I
P eg* 4 Portland Observer January 24. 1960
B
Behind the Walls
by Larry Baker »3502!
O.S.P. Correspondent
NATHANIEL SCOTT
A MESSAGE
Bv Nathaniel Scott 41877
Silling on my cell thinking, trying
to assess the good and bad of con
finement (doing time) I catnc to the
conclusion that, the only good thing
one can readily ascribe to is the
amount o f leisure time one is con
fronted with. Time forced on an in
dividual, because he or she has
committed a crime and if you are
Black and poor (most Black people
are poor) you will end up in confine
CELL TALK
David Wright »39816
Assistant Editor
ment. (doing time, Being a victim o f
this forced leisure time, I am using it
to further my education by going to
school.
There is a song; a country and
western song, if I may, that says
“ Johnny, don’t take your guns to
town.” What the song implies to me
personally is that guns are weapons
of destruction. I'd advise any Black
person to stop taking their ignor
ance to town; it too, is a weapon o f
destruction. It is time for us to get
o ff the American band stand for
music and get on the Black stand of
learning.
The most prized possession that
anyone has is their m ind. Their
possible accomplishments are
unlimited.
When I was a youngster, I didn’ t
have the time for schooling. I didn’t
have the time to learn constructive
things. M7 mind was full o f pimp-
mobiles and prostitutes (degrading
my Black family and myself in the
worse way), using drugs (living in a
world o f falsehood and illusions),
trickery (taking from others what
they had lawfully gained). But now
in my declining years, I find that I
wish that I had learned then, so I
wouldn’ t be so far behind now.
Within the criminal world there
are no fringe benefits. After 20, 30,
or any number o f years, you cannot
draw compensation when you are
sick. No organization will pay your
rent or feed your children when you
can’t find a place or person to rob
or steal from. And if you end up in
the penitentiary broke (as most
criminals do) you w ill be an out
cast... and labeled a moocher.
You will have to contend with the
humiliation o f no privacy. You will
have to contend
w ith
the
humiliation of the lowest forms o f
ST ANDREWS CATHOLIC CHURCH
806 NE ALBERTA STREET
Reverend Bertram Griffin, Pastor
281 4429
Masses
5 00pm Vigil Saturday
10 00am Choir Sunday
12 00pm Folk Sunday
ST. ANDREW COMMUNITY SCHOOL
4919 NE 9th Ave
„ ,, „ .
,
Nonta Kelly. Principal
p
Phone 284 1620
Grades 1 thru 8
HUGHES MEMORIAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
REV. AUSTIN V. RAY, MINISTER
111 N.E. FAILING
Dial A-Prayer 284 0684
Worship 11 00am
Church School 9 45am
Office 281 2332
Specializing In
Individual • Marriage and f amily • Group Therapy
"The C hurch W here NO Stranger Feels S trang e"
ALLEN TEMPLE CME CHURCH
Corner of 8th and Skidmore
Sunday School 9:30am
Sunday Worship 11:00am
Christian Youth Fellowship 6:00pm
(second and fourth Sundays)
degeneracy. “ Just to watch a foot
ball game on T V ” you will have to
The night descends—falls quietly
contend w ith the h u m ilia tio n o f
like a leaf caught in the silent breeze
being a spectacle, parading in line
o f autumn. Its veil is pulled across
formation to any and all activities,
the face o f the earth and all the
under the watchful eyes of a count
secrets are safe until sunrise exposes
less number of guards. You will be
its vainness, shallowness and shame.
approached
to
engage
in
The occupant in cell C-451 lies
homosexual activities, in one man
staring at the ceiling, his thoughts
ner or another, and if you have little
rising and disappearing like the
or no education you w ill be given
blue-grey smoke o f his cigarette-
menial or no job at all.
spiraling in shapeless patterns—
Once we were “ Black and proud”
drifting into nothingness—escaping
and it was “ learn baby learn.” But
through the bars—defying gravity_
now we are in a cesspool o f
silently rising in mirth as it cheats
stagnation and instead o f being an
the keepers o f the keys.
ally to ourselves, we have become
A silent curse escapes from the
our worst enemy.
almond lips as the occupant ponders
As a Black man, I feel there is
the bleakness o f tim e .. .timeless,
only one way to overcome this can
endless.. .time and, and no way to
cerous sore and that is, through
solve the riddle: How did I come to
knowledgable means that w ill
this?” . The question dances on the
enhance the presence o f our being.
verge of answer, then drifts away, to
Underline the fact o f our unity and
be replaced by the ache: the dull per
change the desires and goals of our
sistent pain that’s a part o f him, like
young people from super flies,
his heartbeat, his eyebrows, his
movie stardom and sports cham
dreams. “ Loneliness” —so vast, so
pions to the presidency o f these
complete that it pervades all; it con
United States o f America.
sumes and gnaws at his core.. his
Today I grieve inside, when I read
essence in p e ril... his life force un
o f our youth not taking advantage
der forfeiture o f the ache.
o f an offered education.
