Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 1988)
Page 4, Portland Observer, January 20, 1988 South Pacific Islanders Seek Freedom From U.S. Authority Roman Bedor reads the in scrip tio n on the plaque presented to him honoring his fath e r w h o was assassinated. Photo by Richard J. Brown by Nyewusi Askari On Tuesday, January 12, 1988, Roman Bedor, a key figure in the legal and political battle over the future of the South Pacific island of Palau, spoke at the Lutheran Church, 5431 N.E. 20th, Portland. The event was sponsored by the American Friends Service Commit tee and the Palau Constitutional Supporters, a group of Palauans living in Portland. Palau sits in the western Pacific 700 miles southwest of Guam. In 1947, the United Nations mandated Palau and neighboring Pacific is lands as the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. And since the United States had captured these islands from Japan, it was named the administering authority. According to Bedor, the United States now want Palauans to ac cept economic aid in exchange for U.S. military rights to Palauan land and waterways (including visits by nuclear armed ships and aircraft). The aid package is estimated at between $500-million and $1 billion. Such an agreement would be bind ing for the next 50 years. In 1979, Palauans adopted a con stitution that prohibits nuclear wea pons in Palauan territory. The con stitution, Bedor explained, was Pa lauans' way of moving toward self- government, as well as establishing a new legal relationship with the United States. "The majority of Pa lauans have no desire to remain a United Nations Trust Territory and are distressed that America shows no concern for the inhabitants and the welfare of the people of Palau," Bedor said. According to Mr. Bedor, Palau ans on the island are being intimi dated, threatened and killed, be cause they resist the terms of a document called the "compact of free association." The compact would make Palau a sovereign na tion, but would leave the United States in charge of the island's de fense. The conflict has divided the Palauan government, which has been identified as the main source one who thinks that we want to re main in that situation has narrow vision. We want the world to realize of the intimidation. The compact was rejected five times by Palauan voters before passing. Bedor says that compact passed only because the majority of Palauans were afraid to vote otherwise. While listening to Mr. Bedor speak about the tribulations of Pa lauans, it was easy to imagine that he was speaking of the conditions African-Americans are trying to overcome in this country. The Pa lauans who were present at the meeting could easily be mistaken for African-Americans. "W e adopted an American-style constitution, because we feel that it speaks to the heart and soul of Palauans. We are a peace-loving, law-abiding people. World War II is over. We want to get on with the process of living, of raising our families and developing our coun try. We've been in this situation every since World War II, and any- our connection with the brother hood of man and woman, and we can do that if we are self-govern ing," Bedor said wearily. The conflict hit close to home when Bedor's father, Bings Bedor, was shot and killed September 9. Many Palauans believe the bullet was intended for Roman, who, as a member and founder of the Nu clear Free and Independent Pacific Network, successfully challenged the constitutionality of the Compact of Free Association in 1986. He is also a lawyer. "The assassination of my father strengthened my resolve to con tinue fighting for Palau's right to self-government," he said. Bedor explained that Americans can help Palauans by writing to the State Department's Micronesia Desk. "Let them know that you believe that Palauans have the right to self-government and would like to see it happen. Talk to your neighbors about us. Talk to pa- lauans in your community." The largest community of Pa lauans on the west coast lives in the State of Oregon; a fact I didn't know until I attended the meeting. I also didn't know that there are a significant number of Palauans liv ing right here in the Black commu nity. At the conclusion of the meeting, Bedor was presented with an award. He said it was the highlight of his travel to the United States. "It makes me feel good to know that my work is appreciated, and I feel very humble that this commu nity would see me fit to receive it. The folk back home won't believe, but the proof is in the pudding," he said, with a laugh. "The assassination o f my father strengthened my resolve to con tinue fig h tin g fo r Palau's right to se lf-g ove rn m e nt." Bedor Photo by Richard J. Brown NEW PATIENT SPECIAL This certificate entitles each new patient with: a« X City lot EXAM, BITE-WING X-RAYS, ROUTINE CLEANING $40.00 OFF « Fo'Only $35.00 NEW DENTURES • eventive Family Dentistry • Special Attention to Children and Cum Disease • Free Denture Cleaning • No Charge Consultation Keime Repairs u lule you u ait Edward E. Ward, DMD Convenient, affordable dental care for your family. 