Portland observer., April 16, 1981, Page 2, Image 2

Page 2 Portland Observer April 18. 1981
Pa
Zim babw e Anniversary
EDITORIAL/OPINION
Directing economic development
On March 18th the Economic Development Advisory
Committee to the Mayor and to City Council approved
the concept of economic development targeting and
recommended that the inner northeast between NE In­
terstate Avenue and NE 42nd Avenue from the Banfield
Freeway to the Columbia River, and specifically, the
King, Boise and Eilot neighborhoods, be targeted for
the City's concentrated economic development efforts.
As approved, the target area concept differed from
previous City involvement in that "In the past, while
technical assistance and planning were provided in
specific areas, City economic development projects and
investments were not concentrated, but were instead
broadly focused city wide. The focus of the Investment
Strategy is to use planning work already provided and
convert it into a series of projects with resources and
responsibility assigned
In selecting the inner northeast as its first target area
for resources and policy com m itm ents, the area s
general economic stability were analyzed. The targeted
neighborhoods of King, Boise and Eliot were selected,
in part, because of the following conditions.
1. Population Out migration: 17% vs 6% city-wide.
2 Poverty Households: 29% vs 17% city-wide.
3 Housing Vacancy Rate: 13% vs. 6% city-wide.
4 Umemployment 1979: 13% vs. 7% city-wide.
5. Minority Population: 75% with 66% Black.
These figures provide only some of the supporting
data for selecting these neighborhoods as the City s first
targeted area for economic development.
In view of the recommendation of the Mayor's ad­
visory committee and the Mayor’s statements that the
City will "concentrate and coordinate" its development
resources in these areas, the northeast community
should ask whether the M ayor's proposed
reorganization structure can or will carry out his stated
intentions and promise. Specific questions might in­
clude:
• Who will develop the City's Investment Strategy for
inner northeast?
• W hat role w ill citizens of this area, or fu tu re
targeted areas in the City, have in recom m ending
projects or programs and appropriate resources
designed to enhance their community's economic well­
being?
• W ill the Mayor and City Council relinquish their
authority and responsibility to PDC for planning and
allocating City resources in economic development?
We believe that residents of our City should have a
greater role in recommending the programs, projects
and resources designed to improve the economic status
of residents and neighborhoods.
Additionally, however appropriate it is for the Port­
land Development Commission to play a role in
economic development, we do not believe the Mayor
and City Council should relinquish their authority and
responsibility fo r developing policy and assigning
resources associated with ensuring the economic health
and well being of the citizens and neighborhoods of the
City.
We urge the Mayor not to eliminate the Economic
Planning Office from the budget nor to assign it to the
control of the Portland Development Commission.
In view of his stated commitment, but lack of direc­
tion from the Mayor, the following is proposed for the
M ayor's, the C ouncil's and the com m unity's co n ­
sideration.
1. The Mayor should retain the Economic Planning
Office for area targeting in City Hall.
2.
A citizen advisory com m ittee should be
established for the target area made up of elected
representatives from organizations in that area with a
commitment and involvement in economic develop­
ment.
City Council will be hearing the budget for economic
development, including PDC, on Tuesday, April 21st
starting at 9:00 a m., in Council Chambers of City Hall.
Community groups and northeast area residents are
urged to attend.
Protect voter's rights
Ten years ago Secretary of State Clay Myer divided
the community into four House and four Senate dis­
tricts. His theory was that a little influence on four
Representatives is better than a deciding influence on
one Representative! That is the theory being used by
many of the Democratic legislators who are now
making the decision to again divide this community.
The benefit of the "one district" as opposed to the
"m ultiple district” theory can best be determined by
looking at the legislator persons whose legislative dis­
tricts now include part of this community.
