Portland observer., May 25, 1988, Page 2, Image 2

Page 2, Portland Observer, May 25, 1988
EDITORIAL
GUEST
‘Free South Africa Sunday'
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are aware that June 12th has also
been designated as the Day of
Concern for peace in the Middle
East for all houses of worship in
Oregon).
POSAF has been leading the
struggle in the Portland community
since September of 1983 against
the evils of apartheid. You may
have answered our call in the past.
We were successful in ridding our
community of the South African
honorary consulate in January,
1985, boycotted the South African
gold coin called the Krugerrand
and the importation of South Afri­
can goods throughthe ports of
Portland and Vancouver, and
sponsored numerous forums, de­
monstrations, lectures, films, and
symposiums to educate the Port­
land community about apartheid.
You and your congregation are
also invited to the premiere show­
ing of the new video documentary
on the life of Steve Biko, the leader
of the Black Consciousness
Movement who was murdered by
South African police in September
of 1977. This showing will be at the
Northeast YWCA on June 3rd at
7:30 p.m. Admission is free. We
hope you can come to see this
important film. RSVP at 230-9427.
Please contact Avel Gordly at
American Friends Service Commit­
tee, 230-9427 for more information
or to confirm your church s partici­
pation in Free South Africa Sun­
day. I hope we can depend on your
support for South Africa Sunday
and help us rid the world of the evil
and ungodly monster called apar­
theid.
The inhumane and immoral sys­
tem of apartheid continues to vici­
ously oppress the majority of the
people of South Africa. Although
events in South Africa have been
systematically removed from the
evening news, the brutal repres­
sion of men, women, and children
continues almost unabated. Wit­
ness the recent murder of the
youthful Godfrey Dlomo. the ban­
ning of peaceful opposition organi­
zations, the arrest of the Rev. Allan
Boesak and Archbishop Desmond
Tutu for leading peaceful protest,
and the state sponsored terrorism
against neighboring Southern Afri­
can countries and African National
Congress (ANC) membership.
In conjunction with anti­
apartheid organizations across the
country. Portlanders Organized for
Southern
African
Freedom
(POSAF) will be building toward a
national mobilization of anti­
apartheid supporters on June 16th,
the twelfth anniversary of the Sow­
eto Uprising, to refocus national
attention on South Africa. In prep­
aration for June 16th, POSAF will
be calling for Free South Africa
Sunday in local churches through­
out the greater Portland commun­
ity. We are asking for your support
in this endeavor. Specifically, we
would like for you to allow a
speaker from our organization or
yourself to address your congrega­
tion on the issues of apartheid and
post a sign on your church lawn
that simply says "Free South Af­
rica” for a period of time. We would
like to suggest a date of June 12th
for Free South Africa Sunday but
are open to any Sunday that is
convenient for your schedule. (We
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Kamau Anderson
Chairperson
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iK «
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O P IN IO N
Civil Rights Journal
Perspectives
Beniamin F. Chavis Jr.
by Professor McKinley Burt
EDITORIAL /
Dear Ministers:
/
DEMOCRATIC PARTY:
BE FAIR to JESSE JACKSON
CCI
What Is The Meaning Of
91
The Jesse Jackson Campaign?
The meaning is obvious. This
great stride toward power and
parity means that once again
Black action and hope has been
galvanized; great energies and
resources have been mobilized.
We have been along this road
before. We have seen, but not
reached "the mountain top."
What will become obvious is
that if the social and economic
mountain top’ is to be reached,
then, the goal must be pursued
beyond the initial emotional
surge — beyong “ We shall over­
come.” I say that it is not the fault
of the leaders-who-stirred-the-
brethen when the final objective
is not achieved. Where it may only
take "Two to Tango," a multitude
of disciplined, well-organized
people are required to structure
and MAINTAIN an ongoing and
PERMANENT system of econo­
mic and soical benefit. The estab­
lishment of such institutions IS
the mountain top, and the splen­
did drive, dedication and courage
of brilliant, charismatic Black
leaders should never be wasted
by the very people for whom they
often gave their lives.
In this vein, we can speak, of
course, of last century's Frede­
rick Douglass, the great aboli­
tionist and orator, and In this cen­
tury, W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Gar­
vey, A. Phillip Randolph. Madame
C. J. Walker, Mary McLeod
Bethune, The honorable Elijah
Muhammed Malcom X, and the
magnificent Reverend Dr. Martin
Luther King (omissions because
of the limit of space). After each
such great thrust, it may be that
we have rested too long on the
plateau of c o n s c io u s n e s s ’,
almost at waiting for the in­
evitable backlash and attrition.
What I suggested earlier is ‘Keep-
on-stepping' tactic — build per­
manent infrastructure and institu­
tio n s — starting now. Noah did
not wait for the flood!
