> Page 2 Portland Observer M ay 28. 1961
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K little bit of Africa
EDITORIAL/OPINION
By Funga! Kumbula
S tepping in to the ro o m , one is
greeted by all kinds o f aromoas o f
w hat m ust be very ta sty dishes;
cuisine fro m a ll over the A fric a n
c o n tin e n t. The sight, o f course, is
one to assault all taste buds however
hardy. Here and there one catches
snatches o f co n ve rsa tio n s in a
dozen-odd languages. A ll over the
place are all these people dressed in
a ll the c o lo u rs o f the ra in b o w ;
d a s h ik is and flo o r length gowns
with the fanciest designs and patter
ns one has seen in many a long year.
Just in tim e, the announcer-cum-
master-of-cermonies come on stage
to p ro n o u n ce the o pe ning o f
A frica n C ultu ra l Night 1981. For a
fleeting second, one expects him to
m ake the announcem ent in some
acient and lon g revered A fric a n
tongue but, peace, on this night at
least, the m edium o f c o m
m unication is s till English (or, is it
Am erican?). W ith that, the spell is
broken and we are back in PO.
This, as you m ight have guessed
by now, is a journey into the future
but the n o t-s o -d is ta n t fu tu re
because by the tim e you read this,
this fantasy w ill be only a matter o f
hours away. So, let us come back to
the present and speak in o rd in a ry
everyday lingo: The place: Portland
State U nive rsity's Smith M em orial
C en tre B a llro o m (on the th ird
flo o r). Date: M ay 29, 1981; Tim e,
7:00 p .m . - 1:00 a .m .; E vent:
A minority point of view
In recent years a heated debate has taken
place
betw een the underdeveloped nations
Ï
t
and the developed nations over news and in
form ation and Third W orld demand for a "new
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inform ation order.”
The T hird W o rld , w ith tw o -th ird s o f the
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w o rld 's population, charges that the news is
I dom inated by fo u r w estern news agencies:
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A sso cia te d Press and U n ite d Press In te r
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national of the U .S ., the British Reuters and
Agence France - Presse. Ninety-five precent of
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the
international news is distributed through
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I these four companies.
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Third W orld critics say western news pours
in to th e ir c o u n trie s pra isin g the in d u s tria l
world and influencing their people to think like
westerners. However, the news that flows out
is often highly biased, full of sterotypes, and
lim ited to wars and disasters. The news read
w ith in the Third W orld comes from the same
sources so p ro m o te s a bad se lf-im a g e and
deprives the people of sources of useful infor
mation.
Hampering the Third W orld from developing
its own news and inform ation sources is their
p o v e rty . A lth o u g h the T h ird W o rld have
Seventy percent of the w orld's population and
th ir ty percen t o f its land area, it has o n ly
tw e n ty -th re e pe rce n t o f its in co m e .
Developing countries still have only 12.6 per
cent of the television sets and little or no ac
cess to satellites.
W ithin the U.S., much of the same problem
exists. News of the Black and m inority com -
munities is distributed in large part by the net
w o rks and the m ajor n ew spap ers. M in o rity
m edia do n o t have access to the c a p ita l
required to reach all citizens.
The news that reaches the w hite com m unity
about Blacks is often incom plete, biased, and
re s tric te d to s e n s a tio n a lis m . It w o u ld be
possible to e n jo y the m a jo r m edia and n o t
realize that Blacks live in Portland were it not
for occasional crisis situations over the police
or the sch o o ls th a t b rin g re p o rte rs to the
neighborhood.
Seldom do Blacks see th e ir frie n d s and
relatives in the media - in the "p u b lic interest
stories” and "fe a tu re sto rie s.” The only tim e
Blacks are asked to appear on panels and talk
show s are to discuss c iv il rig h ts and Black
issues - never to discuss the budget, business,
health, etc. And those w h o do - thro ugh the
course of events find themselves on the tube
are so few that they are seen as "le a d e rs” or
"o p p o rtu n ists.” Reporters lack of know ledge
of "sources” restricts the vie w po ints and e x
pressions reflected.
There are many causes: lack of know ledge
by news re p o rte rs and e d ito rs ; c u ltu ra l d if
ferences; lack of knowledge of "sources” and
limited "sources.”
The lack o f general re p o rtin g , and th e
frequent biases in the reporting that does o c
cur, has a deterim ental effect. It denies Black
citizens access to news about their ow n co m
m unity; it slants the news that is available; it
has a constricting affe ct on the access to in
form ation.
REF: T o a rtic le in O reg on ian ,
Black people support Jordan
- A lthough ads discuss quality of products,
especially of unleaded gasoline, there is little
difference among brands.
- Low prices for regular leaded gas are ad
vertized but once the driver pulls up, he sees
unleaded gas ,»r:cjs cm not reduced. Stations
are being to la to aoll regular fo r less and to
make up for it on unleaded.
- There is consideration of giving discounts
w ith cash. The three cents saved by cash pur
chasers w ould be added to the cost for credit
card users.
