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Page 2, Portland Observer, December 26,1984
LEW WILLIAMS CADILLAC
P.C.C. incubator business robbed
by bob Lotbtan
Executive C u tio m Ta ilo rin g In terna
tio n a l, a new b u tin e tt lest than three
months old and part of the business incu
bator program at P C C Cascade, was
cleaned out o i its merchandise Frid ay
nighi December 2 1st.
Ihe robbery was a rude C hristmas pres
enl fo r owner W illie Banks. H e said a
recent shipment o f J5 men's suits valued at
about 514,000 was taken by the ro b
bers, who also made o ff with an electric
typewriter and bank deposit slips The rob
bers appeared to have entered through a
window in Banks’ office at the Cascade
Business Center at 57 J N Killingsworlh
" O h boy, what a way to start a busi
ness," said Banks " I'm trying to promote
jobs, and this is just a real setback. I'm
just disgusted, that's all.”
Banks said the stolen items were covered
by insurance, and while the robbery was a
setback, he was ready to bounce back
" W e 'r e going on with the business,"
said Banks, who intends to go ahead with
plans for a shop downtown at the Gallena
and for a training program for 20 unem
ployed men and women
Executive Tailoring was accepted into
the incubator program in November PCX
by PCC. The college, in conjunction with
the Small Business A dm inistration, pro
vides a shelter for up to three years until
the new businesses are on their feet and
can move into the community
Businesses accepted into the incubator
program must be at least 50 percent minor-
ity or female owned and at least half
owned by neighborhood residents Owners
work under a three year plan with a con
sulting group o f C P A s, attorneys and
marketing people, and they agree to hire
and train unemployed or underemployed
workers and to try and locale their bust
next in the low income community
One of the six incubating businesses at
the center. Magnum Protective Services,
owned by Karl Johns, was the recipient of
the first minority business loan from the
Portland Development ( ommission
WILLIE BANKS
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
provides Banks with an office and work
space for his four seamstresses and tailors
and their equipment at low rent. Secre
tarial and janitorial help, accounting, pay
roll and computing services are provided
Banks' four employees work at custom
fitting of clothes for men, women and chil
dren " W e 'll actually come to your busi
ness and custom tailor your suit," he said
"W e deal in high quality merchandise, af
fordable to anyone within a reasonable
price range " A bo . Banks added. "I plan
to train some o f the best tailors in the
dry.”
633N.E. 12th
Portland. Oregon 97206
“ I like to see people dress nice and look
good," said Banks “ It's very important ui
the job market to look your best.” E x
pressing concern for the unemployed and
disadvantaged. Banks said he plans to
contact such people "and help them in any
way to prepare for future jobs."
Banks does not shirk work " I ’m a man
that takes on resp o n s ib ility," he said.
" M y dad trained me to take on responsi
bility and do a good job, and that's what I
plan to do w ith this business." W hile
the robbery is a m om entary setback.
Banks said that by the end o f three years
he hopes to have 20 employees, a shop
downtown and connections with Hong
Kong clothing manufacturers
Examining the laws of apartheid.............
It*» a “ crim e” fo r a black couple
from tw o separate areas, or "h om e
la n d s ,” in South A fr ic a io m arry.
" Im a g in e , i t ’ s like p ro h ib itin g a
M arylan d er fro m wedding a G eo r
gian,” says Dr. Nana Seshihe, a Black
South African expatriate.
I l ’s also illegal for a Black to super
vise a white in South Africa. Ironical
ly, this collides w ith the Sullivan
Prin ciples, w hich encourage U .S .
companies in South Africa to advance
Blacks in to management positions,
she indicates.
And it’s sure detention for a Black
South A fric a n caught in ' ‘ w h ite ”
South Africa without a pass.
These are everyday realities Blacks
face under the ra c ia lly segregated
system o f a p a rth e id , according to
Seshihe (pronounced Sea-she-be), a
professor in the H o w a rd University
A frican Studies and Research P ro
gram.
M a n y A m ericans are aw are o f
ap artheid only in a general sense.
But the laws o f the land that Blacks
must abide by, or su ffer stark con
sequences, paint a m ore com plete
picture, she emphasizes.
Since Bishop Desmond Tutu, gen
eral secretary o f the South A fric a n
Council o f Churches, was named the
1984 winner o f the Nobel Peace Prize,
sensitivity and awareness o f the impli
cations o f apartheid have heightened.
