For the children o f Atlanta and fo r
all children who are hungry, suffer
and live in fear.
The street life: A thousand parts to play
"I play the street life
Cause there's no place I can go.
Street life, it's the only life i know
Street life, there's a thousand parts
To play.
Street life, until you play your
Life a w a y ..."
by Lanita Duke
In 1980 the Crusaders topped the
charts with a theme o f fast life and
quick money. This theme is lived by
a small group of women who hustle
on the same block where elderly
people wal and where young
children play. The problem develops
when the ladies o f the evening come
out in the afternoon and parade
their wares for all to see. Not only
have their activities become an
eyesore to some, but their clientele
(tricks) look upon every woman -
young, old. Black and w hite, as
women ready to accept pervert
propositions.
The angle this report is taking is
not to condone or condemn, but
rather to summarize the life o f a
street prostitute. One street lady
told Grassroot News her motives. “ I
was just down for the money. I ’ ve
been in institutions all my life and
ain’ t never had no public education,
so it would be damn near impossible
fo r me to get a jo b . And I ’ m not
w orking fo r no $3.50 an hour fo r
nobody. When I come out here and
bring home a couple o f bills a day,
I ’ m to have the best for my daughter
and don’ t care what nobody says. If
you know how to keep yourself in
shape, you’ re not going to have a
problem with anybody. I f you know
what you’ re doing you won’t have a
problem.”
Another woman who’ s not in the
fast life anymore discussed what the
life was all about. “ You know when
they call it the fast life, well, that’s
what it is. It’s fast! I f you get turned
out at 13, by the time you’ re 15 you
look a good 21 or 22. The fast life is
pure hell. You get laughs and some
o f the different ladies you work with
are real cool. But the d iffe re n t
changes you have to go through to
get paid aren’ t worth it. You’ re not
always going to make some money,
especially a street women because
the streets are d iffe re n t from a
house. In the streets you are in con­
stant fear o f running into a zip nut
or getting your throat cut or getting
busted.”
The street lady has that fear o f
never coming back from a date. A
recent victim to ld how a tric k
(sometimes called Johns) pulled a
switchblade on her but fortunately
she got away. Another told of a d if­
ferent scene w ith the same theme.
’ ’ One tric k took me way out and
took my s tu ff fo r free, and then
dumped me. Once a nut who lived in
a trailer court pulled a big gun on
me and this other g irl, and it was
either him or us. So we wrestled the
gun away and pistol whipped him.
That was the only way we escaped.
When you’re out there you have no
shame.”
Many street ladies get turned out
to the street by a pimp. “ I was in an
situation where we all lived in one
house and the other ladies were
called my stable sisters. Some o f the
women were really nice and we
didn’t try to cut down one another;
which we all did on the sly. Others,
you just co u ld n ’ t get along w ith.
You would have to accept it i f you
A.*
wanted to be with that man.
Every w o m an w a lkin g on
“ An outlaw (a street lady without
a pim p) is not really in the life Union A venue is assumed by
tricks to be a prostitute.
(Please turn to Page 3 Col 1)
PORTLAND OBSERMER
USPS 959-680-855_______________
_____________________________
Janisse: Defying 'Black cop' stereotype
Grassroot News N .W . - We are
living in a time when the corrupt o f
P o rtla n d ’ s so-called finest are
receiving top b illin g . There’ s an
element within our police force that
doesn’ t go along with the program.
These Black men did n ’ t march on
City Hall or wear a blue ribbon for
their comrades in blue.
One Black uniformed officer did
drive up to pickets at the W alnut
Park Theater and compliment the
Black United Front fo r its efforts
and added that it was long overdue.
There is a subsection o f individuals
on the force who can be called con­
tem porary Black police o ffice rs.
Robert Janisse is one of them.
