Page 2
Portland Observer • January 3, 1990
E ditorial I O pinion
To Be Equal
Articles and Essays by Ron Daniels
To Your
Good Health
- From Africa
H r
by Professor McKinley Burl
From the first dynasty onward Egypt
had a system o f medicine more rational
than the world was again to see for over
three thousand years Egyptian physi
cians. famous as teachers, visited and
taught in Arabia, Persia, the Greece.
Hippocrates, grandfather o f the great
physician by that name, was the pupil o f
an Egyptian Medical knowledge in
Greece, fused with E ptian teaching,
k u s handed down from father to son as
a family heritage In this way Egyptian
medicine became the groundwork for
Greek medicine as given to us by Hippo-
c rates.
Atkinson’s Magic, Myth and
Medicine
This noted medical historian, Atkin
son, goes back 7,000 years to describe a
region that included Ethiopia and Nubia as
well as Egypt proper. He leaves no doubt
that "A frica is the birthplace of medical
science,” but his testimony is only an
overview of testimony and documentation
which has been preserved and forwarded
through the ages. These records illuminate
the role of the first teachers of a science that
has enabled mankind to persevere in his
little ecological niche all these m illenni
ums, surviving plagues, pestilence and daily
affronts to his physical well-being.
It is fascinating to examine copies of
ancient African papyri obtained from the
principal museums of the world -prescrip
tions and medical procedures from the papyri
‘Ebers, Berlin, Leyden, Edwin Smith,
Ahmose, etc. Some read with an almost
contemporary flair, "T ake two capsules
and call me tomorrow ’ ’ (wonder if they had
golf courses back then?). Equally interest
ing is the genius of the African in adminis
trative organization, demonstrated here in
medicine as fully as in law, diplomacy, the
military, and in navigation and tax codes.
There were medical associations that su
pervised training, certified practioners, and
monitored the practice. There was a great
deal of specialization, internists, ocular (with
emphasis on cataracts), Podiatrists, brain
surgeons, dentists, masseuses, and others;
Many were women.
A very informative text on the subject
is "T he Physicians of Pharonic Egypt,” by
Paul Ghalioungui; (1983). He furnishes on
page 43 a chart showing the titles given
physicians over a 4,000 year period, B.C.
The following titles are examples: Physi
cian of the King, Chief of Physicians of the
King, Inspector of the Physicians of the
King, Chief of the Physicians of the King’s
Wife, Master of the Physicians of the Lord
of the Two Countries (The president of the
United Slates never had it so good). Now,
these were just Royal physicians, there
were also lay physicians for the masses.
Interesting and somewhat humorous are
the titles of some of the specialties: Physi
cian of the Belly, Shepherd of the Anus,
Interpreter of the Liquids Hidden in the
body. Operator of the Tooth and So Forth.
These were all rungs on a ladder that could
be climbed on ‘ ‘sheer personal merit" without
support from family or inheritance.
The greatest of Egyptian physicians, in
fact the greatest in all the ancient world,
was Imhoteps, also the designer and builder
of the Step Pyram id. So great were his
abilities and reputation that thousands of
years later he was deified by the Greeks and
in their usual manner they placed him in
their pantheon of gods as Aesculapius. As
Atkinson tells us Egyptian medicine be
came the groundwork and principal basis
for Greek medicine. It is believed that the
Greek, Hippocrates (after whom the famed
oath is named) studied at the same African
Temple Schools which Socrates, Plato,
Pythagoras and others studied; “ it is not
known how else he managed to gain such a
vast knowledge of diagnosis and treatment."
Equally revealing is the background of the
Caduceus, that universal medical symbol.
It is not G reek at all, archaeologists having
found it as early on as 7,000 years ago in
Ethiopia, Nubia, and across the Red Sea in
Punt (Arabia), “ the sign which precedes
our medical prescriptions is derived from
the eye of Horus,” the same eye over the
truncated pyramid which is incorporated
into the Great Seal of the United States.
There is a chapter "Egyptian Physi
cians Abroad ” in the book by Ghalioungui.