H is con tin u in g denouncem ent o f
apartheid as evil and im m oral, liken
ing it to Nazism and C om m unism ,
has echoed around the globe.
But South A fric a’s commitment to
ap artheid — or separatio n o f the
races — holds deep roots, formulated
into policies that exclude participation
by 23 million Black South Africans in
the a ffa irs o f a governm ent d o m i
nated by the 4 .7 m illio n w hite m i
nority.
Indeed, South A fric a is a nation
ruled by law — laws that sustain
apartheid despite m ounting w o rld
wide criticism p o in tin g to hum an
rights violations.
Since the inception o f apartheid in
1948, m ore than 350 laws or acts
targeted solely tow ard Blacks have
been passed, says Seshihe.
These are laws made by the white
m inority government w ithout input
from Blacks, who are denied the right
to vote or hold office.
" N o b o d y interprets, or counsels
Blacks on the laws," stresses Seshihe.
“ They only learn about the laws after
they are applied to them ."
A key instrum ent to co n tro l the
movement o f Blacks in South Africa
is the "pass law s,” initiated in the
1950s. Every Black in "w h ite” South
A fric a must he able to produce a
"pass h o o k ” to au th o rities on de
mand or face a host o f penalties,
including imprisonment.
In 1982, more than 200,000 people
were arrested under (he pass laws.
National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
284 7722
according to a report citing the
Johannesburg Star newspaper.
Because most o f the nation's eco
nomic activity is in the w hile areas,
the pass laws play a significant role
in labor control,
M illio n s o f Africans are migrant
workers who must leave their rural
hom elands fo r em ploym ent in the
cities, having to travel long distances
and living away from their families in
barracks-like hostels.
Says Seshihe: “ A father may work
in a factory or mine in Johannesburg
while the mother may work as a serv
ant in Capetown, leaving the children
A PuMc Senne» ut lite
Portland Observer
As a result o f the act, some families
were forced to separate and fam ily
members prohibited form visiting un
less expressly permitted by the gov
ernment, says Seshihe.
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LA W A N D A
BJ
The Self-Government Act is intend
ed to make the homelands independ
ent nations w ith in South A fric a ,
stripping Africans of their citizenship,
Seshihe emphasizes, pointing to Bish
op Desmond Tutu's status as an ex
ample. The Nobel Peace Prize winner
in a speech at How ard University in
November noted: " I travel on a docu
ment that describes my nationality
as 'undetermined at present'.”
BISHOP DESMOND TUTU
behind with elders or left alone to take
care o f themselves. This is a method
of destroying ihe whole family unit.”
The educator also points out that
Blacks are primarily relegated to me
nial jobs. "T h e re is no place for an
A fric a n decision-m aker in any ca
pacity (under apartheid).’*
U n d er the In te rn a l Security and
Terrorism acts, almost any person can
he detained w ithout charge or trial,
and held incommunicado indefinitely
for posing a challenge to the regime.
" B o th are so loosely d ra fte d that
Am erican courts w ould almost cer
tainly rule similar statues unreason
ably vague," says the 1981 report of
the Study Commission on U.S. Policy
Toward Southern A frica, chaired by
F ra n k lin A . T ho m as, president o f
Ihe Ford Foundation.
And there is considerable evidence
to show that political detainees are
commonly tortured and abused d u r
ing inierrogation iy security police in
South Africa, according to a spokes
woman with Amnesty International,
which m onitors abuses o f hum an
rights globally.
Looking back
at 1984
(Continuedfrom Page I, Column 6)
photographs o f her w ith another
w om an. Voters gave O regon the
death penalty, a Citizen U tility Board
and four more years o f the Reagan
Administration.
Charles Leech became a victim o f a
motiveless shooting as he is shot by a
white male on U n io n A venue.
Hop«
3 0 6 N E 20th
Portland OR 9 7232
In 1959 — 11 years a fte r the de
scendants o f early D utch settlers
launched apartheid — the Afrikaner
government introduced the Self-Gov
ernment Act that divided and forced
the Africans into 10 separate "hantus-
lan areas,” or “ h om elan ds," fra g
mented by their 10 respective native
tongues.
