specified by the ar chitect, the in s ta lla tio n o f the equipment and the durability o f the wood structures. The Neighborhood Association voted to ask the City to provide an independent contractor -- to be selec ted by K N A — to inspect the playground and certify it as safe. They also asked that a specific schedule be established by the Park Bureau for safety and maintenance checks. Concerns have arisen through an earlier dispute over the suitability o f play equipment substituted for that called for by the park plans, personal observation o f the b u ild in g procedures and memories o f the death o f a child do to dangerous play equipment at Unthank Park. The King park was b u ilt w ith funds provided the City by the U.S. Department o f Interior on land ad jacent to M a rtin L u th e r King Elementary School provided by the school district. It w ill be supervised and maintained by the C ity Park Bureau. Anna Madden, chairman o f the King N eighborhood Association, PORTLAND OBSERVER said that in spite o f the concerns about safety the park w ill be a welcome a d d d itio n to the com munity. “ The park is citizen participation at its best. The neighborhood people have planned for this park for at least four years and it is well worth the energy and effort. I ’ m sure the people w ill enjoy it.” Volume 9 No. 38 Thursday. September 27,1979 10b USPS 959-680 . • » • • U of 0 suit seeks class status A motion to give a suit filed by Myra W illard against the University o f Oregon class action status, w ill be heard October 1st by U.S. District Court Judge Oho Skopil. The suit was filed by Mrs. W il lard, the university’s former affirm a tive action officer in July o f 1978 and charges the University o f Oregon and the State Board o f Higher Education with discrimination against Blacks, Hispanics and other minorities, and women. The suit charges discrimination in employment—in recruitment, hiring, promotion, training, job classifica tion, granting o f tenure, salaries and te rm ina tion . It covers not o nly current and former employees but job applicants and others who have been discouraged from applying for positions by discrim inatory prac tices and policies. Mrs. W illard also claims that she was personally discriminated against — that she was prevented from carrying out her duties as affirmative action officer and T itle IX com- pliance o ffic e r, and that she was harassed, intimidated and psycholo g ica lly abused. She was denied tenure, therefore ending her employ ment in June of 1979. When the suit was filed 11 per cent o f the u n iv e rs ity ’ s tenured teaching staff were women and .4 per cent were minorities. There were no Blacks or women in executive positions in its classified employment positions. The suit asks the federal court to issue a permanent injunction against the infringement o f equal employ- ment o p p o rtu n ity rig h ts and tc require the im p lem en ta tion o f a viable affirm ative action program. It also requests payment o f $4 m illion in damages to the plaintiffs— former and current employees, applicants and potential applicants who were discouraged from applying. The case, which has attained national attention, has the support o f the Eugene branch NAACP, and the Northwest Conference o f Branches. Mrs. W illard w ill be represented by Curtis Oler o f San Francisco. CODA fails staff demotion effort by Donald Fuller King e lem en tary school children try out new play structures at com m unty park to be dedicated on O ctober 3rd at 1:00 p.m . Planned by the neighborhood, the park is ad jacen t to M a rtin Luther King Elem entary School Programs honor 4-H chorus Four days o f music and reflection w ill celebrate the sixth anniversary o f one o f the Albina community’s out standing youth choirs, the 4-H U r ban C horal Ensemble, under the direction o f Ira D. Mumford, exten sion agent, Oregon State University. The series o f musical programs will be presented at St. PauFs Church o f God in Christ, 2859 N.E. Rod ney, beginning Wednesday evening, October 10th, at 7:30 p.m. The final program will be Sunday afternoon, October 14th, at 3:00 p.m. Choirs from churchs throughout the com munity will take part in the four day musical celebration. Churches and ministers who will be participating during the week will be: Reverend A.R . Hopkins, Solid Rock Church o f God in C hrist, Wednesday, October 10th; Bishop W.G. Hardy of M t. Siani Church o f God in Christ, Thursday, October 11th; Reverend L .J. Thompson, Community First AM E Zion Church, Friday, October 12th; Reverend Burt Osborne o f Faith Tabernacle, Port land, Saturday, October 13th, (Youth Night). Highlight o f the Sunday program w ill be guest speaker, Commissioner Charles Jordan, C ity o f Portland. The musical segment o f the program will be the Love Congregation, the Sensational Portland Aires and the Urban 4-H Choral Ensemble. The