Page 14 Portland Observer, June 17,1982
Freddye Prophet speaks here
FREDDYE A. PROPHET
The Oregon Association o f C o l
ored Women's Clubs will hold their
71st Annual Convention Saturday,
June 19, 1982 at Vancouver Avenue
First Baptist Church, Portland, with
Mrs. La Vera Smith, President, pre
siding. “ L iv in g L ife in T o d a y ’s
W o rld ” is the convention theme
which w ill be addressed by guest
speaker, Mrs. Freddye A . Prophet
at the special lunchion to be held
12:30 p .m . at the church. M rs.
Prophet, wife o f Portland's Super
intendent o f Schools, is a native o f
Langston, Oklahoma. She is a grad
uate o f Langston University where
she m ajored in H om e Economics.
She then pursued her career as a
U S D A H om e D em o n s tra tio n fo r
Choctaw County, Hugo, Oklahoma
for four years before launching her
teaching career in elem entary and
secondary education which included
Dayton, Ohio, North Chicago, Illin
ois and C h ick as h a, O k la h o m a .
From 1979 to the present, Mrs. Pro
phet served as A dm inistrative A s
sistant to the Vocational E x p lo ra
tion Demonstration Project in L an
sing, M ichigan. Active in civic a f
fairs, M rs. Prophet’ s memberships
included Board o f Directors, Lan
sing Y .W .C .A ., Lansing/East Lan
sing Chapter o f Links, Inc., serving
as Treasurer, Vice-President Delta
Sigma T h eta S o ro rity , P u b licity
C h airp e rs o n , Y o u th A rt Show,
C om m unity A rt G allery, N atio n al
Home Economics Association, and
Red Cross. D u rin g her husband's
career as U .S. A rm y O fficer, 1954-
1971, Mrs. Prophet travelled exten
sively throughout A laska. Austria.
The Azores, Belgium, Canada, Eng
land, France, Germany, Greenland.
Iceland. Ireland, Italy, The Nether
lands, Spain and Switzerland.
The Annual sessions will also fea
ture the o ffic ia l visit o f M rs. June
Pryor, President o f the Northwest
Regional N a tio n a l Association o f
C olored W o m en ’ s C lubs, o f D en
ver, Colorado. The Annual Scholar
ship awarded to a graduating high
school student or students, will be
presented at the m eeting. Special
Luncheon Music w ill be presented
by Mrs. Dorothy Davis, Vancouver,
W aslh, M rs. M a ttie Spears, P o rt
land, and M r. C alvin Alm on, Port
land.
O A C W C . an a ffilia te o f the N a
tio n a l A ssociation o f C olored
W o m e n ’ s C lu b s, In c ., the oldest
black organization o f the nation, is
dedicated to youth, education, and
com m unity service. M em ber clubs
include: Altruistic, Mrs. Mac Rose,
President, Kathryn Gray Club, Mrs.
Id a Johnson, P resid en t, L ite ra ry
Research C lu b , M rs. Bernadette
Plum m er, President, M ultn o m ah
W om en’s Club, Mrs. Mamie West,
President, and H a rrie t Tubm an
C lu b . M rs. A lb e rta L . R andolph,
President. M rs . M ab ie N eal,
O A C W C First Vice-President and
M rs. L irlean A nderson, O A C W C
Second Vice-P resident, are c h a ir
persons for the Convention.
Black journalists hear
opposing viewpoints
by Tracy M. Smith
Black journalists in the ’80s: Does
anybody know w e’ re here? This
question prevailed at the Western
Regional Conference o f the Nation
al Black Journalists Association,
held on June 5th, at the Hyatt Hotel
in San Francisco.
The conference was an event care
fully planned by Bay Area journal
ists. Th ere were fo u r workshops
that encompassed the areas o f deal
ing w ith stress and racism in the
newsroom to evaluating blacks in
the m edia. Depending on one’ s
taste, it may be concluded that the
highlights o f the conference were
the keynote speakers: Angela Davis,
professor at San Francisco State
University and author, and Clarence
Pendleton, chairman o f the United
States Civil Rights Commission.
A N G ELA D A V IS
The Jazmín Community Marching Band made its point as it joined the Rose
Festival Grand Floral Parada. The band, which draw applause at the Starlight
Parade, was refused an invitation ot march in the Grand Floral Parade so leader
Thara Memory and parents decided to "crash'*. The band, composed of 50
youngsters, was wall received by the crowds along the parade route.
One may be surprised to hear or
sec that Davis and Pendleton, like
night and day, shared the same plat
form. I f one put a mask on Pendle
ton, it would be hard to distinguish
his remarks from those o f Ronald
Reagan. W hile Pendleton did not
have the support o f his listeners it
was interesting to hear him speak.
Pendleton was very firm in his
comments. He said blackness is a
mythical m onolith, it exists only in
the mind. In his view, blacks do not
see the street corner. In other words,
blacks do not know what is going on
in today’s world. Blacks should not
look at themselves as poor, depen
dent and unemployed.