Building on the past, those who
came before him, Rev. Jackson
has added new dimensions to the
struggle, particularly the concept
of the RAINBOW COALITION. In
this context, we note that Oregon,
which has a little over 1% Black
population, saw a 35% white vote
for Jackson; in Minnesota with
2% Blacks of voting age, 20% of
by Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
the caucus vote went to him; in
Vermont, with less than a 2%
Black population, Mr. Jackson got
20% of the vote. This Is Im­
pressive, but perceptions of a
looming solidarity with the other
disadvantaged (and liberals)
should be tempered by a review
of history. Caution and structur­
ing is needed.
After the Civil War and almost
through the 1890s, there was a
high level of solidarity among the
Black and white workers in many
areas. We find this situation in
many industries and crafts: saw­
mill, textiles, tobacco, longshore
unions, coal mining, foundries,
culinary occupations. Much of
this economic camaraderie and
goodwill collapsed under the
pressure of hordes of hungry
European immigrants and the
playing of one group against
another by wily northern in­
dustrialists. By the turn-of-the-
century we find that the A.F.L.
(American Federation of Labor)
has been formed by such craft
unions as the carpenters and
other building trades, the machin­
ists, the plumbers, steamfitters,
and others — with a constitution
forbidaing membership by any
Americans not White Males! Now
there is a REAL QUOTA SYSTEM.
This time there must be ‘fore­
sig ht’ and anticipation of efforts
to derail progress; we need ‘Labor
and Craft Institutes’ manned
by trained econom ists who w ill
accept the experienced-basea in­
put of working men and women.
People with computerized data
banks and economic forecast
skills who can monitor business
and industry, and who can devise
or build legislation and/or institu­
tions to handle technological
change. This is the way it can be
rather than only the wringing of
hands and emotional protest
(“ Gee them folks are mean"). It
must be for some reason that we
have sacrificed so much to send
our sons and daughters to univer­
sities. I suggest that one payout
should be that these will be the
ones to design and structure new
institutions. "The Real Meaning
of the Jackson Campaign" can be
that the coalition of Americans
that he has put together can pro­
vide a democratic context for the
social structures we need.
Nyewusi Askari
PORTLAND OBSERVER
News Editor/Staff Writer
Gary Ann Garnett
“ The Eyes and Ears of the Com m unity”
Business Manager
Lonnie Wells
Danny Bell
Entertainment Writer/Sales
Distribution
Mattie Ann Callier-Spears
Steve Adams
288-0033
Jesse Jackson is breaking all
records as he continues to win
votes and delegates in the race
for the Democratic nomination for
President. The last state primary
elections will be held on Tuesday,
June 7th. In California, New
Jersey, Montana and New Mexico
466 delegates are at stake.
In both Los Angeles, California
and Newark, New Jersey I saw
thousands of people rally in sup­
port of Jackson as he continues
to define the key issues of this
presidential campaign. Dukakis
and Bush are increasingly being
forced to respond to Jackson on
the critical Issues of the day: the
drug epidemic, full employment,
equal justice, a comprehensive
national child care program, quali­
ty education for everyone, com­
prehensive sanctions against
South Africa, and nuclear disar­
mament and world peace.
Since 1983, Jackson has been
re s p o n s ib le fo r re g is te rin g
m illio ns of new Democratic
voters. In fact. Jesse Jackson has
done more to pump new life into
the Democratic Party than any
other person alive. The building of
the Rainbow Coalition has other
person alive. The building of the
Rainbow Coalition has not only
expanded the Democratic Party; it
has transformed the character of
rank and file Democratic voters.
Now, as we move closer to the
Democratic National Convention,
to be held in Atlanta, Georgia
from July 18-21, one fundamental
question needs to be raised. This
is the question of fairness.
After all that Jesse Jackson an
millions of his supporters have
done to show their explicit sup­
port for a Democratic win in the
upcoming Presidential election,
w ill the le adership of the
Democratic Party be fair to
Jackson? Better yet, can the
leadership of the Democratic Par­
ty afford not to be fair to Jackson?
Fairness means giving respect,
but fairness should be measured
in concrete terms. For example,
the Democrats now control the
United States Senate, In part
because of the central role that
Jackson played in registering and
m o b iliz in g the B la ck vote
throughout the South in 1986. The
Democratic Senate has directly
benefited from Jackson's efforts
by acquiring the chairs of the ma­
jor Senate committees, due to the
Democratic victory in 1986.
F a irn e s s m eans th a t a
reasonable number of United
States Senators should openly
announce th e ir supp ort of
Jackson for President. Yet, to
date, not one United States
Senator has formally endorsed
Jackson’s candidacy for Presi­
dent. Senators fall into the
category of “ super delegates" to
the Democratic Convention and
they have a responsibility to sup­
port the political mandate of their
constituents. Why is it, then, that
in the case of one who has done
so much to help the entire
Senate, no Senate has yet come
forward to do what is right and
fair?
Jesse Jackson won all the
following primaries and cau­
cuses: Alabama, Georgia, Loui­
siana, Virginia. Mississippi, Puer­
to Rico, Michigan, Alaska and
Vermont. Yet, to date, not one
Democratic Governor has endors­
ed Jesse Jackson for President.
