Page 5 Portland Observer NOVEMBER 16,1989
(Continued From Page 1)
activities are questionable, then the public
has a right to know. I can see both sides.
Everything I do as a private person isn't
necessarily any of your business in my par­
ticular job. But then again, whether I like it
or not I'm a role model. People look up to
me. I personally, don’t want to know every­
thing about someone’s personal life.
P ortland O bserver: How do you feel
about being a role model and does that label
add pressure to your job?
B raxton: “ No, there is no pressure.
'There aren’t enough people who can be role
models. I ’m not perfect but I ’m striving to
do better, better myself, and make changes
as I come into contact with people one on
one. I can’t change the world but I ’m trying
to do my part, so, I don't mine being per­
ceived as a role model. Hopefully, I can pass
on a little inspiration or something that can
give them the ability to grow so the focus
won’t always be on me. Take what you can
from me and move in the right direction.
From there, it’s their turn to be a role model.
Instead of putting Brenda Braxton up on a
pedestal, learn what you can from me and
carry it off your own way . . .1”
P ortland O bserver: Advice to young­
ster who desire a career in broadcasting?
B raxton: “ My advice is to get into any
type of writing program, available. Be per­
sistent and don't let anyone tell you, no.
When you get into college, take the neces­
sary classes and make sure you get an intern­
ship. Be a tag along if you have too.”
P ortland O bserver: 38% o f the Class
of 1988 dropped out of high school over a
four year period, your reactions?
B raxton: “ I think that it’s a Tragedy.
It’s mind boggling that people start off and
for one reason or another the system allows
them to fall through the cracks. I think it
I
Early Season
happens for a number of reasons, but, some­
thing has to change systemwide. I believe it
should start with the family. If 1 don’t see
anybody around me doing anything positive
and feel stuck in a rut or situation, then why
should I care? I don’t know anything else.
Why would I think about college or finish
high school. I'm gonna go out and hang on
the street corners and do whatever it is eve­
rybody else is doing. Parents need to be the
ones who break the cycle. Just because they
grew uponc way doesn't mean that their kids
have too. We need the people who have
already broke the cycle to give something
back through community programs. Every­
one needs to help.”
P ortland O bserver: What is it like to
work in your hometown and how does it feel
when you know that your parents are watch­
ing, saying that’s my girl?
Braxton: “ Everything happened so fast.
You just don’t walk in off the streets and
have things happen like this. I came 2,500
miles and all of a sudden it hit me. I realized
that I had just made a major life change and
that's when things hit home. I ’m very ex­
cited about being at home and around my
parents (Herman & Muriel Braxton).”
P ortland O bserver: Were you ready
for the move?
B raxton: “ I wouldn’t have gone into
any of the stations if I wasn’t ready. Again,
things just don’t happen like this. People
work all their life, sometimes, to get into this
type of opportunity. To come home and get
a job was almost too much to hope for. Heck
yeah, I was ready and I ’m very thankful.
Faith has carried me a long ways.”
P ortland O bserver: Welcome home!
B raxton: “ Thank you. I ’m happy to be
here!”
Ski Activities
Portland Parks Outdoor Recreation Pro­
gram has a variety of Dec. activities to get
your ski season off to the right start this year.
Find your way on snow covered marked
> or unmarked trails by learning winter route­
finding skills on Dec. 7th at Alameda Com­
munity School from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Or on
Dec. 5 at MLC Community School, 2033
N.W. Glisan, leant about winter nutritional
needs, clothing, terrain hazards, and em er­
gency overnight shelters at a W inter Safety
Workshop. The cost for either workshop is
$7. A FREE workshop also on Dec. 5 at
Parkrose High School, 11717 N.E. Shaver
from 7-8 p.m., will give information on
Cross Country Skiing such as clothing and
equipment needs, buying and renting skis,
places to go and a movie depicting the essen­
tials o f nordic skiing.
Onqe you have all this information sign
up for a Cross Country Ski Sampler on Dec.