The swingshift guard passes, his
I feel the pains o f anguish, from
keys jingling freedom, his flashlight
seeing them on the b rink o f
flicking on and off, o ff and on in
becoming convicts--ex-convicts— the darkness. He pauses in his
labeled with a criminal record that
routine to gain a better look at the
will hound and haunt them for the
motionless form. The occupant sees
balance o f their lives. I feel the
him but doesn’ t stir, he remains
chocking sobs o f a suppressed cry,
breathlessly still, his eyes dark pools
when I think how it will make them
o f sorrow that reflect the ache, his
feel, to be visited by family, friends
mind plotting revolt—“ a scream or
and loved ones and they have to go
a shout o f defiance!” Anything that
through devices o f security, just to
will signify his unwillingness to be
touch hands. It takes a cold and
examined w ith such cool detach
heartless man to feel nothing when
ment. S till he remains silent, un
his son or daughter says “ inommie,
moving in his sphere o f pain,
why can’ t daddy come with us?”
trapped in the darkness o f his ache,
As I said, the only good thing
abandoned in his misery as the
about confinement is leisure time,
guard shambles on, his keys jin
but one does not have to go (or in
gling, his light flashing on and o ff in
my case, come) to the penitentiary
the prison night.
to acquire it. Leisure time is the
Somewhere down the tier a toilet
amount o f time not spent in
flushes, a derelict cough rasps out, a
securing your livelihood. A ll the
steel door slams shut and someone
time spent p la y in g -lo lly gaging-
mumbles in fitfu l sleep. The night is
door popping and B slinging; laid
pregnant with unidentifiable sounds
back tripping about something that
—sounds that men have feared since
ain t worth a damn nohow, is leisure
before time had cadence; the sound
time!
o f soundlessness that leaves the
In closing, I want to change the
mind to create images—horrors—il
beat a little- add a little soul--git
lusions too real to be false. Illusions
down on the fo r real side, so
that lurk in shadowy corners, that
everybody can understand. It ain’ t
pounce upon unsuspecting prey, il
here, brother. It is out there! You
lusions that creep and crawl from
are not a big man in here, just a face
the pits of hell to teed on the souls
in the crowd! To walk the yard and
hallways, don't fill you with a bit of
pride. It takes it away’ You have no
one to tell your troubles to, because
I got mine too! So use foresight and
judgement in what you do. Be
patient and understanding in all
your endeavors and when confron
E
ted with the opportunity to commit
a crime, think...Yes think about the
good times and think about where
the person is who wrote this...the
Oregon State Penitentiary!
NEW HOPE MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH
REVEREND A. BERNARD DEVERS, PASTOR
Lucid Walls
O f Time
7:00pm
5:00pm
7.30pm
7:00pm
Travelling to another
I've just come from the other
caught between
the two
not a part of either...
bouncing back and forth
slowly chipping the foundations
so that I may be
free
and motionless at last
so I may set root
upon my hill
and build my temple...
By Garv Wm. Holt
41300
BADBYE
By Gary Wm. Holt 4/300
You are Welcome to Worship at
THE ARK OF SAFETY CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST
A warm spirit o f fellowship always”
The Honorable Bishop U.V Peterson, D.D.
The Holiness Preacher,” Pastor
Tuesday
Bible Band Jr Church
Wednesday
Choir Rehearsal
Friday
T h e Pastor Speaks ’
Showers of B'esxir gs Broadcast
KGAH 1 « 0
11 30em 12 30pm
VP8C
6 30pm
Evangelist,- Worship
8 00pm
84 NE Killingsworth
Tuesday Friday
Noon Day prayer
281 0499
STOP LOOKING
BUY TOMORROW'S SECURITY FOR
YOUR FAMILY TODAY
New 3 and 4 bedroom homes with or without family rooms in Van
couver close to 1-5 and 8 minutes from Interstate bridge. Include 2
baths, double garage, brick fireplaces, range, dishwasher, garbage
disposal, w /w carpets. All are energy efficient with 10 year Home
Owner's Warranty. Cash price for 3 bedroom with 1036 sq. ft. would
be $48,500, 11 '/, % Annual Percentage Rate w ith 360 monthly
payments at $480.64 principal and interest plus estimated taxes and
insurance.
