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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 23, 1981)
Paga 2 Portland Obaarvar April 23. 1981 Zimbabwe Anniversary EDITORIAL/OPINION Influence In unity One thing that came out of Tuesday evening fo ru m on legislative reapportionm ent is that a lth o u g h th e re has been discussion of this issue for ten years there is still much confusion and hesitation about the issue involved. The question is whether citizens living in the old Model Cities area, the area now included in the N o rthea st C o a litio n of N eighborhoods, and c o n ta in in g the m ajor part of the Black citizens, should be placed w ith in a legislative district. The other option is to place portions o f the area w ith in th e ir separate d is tric ts - d is tric ts that do not necessarily have much in common w ith this area. Having a legislator elected by and respon sible to this co m m u n ity w o u ld enhance the feeling of com m unity forged by the years the n e ig h b o rh o o d s have w o rk e d to g e th e r in M odel Cities and the N ortheast C oalition of Neighborhoods. Perhaps many of those who have given up on the electoral process would want to become involved. The theory behind dividing the area is that it would provide an opportunity - if not to elect - at least to in flu e n c e thre e le g is la to rs . The c o m m u n ity co u ld be a d e cid in g fa c to r in a close e le c tio n and those le g is la to rs , even th o u g h their m ajor supp ort was outside the area, w o u ld have to respond to co m m u nity issues. This is basically the plan that has been followed for the past ten years. If the com m unity were divided in the m an ner now proposed by the le gislature , there would be little opportunity for the election of a Black. They w o u ld fin d them selves running against Howard Cherry, W ally Priestley, Jane Cease or possibly Jim Chrest. In recent years Carol Bryant and Harold W illiams ran against C herry w ith o u t a g h o s t of a chance; Evie Crowell did well in Black precincts but utterly failed in the eastern end of the district. On the other hand, many recent candidates - Nick Barnett, Herb Cawthorne, Carol Bryant, Jim Loving, Robert Phillips - would have done well and probably could have won in a district e n co m p a ssin g the area w here those w ith common goals and concerns live. -A second advantage of the forum is that it brtMjght the reapportionm ent issue out of the closet and into the open. Unlike the people of Bend w ho learned their City is to be divided in to tw o d is tric ts a t a le g is la tiv e hearing in Salem, the people of the com m unity have an o p p o rtu n ity to discu ss and respon d to the proposals. Representative Glen W hallon, Chairman of the Elections and R eapportionm ent C o m m it tee, w ill hold a form al legislative hearing on A p ril 30th, 7:00 p .m ., at the King N e igh bor hood Facility to receive public testim ony. The le g is la to rs w h o w ill m ake th e d e cisio n are each trying to protect their own territory, but the co m m u n ity does have an o p p o rtu n ity to influence their decision. Support Jordan W e com m end C om m issioner Charles J o r dan fo r his a c tio n in firin g th e tw o p o lice o ffice rs involved in the "p o s s u m in c id e n t." This action is unprecedented in this City and will have its political repercussions. Jordan also has said that he will "shake-up" the police department in response to admitted c rim in a l a c tiv ity and lack o f adh erence to proper procedures by police officers. He said he w ill rid the Bureau of officers w ho are not d o in g th e ir job and o f "b a d in flu e n c e s ." Although the people of Portland w ant a good police force, this is a highly em otional issue and major changes w ill bring protest. We call on Commissioner Jordan to release all available inform aton on both investigations - the n a rco tics squad and the "p o s s u m in c id e n t." O nly by re ve a lin g all the fa c ts - nam es, d ates, places - w ill the c itiz e n s be allow ed to regain tru s t in th e ir police fo rce . Until the names are revealed, all police officers are suspect. U n til the names are revealed, those arrested or convicted on the testim ony of officers whose word and judgm ent cannot be trusted are in jeopardy. As m uch as is possible, citize n s m ust be b ro u g h t in to the process - they m ust be in volved in setting policies, m onitoring activities and re v ie w in g c o m p la in ts . O th e rw ise the police Bureau will continue to be a law unto it self. Letters to the Editor To the Editor: Brother A sm ar’ s A p ril I6, "Cell Talk " prompted me to write. Asmar, your