3 or 17. Try one day of skiing and start to
learn to guide, use poles, slow down and
negotiate hills. Good introduction to this
popular winter sport. Each sampler is from
8-5 p.m. and the $18 fee includes instruction
and van transportation from N.E. 16th &
Halsey to Mt. Hood.
For those with basic nordic ski skills, get
a jump on the ski season by polishing and
refreshing your skiing in gliding, poling and
hill technique on a Ski Brush Up Clinic either
Dec. 2 or 10 from 8-5 p.m. The $17 fee
includes leadership and van transportation to
Mt. Hood.
For more information or to receive a
copy of the Winter Brochure, write to: Out­
door Recreation, 1120 S.W. 5th, Room 502,
Portland, OR 97204, or call 796-5132.
NABMCC Starts Earthquake
Small Black Business Relief Fund
Theme Is: “Share In Rebuilding
Small Black Business”
OAKLAND, CA —The National Association of Black and Minority Chambers of
Commerce, has launched an Oakland Black Business Earthquake Area Relief Fund (EAR),
to help small black businesses in the Bay Area Communities that were hardest hit by thè
October 17 quake.
Small businesses are the principal employers in the area where black businesses were
effected. The employees of these small businesses, not only lost their homes and personal
belongings, but also, their jobs, according to reports from many chamber members and their
associates.
NABMCC is asking black chambers around the country, its affiliates, fraternal organi­
zations, churches, clubs, corporate friends, community organizations, businesses, and any
concerned person to give at least $ 1.00, to this sharing cause in helping to rebuild small black
businesses.
We appreciate support from our White. Hispanic, Asian and American Indian ,in this
time of need.
The devastation of this earthquake caused damage in Oakland in excess of $ 1.5 billion.
Those structures affected by the quake were not all residential. Several hundred were
businesses, and many black owned.
Many small black business owner in the quake-stricken area, have seen their buildings
flattened or condemned. Those businesses that remained standing cannot be reached by
customers or employees.
NABMCC wants to assist black businesses to rebuild. So they have established the
Oakland Black Business Earthquake Area Relief Fund (EAR). EAR will make it possible to
provide a 3% to 6% low interest revolving loan to the black businesses who are in need of
help.
Please help! Your contribution is desperately needed. You may contribute on behalf of
a relative or a friend. You will also receive a “ Certificate o f Appreciation.”
Please make your check or money order payable to: Earthquake Area Relief (EAR),
c/o NABMCC, 654 - 13th Street (Preservation Park), Oakland, CA 94612-1241.
VOA Asking For Participates In
The Christmas Adopt-A-Family
Program
On Nov. 13, Volunteers of America
(VOA) will begin accepting names of
families, businesses or organizations who
would like to participate in their Christmas
Adopt-A-Family program. Adopters will
be matched with low-income families who
need Christmas assistance this year.
Adopters are able to express prefer­
ences regarding the size or type of family
they would like to help, and what types of
items they would like to provide. Most
adopters provide food, clothing, gifts and
other special items that the family may
need.
Once adopters are matched with a family,
they are encouraged to make contact. In
most cases, adopters are able to personally
deliver their gifts directly to the family’s
home. This personal contact gives the adopter
the opportunity to learn more about the
family and to choose gifts with specific
needs to mind.
Last year, over 200 families were helped
through the Adopt-A-Family Program and
Volunteers of America hopes to help at
least 350 this year.
Families, businesses, or organizations
who would like to adopt a family may call
232-4746 between Nov. 13 and Dec. 8. The
house are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Volunteers of America is part of a
nationwide social service organization with
branches in over 200 communities. In addition
to the Adopt-A-Family program VOA
operates the following programs: A Child
C are Center, two latchkey programs, a tem­
porary shelter for homeless adolescent girls,
a shelter for homeless women with chil­
dren, a Senior Center and free Senior Clinic,
an adult day care program, and the Women’s
Residential Center, a residential facility for
female felons.
