Portland Observer, October 13,1962 Page 3
illy l l i i n a l l i
IM P O R T S /- Il AVU, KV
’» 2 1 S M
METROPOLITAN
T om Laswell is his name. He is d i­
re c to r o f th e a tre and p ro fe s s o r o f
perform ing arts at the U niversity o f
P o rtlan d. T his past sum m er, he d i­
recte d the S hakespearean p la y ,
A M id s u m m e r N ig h t's D re a m ,
w h ic h p la ye d to h u n d re d s o f
people in at least 20 p erform an ces
in parks th ro u g h o u t the m e tro p o li­
tan area. A n d . he has w ritte n three
plays. But, as the saying goes, "Y o u
a in ’ t heard n o th in g y e t , " because
T o m L a s w e ll is m uch m o re th a n
th a t. T om Lasw ell is a m an whose
p rin c ip le s are deeply ro o te d in ac­
tio n . He was one o f the many h u n ­
dre ds o f th o u sa n d s o f A m e r ­
icans— blacks and whites, O rientals
and H is p a n ic s , e lite s a nd sh a re ­
croppers, to o — w ho waved the ban­
ner fo r hum an d ig n ity in the tu rb u ­
lent years o f the ’60s. T om Laswell
is a v e te ra n w h o fo u g h t the goo d
fig h t against com m unism in Korea
and against racial prejudice in A m ­
erica . . . he is a man whose principles
are deeply rooted in action.
A native o f the South Side o f C h i­
ca go , he h o ld s th re e degrees: A
P h.D . in theatre fro m the U niversity
o f O regon, and a BA fro m San D i­
ego State C ollege. A n d he was as­
sistant ch a p la in (in 1957) at C ook
C ounty Jail in Chicago, Illin o is .
It was during the tim e that he was
assistant c h a p la in th a t a d ra m a tic
tu rn o f events h ap pe nd th a t, in
sonic ways, changed the course and
the d ire c tio n o f L a sw e ll’ s life
W h a t happened is th is : P a ul
C ru m p , a m an w ho was sentenced
to d ea th fo r arm ed ro b b e ry and
m u rd e r, L a s w e ll says, was on his
s ixth o r seventh stay o f e xe cu tio n ,
and he was the o n ly post ch a p la in
le ft to go w ith h im to th e d ea th
cham ber. C ru m p was not g u ilty , he
says, and fu rth e rm o re he adds, tw o
th in g s
had
happened
d u rin g
C ru m p ’ s p e rio d o f in c a rc e ra tio n .
O ne, he had re h a b ilita te d h im s e lf
while on death row , and tw o, he had
saved the lives o f tw o guards during
a rio t.
Lasw ell th o u g h t the idea o f exe­
cu ting C ru m p was "b a rb a ric . I was
a young seminary s tu d e n t.. .1 th ink
now , I w o u ld n ’ t have done i t , ” he
says. " T h a t incid en t was p ro b a b ly
the most instrum ental in m aking me
an o p p o n e n t to c a p ita l p u n is h ­
m e n t.” E ve ntua lly, what made him
leave the m in is try , he says, was " I
go, so angry w ith people; p rim a rily
because o f w h a t I saw happen to
k id s in c o lle g e in the ’ 6 0 s ."
L a s w c ll's p rin c ip le s are d e e p ly
ro o te d in the a tro c itie s he e x p e r­
ienced: Gewn G illo n , he remembers,
was a dedicated black w om an w ho
was b ru ta lize d d u rin g 1964-65. She
was one o f a sham eful num ber w ho
had cattle prodes stuck up th e ir va­
ginas. He adds that "sh e remained a
non -vio le nt person.” He continued
his enum eration by speaking o f Rev­
erend Fred S h u ttlc s w o rth , the pas­
to r o f " th e church where fo u r c h il­
dren were kille d that Sunday m o rn ­
in g " d urin g the struggle o f the ’60s.
