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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 21, 1986)
k r« » ra n c e « tn ' . ¿ .ty • ’ ne, -e c r . - s - . . « » , ? t ‘ o f O r a ra n îb rc rj ’ -a □ c a 9U Q i Volume XVI Number 28 PORTLAND OBSERNER May 21. 1986 2bcCopy TwoSections Local Youth Wants to be a Doctor b\ Hah I aihmn IX m c k Butler wants to be a doctor It his success in high school is any indi cation. he should have no problem at taining his goal I he I 7 year old Northeast Portland youth w ill graduate from Catlin Gabel School June 7 At Catlin, an exclusive and academically demanding South west Port lain I private school, IX-mck maintained a 3 4 gtade point average, he was elected student b<xly president, and he was active in sports, including sex'cer, basketball and track His excellent record allowed IX-mck Io have his pick of colleges '' He got accepted every w here." said his mother. Rose Butler Mier considering Oregon Health Sciences University, and Ivy League sclhsils like Colgate arid Brown. IX r rick picked Morehouse College in At Xdvireates for the homeless Mitch Snyder and Michael Stoops meet at Baloney Joe s. Photo by Richard J. Brown Christian Activist Mitch Snyder Speaks on Behalf of the Homeless /»v Bob l uihitin Mitch Snyder's strong belief in the rights o f the homeless has led him to take direct action In I MHO. the former Madison Avenue management consultant lived on the streets ol Washington. D.C for four months When a Washington church closed its doors to the homeless, he threw blood on its altar With other members ol his group, the Community lorCreative Non-Violence. Snyder has iKcupied buildings and fasted on behalf o f the homeless. During lasts, "H e was almost near death on several occasions.” said Michael Sloops, head ol the Burnside Community Council Stoops introduced Snyder's appear ance Friday at St Francis Church in Southeast Portland According to Snyder, who is dc scribed as a ''radical Christian ac tiv is t.” militant action is needed to draw attention to the growing crisis ol homelessness. "T im e has run out for a moderate response," Snyder said His civil disobedience for the home less stemmed from similar protest ac tion during the Vietnam War, Snyder said As he protested the war in the early 7(K, he began to see the homeless problem as the ' 'domestic counterpart'' to the violence in Vietnam, "w ith in Junior Court at Festival Albina Rotary w ill sponsor the Grea ter Albina Spring Festival on May 31, |9Kb at Peninsula Park in conjunction with the Junior Rose Festival Court's Fiftieth Annual Rose Planting and Knighting Ceremony The hours w ill be 10:30 a m until 4:30 p m I he Festival w ill honor the Junior Court and grade schosvl students who attend schools in and around the Albina area and who have excelled either in academics or in service to their schools or community The Portland Public Schools is co sponsoring the event and w ill present certificates of achievement to the hon ored students The .«udents w ill be hosted to a hamburger luncheon at the Festival immediately after the Junior Court completes its portion o f the event Entertainment w ill include storytelling at the North Portland branch o f the Library at 10:30. a parade Io the park led by the Jazmtn' Band, orchestral and band music, cultural dancing and singing, a drill team, and a presentation by the Junior Court prin cesses The public is invited to attend. - Î- .- .• • «- blocks ol the White House is the very epicenter o f the w o rld ," he said Snyder has worked on behalf ol the homeless in Washington since 1973 He said the numbers o f homeless people have grown steadily since he began his work, especially since 19X0, when the problem began to reach crisis proportions Estimates ol 2-3 m illion homeless in America are probably low . according to Snyder New York City alone has 50,000 homeless, including 10.000 children, he said I I k * Community for Creative Non-violence in Washington runs a soup kitchen that feeds 2.000 people a day. also a clinic, shelter and free food store, he said Snyder attacked the stereotypes ol homeless people that only make the problem worse. I k ? said "These are not dirty, lazy, drunken bum s," he said On the contrary, according to Snyder, the homeless today are the dis abled, elderly, unemployed and vete rans They are plagued by illness, frostbite, gangrene, iniuries and need less deaths, he said Snyder expressed sadness at the deaths on M l Hood "B u t everyday, probably 5 10 times that number die on the streets He urged those present to drop what they were doing and help "W e have to live and walk with the oppressed, lie said "W e have to w alk with the lepers o f the world "W e can't make it just a part lime endeavor and we can't just give a part ot ourselves Meanwhile. Rodney Page,executive director ol Ecumenical Ministries o f Oregon, announced that he had learned from a reliable source that major lend mg institutions were denying loans tor rehabilitation ol the Beaver and State Hotels. I he two old hotels in the Burnside are part o f Mayor Bud Clark 's 12 point plan for the homeless Under the plan, the city would purchase and remodel the hotels for low cost housing lor the homeless, but that can't happen w ithout the loans, said Page He described the action by lending institutions as "alm ost unconsctena- b lc ," and probably politically m oti vated. " I f this is Irue, I think it's a terrible statement about the business leaders o f our com m unity.” Page said Snyder said that Portland is