Page 4 Portland Observer, December 24, 1981
EDITORIAL/OPINION
A Christmas Prayer
The Spirit of Christmas
Last Friday night a commissioner, city and
state official, judges, police officers and others
joined to provide a Christmas dinner, program
and gifts for 700 wives and children o f inmates
of OregQn State Prison.
The only stipulation made was that there be
no publicity.
We would like to have published pictures o f
two women—one Black and one white, one a
judge and the other a state o ffic ia l— in their
Santa Clause suits. We would have liket to have
published pictures o f a college class cooking the
turkeys. We would like to have printed pictures
o f the children’s faces when they received their
ffifts W - r —
ak
have
liked
the
W
— — n would
—
-------
- -- to
- - r nuhlish
-
faces o f those men who, although they can’ t be
home with their loved ones for Christmas, coor
dinated and promoted this evening from their
by D r. Manning M arable
prison cells.
This is the true spirit o f Christmas.
★ ★
Recently a little g irl, Adrienne Garrison, a
student at Humboldt ECEC, was brave enough
to save a seagull from older children who were
throwing rocks at the injured bird.
Adrienne and her teacher took the bird to the
Audubon Society to be nursed back to health.
This kind act was another example o f the
Christmas spirit o f love.
★ ★
At a time when the Christmas spirit appears
to be lost— when commercialization overshad-
ow’s the religious tradition and war and violence
are erupting around the world—it is refreshing
to remember those whose acts reflect peace, love
and kindness.
I believe in Black h u m an k in d —
every man. woman and child o f A f
rican descent th a t dwells on this
earth. I stand in awe o f our beauty
and genius, our gift o f song, our sci
ences and culture. N either slavery
nor capitalist oppression could de
stroy that special heritage, that chal
lenge o f Blackness, which shall one
day rise up w ith the oppressed o f
other lands and inherit this turbu
lent world.
I bleieve in W o rk — that collective
act o f creativity which moves moun
tains and builds cities. I believe that
unemployment is a crime, and that
all men and women should be pro
vided the chance to learn productive
skills, to enjoy the fruits o f their la
b o r . a n d ro c o n t r o l the means o f
production that create all wealth.
I believe in E q u a lity — that all
human beings o f all races and cul
tures were made alike in the possi
bility o f development. 1 believe that
the Black struggle in this nation can
not accept “ equal o p p o rtu n ity ”
within an inherently unequal econ
omic and political system. The de
m and for e q u a lity, defined as the
principle o f human fairness, must
mean the construction o f a sensible,
d em ocratic, econom ic alternative
for U .S . society, which socializes
minds, bodies and communities.
I believe in Sacrifice. W e cannot
all be wealthy. In an ideally demo
cratic society, no one should have
an income or an accum ulation o f
wealth that he or she does not per
sonally need, nor acquire the eco
nomic power to disrupt the lives and
aspirations o f others. W e must give
a portion o f our personal income
back to our Black communities to
build economic and social institu
tions.
I believe in Freedom. In this soci
ety, freedom has meant the freedom
o f corporations to raise prices, the
freedom o f the w ealth y to evade
taxes, the freedom o f the unem
ployed to dwell on the precipice o f
starvation and desperation. I believe
in the freedom to build a new soci
ety devoid o f the darkness o f blind
bigotry; the freedom to work, play
and live in neighborhoods without
fear o f police repression; the free
dom to worship; the freedom to
confront our own weaknesses with
the courage o f our Black elders; the
freedom to resolve the political and
social problem s o f today and set
forth, in the light o f our heritage, to
a new land o f peace and productivi
ty, racial equality and economic de
mocracy. Only when these tasks are
accomplished shall we be free at
last.
the accum ulatio n o f c ap ita l and
places the interests o f people before
profits.
I believe in Justice— that every
citizen should have equal access to
counsel, and be treated fa irly in
courts o f law. I believe that the A m
erican legal system has all too often
favored the afflu en t and powerful
and system atically punished the
Black, Brown and poor.
1 believe in the Prince o f Peace.
W ars o f im p erialism and aggres
sion, waged by this n atio n and
o th ers, are nothing less than
Murder. I believe that nuclear weap
ons must be outlawed in our genera
tio n , to perm it the survivial o f the
next generation.
I believe in certain In a lie n a b le
Righ’s beyond “ life, liberty, and the
pursuit o f happiness.” I believe in
the right not to go hungry in a land
o f agricultural abundance; the right
to decent housing; the right to free,
public medical care for all; the right
to an adequate income in one’s old
age.