Those reco un ting s o f h o rro r are
jus, tw o o f the acts Laswell rem em ­
bers. He was a ffilia te d w ith C O R E
(Congress o f R acial E q u a lity ) and
served as c o lle g e o rg a n iz e r fo r
SN C C (Student N o n -V io le n t C o o r­
dinating C om m ittee) and as "th e ac­
c u m u la tio n o f violence e sca la te d ,"
Laswell found out "w h a t black peo­
Pu* Haart
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X e Independent A gent
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ple knew a ll along, that this wasn’ t a
non-violent c u ltu re ."
In fact, he says, " I felt personally
that I wasn’ t able to c o n tin u e . . . . I
had ru n o u t o f the k in d o f lo v e —
openess— the k in d o f kindness fo r
people that it ta k e s ." A n d thus the
o ld gave way to the new; the scene
changed and O re g o n entered in to
the p icture. " I came to Oregon and
tried to repair the dam age,” he says.
He means the damages that were in ­
cu rre d in such places as M c C o m b ,
G re n a d a , P h ila d e lp h ia and M e r i­
dian, all in M ississippi.
J
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" I still believe in the m ovem ent,”
he says. " I s till th in k M a rtin Luther
K ing Jr. was the greatest in the last
150 years.” M oreo ver, he expresses
envy fo r " p e o p le w h o are able to
m a in ta in love and n on -v io le n c e in
the face o f v io le n c e ," w h ile m a in ­
taining his b elief in the principles o f
G h a n d i.
T w o o f the plays that Laswell has
w ritte n dea l s p e c ific a lly w ith the
movement o f the ’60s. One takes its
title fro m a black w om an w ho lived
in S u n flo w e r C o u n ty , M is s is s ip p i.
D uring the movement in the ’60s, at
one tim e o r another, he stayed w ith
her, and she w ould always say when
re fe rrin g to her fee, th a t " N ig h t ly
C om es T he H u r tin g T im e .” T he
play deals w ith the events leading up
to the m urder o f M ickey Schwerncr,
Jamees Chcyney and Andrew G o od ­
man.
The second play, "T h e Real Ones
N ever W o rk O n M o n d a y , " deals
w ith (he V ie tn a m e ra ’ s a n ti- w a r
movement.
N e ith e r one o f th ose p la ys are
c u rre n tly in p ro d u c tio n , b ut as d i­
rector o f theatre at the U niversity o f
P ortland Laswell says, "E a c h year I
choose at leas, one play that forces a
m o ra l d e c is io n fr o m the audience
. . .so they w il say. ‘ Hev, this is right
and that is w ro n g .’ This year, fo r in ­
stance, we are doing the play ’ A n ti­
gone.’ I t ’ s a play about a young g irl
w ho opposes her uncle w h o is the
k in g o f a c ity . I t in v o lv e s tw o
b ro the rs. One was b u rie d w ith fu ll
honors and the other was left fo r the
vultures to pick his bones clean. The
setting fo r the play is a c iv il war. ”
L asw ell says, " I am encouraged
about w h a t’ s happening at the U n i­
v e rs ity o f P o r tla n d . I am e x c ite d
about the q u a lity o f students we arc
a t t r a c t in g . " H e adds th a t " 1 see
w o m e n , b la c k s and C h ic a n o s as
being in the real fo re fro n t o f theatre
n o w ."
He says racism exists in O regon;
we have ju s t elected a "ra c is t presi­
dent” and that i f we had really m o­
b iliz e d and tra in e d b la c k s to set
th e ir ow n agenda— "te c h n ic a l peo­
ple to ru n th e ir p r o g r a m s " — we
w o u ld n ’ t have a ffir m a tiv e a c tio n
and o th e r such p ro g ra m s . P eople
have to equip themselves; ge, better
trained, he says. "R eagan has really
trie d his best to destroy the m orale
o f the yo u n g la w y e rs in the C iv il
Rights Bureau o f the Justice D epart­
m e n t." He adds that "R eagan plays
to the fo rc e s o f h a te — the ‘ re d ­
necks’ o f society.”
