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Puyc, 4, P j i Uai.u J j i x r v u r , F ebtuury lb , 190/
THE ENTERTAINMENT SEEN
/ * I
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Native Son", The Movie: A Social
Protest Statement or Just Another
Night at the Movies?
A ct
One
Ket
Key LrARGCf
' e v i n o t oc.
by Kam au A n d n rsn n
ABOUT TOWN
In 1940, R ichard W rig h t p u blishe d the novel "N a tiv e S o n ” as a lite rary
p ro te st o ( the social p lig h t o f yo u n g Black m ales in A m erica N o w . in 1987
w e have a m o vie based on th a t novel th a t m ost o f A m e rica is w a tc h in g
m a in ly fo r |ust an o th e r n ig h t at the m ovies The co n d itio n s in the life o f the
yo u n g Black m ale that m o tiv a te d W rig h t to w rite (tie n o ve l fo rty seven
11 NW I IR I T
B o e G » ...........................................................................5700 N E U n io n . 281 1176
Fri
B ra s s e rie M o n t m a r t e
S a t.. N orm an S ylvestar
.........
626 S W
NIGHTLY ENTERTAINMENT
P a rk . 224 5662
Fn S a t., D ennis S pringer Q ua rte t
H o b b it
years ago. has n o t im p ro ve d , and. in fact, has g o tte n w o rse and is approa
Ching ge n o cid a l p ro p o rtio n s
K e y L a rg o
Last H u rra h
19
S | 3 9 th b H o lg a te 771 0742
Fn Sat , M el B ro w n Q uin tet W / B u d Shank
31 N W le t . 223 9919
Fn sat . Calvin W alker Sun , R itm o T ropical
555 S W A ld e r . 224 1336
Ih u rs
Dan Reed N e tw o rk , Fn Sat , C ool R
11650 S W C a n y o n . 626 2223
O C a lla h a n s.
M on . D an Rired N e tw o rk
1425 N W
R " m o ’•
Fn Sat
bazo bbacks
' C A L V IN 'N ALKE«
Sur
0309 S W
S un , Cool 'R
S ta r r y N iq h t
f«b 73
and THE BOATS
ED
T^T at 23
COOL B
G lis a n . 221 1150
Fn S a t.. D on Latarski Band
S hanghai Lounge
r , t MO T R O P IC A L
tyv.nd.iv
Bigg Bangg Band; Sun . Ron Steen
f o o t o f S E M a r io n . 239 8900
S a l, V s
1 I1 -W 1 «
b a o io s . lents
M o n tg o m e r y . 220 1865
8 N W 6 th . 227 0071
Sat , The Neville Bros.
T h ir d A v e C lu b
T liu ts
Sat
309 S W 3 rd . 222 9180
Ron Steen Band
THIRD ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
W o r d o f th e W e e k
C o lo r o f th e W e e k
M a t r ia r c h
a w o m a n w h o ru le s a f a m ily
o r c la n .