Representatives whose districts lie, in part, the inner
northeast Eliot, Boise, Humboldt, Piedmont, W ood­
lawn, Vernon, Sabin, King, Irvington and Concordia
are Jane Cease, Gretchen Kafoury, Dr. Howard Cherry,
W ally Priestley. Senators are Jim Gardner, Frank
Roberts, Bill McCoy and Rod Monroe
Now comes the important question:
This community has been involved in many serious
issues in the last few years school desegregation,
police problems, welfare cuts, unem ploym ent, et
cetera. Yet how many times have you seen these
Senators and Representatives at any com m unity
m eeting; participating in any social or business
organization; or just roaming around the neighborhood?
How many have you seen at a meeting at the King
Facility, or a your local school or church, or dropping in
to a meeting of the Black United Front or the'NAACP to
By Fungai Kumbula
At the stroke o f m idnight A p ril
17-18, 1980, Comrades Mugabe and
Canaan Banana, Prim e M inister
and President, stood at attention as
Zimbabwe’ s green, yellow, red and
Black stripped flag was raised to
replace the Rritish flag. In the back­
ground, the band played ’ ’ Ishe
Kom borera A fr ic a ,” the new
national anthem which was also
replacing “ God Save The Queen,”
the British anthem. Dignitaries from
more than 100 countries were on
hand to witness the unthinkable: the
birth o f this new nation called Zim ­
babwe.
True to th e ir tra d itio n , Prime
M inister Mugabe and his govern­
ment have over the past twelve
months continued to amaze and
astound critics, skeptics and suppor­
ters alike as they steadily steer Zim ­
babwe towards being one o f the
world’ s greatest success stories.
Before the elections that brought
Mugabe to power, the whites, blind­
ly fo llo w in g lan Smith as always,
were threatening: " I f Mugabe wins,
we are le aving.” Now they have
done a 180 degree tu rn and are
saying: “ I f anything happens to
Mugabe, we are leaving! We have
the most intelligen t leader in the
w orld.” In the past twelve months,
Prime M inister Mugabe and his
government have taken a country
that fo r nearly ninety years was
wracked by racism; for fifteen years
plagued by international sanctions
and ostracism and fo r another
fifteen years, by a debilitating civil
war and turned it in to one o f the
most enviable democracies o f
modern times. This is akin to
someone taking the Black Panthers,
M O VE,
NAACP,
Liberals,
Democrats, Republicans, C om ­
m unists, neo-Nazis and the KKK
and getting them to work together
for the common good.
So highly is the Mugabe ad­
m inistration regarded in the inter­
nationa l com m unity now th a t, at
the international donors’ conference
held in Zimbabwe recently at which
Zimbabwe was appealing for recon­
stru ctio n aid, she was able to get
every single penny she asked for: all
$1.8 b illio n . This is at a tim e o f
severe economic constraints the
world over and also not just to a so-
called T hird W orld country but to
one led by a man who ju s t 13
months ago the Western press had
dubbed the "incorrigib le M arxist.”
The accomplishments o f this young
government during the past year
have been nothing short o f
phenomenal. She has been able to
achieve more than she prom ised;
when was the last tim e you saw a
politician accomplish this feat?
A ll has not been smooth sailing,
however. There have been sporadic
strikes and reports o f fig h tin g
among the form er guerrillas who
fought together to topple the erst­
while lan Smith regime. Even this
adversity, the Mugabe government
handled w ith a finesse and
diplom acy that surprised even two
hundred year old democracies. The
strikes were quickly settled to the
satisfaction o f both the workers and
government. The internecine violen­
ce was quelled by government
troops who showed once and for all
that the armed forces will from now
on owe allegiance to Zim babwe
rather than to a particular political
leader or affiliation.
As Zim babwe embarks on her
second year, the doubting Thomases
see what's happening?
Question Number 2: If each of these representatives
serves a large, diverse area and maybe from 10 to 15
percent of the constituents are Black, how much atten­
tion are they able to spend on issues of special import­
ance to the Black community?
The alternative is a district including the major part of
the neighborhoods of the Northeast Coalition of Neigh­
borhoods a natural com m unity w ith common in ­
terests. This district would include a business district
and neighborhoods that have worked together formally
for twenty years or more. A Representative elected in
this district would have to be representative of and
responsive to the residents of the district.
