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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 1986)
Rance AI len In concert Divestment at Reed Page 4 Patrick Ewing Page 8 VolumeXVI, Number 13 January29,1986 25c Copy PORTLAND OBSERNER e— n » « k TwoSections », «w 1 » Quakers pioneer human rights efforts ResourceTeamtoaid Union-Vancouver-Williams Business Development Project by lo r r y Garner Since 1917. the Am erican Friends Service Committoe (AFSC) has bean c a rryin g out program s fo r peace, justice and nonviolent social change as an expression of the Q uaker belief in the dignity and promise of every person. In the Pacific N orthw est region. AFSC has been at w ork since 1942 in W ashington, when Seattle Friends established the regional office to assist lapanese Am eri cans in th e ir W o rld W a r II in ternm ent. and since 1947 in Ore gon. when P ortland Friends orga nized re lie f fo r European w ar victim s and established w hut is now the Portland Area Office. AFSC Portland C haptor has been active in the fight against apa rth e id in South A frica . AFSC w orks closely w ith Portlanders Organized fo r South A fric a n Free dom (POSAF), organizing boycotts of athletes and ente rtain ers who perform in South A frica . POSAF has also held picket dem onstra tions against companies w hich do business w ith South A frica throughout P ortland and Seattlo. The Religious Society of Friends (the Quakers) was founded about 300 years ago by an Englishman. George Fox. Quaker relations w ith Blacks date back to slavery. The Quakers became the fore most opponents of slavery and the slave trade in colonial Am erica and exerted greater influence in the e arly a ntislavery movement than any other segment o f the colonial population. The Society o f Friends was not united against the evil of slavery. Some Quakors w ere engaged in im porting and soiling Blacks and many used slaves on th e ir farm s and in th e ir shops. In 1671. Fox visited Barbados; he was shocked by the slave system in general, and by the spectacle of members of the Society engaging in slavery. He urged his follow ers to preach to th e ir slaves and advocating compensation fo r them. For this Fox was accused of fomenting rebellion among the slaves and of in citin g them to insurrection. Still, some members of the Friends Society were engaged in a ntislavery crusades in the early colonial period. On Feb. 10. 1666 in the German comm unity in Germ antown. PA. a few miles outside of Philadelphia, there was a vigorous protost against slavery and the slave trade. This was the firs t protest against slavery by an A m erican congregation. By the end of the Revolutionary W a r. v irtu a lly a ll members of the Q uakers societies north of V ir ginia had freed th e ir slaves and agreed to give th e ir form er slaves a just compensation fo r their years o f "in v o lu n ta ry se rvitu de ." Through the years AFSC has been doeply involved in such issues ns disarm am ent. C entral Am erica. N ative Am erican trib a l rights and n a tu ra l resource man agement. There are about 202.000 Quakers around the w orld. The m a jo rity (116.000) are in the U nited States. In 1947 the AFSC, w ith the B ritish Friends Service Council, received the Nobel Poace Prize fo r its "s ile n t help from the nameless to the nameless.” Executive Director of National Association of Minority Contractors praises the work of John Brown (left) and Tom Martin (center), president and executive vice president of NAMC-Oregon chapter following the Presentation of the chapter's official charter [Photo; Richard J. Brown) Portland NAMC Chapter awarded charter by Jerry G arner The Portland chapter of tho N ational Association of M in o rity C ontractors (NAMC) was a w a rd ed its ch a rte r las, Thursday. The ch a rte r was presented to John H. Brown, president of the Portland Chapter of NAMC. by Ralph C. Thomas, III, Executive D ire ctor of NAM C nationul office. NAM C was established in 1969 as a non-profit m in ority business trade association to address the needs and concerns of m inority contractors nationw ide. NAMC hoadquartors is in Washington. DC; its membership base covers 40 states, the D is tric t of Columbia and the V irgin Islands. N AM C 's m em bership includos general contractors, subcontrac tors. suppliers, local m inority contractors associations, funded technical assistance organiza tions. state and local government agencies, attorneys, and account ants. The organizatoin also serves as a voice and liaison fo r m inority construction co ntractors w ith law m akers in W ashington, DC. NAM C sta ff w orks w ith policy makers, legislators, m ajority as sociations. m ajor corporations and others to meet tho needs and con cerns of its members and consti tuents. In addition. N AM C provides tim ely construction-related in fo r mation to over 3.000 m inority contractors, procurem ent o ffic ials. and others in