Page 2, Portland Observer, October 27, 1988
EDITORIAL /
Perspectives
Isaac Newton:
Black History Student
Part 2
by Professor McKinley Burt
ast week I quoted Isaac New­ setup famous scientific schools,
ton, "The most significant for these imitators had the oppor­
tunity to learn (and copy) "a cur­
astronomical beliefs of the an­
cient Greeks were derived from riculum that included physics,
the Egyptians." Nothing like go­ arithmetic, geometry, astronomy,
ing right to the roots when for­ medicine, chem istry, geology,
mulating a great theory (Universal meterology and music ... librarian
Gravitation) that w ill shape the c a llim a c h u s alone c o lle c te d
scientific thinking of the world for 400,000 books ... Ptolemy Sorter
500,000 volumes; the col­
centuries to come. No apple fell inherited
lection of all the Ptolemys exceed-1
on Newton's head (Voltaire), just
ed a half-million rolls of papyrus,
basic Black history.
When I described Atlantis, the the e q u iv a le n t o f te n s of
science-oriented colony of A fri­ thousands of books today.” (see
cans in what is now Libya, North George James, Stolen Legacy; Brin-
Africa, I struck a familiar chord ton, A History of Civilization, Vol. I)
Isaac Newton, after researching
among several readers. Plato, the
the
oral traditions of the poet,
Greek philosopher, having al­
ready given credit to the Africans Homer (The Iliad and the Odyssey),
for having invented mathematics, Odyssey), tells us, “ After the
astronomy and letters, apparently times of the Argonaut expedi­
could not bring himself to allo­ tions and the Trojan wars, the
cate A tlantis to Blacks — he cummunications between Greece
described it as an island some­ and Africa ceased (& Astronomy
where off the coast of Africa, and lay neglected) till the reign of
populated it with a mysterious Psammitcus. In his reign the
race of white geniuses (Plato, The Greeks had free access to Egypt j
... Thales traveled hither, revived
Timaeus).
Now for my quote of historian Astronomy, observed the stars” (I
A tkinson, "The Greeks were bet!). This Psammitichus is the
notorious thieves." This opinion African King who gave Greek
develops from the fact that, ad­ names to the Africans he install­
m itte d ly , alm o st all of the ed in Egypt’s Greek provinces,
‘Greeks’ alleged to have founded and who hired Greek mercenaries
our science and culture were to fight off Persian invaders (526
students in the temple schools of B.C.).
The really great invasion of
Alexandria, Egypt, and were pat­
rons of the two-thousand year old Africa by culture-seeking Greeks
lib r a r ie s
th e re :
E u c lid , came with the conquering ‘Alex­
P y th a g o ru s ,
A rc h im e d e s , ander The Great’ who destroyed
E rastothenes, Thales, Hero, so many of the libraries. From
Aristarchus, Appolonius, Hippar­ what has been reported here, we
c h u s , P to le m y , Theon and may safely assume that any num­
Hypatia among others. They were ber of these famed ‘Greeks’ were
preceded centuries earlier by in fact Black A fricans — like
Moses w ho s tu d ie d at the Euclid who was born in Africa, and
H e lio p o lis b ra n c h on the died there (there are no actual
Nile — This is the “ On” university marble busts from this period).
Bill Cosby was right in that 1960s
described in the Bible.
Obviously, it was not that dif­ video: "B la ck H istory, Lost,
ficu lt to return to Greece and Strayed or Stolen.”
L
Need Information On Black Newspapers
Dear Editor
I am doing research on the
Black press in American media. I
am interested specifically in Black
newspapers in the Portland area.
This is for a paper for my Mass
Communications class at Linfield
College. Any help I can get from
the Portland Observer would be
greatly appreciated.
Would you send me a copy of
your newspaper with a brief
history, such as when the paper
was started, who founded it, etc.? I
would also like to know if there
are any other Black newspapers
in the Portland area.
I would be grateful if this infor­
mation could be sent as soon as
possible, as I have a time restric­
tion on this paper.
Thank you for your help.
