Paga 2 Portland Obaarvar May 7 , 1881
Spotlight on Africa
EDITORIAL/OPINION
No school closures now
The School Board is not ready to close high
sch o o ls - it has no plan. O nly w ith a c o m
prehensive, long range plan in hand should
any communixy have to undergo the destruc
tio n and d e v a s ta tio n th a t o c c u rs w h en a
neighborhod high school is closed.
There has been m uch c ritic is m in re ce n t
years that the district has no plan - that school
closures, reorganization, renovation, have all
been done on a hit and miss basis w ith no con
sid e ra tio n of the e ffe c ts on n e ig h b o rin g
schools. Communities have been forced to ac
ce p t m id d le schoo ls o n ly to fin d them to o
small when they opened - Sellwood and M t.
Tabor for example. Millions were spent on the
m erger o f W a s h in g to n and M o n ro e , and
developing magnet programs at Cleveland and
Lincoln, only to talk about closing them now.
Yet, the school board still has no long range
plan. The school board spen t over a year
designing a new desegregation plan and plans
to th ro w o u t m any aspects o f th a t plan. It
makes no sense.
Much more planning needs to take place -
cooperative planning w ith the City, Tri M et,
Portland Community College, etc. The effects
of closure in City planning, housing, economic
d e v e lo p m e n t, tra n s p o rta tio n need to be
assessed.
M uch more research needs to be done on
the educational program s. Can schools w ith
under 1000 s tu d e n ts o ffe r co m p re h e n sive
programs? How do schools in other cities do
it? W h a t ab o u t sharing s p e c ia lty ieachers
between tw o or more schools? Can advanced
classes be scheduled so a fe w students can
go to a neighboring school fo r an advanced
class last period? W h a t is the p o te n tia l fo r
career and vocational training, for skills cen
te rs, fo r shared use of b u ild in g s fo r
educational and related programs?
Is it wise to close schools like Jefferson and
Adams that are in the neighborhoods w ith the
largest num ber of students? W ith the high
c o st o f energy w h y n o t leave the schoo ls
where the students are? W hy not a ten year
com m itm ent to Adams to allow it to build its
program s and its student body? W hat about
middle school reorganization on the w est side
- is th a t fo rg o tte n or should it be p art of the
closure consideration?
The school board has a lo t o f w o rk to do
before it closes even one high school. If a long
range plan is not developed firs t - the board
w ill rem ain in a c o n s ta n t tu rm o il as n e ig h
borhood after neighborhood goes through the
last d itc h fig h t to save its s c h o o ls . A lo ng
range plan would allow for the advanced plan
n in g , the fo rm in g o f re la tio n s h ip s th a t are
needed. It is much easier to adapt to change if
that change can be forseen. The board d< <ssn't
need to add any more crisis situations to those
it already must face.
Profits first
A n o th e r exam ple of the Reagan A d m in i
s tra tio n 's p re fe re n ce fo r p ro fits ove r lives
is the effort to delay regulations on worker ex
posure to lead poisoning. The Departm ent of
Labor plans to delay im p le m e n ta tio n of the
1978 lead exposure standards to do a cost-
b e n e fit ana lysis and re-e xa m in e m ore
provisions of the regulation.
The re g u la tio n s w e re issued in 1978 and
went into effect in February of 1979, w ith a ten
year phase-in to bring the allow ed exposure
from 200 microgram to 50. micrograms of lead
per cubic meter of an averaged over an eight
hour day. The review of the regulation w ill be
made under R eagan's p re sid e n tia l order to
assess the co sts and b e n e fits o f all m ajor
regulations.
Medical studies show that lead poisoning,
resulting from high levels of exposures to lead,
can result in anemia, kidney failure, nervous
system disorders, brain dam age and death.
M ore than 800,00 US w o rk e rs in a p
proxim ately 40 industries and exposed to lead
in the job.
The failure to require em ployers to protect
the health and the lives of the em ployees is
another example of Reagan's promise to "g e t
g o ve rn m e n t o ff the backs of the A m erican
people.”
