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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 30, 1986)
I he C o lo r P u if »1« p o rtra ys the heroic struggles o l j n oppressed black w om an lo fin d her id e n tity and free h e rse lf. and u doe-, not deserve the c ritic is m ii is g e ttin g . a ccording io P 5 U professor Prim us St John Sl John, a poet and A sso cia te Pro lesM .r o l English and B la ck Studies at PSI , analyzed the m o v ie and book d u r ing a talk at the A lb in a branch lib ra ry Sl John said some o l ihe c rilic iM ti d irecte d against the m o v ie is co in in g fro m m en « h o le d threatened hy it I he p o rtra y a l o l bias k m en in the film , lo t e xa m p le M is te r, the v io le n t and tro u b le d husband o f C e lie . the m am character. has been c ritic iz e d as racist ste re o typ in g T ons B ro w n has n o th in g good to say To The Portland Public Primus St. John on "The Color Purple about the f ilm He c a lle d it the most l) U G r if fith 's w h ic h in clu d e d a svenc w ith < ehe and Sug. ihe n ig h tc lu b singer I th in k that sexual lo ve between scene on the k u K lu a M a n B lack characters in (xvth film s are p o rtra ye d as " d a r k ie s , " a cco rd in g to B ro w n B lack m ale rage at this f ilm was le g itim a te ." he said about T he C o lo r P u rp le . ’ ’ Such c r itic is m , St John suggested, perhaps d e rive s fro m " C o lo r P u rp le " a uthor A lic e W a lk e r tre a tin g a d iffic u lt w o m en is very th reatening to m e n . " he said He de scrib e d W a lke r s e d u catio n a l m ethod as 's h o c k in g the audience into liste n in g to som ething they h a ve n 't tv e n liste n in g to " A lic e W a lk e r is a verv s ig n ific a n t change agent A lic e W a lk e r is a con racist m o vie since B irth o l a N a tio n , and sensitive subject - a black w o m a n 's strug g le lo r id e n tity and free d o m w ith in her cu ltu re I th in k the m o vie was th re a te n in g I th in k we re d e a lin g w ith a ce rta in in s e c u rity ." St John said Ih e insecurity is perhaps m ost appa rent in the c ritic is m o f the lesbian love tra ry , and th ro u g h She appears to be Primus St. John speaks on St John said he lik e d the h im . and that he w o u ld lik e to see m ore lik e it I fo u n d it a verv m o v in g e x p e ri ence I to u n d it p o w e r f u l. " he said M usk and subtle use of color conlri April 30, 1986, Portland Observer, Page 5 buled Io Ihe m o v ie 's p o w e r, according to Sl John Ih e m usic was that im p o rta n t to the A tro -A m e ric a n e x p e rie n ce — blues, w o ik songs and ch u rc h m usic " T h e m usic helped te ll the s to r y ." he said As the story progressed, as C e lie strug g le d in e p ic fa sh io n to o vercom e the th in g s h o ld in g her d o w n , colors b righ te n e d , ob se rve d St John I hat was true in the scene where C e lie 's c h ild re n , w h o had been taken a contrary th ro u g h and she is able to pursue her seeing at all costs very wise " » » "C olor Purple". Photo hv K u tia n i J. Brown Iro m her at an early age. return Irom A lrica strong and b e a u lilu l And as M is te r leads a horse across the glow mg. w a v in g h e ld o t grass, perhaps signify m g that he to o . has g ro w n St John said he saw the m o v ie " t w o o i three tim es n u m ber o t bias k peo ple in the a u d ie nce , and I fo u nd it a very g reat c x p e tie n c e at that lim e ” D u rin g the seene w here C e lie threatens M is te r w ith a ra z o r, " I had the te e lin g that p e o ple w e re ready to run up on the screen and 'd o ' M is te r rig h t th e re ,” he said Pillow Talk 407 NE Mason " h o m e o f southern c o m f o r t " s p e c ia liz in g in Throw Pillow» Flow low» and Play Setting» also A d u lt and C h ild re n 's C lo th in g At one tune I saw the m o vie w ith a Grade “A Natural Turkey Ih e Board o l D ire cto rs o l the N o rth Portland Nurse P ra c titio n e r C o m m u n ity H