Page 2, Portland Observer, November 26, 1986
Along the Color Line
by Or Manning Marable
Df
Manning M aratta i* prolaaaor of to c o lo g y and political «cianca
at Puutua University
Along the Color Lina
» intern4tKMi«tty
appear« m over ,40
whereas positions requiring college training
grew by 39,000. Second, almost all of the
newly created "entry level" jobs are being
started by firms in the white suburbs, not in
the innercities. From 1974 to 1984, for exam
pie, about one million new jobs were created
in the "fo o d and drink" sector, but nearly all of
these positions are located in suburban areas
Even w ithout the cutbacks in public transpor
tation, it has become increasingly difficult for
This
season is so predictable in the W illa m e tte
many low income people to get to these new
jobs.
The Reagan administration is aware of these
statistics, but it has failed miserably to come
up with any plan to lower urban joblessness
Enterprise zones in ghetto areas, with tax
abatements for corporations, would do little to
reduce black and Hispanic unemployment. A
more effective plan would be to divert billions
from the swollen Pentagon budget into a mas
sive job training and placement project. But
the Reaganites would rather let America's cen
tral cities fester and rot than spend one penny
to assist an unemployed black woman or man.
For years, the Reagan administration has
denied the pervasiveness of homelessness for
several million women, men and children. In
New York City alone, between 40,000 to
80,000 people lack shelter, and at least one
million more live in decrepit, substandard
dwellings
But the homeless people are fighting back.
In 1984, black com munity activist Chris Spro
wal started a Philadelphia shelter, the "Com
mittee for Dignity and Fairness for the Home
less." Although designed to house 40 per
sons, on some cold evenings over 100 people
found shelter in Sprowal's building The next
year, Sprowal and others established the Na
tional Union of the Homeless (NUH), In barely
twelve months, NUH has started local groups
in Boston, Baltimore, Washington, D C., Chi
cago. New Orleans and Los Angeles. Several
labor unions have provided material support to
the NUH; and as the numbers of unemployed
and discouraged workers increase, the need
for the NUH's activities will also grow
NUH organizer Ronald Darnaby states:
"Shelters are the poor houses of the twentieth
century. What we need, instead, is low-cost
housing, jobs, health care, education and job
training.” Whether homeless or not, these
priorities also provide an agenda for all of us.
So long as our tax dollars are wasted on "Star
Wars” and nuclear missiles, our nation will
continue to have millions of jobless and home
less people.
relevant to over all increases that w e e x
perience.
W e can not change the w ea th e r, but w e
V alley that the local Indians called this the
can
"V a lle y of the W et S ickness” . Yearly m ig
som e degree
ration out of the valley w as the practice of
use rain proof clothes as m uch as pos
these native residents.
sible.
m odify
our o w n
environm ents
hills nor visit the sunny south, w e can
a hom e te m p e ratu re of 60 to 65 degrees
change our lives som e to m inim ize the
is probably perferable to w a rm e r indoor
chances of con tractin g these seasonal ill
tem peratu res.
nesses.
are a n um ber of dietary relationships w ith
thenic acid and provide 25 m g per
a sound im m u n e system . There are habits
day of other B's (B-6 and B-12 are
and foods w h ic h w e a k e n our resistance,
in m icrogram s (m eg's))
right before you go out into the cold, it is
good to have a cool rinse at the end of the
are m ore succeptable to illness in the
show er. 15 to 30 seconds of cool rinse w ill
the
capillaries
and
inclined to get soaked in the outdoors and
body heat.
to experience dram atic changes in our
need to ta k e icy cold rinses).
high
sugar
in ta k e ,
excessive
illnesses,
high
seem
increase
to
fa t
and
nefits fro m
and, thus, enhance the spread of illn e s
other outdoor program s, but there are a
m oderate aerobic exercise.
m e n ta tio n . there should be a conscious
e ffo rt to m aintain a good level of fluid in
of V itam in C and A
take
A is found in green
can do.
w h ic h
other aerobic indoor program s can pro
W e have sea
leafy vegetables, carrots and yellow sq u a
are less thirsty, and adequ ate fluid in ta ke
shes.
can co m p ro m ise our elim inatory p ro c es
V ita m in C is highest in the pepper
fam ily and fresh fruits.
ses
Since w in te r is a
Herbal teas, diluted fruit juices, v e
less favorable season for these foods, it
getable juices and w a te r are the preferred
m ay be good to supplem ent these vita
form s of fluids (4 to 6 glasses per day).
mins.
