Page 10, Portland Observer, M ay 22, 1986
Joyce Carol Thomas at PSU
Nathaniel Scot I
Avel Gordley addresses Portland Stats students
during a noon time demonstration opposing the
South African government's treatment of Blacks
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
Weekly student protests set
by Nathaniel Scotl
As (he nation wide anii-aparthcid
movement grows stronger, Students
Against Apartheid at Portland State
University (PSU) vows to continue to
demonstrate on a weekly basis.
Shouting "Freedom yes. Apartheid
no,” about 80 students, faculty and
community members demonstrated in
the South Park Block on PSU’s cam
pus last Wednesday, the demonstra
tion was against Oregon’s investment
in South A frica and to show support
for the 89 student protesters who were
arrested in Eugene May I.
PSU students, in conjunction with
other stale schools, are engaged in a
law suit-against Oregon's State Board
o f Higher Education to force divest
ment from South Africa.
The students' position is m u lti
pronged They say portions o f their
tuition fees are invested in companies
doing business with South A frica ’s
racist regime, that as lax paying c iti
zens they are forced to support apart
heid; and that institutions of learning
that supposedly teach democratic
ideas should not engage in the sup
pression o f freedom,
Avd Gordley, a member o f POSAE,
Portlanders Organized for Southern
African Freedom, speaking at the
rally last week, said PSU's movement
is part o f a nationwide concern that
students have about the rights and
dignity o f man.
tlordley congratulated PSU's Stu
dents Against Apartheid and invited
representatives from the movement to
take part in a press conference Satur
day, May 18. involving Joe Hender
son. PSU students Paquita Garatea
and Nathaniel Scott represented the
school.
Henderson, a jazz musician, has
been on the United Nations list o f
School Lunch
Menu
Monday. May 27
Memorial Day
No School
Tuesday. May 28
Deluxe Hamburger
Lettuce, Tomato Pickle
Mixed Vegetables
Golden Delicious Apple Wedges
Granola Cookie
M ilk
Wednesday. May 29
Cheddarwurst on Bun
Whole Kernel Corn
Pear Halves
Trail M ix
M ilk
Thursday. May 30
entertainers and athletes who are
being boycotted for performing in
South Africa. At the conference Hen
derson vowed not to return to South
Africa as long as the present regime
is in power. He added: " I would enlist
and become a soldier in (Bishop Des
mond) T u tu ’s army to d a y."
PSU's anti-apartheid movement,
while slowly getting started, has con
centrated on student solidarity and
the support o f House Bill 2001 that
was sponsored by Slate Representa
tive Margaret Carter. The bill would
“ prohibit new investment o f certain
state funds in companies that do busi
ness in South A frica; depositing o f
state funds in banks which loan to
South A frica; and, expending state
funds for travel in South A fric a ."
But there is growing concern, not
only at PSU, but throughout the
nation, abhout the apartheid issue in
South Africa.
Abdi Hassan, president o f PSU's
Associated African Students organi
zation, said, "In South Africa there
are more than 250 American compa
nies (and they) hire less than one per
cent o f the Black work force.”
Dr. W illiam " B ill" Little, associate
professor o f Black Studies, told the
crowd that gathered last Wednesday
that we have Africans in America
and as such, he said, " I t is our
(Black's) responsibility as African
descendants to raise issues about
African people."
"F o r a long time people have been
telling us that things (in South Africa)
have been getting better,” Ah Ram
shid, a representative o f the Organi
zation for Youth and Students o f
Iran said. "B u t! the fact (o f the mat
ter) is, nothing has changed except the
escalation o f violence 'against Black
people).”
Rotary Club
picks students
Approximately
1,000 Portland
elementary school students w ill be
recognized on Saturday, June I, 1985
by the Rotary Club o f Albina for their
efforts in a “ Service Above S e lf
project. The students selected to re
ceive a "Certificate o f Recognition"
will be nominated by their teacher,
principal, youth leader or parents in
the geographical area served by the
Rotary Club o f Albina.
The areas o f service students will
be recognized for include scholastic
achievement, service in the classroom,
service in the schixil building, service
to the community, service to a youth
organization and service to the family.
Students selected w ill be invited to
attend the Greater Albina Spring
Festival which features a special Pied
Piper Parade, the Junior Rose Festi
val Court and many other exciting
events. Each student w ill be provided
a special hamburger lunch «Hiked by
the Rotary Club o f Albina members
Break Dancing Burrito w/Salsa
Flippin Fries
Crazy Cruisin' Celery w /D ip
Sassy Cinnamon Roll
R ollin' Red Fruited Gelatin
M oonw alkin' M ilk
Friday. M ay 31
Chicken Noodle Soup
Tuna Sandwich
Lettuce A Pickle Slices
Carrol Coins w/Pcanut Butter Dip
Orange Half
M ilk
Portland Women's
Crisis Line
A PuWtc
Sonne» ot I M Z S i o l í (M tw rw r
PSU’s Students Against Apartheid
plan weekly demonstrations at 12
noon on Tuesday in the campus South
Park Block. They invite Portlanders
to jo in them in their cry for justice
and freedom for all.
“ Freedom yes, Apartheid n o ,"
they chant.