610 SW Alder. Suite 1(K)8 • 228-3009 HOURS: M-F 7AM-7PM Dr. Edward E. W ard SATURDAY 8AM-5PM Expires Dec.31. 1987 ■W Perspectives by Professor McKinley Burt What did the Reverend Martin Luther King mean when he said that Blacks "collectively, are richer than all the nations in the world, with the exception of nine"? And when he said that "Blacks have an annual income of more than thirty-billion dollars a year. . . that's power right there, if we know how to use it"? Was it more about this 'economic' aspect of his message that brought about his murder than the social content? Today, Black purchasing power is put at over a hundred- billion yearly! My central theme most weeks has been to highlight many of the eco nomic resources of technology (in ventions) created by, and available to, Blacks over the last century. ECONOMICS Several readers have called or w rit ten to inquire, "Great, so where do we get the money to finance, manu facture and distribute all these crea tions?" My reply has been that it is not such a big step to perceive that all of this purchasing power, de scribed above by Reverend King, represents a practical vehicle for generating the needed monies. It is not a new or isolated concept, hav ing been projected or initiated by individuals and groups ranging from Marcus Garvey to Madame C.J. Walker, and from the Black Muslims to Tony Brown and his 'Green Power' theme. We are talking about the owner ship and cooperative control of re tail and service enterprises, just as the 'new Asians' and other ethnic groups have done. And then mov ing 'upstream' to wholesaling and manufacturing many of these pro ducts. At present, we do not make anything even so simple as a natural comb or a box of paper clips. During my ten years of accounting in Los Angeles, one of my clients was the Globeware Manufacturing Company. The business experience of the owners (Jewish) was in wholesale candies, but now they had decided to manufacture skil lets, pots and pans in pastel colors — something they knew nothin about, but had seen in a European magazine. They pooled their money and sent one partner to Belgium to observe the process there, and the other two spent hundreds of hours in research in the public library. In addition they took temporary night jobs in a metal manufacturing plant to gain several months of hands-on experience. I would make two major points here, my observations being based upon being involved in every finan cial and administrative aspect of this company. This was 1957, and I was able to draw upon my Portland ex perience of setting up Union Ave nue Finance Co. for car dealers to set up a house-to-house distribution component for Globeware's 'Nine- Piece Cookware Master' — "Comes In Six 'Glorious' Colors". At $295 a set, retail, the bank scooping off $60 for handling the housewives' con tracts and the salemen getting $100, the money flowed like wine, since the product only cost $49.95 to make. My first point is that I had a num ber of Black business clients at the same time, and I can state that the partners at Globeware did not have any more initial capital or later re sources than the Blacks. We will talk another time about lifestyles and conspicuous consumption. Secondly, as I shall make clear in next week's article — about The Albina Corporation, the nation's lar gest minority manufacturingd com pany in 1969 — Globeware com fortably stayed within the limits of what its operators were qualified to do in terms of abilities and finance. This Portland company did not. The process of producing pots and pans required only three raw materials and four machines: sheet steel, degreasing fluid and ceramic grit; metal shears, punch press, welders and grinders (painting was farmed out). The process was so simple that in a tight labor market, the owners would go down to the Greyhound