Paga 2 Portland Observar Saptambar 18. 1980
EDITORIAL/OPINION
Sea of Shaka 'Zone of Peace'
Opposition as principle
It is an inevitable reality in the quests of
Black people here to acquire any semblances
ot respect from the authoritarian sectors of
public life that sometimes the most tragic
frustrations are caused by persons of Black
complexion. This is commonly attributed to
their social development being woefully crip­
pled.
The Portland police are launching a program
wherein police will serve as the teachers to in­
struct students in schools in the Black com­
munity on what they should think about the
police. Black people throughout this nation
see this kind of police activity as heavy handed
indoctrination, intimidation and aggression. It
is an unconcealed tour de force.
More appropriately police should be en­
tering school everywhere and enrolling in
multi- cultural, non-racist educational courses
to help them learn that Black children (people)
are human. Black parents and Black
organizations were not made aware of and
consulted on the feasibility of this project. As
is customary in most hardball, racist, militarist
decisions Black imput was of no importance.
The impact of such a program upon Black
children can be only negative because the
Black experience with police throughout the
history of America has been only negative. In­
formation at this point is that no Black officers
are participating, and well they should not
regardless of the reason.
Most Black people find in their encounters
with police that officers frequently pervert the
truth as routine procedure. Also police are the
By E'ungai Kumbula
first line of the organized, militarized and
power endowed forces (guns, mace, elec­
tronic gear, assault vehicles, etc., to invoke
brutalities upon the Black population. They are
physically trained and psychologically con­
ditioned to arrest, whip and kill Black people.
This happens so frequently that many Blacks
think of police as adventure seekers and thrill
killers. Opinions are widespread that these
tendencies have not been reduced but public
relations training enables police to structure
better alibis. Portland police seldom disguise
their contempt for Black people and this is suf­
ficient reason for Black parents to object to
police serving as teachers of Black children.
Black spokemen have made their opposition
known in clear and concise terms to Com­
missioner Jordan. He defends the program. Is
there a message in all this?
Misuse to abuse
KGW TV is feverishly seeking to line up
some Black persons to serve as rhetorical
dissidents when W illiam "super sperm "
Shockley, psuedo-geneticist, is featured on
the Gerry Pratt bark and bellow hour.
Several Black organizations and individuals
have said "n o .” This may signal the beginning
of a total disenchantment with KGW and NBC
by the Black population. Shockley's ap­
pearance, added to Lew Frederick's "Albina"
and the netw ork's "B e u la h la n d ," is a
crowning achievement in the huge wave of
anti-Black racial chauvinism being vigorously
stirred up by these media.
Economic Development:
Opportunities for citizen participation
By Claudia Fisher
(N o te : This article is one o f a
series focusing on economic and
community development through
community-based corporation-,.)
While citizen participation is on
the road to institutionalization, the
forms o f citizen participation being
in stitu tio n a lize d may be giving
citizens the illusion that they have
gained some greater power when ac­
tually the participation processes
employed (often for appearances
sake or for the sake of government
funds) leave the citizen w ith no
greater control than previously. The
tranquilly deluded citizen with this
illusion o f having contributed to,
benefitted from and had outcome
determination power is less likely to
make demands upon the system
than is the citizen who has no real
power and realizes it. In other
words, we may be doing it more but
enjoying less benefits.
To those o f us with a burning
desire to redistribute power and
resources in society, the issue o f
citizen participation is critical to
pursue. Blacks, and increasingly
other groups in the minority in this
country, have recognized and acted
upon the belief, beginning w ith
OEO Community Action Program
days, and especially beginning with
amendments to that legislation, that
a deteriorated neighborhood must
make its own plan, develop its own
agenda and provide leadership and
management in order fo r real
change to occur.
In the community development
process, there are two major objec­
tives. The other is the process itself
and what accrues to the community
through its participation in or direc­
tion o f that process. Com m unity
and economic development must be
self-development.
When an organization is formed
to achieve these two m ajor ends,
such as a community development
co rp o ra tio n , w ith the Intent o f
creating and directing businesses,
institutions, programs and funds
aimed at uplift o f an area and its
people, the single most important
question that arises is, "W h o con
trols the CDC?”
Susan H o rn -M o o , fro m the
Center fo r Community Economic
Development in Cambridge. Mass.,
has discussed the control issue and
the ways in which fo r-p ro fit and
nonprofit corporations set up mem­
bership criteria and decision-making
authority. The remainder o f this ar­
ticle is from her discussion in
"A lte rn a tiv e Models fo r CDCs,”
1974.
