^ra Frances Schoen-.'
U n iv e rs ity o f Oregon !
tugene, Oregon 97403
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PORTLAND OBSERVER
Ut*S
C«nr
Activist raps
City Hall
Neighborhoods march against crime
Northeast Portland residents have had enough of the drug
sakfc m then nwqbhorboods and took to the streets tarsi a
with a march and rally They have alao been picketing on a
,»*
by Jerry darner
I ast Thursday more than 150 pro
testers marched in ihe ram along A l
hería Street and U nion Avenue shout-
in Ihe slogan, "P u s h the Pushers
O ut.” I he protestors were referring to
the drug dealers who sell narcotics
openly on the streets o f Northeast
Portland. The marchers were also pro
testing the problems o f prostitution in
the neighborhoods.
King and Phot NeighborhtxxJ Asso
ciation Crime Prevention (o m m itte e
(Photo Richard J Brown)
sponsored the protest march and pick
els P rotestoi atte i protestor com
plained to the Observer about then
frustration at < its H all and the crnn
inal justice system fo r not enforcing
the law in their neighbor hoods
Ron Herndon, co-chairman ol the
lil.uk I lilted I rout was one ol the
mans coinmunilv leaders who attend
ed the rails and match I let ndon s.ud.
"People living in t ouncil ( test don't
have to stand out in the tain and wotrs
about d»>pe " I he question should be
asked, 'W hs is il that in cd tain parts
ol town we have to get out in the tain
and do this nonsense ’'
One local minister was c a n sine a
pi k d sign on \ I her la Slice I slat inc
cits o llictals are not concerned with
the dtug and p io stiiu iio n problem in
the Kmc and l liol neighboi hoods
I he mitiisier said. "People downtown
think out netghbothixxls aren't impot
taut because there is a Inch numlx'i ol
minorities and pixu living here \lso,
the Kmc and I hot neighborhoods
base a Inch iiuemplosincut t a l c Ms
sell and others bom the neighbor hood
association committee wete once told
bs someone in < ns Hall that this aiea
was the icd light district
Not mils wete the protestors ancis
at the May o r's o il l i e , l lie s w e t c also
ci n ical ol the ci tin inal justice vystern
lot not cleaning the streets ol dtug
dealers and p rostitutes (Hie voting
mother who was picketing with lid '
seal old son, said, " I he police want
to keep this in otu communitv because
this is what helps keep Bl.uk people
suppressed and depiesscd \s long as
dings aie in the coinmunilv and all the
soung m others ate addicted to co
came and everybodv is b ee basing,
gelling high, letting then kids run
loose and not being concerned about
then education, nobody here will ever
deselop enough brains to do atisthing
by Jerry ( iarner
to make this a livable aiea. I w o u ld il'l
lx surprised it the jxiltce wete bringing
the dings into the neighborhood lo t
the ding dealers I hase seen ihe jxtlice
on mans occasions stop and talk Io
ding dealers and dnve awas
Some ol the protestors were sup
portivc ol the police lo in W illiam s,
one ot the organizers o l Iasi I bins
das's protest and a King N eighboi
hixxl Improvement Assixiation cxccu
use boatd member, gave praise to
( aptam I I Hasis o l N o rth Pre
cinct W illiams said, " ( aptam Basts
and Ins men base been w onderful.
I lies hase made themselses esliemels
visible to ever sone, i tic hiding the local
dope dealers I lies haven’ t interferrcd
with .instiling we base done, but thes
were theie it we needed them I lies
should lx- thanked tot doing tills.”
W illiams said Northeast Portland
wants some action tio m ( its H a ll
" I or sears out neighboi hoods hase
been used as dum ping grounds for
everything that comes a lo n g ," says
W illuim s " I he Northeast P ortland
neighboi hoods should be given the
same respect as any other com m unity
in the area "
\m o iig those who participated in
last I hutsdas's match and tails were
Masot Bud ( I.u k , ( us I ommission
ci Hick Bogle and Mike I indlxag
Members ol the King I hot Neigh
bor hood \sso ciab o n ( rime Presen
bon ( om m illee plan to hold m ore
mate lies and picket to protest the sell
m e o t dings and p io sb tu b o n in then
communities
National march against South African apartheid
bv \uthaniel Scott
“ I hope all o f you realize ihe suc
cess you hase had in the lis t 12
months," Ron Herndon, co-chairman
o f P ortland’s chapter o f the national
Black United I rout said to the 44X) or
so protesters at last Saturday's anti-
apartheid demonstration. The demon
stration was organized by Portlanders
Organized for Southern A frican Free
dom .
The protesters rallyed al T erry
Schrunk Plaza after a brief march for
justice. 1 he march covered a 20-block
area in downtown Portland.
P o rtla n d 's march was part o f a
nationw ide m ovem ent that drew
thousands o l protesters fro m such
widely-scattered areas as tu g e n e ,
( fregon, and Washington, H.C.
In P o rtla n d . M a yo r Bud C la rk
proclaimed Friday and Saturday, ( k t .
I I and 12, days o f protest against
apartheid.
The mayor's proclamation was read
by his aide ( »liver Smith, who then pre
sented the p ro cla m a tio n to Trevor
Fow ler, Ihe A fric a n N a tio n a l C o n
gress western region representative.