ealth C lin ic I N P C H C ) re g re tfu lly announces that the C lin ic w ill have to close its doors on M ay I s N x n unless it has on hand at that tune a m in im u m required SH.tHMI to enable it to co n tin ue SAFEWAY th rough June 19X6 Ih e C lin ic is a non p ro fit tax exem pt c o rp o ra tio n o f the State o l O reg o n , and is the only Black A m e ric a n run pe d ia tric c lin ic in Ihe stale Since 19xt). it has p ro vid e d prim ary p e d ia tric care to young people in the Portland M e tro p o lita n Area re gardless o f then a b ility to pay Oz. Frozen Orange Juice S tart your sprint, iiio riiin q w ith tin tas te ol 100% pu tefreshiiK t ju il e . Myrlah Taylor I his d ista ste fu l action has been made necessary because 95 percent o f the pa tients presently served by the C lin ic arc fro m needy fa m ilie s that cannot a ffo rd to pay the cost o f the m ed ica l a tte ntio n they receive I w o years ago w e lfa re recipien ts m ade up 95 percent o f the patient load H o w e v e r, the state's M e d ica l Cost C o n ta in m e n t la w , w h ich w ent in to e ffe c t at that tu n e , d id not co n tin ue to recognize Nurse Prac titio n e r c lin ic s as m ed ica l care p ro v id ers C o n s e q u e n tly , the C lin ic 's w e lfa re Luscious Ripe Strawberries recipients were tran sfe rre d to the eight b ig m ed ica l o rg a n iz a tio n s to w h o m such re c o g n itio n was extended Since that tim e , the C lin ic has been fundexl by m onies fro m fo u n d a tio n s, grants, c h a ritie s, and its o w n fu n d ra is ing e ffo rts It is now esse n tially " b e t ween gia n ts B u t. there is every reason to fv lic v e that its fin a n c ia l c o n d itio n w ill sta b iliz e w hen it is accepted as a m em h e r o f the P ortland C o m m u n ity C lin ic N e tw o rk , becomes a U n ited W a y o rg a n iz a tio n , and fin d s a w illin g sponsor U n til that lim e , we have to rely on I M M E D I A T E C O N T R IB U - I IO N S Iro m g ro u p s, fo u n d a tio n s, and T he d e lic io u s taste of s u m m e r is h ere ... A bsolute!* F in e st Q u a lity L Mo One D o «i , S a v e lip To 30' Ta in d iv id u a ls to h e lp us keep its doors open I he C lin ic has a c lie n te le o f o v e r 575 cases d ra w n Iro m every ra cia l, e th n ic , c u ltu ra l, and re lig io u s backg ro u n d Io he fo u n d in the State o l O regon Som e o f ihe C lin ic 's strengths are its sym pa th e tic awareness o f and w illin g n e s s to w o rk w ith in the c u ltu ra l s e n sitivite s o f the patients it serves, and its a b ility to serve as a te rrific ro le m odel fo r a ll e th n ic m in o ritie s A measure o f the C lin ic 's value lies in the fact that hospitals and o th e r in s titu tio n s rush to send th e ir doctors and nurses in tra in in g to w o rk in the C lin ic to gain the valuable association w ith m in o rity patients w h ich the C lin ic is so un iq u ely capable o f p ro v id in g I f you b e lie ve , as we d o . thal the C lin ic p ro vid e s a service the Portland area cannot a ffo rd to be w ith o u t. please send y o u r tax e xem pt c o n trib u tio n s to a rriv e b e fo re M ay 15. 1986. Please m ake checks payable to " N o r t h P o rt land N P C H C " and m a il them to: N u rs e P r a c titio n e r C o m m u n ity Aqua-fresh Toothpaste 4 .6 -O z . P u m p for A d u lts or K id s or 6 .4 -O u n c e tu b e. Save U p To 2 4 . R ea ch T o o th b ru sh Aawnftrrf s**t*« A»«t Nirow H ealth C lin ic 5311 N V a n co u ve r A ve P o rtla n d . O R 9 7 217 A ttn M a n a h A T a y lo r. B N . C P N P (D irector) W e urge you to c a ll M a ria h at (5 0 3 ) 1 2 8 4 -5 2 3 9 to r answers to y o u r q u etions [a n d to o ffe r her y o u r spoken support. [T h a n k yo u fo r su p p ortin g P o rtla n d 's [p o p u la tio n o f in d ig e n t fa m ilie s R e sp e ctfu lly The N P C H C B oard o f Directors PIP Prices Effective 4/30 Thru 5/6/86 In The Area Of Originating Publication. Limited To Retail Quantities. SAFEWAY