Schwartz benefit
A benefit w ill be held for the Co
lumbia River legal defense attorney,
Jack Schwartz. Schwartz is defending
Native American fishing families in
litigation for exercising their treaty
rights to fish the Columbia river and
to maintain their traditional fishing
site.
A benefit dance scheduled for May
26, 1985 (Sundv) will feature enter
tainment music by Latin salsa band
Pa'lante, (formerly Manteca); rock
and roll by Special K; and introduc
ing A rti, who w ill perform interna
tional and political new song music.
A salmon bake will open the event
at 5:30 p m , including tried bread,
potatoes and corn on the cob, at a
cost o f $3.50. The benefit dance will
begin promptly at 7:00 p m . at Saia
zar's Pine Street Theater, 215 S.E 9th
in Portland. Admission is $500
The event is being sponsored by
Artistas Indígenas, a Latina, Chi
cana and Native American associa
tion o f human rights activists and
artists. Other sponsors are Northwest
Native American fishing families and
defendants. For more inform ation,
phone 283-0448
One o f America's fastest growing
Black novelists, Joyce Carol Thomas,
appeared at Portland State University
(PSU) last week. She read excerpts
from her two novels. M arked by Fire
and Bright Shadow. Thursday, May
16 and Friday, May 17, she read from
her latest volume o f poetry. Inside
The Rainbow and treated the audi
ence to two short passages from the
novel Marked By Fire.
Thomas began Thursday's and F ri
day’s reading by explaining that her
roots sprout from Ponca C ity, O kla
homa. She said she spent most o f
her childhood in Oklahoma and that
many o f the settings her novel!,
as well as a great many o f the poems
owe allegiance to the times and the
people o f the region.
In a soft voice, Thomas said: “ In
some ways my characters parallel my
life What motivates me as a writer is
the Oklahoma vetting. In Oklahoma
we used to harvest cotton; we didn't
have TV or radio and in the evening
the old women would tell stories," she
said, as she explained how her gift
for storytelling took shape.
I use lines, sentences and sayings
to build “ stories w ithin stories," she
said. W riting novels is more involved
because I have to pay particular atten
tion to characters, dialogue and the
overall picture o f what I am trying to
convey.
“ When I write I am not analyzing
what I am w riting but I am sure it
has meaning," she said, in answer to
a question about what motivates her
to write.
She feels that we need more Ixxiks
that reflect the experience and "whoic-
somencss" o f Black people.
She said there is nothing wrong
with being called a Black or female
writer because to r me, "talent is
multidimensional and m ultiracial.”
Thomas' advice to young writers is
to write something every day. And in
JOYCE CAROL THOMAS
detense o f the ongoing argument:
Black male writers are being ignored
by the white establishment to drive a
wedge between Black man/Black
woman relationship, she said, “ The
voice o f the female is the other half o f
who we are. I am proud that I can
make a contribution to Afro-American
letters in the 80s.” She added (hat
we have, and we have always had.
Black writers, both male and female,
who were not, and who are not, get
ting published.
Heritage quilts
Two lectures on the unique contri
butions o f community groups arc the
final events in the six-nionihs-long
widely acclaimed Heritage Quilts ex
hibition at the Oregon Historical
Center, 1230 SW Park Ave., down
town Portland.
Mrs. Rodney (Anne) Youngquist
o f Canby will speak on " M y People
and My Neighbor: The Mcnnomtes
and the A m ish" from mxm to I p.m.
Tuesday, June I I , in Beaver Hall at
the Historical Center. Mrs. (Xley
J. Gates o f Portland will speak on
"A fro-A m erican Q u ilts" from mxm
lo I p.m. Thursday, June 13, in
Beaver Hall. Admission to both lec
tures is free.
Mrs. Youngquist, a member ol the
Hopewell Ni.nnonite Church, Hub
bard. has invited a group o f acap-
pella singers to appear at the leciure.
Members o f a quilting group from the
church also w ill demonstrate their
skills at the quilt frame in the ( hang
ing Quilts gallery at the Historical
Center that afternoon A native o f
lancaster County,
Pennsylvania,
Mrs. Yiiungquist lived in California
and the Philippines before moving to
Oregon.
Mrs. Gates, who is listed in Who's
WTio o f the West (1978-79), was the
«invenor o f the group that made the
Afro-Am erican Heritage Bicentennial
Commemorative Quilt (1976) now
on d-splay in the current Heritage
Quilts exhibit. In 30 blocks initialed
by each respective artist, the quilt
depicts prominent Blacks and his
torical events. A "Flow er Basket”
quilt made from 2,900 fabric pieces
by Mrs. Gates recently was displayed
in the Changing Quilts Gallery.
The Heritage Quilts exhibition —
one o f the most successful in the Ore
gon Historical Society’s 112-ycar
history — opened January 12, and
doses Saturday, June 15, at 4:45 p.m.
It has been seen by more than 27,(XX).
Jazz musician Chick Corea Interrupted his Japa
nese tour to come to Portland to speak out against
the *39 million fraud judgment against the Church of
State Representative« Margaret Carter and M ike
Burton field questions at their monthly get-together
Scientology. His wife Gail and church president
Heber Jentsch join Corea at a press conference
across from Multnomah County Court House.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
• ’ p C.C. Cascade.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)