Sincerely,
Heather Tapper
Box 3099
Linfield College
McMinnville, OR 97218
PORTLAND OBSERVER
"The Eyes and Ears of the C om m unity”
288-0033
PO RTLflftJ‘b&ERVER
OREGON'S OLDEST AFRICAN-AMERICAN PUBLICATION
OPINION
LETTERS TO
THE EDITOR:
Response To Mr. Williams, Oct. 6 Column,
Mr. Lavell Matthews Article
Dear Editor
I hope this letter is not too late
to be of use to you. It is a response
to a column by Mr. Harold W ill­
iams that appeared in the Oct. 6,
Observer. In it, Mr. Williams asked
for letters of support to get Mr.
Lavell Matthews out of prison and
into some program that can help
him get his life back together. That
sounds like an important thing to
do.
I did not read the Oct. 2 article
that Mr. Williams mentioned con­
cerning Mr. Matthews, but is he
the same individual who turned
himself into the police — after he
had fired a couple of wild shots
from a doorway at Jefferson High
school to fend off some other
gang members who were hunting
him down in a car? It seems to me
I read a b o u t th a t In th e
‘Oregonian’. I was absolutely sick­
ened to read that this young man
(who was evidently trying to end
his own gang involvement and
asking for help) was then given a
10-year sentence by some self-
righteous judge who mouthed
platitudes about how ‘this is to
prove that gang involvement just
won’t be tolerated.’
At that time, I told several
friends, ‘If the authorities really
want to end the gang violence,
how stupid can they get?’ This
type of sentencing gave a very
clear message to other young peo­
ple who realize they have gotten in
over their heads (in gangs) and
would like to back out. The mes­
sage is, ‘Forget it! If you turn
yourselves in, w e ll just give you a
vicious, ludicrous prison sen­
tence, too!” There has to be hope
for these young people.
The African-American commu­
nity has a long history of everyone
in the community feeling respon­
sible for how all the children come
up. I am proud of you for your con­
cern. Whether or not Lavell Mat­
thews is the same young man I
was thinking of, I want to support
We are living in a war zone with
this new gang violence, but, we
can’t just turn our Backs on the
young people who have gotten
drawn Into it. They are our child­
ren, too! Even though the edge
seems to have temporarily soft­
ened (to gang violence) and no one
that I know of has been attacked
for wearing Red (around here), I
think the calm is deceptive. The
underlying »problems have hardly
been addressed, let alone solved.
As Isaac Shamsud-din put it in an
article that was published right
after his niece was shot, "many of
the kids who are drawn into this
are kids with a high level of self-
hatred, little coping skills, little
support and a deep need to be
accepted and to belong.
After watching the way the Port­
land Public Schools have treated
my son (and other Black boys), and
after fighting a sort of hoiy war
with the school systems on my
own son’s behalf, (since he was in
kindergarten), I can understand
this. He is a good child, doesn’t
fight and is very bright. This is very
threatening to the schools, I have
found. My son has gotten so de­
pressed from it all that sometimes
it frightens me. As a working
parent, it has been hard for me to
even find the time to go and keep
fighting this on-going battle, but, I
try my best. We also have a very
supportive church that helps us to
make sense of our daily struggles.
Lots of children do not.
My son often comes home
worried about the other young­
sters he attends school with. He
says they don’t seem to under­
stand the purpose of their educa­
tion and often think that gang in­
volvement is cool. He tries to find
a low-keyed way to tell them its
n o t... a big burden fora 11-year old
boy!
Thank you for your efforts to
help. Please keep it up! I enjoy all
of your columns.
Leon Harris/Gen Mgr
Gary Ann Garnett
Nyewusi Askari
Business Manager
Joyce W ashington
Sales/Marketing Director
Ruby Reuben
Sales Representative
Rosemarie Davis
Editor
M attie Ann Callier-Spears
Religion Editor
Richard Medina
Photo-Composition
Lonnie Wells
Sales Representative
Circulation Manager
Marie Decuir
B. Gayle Jackson
Photographer
Comptroller
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York.