words were touching ones, deserving o f an award tor graphic description o f a very real situ a tio n , and though your hungered need cannot be satisfied, sedated or appeased by words, l, an ex-offender, presented the following to the Oregon legislature in behalf o f the representatives of "C ell Talk." “ Today, I would like to address House Bill 2998 and encourage the passage o f it. Conjugal visits (fa m ily visits rights) can, and will be, a giant step in lowering the state’ s recidivism rate; its in s titu tio n a lly made criminals; and, one of its mandated purposes, rehabilitation. Contrary to in fo rm a tio n which is to be released the latter part of this year, conjugal visits are wholesome, ef fective and a deterrent to recidivism. Psychologically such visits would establish stronger fam ily ties, re establish self-worth, which w ill ac complish one of the major priBlems a number of confined persons have. We, the taxpayers, you and I, and the rest o f Oregon's citizens, are in- directly and directly affected by what transpires within the state’ s in stitutions. It affects our pocket books through taxes, levies and bond issues; it affects us financially on a personal level through higher insurance premiums resulting from thefts, vandalism and other criminal acts, and, it affects our emotional and physical s ta b ility through worry, apprehension and fear. Yet, we qre continously using antiquated ideas and methods to deal w ith problems arising out o f the most advanced civilization the world has ever known. I he cost of building sites for con jugal visits (fam ily rights) is under attack by some o f the state’ s o f ficials, yet, those same officials are advocating the construction o f a new prison that w ill eventually and ultimately run in the neighborhood of SI50 million, claiming that in the long run it will prove cheaper; which proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the interests o f the people are not their paramount concern. You, ladies and gentlemen, sit at the crossroads. You have it w ithin your power to accept the respon sibility of the state in its clear con cise specturm, and either move this slate out o f the dark ages (the same as Washington recently did), or con tinue to subject Oregon citizens to problems without seeking adequate solutions. I respectfully ask for the approval and passage o f House B ill 2998, and, more importantly, I ask that it be viewed as a component o f the program needed to reduce recidivism , in s titu tio n a lly made crim inals, lack o f self-w orth, the inability to function in an open and free society, and the need to forever think in terms o f new prisons. In closing, l propose conjugal visits, w orthw hile industrial programs that will generate revenue fo r inmates and state alike, and other programs that will eventually relieve the taxpayers as care-takers and make all o f the state’ s in stitutions, viabl, self-sustaining and worthwhile programs. Brother Asmar, there are those who care, and I jo in you and en courage all o f Oregon’ s concerned citizens, to speak out against inhumane and degrading con ditions. Nathaniel Scott (Jhuru Cultural Club and North- West Ex-offender Association 1st Place Community Service ONPA 1973 Portland Observer The Portland Observer IUSPS 969 6801 is published every Thurs day by Erne Publishing Company. Inc . 2201 North Killingsworth. Portland. Oregon 97217. Post OHice Bo« 3137, Portland. Oregon 97208 Second class postage paid at Portland, Oregon 1st Place Best Ad Result ONPA 1973 Subscriptions »10 00 per year in Tri County area Postm aster Send address changes to the Portland Observer. P O Bo» 3137, Portland Oregon 97208 5th Place Best Editorial ONPA 1973 The Portland Observer was founded in October of 1970 by Alfred Lee Henderson Bruce Broussard Editor/Publisher VIMM« Honorable Mention Herrick Editorial Award NNA 1973 The Portland Observer is a champion of lustice. equality and liberation an alert guard against social evils, a thorough analyst and critic of discriminatory practices and policies a sentinel to warn of impending and existing racist trends and practices, and a defender against persecution and oppression The real problems o, the minority population will be viewed and presented from the perspective of their causality unrestrained ano chronoically entrenched racism N ational and in ternational arrangements that prolong and increase the oppression of Third World peoples shall be considered in the contest of their ew ploitation and manipulation by the colonial nations, including the United States, and their relationship to this nation s historical treatment of its Blach population 2nd Place Best Editorial 