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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 1985)
Page 6, Portland Observer, January 23, 1985 Black cultural history defies stereotypes by Robert L ot b u n Two African art and muwc experu, in P o rtlan d to train teachers in the Po rtlan d School D istric t's A fric a n education curriculum , spoke at M t. Olivet Baptist Church on Jan. 7. They were Michael Harns, art pro fessor, poet and artist fro m M o re house C ollege in A tla n ta , G eo rg ia, and songw riter and television p er sonality Oscar Brown, Jr., Chicago, The media continues to portray Blacks negatively, said Harris, while history and the actual art produced by A fric a n s denotes a high degree o f intelligence and sophistication. R acial stereotypes — he showed slides o f "uncivilized" Blacks in A fri ca taken from book illustrations and cans o f "m am m ie yams" — are really continuations o f the slave driver men tality "used to manipulate u s," said Harris. " T h e y d o n ’ t have to be vio le n t, they can be subtle, but their overall effect in the long run is the same. The accumulation of that pain begins to affect you. " T h e images can be used as wea pons and the important thing is, how these images beat children into sub mission, how they bloody their psyches." Harris said he couldn't escape the racial stereotypes during a recent trip to Hong Kong. A shopkeeper there tried to tell him that Black American athletes are so gixxl because they have bigger lungs. W atch ing television later, he realized that people there are being bombarded with the same negative images. " S o it's more im p o rtan t than we re a liz e ," he said. "T h e s e images got over there and turned him around.” H a rris also showed what looked like before and after slides of Michael Jackson, sugesting that the en ter tainer had plastic surgery to disguise his facial features. " H is talent is awe some, but did he have to d ilu te his racial characteristics to appeal more to a white audience?," asked Harris. Harris also referred to the Big Lie about Africa. "Egypt has always been in Africa, and Black Africans created E g y p t," he said. A Black leader, Memes, united upper and lower Egypt in 3100 B .C . and a city. M em phis, was named after him. Greek civilization, the first E u ro pean civilization, d id n 't come along until about 2 ,5 0 0 years later, and much o f what Greece contributed to western civilization had roots in Egypt, he said. H arris showed slides o f an cient African sculpture “ on the level o f the greatest G reek w o r k ," and then he brought the discussion up to d ale w ith slides o f the w ork o f modern Am erican Black artists. "M a y b e 20 m illion o f us died in the METRO M iddle Passage, but what is African in us did not die,” said Ham s. Oscar Brow n, J r., made parallel observations about music. "T h e mu sic o f A fric a starts w ith the d ru m , the music o f A fric a starts w ith the dance," Brown said as he began his d ram atic o ral history presentation backed by a drum m er and piano player. " E v e n after so many years after having left Africa, we still carry that rhythm o f the drum with u s," he said. But with slavery, said Brown, "The children o f the drum became the chil dren o f bondage." W ork songs and spirituals kept the music alive and led to the blues, and then came song writer Scott Joplin. Joplin's M ap le L e a / Rag became the first million seller in the history of the world, said Brown. "Ragtim e by the turn o f the century had taken over the country and a large part of the world. The rhythm o f A frica be gan to take over, and a lot o f white people hated it.” Joplin spent most o f his small for tune trying to produce a ragtime op era and ragtime ballets. Though his music is popular and in flu en tia l to this day (his tune Tbe E n te rta in e r was the theme song fo r the m ovie, “ The S tin g "). Joplin was im pover ished when he died and he was buried in an unmarked grave. W ith Louts A rm strong and King Oliver, jazz began to upstage ragtime and take over the music scene, pro ducing "perhaps the greatest A m eri can com poser" — D uke Ellington. "T he Africans had a very complex sense o f rh yth m , very syncopated, and Europeans had a very confused sense of time. The Europeans had to resist because the drums made them uncom fortable___ they couldn't en slave this sense o f rhythm ," " W h e n we met the w hite people they were doing the polka and the minuet.........now they're trying to do the boogaloo as hard as they can. So don't be ashamed that God gave you rhythm,” said Brown Michael Harris and Oscar Brown. Jr., wara in Portland racantly to train taachars in tha history of African and Black American art and music. (Photo: Richard J. Brown) Buy Meat! A ssorted End A nd C en ter Cuts, Bake O r Pan Fry, A p p ro xim ately 5-Pound Pack. No Lim it A t S a fe w a y , Save Up To 49* Lb Save Up To 50« Lb Nalley’s Chili Regular Or Hot 15-0unce Can Pacific Friend, 6.5-Ounce Can (Continuedfrom Page I, Column 6/ alert the Black community to Metro's A .A . inactivity. " I'm disappointed to hear they have not made any progress. But M etro's A .A . record is the rule and not the exception. There is no A .A . activity at the C ounty, C ity or State level. People who are committed to fairness must put pressure on Metro. If not, institutions such as Metro w ill only come out w ith bogus E E O reports that are as phony as a three- dollar b ill." D a p o S obem ehin, E m p loym ent Specialist for the M etro p o litan H u man Relations Commission, said he fell that lip service to A . A . ought to be against the law. "Institutions have no respect for A . A . They know they can get away with it. One should not w onder why there is a high unem ployment rate in the city among m i n orities. In s titu tio n s refuse to hire them ." Willie Harris, Regional Civil Rights D ire cto r fo r the D e partm en t o f tra n s p o rta tio n , said, " I f M e tro is not achieving their goals, then they are not adhering to their affirm ative action plan." W illiam Port, C ivil Rights O fficer for the Urban Mass Transportation A d m in istratio n ( U M T A ) , annually reviews M e tr o ’ s A . A . com pliance. As a grant recipient o f Federal H igh way dollars M etro must comply with U M T A 's A .A . provisions. These provisions call for a goal, policy and timetable. M etro ’s Council adopted an A . A . ordinance on December 20, 1983. The problem is not recruitment but hiring and retention. Fort said he will evalu ate M e tro in context o f their goals. In light o f this investigation Fort said he will review M e tro ’s A . 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