C a m el B ro w n
g ro u p ,
JAZZY FM 9 9 1
¿Mi-lP
J
M’ I<||
Claude B ro w n , w h o w ro te ab o u t inner c ity life for Black m ales iri his
classic novel M a n ch ild in th e Prom ised L a n d " 119651 re ce n tly m ade th e
fo llo w in g statem e nt a b o u t th e present situ a tio n for Black y o u th s
It was
d iffic u lt for m e and m y g e n e ra tio n
N o w it is im p ossib le " W hy w o u ld
B row n m ake such a s ta te m e n t tod ay ab ou t Bla< k you th? W h a t was tt e real
m essage of th e m ovie, "N a tiv e S o n "? W ell, ab ou t 5 0 % . th a t's one half
o f (lie p riso n p o p u la tio n in th is c o u n try are Black m ales w h ile th e sam e
g ro u p is o n ly 6 % o , A m e ric a 's p o p u la tio n , ttie le a d in g cause o f death
am o ng Black m en is m u rd e i, m ore ttia n 40% of Black teenagers are on
em p lo yed, som e 2 0 % o f Black y o u th s w ill d ro i o u t-o f hig h scho ol and
m ore tha n 55% o , the next g e ne ration o, Black m a le s are b e in g raised, not
in a tw o parent ho use ho ld, b u t by Black w o m en If th is tre n d co n tin u e s
by 1990, a p p ro xim a te ly 70% o f Black m ale A m erica w ill either be in prison
or tie p sych o lo g ica lly m e d ica te d on som e fo rm o f dru gs, or have d e d a
vio len t death
I am~not a m o vie c ritic (th e re 's to o m any o f the m in tfi. u n e m p lo ym e n t
lines), so I ’m n o t g o in g to tell you h o w g o o d or tiad th e c in e m a to g ra p h y
w as or w h at scenes were le ft o u t o f the m ovie that w e r e in th e book
li
m ost cases w h e n there is a m ovie a d a p ta tio n o f a novel, all o f the scenes
in the book usually d o n 't m ake it o n to film and N ative S o n " is no exr >»p
lio n W h a t I hope w o u ld lie u n d e rsto o d fro m the move» is th e m essage that
R ichard W rig h t a tte m p te d to co m m u n e ate to A in e m a a b o u t th e m e n ta l
and physical d e s tru c tio n o f the Black male, rnaily by forces in so cie ty d ia l
seem ed be yo n d his c o n tro l W rig h t states in the in tro d u t lio n to (lie novel
that Bigger Thom as is a p ro d u c t o f A m erica From the first tim e th e Black
m ale set fo o t in A m e rica as a slave to the present his very essence has been
under atta ck fro m th e po w e rs D ial de fin e the A m erican re a lity If the Black
m ale c o n s c io u s ly realizes th e social c o n d itio n s o f his p e o p le and asserted
his manhood (i e , Nat Turner M a lco lm X. M erfgar Evers. M a rtin Luther
King and co u n tle ss o th e rs! to im p ro ve Die q u a lity o f life for th e m , fie w o u ld
tie q u ickly che cked or elim in a te d A sub tle part o f Bigger Thom as person
ality re fle c te d tin s ly |ie o f < onsciousness. but it laid d o rm a n t w a din g for
the rig h t stim u li to aw aken it
Biggei cle arly knew the ro o t cause o f his
(the Black m ale) dilem m a , but w as co n fu se d as to h o w to solve it In his
g e n e tic m em o ry, lie knew Diat fie w as suppose to be fig h tin g s o m e th in g
or som e bo dy to break Die chains of p o ve rty, ch a ia t te i d e g ra d a tio n and
h u m ilia tio n So lie lashed o u t against those w h o w ere tra p p e d in Die same
e n viro n m e n t th a t he was. his fam ily, frien ds .m il oth er Black m ales
R ichard W rig h t used the ho rrib le crim es o f B ig g e r Thom as to develop Ins
Dteme and dra m atize the p lig h t o f Black men i au gh t up in a sense o f hope
lessness
As I w as le avin g the m o vie house, several ■ o m m e n ts w ere overheard
ab o u t h o w vicio u s and ruthless Rigger w as in killin g and d isp o sin g o f ttie
w h ite g irl I w o u ld im a gin e Dial if Die s. one o f Biggi sm ,•stung (ns girl
frie n d 's head in as she slept and d u m p in g her d o w n an air sha ft was le ft in
the m ovie. W rig h t w o u ld not have had a tm rki ho p s ch a n t e in a lion s den
o f g e ttin g his c e n tra l th e m e acro ss
A d m itte d ly , the sto ry o f the Black
y o u th in A m e rica c o u ld have boen to ld in a m in e p .ila r a tile fash ion , tint
W rig h t is a w rite r and he used ttie novel as the m e d iu m Io tell his s to iy
T oday, there are far m ore Bigger Thom as ttia n in 194(1 They are pro le s
tin g and reb ellin g in the on ly u n fo cu se d m anner th a t they k n o w h o w If w e.
