Portland Observer, May 15, 1985, Page 3
METROPOLITAN
Dodds awarded grant
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All hough several authors have
touched on the subject in incidental
fashion, none to date hase concen
trated their writing in Portland's civil
rights movement during its critical
formative years from I*M1 to 1953.
according to Dr. Gordon B Dodds,
professor o f history at Portland State
University.
Dr. Dodds w ill launch a research
project this summer to explain how
Portland (and to some extent the stale
as a whole) changed during this com
paratively short period o f lime from
what he calls " , . .a very bigoted com
munity to one in which almost all
legal and inform al harriers to freedom
were removed."
In late March, the Oregon C om m it
tee for the Humanities awarded
Dodds a $2,000 summer fellowship to
help support his professional inquiry.
As part o f the funding agreement, the
PSU historian has agreed to submit a
scholarly article to aprofessional
journal for publication, and to deliver
public presentations on results o f his
work in at least two Oregon com
munities.
"T h is is a period in local history
that many Oregonians have regarded
like the weather, to some degree.
We’ve talked about it, but we really
haven't done much about chronicling
it , " said Dodds. “ W ith good fortune,
perhaps this new research w ill begin
filling in the historical blanks,” he
concluded.
The period in question begins in
1941 with the arrival o f a large num
ber o f Black war workers in Portland
— the first substantial contintent o f
Blacks in Oregon's history — and
eloss with the passage o f the state’s
public accomodations law in 195 J
Dr. IXxlds identifies the Iswcal civil
rights movement as led by perhaps 30
men and women who worked through
grass-roots organizations which ad
dressed neighborhixxl concerns, the
admission o f Black students to local
beauty schools, difficulties ol Blacks
in securing homes in "w h ite " neigh-
borhixxls, employment in sides posi
tions in department stores and super
markets, equitable insurance rales,
and discrimination in public accom
modations. These Portlanders accom
plished much Uxally through educa
tion and persuasion.
Many o f them also were instru
mental in securing a state fair em
ployment practices law in 1949 and a
state public accomnuxlations law in
1953, both o f which were among the
first in the nation, according to
IXxlds
Children from Yunnan province in Chine performed native dances
for Portland audiences last weekend.
(Photo: Richard J Brown)
Obo Addy and Candice Goucher at the opening of African Art from
Portland Collections at Portland State
(Photo Richard J Brown)
African art at PSU
depicts rich heritage
by Nathaniel Scott
"Between Realms: A frican Art
fro m Portland Collectins," opened
with a thump. Ah thumper, thump,
thump. The thumper, thump, thump
drumming o f Master Drummer Obo
Addy brought the feeling o f the A fri
can continent to the 200 or so people
who gathered at Portland State U ni
versity's (PSU's) opening ceremonies
for the school's major art exhibit for
the 1984-85 academic year. Thump
Ceremoniously,
Dr.
Candice
Goucher, Black Studies assistant pro
fessor and the guest curator o f the
exhibit, with the help o f Master
Drummer Obo Addy, poured a liba
tion and poetically asked our African
ancestors to bless the art exhibit.
Addy, speaking in his native A fr i
can language, and Goucher, reading
the traditional poem in English, said:
“ Departed ancestors, this drink is for
you/M other Earth, receive this d rin k /
As custom requires we pour this drink
for you/W e call on you this Friday
evemng/We have gathered to cele
brate the African continent/Let our
meeting be truthful and g ixxl/L e t it
be a blessing for the study o f Africa
at PSU/Come and drink, all those
departed and between realms/Let
our energy combined be directed
toward easing the suffering o f A fr i
can peoples/Long life to (African
studies at PSU)/Long life to all who
have gathered here/I.et us succeed in
all our undertakings/Let this work be
crowned with success.” And then the
doors were flung open to the beauty
o f African art.
Black sculptured figures aged time’s
healing hand o f beauty; masks com
manding places that streamed long
ago into the here and now; knives,
arrows, coins and crosses speaking
the diversity o f Black craftsmen;
showcasing the long and tedxxis hours
visions o f reality entailed, and the
beauty o f African resounded with ah
thumper, thump, thump.
To enter the l.ittm an Gallery where
the art objects breathe the beauty o f
time, is to step into, not back to,
Africa. One can almost hear chants o f
fertility rites; the asking o f the gods
for the abundance o f rain; and the
pleads with "departed" ancestors to
light the way into the nether world: to
hold in abeyance "Between Realms."
The oldest piece in the exhibit.
The Standing Figure, comes from
Dogon, Mali in West Africa. The pet
rified wood work o f art, "easily is
400 to 500 years o ld .” And bedazzle-
ment is the only way to explain the
feathered headdress from the Camer-
oons in West A frica; whose splendid
colors denote the status and the posi
tion o f the wearer. Most likely,
Goucher said, the one who wore it
would have been o l political im por
tance and the circle (how the feathers
fan out) represents the circle ol the
person's followers.
The suggestiseness o f the many ob
jects; how they How toward natural
rhythms and actions; and the continu
ation o f hues blending tones ol ele
gance. are spellbinding
The art is suggestive o f a people
whose visions were visions o f reality.
They represent the beauty ol decora-
lion and the importance o f function
ality. The artists' natural adherence
to completeness, stirs the envy o f the
pixel. And the history o f A frica that
has gotten waylaid in the shuffle ol
European indoctrination blooms like
lilies o f the field.
State
Representative
Margaret
Carter, who rushed in from Salem to
view the delightful art gifts from the
motherland, remarked that: " I came
down for the reception because I
think it ’s very important. I think (tens)
many o f we Black people have lost our
identity.” Thumper, thump
"Between Realms: African Art
From Portland Collections,” runs
through June 14 The art objects can
be viewed in the l.ittm an Gallery on
the second flix ir in Smith Memorial
Center And in addition to the art
objects, there a;e some stunning black
and white photographs by Paul Ge-
bauer. in both the While and Silver
Galleries, which are also oil the sec
ond floor.
Gebauer's photographs capture the
realism o f man's struggle with na
ture. Anguish, joy, sorrow and the
determination to be blazed black as
m idnight’s beauty And the tender
ness o f the artist’s skill lives in the
essence o f his work. Truly, it's a sight
to behold.
A footnote to "Between Realms”
is “ Caribbean Culture: The African
Presence." which is a three week sum
mer study abroad program offered in
Jamaica and Santo Domingo.
The Caribbean summer program is
a six-credit course and it will be led
and directed by PSU’s Black Studies
Chairman, Dr Darrell M illner Par
ticipants w ill depart from Portland
July 13 and return August 4 Addi
tional inform ation may be obtained
by calling the American Heritage
Association, 635-3702, or PSU’ s
Black Studies Department. 229-3472.
PSU’s art exhibit should be a must
on school curriculums and commun
ity organizations looking for things to
interest children; to teach children; to
provide children with the incentive to
become inquisitive. Those who want
to inspire children to understand the
birthright o f mankind, should look
no farther than "Between Realms:
African A rt From Portland Collec
tions."
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