R O B ER T J A N IS S E *
Janisse has been on the force for
nine years and was imported from
O akland. “ In itia lly , when I firs t
came to P ortland and got on the
Police Department, there were only
two other Black o ffice rs. I knew
that h isto rica lly police work was
closed to T h ird W orld people. I
came in, u n fo rtu n a te ly, w ith the
perception that I was going to be
mistrusted by the Black community
— viewed as being part o f the
establishm ent, also part o f an
organization that was seen as op­
pressive to Black people. I must
admit that I carried that perception
to the extreme by isolating myself
and it took some tim e before I
realize that I am going to have to
take some aggressive action to
demonstrate that although I was a
police o ffic e r, I was s till Black. I
tried to make people aware o f my
reasons fo r becoming a police o f­
ficer, and the main one is to help
people.”
Janisse relayed his response from
the community. “ There are people
who know I ’ m sincere and at the
same tim e there are those who
suspect my motives. They fa il to
recognize that I see some injustices
in the system and that I ’ m con­
cerned about doing something
about the problems.
“ We are in a tim e when people
are demanding more accountability
Tom their public officials. People
« c concerned about the crime
problem and more im portant,
they’ re concerned about justice.
And th a t’ s where my concern is,
with justice as opposed to ‘ law and
order’ . I want to see a system that
deals with people as individuals so
that there's no disparity in the way
people are treated by police officers,
the court system or the corrections
system.
Janisse gives new meaning to
cool, calm and collected. How do
his fellow officers feel about an o f­
ficer as outspoken as he? The re­
action was mixed. Prior to my be­
coming so vocal, the ones who were
sincere then are s till my friends.
Now, there is a large group o f in ­
dividuals who view me as m ilitant
because my views disagree w ith
theirs.”
Current headlines are filled with
police co rru p tio n and rodent
th ro w in g . “ The firs t thing I es­
tablished when I came on the force
was that 1 was a professional. A ll
police officers ought to act as a pro­
fessional. These types o f acts that
were uncovered did damage to all
the work I did to establish my pro­
fessionalism. People remember the
bad and forget the good. It will be a
long tim e before we re-establish
ourselves in the eyes o f the com ­
munity.”
“ The oppossum throwing put me
in the position, as a Black in ­
d ivid u a l. where I had to make a
choice o f whether I was going to go
along with the majority o f my peers
or stand by and support the com­
munity. I chose to support the Black
com m unity. The incident gave
evidence to support what some o f
our leaders were saying about the
department. It makes you wonder if
that was an isolated case or i f that
attitude is pervasive with the Police
Department. The public has a right
to demand more from their depart­
ment. Those are the kinds o f people
who d o n ’ t belong on the police
force.”
Janisse’ s evolution in the force
“ started as a re cru it, worked in
North Precinct and in Traffic. Later
I worked in intelligence and my case
load was w orking on organized
crim e. C u rre n tly, I ’ m a detective
assigned to Robbery/Hom icide de­
tail.”
His advice to the young. “ Our
youth needs to be leaders instead o f
follow ers. The young Black kids
who come through here got involved
in crim inal activities because they
were going along with a group; so
i t ’ s more im portant that they
develop their own leadership
skills.”
Jordan, Ivancie get IA report
The 13-member c iv ilia n task
force appointed by C ity Com ­
missioner Charles Jordan in
January to investigate the Portland
Police Bureau’ s procedures fo r
handling complaints o f police mis­
conduct w ill report to C om ­
missioner Jordan and Mayor Frank
Ivancie today, July 16th.
The report on the six-month study
focuses prim arily on the Bureau's
Internal A ffairs Division, the office
that receives and investigates com­
plaints. Based on th e ir study,
several changes w ill be recommend­
ed in the citizen complaint process.
Edgar Mitchell, Jr., is one o f two
Oregon students who has been selec­
ted to participated in an In te r­
national Sports Exchange track
meet in Socul, Korea in August. Ap­
proxim ately fifty male and female
athletes - 19 years and under - from
the United States w ill compete with
their peers from Korea, Japan,
Tawian, India and Kenya.
The 6-2, 250 pound junior attends
C entral C atholic High School,
where he participated in track and
football.
Mitchell broke the school shot put
record o f 58-5 this spring, then
bested the defending A A A state
champion with a throw o f 60-714 at
the KFLY-Pepsi In te rn a tio n a l in
A p ril. M itchell and Brian Crouser
split the season with two wins each.
Crouser again taking the state
cham pionship. M itch e ll came in
second with a 59-6 throw.