In a nonprofit CDC, the charter
and bylaws set out rules o f member
ship, ju s t as a fo r - p r o fit c o r­
p o ra tio n ’ s charter and bylaws
describe thoae groups or individuals
who w ill be eligible to purchase
stock.
Membership in nonprofit models
may be extended to all community
residents in a defined geographical
area. Sometimes income limitations
are imposed to assure that people
w ith low incomes c o n tro l the
organization developed to benefit
them, though we have all witnessed
" lo w income representatives” not
the least bit representative o f the
low income popula tion at large.
Some CDCs also require members
to devote a set amount o f time to the
CDC as a means to create more
committed membership.
The question o f direct versus in­
direct membership o f com m unity
residents must also be decided.
Some CDC leaders favor indirect
representation; in a large urban area
a self-selected group o f residents
may be less committed or represen­
tative than a group chosen another
way.
One common practice is to
restrict membership to represen­
tatives o f existing groups -- action,
welfare, religious, social service,
neighborhood, etc., — who elect a
representative to the CD C . The
rationale is that if this group reflects
the diverse interests and power
structure then it can involve those
already com m itted and w orking
while still ensuring representation.
The opposite view, o f course, is that
people with low income tend to par­
ticipate less, so existing groups may
be less than representative.
The direct and indirect method
can be com bined by allow ing
residents to become members
directly while also electing a number
o f directors who are from both the
general com m unity and from
representative community groups.
State laws regarding this vary.
In for-profit CDCs, stockholders
run the CDC. Stock may be owned
by community residents (say for $5
per share, which could be earned by
selling stock or in some other way
assisting the CDC). But CDCs do
not ususlly begin by selling stock to
the general community; they wait
until business ventures become suc­
cessful. Stock may be temporarily
held by a nonprofit group or groups
for the residents u n til it is deter­
mined to allow com m unity p u r­
chase.
A trust can be set up fo r the
benefit o f the com m unity. The
association declares in writing, with
powers and duties spelled out, that
it is holding title to property for the
benefit of another group o f people.
A trust does not usually do business
or provide social services. W ith this
tem porary in s titu tio n , which is
sim ilar to a n o n p ro fit charitable
corporation, trustees decide when
and how to spend profits and, to
some extent, when to sell stock to
the community.
Stock can remain in trust and
never be sold; it remains in trust for
the community’ s benefit as a whole,
including those who cannot or do
not purchase stock. This method o f­
fers the advantages o f both direct
and indirect control, as is possible in
nonprofit corporations.
CDCs generally aim to be in ­
clusive rather than exclusive. Com­
munity-based organizations are no
longer single issue groups operating
outside the mainstream or often
employing techniques o f confron­
tation and threat to achieve ends.
Rather, CDC organizatio n and
operation involves compromise and
accomodation by diverse segments
of a geographical area population.
This includes not only residents but
also representatives from the private
and public sector in a partnership
essential to achieving ends. CDCs
are a massive experiment in bringing
together diverse elements o f com­
munities to achieve economic and
community development.
But with all that compromise and
accomodation, there must be in a
CDC an effective program fo r
community involvement, one that
assures ultimate control by people
who are intended to be the prime
beneficiaries - those with low in­
come. The challenge and oppor­
tunity o f getting people involved in
a
com m unity
development
organization is the process o f com­
munity development itself.
Next week’s article w ill detail the
process begun by Buckman Neigh­
borhood and the inner southeast to
create
com m unity
economic
development organizations.
Non-African historians and map-
makers refer to it as the Indian
Ocean but in the African world it
has, from time immemorial, been
known as "Nyanza kaShaka,” the
Sea o f Shaka. The area in question
is that vast body o f water stretching
from the eastern shores o f Africa,
east to the Indian subcontinent and
Australasia and south to jo in the
Antarctic Ocean. The Africans had
named it in honor o f Shaka the
Great, the Zulu Emperor who, in
the late nineteenth century, built
one o f the larges, empires in the
whole world.
At one point the empire encom­
passed what are now South Africa,
Swaziland, Botswana, Lesotho and
parts o f M ozam bique and Z im ­
babwe. He was the great warrior-
king often likened to Napoleon
because o f his m ilita ry genius.
M iriam Makeba, the great South
African songbird, however, argues,
and quite correctly too, that
Napoleon should be called the white
Shaka instead o f calling Shaka the
Black Napoleon. T hrough his
military genius and great statesman­
ship, Shaka came closer to defeating
the Boer and British settlers than
any other leader in the history o f
South Africa.
M atter o f fact, singly he had
defeated both the Boers and the
B ritish . It was only when they
joined forces that they were able to
prevail. A t about the same time
also, Shaka suffered a series o f
defections from his ranks that were
to prove the start o f the beginning
o f the end o f his great regin.