Not only is this material important to our
understanding of the worldwide dispersion
and preeminence of African science in ancient
times, but equal stature is evident in the
areas of international relations and trade.
Here is a significant instance. In a letter to
the Egyptian K ing,Niqm adof Ugarit (Iraq-
Asia), requests, “ My Lord would you send
two Nubian pages and a palace physician.
We have no physicians here. ’ ’ In 2000 B.C.
was Boghazkoy, 50 miles east of Ankara
(Turkey), where archives uncovered have
revealed intense diplomatic activity be
tween Egypt and the great powers of the
Near East: Assyria, Babylon, Syria and
Mesopotamia, a comical exchange of let
ters occurs when Pharaoh Rameses II tries
to diplomatically explain to a Hittite ruler
that he cannot furnish a drug which will
enable a 60 year old woman to conceive.
There is much errata that could be
included here but space does not permit.
For instance, there were C o ro n er’s offices
which certified accidents and performed
autopsies. There were veternarlans and
pharm acists who made up and dispensed
drugs. Special medical personnel was as
signed to ships and m ilitary expeditions.
All in all these were magnificent contribu
tions which like the rest of African contri
bution has been deliberately expunged from
establishm ent history.
I>\ Dr. I .e n o n i
ERVER
PORTLfl
OREGON'S OLDEST AFRICAN-AMERICAN PUBLICATION
Established In 1970
Allred L. Henderaon/Publisher
Leon Harris/ General Managor
Joyce Washington
Gary Ann Garnett
Business Manager
Maulana Karenga, Creator o f Kwanzaa
From December 26 through Jan. 1, a
sizeable segment of the population of Afri
cans in America will be celebrating Kwan
zaa, the African-American holiday which
focuses on the Black family, community
and culture. In a little more than two dec
ades Kwanzaa has grown from a relatively
obscure celebration to a major holiday which
is observed by increasing numbers of Afri
cans in America each year. The spread of
Kwanzaa is a triumph for afro-centricity, a
victory for nationalist theory and practice
and above all a tribute to the genius and
perservcrance of its creator. Dr. Maulana
Karenga.
Kwanzaa stands as a living legacy of
the Black consciousness movement of the
sixties and seventies. At the heart of that
movement was the quest to redefine our
selves as a people and to restructure our
relationship to Africa, America and the
world based on our own enipow ennent and
self-determination. During this tumultuous
and productive period, Karenga emerged as
one of the most innovative and systematic
theorist and proponents of Black National
ism of all time. His creation and projection
of Kwanzaa has already insured his place in
history.
Though it is Kwanzaa which people
take note of as Karenga’s greatest achieve
ment, Kwanzaa in fact is based on and is an
outgrowth of Kawaida. Kawaida is Kar-
enga's major contribution to nationalist
theory. Through Kawaida Karenga estab
lishes an afro-centric idealogical frame
work for African-American development.
This "doctrine of tradition and reason”
derives its basic principles and values from
tradition African societies but adapts or
translates these principles and values into a
set of functional ideas and concepts which
are relevant for contemporary African-
American life.
Contending that the “ key crisis in Black
life is the cultural crisis” Karenga elabo
rated a simple but profound set of values
called the Nguzo Saba, the Seven Prin
ciples of the Black Value System, as the
foundation of Kawaida: Umoja - Unity;
Kujichalgulia - Self-Determination; Uja-
maa - Cooperative Economics; UJima -
Collective Work and Responsibility; Nia -
Purpose; Kuumba - Creativity; and Imani -
Faith. The religious practice of these seven
principles and values, Karenga argues would
greatly accelerate the rescue and restora
tion of Africans in America and throughout
the pan-African world.
Dr. Maulana Karenga conceived Kwan
zaa as a concrete manifestation of the vi
sion and values of Kawaida. Observing that
most traditional African societies have some
form of celebration to mark the conclusion
of the harvest season, Karenga developed
the Kwanzaa celebration around this prac
tice. Consistent with the doctrine of tradi
tion and reason, however, the emphasis for
Kwanzaa is on the collective energies, work,
achievements and productivity of the fam
ily, community, nation and race during the
year.
