Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 1984)
Page 2, Portland Observer, November 21,1984 Former Portland student jailed in So. Africa by BUI Bigelow I Reprinted from The Oregonian) When Kate P h ilip , an exchange student from South A fric a , left Portland’s Jefferson High School in 1979 she was asked in the school yearbook what her plans were. ” O o back hom e,” she replied, “ finish my degrees at the U n iv e r sity o f Cape Town and after that. I don’t know.” Last week Philip, 23, was arrested under South A fric a ’s sweeping In ternal Security laws. She is president o f the white N atio n al U nion o f South Africa Students. Her arrest came as no surprise to her former teachers at Jefferson and the Kurts family, 614« N. Kerby St., with whom P hilip lived for five months. Polly Kurtz, Kale Philip's Amer ican “ m other,” remembers Philip as a “ warm, kind and caring in d i vid u al” who was "alarm ed and anxious that South A fric a ’s racist government not get its way.” Philip once confided to M rs. K urtz, “ I f I ’m true to my convictions I ’ll spend some time in prison.” Jefferson High School art and photography teacher, Henry Sjo- blom, remembers her as "extremely intense, very bright. She wanted to come to Jefferson because she was tired o f living in white ghettos.” Did Philip's arrest surprise him? ü’ Kœ üiSia Ona of aevsral billboards around town displaying tba work of vandals. (Photo: Kris Altuchsrl illboards vandallized Cam paign billboards fo r city council candidates Dick Bogle and Kay Toran werre defaced recently, cently. The two billboards, on N orth Lom bard in the St. Johns area, appear to have been specifically targeted by the vandals. They are located several miles apart and no other billboards were found de faced nearby. Beards and mustaches were paint ed on the billboards, along with p ro fa n ity . “ Benson T e c h ," “ B H S ,” and " R H S ," were also prominent, raising speculation that the defacement was done by high school students. David Williams, vice-principal at Benson High School, said that if a student at Benson were found to have participated in the vandalism, an apology to Bogle and Toran would be in order as well as some community service. Vice-principal at Roosevelt High, Tom Christian, said the issue might be referred to the student council. A spokesman for the American C ivil Liberties U nion said that an Oregon law (ORS 166.133) makes it a class A misdemeanor to attack another person’s property for rea sons o f “ race, color, religion or na tional origin.” Whether a billboard paid for by a candidate can be con sidered their properly is open to interpretation, he said. The Portland Police bureau's N orth Precinct said that no com plaints had been filed regarding the billboards, and there were no suspects. Both Bogle and Toran declined to comment. " I ’d been expecting to read about it any day. She's a fighter. “ But an odd th in g .” he co ntin ued. “ She was quite enamored with her country. She didn't hate it; she just wanted to change the social system.” Philip comes from a long tradi - lion o f “ rebels,” according to Sjo- blom. Her father, David Philip, is an independent publisher in South Africa. He has published numerous books critical o f South A fric a ’s apartheid system, including several by Alan Paton, author o f Cry, The Beloved Country. Ms. Philip was in the U .S. as an exchange student with the American Field Service program. She was first placed in Lake Oswego’s Lakeridge High School. “ It reminded her too much o f her whites-only schooling in South A fric a ,” Sjoblom com mented. “ But she had to fight to gel into Jefferson, the AFS folks didn’t want her to move. ’’ A t Jefferson, P hilip joined the yearbook staff and became involved in the T V , music and dance pro grams. "She was a jo in e r ," S jo blom said, “ very outgoing, other kids loved her. She was quite pop ular.” When P hilip returned to South Africa she didn't hesitate in express ing her defiance to white rule. She wrote to the Kurtz fam ily that, "When we came o ff the plane, Theo (a close Black frie n d ) and I were holding hands. As we climbed down the ramp the Blacks at the bottom who saw us started, and pointed with exclamations. The whiles in the luggage vehicles all leaned out and watched us all the way in. " It 's not illegal. It's just not done. " T h e o 's back in Port Elizabeth and I'm back in Cape Town But we definitely got the message we were home.” At the University of Cape Town, Philip involved herself in student anti-apartheid activities. She joined the National Union o f South A fr i can Students and quickly was elect ed to its National Council. In her campaign materials she spoke bitterly o f those students not trying to change the system “ Fence sitting is not just a cop-out. it is an acceptance of the status quo. I f we as privileged students ate to to play any role in fundamental so cial change, it is necessary to lake a stand now.” Philip’s arrest comes in the wake of an extremely successful general strike launched in South A frica's Transvaal area. Tw o thirds o f the country's industry is located there. The strike was called by student organizations but "co-directed,” in the words of a participant, by South Black prisoners hold annual justice forum Coca Cola..................................