lir a Frances Schoen-! ewspaper Too»
U n iv e r s it y o f Oregon L ib r a r y
uugene» Oregon 97403
Portland, Oregon
P O R TLR
25C
ERYER
April 6, 1989
VOLUME XIX NUMBER 13
CONGRATULATIONS!
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by Imani Countess
Special Report
(N lS )-W o m en from across the
U nited States w ill converge on
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Washington D.C. April 9, to fight against
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the Bush A dm inistration’s attem pts to
reverse freedom o f choice and
reproductive rights.
Organizers say the march is especially
significant for Black and poor women
who are hardest hit when rights and
choices are curtailed. W om en o f color
represented 75 percent o f deaths from
illegal abortions before a Supreme Court
ruling made abortions legal, reports
Sabrae, Jenkins o f the W om en o f C olor
Partnership Program, a D.C.-based
educational group. In New York City
« alone 50 percent o f illegal abortion
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deaths w ere Black women.
“ Women of color already suffer from
a
variety
o f serious health conditions
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w hich m ay b e e x a c e rb a te d by
pregnancy” Jenkins notes. Her group
provides health facts to Black women,
along w ith regional forum s on
comprehensive reproductive health care
issues.
The Partners!) ip Program , spon sored
by the Religious Coalition for Abortion
Rights (RCA R), is aimed at Black,
Latino, Asian/Pacific and Native
American women who are sorely affected
by lim itations in choice because of
poverty.
The Partnership Program recently
convened a forum on abortion,
^reproductive rights and the role of the
y church in affirm ing choice, attended by
some 150 w om en from Boston to New
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York. Jenkins says future conferences
will address other reproductive health
concerns including forced sterilization
and the use of Depo-Provera, an injectable
commonly used for contraception.
Depo-Provera, the center o f a ten-
year controversy, is banned for birth-
control use in the United States but
doctors are allow ed to prescribe it for
The House Com m ittee on Human Resources has scheduled hearings for
A pril 12,1989 at 1 :30 pm in Salem on tw o bills introduced at the request of
State Treasurer Tony Meeker. House Bills 3190 and 3232, if passed, would
seriously weaken the Oregon South A frica divestiture statute.
A broad coalition o f Democrats and Republicans in both houses o f the
1987 legislature approved a bill sponsored by Representative M argaret
Carter which required the State o f O regon, by February 15,1992 to divest
itself o f any stocks and bonds o f American business entities which directly
invest in South A frica or Namibia.
W hile he reports that he is actually ahead o f schedule (the 1987 act set as a
goal the divestiture o f 1/4 of the offending stocks and bonds for each year
o f the four-year period), Treasurer M eeker is asking the legislature to delete
the 1992 cutoff date. He has also expressed concern that he may not be able
to purchase South Africa-Free stocks and bonds that have as high a return as
those o f com panies doing business in South A frica and Namibia. He
therefore proposes to perm it state employees, whose pension funds comprise
a large portion o f the state funds involved, to elect w hether or not they wish
to have their potential retirem ent funds in South A frica-Free investments.
O ther states, some with shorter tim e frames for divestiture than Oregon,
have successfully divested without loss o f income and w ithout attempting
to divide state workers on matters o f investm ent policy.
Treasurer M eeker also asked the legislature for m ore m oney to cover
expenses o f the divestiture law. It is inappropriate for the state treasurer to
single out one o f his legal responsibilities and request specific funding for
it.
The Treasurer also proposes that the legislature am end the law to bar the
state from purchasing goods and services from businesses investing in South
Africa and Namibia. Were such a law to pass, responsibility for implementing
it would, o f course, be on other state governm ent offices, not the treasurer.
The potential im pact o f such legislation has not been analyzed by the
treasurer but it would appear to be an appropriate objective which should be
given consideration.
All persons and organizations who are interested in supporting the
existing legislation and who object to the attem pt to weaken the law are
invited to contact Rep. C arter’s Salem office (378-8823 or toll free number
1-800-327-7389).
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Junior-Benson
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The Reverend and Mrs. Michael Jones
Rev. M ichael Stephen Jones, former
M aranatha Church adm inistrator, has
been promoted to District Sales Manager
o f the Burroughs-W ellcom e company
in Kansas City, M issouri.
Jones was the principal o f the
M aranatha school before it closed and
served in several leadership positions
in M aranatha Church. Jones has been
active in many community organizations,
among them is G ive Us This Day, Inc.
where he served for eight years as board
president.
He and his wife, LaV eta, w ere the
third family to adopt a child through the
G ive Us This D ay family recruitm ent
outreach. They were also foster parents
and participated in the Extended Family
Cannon Chatman
Junior-Benson
Monique Norwood
Senior-Benson
Home Program by parenting two high-
risk teenagers; one, a ward of Children’s’s
Services Division and the other a youth
from the com m unity who needed an
extended family.
Jones attended Pacific University and
received his BS degree in Biology in
1976. He joined Burroughs-W ellcom e
Company in July 1976 as a Sales
Representative in Portland, Oregon. In
January 1981, Jones was prom oted to
MCR. He was appointed Field Trainer
in 1987 and was appointed to the Field
Management Training Program in 1988.