This district would not assure the election of a Black
Representative; it would give Blacks a genuine oppor­
tunity to compete because they would not be separated
from the majority of their supporters by artificial lines. It
would also insure that a person identified with the area -
not one who lives miles away in a gerrymandered
district - can be elected.
This decision will be made in the next few weeks. A
public meeting, sponsored by community groups with
legislators invited to attend, will address the question.
The meeting w ill be held on April 21st, 7:30 p.m ., at
King Neighborhood Facility. The legislative hearing is
on Friday
, April 24th, at the State Capitol in
Salem.
have been silenced; the skeptics won
over. Zimbabweans o f all shades (o f
opinion and colour) heave o f sigh of
relief realizing that the rule o f law
and the respect fo r law and order
have finally returned to Zimbabwe
after nine decades o f capricious and
bigoted m a la d m inistration . The
lessons to be learned from all these
good tidings are that if it can hap­
pen in Zimbabwe, it can also hap­
pen in South Africa, in Namibia, in
El Salvador, Palestine and any other
place plagued by human strife .
When the people are given the op­
p o rtu n ity to make decisions, they
can create their very own Zimbab-
wcs.
In these times o f budget woes,
w o rld economic stagnation and
burgeoning unrest, it is most
soothing and encouraging to pause
and ponder, congratulate and
rejoice for this oasis o f sanity in an
increasingly confused and confused
world. Prime Minister Mugabe and
his government are to be commen­
ded fo r making Zimbabwe such a
glittering success.
Happy Birthday, Zimbabwe! And
many, many more!
Note: Due to
personal budget cuts, tim e con­
straints and other such silly con­
siderations, it has been necessary to
postpone the Zimbabwe Indepen­
dence Party until June 18. However,
on Friday, A pril 17, the Association
o f A fric a n Students at P ortland
State University, will present a short
observance o f this important day in
SMC 329 at noon. There w ill be
speakers, including Fungai Kum ­
bula, participating in a discussion:
“ Zim babw e’ s F irs t.” There w ill
also be music from Zimbabwe and
other parts o f Africa. See you there!
Letters
to the
Editor
Why Cuba?
Twenty years ago this week, the U.S., launched the
unsuccessful "B ay of Pigs” invasion of Cuba. In­
telligence sources expected the people of Cuba to rise
up and overthrow their government. But they were
wrong. Neighbors and school children joined the poorly
equipped militia to defeat the invaders in 72 hours.
Twenty years later Cuba, through still underdevelop­
ed and poor, serves as an inspiration for the people of
Central and South America who are still fighting for
their freedom. Why Cuba? One of the areas in which
Cuba serves as a beacon of hope to the people of
underdeveloped nations is that of health care
Lack of medical care is critical in Latin America. Eight
percent of the babies die in their first year; of those that
survive, 25 percent d o n 't develop normally.
Guatamala's infant mortality rate is 80 100 for every
1000 live births and 50 percent of all deaths are children
under five. Bolivia's infant mortality rate is 157 for every
1,000 and in rural areas is as high as 300. Paraguay's in­
fant mortality rate is 94 3; Uraguay's, 48.6; Argentina's,
f 68; Honduras, 103; Peru's, 72 4; Colum bia’s 98;
Brazil's, 214 (310 in the Amazon region).
In Peru seven children under two die every hour. In
Columbia, 69 percent of the population does not have
access to health care.
The W orld Health Organization says that Latin
America averages six doctors per 10.000 inhabitants,
but Honduras, El Salvador, Gutamala have only two
and Ecuador has three Columbia, Chile, Boliva and
Paraguay have four doctors per 10,000, but most are in
the cities.
Haiti is the most tragic example. In a country that ex­
ports blood bought from slum dwellers and sells
corpses to U S , medical schools and laboratories, there
is less than one doctor per 10,000 inhabitants
Cuba, on the other hand, has made great strides in
the past twenty years W ith one doctor per 626 resi­
dents. Cuba provides free health care for all its resi­
dents Cuba has lifted its life expectancy from 50 years
to 70 4 years, and has achieved the highest health level
in Latin America, eliminating polio, malaria, tubercular
meningetis, diptheria and rabies
Guatemala is expected to be the next Central
American nation to become involved in revolution. It's
health statistics are compared to Cuba's below:
Infant mortality: Guatemala 80.7, Cuba 19.3.
