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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 1984)
Page 2 S e < * n I Portland Observer, January 18, 1984 Bubbleville shows youthful dreams by Chuck Goodmacher M artin Luther K in *, Jr.** dream, in which all people share together in creating their collective future, be came reality last week for the chil dren o f Woodlawn and Brooklyn el ementary school* through their cre ation o f **Bubbleville." Assisted by special project leader Elijuh M i- rochnik, "Bubbleville" was the cul mination o f a two-week learning process about King’s dream— one the students are sure to remember for a long time to come. “ It's important for the kid* not just to have the-dream ." said M i- rochnik. “ but to know how to build II.” “ Bubbleville,” or the ‘/dream d om e," is an air-inflated plastic structure complete with picture* and maps o f the Woodlawn and Brookly neighborhoods as well as a model neighborhood build o f index cards. The students presented the dome to C ity Commissioner Charles Jordan last Friday at Terry Schrunk Park. In just two short weeks, Miroch- nik brought the kids from studying some o f the concepts o f King’s dream, (cooperation, compromise and understanding), to an exper ience in which the dream was shared by all. “ W e made it for M artin L u ther K ing.” said Christian King of W oodlawn Elementary School. The children learned to coopera tively resolve conflicts which arose in the design process— particularly about the shape o f the park in the model city. Some children thought “ Brooklawn P ark“ should be round and others square. One even wanted a pizza parlor in the middle of the park. A round park was final ly agreed on. “ The children learned ‘both sides w in ,' ” said M irochnik, "and that’s what they’ ve learned through the process.” Commissioner Jordan comment ed how the city looked like a very nice place to live— a city much like M artin Luther King’s dream of “ people living together, working to gether." A loud, unanimous “ yes" came in response to the Comm is sioner’s query: “ I* this the kind of city you want to live in?” "B ubbleville" is only the first of a series o f “ pairing projects” to bring together student* from d iffe r ent schools. Funding for the special projects comes from the Tri-County Talented and Gifted Fund. M iroch nik teaches architecture for the Portland Public School District. L - R: Rev. Dr. Lavi B. Baldwin, keynote apaakar at Monday’a King Day Calabratlon at Jefferson High School and Rav. Wayna M. Raynolda with TRAVEL RODERTS' P res en ts DR. LEE BROWN Carnival _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (Photo: Richard J. Brown) Trinidad Brown on crime by Lam ia Duke Grassrool News, N. W7. — Former Multnom ah County Director of Justice Services Lee Brown cele brated the birthday of the Rev. M a r lin Luther King, Jr., by telling the M etropolitan Human Relations Commission’s annual awards ban quet that it was their obligation to finish Dr. King’s unfinished busi ness. “ The dilemma that confronts us today is a confrontation between those forces which compel society to change and those forces that seek to Reynolds' portrait of Dr. King. Tha painting will hang at King Naighborhood Facility. (Photo. Richard J. Brown) • Round trip air fare • Transfers • 7 nights at the Upside-D ow n Hilton International Trinidad • Ticket to selected carnival events • Other destinations available at no additional air fare • Tour price based on double occupancy 91447°° TRAVEL RODERTS’ 3415 n e b n > * tw o v M y d re a m by Allison Oberbillig Grade 8 M y greatest dream is for equality. Equality for women, and equality among all races. I want this because the world has evolved to a place where strength and dominace is proved by one's color or sex. I know this is wrong. A person should not grow up thinking that because one is white or male, they are superior to Blacks and women. This thought is taught fror.i childhood, and it is the duty o f the children o f today to make this idea obsolete. This dream, " . . that one day the sons of former slaves and the sons o f form er slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table of broth erhood. . . ” o f M artin Luther King, Jr., is also my dream. When I was in the third grade I experienced sex discrimination for the first time. What happened was that a librarian called our classroom and asked for two strong kids to carry books for her. M y teacher sent my best friend and me down to help her. When we arrived, the librarian said, " G o back to your classroom and tell your teacher that I need (wo boys.” Furiously, my friend and I did as told, but then wrote a letter of complaint to the librarian. She called us down to her room after re ceiving the note, and explained to us that boys arc stronger than girls. We expected her explanation, but knew that we were as strong as the aver age eight-year-old boy, which, of course, was true The opinion, "boys are stronger than girls," needs to be changed. The way to do this is by teaching people the different muscle strengths o f men and women. For example, it has been proved that women have potentially stronger lower body muscles than men, while a man's upper torso is stronger than a woman's. There is a very powerful group that works to prevent my dream for equality and non-racism. This group is the Ku Klux Kian. The KKK is as sociated with the despised Nazis of Germany. The Klansmen also use the swastika emblem. The Kian trains its members to " k ill Jews and Niggers in the coming race w a r." The only way to prevent this belief from growing is to educate people. O r, perhaps I should say, in some cases, re-educate the people, as ra cism has been taught. There is a song in the musical South Pacific, entitled, “ You've Got To Be Carefully Taught.” This song tells how people learn to be