„ DEP 12 oz. cans, 6 pack (Price limited to stock on bend) Sprite............................♦! St > OEPa A fric a ’s increasingly strong Black unions. The strike is significant because it reflects a heightened level o f unity in South A fric a between Black workers, students and community organizations. The governm ent's detention o f P h ilip and close to 1,000 others this year indicates how fearful the apartheid leaders are o f these developing alliances. Philip has been charged with no crime. Instead the government has detained her under the country's Internal Security laws. Accused o f violating no laws, P h ilip has no right to a tria l or legal assistance. Her imprisonment may be extended indefinitely provided the Minister of Justice continues to certify her a threat to state security. Avel G o rd ly , Southern A frica program director for the American Friends Service Committee in Port land, said, “ Things look bad for Kate. W ithout pressure on the gov ernment her family may not even be told where she is.” According to G o rd ly, torture is frequently used against detainees. As of last year 57 people are known to have died while in detention. “ She knew she was taking a ris k ,” remarked Jefferson High Social Studies teacher Joel Daniels. “ Students kept asking her, 'W h y are you going to go back?' And she would just say, ’ I t ’s my home. I want to work for justice’ .” Those people wanting to protest the detentions o f Kate P hilip and others in South Africa are urged to write: Louis Le Grange, M inister o f Law and O rder, U nion Buildings, Pretoria. Republic o f South Africa. Secret ary of Stale George Shultz, Department o f State, Washington, D .C . 20520. Send copies of your letters to: Portlanders Organized for Sou thern A frican Freedom (P O S A F ), 2249 E. Burnside A ve., P ortland, OR 97214 And Detainees' Parents Support Com mittee, P .O . Box 39431, Bramley, Transvaal. Republic o f South A f rica. 2018. CURLS Relaxera 417.00 JANAE HAIRSTYLE 4711 N. Interstate Over the period of e year, many families spend more on their hot water heaters than on two air conditioners, two colored TVs, a frost-free refnqer ator and half a dozen other appliances. When you wear foundation makeup, it should match your own skin tone. If you try changing your color too much, you can end up looking like you re wearing a mask. e More than two-thirds of Canada's population lives within 100 miles of the U.S. border. We d o ^ io ^ o business w ith South A frica American State Bank AN INDEPENDENT BANK Head Office 2 737 N. E. Union Portland. Oregon 97212 family fagt,^ Food Fixing Easy as pie to make! Quick, too. Just whip it up, with wonderful quality BIRDS EYE “ Cool Whip" Whipped Topping and it'll thrill your family's taste buds. So good, you'd better file this recipe away for when the kids say, “Is this Easy Lemon Pie Day?" They know General Foods quality is always downright delicious Uhuru Sa Sa welcome the com munity to the Second Annual Black Prisoners Forum . This probably concerns you since 51 V« o f Black males arc arrested in urban cities at least once a lifetim e. Friday. N o vember 30. 1984, the Black Prison ers Forum will take place at the King School Cafetoriam. The issue is racial disparatics in A m erica’ s Justice System. To ad dress these issues we have put together a number of interested par- lies. Robert Watson; Corrections Adm inistrator, J. C. Kenney; Sup erintendent o f the Oregon State P eniten tiary, Ron Herndon; Co- chairman of the Black United Front H alim m Rashsan, and Margaret Carter. Leading the question panel will be Ms. Lanita Duke along with other media members. There will be presentations made by inmates from the Oregon State Penitentiary. Come out November 30, 1984, from 6:00 to 9:00 p .m ., located at 4815 N .E . 7th, Portland. This concerns you. St Easy Lemon Pie™" j ---------E 3 ------- 8 Pack 16oz. Bottles (Price limited to stock on hand) GOING ST. MARKET 4601 N. Williams Phone 287-5605 Open Every Day 7 a.m.-1 a.m. Qo/Hh* Support our advertisers Say You Saw It in The PORTLAND OBSER VER t canuowrieu) emos EVE 1 cen ( 14 oz I •« 1 te M p o o n grei 1 ? cup KOXX1 |UI COOL WHIP Whippod toppm q thawed I b m e d I or »-m eh grariom crachor crum b c r u tl cootod Com bine milk lem on nnd and iw ce in large bowl Fold in whippixl topping blending well Spoon mto crusl and chill 2 Io 3 hours Garnish with .iddilKifiai whipped topping and lemon slices if desired I ■ M 249-8440