Jones was selected as a 1988 Premier
Preform er in Region 7.
J
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S io « » ^ »
SPOTLIGHTING
GWEN COOKE
One of Kaiser's Employees of the Year
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Tanya Fox
Freshman-Benson
PUBLIC NOTICE
The Portland Observer has
Issued press passes to all of
it's employees These passes
are identifiable by (1) the
Observer's logo at the top, (2)
the employee’s name and pic
ture, (3) the word PRESS and,
(4) a fingerprint of the right
Index finger. Anyone not in
possession of an Observer
press pass does not represent
the
Portland
Observer
newspaper.40
Cooke, says being a payroll clerk gives her the opportunity to
meet a variety of people. ‘‘Hospitals have people from diverse
backgrounds in different positions. Since I work in payroll, 1
have the opportunity to meet a lot of them. ” She has worked at
the prepaid health program for 19 years.
M INO RITY STUDENT CONCERNS
FOCUS OF W O RK SH O P AT
"B lack by Popular D em and." a
com bined video/w orkshop/sem inar
presentation currently gaining national
prom inence for its frank appraisal o f
academic, financial and social problems
which black students can face on
pred o m in an tly w hite educational
campuses, will be presented to interested
faculty and staff at Portland State
University Thursday and Friday, April
13-14.
*‘Portland State has m ade a
com m itm ent to recruit and retain
minority students and to assist them to
be successful,” said Jeffrey Moreland,
PSU student and representative o f the
university’s Black Cultural Affairs Board
(B C A B ) sponsoring the tw o-day
PSU
^ e n t a l i o n al Portland Slate, ‘We
strongly encourage your presence as
well as support of this event,’ ’ he urged
in an open letter to m em bers o f the
university community.
The free cam pus presentation is
designed to encourage tw o-w ay
communication between presenters and
PSU personnel who have various roles
which affect recruitm ent and retention
o f minority students.
A key clem ent of the presentation, a
“ Black by Popular D em and” video
created independently by students at
Iowa State University during 1987,
‘‘...presents commentary from students,
faculty, staff and administrators to evoke
thought and ultimately action in resolving
issues pertaining to bl io . students,”
terminal cancer cases. The drug has
been w rongfully adm inistered as birth
control to Native A merican, m entally
retarded, and other women deem ed
“ undesirable.”
Many Black women regularly receive
this drug from their doctors for female
disorders. The vast majority are never
told that Depo-Provera has failed to
gain governm ent approval.
The side effects are num erous and
potentially dangerous. The National
W om en’s Health Network reports that
Depo-Provera users have suffered from
irregular bleeding, depression, high blood
pressure, excessive weight gain (more
than 30 pounds), stomach pains, blurred
vision, and a range o f other ailments.
Long-term effects have not been
established, but animal and clinical
evidence so far indicate risks of infertility,
uterine and breast cancer, diabetes,
anem ia, blood clots, and excessive
bleeding leading to hysterectomy.
In tern atio n ally , Black w om en in
Namibia, Belize, South Africa, Kenya
and Australia have been given the drug
without information on the risks.
In Namibia, a country in southwestern
Africa colonized by apartheid South
Africa, Depo-Provera is routinely
administered to mothers recovering from
delivery and to teen-age girls at health
clinics. Many exam ples have also been
cited o f the white minority governm ent
forcing young women to take the drug
and then to become prostitutes for the
occupying military force.
A delegation o f Namibian women
will m arch in the April 9 dem onstration
voicing support for the rights o f women
both in Namibia and the United States.
The m arch, is convened by the
National O rganization o f W omen
(NOW ) and assembles at 10:00 a.m. on
the Mall in W ashington, D.C. Contact
(202) 331-0066 for more information.
BAN
APARTHEID!
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SENIOR OF THE W EEK
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by Jim i Johnson
Mrs. Erie F. Robinson was bom in Coushatta, Louisiana on O ctober 14,
1905. She and her husband Floyd cam e to Portland in 1943 so he could find
work in the shipyards. Mr. Robinson passed in 1973.
An active person, Mrs. Robinson exercises regularly in her home, she
also takes short w alks to visit friends and neighbors in her com m unity. At
83 years old, Mrs. Robinson is a “ picture of good health” and is currently
raising her great nephew ’D rew ’ who is a junior at Jefferson High School.
Mrs. Robinson enjoys being around her family, including 2 sisters and 1
b ro th e r-n o w living in the Portland area.
A m em ber o f V ancouver Avenue First Baptist Church, Mrs. Robinson
attends regularly and credits her strength and longevity to “ trusting in
G od” .
Mrs. Robinson believes “ young people should go to school and trust in
God. They should listen to their parents and elders because they can learn
a lot from them ” she continued.
The Portland O bserver salutes this wonderful Senior Citizen.
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★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
Introducing:
State Treasurer Seeks To
Weaken S. A. Divesture Bill
W OM EN M ARCH
FOR FREEDOM
OF CHOICE