viewed as progressive for its programs for the homeless. "T h a t's real strange, isn't it ," Ire said, "th a t someone would say the mayor isn’ t doing his job for wanting to help the homeless?" lama ' It's all black. and I thought I'd have a belter educational experience." he said M Morehouse. IX m c k won't have to worry about tuition and expenses he received a lu ll scholarship He also received a $2.tMXI National Achieve merit Scholarship lor Outstanding Negro Students in recognition ol his excellent scholastic aptitude test scores IX rrick w ill leave tor Morehouse and his pre med studies in August I his summer, lie w ill gel an introduction to Ins medical career with an eight week apprenticeship at the Oregon Health Sciences University IX'rrick w ill per form lab research under the supervision ol a biochemist al OHSU IX-mck said his ambition to become a doctor combines an interest in people with his love tor science, especially biology I haven t dec ided exactly what kind o f doctor I want Io lie ." he said One thing he was sure of. though " I 'm proud ol what I've done I’ ve worked hard lor it " He's done really . really w e ll," said his mother, who works in the computer center at Pacific Northwest Ik-Il Rose Butler said IX m c k was an only child Ills lather died several years ago. she said, leaving the two o f them to lend lor themselves As IX-mck excelled in elementary school, she decided he needed a more demanding academic environment He enrolled at Catlin six years ago. and received scholarships lor all but one of those years, she said While at Catlin. Derrick traveled to Europe for live weeks with I I students and a teacher, and practiced his French "H e wants to go back." said his mother His years at the private school were good for Derrick, sire said " I t 's afforded him the opportunity to meet a lot ol people and have experi ences that a normal child growing up in Northeast Portland wouldn't have ac cess to ." she said Derrick Butler leaves home for Catlin Gabel where he attends school. Photo by Richard J. Brown But IX m ck said it was difficult being one o f only three black students at the school, which has a student b»wly o f 600 " I t 's like I live in two w o rld s," he said IX m c k said Ire is looking forward to attending Morehouse even though it means living cleat acioss the country from home He w ill miss Portland. IX-mck said, but " I won't miss the tain. I know that " Note IX-m ck's is not lire only sue cess siory in his family His cousin, lonya Canada, is lire Rose Festival princess at Jefferson High School Black Endangered Species, says Speaker by Jerrx Garner "Unless Blacks locus on the prob lems that are destroying our com munities. we as a race are an en dangcred species," said Josie R Johnson Johnson made this statement as part o f her keynote address during the Eight Women o f Excellence Awards, sponsored by the IX Ita Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc , Portland Chapter More than 200 guests attended the awards ceremony at the Columbia River Red Lion Inn The Women o f Excellence Awards were presented to individuals in six diferent categories Community Service. Hame Belle Paris, Education, Virginia ( ) Phillips; Professional Achievement. Margaret Carter, Religion, E. Jean Dillard; Senior Citizen. Jewel White; Youth, Victoria Rose Hanston Scholarships were also given to local young women fat their academic achievements Receiving Kholarships for $500 were Cynthia Renfro of Reynolds. Tonya Negtl Canada o f Jef ferson. and Zonya Watts o f Beaverton Victoria Rose Hairston o f Grant re ceived a $1000 scholarship Johnson, who is currently residing in Houston. Texas, is an Educational Consultant, Director o f Alumni Affairs Office, Fisk University. She has a B A from Fisk, while earning a M Ed and Ed D in Education Administration from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst Johnson is also past President o f the Minneapolis. Minnesota Urban League Johnson told (hose in attendance that Black parents, community leaders, and religious leaders must focus on the problems which are destroying Black America Problems such as quality education. Black on Black crime, pov erty. teen pregnancies, and economic equality "T he key in solving these problems is quality education." said Johnson Johnson said she was sad- J - f Keynote speaker for the "W o m en o f Excellence" awards luncheon Josie S. Johnson and IX Ita Si rta Theta sorur- derred by the lack o f emphasis which is placed on education in many Black communities Historically Blacks have always been interested in education, said Johnson In the past. White scholars denied this interest in education on the part o f Blacks. Johnson told the audi ence that dunng slavery. Whttesdenied Blacks the right to education because - TV Ity president Lillian Cunningham . they knew that an educated slave was a threat to the cruel system o f slavery "Those who taught slaves to read and write were punished as severely as those who helped slaves escape.” said Johnson Johnson said despite those obstacles. Blacks did Icam to read and write After the emancipation Proclamation, one fifth o f the Blacks in the South could Photo by Richard J. Brown read and write Johnson said dunng the reconstruc tain period, Black families stressed the importance o f an educ ation, work, and the role of mother and father "T oday we need a surgent o f those emphasis," said Johnson Johnson urged those present to get busy rebuilding the collapsed value sys tem in the Black communities *- » ► ’ , ■ V