‘T ra il O f T e a r s ”
R e m e m b e re d
ages resulting from the "Trail of
his year marks the 150th anni­
Tears" march.
versary of the infamous “ Trail
of Tears” forced removal of ap­ Today there are approximately
proximately 20,000 Indians from
75,000 Native Americans of Chero­
their native lands in the south­
kee decent who reside in Okla­
eastern United States. It was back
homa, and there are still more than
in 1838 that gold was discovered
10,000 who remain in Cherokee,
in the tribal lands of the Cherokee
North Carolina. In many sections
Indian Nation located in North
of North Carolina there are
Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and
thousands of Native Americans,
Alabama. As a result the federal
many of whom are still facing
government decided to remove
racial discrimination and exploita­
the Cherokees and force them to
tion. Just within the last few days
walk several thousand miles to an
a victory was won in the case of
Indian reservation in the state of
Eddie Hatcher, a Native American
Oklahoma.
activist, who was facing federal
History is important, especially
charges of "hostage taking” in a
if it is remembered in a way that
protest that took place earlier this
engenders a greater public com­
year in North Carolina. Hatcher
mitment to correct the causative
and others staged a protest at the
factors of past historic injustices.
office of the local newspaper in
The attempted genocide of Native
Lumberton, North Carolina. Hat­
Americans in the United States
cher stated that he and others
should never be forgotten. It is im­
blocked the doors of the news­
portant for all victimized com­
paper office to dramatize the op­
munities to be in solidarity with
pression of Native Americans in
our Native American sisters and
Robeson County, North Carolina
brothers.
where the Tuscarora and Lumbee
The persecution and the ex­
Indian nations are. located. These
ploitation of Native Americans is a
two tribes refused to take part in
consequence of two fundamental
the “ Trail of Tears” march to
evils interwoven in the very fabric
Oklahoma. Although they are the
of this society; Racism and Greed.
majority population of Robeson
Yes, we must remember the
County, these Native Americans
"Trail of Tears" march in the same
are still systematically exploited.
vein that we remember other acts
The good news is that Eddie Hat­
in the history of holocausts
cher was found not guilty.
throughout the world. More than
The human rights of Native
5,000 Native Americans died as a
Americans
must be respected if
result of this forced removal. To­
this society is to ever have a stand­
day the U.S. government has of­
ard of equal justice. The challenge
ficially recognized the injustice in­
of the future is not only to
flicted upon the Cherokees. Since
remember this anniversary of the
1974 Native American lawyers
“Trail of Tears” but also we all
have been attepting to reach
must recommit ourselves to con­
agreement on the distribution of a
tinue to challenge all the old and
five million dollar settlement that
new manifestations of racism and
was awarded to the Cherokee Na­
exploitation.
tion in partial payment for dam­
T
The Other Side
F re e d o m O f
T h e P ress
Sincerely,
Chris Spalding
by Harold C. Williams
In Response To The Question:
“ How Do You Love A Black Women?’
“ How Do You Love A Black Man?”
Dear Editor
While I understand that each of
us have had what we may term,
"bad experiences” with our Black
counterparts. As for myself, and I
hope many others — they have not
been such that I have ever wanted
to turn away from a black man for
someone of another race.
I find Black men to be [as a
whole], intelligent, amusing, lov­
ing, multi-faceted, and simply
‘worthwhile’ in terms of spending
the necessary time to cultivate a
long-term union of love and re­
spect for one another. In fact, I just
married such a man, and I’m glad
that I didn’t give up.
Ladies, our men need to be
understood, supported and loved
for themselves. Men, we women
need a commitment from you that
you will do the same. Sometimes I
know this is a hard bill to fill, but it
is not only necessary, but worth it
for us to do so that we can assure
a positive future for us and our
Black children, through example.
If we do not show our children that
this is an important endeavor - why
should they put forth the effort to
work out the misconceptions seen
or heard in the media. Don’t we
understand that all of the non­
sense covered in the media is
designed to separate us from one
another on the ‘foundation level’?
Each of us should know our own
strengths - and compounded with
that of another person just as
strong, would equal POSITIVE
A C C O M P L IS H M E N T S -P R O G ­
RESS! They sure know it! Why do
you think that such an enormous
amount of money has been set
aside for exploiting this Issue?
Open your eyes - we need one
another to create a better world for
us as Black People!
Sincerely,
Charlene Fair-Whatley
Esiabiuhea ,n 1970
Alfred L. Henderson/Pubiisher
C IV IL R IG H T S J O U R N A L
W
F A C T S AND F IG U R E S
Thank You
Dear Editor:
I am Stanley E. Holmes. I am an
inmate at Oregon State Prison. I
am writing to thank you and my
African-American community for
their letters and support on my
behalf with the Parole Board.
