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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 5, 1981)
Page 8 Portland Observer March B. 1881 Chilean speaks on women's organizations Shant) Hill d a m a n . . , . » , p ro p ., a . , ol Futon b .d m . d . bV h i. m a th .,. D i . n . Hill Hill teaches Futon bed - making Diane H ill is a true believer in a new version o f the old expression " i f you make your bed, then lie in it” because that is exaetely what Ms. H ill does -- she's a bedmaker who specializes in handcrafting Japanese Futon beds which fill her home and that of other northwest Portlanders. W ith three years experience and about 600 special order Futons behind her, Ms. H ill has decided to teach others how to make their Futon and lie down on it (plus fold it to create a sofa) in a six-week com m unity services class at P ort land Community College’ s Stadium Center starting Wednesday, April I, from 7-9 pm. Cost is $17. Ms. H ill cites several features o f the Futon which has Portlanders leaving their waterbeds and sleep mattresses behind. The Futons are portable, foldable to take up much less space than a bed, comfortable, made o f natural fibers, and less ex pensive than a western style bed - materials for a single w ill cost $25, for a double $30, plus PCC tuition. "T h e first time I saw a Futon I thought it was really, really nice - natural fibers, soft, and smelled so good,” Ms. H ill said. Her firs t Futon was m ail-ordered from an east coast firm for her son Shanti’s crib. Soonshe ordered one for her self, then for friends, and then one to take apart and re-sew so she could begin a Futon business in Portland. " I think they arc popular because they are an alternative bed and natural,” Ms. H ill said. "People are tired o f foam , and box springs surrounded by foam , and tired o f waterbeds and all that bulk. I ’ m in to health and holistic life style and I th in k a Futon blends well w ith that.” Ms. H ill said she sees the place where she rests as more than just a place: " I ’ ve become more aware o f the sim pler things, aware o f my surroundings, o f the fibers I put on my body and the food I put into it. To sleep on a Futon means to surround your body w ith natural fibers for a third o f your lifetime. M any countries of L atin America, women are playing an in creasingly important role in the lib eration processes o f those countries. In Nicaragua, women made up a large .number o f the combatants in the Sandanista army, and today are a strong force in the revolutionary governm ent. In C hile, the firs t organizations o f resistance that ap peared after the September, 1973, m ilita ry coup were prim arily com Sherrian Hagar W arren i . a p o tta r /a r ti.t, poat. and N ortheast ac posed o f women. The Association tiv is t w h o w ill s h o w and d iscuss her w o rk at th e In te rn a tio o f Fam ilies o f the Disappeared W om en s Day Festival. M arch 7th at the D o w n to w n YW C A. Prisoners; wm en’ s committees in the unions, etc. One o f those organizations is the Organization of Families o f Politcal Prisoners. Virignia Alarcon is a 22 year old former political prisoner o f Chile’ s m ilita ry d icta to rsh ip and w ife o f form er p o litic a l prisoner Ricardo Alarcon, who was held for 4 years in Chile prisons. Virginia has a 4 year old son. She and her fa m ily were expelled (they are all native born Featuring Chilean citizens) from Chile this last fall by the m ilitary government for a The Exotic "Cattani Lingerie of California period o f twenty years. They current ly live in Canada. M rs. A larcon w ill speak on March 7th at 7:30 p.m. at St. A n drews Church, 806 N.E. Alberta. On the same program, a member o f the Latin Am erican Resource te n te r, La Pena, in Berkeley, C alifornaia, w ill speak on the new Reagan A d m in is tra tio n and its policy toward Latin America. The meeting is part o f the "International Women’ s Day” celebration. Presenting to Some and Introducing to Others I s Date: Sunday - arch 29,1981 Time: 5:00 - 9:00 PM Place: “On The Rocks" 15N.W. 6th Interested in c u rre n t books a bo ut A fric a n L ib era tion ? Visit: JO H N REED BOOKSTORE In the Dekum Building 519 S W. 3rd Avenue Sixth Floor Cell Talk Or call: 227 2902 Bv Asmar A bdul SeifuUah A ka Joe West »404040 The year o f 1981 should be one of rededication fo r Black people. It should be one o f total commitment to involvement in the workings o f the system. The system is simply the economic, social and p o litic a l mechanism that effects Black peoples lives. We can no longer af ford to sit on the sidelines while politicans and evangelists decide the course o f our lives. Protest is hollow as long as we continue to use it as a rhetorical sign for egoism. Our ac tions must speak louder than our words. These lines are w ritten w ith the hope that Black people in the greater Portland area w ill begin to reevaluate their position on the economic ladder. Economics should be one o f our prim e goals in our struggle fo r freedom. W ith that thought in mind I wish to inform you that there is a means fo r economic security w ith in the criminal justice system in Oregon. For quite sometime Black inmates have been greatly concerned about the absence of Black people working in the crim inal justice system. But for the purposes o f clarity I would like to concentrate on the Oregon Correctional System. There are jobs available in the existing three state institutions for minorities - namely Black people. The people who run these institu tio n s are ready and w illin g to hire any Black man or Black