MULTIPLE LEGISLATIVE
D IS T R IC T
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1», Place
Community Service
ONPA 1973
Portland Observer
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d a y by Exie Publishing Company, Inc., 220, North Killingsworth,
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5th Place
Best Editorial
ONPA 1973
The Portland Observer was founded in October of 1970 by
Alfred Lee Henderson
Bruce Broussard
Editor/Publisher
M fM M *
Oregon
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Association
MEMBER
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Honorable Mention
Herrick Editorial Award
N N A 1973
The Portland Observer is a champion of justice, equality and
liberation; an alert guard against social evils, a thorough analyst
and critic of discriminatory practices and policies; a sentmal to
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
presented from the perspective of their causality unrestrained ana
chronoically entrenched 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
pkxtation and manipulation by the colonial nations, including the
United States, and their relationship to this nation s historical
treatment of its Black 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
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ATiOWA
N ational Advertising R epresentative
A m a l g a m a t e d P ublisher* Inc
N aw York
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Sle&X*'
■*rw»»a»r»
By Fungai Kumbula
May is usually the m onth when
our thoughts turn to Africa because
o f African Liberation Day, for one;
the day in the year when the Black
community and our friends in this
country observe, acknowledge and
commemorate the co n trib u tio n s
A fric a has made to the w orld.
Events planned fo r this M ay are
going to exceed anything Portland
has yet seen.
To begin w ith, John M akathini,
a representative o f the A N C
(A fric a n N ational C o u n cil), the
organization fig h tin g fo r the
liberation o f Azahia (South Africa)
will be at Portland State University
on the 12th. He is coming at the in
vita tio n o f the Association o f A f
rican Students in collaboration with
the Black C ultural A ffa irs Board.
M r. M a ka th in i w ill be able to in
form Portland o f the current state
o f the struggle in Azania in light o f
the liberation o f Zimbabwe.
Progress in liberating the African
continent has been slow but steady.
In 1957, it was: “ one down, forty-
six to go.” By 1967 it was: it was 31
down, 15 to go;” 1977, 46 down, 4
to g o .” It is not yet 1987 and
already it is 48 down and 2 to go.
The way things are going, it could
very well be: 49 down and one to go
if not actually 50 down and 0 to go.
The plight o f the African regugees
in the H orn o f A frica has recently
and belatedly caught w orld atten
tion. On the 15th o f this month, the
AAS (A ssociation o f A fric a n
Students) w ill be presenting
“ Refugee Awareness W eek” not
only to in fo rm P ortland o f the
plight o f the refugees bul also to let
you know what you can do to help.
There w ill be speakers from the
a fflic a te d regions o f Som alia,
I th io p ia , and Uganda who have
worked with the refugees.
On or about the 24th, Dr. Herbert
U s h c w o k u n z e , Z im b a b w e ’ s
M inister o f Health w ill be in town
speaking about the changes that
have taken place in Zimbabwe since
the people’ s government came to
power. A physician by profession,
Dr. Ushewokunze is a particularly
interesting person because he was
the physician in charge o f treating
the wounded and the sick in the
guerrilla camps during Zimbabwe’ s
W'ar o f Independence. He gave up a
very lucrative practice in the then
“ Rhodesia” to provide his badly
needed services to the freedom
fighters. In the twelve months that
he has been Zimbabwe's Minister o f
Health, he has also introduced some
equally “ ra d ic a l” changes in the
nation’s health system by combining
tra d itio n a l medicine and western
medicine so as to arrive at a more
adequate health system fo r the
fledging nation.
Last year, the A frican students
presented A frican C ultural Night,
an event that attracted an overflow
crowd at Portland State University’s
Smith Memorial Center Ballroom.
It was a highly successful event
featuring dishes from all over the
continent, plays depicting various
aspects o f modern and ancient
Africa, speakers, dances and an im
prom ptu fashion show. The re
sponse from the com m unity was
such that we had no choice but to do
it again. So mark your calendar;
prepare your ears; tune up your
taste buds; focus the eyes and
prepare the shake a leg for another
dazzling A frican C ultural Night is
coming your way the night o f the
29th.
This year, though the format w ill
be pretty much the same: food
dances, plays, speakers, etc., the
theme w ill be very somber: “ The
African Refugee: He/She Is Count-
•
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Then there is African Liberation
Day, the planning for which is now
swinging into high gear. As always,
on this day, we look at Africa both
on the continent and abroad. W ith
“ possums” , police m is-conduct,
police-community relations, school
closures, unem ploym ent, budget
cuts, Namibia, Azania refugees and
the celebration o f the coming o f age
o f Zim babwe, this year’ s A L D
should be even bigger and better
than ever. Also there is greater
cooperation and com m unication
between PSU’ s A fric a n Students
Association and the community, as
well as w ith the Black Studies
Department.