Fow ler, keynote speaker al the
rally, said he appreciated the o p p o r
tunity to "present the case o f the peo
ple o f South A fric a ."
T oday, thousands o f people are
gathering across Am erica to oppose
apartheid, he said "Y o u r effort to iso
late apartheid has been successful
(since) you kicked out Van P elt." (C al
vin Van Pell was the honorary consul
until he resigned after repeated picket-
ings.l
Speaking fo r the 24 m illio n o p
pressed people in South Africa, Fowler
said. "T hank y 'u fo r expressing vour
moral outrage againsi apartheid We
thank you for your continued support
"A p a rth e id is alive but it w on't be
around lo o m uch lo n g e r,” Fowler
said "P e op le in South A fric a have
said, 'We have had enough’ . "
Fowler maintained that sanctions,
boycotts and dem onstrations are
working against the South A frican re
gime
Pressure on the government can be
seen in the fa ll o f the rand and
"w h ite businesses closing at a rate ot
one a d a y," he said
“ Young people in South Africa will
accept nothing less than freedom,” he
said “ There can be no peace in south
ern Africa while apartheid exists."
Fowler said "T h e people o f South
A fric a shall fig h t u n til v ic to ry is
w on."
He observed that Saturday was an
appropriate time to talk about the re
lease o f Nelson Mandela.
“ We [the m a jo rity o f South A f r i
cans! have said who our leaders are;
we d o n 't want anyone selecting our
leaders. We pledge that we w ill con
tinue to struggle until apartheid is dis
mantled "
F rid a y, in observance o f the na
tional anti apartheid days, Portland
State U niversity students held a fu ll
day o f events.
The events, w hich drew a small
crow d o f students, included film s ,
guest speakers and a symposium en
titled: "W h a t is the impact o f inter
national pressure on South Africa?”
PSU 's keynote speaker was Avel
(io rd ly fro m the A m erican Friend
Services Committee
She told the 50 or so who gathered
to listen to her speech that "T h e
things we do, do make a difference."
(Photo Richard J Brow nl
» - X R I
I out Williams, an I xecutivc Board
member o l the King N eighboi hood
Im provem ent A ssociation, says city
officials have been ignoring the pi oh
lem o l crim e in Northeast P ortland
for years.
W illiam s said that form er M ayor
Ftank Ivancte d id n 't cate about the
crime problems in the lilio t and King
neighborhoods
Iv ancte w o u ld n 't
cvxvperate at all with the ncighborluxxl
associations, replied W illia m s W il
liams said that under the Ivancie ad
ministration, the crime problem in the
King and I hot neighborhoods became
worse.
W illiams was also critical ot lorm ei
PoliceC h id Ron Still " A l least Pennv
Harrington makes herself visible. She
will come out and answer questions lot
the neighborhood association ami
the com m unity. She puts hetsell out
front.”
Ihe neighborhood association in
vited Still on many occasions to attend
meetings to discuss the ptobletn ol
crime in the com m unitv W illia m s
sakl, "S till didn't attend a single meet
mg He w ould always send someone
else. II the association asked his repre
sentative a direct question, the onlv
response we heard was, 'I am sorry,
hut I am not an a u th o rily to answer
that question’ "
W illiam s, who was one ol the or
gatiizcrs o l last Ih u ts d a v 's protest
against p ro s titu tio n and drugs, has
lived in the King neighboi hixxl lot 2?
veals She says that ihe present level
o l dm g tra ffic k in g and p ro s titu tio n
is the worst in memory " I sail heat
the dope dealers from my hack said
and see the prostitutes and then cus
turners in my I rout yard. I am some
where between the gate post and the
fence."
W illiams says the prostitution prob
lem has gotten worse " I n the begin
mug there used to he about III girls
w orking U nion Avenue I alely, I
liavc driven from my house to I homp
von Street and counted Ml prostitutes
I hat's a lot o l young ladies on,
there."
Ihe neighborhood member said
that tougher penalties are needed to
eliminate prostitution and drug deal
mg. "Jo h n s" (prostitutes’ customers),
should also be given stricter penalties,
said Williams
W illiams was asked to comment on
whether she believes city and law en
forcem enl o ffic ia ls w ill make more
arrests i f more tail space becomes
available " N o , " replied W illiam s
" A l one meeting. I was told by an ot
liccr that regardless ol the availability
o f jail space, the artesl tale ol ptoslt
lutes and dope pushers w o u ld n 't il l
crease. II this is the case, then public
ollictals ate misleading the conimun
itv I believe the folks in ( itv H all
think that people in Northeast Port
land have so many problems (unein
ploymenl being the main one) that they
arc just on their soap bos about dope
dealing and prostitution 'Give them a
couple ol days, they w ill forget and
some other problem will come along’ ,"
W illiam s said I his tim e, the com
munily will not forget
"T h e com m unity wants action
from city hall, hut so tar we haven't
received a n y ," says W illia m s. " F o r
years Northeast Portland has been a
dumping ground fo r everything that
came along. I d o n 't think the people
living in the area should tolerate this.
Ihe people living in Northeast ate just
as concerned, interested and G o d
fearing as any other place in Oregon
I d o n 't th in k their dignity should be
stepped on. I just d o n 't."
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