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