In a rather interesting twist o f
history, the President o f Malagasy,
Didier Ratsirake, this past week an­
nounced plans for an international
conference to be held soon, the sole
purpose o f which w ill be to make
the Sea o f Shaka a zone o f peace.
Very truly yours,
Paul Soto-Seelig
Attorney A t Law
is another Sea o f Shaka island
nation.
W hile all this is going on, the
United States is busy "beefing up its
Sea o f Shaka forces.” She has
already reached agreement with
Kenya, the East African nation bor­
dering on the Sea o f Shaka, for use
o f her port facilities. Though this
has seriously alienated Kenya, the
arap Moi led regime is still pressing
ahead.
Further north, Somalia led by
Siad Barre, has been rumored to be
near signing an agreement that
would permit the United States use
o f her port facilities in exchange for
massive economic and m ilita ry
assistance. For several years now
Somalia has been engaged in an on-
again, off-again war with Ethiopia
over Somalian claims to Ethiopian
territory. She now sees this use o f
her ports as the final carrot to lure
the United States into providing the
m ilita ry hardware she needs so
badly for this war.
M ost A fric a n countries would
like to see the establishment o f this
zone o f peace in the Sea-of Shaka.
To them, the East-West conflict is
totally irrelevant to their everyday
lives. They wish not to be caught in
the cross-fire. Said one up and
com ing young A fric a n , " I f the
Russians and Americans want to
annihilate each other, why don’ t:
they go and do so somewhere in
outer space where the fallout w ill
not affect those o f us who still have
a love o f life?”
Making the Sea of Shaka a zone
o f peace would be a fitting tribute to
one o f A fr ic a ’ s and the w o rld ’ s
greatest leaders because it would
guarantee what he fought for all his
life: the independence and security
as well as prosperity o f all African
people.
Plant closings and economic democracy
By Dr. Manning Marble
In the ho, summer o f 1980, the
working class o f Detroit experienced
the highest sustained rate o f un­
em ploym ent since the Great
Depression.
A
cutback
in
automobile output o f 30 percent has
meant that 80,000 employees at
Chrysler, Ford and General Motors
have been laid o ff in d e fin ite ly .
D e tro it’ s unemployment rate ex­
ceeds 18 percent; for Black auto
workers, the figure is above 25 per­
cent. Black youth unemployment is
between 50-60 percent and climbing.
Similar conditions exist through­
out the country. In 1979, the U.S.
Department o f Labor estimated that
over 400,000 workers lost their jobs
because o f plant closings. Hundreds
o f thousands more were thrown into
um em ploym ent lines because o f
private industry cutbacks in hiring,
or reductions in existing work per­
sonnel short o f complete closure.
Am ericans are accustomed to
these kinds o f cruel statistics - they
no longer surprise us. We live in a
society where the system of govern­
ment and law reflects the rule o f
private capital. The Am erican
Revolution two centuries ago was
fought, after all, to liberate one
group o f domestic entrepreneurs
and slaveholders from the unfair
restrictions on their right to ac­
cumulate and control capital. By
capital, I mean all forms o f private
property, money and all financial
systems, the ownership o f the means
Letters
To the Editor:
Congratulations Portland Obser­
ver!
The Black Community, the Port­
land Observer and the Portland area
are very lucky in having Bruce
Broussard as the new E ditor and
Publisher o f the Portland Observer.
I say this based upon my experience,
o f almost a decade, o f knowing
Bruce Broussard in the political and
business arena. Based upon the ex­
perience, I can say that Bruce's
energies will be devoted to the social
and economic justice for all.
I look forward to the new accom­
plishments that w ill be obtained
through Bruce's new leadership
position.
Malagasy is that large island (larger
than C alifornia and Oregon com­
bined) which used to be called
Madagascar and which sits in the
Sea o f Shaka about a hundred miles
from the coast o f Mozambique. It is
considered par, of the African con­
tinent.
Increasing tensions between the
United States and the Soviet Union
have resulted in a large m ilita ry
build-ufT in the Sea Shaka. Such
other A frican leaders as Mozam­
bique's Samora Machel, Tanzania’s
Julius Nyerere, Zambia's Kenneth
Kaunda and L ib y a ’ s M uam m ar
Khaddafy have called for the “ de­
militarization” o f the Sea o f Shaka.
Britain is at the moment involved in
a running diplomatic wrangle with
the island of Mauritius, Malagasy’s
other island neighbor, over Britain’s
use o f Deigo Garcia.