These are habits to assist us in not be
The B v itam in s .zin c , m agnesium
and selenium
com ing ill this w in te r. I w ill discuss w h a t
are also necessary for a
healthy im m u n e system .
w e m ight do for acute illness in a fu tu re
article.
The levels of
s u p p lem en tatio n that I recom m end are:
Letters to the Editor
From
From ihc earliest Imre (before 5500
B C i Afnkans/Blucka believed in the
existence ol one Supreme (n xl who »as
nameless, incomprehensible and eter
nal The Afnkans believed he was a
sell existent I self-created) God who
had made the universe and all things in
it I he) believed He had created the
heaven and the earth and had fashioned
man and endowed him w ith an immor
tai soul I hey believed that the ( )ne and
Only Almighty God knows those who
serve Hirn, and protect those who fo l
low Him rhe One and Only Almighty
trod Was nameless, but the Blacks of
anlicjuity used many names to reler to
Him One ot these names was Tern
(Other names used to refer to the A l
mighty One were Khepera. Anton. Ra,
Ptah. Aten. lem u, Atmu. etc ) llie
Blacks believed there was a time when
Ten,existed by Himself, and that it was
He who. by a series o f ellorts ol His
mind, created the heavens and the earth
and lesser "g o d s” and men and every
creature that has life Ihc first act alter
the creation ol heaven and earth w a s the
sending lorth ol the Sun. or the creation
ol Light ("and (iod said, let there be
Light
")
Our Ancient Forefathers wee alwavs
trying to figure out the puzzle ol crea
lion According lo one story, khepera
(another name tor Tern, alter sending
forth the Sun, created other gods I hese
Gods proceeded from His body kbep-
era first created Shu. the goddess of
water and moisture Shu and Telnut
were then united, and their offsprings
were Osiris (god o f resurrection),
(lotus (the Sun god, Set (god of dark
ness, Isis i W ile ol < >siris and Mother ot
the godsi and Nebt het (goddess ol Na
ture) Vke can see that the gods khepera
created were in tact the basic elements
\ Black Cultural Perspective”
ol life. and that Ihc natural laws prevail
or function as a result ol the interaction
ol the basic elements Thus, the basic
elements themselves are the gods",
and they are called such names as Shu
(the god ol ait and dryness In tact, air
is the "god " ) . Tefniif. keb, etc Our
ancestors knew what was important in
life, and their religious "g o d s " re
flected this rhere are no things more
important or valuable than air. water,
etc Additionally . Out Ancestors knew
that when the gods interacted, other
"g o d s " were produced
A lter creating these gods, khejsera
made the moon and assigned it a place
in the universe Then khepera created
man. who sprang not from the earth but
directly from the body ol khepera Him-
sell khepera then created creeping
things Men. women and all other liv
ing things which were made by khep
era then reproduced their species, each
in its own way, and the earth became
Idled with their descendants
Ancient Black fVople admitted the
existence of a great Almighty God
(Tetnl who created the universe and all
in it. but they thought He was too great
and loo remote to concern Himself w uh
the affairs of man. and that He had
therefore committed the management
of this World lo the series o f gods that
were just mentioned Afrikan People
thought it was necessary for jieople to
worship or gratify these gods Because
these gods were all around. Afrikan
People felt they could approach these
"gods directly , and a series o f myths
evolved which involved many o f the
gods and goddesses Afrikans worship
ped Our basic Black religion recog
nized the completeness of man/jieople
Accordingly, the whole person con
sisled o f a physical body (the kh a tl. a
spiritual body (Ihc Sahu). a heart (Ab),
a double (ka ). a heart soul ( .’ ), and a
name A ll ot these parts were bound
together inseparably, and the welfare of
any single part concerned the welfare of
all ot the parts Thus, tor the well being
o| the spiritual parts, it was necessary to
preserve the physical parts from decay
This explains why such care was taken
in embalming the Body o f Jesus
Afrikan religion had no concept ol
sin. thus there is no nonsense about
Adam, Eve and Ihc snake What Black
People believed in was opposites which
co-exist, and their religion reflected
this I hey did not feel that people were
either good or bad. but both Therefore,
they did not have to strive religiously
tor salvation to negate their sins be
cause there were nothing to be saved
from What Afrikan religion stressed
w as the relationship ol people to others
while they lived, and a statement o f
those relations was suggested in the 42
Negative Confessions which were
made by the dead as they sough, immor
tality and approval o f the gods (From
these 42 Negative Confessions Moses
drew the so-called Ten Commandments
more than 4000 years later To Our
Ancestors, religion was a way ol life
All other institutions and all other func
tion revolved around a religious base
(including politics, economics, educa
tion and the social order in general) It
led Our Ancestors to constantly seek
knowledge ot themselves and life in
general, and nurtured overwhelmingly
civilized trails in them that rendered
(hem incapable ot adequatelv dealing
with later, barbaric creatures, cowardly
carnivorous beasts in human form who
saw religion as no more than a tool of
their political aims and desires
Or Jamil Cberovec
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MR, •
vide adequ ate w o rk in 30 m inutes.