the public, private, and federal sectors who address tho needs of m inority contractors. The organization ac tively monitors government a f fa irs of agoncies and a dm in istra tions mandated w ith providing opportunities to assist in the healthy grow th a n d /o r expansion of M in o rity Business Enterprises Brown is president of Brofam Enterprises, a m inority-ow ned businoss enterprise c e rtifie d in Oregon. W ashington, and C a lifo r nia. His company sells fuel and does general co ntractin g and henvy haulting. Brofam is auth or ized us a heavy-hauling common c a rrie r. Since M ay, Brofam has been hauling on tho Bonfield Freeway. P rior to entering the fuel business, Brow n was n stockbroker at M e rrill Lynch. Portland office. NAMC-Oregon ch ap tor is Io catod a, 637 N.E. Lom bard St. in Portland. As part of tho process, thero w ill be a reception fo r the community hosted by the UVW on Wednesday. Feb. 5 at the Ramada Inn. to N.E. W e id lo r. from 5 30 to 7:00 pm. The resource team's recommendations w ill bo pre sented to tho public on Thursday. Feb. 6 nt the abovo listed location from 7:30 to 10:00 p.m. A ll com m unity members are encouraged to attend the above functions. The UVW BDP was formed in August of local com m unity mem lairs and business people who are committed to w orking to revitalize the N o rth /N o rth e a s, Portland The U nion-Vancouver-W illiam s Ave. Business Development Pro ject (UVW BI)P) w ill host a group of five professionals to serve as a Resourco Team in dovoloping action plans to rovitalize the N o rth /N o rth n a s t Portland com m ercial d is tric t. The UVW business d is tric t was aw arded special designation as an U rban Center Program revita lization area by the Oregon Downtown Development Associa tion (ODDA) in 1965. This desig nation entitles the UVW BDP to technical assistance and exper tise from ODDA. The Resource Team is a portion o f this assis tance. It w ill be composod of Brian Scott, executive d ire c to r of ODDA; Stanley Lowe, of P ittsburgh. Sha ron Blevins. M ain Street C orrid o r Development C orporation o f Kan sas City; Randy Hester, a commu nity designer and landscape a rc h itect from the San Francisco area; and Wes Hester, a n w m txir of the Berkeley C ity Council in Berkeley. CA. Tho team w ill conduct meetings w ith the UVW board and mana ger ns w ell as p a rtic ip a te in both a w alking and d riv in g to u r of the area. Interview s w ith community residents, m erchants and elected officials w ill assist tho resource team in understanding the needs of the area, and w ha t actions nood to be taken to satisfy those needs. The fin a l p roduct is ox- pocted to bo a 20-30 page docu ment w ith the team's recommen dations. The U VW BDP board w ill thun assign responsibilities for tho action stops the resource team recommonds. area. T hie r stated mission is to " r e vitalize, restore and regenerate the economic well-being and qua lity of life fo r the people in the area.” The BDP rocoives funding from three m ajor sources in order to accomplish its mission. These include $12. (XX) from the ODDA. $31 .(XX) from the Portland Devel opment Commission. and the group itse lf w ill raise $17,000 in c o n tri butions from local sources. Prior to developing its goals and objectives, the group held a neighborhood meeting in w hich issues were identified that need to I ni resolved in ord er to make the N o rth /N o rth e a s , area more "m a rk e ta b le " to businesses and individuals. Attendees pointed out tho many positive aspects of the area that need to I ni b uilt upon. Business and in d ivid u a l mem berships are a vailable fo r a ll who wish to join in holping revitalize this unique section of Portland For more inform ation, please contact M cKinley W illiam s. UVW BDP manager, a, 262-6706 Anti-Kian network expands Rev. C. T. Vivian. C hairm an of tho N ational A nti-K lan N o,w ork and form er aide to the late Dr. M a rtin L uth er King. |r.. announc ed a m ajor expansion in the work of the five-year-old anti-hate group. The N etw ork has changed its name to the Centor fo r Demo c ra tic Renewal. W hile retaining its o rig in a l purpose of countering the Ku Klux Kian, the Center fo r D em ocratic Renewal (CDR) has expanded its mission. Since its founding in 1979. the organization has become the p rin c ip a l clear- continued on page 6 Protesters and theater-goers crowd under the marquee of the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall where Johnny Mathis was performing. Mathis’ concern was being picketed because he refused to recognize the United Nations cultural boycott of South Africa. In 1982 Mathis per formed at Sun City, a multi-mlllion-dollar gambling resort located In Bophothatswana, one of the the 10 so-called tribal "homelands" the South African government has established as part of Its segre gationist policy of apartheid. (Photo; Richard J. Brown] • . »
