Mr« Fraas«« Schoen-Nesspsper Roo»
U n iv e rs ity of Oregon L ib ra ry
tugen«, Oregon 97403
PORTLAND OBSERMER
Volume XVII. Number K
February 11,1987
25C
Local Activist Returns From Attending
East Coast Conferences
A vel G o id ly. a local so i idl and civil rig hts at tivist ha ust re tu rn e d tr o r
a ,7 day stay on the East Coast
D uring her stay G oid ly a tte n d e d the
F unding Exchange Board m ee ting and the A m e rica n C, n m itte e on A frica
con feren ce in N ew York City; the N ational Free S o u th A fric a M ove m en t
co n fe re n ce and The Call to C onscience N ational S tee ring Co' m itte e meet
mg in W a sh in g to n , D C ; and visite d the na tio n a l he ad qu arters of the Am e
rican Friends Service C o m m itte e in P hiladelphia G ordly is D ire cto r o f the
S o u th i " A frica P rogram for the A m erican Friends Service C o m m itte e
G ordly atten ded th e F unding Exchange board m eeting as a represent.!
tive o f th e M cK enzie River G athering F o un da tion o f O regon. She « a board
m em ber of the F und in g Exchange
The F und in g Exchange con sists o f
several fo u n d a tio n s th a t fu n d o rg a n iza tio n s w h ic h w o rk for social changes
G ordly said her interest "is to help board m em bers gain a be tte r understan
din g of S o u thern A fric a n issues and issues Black people are con cern ed
ab ou t " She said another reason fo r a tte n d in g th e m ee ting w as to m ake
sure the con cern s o f the M cK enzie River G athe ring are m ade k n o w n to the
board
G ordly said The Call to C onscience S teering C o m m itte e m ee ting , o f
w h ic h she is co chair, w as held to give anti a p arthe id o rg a n iza tio n s from
across th e U S an o p p o rtu n ity to n e tw o rk and share in fo rm a tio n ” 1 to ld
c o m m itte e p a rtic ip a n ts at the co n fe re n ce ab ou t the activitie s th a t are oc
cu rrin g in O regon in regard to divestm en t D u ring the con fe re n ce , every
one is up da te d ab ou t anti ip a rth e id activitie s a ro u n d the c o u n tr y ,” G ordly
said
The Call to C onscience IC T C I n e tw o rk is a response and a c tio n n e tw o rk
m ade up o f people in 44 states, along w ith eleven regional c o o rd in a to rs
G ordly is the Regional C o ord ina to r for the Pacific N o rth w e s t CTC m em
tiers a tte m p t to cha ng e the U n ited S tates g o ve rn m e n t, its in s titu tio n s and
its c o rp o ra tio n s fro m d o in g business in S ou th A fric a A c tin g on m oral and
religious values, in d ivid u a ls and o rg a n iza tio n s use non v io le n t pro te st to
challenge policies th a t streng then apartheid
A c c o rd in g to G ordly, the c o n ce p t o f CTC started d u rin g a visit to Leso
th o . S o u th A fric a , in the sum m er o f 1985 "W h ile in S o u th A fric a , m yself
and fo u r oth e rs w ere re tu rn in g fro m visitin g som e yo u n g ste rs living in a
refugee cam p. A fte r fleeing fro m Port Elizabeth, th e y let us k n o w that they
w ere aw are o f the role A frica n A m erican s w ere p layin g in the m ovem ent
them , ab uu t u iv e s tin e n t, anu sa n ctio n s
in e y asked us to co m e back and
w o rk hard to b ring a b o u t san ction s
G ordly said tha t later th a t evening
after leaving the y o u th s, the g ro u p discussed w a ys in w h ic h the y cou ld
help th e m
The g ro u p cam e up w ith the c o n ce p t o f Call to C onscience
Besides being in 44 states, over 200 o rg a n iza tio n s endorse the CTC
She said one o f the th in g s th a t cam e o u t o f the CTC m e e tin g w as a pro
posal b y a representative o f the Philadelphia CTC o , their plan for mass
a ctio n in J u ly du rin g the 200th anniversary o f th e n a tio n ’s in dependence
"T h e y plan to lay d o w n 3000 people in Ind epe nd ence Square to sym bolize
the nu m be r o f people w h o have been killed in S o u th A frica since 1984
G ordly said
W h ile at the A m erican C o m m itte e on A fric a co n fe re n ce G ordly atten ded
a re ce p tio n h o n o rin g Oliver R T am bo, president o f the A frica n N ational
C o nfere nce IA N C )
The AN C is the m a|or anti a p arthe id g ro u p in S ou th
A frica It w as fo rm e d in 1912 Entertainer Harry B elafon te served as host
and m aster o f cerem onies o f the event L ittle S teve n Van G andt, the per
son w h o organized the Sun C ity A lb u m protect, w as present also
G ordly said, d u rin g th e cere m on y. Tam bo w as presented w ith a $110,000
check w h ic h represented the a rtists' royalties fro m the S un C ity album
She said, in a d d itio n to this. T am bo was given a check for $16,000 from
in d ivid u a ls and o rg an izatio ns as c o n trib u tio n s
She said Tam bo w as very g ra te fu l n o t on ly to th e A m erican C o m m itte e
on A fric a , but also to the A m erican people for pressing for sa n ctio n s He
said, "T h e re is n o w lig h t at the end of the tu n n e l " The A m e rica n C o m m it
tee on A fric a , fo u n d e d in 1953, g re w o u t o f e ffo rts to su p p o rt the "D e fia n c e