May 1981: the start o f the begin
ning o f a greater awareness o f the
African wherever he or she may be.
Opposes comprehensive plan
To the Editor:
Who owns Portland?
Raise your hand if you know the
long-range impact o f the Portland
Comprehensive Plan.
Despite years o f planning, count
less citizen inpul hearings, etc.,
many Portlanders still don’ t com
prehend the plan. It is a massive
rezoning plan w ritten to com ply
with the goals and guidelines (laws)
o f the appointed state agency called
LD C D - Land C onservation and
Development Commission.
Our grassroots all volunteer
group is hoping to place the issue
before the voters and are currently
involved in a tedious petition drive.
Some reasons why people should
oppose the plan are: 1) Urban
crowding; the plan calls for higher
density in the inner city. We believe
that everyone needs elbow room .
Forcing people to live in smaller,
closer quarters is not going to in
crease the City population. In fact,
people w ill not choose to live in
Portland if they can a ffo rd to live
elsewhere.
2) Destroying existing single
family neighborhoods - Politicians
got elected on a platform o f single
f a m ily
n e ig h b o r h o o d s ,
re h a b ilita tio n o f existing low-
income single housing, neigh
borhood schools. Now the game is
changed again! The “ add-a-rental”
to single fam ily houses violates the
quality o f neighborhoods, neigh
borhood schools are being closed,
taxes are up - how can we attract
people to live in Portland?
3) fin a lly - We oppose the LCDC
deciding what we should do,
especially everything we should do.
Once this plan is approved by LC
DC, forget about complaining at the
local level. Power is transferred to
the non-elecied LCDC.
We hope to be effective in asking
the LCDC board not to approve the
Portland Plan so it w ill go back to
C ity Council and a more objective
form o f citizen input w ill be
possible. M eanwhile we w ill con
tinue our petition drive. O f all the
illustrious goals o f L CDC not one
thing is mentioned for the protec
tio n , conservation, and enchace-
ment o f Oregon’ s Urban environ
ment. City dwellers are not second
class citizens.
Fran A ri niello
Coordinator Neighbors
For Neighborhoods
Appreciates Herb Cawthorne
To the Editor:
I am a ninth grade student at
Wilson High School. I also belong
to Allen Temple CME Church, (my
home church). I would like to thank
Herb Cawthorne for helping all the
Black children o f the com m unity.
He has done so much for us. He has
always put the children first.
Herb has been trying to improve
our schools for years, and right now
he has worked so hard, that we the
Black children can go to the schools
we wish. He has always spoken up
fo r the needs and interests o f the
Black community.
On Sunday, M arch 29th, Herb
Cawthorne held a “ Vote fo r V ic
to ry ” com m unity-tea. Before the
tea, myself and many young people
worked on the campaign, and the
tea to make it a success. We had a
talent parade fo r the com m unity
and 550 people came to support the
Black children and Herb. Herb
Cawthorne has won the election and
I know he w ill continue to make a
difference!
Once again, thank you Herb
C aw thorne. You really helped us
(the Black children) to see the light!
Sincerely yours,
Kimberly Martin
Interested in current books
about Civil Rights? Visit:
JOHN REED BOOKSTORE
In the Dekum Building
519 S .W 3rd Avenue
Sixth Floor
Or call 227 2902
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i know the facts!!!
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A
Professor
Abdul
Raham
Mohamed Babu, fo rm e rly the
M inister o f Planning and Develop
ment in the Republic o f Tanzania
is currently a visiting lecturer in the
H um anities Departm ent at San
Francisco State University. He also
teaches in the A fro -A m e rica n
Studies Department at UC Berkely
and writes a monthly column for the
A fric a n magazine, The N ew
A fric a n . He was one o f the brains
behind the Arusha Declaration o f
1964 that set Tanzania on her
p o litic a l track and has w ritte n
several books on economic and
development themes. Professor
Babu, truly one o f the keenest min
ds around today will be the keynote
speaker on A frican Cultural Night
and his topic will be “ Africa In The
World Today.”
Letters to the Editor
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in on You!” The proceeds from the
sale o f the tickets w ill be forwarded
to the refugees as our contribution
to this continuing human tragedy.
One would be hard pressed to come
up with a worthier cause.
Portland Observer
Box 3137
Portland, OR 97208
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