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