Bus Station and inter cept Blacks and Hispanics with their shopping-bag luggage, hiring them on the spot. Within six weeks they would be turning out utensils — and that with only a 5% rejection rate, and supervised by one of their own. Fascinated with this introduction to manufacturing, and seeing many applications within the 'Black Eco nomy', i began a further learning process by 'contributing' my spare time to the company. On Saturday mornings, I would take a semi-truck and trailer down to the docks at San Diego and bring back a load of Japanese cold-rolled steel. I would unload it with a fork lift, and then maybe spend the afternoon chang ing dies in the punch presses or using a spot welder to put handles on the skillets. Like many of my peer group with these kind of skills and experience, we expected to be welcomed with open arms by the Black community and Black business sector. Not to be! As. Dr. Cruse said on Monday's Oprah Winfrey Show, the 'social engineers and programmers' have failed to understand that the basic nature of this system is about sales, production and ownership. McKenzie River Gathering Foundation Announces Spring, 1988 Funding Cycle • ♦.<£ * All-New for 1988 a 20% Faster • Even Healthier V Join now and save your ability Reg fee $15 Weekly fee 7 Reg fee $10 Weekly fee 7 Totai - NEW QUICK SUCCESS ----------------i»R( h ; r \ m ----------------- R FIRST RISE IN REGISTRATION FEES SINCE 1983 (No Increase in Weekly Feel This offer good in participating areas only 9 30 a .t. 9 JO a m b rim m in g w ith hard facts on the lin g e rin g effects o f dru gs a lcoh ol and ch e m ica ls NORTH PORTLAND T illa m o o k P ark Bldq 2108 N F 41st Ayp Tues We-1 R IF IC A T IO N : A n Illu s tr a te d A n s w e r Io D rugs is te m p le B a p tis t C hurch 1 .U 9N f 7t» Fireside Bn T oesriay i Brown B,»q Lunch Class» NORTHEAST PORTLAND M a r« n a rh s C h u rc h «227 M E I2rh (Enter on Studm oreI Sat 9 30 a m A iv e rq a te C o m m u n ity C h u rc h 4737 N Lombard St 7 00 p m 5 l) 0 p m 1 (Ml p m U n iv ers ity o* P o rtlan d juv». •« »»nirt. »-Il»- mvll Columbia Hall finte» from Portsmouth I W»»1 think more clearly! 7 (lb p m 5 00 p r JOIN ANY CLASS ANYTIM E New an renewmq members please arrive 20 mm earlier For more mformatKKi and additional class locations CaW collect (5031 297 1021 W ’ -'t» f W it i I w r s I I»-»» i It gives you the an sw e r to m am la m in g m en ta l sharpness despite h a vin g had these subslances no m a tte r how long ago or how m u ch ' This b r illia n t book gives you the results ol years of research in easv Io u n de rsta nd d e ta il Only $12.50! Name INJURY & ACCIDENT TOM HON MIKE STEENSON FONTANA Address City The McKenzie River Gathering Foundation (MRG) which funds peace, human rights, and environmental groups in Oregon, announces its Spring, 1988 funding cycle. MRG encourages grant applications from groups which: • educate and organize for social change; • practice affirmative action in their group's composition and program outreach; • have little access to traditional funding sources, e.g., United Way, government, churches, other foundations; and • strategically address their issue. MRG does not fund co-operatives, health centers, alternative schools, and projects that are primarily social service or that involve influencing legi slation or electoral campaigns. Grants generally range from $500 to $2,000. Recent MRG funding cycles have supported groups addressing: issues affec ting people of color, women, and lesbians and gays; Central America; nuclear disarmament; progressive media; Mid-East peace; pesticide reform; AIDS; and wilderness protection. Groups interested in submitting a project proposal should contact the MRG Eugene office to receive the foundation's application form and accom panying materials. The application deadline is Monday, March 7th. Linda Reymers, MRG Program Director, is available to answer any questions about applying for an MRG grant. MRG is located at 454 Willamette, Eugene, OR 97401. The phone number is 485-2790. _ State/Prov Order your copy today from: Dianetics Center 709 S A SALMONSTAEET PORTLAND OREGON 97205 1503» 228 0116 SCHUM AN ATTORNEYS AT LAW • Civil Rights • Workers' Compensation • Small Business • Police M isconduct • Real Estate • Divorce 415 N.E. 18th AVENUE • PORTLAND. OREGON 97209 •'9$5b»CS * .fht» rasatati . . a mart ow-'ad by t*e y .«s ’•< ’S pa"»' SS'On P’ "»ad n S * ’ ■ V , a • ad«*»-* sn<i >q» a"d • ..sad * »•» 221-1792