$2e 650 CK)
'n f° r $100 00' FHA Purchasers move in approx.
HERMITAGE REALTY, INC.
4715 St. Johns Rd
Vans. W A . 98661
X
m
O
(206)694-8577
206(574-1522
D
U
716 N .t 99th Ase.
Portland, OR. 97220
223-822
241-3723
S
u r u / À r^rr/m en /
n/t-t
1518 N.E KILLINGSWORTH
284 7997
Happy New Year
JANUARY
This is your invitation to
9:30am
10:30am
3725 N. Gantenbein Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97227
9 15am
11 15em
EXODUS
Editor: Julius Snowden
Prayer and Pastor Phone; 281 6476
Church Phone 281-0163
Sunday
Sunday School
M orn.nq Wor$n-p
o f confined men. “ The occupant day is never over and tomorrow will
lies w a itin g .. m indful o f the never come!”
danger, knowing that he’ s just a
The occupant lies paralyzed in
moment away from identity,
fear. He envisions his soul slipping
knowing that if he doesn’t fight the
away, his tnind tilting on the edge of
images—the ache will consume him,
pandemonium, the distinct sense of
w ill devour his dreams and swallow
falling . eyes wide but sightless and
his soul!” He knows these things
a crimson moon shattering into a
because nightly he wages this battle
thousand fragments, each fragment
for supremacy o f the cell. He con
a drop of blood, each drop o f blood
serves his strength during the
a tear-drop, his heart bursting in his
daylight hours for the war—control
chest and vomited up upon the cold
o f his sp irit that the ghouls o f
concrete door. And just before the
prison night threaten under the
final desecration—the dissolving of
cover o f darkness. He has come to
his soul—the sun peeks its head
know them, to identify them all in
above the granite wall and the cell if
turn; the loneliness that aches like a
filled with life-giving lig h t— the
hollowed-out heart that never beats:
light—the lig h t!—salvation! — re
the idleness of hours spent staring at
demption!—the light!God bless the
the wall, watching clouds form or
light! “ A cry o f exultation leaps
raindrops fa ll: the self pity that
from the soul o f the occupant—he’s
slowly destroys the will to survive:
filled with a jubilance o f triumph as
the sickening shame o f mastur
the night dissolves in the shim
bation: the burning fire o f desire
mering rays o f dawn.”
throbbing in the loins as the flesh
screams lor sedation: the misty face
Thus concludes a prison night, its
o f a woman not yet forgotten—nev
dark horrors suspended for another
er to be forgotten: an old dear john
day. another day o f blue denim
letter: a wringled photograph o f a
drabness, another day o f ringing
man and child standing by a lake:
bells and clanging doors.. .another
the memories all run together in in
day the occupant waits fo r the
distinct patterns o f pain. "Yester
return of the ache.
PORTLAND. OREGON 9721 1
Reverend Thomas L. Strayhand. Minister
Sunday School
Morning Worship
Evening Service 2nd, 4th and
5th Sundays
Communion 1st Sunday
Wed
Family Prayer Meeting
and Bible Study
Friday Brotherhood
Fellowship Service with
Morning Star 3rd Sunday
By Asmar Abdu Seifullah
aka Joe West »40404
7 30pm
7 00pm
7:3<pr
You know it wasn't easy
to say goodbye to you
such a small word
that word goodbye
but so final the meaning
so final...
such a sad word
that word goodbye
and so hard to speak
Why is goodbye
a goodbye?
maybe I'll change it
io it's definite meaning
cf jnge it to
badbye or
sadbye or
don’t cry...
EXODUS FORUMS
JOIN US DURING 1980
Each Tuesday Evening 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
1518 N.E. Killingsworth
Portland, Oregon 97211
Phone 284 7997
Standing
agenda:
Subject:
Answers to your questions, workable
solutions to your problems and research
for your enlightenment.
Follow-Through as a practical concept to
live by.
Conductor:
Thomas Boothe, author of Follow-Throuah
concept.
y
Statement:
Bring your questions, problems and con
cerns to the Exodus Forums and we will
find workable answers and solutions for
you.