Hence Karenga positioned Kwanzaa at
the end of the year (Dec. 26 - Jan. 1) to
provide an opportunity for African-Ameri
can families and communities to reflect on
the distant and immediate past, celebrate
the harvest of accomplishments, contem
plate our future, and recommit ourselves to
a set of afro-centric principles and values
designed to strengthen the race. Each day of
Kwanzaa,therefore, is based on one of the
principles of the Nguzo Saba; Unity, Self-
Determination, Cooperative Economic.s
Collective Work and responsibility. Pur
pose, Creativity and Faith.
Operating from his base with th U.S.
Organization which he founded in Los
Angeles in 1965, Karenga vigorously pro-
pogated the notion of Kwanzaa within the
nationalist community and throughout the
Black Nation in general. The celebration
immediately took hold among a multitude
of nationalist organizations throughout the
country who in turn began to root the cele
bration of Kwanzaa in the broader African-
American community.
Karenga's persistent teaching, preach
ing, and organizing coupled with the deter
mination of nationalists to institutionalize
Kwanzaa is bearing a tremendous harvest.
Where one could hardly find information
about Kwanzaa just a decade ago, now
Ebony, Jet, Essence, B.E.T. the National
Association of Black Newspaper Publish
ers and even the white press cany major
features about Kwanzaa. Kwanzaa is grow
ing.
The emergence of Kwanzaa is all the
more remarkable since, unlike the Martin
Luther King National Holiday, Kwanzaa
has never had the stamp of approval of
America’s ruling elite, or the U.S. govern
ment. The growth and development of
Kwanzaa represents a sheer act of will
andself-determination by the African-
American nation. Karenga conceived it,
and we are achieving it. Indeed it is time
that we give recognition to the legacy of a
gifted theoretician, prolific lecturer, writer
and talented organizer who still lives among
us--Dr. Maulana Karenga, the creator of
Kwanzaa.
T his W ay F or B lac k E mpowerment
We stand at the beginning not just of a
new year, but of a new decade--and on the
brink of a new century! These are very
thrilling times, full of promise for a better
world. They’re dangerous times, too: the
people’s movement for democracy that
spilled out into the streets of eastern Europe
and China in 1989 was paid for in blood;
and there are those whose only interest in
the struggle against corruption is to exploit
it for their own, anti-democratic purpose.
But hope is in the air; walls and crumbling;
change is on the way!
Peoples and nations who have been
among the world’s forgotten “ poor rela
tions’ ’ and Black sheep" are building new
alliances with one another so that when
they sit down at the table now with the
“ Great Powers” they can bargain from a
position of strength. It is high time to build
such new, independent alliances here in the
United Stales--between the community and
rank and file labor; between students and
Sales/Matketlng Director
P O R TLA N D O BSERVER
h published weekly by
Eale Publhhlng Company, Inc.
4747 N .E . M . L . K . Bl*<t
Portland, Oregon 47211
P.O. Boa 3137
Portland, Oregon 9720B
’’m
r '-
(503) 280-0033 (Otllco)
Deadlines lor all submitted materials:
Articles: Monday, 5 p.m.: Ads: Tuesday, 5 p.m.
Th« RO RILA NO OBSERVER w«tco»rm ) i «« i « p l « l u b m iK m l M a n u ia p K »nd photo«' «eh• thouU b« d«*tly
labeled «nd wi'l ba i«t«in«d ,1 aoaxTp«n»d by •
> d d i««»d onvolopo AH ci«»l«d d«.ign«d dnptay ed.
b«co<TW th« tot« ptopotty of th« r«w«p«p«t end can not b« u .«d m oth«t p^tlcAtion« ot p*i»on«: u*«««. without
thw wi.ttwn con,«nt ot th« o«n«,«l m«nag«i. untn«, th« client h M pvrcha««d th« conpowition ot ,ueh ed '« to
POrtTLANO OBSERVER A IL HIQMTS nESERVEO. REPRODUCTION in whole or in part without
PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED.
Subw-nohon, 120.00 pet y««r in th« Tn-County at««.
