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Portland, Oregon
ERVER
PORTL
Volume XVIII, Number 48
25C
O ctober 27,1988
'T h e Eyes and Ears o f th e C o m m u n ity '
—
Parent Charges Harrassment
A
S a lu tin g
?•»
Sarah Jackson
King Elementary School
3rd Grade
7Á
Fatima Rushdan
King Elementary School
4th Grade
Black
Expo
’88
in their custody and responded to
concerned parent of the
her son and his friend in an un
Northeast community has in
formally charged four Portland po professional and rude manner.
The police version of what hap
lice officers with abuse and mis
pened is as follows: police officers
treat of her teenage son the week
were informed that a group of
end of Oct. 7. The incident has
teenagers, some of them known
aroused the attention of the Urban
blood gang members, were West
League of Portland and Black
bound on N. Killingsworth street.
community representatives who
When
the police arrived, they
are demanding an investigation by
observed
nine or ten youth cross
City of Portland Chief of Police
ing N. Vancouver at Killingsworth
Richard Walker.
against a ‘Don’t Walk’ pedestrian
Mrs. Annette Preston alleges
sign. The report says that because
that her son, DeMarcus Preston,
of the youths gang association,
and his friend Norman Penny were
the officers conducted a high risk
harrassed by Portland police of
stop.
ficers and detained in police
According to the report, DeMar
vehicles the evening of Oct. 7.
cus had been known to carry guns
DeMarcus and Norman were on
on several occassions and during
their way to a Jefferson High
the initial stop, was uncooperative,
School Football game.
would not follow police instruc
An unidentified witness of the
tions and refused to keep his
incident notified Mrs. Preston who
hands away from his body. DeMar
then rushed to the scene at the
cus was also accused of being
corner of K illingsw orth and
confrontative, argumentative and
Williams with DeMarcuss aunt,
attempted to incite a growing
Terry Hill.
crowd of on-lookers. The report
Mrs. Preston and Ms. Hill said
says that two officers attempted
that their efforts to inquire about
to handcuff DeMarcus, and when
DeMarcus and Norman’s where
he immediately resisted, they forc
abouts were met with alarmingly
ed him to the grass. According to
hostile and abusive responses by
the report, moderate force was
used.
the four officers.
Mrs. Preston maintains that the
However, Mrs. Preston says the
officer-in-charge refused to let her
concern for her son and other
see or talk to her son and that his
Black teenagers again raises the
language was threatening; and
issue of the misguided pursuit of
after much confusion, the super
gang members by the Portland po
vising officer haphazardly explain
lice department and the arbitrary
ed that DeMarcus and Norman
searches by overly zealous police
were being held on suspicion of
officers.
Captain Tom Potter of the North
gang related activities.
According to Mrs. Preston, the
Portland Precinct is now investi
gating the incident. He informed
incident was psychologically vio
the Portland Observer that he in
lent. She says that the officers
tends to reach a judiciows out*
made an unwarranted seizure of
the youths, mistreated them while
come.
‘The Beginning’
t was new, exciting, bubbling
with excellence, laced with
traditional African grace, and a
memorable sight for tired eyes. It
offered African-American greeting
cards, African-American prints,
African-American dolls, African-
American coloring books, African-
American Heritage pins, sweat
shirts w ith African-American
heroes and sheroes on front and
back, African gowns, African
shirts, African-American food,
books, Bean pies, jewelry, and just
about everything African-Ameri
can the mind could conceive on
this day, Oct. 22,1988.
It was called the Black Expo
-Community Bazaar.
Although the name suggest a
community fair of some sorts, it
was much, much more. It was a
spiritual gathering. A gathering of
some of Portland’s most gifted,
talented and inspirational artists,
businessmen/women, families,
organizations, and of course,
African-American children.
Sponsored by the Black Profes
sional Network, the Black Expo
was a high class act. Its par
ticipants read like the who’s who
of who will enrich our community
well into the 21st century: Sister
Charlotte Lewis, Sigma Gamma
Rho Sorority, Omar Shabazz,
Kemet T-Shirts, Black Stuff, J. Cor
nell Foreman, Arlene Marshall,
William Rutherford, Interstate
Firehouse Cultural Center, Black
United Fund/BPN, Phil Reid
Studio, Grace Kuto, Johnny Olive,
Kathryn Jennings, Richard Brown,
the American Muslim Community,
Jennie Portis, KBMS Radio Sta
tion, Waverly Davis, Kai’s Designs,
Allen Biggers, John Barnes, Judy
Alexander, J.V. Packers, Ltd.,
Gloria Flucker, and on and on.
According to Dennis Payne,
President, the Black Professional
Network, “We want to thank the
African-American community for
its unforgettable support ... From
the moment we opened for busi
ness until the moment we closed
shop, the community was there. It
shows that African-Americans will
spend their money in the com
munity if you provide them with
quality products, excellent service
and something they can personal
ly relate to. Our vendors were so
excited about the success of the
Expo until all you heard was LETS
DO IT AGAIN!!!
And the Black Professional Net
work plans to do it again. Plans are
underway for a second Expo to
take place in December, 1988. If
you missed this one don’t miss
the next one. You can’t help but
walk away completely satisfied,
overwhelmed and proud to be liv
ing in a community where there is
enough talent, skill and excellence
to fill the sun.
