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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 1984)
Page 2 Portland Obaarvar, January 11.1 « 4 U.S. policy'self-fulfilling prophecy' by K o b trl Lotfuan Larry Boyd, a journalist and former Portland resident who has been living in Nicaragua for four years, says the U .S . policy toward Nicaragua is having an effect just the opposite from what it intends. “ U .S . policy results in a self-ful filling prophecy,” in helping to con solidate the revolution, he said dur ing a talk at Portland State. The U .S . economic blockade, the C IA - financed border war and the threat o f intervention are keeping the spirit o f the revolution iiltact, according to Boyd. Nicaragua’s population is rallying under the threat, he said, and pushing revolutionary changes leu than 6,000. They have been able to generate a small folowing, ac cording to Boyd, by telling peasants things like, "T h e Cubans are going to come and carry your children away to Cuba and turn them into through. " T h e Sandinistas say that U.S. imperialism is going to invade and kill us. I t ’s causing programs o f the revolution to happen faster,” in cluding land reform , said Boyd. The government gives land to the pea sants and says, " H e re ’s your land, here's your rifle, now defend your land,” and the peasants are rallying behind the Sandinistas, he said. Peasants who had moved back into the hills are moving back down to form cooperatives and commu nities, according to Boyd. "T h e y ’re being socialized,” he said. Nicaragua is "experimenting with every kind of organizational fo rm " in setting up a socialized agricultural system, including large cooperative farms, peasant buying co-ops and state-subsidized fam ily farms. "T h e y haven’t settled on one model y e t," said Boyd. Land which lays fallow can be re distributed to those who need it a f ter they go through a petition pro cess, he said. Peasants who get land are not allowed to subdivide it, and "T hey can’t sell I t ," he said— but it can be passed on to fam ily mem bers. Peasants who make up the bulk o f the contra forces, said Boyd, are the victims o f “ religious-based, counterrevolutionary propaganda." Contras numbers are greatly exag gerated. he said, and probably total athicsts.” Such tactics aren’ t successful with many people, said Boyd. “ The Con tras have no organization inside the country.” he said. "T h e re ’s no way they will be able to overthrow the Nicaraguan government." The border war is probably the best known "secret w ar” ever, he said. " W e know w hat’s happening The Nicaraguans know what's hap pening. But all you get from the State Department is ‘ N o com ment.’ " He added that the much-publi cized Kiuinger C o m m iu io n ’s re port, as reported in the New York T im a , recommends continued U.S. aid to the Contras. It also asks for $400 million in military aid for El Salvador for 1984 1985. a three fold increase over I98J, and for reopen ing military aid to Guatemala. Boyd likened the situation to " a giant elephant with its head in W uh in g to n and its tail down there. I ’m supposed to report to you, how much and how hard it h its." W hat those in foreign countries must do, he said, is "lo o k and de cide whether it's a good or a bad government," and ask whether the U.S. has the right to try and over throw that government. Boyd said that solidarity efforts like the W itn e u for Peace program and the international coffee bri gades are constructive ways for North Americans to support Nicara gua. Witness for Peace volunteers, he said, go "rig ht into the heart o f the trouble” for two-week shifts to pro tect the Nicaraguans from Contra attacks, and the Nicaraguans are "very excited” about the program. Boyd said the Sandinistas are just now beginning to try and solve problems o f racism and national mi norities. 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Now, he said, “ they want both the Sandinistas and the Con tras to go aw ay.” Boyd described Honduras, on N i caragua's northern border, as a "very sad. pitiful country." "People there are not accustomed to having a voice in the govern ment," said Boyd. There's not much o f an organized opposition, he said, and no one speaks out. “ The H o n durans are used to being dominated by the U .S ., and most people think that’ s the way it’s supposed to be.” Most Hondurans "really don’t care" about the Contras on their border. " T h e y ’re pretty apathetic." said Boyd. "T h e re’s not much Nicaragua can do about it ," when it is accused of being subversive influence in the re gion, according to Boyd. "W hen Nicaraguan peasants get land for free, that’s subversive” to dictator ships in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, he said. Wood heads PCC craft program, Northeast Portland resident C liff Wood has been named supervisor of the Professional Crafts Program at Portland Com m unity College ef fective immediately. According to Bob Hilger, who ad ministers separate projects for PCC , W ood's duties will include setting up new training programs for dis abled veterans and injured workers in Oregon and southwestern Wash ington. The Professional Crafts Program is a statewide program whereby P C C contracts directly with employ ers who retrain injured workers. "W o o d will work directly with stu dents and be responsible for approv ing the various training sites state w ide," says Hilger. Over J00 stu- dents currently are enrolled in the program. "T h e Professional Crafts Pro gram has been around for quite a w hile," says W ood. " I t ’s just been on the back burner." He explains that the college is now in the process o f directing more resources into the program. One of the ways W ood believes the program will attract more parti cipants s through working with high school students. "There are a number of students who don t feel comfortable about going on to col lege." he says. "1 want to identify the student who doesn’t want to handle the English-math-science sit uation but who would feel com fort able in a crafts type setting. There’ s a good future in that fie ld ." A native o f Washington, D .C ., Wood first came west on a basket ball scholarship to a small college in Wyoming. He transferred to Pacific University during his third year of college and later participated in the B-2 program through Oregon State University, training out o f Adams High School. He coached junior varsity at Roosevelt High School and worked for two years in Portland grade schools. H e’s worked at Portland Community College since 1977, most recently as a job developer and counselor through the Refugee Em ployment Program at the Ross Island Center. ________ CUFF WOOD_________ Portland NAACP features Miner Darrell M illn er, chairman o f the Portland State University Black Studies Department, will speak at the Portland Branch N A A C P meet ing this Sunday. M illn er’» talk will focus on his work in multi-ethnic education and ways citizens can contribute. He w ill also discuss Dr. M artin Luther King’s contribution to Black Studies. Dr. M illner has lived in Portland since 1970, coming to Portland from Southern C alifornia to work in the Teacher Corps Program at Jefferson High School and to com plete doctoral studies in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of " It All Started on a Bua” la the thama of a Trl- Mat/Scanner sponsored campaign calling attention to the fact that Dr. Martin Luther King’s Involvement In the Civil Rights Movement began In Montgomery Alabama In 1MB when Rose Perks refueed to take a seat In the beck of the bus. School District. City and Tri-Met officials road the bus to King Neighborhood facility to honor King. There Mayor Ivancle proclaimed Dr. Martin Luther King week In Portland end Jim Loving. Facility director, announced the commleelonlng of a plaque of King for the Facility. (Photo: Richard J. Brown) Oregon. He has been a member o f the Black Studies faculty at Portland State since 1974. teaching courses in Afro-Am erican History, A fro -A m erican Literature, and A fro -A m eri can Oregon History. Since 1978 he has been involved with the community based efforts to upgrade the treatment o f Black and other ethnic experiences in the public schools. This involvement evolved this year into the assign ment to revise the School District's basic curriculum documents from the inclusion o f multi-ethnic and multi-cultural inform ation as well as the design of related teacher-train ing activities. The meeting will be held at the M t. Sinai Comm unity Baptist Church, 602 N .E . Prescott, 4:00 p .m ., Sunday, January 15th. DR. 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