o f U n iust L a w s " cam p aign w aged by people o f S o u th A fric a under the
leadership o f the A N C
A v el G o rd ly
S o cial an d C ivil R ights a c tiv is t
Next G ordly a tte n d e d the fre e S o u th A fm a M o ve m e n t organizer m eet
mg m W a s h in g to n D C
The m eeting took place .it the c h u rc h o f Con
gressm an W alter E F aun troy
There were 50 organizers from 19 < ities
W h a t w e did at that m e e tin g was to go th ro u g h an agenda that covered
seveial th in g s
W e had a p o litic a l o ve rvie w we ta lke d ab ou t m o b ilizin g
cam paigns against S o u th A fric a n s reg io n,il w ay against fro n tlin e states,
strategies for en ding aid to UNI TA le tie ls w h o are try in g to o v e rth ro w tfie
go ve rn m e n t o f A ng ola p re ve n tin g aid to M N R IR F N A M O in M oza m biq ue
and bu ild in g su p p o rt for th e lib e ra tio n o f N am ibia
said G ordly
G ordly said one o f the strategies is to get com p an ies w h o divest from
S o u th A fric a to reinvest here in the U n ited S tates and in th e fro n tlin e states
o, S o u th A frica She said d u rin g th e o rg a n izin g m ee ting , the g ro u p c n ti
cized the cu rre n t san ction s
Tam bo said th a t, on tfie one hand, w e can
call it a vu lo ry given tfie pressure th a t w as p u t on the C ongress and tfie
Reagan a d m in istra tio n by the A m erican people s callin g for san ction s It's
still a lim ite d v ic to ry
she said
G ordly said the sa n ctio n s are weak and
th a t com p reh ensive and m a n d a to ry san ction s are needed
G ordly visite d tfie na tio n a l he ad qu arters o f the A m erican Friends Service
C o m m itte e in Philadelphia d u rin g tier East Coast sw in g W h ile in Philadel
plea G ordly addressed the na tio n a l s ta ff m ee ting and gave the m an u p da te
P h o to by R ic h a rd J B ro w n
on tfie Call to C o n scie n ce S te e rin g C o m m itte e m e e tin g and an u p d a te o,
the ,n tivitie s that are o c c u rrin g in O regon " I in fo rm e d th e m ab ou t tfie up
co m in g d ivestm en t hill th a t w ill be in tro d u c e d to tfie O regon le g is la tu re
by D istm t 18 R epresentative M argaret Carter "
Carter lias d ra fte d a d ive stm e n t bill th a t is m od eled after tfie C alifornia
legislation w lm h is (tie strong est d ive stm e n t full in tfie c o u n try
G ordly
said som e of tfie language in the bill is fro m C a rte r's o rig in a l full th a t was
veto ed by form er G ov Vic A tiy e fi She said a lth o u g h she is certain th a t a
divestm en t full w ill fie passed d u rin g th is session o f the Legislature, she
i a u tio n s s u p p o rte rs of tfie d iv e s tm e n t full
A lth o u g h G ov G o ld s c h m id t
says fie w ill s ig n a d ive stm e n t full and th e re is en thusiasm in b o th tfie House
and the Seriate to pass d ive stm e n t le gislatio n, w e really c a n 't take a n yth in g
for g ra n te d u n til tfie full w e w a n t is signed U n til th is occu rs tfie pressure
m ust be kept
G ordly said it's im pressive tha t G o ld sch m id t says fie w ill sign a divest
m erit lull
Hut on tfie o th e r hand, he m ade pro m ises to th e Black Leader
ship C o nfere ni e and h a sn 't kept them
She said the q u e stio n is w h e th e r
tfie divestm en t full w ill fie the same I. gislatio n d ra fte d fry Rep Carter once
it ’s signed
G ordly praised Rep
C a rte r's e ffo rts in re in tro d u c in g a d ive stm e n t bill
United Way
Recognizes
Volunteer
Nick Barnett
A t a dinner celebrating the 20th anniversary o f the hiring of 50 Black longshorem en. Sandy Harris, calling
for u nity, w arned . "D o not get too co m fo rta b le , because Black longshorem en in Oregon are an endan
gered species’. A fte r tw e n ty years, there are only 34 of us le ft." O ther speakers at the dinner w ere Booker
Gibson and Ron H erndon. The dinner w as held a t the Ram ada Inn Sat . Feb 7 Photo by Richard J Brown
Northeast Portland resident Nick
Barnett was recognized for his out
standing service as a United Way
volunteer at the organization’s an
nual "Night of the Stars" Awards
Dinner last week
Barnett received praise in particu
lar for his leadership of United
Way's Admissions and Terminä
tions Committee in 1985 86
"In his role as chairman of the
committee. Nick led a creative do
osion making process that allowed
more agency admissions than over
before and at a time when United
Way had fewer resources," said
Jonathan Nicholas, columnist for
The Oregonian and presenter of
the award.
"United Way thanks Nick Barnett
for this and his many other volun
tary contributions throughout the
years,” Nicholas added
Barnett has also served as a mem
ber of United Way's Board of Direc
tors and Executive Committee, as
Nick Barnett IR I receives aw ard for outstanding volunteer service
at U nited W ay s recent A w ard s D inner
Presenting the aw ard is
Jonathan Nicholas, colum nist for The O regonian
chairman of the Neighborhood Al
locations Panel, and in various other
volunteer capacities
He works as
admissions coordinator at Portland
Community
College’s
Cascade
Campus.