3rd Place Community Leadership ONPA 1975 3rd Place Community Leadership ONPA 1978 3rd Place In depth coverage ONPA 1979 283 2486 > N ational A dvertisin g R epresentative A m a lg a m ated Publishers. Inc N e w York o«»‘ «I . NA’roteai 'ÆfeW ZN 0 a il Attociabon - Fostndod 1995 Î t By Eungai Kumbula As part o f our Get Acquainted W ith ATrica M onth, the Portland Observer's A frican A ffa irs Editor has this week com plied and pre pared this special alphabet to fa m ilia rize the reader w ith this fascinating continent. Since not all lettrs o f the American alphabet are represented in the African alphabet, it has been necessary to include the names o f a few cities to complete the text. This is the key we shall use to unlock some o f the mysteries o f the motherland: S (South); N (North); E (East); W (West); NE (N orth-E ast); NW (N orth-W est); C (C entral); I (Island); C (City). A: A lgeria (N ); Angola (SW ); Anzania B: Benin (W ); Botswana (S) Burundi (E). C: Cameroun (C ); Cape Verde (I); Central A frican Republic (C); Chad (C); Comoros (I); Congo (C). D: Djibouti (NE) E: Egypt (N); Equatorial Guinea (C); Ethiopia (NE); (Eritrea NE) F: Francistown (C ); second largest city in Botswana G: Ghana (W ); Gambia (W ); Guinea Bissau (W); Guinea (W) I: Ivory Coast (W') J: Jos (C) in northern Nigeria H: Hasase - City in Zimbabwe I: Ivory Coast (W) J: Jos (C) in Northern Nigeria K: Kenya (E) L: Lesotho (S); L iberia (W ); Libya (N) M: Malagasy (I); M alaw i (SC); Mali (W); Mauretania (W); Moroc co (N W ); M ozam bique (SE) Mauritius (I) N: N am ibia (SW ); Niger (W ); Nigeria (w) O: Ougadougou (C) - capital o f Upper Volta P: Pemba (I) Q: Que Que (C) - in central Zim babwe R: Rio Muni (w); Rwanda (E) S: Sahara Démocratique Republic (N W ); Senegal (W ); Sierra l.eone (W ); Somalia (N E ); Sudan (N); Swaziland (S) T: Tanzania (E); Togo (W ); Tunisia (N) U: Uganda (E); Upper Volta (W) V: V u lindhle la (C) in central Azania (South Africa) W: Wedza (C) in southern Z im babwe X: Xai Xai (C) in central Mozam bique y: Yaonrde (C) capital o f Maurelqrio Z: Zaire (C ); Zam bia (S); Zan zibar (I); Zimbabwe (S) W ith a total land mass o f some 11 Vi m illion square miles, Africa is the w o rld ’ s second largest con tinent, second only to Asia. It is more than 3!4 times larger than the entire U nited States o f America. T otal current p o p ula tion is estimated at just over 650 m illio n which is smaller than C hina’ s and just ahead o f In d ia ’ s. Looked at another way, you could fit three and one half USA’s into Africa and still have room to r Mexico. You could also fit N orth and South America and a sizable portion o f Europe into Africa! Africa also has the w orld’ s longest river, the Nile which is over 4,000 miles long; the world’ s second highest mountain, Mt. Kilim anjaro at over 19,032 feet straddling the Kenya-Tanzania border. One o f the w orld’ s highest and certainly most majestic falls is Masi-oa-tunya (Vic toria Falls) on the Zambezi River which divides Zam bia fro m Z im babwe. The w orld’ s largest desert, the Sahara, over five million square miles crosses north Africa from west to east. From the Cape, at the southern tip to Cairo at the northern tip, it is roughly 6,000 miles or twice the distance from P ortland to New York. From Banjul, Gambia on the west coast to Mombasa, Kenya, on the east coat, it is 5,000 miles. No wonder there are an estimated 5,000 languages spoken in A frica alone! In Lake Tanganyika which is in Tanzania, A fric a also boasts the w orld’ s deepest lake at more than 4,000 feet deep. A fric a is tru ly an amazing continent, and we are only scratching the surface! The growth of facism By Dr. Manning Marable The victories o f the New Right in the election o f 1980, combined with the revival o f the Cold War abroad and racial prejudice at home, re presents a new phase o f American politics. There is a grow ing concern among the w orld’ s progressive and Third W orld countries, and among the oppressed peoples of this nation, that there is something seriously wrong in the United States. A mood o f racial bigotry and social in tolerance which generated the ncoconservative political thrust in the 1970s is m aturing in to an ominous and startling p o litic a l movement fo r white power. Without exaggeration, many critics of the political scene are describing the new mood in one simple yet devasting word - fascism. Many o f us told ourselves that fascism was just around the corner during the 1960s. We saw the John son Administration’ s genocidal war in Southeast Asia, and we de nounced it as fascist. We learned about “ T ricky D ic k ” N ix o n ’ s W atergate burglaries, his illegal war into Cam bodia, and