And in Puerto Rico, though Jack-
son won the primary, the Gover­
nor gave all of Puerto Rico's dele­
gates to Dukakis. Fairness means
that, at the least, in those states
where the electorate overwhelm­
ingly voted for Jackson, the
Governors — who are also “ super­
delegates” — should throw their
support to Jackson.
Of course, we are only able to
make the argument for fairness
because of prior massive turn­
outs of voters for Jackson on
primary day. Every vote — par­
ticularly on June 7th in California,
New Jersey, Montana and New
Mexico — will count and will in­
crease Jesse Jackson’s leverage
at the Democratic Convention.
Jesse Jackson deserves to be
President. The Democratic Party
must face this reality. The leaders
of the Democratic Party have re­
spected Dukakis; Jackson de­
serves no less. If, by chance, the
leaders of the Party are willing to
gamble with the future of the
Democratic Party by being unfair
to Jackson, then millions of Jack-
son supporters should not be ex­
pected to come out on Election
Day In November. And this will
not be Jackson's fault; it will be
the fault of the Party bosses.
When I was in southern Africa
recently, hundreds of people
spoke to me of the importance of
the Jackson candidacy. They saw
it as a campaign with worldwide
significance for the cause of
justice and freedom. Jesse Jack-
son is the only presidential candi­
date who has lifted up the fact
that South Africa is a terrorist
state. Jesse Jackson's campaign
has literally increased the hopes
and aspiration of millions of peo­
ple throughout the world, par­
ticularly In Latin Am erica,. the
Middle East, and in Africa. We,
who have an opportunity to vote,
must take this historic opportuni­
ty seriously. The future of the
world is at stake.
Art Director
Religion Editor
O P IN IO N
Arnold Pitre
Fred Hembry
Sales Representative
Sports
by Dr. Jamil Cherovee
Joyce Washington
Sales Director
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"More Blacks die in one
year from Black-on-Black vio­
lence than in nine years of the
Vietnam War; and we were 35 per­
c e n t o f th e c a s u a ltie s in
Vietnam.”
“ In other words, you were safer
in Vietnam in an actual war than
you are walking the streets of the
so-called ghettos of Amerika
The caucaoid man would never
kill you if you were not so quick to
kill one another," Minister Far-
rakhan emphasized. Black people
are a threat to caucasoid society
because our birth rate is greater
than that of caucasoids in Ame­
rika.
“ If we become politically and
econom ically mature, we could
dominate the economic scene
and take control in the house
where we were once sold as
slaves. No wonder the Black
male is an endangered species,"
he said. The increasingly popular
campus lecturer and student o,
the Honorable Elijah Muham­
mad, The Raised Christ, focused
his brilliant light on the reason
why the Black male in particular
was singled out for destruction,
and indicated that “ the male car­
ries the ideals of the nation, ac­
cording to the teachings of the
Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
Since the Black man is the
original man, the Adam of the
scripture, his nature is the nature
of God Himself, and the ideals he
carries are the characteristics of
the Divinity. When these ideals
are absent from the world, the
world is under the veil of death.
Thus, the work of resurrection of
the Black man w ill ultim ately
result in the springing to life on
earth of a new world order, based
on divine principles.
Dr. George McKenna, the first
speaker on Saturday’s agenda,
pointed out that Black males are
"firs t to be incarcerated, to die a
violent death, and are over repre­
sented in prison, poverty and ex­
pulsion from school, but he sug
gested that “ p ub lic schoo ls
more than anybody else must
rescue Black m ales," because
that is the “ only place law pro­
vides they must be."
The high school principal in­
dicated that Blacks “ have to
come to grips with the fact that a
program is needed that must deal
with the Black male, since he is
the most at risk' in this society,"
and Black parents, “ must de­
mand from institutions that they
be responsive."
As the principal of George
W ashington Preparatory High
School, located in South Central
Los Angeles, Dr. McKenna deve­
loped and implemented the Pre­
paratory School Model, a pro­
gram stessing academic excel­
lence at all levels. In four years,
he su c c e s s fu lly changed an
inner-city high school that had
been torn by vio len ce, low
achievement and lack of com ­
munity confidence into a school
which now has an attendance
waiting list, and where nearly 80
percent o, the youngsters enroll
in college.
Dr. Edison O. Jackson, the Su­
perintendent of Compton Com­
munity College (CCC), speaking
before the next presenter, said
that it was “ time to stop talk­
ing and get involved and do
som ething.” Dr. Edison believes
it was time for Blacks in posi­
tions of authority to begin to
“ make a difference" for Black
youth, and that he is carrying that
message with him wherever he
speaks at conferences on educa­
tion.
"I am your wildest nightmare,"
declared Lee Rodgers, a former
gang member, "banging, slang­
ing and hanging ", who now coun­
sels youth and talks to com m u­
nity groups to help them under­
stands the gang experience.
"I am a product of you I am
what you are: your son, your
brother . . . I am a self-made
master of city streeis, and now I
have crossed over into your
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