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= = B Oregon
I 1 M i Newspaper
■ MB Publishers
A I ■ ■ Association
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 sentinal 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 ano
chronoically entrenched racism N ational and in ternation al
=
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MEMBER
N e M p A p ER
Jordan was never the issue, the
inactinent o f a crim e by officers o f
the law was alw ays the issue.
R em oval o f Jo rd a n th e re fo re is
apart from the issue. However it is
im possible to separate issues from
personalities. In order to move on
an issue it m ust in c lu d e p e r
sonalities.
I know it is possible to find Black
c itiz e n s who w ill agree w ith w hat
ever m ove you make c o nce rn ing
Jordan. However there are Blacks
Dear M ayor Frank Ivancie:
A number o f citizens from neigh
b o rh o o d s and churches in N o rth
and N ortheast P o rtla n d have been
very concerned about the issues that
have arisen out o f the oppossum in
cident and subsequent actions that
have taken place in P o rtla n d since
the incident became public.
F irst o f a ll, we are interested in
com m unicating our support o f the
d iscip lin a ry actions taken by C om
m issioner Jordan. Wc believe that
he acted very a p p ro p ria te ly in his
ro le as C o m m is s io n e r o f P u b lic
S a fe ty. O u r c o m m u n ity has been
concerned about the a ttitudes and
a c tio n s o f some p o lic e o ffic e rs
w orking in our area.
O ver the years the citizens have
rep orte d p o o r tre a tm e n t, ranging
from physical harassment to racial
slurs to g e n e ra lly d is re s p e c tfu l
com m ents made at the scene o f
arrests and also made to victim s o f
Portland Observer
M IM X »
th a t the Black c o m m u n ity is the
most unique com m unity in the city.
They a ll m arch to g e th e r, th in k
together, and can not think alone.
I suppose th a t you agree w ith
E ld rid ge C leaver’ s statem ent, that
the damage o f slavery stole fro m
Black people the a b ility to possess
individually and know who they are.
are.
Tuesday, M ay 19, 1981 T itle :
" t v a n ic e W o n ’t R equest P a rdo n
fr o m A t iy e h . " R e p o rte r: L in d a
W illiam s.
Dear M ayor:
You are quoted in the a rtic le as
having stated, “ Ivancie said M o n
day th a t he does not believe th a t
rem oval o f the Police Bureau from
Jo rd a n w o u ld lead to any special
d is s a tis fa c tio n am ong P o rtla n d ’ s
Blacks.”
The substance o f this statement
indicates that you are going to use
the disagreement in the Black com
m u n ity as a reason fo r re m o vin g
J o rd a n . It seems to me th a t th is
reasoning im plies that all members
o f the Black c o m m u n ity ought to
agree 100% and that no member is
in te llig e n t enough to make an in
dividual decision. This would mean
who do not approve or subscribe t
the “ d iv id e and c o n q u e r” system
that made it im possible fo r IT k
to make progress. The di vid in
conquer approach is recognize : i
th e re fo re
obsolete
and
it,
politically expedient.
Several weeks ago d u rii
h
heated discussion on tb
,i
incident the letter signed by
1
to 18 persons in the comtnum
ex
pressed th e ir stand con e;
h
incid en t and Jordan I n t i -“ven
you do not have the letter .
at
send you another copy
I sincerely regret that you ut > i
estimate the intelligcnci o! il
ic)
co m m un ity w ith o u t c i s id e .
»
o f its many citizens.
Sincere, y- s
J o h n it Jac> or
Petitions support 'Possum' discipline
A ccording to the W all Street Journal, the
voice of big business, the danger signs to look
for are:
Bruce Broussard
Editor/Publisher
m oney w ill go to w a rd s a very
w o rth y cause. We a ll know how
A fric a ’ s refugees have been neglec
ted because they are n ot as
p o litic a lly e x p lo ita b le as refugees
fro m o th e r regions o f the w o rld ,
right?
The speakers slated. P ro fesso r
Babu fro m San F rancisco State
U n iv e rs ity and fo rm e r T anzania
Minister o f Economic Planning and
D evelopm ent is one o f A f r ic a ’ s
leading scholars who has w ritte n a
number o f books. He also currently
w rite s a co lu m n fo r The N ew
A fric a n published m onthly in L o n
d on . B acking him up w ill be
P rofessor M e la ku I akew fro m
E th io p ia and c u rre n tlv teachin?
Third W orld Fconomii s at t
in I
State University. In the brief period
o f tim e that P rofessor I akew ha
been at PSU, he has made his pre
sence fe lt by his steadfast, in
wavering dedication to the develop
ment and u p liftin g o f the A fric a n
continent as a whole.
These tw o eloquent A fric a n
scholars are well w orth the price o f
admission many times over the fact
They w ill more than feed your mind
w hile the rest o f us feed your eyes
tummy, ears and funny-bone.
So, see you F rid a y , M ay 29 at
7:00 p.m ., at Portland State Univer
sity’ s Smith ( enter Ballroom, so we
can bring back to you, a little bit o f
Africa.
Letters to the Editor
Stopping the oil flow
The world wide inflation and depression has
tw o admitted causes - the billions spent on the
arms race and the high cost of oil.