woman that meets the qualification standards TODAY! If you need work and don’ t mind com m uting back and fo rth from Portland you can get a good paying job at the Oregon State Penitentiary TODAY! W orking within the Corrections System would in essence accomplish two goals. First it would provide the m inority employee with a means of support, it would also be a means of eradicating racism w ith in the system. Because the more Black people that work in this particular institution the better conditions will become fo r Black inmates. A situation exists behind these walls where almost all o f the correctional officers are white - you can imagine the effect that such a situation might have on minority inmates. W hite correctional o fficers are more apt to be lenient w ith white inmates than they are w ith Black inmates. Then there are com munication barriers that will always exist between Black and white people no matter where they are. It is virtally important that more Black people seek employment at state penal in s titu tio n s because Black people are being confined at a alar ming rate in the state o f Oregon. They are being confined and they are returning to the Black com munity without receiving the rehab ilitation promised them. When they re-enter the community all they can do are the things that they did previously. But if Black people ac tively sought employment within the system they could then reverse the re h ahbilita tion o f their confined brothers and sisters. Racism wouldn’ t be as prevalent as it now is because there would be more Black people on the job to prevent it. The opportunity exist for a Black man and Black woman to become an instrument o f change w ithin the Corrections System. The work isn’ t hard, as a m atter o f fact, i t ’ s the easiest work I’ ve seen in a long time. True there w ill be barriers to over come but then that’ s true o f any job situation that Black people enter in to . I f you are interested in be coming a correctional o ffic e r or counselor or a teacher at Oregon State Penitentiary please contact M r. Ron M artin at 378-2443 week- days only. I know that most Black people have a complex about w orking as policemen of any type but it’s much better for us to police ourselves than it is for the man to police us. Sooner or later, we’re going to have to take responsibility fo r policing. When and if we gain the independence and freedom we’ ve been ranting and raving about for the past 246 years, there is going to be a need fo r policemen. No society can exist without a police force o f some kind. The word policem an takes on negative connotations only when it is implemented in racist terms. Once again I would like to stress the need fo r Black employees at Oregon State Penitentiary. Times are too hard to let good paying jobs slip through our hands sim ply because we have an adversion to the description o f the job. The job can be anything you want it to be as long as you remember who you are. Con tact M r. Ron M a rtin (378-2443) “ to d a y ,” i f you want m eaningful w ork that pays good. “ Plus the brothers here need you!” May A llah bless and protect us from ignorance and selfish desires and may our struggle lead us to spaces pregnant with victory!!! Bell heads Civil Rights Johnnie Bell, currently Deputy A d m in istra to r o f the Wage and H our D ivision o f the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries will become acting director o f the bureau's C ivil Rights D ivision on February 16. Bell replaces Gary Gomez who has resigned after almost two years in that position. A search for a per manent director w ill begin im mediately. As Deputy A dm inistrator o f the Wage and Hour Division since 1978, Bell has been responsible fo r developing and stream lining procedures, development o f a com prehensive reporting system fo r division activities and day to day supervision of staff. Her background includes fo u r years as a project manager fo r the computer consulting firms, Systems Improvement Associates, and seven years in research for Kaiser Foun dation H ospitals. She holds a bachelor’ s degree in business from Southern U niversity in Baton Rouge I Sponsored by The Oregonian Ladies" e* o< o° Admission; $2.50 Single $5.00 Couple r't Os From the Front Door By Tom Boothe Good Mental Health is when your head is together, and your KNOWLEDGE and WISDOM leads you to know exaetely what to do NEXT...SPIRITUALLY...MENTALLY...PHYSICALLY. Good Mental Health is when you keep a positive attitude to continually learn SKILLS, and to know HOW to do what you have to do NEXT. Good Mental Health is when you do what you have to do well, giving it your best effort. i I I I Good Mental Health is when you have a specific constructive productive purpose for your life. Cleansing yourself of Disruptive and Distructive at titudes. FACT: Good Mental Health has everything to do with Good Physical Health. FACT: Good Mental Health Jj^s everything to do with Good Personal, Family and Community Economics. People who have good Mental Health DO NOT spend large sums of money on medicine, doctor bills, drugs, booze, street dope, and just plain stupidity. Exodus is launching an all out Mental Health Offensive aimed primarily at our youth; your help is needed and will be appreciated by the children who are enrolled in the Exodus Youth Program. You can't spend your time or money for a better purpose when you join the Exodus Mental Health Offensive, building our community into a better and safer place to live and raise our children...(503) 294-7997. Provided as a Public Service by House of Exodus
