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Volume XVI Number 28
PORTLAND OBSERNER
May 21. 1986
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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.
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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-
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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
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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
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