as B lack people, and the rest o f A m erica d o n 't listen and u n d e rsta n d ttie
p ro te s t s ta te m e n ts th a t th is very p o w e rfu l h u m a n reso un e is m a kin g it's
g o in g to be a lo n g in te rm issio n for w h a t w as th o u g h t to he just another
n ig h t at the m ovies
K« 9i
I,f 4
B en sidran T rio
AND
E rnestine A nderson
with T hk R on
sm:\Qi \ btkt
8 0 0 P M SATURDAY. M A R C H 7
NEIGHBORS O f W OODCRAFT BALLRO OM
S W 14th A N D MORRISON
T tie N e v ille B ro s
b r in g th e ir o n e o f a k in d m ix t u r e o f b lu e s , re g g a e
a n d r o c k to th e s ta g e a t T h e S ta r r y
T IC K E T S
RESERVED J 13 00. f 12 0 0
GENERAL AD M ISSIO N H O 0 0
G I l o t s. K A N M ACHINE GALLERIA. M USIC M ILLEN IU M
N ig h t o n S a t . Feb 21
Women s Day Celebration
P ortla nd
annual ce leb ration o f In te rn a tio n a l W o m e n ’s Day w ill t.ike
pi. h e D v . y e , h on M arch 7 it the N o rth w e s t S ervice Center fro m 10 a rn to
5 (i m
A ll peopl • are in vite d to a tte n d and p a rtic ip a te in th is ce le b ra tio n o f
w o m e n and then a cco m p lish m e n ts
This event w ill have a stro n g m u lti
c u ltu ia l in te rn a tio n a l flavor to it a s it is indeed a ce le b ra tio n o f all w o m en
D u rin g D ie day, there w ill be m any a< tiv itie s fro m w h ic h to cho ose film s,
art exh ib its, p o e try readings, folk sin gin g, da nce pe rfo rm an ces, live m usic,
dra m a tii p re sen ta tion s ethnu fo o d b o o th s, arts and cra fts sales tables,
and o rg a n iza tio n a l in fo rm a tio n ta llie s tha t w ill tie o p e ra tin g th ro u g h o u t the
day
A t n o o n there w ill be a p o litic a l fo ru m , spe aking to the issue o f
W o m e n and Sot la l C hange
T ic k e ts a re b a s e d o n a s lid in g s c a le o f $7. $8 $9 C h ild r e n 12 a n d
u n d e r a re fre e
For in fo r m a t io n , c o n t a c t T ess W is e h e a rt 236 2451
Red C ross First A id Class
S c h e d u le d
R isi Cross w ill sponsor a M u lti
m edia First A id class at Em anuel
H ospital. 2801 N G an te nbe in , on
S atu rday F e lin i.try 28 fro m 8 30
a m to 4 30 |i m
P a rticip a n ts w ill earn Red Cross
c e rtifii a tio n u p on c o m p le tio n o f the
class
REFRESHMENTS BY ¡A Z 2 QUARRY
M T M O O D C O M M U N IT Y COLLEGE. DR PAUL KREIDER. PRESIDENT
CLUB ZO D IA C
PRESENTS
*******************************************************£
FLEETWOOD
N.W. 24th at VAUGHN • 222-4087
Dining • Dancing • Banquet
Dining Room Open All Night
Supper Club Style
GOOD PEOPLE • GOOD MUSIC • GOOD FOOD
AND GOODTIMES
Dance to the latest and best Funk Music and Videos
on one of Portland's largest dance floors
featuring
TRADITIONAL BLACK AMERICAN SOUL FOOD
Wednesday Night
Live Music Thursdays
is Ladies Night
Foxy Ladies Contest
Open Tues. - Sun.
Wed. is Ladies Night
Thurs. is Fun Night
Fri. & Sat. After Hours 'til 4:00 AM
Sun. is Oldies Night
.................... Join U s ....................
featuring Portland's best
live acts and video music
enter and win $100 cash
Winner qualifies for $500 grand prize
every
Fleetwood Foxy Lady 1987
Thursday Night
309 W. Burnside
Club Available For Private Parties. Community Groupe. Banquete, etc
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
B rin g th is ad <>nd receive 2 for 1 on all m enu item s at an ytim e
m m i
l »
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% . • 'S* J
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• * • ? VJ*»
* -a F * *» *
**ft*ftt****tt£
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I
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I A
call 227 5248 for inform ation
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