M itchell won the A A U meet for
the 17-18 year age group (Crouser is
in the 19-20 age group) with a throw
outdistancing all other competitors
by seven feet. He will compete in the
Regional A A U in Seattle this
weekend. His 61-9 is second in the
nation for his age group.
M itchell plans to best the 64 feet
state record next year, and his coach
believes that i f his current progress
continues he could reach 70 feet.
M itch e ll plays offensive and
defensive tackle for the Rams and
hopes to make All-State this year.
W ith another year o f high school
ahead, his college plans are unsure.
His athletic talent does not out­
weigh his academic interest, and he
regularly has a grade average o f 3.5
(B plus) or above. M a jo r univer­
sities - including Notre Dame - have
expressed an interest.
The American team w ill spend a
week in Korea and w ill stop in
Hawaii on the return trip for a week
o f relaxation.
Each pa rticip a n t must provide
his/her own expenses - an estimated
$1,500. C o n trib u tio n s w ould be
greatly appreciated and can be
arranged by calling the Observer.
Capital vigil supports
prisoner, family visits Mitchell joins international track meet
Members o f the Inmates’ Family
Visiting Committee held a five day
prayer vigil on the steps o f the State
C apital, praying fo r a change o f
heart by Senator Fred Heard. A
spokesman reported the vigil ended
following harassment by guards.
HB 2998 would allow the Correc­
tions Department to establish a
program fo r private fa m ily visits
with Oregon State Penitentiary in­
mates. Inmates who have proposed
the program w ill lease trailors and
pay fo r costs. The b ill passed the
House with a 44 - 15 vote, then was
referred to the Senate. Although the
bill involves no state funding. Heard
referred it to the Ways and Means
Committee where it is expected to
die.
Mrs. Chris Durand, spokesperson
fo r the Inmates' Fam ily V isiting
Com m ittee, believes the b ill was
sent to Ways and Means to k ill it,
since the m ajority o f the members
o f the sub-committee to which it
was assigned oppose it. “ We have
the votes necessary to get through
the Judiciary Com m ittee and we
have enough votes to pass in the
Senate. I t ’ s unfair fo r one man to
use his power to stop our bill when
the m a jo rity o f the legislators are
for it.”
Currently wives can visit their im­
prisoned husbands fo r fourteen
hours a month in a public visiting
room. Short embraces at the begin­
ning and end o f the visit are
allow ed, but during the visit
husband and wife sit across a table
from each other and can touch only
below the elbow. Children and other
relatives are limited to seven hours a
month. The close proximity o f other
inmates and their visitors precludes
discussion o f private fam ily and
personal matters.
Interest in family visits is growing
in the U nited States, and those
states where it is allowed have had
favorable results. One o f the most
common practical arguments fo r
visits is social control. The denial of
sexual activity to thousands o f con­
fined young men creates a tense
situation that leads to homosexual
and aggressive behavior. Fam ily
visits not only allow fo r the release
o f sexual tension in a positive way,
but also are an incentive to conform
to institutional regulations.
A nother practical argument is
that fa m ily visits would prevent
isolation and would prepare the in­
mate fo r release in to society.
Denying involvem ent w ith his
fam ily cuts o ff family ties that are
needed to help adjustm ent into
society. Research demonstrates that
inmates who maintain active family
associations while in prison are
more successful after release.
Another consideration is the ef­
fect o f fam ily visits on the fam ily.
Prisoners who have family visits are
more lik e ly to m aintain fam ily
stability. The typically high rate of
prisoner divorces - and the resulting
(Please turn to Page 5 Col I)
City bans parking
EDGAR MITCHELL. JR.
Parking has been removed from
Northeast 19,h and Jarrett Street,
adjacent to Alberta Park, by request
o f neighborhood residents. The
petition for no-parking posting oc-
cured follow ing an incident in the
park on June 29th.
In a d d itio n to questionable ac­
tivitie s in the park, the neighbors
complain that park users litte r and
abuse their yards and that parking
and heavy use o f the streets blocks
the street and extends the use o f the
park across the street and into their
yards. Some o f the residents who
prefer to be unnamed, would have
prefered no parking have been fo r
(Please turn to Page 7 Col 3)