Pendleton dropped the bomb on
the unarmed luncheoners when he
said " W e ” (blacks) must reduce our
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
Israel war
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fContinued from page I col. 6)
densely populated Beirut.
The P L O has approxim ately
15,000 fighters, no match for the Is
raeli forces in numbers or in materi
el. M ost o f those who w ill die, in
other words, are defenseless men,
women and children.
A sim ilar picture applies to the
Lebanese themselves in the cities of
the south. The m ajority o f the pop
ulation o f Lebanon is not Christian,
but M uslim , and it strongly sup
ports the Palestinian cause. Muslim
militias fight alongside the Palestin
ians, p artly in response to years o f
Israeli bombing raids on their own
farms, villages and cities. There are
telephone reports from Tyre, Sidon
and Nabatiyeh for example, o f Is
raeli saturation bom bing. The de
struction o f these cities, which once
flourished as market towns and bus
iness centers, would produce an in
calculable loss o f life in the Leb
anese civilian population.
This is the price for Israeli p o li
tical impotence, and U .S . support
of Israeli policy.
Israeli officials have stated that
they want to link South Lebanon
w ith N o rth Lebanon, where most
Christians live, and effectively cre
ate a Christian-dominated "frie n d
ly” state.
In N o rth Lebanon, the strong
hold o f the Phalangists, the C hris
tians are, in fact, the m ajority. But
in South Lebanon, the country is
overw helm ingly S h i’ ite M uslim .
T h ere, the C hristians constitute,
and always have, less than 15 per
dependence on public policy and re
duce a ffirm a tiv e a ctio n . H e said
these programs give false security
and turn m inorities against each
other. The remedy for dependence is
to take risks that w ill come in the
’80s.
Clarence Pendleton is a man who
speaks with an "iro n y tongue.” He
says we cannot let technology pass
us by; the cotton has been chopped
and the floors have been mopped.
We need to look fo r alternatives.
Yet, programs like a ffirm a tiv e ac
tion and various public policies
helped blacks out o f the fields and
took the mops out o f their hands.
Pendleton said more; u n fo rtu n
ately it did not quiet the nerves that
were badly shaken by his speech.
Lastly, like Reagan, Pendleton sur
vived without affirmative action, or
so he said. He said others can do it,
too. Yes, Pendleton, like Reagan,
portrays himself as the "self-made”
man who pulled him self up by his
bootstraps. U n fo rtu n a te ly , many
minorities never had and still do not
have the boots or straps to pull
themselves up.
One may wonder about the direc
tion o f the U .S. C ivil Rights C o m
mission w ith Pendleton at the
wheel.
No sooner had Pendleston started
to sink the boat when Angela Davis
came to the rescue. Davis is still ac
tive in the struggle to eradicate ra
cism and sexism in today’s world.
Davis said blacks must plot a path
fo r organized struggles o f which
they can be proud. Not only must
black organize bul must make them
selves aware o f the problems that
plague the black race.
Davis said the struggles o f blacks
have benefitted others. As blacks
move fo rw ard , the entire country
moves forw ard. Blacks need to be
proud o f their legacy.
Davis commented very strongly
on the importance o f affirmative ac
tion. She said affirm ative action is
the key in one of the movements to
ward freedom. She raised the ques
tion, is affirmative action a plea for
charity or a formulation of demands
based on the sweat o f blacks that
have built this country? She said she
gets upset when she hears that
blacks are asking for something that
is not rightfully theirs.
M s. Davis said it is a m yth that
the movement is dead. It is an effort
to turn back the clock on black vic
tories. Lastly, she said, " Y o u don’t
have to be a com m unist to know
that som ething is wrong w ith the
system.”
cent o f the population. Since 1970,
the Israelis have undertaken a delib
erate policy to depopulate South
Lebanon o f its Muslim inhabitants;
and, w ith repeated a ir raids, they
have succeeded to some extent. Be
cause these attacks took place most
ly in the countryside, waves o f rural
m igrants have headed fro m the
southern coastal cities which are
now being systematically destroyed
to the capital, Beirut. When lulls in
the fighting occurred, many o f them
returned to their homes, only to
leave again after the new raids.
These m igrations brought a d d i
tional tensions to cities already fac
ing overtaxed m unicipal services,
housing facilities and employment
possibilities.
Over the longer term , the Israeli
intent may be to shift from popula
tion removal to population transfer
— to actually move enough C h ris
tians from the north into Southern
Lebanon to achieve their goal o f an
amicable neighboring state.
But there could be another goal
behind the invasion o f Lebanon:
For many years the Israelis have
dreamed o f controlling the Leban
ese headwaters of the Litani River.
In the early ’60s, the headwaters
o f the Jordan were diverted into the
Negev Desert w ith im portant
economic effects, but since then Is
rael has not received hoped-for U.S.
financing for a huge desalinization
plant. N ow the need for water is
growing annually, and the Litani—
along with a silent South Lebanon—
is ever more important.
© PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE. I »82
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