In
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A nd, fin a lly , w e have the depressions of
Salvation A rm y facility on K illingsw orth
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that has one of the low est m em bership
are by no m eans the sole causes of our
rates in P ortland. Here you can s w im , lift
higher rates of colds and flus, they are
w eig h ts, take dancercise classes, e tc ., for
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A m a lg a m a ta d P u b lis h e r*. Inc
N a w York
Alfred L. Henderson. Editor/Publisher
A I Williams, General Manager
Calisthenics, m ini-tram ps, and
sonal binges in the areas of sim ple sugars.
the short, w e t days of w in te r. W hile these
W ith the colder w e a th e r, m ost of us
num ber of other indoor activities th a t you
high in fresh fruits and vegetables to one
m eats, dairy and breads.
M agnesium : 100 200 mg
S om e of the things to include in a w in
good health from a w id e variety of areas.
The w in te r is a hard tim e to jog or perform
beans,
5 20 m eg
de
Selenium :
ter dietary program include: good sources
Exercise is an im p o rta n t co m p o n en t to
contacts
in
Zinc: 10 15 mg.
In addition to the above general s u p p le
Cool is su fficien t (you don't
tionship
heavier
and
of in fla m atio n ).
N e W A pep
generally
products
(should be taken w ith calcium : 200
system s, but our im m u n e system also be
is
in this fo rm .
M inerals:
400 m g )
conserve
placed in m ore in tim a te or proxim al re la
Our diets change from one w hich is
and dosage can safely be doubled
coffee
creasing w h ite blood cell delivery to areas
ding ground for m icro-organism s. W e are
ses.
Beta carotene is m y favored form
crease blood flo w to tissues (therein d e
Not only do w e help our cardiovascular
day to day
dairy
congestion
doors, w h ic h is a m ore c o m fo rta b le bree
our
Children: 15,000 I.U .'s
a n d /o r black tea. sm oking, and. for acute
MEMBER
w ith
V itam in A: Adults: 25,000 I.U .'s
If you show er or bathe
There are a num ber of reasons w hy w e
to have a w a rm , m oist en viro n m en t in
co m p o n en t to good w in te r health. There
8 com plex: Should be high in p a n to
W e should try to m in im ize the e x
constrict
Children: 1-2,000 m g per day
im p o rta n t
to
trem e te m p e ratu re changes. M a in tain in g
body te m e ra tu re . W e are also m ore likely
e xtrem ely
W e can dress w a rm ly and
W hile m ost of us can't m igrate to the
cold, w e t tim es of the year. W e are m ore
an
S om e of the things to avoid include
by Steven Bailey, N D
season of colds, flus and bronchitis
is
strengthen our resistance to infection.
Healthwatch
As the rains com e, so too com es the
N u tritio n
and like w is e foods and nutrients th at help
Jobless and Homeless
There is an illusion of general prosperity in
this country, a myth which blames the victims
of poverty. If you can't find a job, the Reagan
ites say, it's probably you're own fault. If
you're thrown out of your home and into the
streets, you obviously lacked self initiative and
the Protestant Work Ethic.
The System
"w o rk s ," and if you don't work, that's too
bad
Despite four years of economic "recovery” ,
there are 33.1 million Americans who are be
low the Federal government's poverty line
Nine million black Americans and 5 2 million
Hispanics are poor. Last year, the median
family income for whites was $29.100 How
ever, for black families the median family in
come was only $16,800 In real dollars that
is, when reduced by inflation the median in
come of all families has risen only 1.5 percent
since 1970. Sixteen years ago, overall unem
ployment was 4 5 percent for whites and 8 2
percent for blacks Today, jobless rates still
exceed 6.5 percent for whites and 14 percent
for blacks.
Chronic unemployment cannot be explained
by rhetorical attacks on the American people's
willingness to work. Recent census bureau
research shows, first, that since 1970 fewer
jobs are being created which require less than
a high school education. In New York City,
for instance, employment in industries where
worker education was less than a high school
level fell from 1.5 million jobs in 1970 to only
950,000 jobs by 1984 In Philadelphia during
the same period, jobs for people with less than
a high school degree declined by 172,000,
V ita m in C: Adults: 2 4.000 mg per day
very little cost.
state
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