Choral Ensemble has made guest appearances throughout Oregon and C alifornia and in the Portland community for the past six years. They have achieved wide ac claim fo r th eir popular musical programs. The public is invited to attend and participate in the Choral Ensemble’ s sixth anniversary celebration. - Do you know there are Black people in the community who have launched whole new literary careers writing about your administrative blunderings? - CODA staff has no acceptable plans to conduct any kind o f beneficial service operations in the Black community. - Thre is no sensitivity; no com prehension o f 'systems o f Black evaluation; no understanding o f the custom ary exercise o f w hite bureaucratic contempt in all dealings with Black people; no realization o f Black disrespect for and resentment against white programmers. These are the verbal lashings the CODA Board o f Directors gave its director. Jim Robbins, executive director of CODA tried and failed to whip a leader o f the Black community back in to .. “ his place.” In fact, his own ego got bruised. In meetings held with his board o f directors, this advocate o f “ free drugs” in the Black com m unity, showed the true color o f his neck in a series o f unprofessional, unethical and unmanly acts, made in an effort to "discipline” Halim Rahsaan, a lead ing figure in the fight against white supremacy in P ortland t6day. It didn’ t work. In a letter to Rahsaan, Robbins charged that his "conduct violates ethical and professional standards implicit in being an employee,” in the following manner: “ Acquiring and showing a film on a Dayton, Ohio program with the in tention o f representing the context o f that film on the Killingsworth pro gram; offering to the media exploita tive use o f Alpha House residents; and, fa ilu re to u tiliz e proper Program Channels in either airing your concerns or attempting to in fluence a proposed program through any internal process.” Analysis He actually proposed a demotion (reduction in pay) be given to a brother who put the interest o f Black folks and his community before his job and white interests. Robbins was so full o f his arrogance that he reacted racist history (read o f C h in a ’ s Opium Wars) when he: (a) Sought to punish Rahsaan for his “ disloyalty” to CODA, during his own time by simply showing a movie at the invi tation o f King Association; (b) Based his proposed disciplinary action on inaccurate inform ation and recom m endations from self interested subordinates; (c) Took his scape goating action to avoid respon sibility for his failure to prepare, consult and show respect for Black residents o f King Neighborhoods. Board members Ron Herndon and Ben Talley very righteously sent him back to his drawing board. Since the board meeting M ark Pickney, proposed director o f the proposed Northeast program, has had no comment when asked whether he recommended that Rahsaan be fired ! In fact, while Pickney had no comment to make on any o f the treacherous business o f genocide and unethical personnel practices, he did seem happy to tell me to “ get f-----.” But who can laugh when the attack is so blatant and vicious? Who can laugh when the real target is our children and our future? Who can laugh when a $36,000 “ lib e ra l” racist attacks the best o f us? What i f . ..? No, this "three R” (reprimand, reduction, resign) approach leftover from the plantation mentality to force Black men and women into docile, submissive slaves fo r exploitation, must be stopped. We need a c u ltu ra lly derived, drug-free, treatment program in the Black community for addicts. There is no question about it. But, there must be respect fo r our cu ltu ra l values under our control. It must be on our terms or not at all, and no compromise can be accepted on any o f the following points: (a) An ad visory council from the community which includes the Black com munity; (b) An approved location (which means presented to the com munity one month in advance o f ap proval with several options); (c) An analysis o f the socio-economic im pact, in w riting, that satisfies the King Neighborhood Association in (Please turn to page 12 col. I) PPS extends enrollment date The School Board has extended the date for transfer o f children to Albina schools to October 5th. A ll children in grades kindergar ten thru fifth who live in Albina are entitled to attend the school in their own attendance area. Sixth, seventh and eighth graders can attend Beaumont, Fernwood or Columbia/ Whitaker as vacancies exist; or Beach, Chief Joseph or Kenton elementary schools. The extension in time for transfer o f students was requested by the Black United Front. Clint Thomas, director o f desegre gation programs, reported that as o f September 24th 353 children had returned to neighborhood schools, including 325 minority students. The only school reporting a space problem is Humboldt which has 491 students including 41 new th ird graders. F ollow ing meetings w ith parents, a decision has been made to use form er Headstart portables located on N. Haight for temporary classrooms. Richard Moffatt scores 'DuBois' music ''M u sic being a very pow erful tool, I hope th at my selection of m u s ic of a v e ry in d ig e n o u s nature underlines, underscores, enhances, and em phasizes the b rillian t creative w ritin g of this great social scientist. Du B oia.’’ Richard M o ffa tt, Musical Director “ Du Bois,” Septem ber, 1979 I f you get the opportunity this weekend to see Du Bois, an oral history program fe aturin g Herb Cawthorne, you w ill have imprinted on your memory the words, thoughts and deeds o f a great Black Ameri can. In a special preview o f the en tirely new production, the Observer discovered that Du Bois’ words are made more beautiful and energetic by the melody and song arranged for the production by Richard M offatt, a long-time Portland composer and musical director. M offatt brings years o f creative history to the production o f Du Bois. The music he has arranged so pre cisely w ill be performed by The Love Congregation, Inc., a comm unity ensemble noted for its magnificent c o o rd in a tio n , depth and range. Although semi-retired, M offatt has enjoyed his work on this project because it has helped him “ to spread the word o f the writing and original ideas o f the great scholar; with my talents, I have been afforded the chance to express my own support for a man whom over the years I had read about and watched develop.” It is the supportive role M offatt has perfected in this effort. “ I hope that in the way the American folk songs, the Negro spirituals, and the ju d icio u s p ortion s o f symphony came together, we enhance the message o f Du Bois.” He added, “ My use o f this material is very per sonal. I have chosen each folk song and spiritual to make a progressive lin k w ith in the various w ritin gs whith were selected. Every song is carefully placed to help the flow o f the drama, to keep it continuous and lively.” For 50 years, at a pace that would make y o u th fu l exuberance tire q uickly, M o ffa tt has pursued his music. He has written several operas, composed scores for musical plays, and directed symphony orchestras in the United States and Europe. For as long as most can remember, M offatt has touched the spirits o f the congre gation at St. P h illip s Episcopal Church with his choir direction and command o f the organ. Never theless, he said, “ this is the first time I have been able to extend my per sonal feeling through the ideas o f another. “ At first glance, I saw in the script a chance to use the kind o f music I love with the dignity o f the oral history presentation. It is exciting.” M offatt does not hesitate to give praise and recognition to The Love Congregation, Inc., the 11 member com m unity ensemble directed by Jackie McHenry and W illie Binns. The Love Congregation “ brings in terpretation and a very warm and sympathetic vision to every sound I have conceived. W ith o u t Love C o n gre ga tion ,” he said, “ my arrangements would remain bare and skeletal. I have been amazed and thrilled at some o f the extraneous techniques which Love Congregation brings that I had not thought specifically about.” A fter years o f creative work in music, M offatt is pleased to make this effort, for he wishes to pass the torch o f his creative fires on to young people. He hopes young people learn to achieve p erfectio n , and to recognize when they are surrounded by proper messages and the tools o f quality work. “ I want young people to sec this fe rtile m aterial, thus making them proud o f our own music and what it has to say about our people. We should be proud o f the soil in which our spiritual striving has grown. Our pride can only be shown in the excellence o f our w ork.” Du Bois was performed by Herb Cawthorne last March for Portland audiences. The program was ac claimed then. A fte r months and months o f research and a special trip to the Du Bois Archives, Cawthorne has completely rewritten the script, w ith the help o f Jeana W oolley. Moffatt has labored for many months on the musical arrangement. O f the September 28th, 29th and 30th performances, M offatt speaks o f his high hopes: “ I truly believe this production will make both Black and white appreciative o f the values for which this great man stood. He is revealed for our examination. It w ill bring a broader understanding o f the black’s role in society—the tremen dous contribution which was given by Dr. Du Bois was not to just one group, but to all o f America.” Du Bois is billed as an evening o f entertainment, history, drama and music. It is all that and then some. On the basis o f its special preview, the Observer recommends, “ Don’ t miss i t ! " RICHARD MOFFATT t
