Page 4. Portland Observer, September 25,
1906
METROPOLITAN
Civil Rights activists honored
bv Jerry ( turner
Last S aturday, a re ce p tio n fo r
HdVw.HxJ Bums was held in the home
Headstart goes to college, or
Ms. PMSC weds Mr. Model Cities
I lie A lb in a M in iste ria l A lliance's
Hughes Mem orial Head Start ( enter
(a fo rm e r P o rtla n d M e tro p o lita n
Steering
( o u im itle e
(P M S C )
program ) has just been re located to
the P o rtla n d C o m m u n ity ( ollege
Cascade cam pus (a fo rm e r M odel
(Tiles project). M r Bud I nierv. the
I xecutive Dean o f the ( ascade cam
pus, said, the college is very proud ot
tins jo in t e ffo rt which w ill allow the
college and the Head Start program to
m u tu a lly address b o th c o m m u n ity
and student needs fo r c h ild care by
sharing resources F in e ry fu rth e r
states that this represented the
( ascade cam pus’ c o n tin u in g com
initm eii, to being a relevant resource
to the lix a l community.
M rs I lame H a rris o n , the head
teacher tor the ( enter expressed her
enthusiasm tor the new venture, " I t
seems so a p p ro p ria te to have o u r
children's earliest sctiool experience to
be located on a college campus. I he
facilities ate gieal, and I'm especially
lo o k in g fo rw a rd to developing
relationships between our Head Start
stall and the stall and students of the
( ascade campus."
" ( hild care services hi the Center
w ill begin wit), the (all te rm ," accor
ding to A it Byrd, Director ot Student
Services. He said that all 21 slots are
tille d at this tune, w itli over hall ol
them being occupied by children ol
P o rtla n d ( o m m u n iiy C ollege s tu
dents. He added that a waiting list is
being kept by the Head Start ( enter
lo r fu tu re openings ( l o r in f o r
mation, call 283 2541. ext Rib j
Byrd indicated that in tins joint col
lege/com m unity e ffo rt, I ’CC is p ro
viding the fa c ility , utilities, custodial
and other maintenance, and meals
( luldren between the ages o l three
and to e attend six hours a day. live
class a week, at no chaige to parents
who meet the federal low incom e
guidelines I en percent o f the slots are
open to fa m ilie s whose incom e is
above the guidelines.
1 lie campus C o o rd in a to r lo r
( om im m iiv Relations, Nick Barnett,
reflected that local c o m m u n ity
residents who remembei PMS( and
M odel ( ities can take pleasure in
noting that the Hughes Head Start
( enter (w hich was one ot the best
program s Iro m P M S ( I and the
(a sca d e
campus
(w h ic h
was
originated as one ot the finest projects
Model ( ities undertook) have joined
hands in o rd e r to better serve the
community
ot H alim Rahsaan burns is a well-
noied black lawyer, activist, pvx-t and
scholar. Mr burns was in Portland as
the honored guest speaker at the 1985
Annual 1 und Raising D inner ol the
N ational I awyers G u ild w hich was
held at the Cosmopolitan Hotel.
burns p a rtic ip a te d in the C iv il
Rights Movement in the South where
he jo in e d the Student N o n -V io le n t
C oo rd in a tin g C om m ittee to register
voters and leach in a Freedom School.
In 1967, he jo in e d the s ta ff ot the
N A A C 'P
I egal
Defense
and
I duca tio n I und, Inc . and became
C hief Counsel to the Poor People's
( ainpaign As N ational D irector ol
the N a tio n a l C onference o l black
I aw vers, burns defended the black
Panthers and Angela Davis W hile a
Visiting Professor at Sunny Schixil ot
1 aw. he became duel counsel lot the
Attica Deleuse
burns has w ritten tw o books, I he
I orcev <»/ Vegro P rotest in Am erica
and Pin tun unit American I uh but
ns c u rre n tly directs the C enter lo r
I egal I ducation and I r ban Policy at
(Tlv ( ollege ol New York and serves
as N a tio n a l Vice President o l the
National I awyeis ( mild
burns said that racism can be
found throughout the entire crim inal
justice system, and blacks and other
m in o ritie s are the victim s o f this
racism W hen asked if there is a
relationship between the d isp ro p o r
tionate number o f blacks in prisons
across the nation and the small num
ber o f black lawyers, burns replied,
"as far as my knowledge, there hasn't
been a study to show i f there is a
relationship between the lack o f Black
atlornies and the over-imprisonment
o f Blacks.”