Child M ortality: (1-4 years): Guatemala 24.5, Cuba
1.0.
Life expectancy: Guatemala 55.7 years, Cuba 70.4
years.
Deaths for tuberculosis: Guatemala 18.3 per 10,000
Cuba 1.8.
Death from measles: Guatemala 79.9 per 10,000,
Cuba . 1.
Malaria: Guatemala, 9.616 reported cases; Cuba
none.
Infections and parasetic disease: Guatemala, 62.5
percent of deaths, Cuba 2.1 percent.
Cuba exports doctors, sending doctors, dentists and
teachers to eighteen underdeveloped nations and
training student doctors from Third World nations in its
medical schools and universities
The U.S. exports guns and im ports doctors. A c ­
cording to WHO nearly 30,000 doctors from Latin
America and Caribbean countries are practicing in the
U.S. Under the 1964 U.S. Immigration Act, 125,000
immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean can
be adm itted to the U.S. every year and the law
provides that the applicants' professional, technical and
educational level be considered. Thus the "brain drain"
becomes institutionalized. The effect is devasting. In
1972, 93 percent of the Haitian doctors in the U.S., (10
percent of the nation's total) le ft behind 20 m illion
inhabitants with no medical care
Those who live under oppressive military dicatorships
supported in large part by U.S. aid, without even the
basic necessities for life, share a common heritage with
the people of Cuba. The trem endous progress the
Cuban people have made since their 1959 revolution
provides an inspiration for those whose revolutions are
yet to come.
No amount of U.S., sabre rattling, no "Bay of Pigs"
and no Green Berets w ill prevent their struggle for a
better life The U .S., should w ithdraw its guns and
assist in the battle for better health, education and
standard of living.
Reapportionment Meeting
April 21,7:30 p.m.
King Neighborhood Facility
Sponsors include Portland Observer; N A A C P , Portland Branch. Sabin Com m unity
Association; Hum boldt Neighborhood Improvement Association; E liot Neighborhood
A sso ciation ; U rb an League o f P o rtla n d ; Boise N eig h b o rh o o d Im p ro ve m e n t
Association; Union Avenue Boosters; N ational Association o f Black Social Workers.
Portland Chapter; Greater Northeast Police Precinct Council; Woodlawn Improvement
Association, Piedmont Neighborhood Association.
To the Editor:
The opossum incident is now a
matter o f record which w ill follow
its course through the legal steps
available to the police. However,
the position that must be made clear
is that Commissioner Jordan, acting
in his capacity as Commissioner in
charge o f the Police Bureau, also
had to follow a legally negoitated
contract that prescribes a process he
was bound to honor. Had he been
inclined to discipline the o fficers
immediately, he had to follow the
procedure outlined and agreed to in
the contract nevertheless.
It is unfortuna te that C om ­
missioner Jordan was placed in a
" n o w in ” situ a tio n , w ith groups
and citizens polarized on either side.
U nderstandly, the Black com ­
munity, as well as citizens generally,
was scandalized by the im m ature
behavior displayed by seasoned o f­
ficers and, a d d itio n a lly , by the
dastardly nature of the act! This in­
cident is a source o f shame to decent
people everywhere.
The time fo r re crim ination is
past. Let us resolve to lend our sup­
port to Commissioner Jordan as he
endeavors to address the concerns
which are sym ptom atic o f a very
serious conflict in our community.
He needs our support, not our con­
demnation.
Sincerely,
Gladys McCoy
Multnomah County Commissioner
Portland Observer
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warn of impending and existing racist trends and practices; and a
defender against persecution and oppression
The real problems of the minority population will be viewed and
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chronoically en trenched racism N ational and in ternation al
arrangements that prolong and increase the oppression of Third
World peoples shall be considered in the context of their ex
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United States, and their relationship to this nation's historical
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