I believe in Education— that the
greatest force o f protest against the
evils o f racism and economic exploi
ta tio n is know ledge. Every Black
parent must spend as much tim e
teaching his or her child as that child
receives at school. Education must
become a to o l fo r lib e ra tin g our
Dick Bogle
It behooves each and every news
reporter to listen. That means listen
to just about anyone who a p
proaches with an idea for a story or
an opinion on a story already pub
lished or broadcast.
Fortunately, I took the time to lis
ten to a young man who approached
me earlier this week at the scene o f a
m u rd er. It w asn’ t the m urder he
wanted to talk about, it was my re
cent series on television and in the
Observer on street prostitution. He
asked what alternatives young wom
en have who are presently hooking
on Northeast U nion and N orth In
terstate. I m um bled som ething
about m inim um wage jobs at fast
food outlets and possible help for
such young women from communi
ty churches.
He told me he heard that Seattle,
W a s h in g to n , has a program that
really provides assistance to prosti
tutes who want to change their life
style.
I returned to the office, called the
Seattle vice squad and was referred
by them to the o ffic e o f Jen n ifer
James, a faculty member o f the U n i
versity o f W ashington. Ms. James
has the reputation for being perhaps
the N o rth w est’s leading expert on
prostitution.
I talked with a Debra Boyer, who
is a reseach analyst in the D ep a rt
ment o f Psychiatry and Behavioral
Sciences at the University. She and
War in the Middle East ?
(Continued fro m pane 1 column 2)
government risk international poli
tical repercussions by annexing the
area?
Several explanations can be put
fo rw a rd . One is that the Israeli
governm ent, at the direction o f
Begin and Defense M inister A riel
Sharon, are only doing the bidding
o f the U .S. government, as spelled
out in the U .S .-Is ra e li Accord on
M ilita r y Strategic C o o p eratio n
approved by a close vote and over
strenuous objections, in the Knesset
(Israeli Parliament) Dec. 2.
This agreement stipulates that
Israel will put its armed forces at the
disposal o f U .S . war ventures
against states in the Middle Eastern
and N o rth A fric a n region, or
directly against the Soviet Union. It
reads in part:
‘ ‘The U.S.-Israeli strategic coop
eration is designed against the threat
to peace and security o f the region
caused by the Soviet U n io n and
S o viet-co n tro lled forces from
outside the region.”
Perhaps this agreement had given
the Begin governm ent the green
light to continue offensives, such as
the G olan Heights annexation, as
well as bom bing raids against
Lebanon and the attack on the
Tam m uz nuclear research reactor
near Baghdad, Iraq, last June.
U n ive rs ally condem ned as a
breach o f in te rn a tio n a l la w , the
Israeli government’s action against
Ira q was attacked by the French
government, form er U N secretary-
general W a ld h e im , B ritish P rim e
M in is te r M arg a re t T h a tc h e r and
even Sen. M a rk H a tfie ld (R -O re ).
Begin declared, “ W e are not afraid
o f any reactions in the world.”
W hy is Begin unafraid? Perhaps
he knows the massive flo w o f aid
and arms from the U.S. government
w ill continue despite w o rld w id e
criticism o f his government’ s belli
gerent posture in the region. That is
one theory.
Another is that Begin is acting in
direct opposition to U .S . govern
ment wishes and actually alienating
his A m erican supporters. H is
m otivations fo r this position are
unclear, but the balance o f power
within the Knesset, and Begin’s own
tenuous position as governm ent
leader may provide clues.
Lengthy debate over the U .S .-
Israeli strategic accord included the
in tro d u c tio n o f no-confidence
motions against the Begin-Sharon
government by opposition groups.
Should Begin face a confidence
vote, he may stand the test better by
appearing to defy the w ill o f the
U .S . government through indepen
dent actions apparently made with
out U .S. approval.
H e has made recent allusions to
Israel being “ a banana republic” to
U .S . interests and otherwise
irritated U .S. leaders with increas
ingly strident remarks.
A lth o u g h factions w ith in the
Israeli government no doubt resent
that country’ s reliance on the U .S.
both economically and p olitically,
other government o ffic ia ls worry
that Begin will alienate U.S. leaders
and therefore lose financial support.
At the same time, moves are afoot
to repudiate the U .S.-Israeli accord
just passed, which was attacked by
nearly the entire Israeli press and
much o f the Israeli public.
(The accord was canceled Dec. 21
by Begin— Ed. note.)