the develop ment o f the C O IN T E LP R O to destroy the Black movement, and we declared that he was fascist. We read about Gerald F o rd ’ s stum b ling, bumbling pardon o f Nixon, his cutbacks in a ffirm a tiv e action programs and environmental con trols, and some o f us called him a fascist. W'e endured four years o f peanut-brained schemes and dreams, the revival o f the Cold War, and the murder o f hundreds o f Black women, men and children in the streets o f this nation, under James Earl C arter. Some o f us called him fascist. The term fascist was used so often that many people no longer listened. As in the fable of the “ boy who cried w o lf,” many working and poor people were ill- prepared when the real thing began to materialized. What we must understand is that American fascism w ill not look like anything the world has seen to date. Under a fascist regime, no wall por traits o f the crim inal A d o lf H itler will be in view. Mussolini and Juan Peron w ill not re-emerge. In fact, the form al in stitu tio n s o f U.S. democracy — the Congress, the Presidency and the Supreme Court - - may still exist, although radically transformed. Elections w ill still oc cur, commercial television and the media will be broadcasting the same old garbage; the rhetoric o f the New Right w ill be trum pted from the heights o f governmental power and within cultural institutions, but the “ appearance” o f normancy will still prevail. Facism is not necessarily acoup d' elat, or the overthrow o f a formally elected government by the armed forces, as in Chile in 1973. Under U.S. facism, in all probability, not a single soldier will leave the barracks. Facism, then, must be understood in the U.S. as a covert, rather than overt, transferral o f authority into the hands of a very small fraction of racist and capitalist elites. It is the fin a l, desperate attem pt o f those social forces to maintain their con tro l over the economic and social order, at the expense o f con stitutional democracy. The first, and for our purposes, the foremost element in the drive toward U.S. facism, is the steady p ro life ra tio n o f racial violence aimed against every Black person in Am erica, regardless o f income, education, or religious beliefs. This is not to minimize or to ignore the level o f racist attacks aimed against our people throughout history, since we arrived in chains in 1619. Racist violence is a baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie. Only last year, the leader o f the KKK declared that the Republican Party platform could “ have been w ritten by a (Clans m an.” O nly last year, Ronald Reagan delivered an infamous speech in Philadelphia, Mississippi, the site o f the vicious murder o f three civil rights workers, that he favored a return to “ states” rights - a favorite code word fo r white supremacy. What is new during the last eighteen months or more is the massive p ro life ra tio n and th in ly veiled legal toleration o f white racist attacks against us at every level o f society. Districts (Continued from page 1 col. 3) strength.” Calvin O.L. Henry also presented a plan that divides the community into three districts with 35 per cent, 8 per cent and 11 per cent Black residents. Henry explained this would “ maximize” influence by in fluencing three district legislators. Public response was mixed. Linda Johnson said Blacks have been unable to select representatives and this has helped prevent a sense o f ownership and involvem ent. Dr. Darrell Milner said the current split into four districts has not worked, that placing the com m unity in one district should be tried. Viesa Loving said she never sees her legislator in the com m unity, working on community problems, and would like to be able to replace him. Reverend Garlington said there is a need for the area to pull together and bring pressure; he wasn’ t sure how this could best be done. Bob Boyer suggested that i f the com munity were united in one legislative district and have hope o f electing a representative, voter participation would increase. Others expressed a reticence to make a decision without an oppor tu n ity to study the plans and the issues. Evelyn Crews asked i f the community could have more time. The final plan must be adopted by July 1st. Rep. W hallon said he w ould be w illin g to bring his com m ittee to Portland fo r a hearing. Other representatives present were Representatives Howard C herry, Jane Cease, Vera Katz, W ally Priestley, Dick Springer and Senator Jan Wyers. Be concerned! Be informed!! know the facts!!! SUBSCRIBE TODAY! ONLY $10 PER YEAR Name-— Portland Observer Box 3137 Portland, OR 97208 Address- City........ -State* -Zip-