I would like to thank the follow­
ing named persons. Mrs. Jacquie
Holmes, Ms. Beverly M. Terhune,
Ms. Creasie F. Hairston, Mr.
Nyewusi Askari, Mr. A. Halim Rah-
saan, Mr. Charles Dalton, Mr. Bill
Parker, and Mr. Hal H. Hargreaves,
Along with the entire African-
American inmate community here
in O.S.P. for their support.
However, the Parole Board did
not think that the support from my
family and community was signifi­
cant enough at this time to war­
rant my reuniting with my family
and community. After 9 years of in­
ing the Black co m m u n ity’s in­
e are fortunate in our com­
tegrity applauding those poli-
munity to have two out­
ticans and public officials when
standing individuals who make
they are right and calling them to
sure that the Black community
task when they are wrong.
can be involved in the world of
The positive economic changes
communication by getting our
that are happening in and around
ideas and our concerns on the
our community have been greatly
front burner of society. This
influenced by the voices of con­
freedom of the press that these in­
cern
from the Portland Observer
dividuals try so hard and struggle
and the Skanner newspapers. In
financially, socially, and econom­
order for us to maintain the free­
ically insures that we have our
dom of the press in the Black com­
voice heard on a weekly basis. For
munity, we must pay special atten­
Mr. Leon Harris, who is the heart­
tion to our voice by supporting
beat of the Portland Observer, and
those who support us. Mr. Leon
Mr. Bernie Foster, who the heart­
Harris of the Portland Observer and
beat of the Skanner, freedom of
Mr. Bernie Foster of the Skanner
the press is not free.
newspaper deserve the communi­
It would be an interesting event
ty
support. We must embrace their
if the community could see the
efforts by supporting them and
sacrifices that these men make on
what better way to do so than to
a daily basis in order that the Black
take out a subscription in their
perspectives is given in the news
newspapers. Freedom of the press
media. The Skanner has been in
is not free. If we truly care about
existence for well over ten years,
our voices being heard, let’s stand
the Portland Observer has been in
up and be counted and give sup­
existence for 15+ years. It is not
port to those who are speaking for
by accident that government, gov­
us. My hats off to these two great
ernmental agencies and political
men, Mr. Leon Harris and Mr. Ber­
leaders pay attention to our com­
nie Foster. They are the true mean­
munity. They do so because two
ing of freedom of the press.
newspapers stand tall in defend­
carceration and jobs made avail­
able for me by my African-Ameri­
can community. Please I want my
family and community to know, I
only desire reform to the best of
my power; and my success (in the
task) can only come from God. In
Him I trust, and unto Him I look.
Furthermore, I would like to
thank my family and community
for their support for without their
support, I would not have been
able to acquire a framework of in-(
tegrity, training, effort, and ac­
complishment that I have in an en­
vironment structured for failure.
Please I would appreciate you
sharing this with my African-
American community, because I
love you all.
Sincerely,
Stanley E. Holmes
r
Distribution of Black
[Elected Officials by Census
•
Region, January 1987
Black Mayors ot
Cities with Populations
Over 100,000
of
Region
i
Northeast
North Central
South
West
Total’
Total
Total
708
1,275
4 287
376
6.646
10 6
19 2
64 5
5 7
100
Source Joml Center tor Political Studies
' The 35 BE O sm th e Virgin Islands are not included
because that te»nto»v •* no, included m the (kiesions
of th e United Slatini used bv 'h e U S Census
___Netw______
Eugene Sawyer Jr
Thomas Bradley
W Wilson Goode
Coleman Young
Kurt Schmoke
Marion Barry
1 Barihelei
Term
Expires
4/89
7-89
1291
12 89
1291
1290
390
City
Chicago
Los Angeles
Philadelphia
Detroit
Baltimore
Washington
New Orleans
40 0
170
402
63 1
54 8
6 66
55 3
Source Join, Cerne» to» PoWcai Studies
Creed Of The Black Press
The Black Press believes that America can best lead
the world away from social and national antagonisms
when it accords to every person, regardless of race,
color, or creed, full human and legal rights. Hating no
person, fearing no person, the Black Press strives to
help every person in the firm belief that all are hurt as
long as anyone is held back.