Dr. Manning Marable
Education, Racism And Elitism
There is an inevitable connection be­
tween the socioeconomic and political status
of African-Americans and other people of
color and their access, position and mobility
within all educational institutions. If oppor­
tunities for young people are limited within
public schools or colleges, the size of the
potential leadership in politics, labor, medi­
cine, the law, and other key occupations is
reduced. Knowledge is power, and the denial
of educational opportunity is directly related
to the perpetuation of exploitation of Blacks,
Hispanics, and all working people.
Last m onth’s education summit called
by President Bush was silent on the racial
and social class implications o f government
policies on public schooling. But the dra­
matic deterioration of education has occurred
precisely in the inner cities, in school dis­
tricts which are overwhelmingly dominated
by people of color. The Reagan-Bush ad­
ministration has deliberately slashed funds
for student loans, and the reduction of Black
and Latino undergraduates across the coun­
try is directly attributable to the paucity of
the student loan packages currently avail­
able.
Increasingly education is projected as a
privilege for the rich, rather than a human
right which benefits the common welfare of
society. The cost for a private college educa­
tion increased an average of 9 percent in the
current 1989-1990 academic year. The cost
of tuition, room and board and related ex­
penses at elite private schools is astronomic:
$19,310at Yale University; $19,164 at Stan­
ford University; $19,395 at Harvard Univer­
sity; $18,284 at Duke University; and $14,700
at Notre Dame. The best state-supported
institutions are also beyond the reach of
many middle income families, and certainly
African-American households, which cur­
rently average under $19,000 total income
per year. At the University of Texas at Austin,
for example, the 1989-1990 tuition, room
and board and related costs comes to $4,254.
The University of California at Berkeley’s
costs total $6,704 for this academic year.
Even more than economic factors is the
pervasiveness of elitism and ethnic exclusiv­
ity within universities and academic institu­
tions, which fosters a hostile environment
for people of color. Despite the introduction
of Afro-American Studies programs, ethnic
studies, nonwestern foreign languages and
curriculum reforms which have inserted the
cultures, histories and perspectives of non­
white peoples into college classrooms. Black
and brown people are constantly marginal­
ized at most institutions. The system of
higher education is generally designed for
nonwhites to fail.
The basic pattern of elitism and racism
in colleges conforms to the dynamics of
Third World colonialism. At nearly all white
academic institutions, the power relation­
ship between whites as a group and people of
color is unequal. Authority is invested in the
the hands of a core of largely white male
administrators, bureaucrats and influential
senior faculty. The board of trustees or re­
gents is dominated by white, conservative,
affluent males. Despite the presence o f aca­
demic courses on minorities, the vast major;
ity of white students take few or no classes
which explore the heritage or cultures of
non western peoples or domestic minorities.
Outside of the classroom.l there are few
structured opportunities for peoples of dif­
ferent cultures to interact. Most white stu­
dents receive the elitist message that non­
white students as a group are unworthy of
attending their institution, and that affirma­
tive action policies have unfairly discrimi­
nated against whites. Most courses in the
humanities and social sciences focus nar­
rowly on topics or issues from the Western
capitalist experience, and minimize the
centrality and importance of nonwestern
perspectives. Finally, the university or col­
lege divorces itself from the pressing con­
cerns, problems and debates which relate to
Black, Hispanics or even white working people.
Given this structure and guiding philosophy,
it shouldn’t surprise us that many talented
nonwhite students fail to achieve in such a
hostile environment
PORTLAND OBSERVER
'The Eyes and Ears of the Community”
Office:
FAX #:
(503) 288-0033
(503) 288-0015
Life Insurance Underwriters Network
Agents Serving the Portland Metro-Area!
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ERNIE WARREN
Standard Insurance Co.
P.O. Box 12652
Portland, Oregon 97212
(503) 293-6434 or 245-3220
DENE' BOWLES
All State Insurance Company
811 E. Burnside, Suite 113
Portland, Oregon
(503) 235-9433
JOHN W. JENKINS
Prudential Insurance
909 N. Tomahawk Island Drive
Portland, Oregon
(503) 283-1212
MATTHEW BARNETT
State Farm Insurance
4823 N. Lombard
Portland, Oregon
(503) 285-2546
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