Burns did m ention that although
there is a surplus o f lawyers in the
Uni led States, there is a shortage o f
Black lawyers Burns pointed out that
Blacks make up 12 percent o f the
p o p u la tio n , hoever, they represent
o nly 3 percent o f the N a tio n 's
lawyers. " I I there were more Black
a tlo rn ie s, I am sure m ore Black
détendants would choose them ," says
Burns, "w h e th e r this w ould reduce
the number ol Blacks receiving prison
sentencing is d o u b tfu l."
W h ile the goal o f the A m erican
system ot justice is tairness, it is tar
Irom realized, stated Burns I he law
itself, the administration o f the law by
the police and judges, and the prisons,
all express bias against Blacks and cer
tain categories of people.
W hen asked to comment about the
merit ot lias mg civilian review boards
to m onitor the investigation o l com-
H aywood Burn* (left). Kathleen Herron (right), and Ron Herndon (not
shown) w ere honored by the National Lawyer* Guild
(Photo Richard Brown)
p la in ts against police departm ents
because the police, in most cases, will
not handle them o b je ctive ly, Burns
replied that less than one percent o f
all com plaints registered against the
police nation wide arc sustained by
the internal investigation division o f
police departm ents. I o have the
police investigate themselves is
ludicrous, says Burns
I he theme ol Burns’ keynote add
ress was " F ig h t
Racism;
A
Celebration ol Struggle and Progress
in the 8 0 's ." Burns spoke about
Reaganism and the surge o f racism
and social decay in America Burns
also said that the Reagan A d
m in istra tio n has done great damage
to progress made d u rin g the c iv il
rights eta He criticized the A dm inis
tration’s attacks on affirm ative action
programs and the lack o f concern for
the p«x»r
Besides h o n o rin g Burns, the
National I awyers (.mild honored two
local c iv il rights activists, Kathleen
H erron and Ron Herndon, for their
work in fighting racism. Herron is co-
fo u n d e r o f the C o m m u n ity I aw
Project, a feminist neighborhood law
clinic. She has represented battered
women and juveniles. H e rro n also
directed the P ortla n d Black I tided
Front legal clinic.
Herndon was co -founder and direc
ted the Portland Black E ducational
t enter fro m 197»-80 and cu rre n tly
serves as D ire c to r o f the A lb in a
M in is te ria l A llia n ce Head Start
Program. Herndon also co-founded
the P o rtla n d C hapter o f the Black
United I ront. I he Front was mslru
m ental in the establishm ent o f the
Portland C itizens Police A udit C orn-
rnitlee.
lit P o rtlan d
225-4000
1 (800) 228-0454
O utside P o rtlan d
M on d ay Friday IDA.M to PM
Saturday and Sunday N oon t o S I ’M
Strachan announces
funding for programs
offering emergency
basic needs
P o rtla n d (T ty C om m issioner
M a rg .n e t S trachan has announced
that $80.500 o f C ity money is
available fo r program s designed to
meet emergency basic needs.
I lie Bureau ot Human Resources is
tunding the programs which arc for
such needs as fo o d , shelter, fu e l,
m edications, tra n s p o rta tio n , other
financial crisis assistance and related
financial counseling. I ast year, live
programs were tunded I he grants
ranged in size lio m $2.101 to $33,001)
\pphcations can be obtained Irom
die Bureau ot Hum an Resources at
die Portland Building, 1120 S W Fit
th Avenue, Room 402. Deadline lo r
applying is 5 p in., October 7.
Decisions on grants w ill be made by
the Bureau's ( itizcn Advisory ( om
m iller
II V ( flir t’ toobllS Y
to ru n to the th in k
for a loan, pick tip
the phone and call
First Interstate Bank
Because we know
You're on the m ove.
<ind tti.it von need a
th in k tti.it t an keep
pace
1/2 '" OFF.
\n d rig h t now until
N ovem ber ! we re even going
one better b\ o tte rin g a one-half
pert c u t (list m in t off no rm .il
interest rates on m ost consum er
loans w ith autom atic paym ents
from vo tir Firs, Interstate
<n count.
( >nr special loan
t io, 11 IK’S are open week
days from 10a.in
to 7 p in . w e e k
ends from
noonto.5 p in
Call to apply for any co n
sum er lo a n -a u to , boat.R V
hom e im provem ent, or delft
consolida tion.
( )f co u rse ,yo u ’re always
welt tim e to apply in person at
anv tiraiK h statewide.
W ith th e rig h t credit in fo r
m ation, w e ll approve your loan
on the spot w h ile you’re on the
p hone o r in th e th in k But in
anv case, yo u ’ll probably have
an answ er in 2 1 hours.
In Portland ( .ill 225 IODO
( )u lsid e the P ortland area,call
toll-free I (800) 228-01.5, .And
le, us do the pa p e rw o rk.
We re setting
the pace.
¡TJ First
Interstate
Bank
W' V