Th« PORTLAND OBSERVER -• O tejon • otd«,i African Airwtean Publication-,« a nwrriwt U Th« National
Nww,p^>w Aatorajiwn - Founded in IM 5 , The Oiagon Nwwtpaptw Pubtnhei» Allocation, and Th« Nalonal
Adwartiar.« RapiMentathi« Amalgamated PtA»l«h«r». In«., N«w Yotfc.
fry John E. Jacob
! uliini
the elderly; between Blacks and gays--
between and among all of those who, year
in and year out, are excluded from the
wheeling and dealing that passes for poli
tics in America.
As the chairperson of the Black-led,
multi-racial New Alliance Party, I am
committed to making the '90s the decade of
independent politics. We began in 1988,
with my independent Presidential run. For
the first time in the history of this country,
an African-American woman was on the
ballot in every state. For the first time,
every voter in America from Alaska to
Hawaii and all points in between had the
opportunity to pull the lever for an inde
pendent candidate who stood- -and stands- -
for the Black Agenda for social and eco
nomic justice, for peace instead of war, for
people instead of profits. On Election Day,
1988 2% of the nation’s African-American
voters rebelled against the Black political
establishment by enlisting in my crusade
for fair elections and democracy.
That rebellion at the polls was re-en
acted one year later in the South Bronx,
where 42% of the Black and Puerto Rican
working class voters in the 11th Council-
manic District defied the notoriously cor
rupt Democratic Party machine to pull the
lever for the grassroots Puerto Rican leader-
Pedro Espada-w ho ran for City Council on
the independent NAP line.
1990 is a ballot status yearinN ew Y ork
State. A party whose candidate gets 50,000
votes in the gubernatorial election thereby
secures a permanent place on the ballot—a
crucial weapon in the fight for fair elec
tions. NAP has been seeking permanent
ballot status in New York since 1982, when
we got 5,000 votes. Four years later I ran for
Govemor--the first Black woman in New
York ever to do so -an d received 25,000
votes. 1990 will be our third try for ballot
status in New York, where there has not
been a progressive independent party on
the ballot for many, many years. A ballot
status victory for NAP in New York would
make a very significant political statement
to the entire country-one which would
have enormous impact in 1992, when the
first Presidential race of the new decade
takes place.
If we do our work well over the next ten
years, by January 1,2000 we will be able to
celebrate something truly wonderful: a
national. Black-led, multi-racial, working
class-wide independent party that belongs
not to Big Business, not to the banks and the
landlords “ dow ntow n," but to us. I invite
you to roll up your sleeves and join m e—
today.
Happy New Year, dear sisters and
brothers. Here’s to an independent dec
ade!
Challenge Of A New Decade
It's not just a new year w e're entering,
but a fresh decade—a truly pivotal one in
our history. America’s future place in the
world will be decided by how it meets the
challenges of the 1990s.
One such challenge is the economic
challenge of building an infrastructure for
an economy capable of competing in the
w orld's markets.
Within a few years, Europe will be
come a single economic entity, with more
people and a larger gross national product
than either the U.S. or Japan. And Japan is
consolidating its hold on the technologies
of the future.
Both Europe and Japan either have in
place or are building an infrastructure for
the new world economy. That means high
speed trains and road systems to carry
cargo and people and first-rate schools that
train their future workforce in tomorrow’s
technology.
W e're lagging behind. Our roads and
bridges are deteriorating rapidly and our
schools aren't educating half our children.
That's a legacy of the 1980s, which put
private greed above public investments in
the physical and human infrastructure. The
1990s will have to be a time of playing
catch-up, and doing what our global com
petitors did while we were partying.
A second challenge of the 1990s will be
to construct a global framework for peace.
The end of the Cold War and the imminent
democratization of vast areas that had been
in the grip of dictatorships offers tremen
dous opportunities.
The most obvious one is the opportu
nity to redirect our energies from preparing
for war to winning the peace. With the
Soviet Union calling an armistice in the
Cold War, we are without an enemy for the
first time in 50 years.
And when you don’t have an enemy to
fight, you don’t need a massive defense
establishment draining the civilian econ
omy. Experts say that the end of the Cold
War means the U.S. could have an adequate
national security system for about half of
what we currently spend on the Pentagon.