By driving each African-language
group to separate rural homelands,
com m unications am ong A frican s
have been m inim ized, adds the pro
fessor of African languages.
Africans are also barred from re
siding in any o f the small or m ajor
dries, and are divided along linguistic-
lines in townships outside the urban
centers. The “ co lou reds" and In
dians are restricted to designated
urban areas, too.
A Public Service of the
Portland Observer
Reared in Soweto (South-Western
Townships), home o f some 2 million
Blacks near Johannesburg, Seshihe
recalls being arrested and b riefly
jailed, along with her father, for cor
responding with associates in another
country.
A fter fleeing her native land, Se
shihe completed her high-school edu
cation in Tanzania. Subsequently, she
earned degrees at American schools,
including a doctoral degree in edu
cation from the University o f Massa
chusetts.
W h ile c o n tro l o f the land is the
foundation o f the apartheid system,
233-6451
Banks, 37, is a c iv il engineer in road
design far the U.S Dept of Agriculture in
Portland In his spare time, he volunteers
as a social worker on hu own and with the
N .W . Pilot Project helping senior citizens
As part o f his volunteer work he started a
clothes closet for seniors and disadvan
taged people, gaining the expertise that led
him to start his ta ilo rin g business. A l
though not a tailor himself, he employs
several S.E. Asians who are excellent tail
ors, he said.
Bishop T utu won the I98 4 Nobel
Peace Prize and the Rainbow C o ali
tion still glows in the form o f the Ore
gon Rainbow Organizing committee.
Seshihe points oul, Ihe Nalive Land
Act o f I 9 l 3 and the Native Trusl and
lztnd Act o f 1936, both iniliated un
der British rule, apportioned 13 per
cent o f South A fric a 's land to Ihe
A fric a n m a jo rity w hile the w hile
minority retained 87 percent, includ
ing much of the mineral-rich land.
Detroit
protests
(Continued fro m Page I, Column 3)
to give up her seal in a Montgomery,
Alabama, bus in 1955 helping to forge
Ihe civil rights movement, w ill he a
featured speaker along w ith C o n
gressman John Conyers.
Parks, 71, was arrested at the
South African Embassy in Washing
ton last week. She joined the scores of
p olitical and sp iritu a l leaders who
have been arrested in fo u r weeks
o f anti-apartheid protests at the Em
bassy.
A t a press conference afte r a re
ception held by TransAfrica's Detroit
support committee on December 16,
a panel consisting o f Congressman
John Conyers, Georgia State Senator
Julian Bond, Detroit M ayor Coleman
Young and TransAfrica (D .C .) exec
utive director Randall Robinson dis
cussed strategies o f the Free South
A frica movement and the likelihood
o f it influencing U .S . policy toward
apartheid. Robinson had this to say:
" W e ’ re in 15 cities now. I see this
spreading throughout the United
States and E u ro pe. I can v irtu ally
promise that in January, in D .C ., you
w ill see hundreds o f arrests. W e’ ve
lim ited the arrests in D .C . to three
per day with great difficulty. Ronald
reagan has never denounced ap art
heid in the way that he did last week,
and in strong terms. That is the first
step toward the dismantlement of an
unacceptable foreign policy."
W hat w ill he the fate o f South
A fric a ’ s 23 m illion Blacks? " W h a t
ever the South African government
docs to rein fo rce the status quo,
Black forces inside Ihe country will
eventually alter i t , ” says the 1981
report by the Study Commission on
U .S . Policy T o w a rd Southern A f
rica.
Aspartame, like all of our foods, is a chemical. Our
consumption is expected to be less than 1.6 grams per
day. Only one out of 15,000 people, those with a genet
ic defect, need to control the phenylalanine content of
their diet.
•
Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman became
the center of a controversy in 1910 when she wore the
first one-piece bathing suit.
•
But a white South African quoted
in a recent Parade magazine article
noted: "Y o u know, the real name of
the game here is pow er. A n d eco
nomic power is the power in South
A fric a . This is why the whites here
will fight to the hitter and bloody end
to retain it.”
Bishop T u tu believes that " th e
only way to avoid a bloodbath w ill
he i f the in te rn atio n al com m unity
comes to our aid.”
President Theodore Roosevelt shook hands w ith
8,513 people at the 1907 New Year's Day W hite House
presentation.
We d o jio u io business w ith South Africa
American State
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