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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 24, 1981)
Page 8 Portland Observer Seotember 24, 1981 Welcome Home Concert Peggy Houston Shivers We need family Making m t and making you A ll the world could be fille d with real Unity I J we learn to believe that we 're Family So le t‘s care about friends They mean more in the end ’Cause happiness depends on people We need fam ily Grassroot News, N. W .— Hubert and Debra Laws filled the commer cial airwaves singing about one o f the most important structures o f the Black child—The Family. Jasper Ormond, a com m unity mental health specialist, gave Grass- root News a conceptional frame work. " T o put the Black family in perspective we would have to go back to a point before coming to America. The Fam ily unit was a very significant part o f the African structure and after coming to Amer ica that part o f our culture was to tally disrupted. This disruption o f the family left us in a precarious po sition. However, being the creative people that we are, we tended to im provise and we came up with some innovative functional structure to function as a family and provide us with the support that we needed. The extended family became a sig nificant element o f our family struc tu re .” The extended fa m ily is grandparents, parents, relatives and in some instances, the community as a whole. Dr. Wade W. Nobles, a research scientist for children at the Westside Community Mental Health Center in California, says the predicament facing the Black family is one o f sur viving in two worlds, one Black and one white. “ The dilemma that the Black family is really faced with is the cultivation or preparation o f its children by ensuring the growth and development o f their sense o f hu maneness, while simultaneously pre paring them to "succeed” in the society.” Lurlene Shamsud-Din, a wife and mother in an extended fam ily, teaches her children to live in the reality o f America. " K id s see or hear about a brand name product and want you to buy it. 1 try to teach tny family how commercialized the »system is that is making that pro d u c t. A fte r you buy those Calvin : Klein jeans they aren’t going to care ; whether you have anything to eat or ; not. My children just see the reality ! o f the situation. • "Families with teen-agers have spe- • cial problems because some o f those •teen-agers have no respect. I remem- iber getting on the bus and listening »to some o f these kids talk ignorant. { I t ’ s got to the point where whenever they saw me coming on the bus they would say to one another, ‘ Say man, be cool. She will tell our moth ers.’ I believe if you demand a cer tain behavior for children, you will get that behavior. The problem I see is that some parents aren’t demand ing that. The permissiveness and the lack o f time is eating away at the fam ily. I t ’ s a lot o f work raising a family.” Patricia Ryan, principal at H um boldt School, notices an in crease in parental involvement in the educational system. " I ’ m constant ly amazed at how astute parents are becoming. They are becoming a lot more aware o f how the school runs and are a lot more vocal about whether the decisions are affecting them. They are a lot more prepared now to help their kids and they have SISTER A N N S P IR IT U A L R EAD ER & A D V IS O R Sister Ann can help you in matters such as love, marriage, business or divorce. One visit w ill be of im mense value to you. No problem is too big for her to solve. If you are sick, worried or discontented with life, see this gifted woman today. Also tarot card readings CALL FOR APPOINTMENT 775 9594 Peggy H o u sto n Shivers, (soprano), in concert, Sunday, October 18, 1981, at 4 pm at Westminster Prssbytsrian Church, 1824 N.E. Hancock. -»zie; ; /M • Building _ Materials Auction ■ 8th annual, featuring new and used building materials such as furnaces, storm windows and doors, cabinest, insulation, plumbing, windows, doors, paneling plus many more items too numerous to mention I T h ese h ap p y c h ild re n re fle c t th e s e c u rity p ro v id e d by th e c a re a n d a tte n tio n o f an e x te n d e d Preview & Silent Auction Friday, September 25, 7 pm to 9 pm Oral Auction Saturday September 26 11 am 42 bid card good for both auctions Russ Kerns, auctioneer fam ily. are having to face extreme economic pressure and that creates extreme frustration. This makes it very d iffi cult at times to provide the nutrients and the support that we need to pro vide our children, because in many cases both mother and father have to w ork—sometimes a job-and-a- half and that is necessary for survi val. At the same time the children aren’t provided with a lot o f intim ate nutrients that they need. I f our family network is in a different part o f the country or we have put grand ma away, we are in a very critical position as far as our children are concerned. " I f those pressures are such then we have to make sure that we look into those natural networks in our community to fill those voids. This network is school, church, and com m unity. We have to m aintain an awareness that the extended family is a natural part o f our history.” I f our children are to survive we as adults must provide them with a fam ily fo r backbone, knowledge and comfort. St. A n d re w C o m m u n ity C e n te r 4940 NE 8th at A lb e rta , P o rtland 281 4430 A tra d itio n of good pricesl A b en e fit for St. A n d re w C o m m u n ity C enter Neighborhood JA S P E R O R M A N D (Photo: Richard J. B row n) to be—they better be.” Dr. D arrell M illn e r, Associate Professor o f Black Studies at Port land State University, adds that the economic struggle o f the Black fam ily could chip away at this concern. "Because o f the struggle to survive the concern over public education could become neglected. Public edu cation has to have something at home to counter-act some o f the negative images that are received by the child. There are many things that have to be corrected and this neglect wouldn’ t be intentional.” Among the conceptional prob lems in looking at the Black family o f the ’80s as they relate to the child is u tilizin g E uro-Am erican stan dards. Ormond explains: "W hen we compare a Black family to a Euro pean family, specifically as stated in the Moynihan report, it ’ s not a fair point o f assessment because o f our historical condition. We are unique ly different. So we cannot be com pared and the things that are differ ent to be considered negative. As a fam ily unit we had to be our own creative selves to meet the social de mands in very oppressive conditions that we have been forced to live under.” The Moynihan report per petuated the basic s’ereotype o f the Black family as a broken one and a matriarchal one (woman rules fam ily). This view is just blaming the victim. Ormand concludes, "W e are still in the position where we are not al lowed the opportunity economical ly, socially and politically to assert our full potential. And that’ s a very frustrating pressure. Young families Broadway Hairweevers Special i R e Q * 6500 »Agis V lo \N w Kids »35°° If you or your organization would like your name to appear as a patron in the concert program or purchase tickets, please contact Mrs. L. Cash A n derson (Mrs. Shivers' mother) at 281 -932?, or Mrs. Lenora C. Morris at 281 - 7139. The coat for businesses or organizations is 45.00. The coat for single name listings is 12.00. Deadline for patrons list is September 30, 1981. To order your tickets or submit patrons ad and payment by mail, write L.C . M orris, Morris Enterprises, P .O . Box 11234, Portland, OR 97211. Please make all checks payable to Morris Enterprises. Tickets on sale at G.l. Joe's, 8900 N. Vancouver; Stevens Ef Son Jewelers, Lloyd Center. Ticket cost: 410 per person. 1634 NE 7th A t B ro a d w a y 281 9496 Tuen-Sat 9 am til 5:30 pm / * - • . f ___< •» -. •»*. iw®** fc. » Jr !i ? / 'V 1 1. z • , y f ■ •- V. - ' ■ . Z -i. f x > A* Solar, Weatherization, Oil, Gas, Electricity, Wood, Insulation, Dollar Saving Ideas and Help for Renters and Homeowners Workshops 2. Home Energy Use and Weatherization FREE ADMISSION 3. Utility and Customer rights and responsibilities 11 A.M. - 6 P.M. SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 26 1. Our Energy Future 4. Solar water heating 5. How to improve your existing heating source KING NEIGHBORHOOD FACILITY 4815 N.E. 7th AVE. SPONSORED BY THE URBAN LEAGUE OF PORTLAND AND THE PEOPLE AT PACIFIC POWER