That means $150 billion a y ear-o r
some $1.5 trillion over the decade-could
be diverted to cutting the deficit and invest
ing in the human resources we need to make
our economy strong.
Part of those savings could be used to
meet the third challenge of the 1990s-
ending poverty and racial disadvantage in
America.
Our national goal should be parity
between the races by the year 2000. That
will mean not only dismantling the remain
ing discriminatory barriers in our society,
but also investing in programs that help
make people independent earners and con
tributors to a high-tech economy.
Such programs would range from bet
ter schools to job programs to meeting the
health and housing needs of the poor.
More than four out o f five new workers
in the 1990s will be African-American,
other minorities, and w om en-the groups
traditionally left out in the past. They’ll be
counted on to help support an aging popu
lation, and they can’t do that without good
jobs at good wages.
So there’s a vital economic interest for
America to institute policies that close the
black-white gap. But there’s also a moral
interest, as well.
During the demonstrations that led to
change in Czechoslovakia last month, the
American Declaration of Independence was
read aloud-the words “ all men are created
equal" inspired the revolution that swept
through Eastern Europe.
They should now inspire us to finally
secure that precious ideal by making the
1990s the decade in which we finally eradi
cate racism and end the terrible gap that
keeps African-Americans from parity.
Oregon's Minimum
Wage Increases
Oregon's minimum wage will increase
from $3.85 an hour to $4.25 an hour on Jan.
1, the second of three increases approved
by the 1989 Legislature.
“ The first increase came on Sept. 1,
when the minimum wage went from $4.35
to $3.85 an hour,” Commissioner Mary
Wendy Roberts of the Bureau of Labor and
Industries, noted.
“ On Jan. 1,1990, ¡tw ill go to $4.25 an
hour,” Roberts said. There will be one
more increase on Jan. 1, 1991, to $4.75 an
hour. The Bureau enforces Oregon’s m ini
mum wage law.
“ Because the state rate exceeds the
federal rate, employers come under the
stale law and must pay employees the higher
minimum,” Roberts said.
The federal minimum wage goes from
$3.35 to $3.90 an hour next April, then to
$4.25 an hour in April, 1991.
Paul Tiffany, administrator of the
Bureau’s Wage and Hour Division, reminds
employers that federal provisions for a sub
minimum "training w age” for teenagers
who have not worked before and a “ tip
credit" as an offset for the minimum wage
do not apply in Oregon.
“ The Legislature debated both issues
before rejecting a sub-minimum training
wage and tip credit,” Tiffany noted.
Many of the exemptions from m ini
mum wage have been narrowed or elimi
nated with passage of the state law. That
means more employees are covered by the
minimum wage and overtime and working
condition provisions. Tiffany noted.
Still exempt are casual agricultural
workers, for example people who pick berries
or other crops; youngsters paid piece rate
for harvesting; baby sitters and other do
mestic homeworkers from the state m ini
mum wage but not the federal rate in some
cases, and individuals engaged in the range
production of livestock.
For additional information, contact the
Bureau's Wage and Hour Division or the
Technical Assistance Unit.
Implementation
Of New Firearm
Laws (HB3470)
On January 1,1990, one of the toughest
gun control laws in the nation goes into
effect. The law, passed last session by the
Legislature as HB 3470,completely revises
Oregon’s firearm statutes, adding new public
safety provisions without violating consti
tutional rights of gun owners.
HB 3470 makes great strides in ensur
ing that guns are kept out o f the hands of
prohibited persons: criminals and the mentally
ill. The new law expands the identification
requirements and imposes mandatory crimi
nal history and mental health commitment
background checks necessary for purchas
ing firearms and obtaining concealed hand
gun licenses. It also lengthens the waiting
period on handgun purchases from five to
fifteen days, expands the reasons for deny
ing a firearm transaction or issuance of a
concealed handgun license, and enhances
criminal penalties for firearm related crimes.
CREED OF THE BLACK PRESS
Tbe Black Press believes that A m erica 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 h u rt as long as anyone
Is held back.