Page 6 Portland Obeerver, September 1,1962
OBSERVATIONS
FROM THE SIDELINES
by Kathryn H a ll Bogle
As the summer wanes and fall ap
proaches most families savor the
last o f the free-wheeling vacation
days.
Not so with those persons in
volved with the formal education o f
the young — they have been hard at
work for weeks before the opening
o f school.
The Black Education Center in
Northeast Portland will see the end
ing o f its summer program just a
few days before September 13, when
it opens again for the regular school
year.
Joyce Braden Harris, director o f
BEC, held open house at the school
on Sunday, August 29, for a score
o f parents o f prospective students
who plan to enter this independent
Portland Black institution. They
our problems together.
4. Cooperative economics: to
build and maintain our own institu
tions, and to profit from them to
gether. Cooperative means to work
together in peace and harmony.
3. Purpose: to make as our col
lective vocation the building and de
veloping o f our community in order
to restore our people to their tradi
tional greatness.
6. Creativity: to discover and use
our creative energies to build for our
people. ’
7. Faith: to believe with all our
heart in our people and the righ
teousness and victory o f our strug
gle
The BEC occupies a renovated
building at 4919 N .E . 17th Ave.,
formerly the Vernon library. One o f
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Obo Addy and guitarist (above) sound off and Michelle Mariana
(b e lo w ) makes up for performance of Bamm for benefit of House of
Exodus at Jefferson High School on August 2S.
O ver 200 styles ... from *200
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SALEM 364-2224
Jamila Harria, 4 yra, shows tia and dya she helped to process to
Tranetta Allen, Summer School Aide from CETA.
came to learn the particulars o f this
its several teachers is Dam an Wak-
“ different” school.
hungu, o f Kenya, who teaches also
" W e are proud o f our record,”
at Portland State University in the
says Harris. “ We have been operat
Black Studies department. Wakhun-
ing our program successfully for
gu brought first-hand knowledge o f
eight years in its full-time elemen
the history and customs o f her na
tary school curriculum.
tive country to BEC students attend
“ Our students may come to us at
ing summer classes. She plans to
age four or five and go through our
teach Swahili in the fall.
kindergarten. We are prepared to
Tie-dye, in its simplest form, in
teach them through fourth grade.
volved even the youngest child in the
They are taught mathematics, read
art. They learned to make their own
ing, language, science and, o f
dye from plants they themselves
course, Black history.
found (with teacher-help). They
“ This year we are pleased to an
learned that walnuts soaked over
nounce that Janice Scroggins, the
night yielded a usable brown color;
well-known pianist and composer,
that onion skin, boiled, produced a
will join us to teach music. Ms.
good yellow; that certain blossoms
Scroggins is responsible for the mu
made a lovely shade o f pink; and
sic for Herb Cawthorne’s next pro
that to use an aluminum kettle in
duction, and we are fortunate to
dying causes a process called oxida
have her talents.
tion, The children made masks and
“ Throughout its 12 years o f exis
shields o f different African coun
tence,” Joyce Harris continued,
tries, selecting those that appealed
“ the BEC has touched the lives o f
to them. Later they identified and
many hundreds o f Black students,
learned about the countries on the
parents and community people. In
maps.
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Introduces
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Teacher Demari Wakhungu of Konya ahows 6-yoar-old Kalonn
Wesson how to separata sisal for basket weaving.
May, 1970, Ron Herndon, Frank
Wilson and I decided to create an in
stitution controlled by Black people
that would function in the best in
terest o f Black folk.
“ The BEC is based on the philos
ophy that we are A frikan people
and, no matter where we are in the
world, we are inseparably linked
by our common struggle for self-
determination and freedom.
“ We have Seven Principles which
form the basis o f our organization.
They are listed in our booklet de
scribing B E C .”
Harris handed a copy o f the BEC
philosophy to the Observer writer
and we share the seven principles
with readers:
1. Unity: the state o f being one;
singleness: to strive for and main
tain constancy o f purpose or action;
continuity.
2. Self-determination: to define
ourselves, create for ourselves, and
speak for ourselves.
3. Collective work and responsi
bility: to build and maintain our
community together and to solve
BEC teachers say, " W e found
that art as a medium for teaching is
a very effective way o f helping chil
dren to retain information about
their culture. Our institution re
ceives partial support from the M et
ropolitan Arts Commission. Ken
Berry and Isaac Shamsud-Din are
BEC board members.”
Joyce Harris herself holds a bach
elors degree from Reed College in
American Studies and another from
Oregon State University in Elemen
tary Education. Her masters degree
in education was earned from Port
land State. Periodically Harris is
employed by the Portland Public
Schools as a consultant for its multi
cultural education program. She
conducts staff training meetings in
this capacity. Her forte is in the
areas o f science, mathematics and
Black literature. She has also writ
ten components used for teaching
teachers how to teach Black young
sters in a public school setting.
Persons may call regarding enroll
ment in this innovative school by
contacting BEC at 284-9552.
Hair Cuts Reg. *15.. NOW $10
Celophanes Reg. *20.NOW $10
Tints Reg. $15.......... NOW $10
W ith th is a d
butch coor
(H a ir O e s iq n t o r M e n £» W i m e r
1405 NE B ro ad w ay • 284-1897