I
Saluting ....
V ;
lliiii
La’ Tina Spears
Sacred Heart School
5th Grade
$
Dr. R. Y. Woodhouse
Chief Executive Officer, Seattle Urban League
Willie Banks, Jr.
Holy Redeemer School
6th Grade
The Coalition of Black Men
will hold its bi-monthly meeting
I on Saturday, Oct. 29, in the cat-,
eteria of Portland Community
| College, Cascade Campus, 705
North Killingsworth.
The meeting will begin at I
12:30 p.m. and all Black men are |
invited to attend.
The Coalition of Black Men i
was organized in June of this
year to address many of the
social and economic problems
that are having an unfavorable |
impact on Black youth.
N O T IC E
Black Writer’s Guild to I
form. For more informa
tion - Call Useni Perkins at
the Urban League of
Portland - 280-2600.
he Black United Front Satur
day School enrollment is now
open at the following sites:
C o lu m b ia V illa , 9338 N.
Woolsey Ct.; Emmanuel Temple
Church, 1032 N. Sumner, Pied
mont Friends Church, 5736 N.
A lbina; Redeemer Lutheran
Church, N.E. Killingsworth and
N.E. 20th; St. Phillips Church, 120
N.E. Knott; YWCA, 5630 N.E.
Union: Allen Temple Church, 4236
N.E. 8th; Mallory Avenue Church,
126 N.E. Alberta; St. Andrew
School, 806 N.E. Alberta.
Children in grades 1 through 6
are eligible for the program which
teaches African-American history
and culture, reading and math.
Children will also receive help with
homework. Classes will be held
from 10 a.m. until 12 Noon
throughout the school year.
Parents may enroll their children
by going directly to one of the nine
available sites. Space is available
for 355 children on a first come,
first served basis.
Over 100 volunteers are involved
this year allowing for this expan
sion of the program. The Black
United Fund thanks the communi
ty for its generous support of this
program. For more information,
call Avel Gordly or Karen Powell at
230-9427.
T
Dr. Carl Parker
CITIZENS INVOLVED IN
TEACHING YOUTH (CITY)
The CITY program which pro
vides tutoring services to students
in grades 1st through 6th has
begun o ffe rin g after-school
tutoring.
Services are available 3:00 p.m.
to 5:30 p.m. Monday through
Thursday at the Benson Baptist
Church on Vancouver Avenue and
Wygant. A student may attend
twice a week. The cost is $25.00 a
month. Scholarships are available.
For further information contact Dr.
Carl Parker at 281 -8596.
Saluting ....
Mr. Donnie Griffin
Mr. Griffin is the Oregon Director of Community Affairs and
Corporate Communications for US West. Mr. Griffin, a Washington State
University journalism graduate, joined the company’s Oregon head
quarters office earlier this year. He’s been with the company for 12 years.
COMMENTARY
Black Community Meets With CSD
practices of the Ecclesia Athletic
Association, as well as other
philosophy related African-Ameri
can organizations and (4) organize
an Advisory committee that would
advise CSD on the community’s
feelings, and concerns about the
way the case is handled.
At the forefront of this agenda
are (1) Mr. James Edmondson,
Resources, (2) State Represen
tative Margaret Carter, Contact, (3)
Mr. Useni Perkins, Investigation
and (4) Advisory, Ms. Teletha Ben
jamin and Ms. Wanda Wright.
Community members agreed
on media stragedy and will design
communications that will keep the
African-Am erican com m unity
informed of the progress of the
Ecclesia children, as well as any
progress to get Mr. Broussard into
the community to explain his pro
gram, his philosophy and hopeful
ly provide some insight into the
death of his daughter.
On Saturday, Oct. 22, members
from Portland’s African-American
community met with Mr. Bart Wil
son, Branch Manager, Children
Services Division, Clackamas
Branch, to receive an update on
the status of the children of the
Ecclesia Athletic Association.
Organized by Gina Woods, a
member of the Governor's staff,
with assistance from Ms. Teletha
Benjamin (CSD), the meeting pro
duced an agenda of its own. After
listening to Mr. Wilson give a hour
by hour report of CSD's involve
ment in the Ecclesia case, the
community members in atten
dance voted to (1) harness com
munity resources and make them
available to the children of Ec
clesia, (2) attempt to make contact
with Ecclesia leader Eldridge
Broussard in hopes of negoitating
a Black community forum, (3) to
investigate the philosophy and
EDUCATION
Gina Wood
’• 4
•
DREAM GIRLS: A Must For Portlanders
Dream Girls opened at the Civic Auditorium on Oct. 25, and in
spite of the bad review by Bob Hicks of The Oregonian, This
musical is a must see for lovers of the arts. The overwhelming
response from the vast majority in attendance was “ out of sight."
The show played to a packed house and the only thing missing
was more seating to accommodate the walkups at the box office.
Perhaps Bob Hicks would have enjoyed reviewing the Def
Leppard concert at the Coliseum. At least there he may have seen
some “ missed steps” or heard “ off" key notes.
The Cast of “ Draam Girls'