Prime Minister Begin is indeed in
an uneviable position. Regardless of
what happens next, he only stands
to lose. I f he defies U .S . go vern
ment wishes, throu g h the G olan
Heights annexation or other o ffen
sive acts, he will lose essential finan
cial support. I f he is doing the bid
ding, express or covert, o f U .S .
leaders, he risks further ostracism in
the Middle East and perhaps repudi
ation by the Knesset and members
o f the fragile coalition that enables
his position as leader.
Either way, peace in the M iddle
East is made that much more
elusive.
prostitution is a negative sexual ex
perience which a ffects their self-
concept and con d itio n s to view
themselves in terms o f their sexual
worth.
So, they teach the youngsters to
recognize a potential sexual exploit
ive situation, what their rights arc.
develop assertiveness skills and what
to do if exploited.
This teaching is done in schools at
the Jun io r H igh level. The two
women have also developed a simil
ar program for first and second
graders but that has yet to be imple
mented. They have no doubts that it
w ill since it has the backing of
school district officials.
A ll o f the above points out Seattle
is far far ahead o f Portland in look
ing at real solutions for diminishing
street p ro s titu tio n using means
other than the threat o f ja il. Ms.
Boyer did tell me she had been in
P o rtla n d at the request o f M u lt
nomah County Commissioner G o r
don Shadbourne and his task force
on p ro s titu tio n . So the C o m m is
sioner and his group know about
Judical Advocates and how it has
worked in Seattle.
I t ’s my hope that our community
can muster the resources necessary
to mount a m ulti-faceted attack on
prostitution with some viable alter
natives for those caught up in it and
those potential hookers who find
themselves drifting toward criminal
ity.
Christmas Message
by Police C h ief Ron Still
Our traditional year-end holidays
provide a time and a setting for re
flection and anticipation.
W e reflect upon feasts, fa m ily ,
friends, good times, little children
w ith shining eyes, lau g h ter, tears
and the rapidly passing years.
W e remember holidays when we
had to w o rk , and were separated
from our families when we should
all have been together.
W e remember those who appar
ently have no fam ily except the one
seated on the next bar stool.
W e rem em ber the closeness o f
people at Christmas and wish that
it could last all year.
Oregon
Newspaper
Publishers
Association
member
1
MMM™
1
Ms. James work together in a pro
gram called judicial advocates.
T h at began as an o ffs h o o t o f
C o yo te, an acronym for Cast O f f
Y our T ire d O ld Ethics. C oyote is
headed n a tio n a lly by M arg o St.
James, a former Madame.
However, this Seattle group is not
interested in the legalization o f pros
titu tio n . Far fro m it. T h ey are a
counseling-referral service for wom
en involved in prostitution.
They formed a task force on pros
titu tio n which developed a tw o
pronged attack on the p ro b lem .
First a pub lic education program
with the theme, “ D o n ’t let children
play hooker." This took the form o f
seminars presented in the commun
ity complete with posters and bro
chures. It was financed through a
grant fro m the H u m an ities C o m
mission.
Secondly, a street outreach pro
gram came about w ith outreach
workers working the streets to meet
kids who are runaways and offer al
ternatives to adult exploiters. They
also help the youngsters m o n ito r
their health until the tim e the kids
m ake a decision to change their
lives.
T h e outreach pro g ram is run
through a runaw ay shelter home
which provides a safe place for kids
with problems.
Boyer and James have determined
that the most significant factor in
influencing someone’ s entrance into
Auociation - Foundad iggg
W e are th a n k fu l fo r the Police
Bureau and the C ity who compen
sate us for our services with reason
able salaries and benefits. We know
that our Qositions as law enforce
ment o fficers in P o rtlan d provide
security for our fam ilies while we
work and during retirement. We feel
a growing concern for those less for
tunate du rin g these d iffic u lt eco
nomic times.
We realize that we were blessed to
have been born in a free society. We
also are cognizant that we live and
work in a c ity, P o rtla n d , which is
known throughout the world as a
clean, well-governed and concerned
city.
We will remem ber this year be
cause o f the hurt caused by a few o f
our police family members. But, we
will be thankful that we have gained
strength from their mistakes. W e
forgive their mistakes, control our
emotions, and resolve that such mis
takes shall never happen again.
Therefore, it is with optimism and
confidence that I extend my sincere
best wishes fo r a H ap p y H o lid a y
Season to the active and retired
members o f the Portland Police Bu
reau, their families, and to the com
munity.
rortiand Observer
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