ra cist, " . . . to hate all the people your relatives hate----- “ This song also explains the root cause of racism— fear. “ Y o u ’ve got to be taught to be afraid o f people whose eyes are odd ly made, or people whose skins are a different shade, you've got to be carefully taught.” This movie, made in the 1930s, is based on ra cism and the great unhappiness de rived from it. It's too bad that not enough people heard the song and many other teachings and changed their feelings. Maybe if they had. the '60s w ouldn't have been so hard for Black Americans. I ’ve encountered some racism in my life, but not as much as some kids. Since I go to Harriet Tubman Middle School, I think I have been sheltered from racism, as my school is totally integrated. I don't think that anyone at our school worries if they're sitting with a black girl or a white girl. Everyone is neutral. I had a friend who one day asked me what school I went to, and after I said "H a rrie t Tubm an” he replied, “ O h, that nigger school.” W e are no longer friends. I hope that one day my dream for equality for all Americans, all hu mans, will come true. I f it does be come a reality, I know it won't be from a wish upon a star. It will have been achieved by many hardwork ing, caring individuals. NOW to picket Republicans The Portland chapter of the N a tional Organization for Women will picket R e p u b lica n State C e n tra l Committee headquarters. 620 S.W . Fifth Avenue, Portland, at 12:00 noon on January 21, 1984, to com memorate the eleventh anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. During the protest, NO W members will distribute leaflets to educate the public about President Reagan's de sire to return to the pre-1973 era of dangerous, illegal abortion. “ Since his election. President Reagan has launched a major as sault against women's right to de cide when and whether to have chil dren. He seeks to return to a time when even rape or incest victims had to bear unwanted children, when hundreds o f women died each year from botched abortions. Yet ac cording to an August 1983 Gallup poll, only 16 percent o f Americans favor a total ban on abortion, simi lar to the one which Reagan has lob bied fo r," stated Tia Plympton, Portland chapter N O W president. "F o u r more years of this A d m in istration would virtually guarantee the reconsideration of Roe v. Wade by a more conservative Supreme Court. The President need only appoint two more justices to reverse this decision, and five o f the pro- choice justices nr w serving are over 73 years o ld ," she continued. "T h is Administration hypocrit- aclly claims to be 'p ro -life,' but real ly believes that life begins at concep tion and ends at birth. Through his budgets, policies, appointments, and regulatory proposals, Ronald Reagan has systematically attacked the quality of life for millions of American women and children. N O W believes that women simply cannot afford four more years o f a President determined to end their ability to make responsible decisions about childbearing or childrear ing ," Plympton concluded. For more inform ation, please call 244-3353 or 289-3610. • po nton e) O re g o n 9 7 2 3 2 ( 5 0 3 ) 2 8 7 1745 If your nose itches, som e say, it is a sign that you will have a fig h t. • During th e A m erican Revolution, m any brides did not w ear w h ite w ed din g gow ns; they w o re red as a sym bol o f rebellion. • W y o m in g w a s the first state to allow w o m en to vote. • T h e first sub w ay in the U .S . opened in Boston in 1897. buainoaa w ith South Africa American State Bank AN INDEPENDENT BANK Head Office 2737 N. E. Union Portland. Oregon 97212 k (Continued fro m page I, column 6) xlj Tour i n c l u d e s : ^ ^ maintain the status q u o ." This confrontation, according to Brown, exists while America plays a game o f pretending there are no problems associated with being non white or poor in America. “ Today we have three time* more Black* living under the pov erty line. We have twice a* many whites graduating from high school than non-whites, and a disparity in prison sentencing— non-whites com prise h alf o f all the jail and prison population.” Brown left Portland in 1978 to be come Atlanta's police chief. As po lice chief. Brown’s jurisdiction was during the tragedy o f Atlanta's child murders which left 23 children and three young Black men dead. In an interview, he said that investigation “ gave me an appreciation for (he neglect of young people in our soci ety— a society (hat preaches (hat children are our most precious re sources while in reality there is a great deal of abuse in many d iffe r ent ways.” Brown also said the problem o f Black-on-Black crime and the dis proportionate number o f A fro- Americans behind bars go hand in hand. "Blacks throughout the country are more likely to be the victims o f all crimes because o f the social-eco nomic problems in our society. W hile, at the same time, the A dm in istration of Justice has to be looked at in the context that over 30 percent o f those in jail or prison are non- w hite.” Brown said he was not aware if a Black police executive reduces the crime rate. “ They do bring a duality into that position. They are Black; thus they have lived the Black exper ience and understand the problems that exist and know which resources are needed I f that makes them an asset to the position then they are an asset.” Brown is currently an "asset” to Texas. He is the police chief of Houston. My dream for the world - M arch 1st - M arch 9th _________________ _________________ / MRS. C’a WIGS M a n y w ig s p n e w d a t »6 > 10 e ta '4 s §A6° Betty Cabina Proprietor Featuring wiga by N A O M I S IM S ANOREDOUQLAS BILLIE E> NATALIE COLE Hair Products “ W e h a v e e v e ry th in g y o u n e e d .“ (1) T .C .B . 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