L asw ell says he experienced any
number o f inhum ane acts d urin g the
’ 60s, and th a t reg ardle ss o f how
m uch o r h ow lit t le we have
achieved, b oth as a n atio n and as a
race o f people, " w h a , people have
to re a liz e is the them e o f M a r tin
L u th e r K in g J r— ’ I f I am not free,
yo u ’ re not fre e .’ ”
’a t l
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See Oregon's largest selection
Saturday. October 23.1982
Special guests: Norman Hill,
National President,
A. Philip Randolph Inst.
Velma Hill, Director,
Public Employees Dept.
Service Employees Int'lt Union
$20 Dinner/Dance
Hosted Cocktail Hour 8:30 pm
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(Photo: Shirley A. Twigg)
TOM LASWELL
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ullduli d pet'kin* -nk (Hi" hd't
Palestinian priest speaks
F a th e r E lia s C h a k o u r, a P a les­
tinian C atho lic priest and Israeli c it­
iz e n , w ill speak at S t. A n d re w
C h u rc h ’ s c o m m u n ity ro o m (N .E .
9th and A lb erta ), 7:30 M onday, O c­
to b e r IH th , on J e w is h -A ra b d i ­
a lo g u e as a ro a d to peace in the
M iddle East.
F ather C h a k o u r, w ho calls h im ­
self a "s im p le parish p rie s ," in the
Palestinian co m m u n ity o f Ib illin in
the G alilee (in Israel), is a c o m m it­
ted p a c ifis t w h o has ta ken p a rt in
many Arab-Jew ish educational and
self help projects in Israel.
In p re v io u s U .S . to u rs , he has
pressed fo r Arabs and Jews to seek
n o n -v io le n t answers to th e ir p ro b ­
lems. He has stressed that both Jews
and Arabs are " r ig h t ” in claim ing a
homeland in Palestine/lsrael.
Father C h a k o u r’s P ortland visit is
being sp o n so re d by the P o rtla n d
New Jewish A genda. C o-sponsors
include the Rev. John Jackson (M t.
O livet Baptist C hu rch ), Father Ber­
tram G r if f in (St. A n d re w C a th o lic
C a th o lic C h u rc h ), O reg on F e llo w ­
sh ip o f R e c o n c ilia tio n , the A m e ri-
i .n Friends Service C om m ittee, and
Koi Ha Shofar.
His U .S. to u r is being arranged by
the P alestine H u m a n R ights C o m ­
m itte e and the M id d le East Peace
Project.
WE’LL STILL STAND BEHIND IT.
There are chimges coining to ftniic Northwest
Bell. But thtxisiuxls of tilings wont change.
The hundieds of service technicians like
Michael Matney. kix'piiig yixu phone lines in
working order.
The hundredsof operators like Angela Piuet.
giving o x i infonn.ition, lielpmg o x i pl.xe calls
The hundieds ol service reixesent.it ives
like Monica Weitzel.handling vixii s o v iiv
requirements.
In fact.diete will ¡ilways be thousands of
I? xxl reasons why I'tx ific Northwest Bell will
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People like Michael and Angeki ;uid Mtxiica.
Who'll still be th e ir to give >txj the reliable ser­
vice o x i cixint on.
Vxi've pmbably he;ud that in die near fu­
ture. Iticific Northwest Bell ;md other local Bell
companies w ill become separate fnxn our par
ent company, AT&T.
WTi.it w ill these ch.uiges mean to you?
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useful, now ana in the future. For homes
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.Always pmvKÜng the best services we can.
Fnxn the same dependable people
Well be Bilking with you abixit these
ckuiges as they hapoen
In ads like this. .And on television.
W’e know ytxi’ve got questions.
We w a it to make it easy for you to get
answers. So give us a call.
Call 1 tkM) 55>5000* anytime between 8am
to 11 pni, Monday thnxigh FYidav.
There'll be sixnebixh to talk to Stxnebody
to help >rxi. Soinefxxly to get yxxi infomiatMxi.
l>et s Ihlk.
TTY » 1 1 4 * wev* gtotM
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