The cost of oil is maintained through short
ages - fantasized or real. A t the present time
the high cost to the consumer has caused an
oil g lut. As the W all Street J o u rn a l says, " I f
there's one thing the big oil companies d o n 't
need these days, it's more oil.” But rather than
reduce the price of oil products, which would
aid the w o rld e co n o m y, the oil co m pan ies
practice all kinds of substrafuge.
The oil corporations cannot ju st refuse to
buy oil; it would look bad to the citizens back
home who still believe there is a shortage, and
besides, they are bound by contracts. So they
have found a num ber of ways to get out of
their com m itm ents w ith o u t jeapordizing long
term supply arrangements or profits.
Occidental Petroleum C orportation, w hich
buys fro m Libya, arranged to w o rk on its
facilities in Libya, which temporarily slows o u t
put. Some oil com panies hold up shipm ents
by saying tankers are disabled or by delaying
shipments. Exxon is telling its tankers to move
slow ly, keeping them at sea for extra weeks.
Gulf Oil is asking Nigera to sell at a lower price.
The oil com panies still have too m uch gas
on hand, but rather than lower the price they
are encouraging sales.
A frican C ultural Night.
Last year’ s C u ltu ra l N ight was a
trem endous success and fro m that
we learned a lot o f things the most
im portant o f which was the number
o f friends and supporters we have in
the c o m m u n ity . We are h o p in g ,
th e re fo re , th a t a ll those “ o ld ’ ’
frie n d s w ill re tu rn th is year and
bring their “ new” friends, cousins,
uncles, neighbours, foes, associates,
acquaintances and whoever else they
can persuade, cajole, sweettalk, im
plo re , threaten, “ W h ite m a il” (do
they c a ll it “ b la c k m a il”
in
A m e rica? ) o r w hatever it takes to
bring them all along but bring them
along all the same.
T he refugees in the H o rn o f
A fr ic a w ill be the focus o f the
evening: there are some 2 m illion o f
them in Som alia alone and an ad
d itio n a l 3 m illio n in E th io p ia ,
U ganda, Sudan and D jib o u ti. The
proceeds from the sale o f the tickets
w ill go toward aiding these brothers
and sisters (90 percent o f them
women and c h ild re n ) o f ours. Not
o n ly does y o u r $3.00 a dm ission
a llo w you to sample a ll kind s o f
A fric a n cu isin e, meet a ll sorts o f
A fricans, watch various plays from
a ll across the c o n tin e n t, listen to
some heavy speakers discuss A fric a
today, partake o f A frican music and
dance, fa sh io n show , a rtifa c ts ,
d ru m m in g , you w ill also have the
s a tis fa c tio n o f kn ow ing that your
arrangements that prolong and increase the oppression of Third
World peoples shall be considered in the context of their ex
ploitation and manipulation by the colonial nations, including the
United States, and their relationship to this nation's historical
treatment of its Black population
283 2486
N ational A dvertisin g R ep resentative
A m a lg a m ated Publishers Inc
N a w York
crime. The opossum incident is not
seen by us as an isolated issue. It is
symbolic o f a much deeper problem
in terms o f the q u a lity and level o f
service a c o m m u n ity can expect
from the Portland Police Bureau.
We are united. Blacks and whites,
poor and m iddle class, in believing
that the disciplinary action was ab
s o lu te ly necessary. We are also
hearing fro m citizens th ro u g h o u t
P o rtla n d w ho believe th a t the
opossum incident reflects racist a t
titudes or at least racial insensitivity.
Those same citizen s th ro u g h o u t
P ortland also have concerns about
police attitudes in their own neigh
borhoods.
C le a rly, a ll o u r concerns reflect
the need fo r even more long-range
review o f PortlaTid Police Bureau
policies in the areas o f internal a f
fa irs and tra in in g . We believe that
m any
P o rtla n d
citizen s
and
specifically, Northeast residents are
w illin g to go on p u b li re c r .i :
s u p p o rtin g C om m issi >mr Joro:
and we are asking the M ayor t r i
C ity Council members to also take ;
su pp ortive p o sitio n . W e hope tha
p o s itiv e changes w ill coni inue >•.
that p o lice and c o m m u n ity t i
w o rk to ge th er in m ore e ffe c ti >
ways. It would be a serious m ista:t
to have the process tu rn in to
political football game.
Enclosed are p e titio n s ga lie . <
by
c o m m u n ity
vc
O rig in a lly we had thoughi that
would send our petition
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support to C om m issioner
i
As we were in the pros
i
pleting the first petition, s.
signers suggested we sh<
o u r com m ents to the NT
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other Council members. '
f.
we re-wrote the subsequ ■ t <■
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in response to that suggestion.
Sincerly,
James Loving and Comm , f
Ist Place
Community Service
ONPA 1973
Ist Place
Best Ad Result
ONPA 1973
5th Place
Best Editorisi
ONPA 1973
Honorable Mention
Herrick Editorisi Award
NNA 1973
2nd Place
Best Editorisi
3rd Place
Community Leadership
ONPA 1975
3rd Place
Community Leadership
ONPA 1978
3rd Place
In depth coverage
ONPA ,979
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