Diego Garcia is another Sea o f
Shaka island that belongs to
M a u ritiu s and which had been
leased to the British to use " fo r non
military purposes.” Over the years
the British in collusion w ith the
Americans proceeded to remove the
local population and turn Diego
Garcia into a military base. For that
reason, M a u ritia n President Sir
Seewoosagur
Ramgoolam
is
demanding return o f his island on
the grounds that terms o f the lease
have been violated.
The conference which w ill be held
either late next year or early 1982
has so far been endorsed by 20
nations: eight o f them African, five
Asian, three Sea of Shaka nations,
plus Cuba, the Soviet U nion,
Yugoslavia and France. The UN
had in 1971 passed a resolution
proclaiming the Sea o f Shaka a zone
o f peace. Also, last year plans were
made to hold a UN conference in Sri
Lanka (Ceylon) in 1981. Sri Lanka
and distribution o f all productive
forces and consumer goods.
A ll capital in a capitalist society is
mobile. A ll businesses can expand
or contract, open and close or move
to any part o f the U.S., or even the
globe.
Who bears the costs for the high
m o b ility o f Am erican capital?
Society. First, in order to hold their
jobs, most workers must sell their
houses, leave friends and fam ily,
and relocate to a new environment.
A ll citizens pay for the relocation of
a plant in the form o f higher state
and local taxes whenever a plant
departs. The environment also suf­
fers, as m ajor businesses relocate
periodically in search o f lower state
and local taxes, nonunion labor and
a generally favorable p o litic a l
climate for capital accumulation.
U n til several years ago, the
problem o f “ capital flight” was not
even perceived as a problem - until
some disturbing economic statistics
came into public discussion about a
decade ago. Familiar American cor­
porate names like General Motors,
IBM, and General Foods began to
conduct more and more o f their
transactions overseas. The old
"m o m -a n d -p o p ” neighborhood
stores o f the Great Depression and
World War II era began giving way
to multinational corporations. More
foreign capital was invested inside
the U .S ., more domestic capital
began to move overseas.
An excellent example o f this later
case is provided by the U.S.
Banking industry. In 1964, only
eleven U. S. banks had overseas
branches, and these branch banks
held assests totalling only $7 billion.
In 1972. 107 U. S. banks had
foreign branches and assests
totalling $90 billion. During this 8
year period, Chase M anhattan’ s
share o f foreign assets to total
assests increased from 12 to 34 per­
cent. Citibank o f New Y ork’s per­
centage rose from 16 to 46 percent.
By 1974 the congomerate owner o f
Citibank, Citicorp, earned 62 per­
cent o f its total net profits from
overseas operations. This capital for
the most part comes from our
savings accounts, pension funds and
other sources o f income derived
from our labor. Thus private capital
uses our money to finance its own
foreign projects to destroy our jobs.
NAACP meets
The NAACP, Portland Branch,
w ill meet Sunday, September 21st at
4:00 p.m., at St. Phillips Episcopal
Church, NE Knott and Rodney.
On the agenda is a discussion of
branch election procedures. Elec­
tion o f a nominating committee will
take place at the October meeting.
A ll who want to serve on the
nom inating com m ittee must be
members in good standing by Sep­
tember 25th.
A d d ito n a l agenda items are a
discussion o f the L ittle Rostus
program on channel 2, voter
registration and political action, and
whether to ask to host the 1982
regional convention.
The Portland Observer IUSPS 959 6801 is published every Thurs
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Portland, Oregon 97217. Post Office Box 3137, Portland, Oregon
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Bruce Broussard
Editor/Publisher
A lfred Lee Henderson
Founder
ill
Oregon
Newspaper
Publishers
Association
The Portland Observer is a defender against racist assaults. per
secutions. insults, haressments. discriminations and related evils:
a vigilant champion for justice, equality and liberation, an alert
guard against social atrocitiee; a thorough analyst and severs critic
of diecriminatory practices, a sentinel to warn of ell existing and
impending detrimental racist trends and practices
The real problems of the Black population will be viewed and
presented from the perspective of their causality unrestrained and
chronically entrenched white racism. National and international
arrangements that prolong and increase the oppression of Third
World peoples shall be considered in relation to the continued
abuse, exploitation, political manipulation and contrivances im­
plicit In the relationships th at have characterized A m e ric a’s
historical treatment of its Black population
283 2488
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Community Service
ONPA 1973
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Best Ad Result
ONPA 1973
5th Place
Best Editorial
ONPA 1973
Honorable Mention
Herrick Editorial Award
NNA 1973
2nd Place
Best Editorial
3rd Place
Community Leadership
ONPA 1976
3rd Place
Community Leedsrship
ONPA 1978
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