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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 1990)
* -^ fr ' «K fr* fr* • .M l 9 ^ B lack H istory M onth • F ebruary 1 9 9 0 -1 I » - .• 1 »V * •f ¿1 A v P O R TL ERVER “ The Eyes and Ears of the Community" VOLUME XX • NUMBER 7 President Moriarty's response: H A W A II: AMERICA'S BEST KEPT SECRET U.S. Marines Ordered To Make Historic Black Palace A Parking Lot. by P rofessor M cK inley B url When lhe U .S. M arines surrounded the beautiful palace o f the last A frican Q ueen o f H awaii, M innie L iliuokalani, the end was at hand for the 200 y ear rule o f B lack dynasties over the fabulous islands o f Hawaii (January 17, 1893). O ur pictures, inside, bear out the com m ents o f C hicago n ew sp a per w om an, M ary H. K rout: “ Strong and resolute, features irregular, the com plexion quite dark, and the hair streaked with gray - and she had the large dark eyes o f her race.” T hat strength and resolu tio n led the queen to ask for the return o f “ H awaii to the Hawaiians”, even as she yielded under protest to the bayonets. T he entire ugly co n fro n ta tion w as reported the next day in “T h e Pacific C om m ercial A dvisor”. seum after being saved from the bulldozing barbarians by a m ore enlightened segm ent o f the populace. So, rather than a parking lot, there were fcatured many beautiful treasures of early Hawaiian culture including a magnificent 100 piece silver place setting given to the last royal couple by their esteem ed friend, E m peror N apoleon III. all six islands after subjugating all m inor chieftains wi(h the aid o f new ly acquired European firearm s. Like Psam m etichus, the A frican Kir(g o f Egypt (7th century B.C.), he m ounted an eager qu est for pow er and wealth, prom oted international trade, brought in E uropeans o f every ilk and d enom ina tion, rapidly developed industry despite the cultural shock and dislocations— and at the sam e tim e brought in diseases like syphilis, tuberculosis, and m easles, the latter killing the successor royal pair (A frica revisited). His grcatestdrawback as described by LeGrandc H. Elegg III, noted B lack historian, was “his unequivocal faith in E uropeans.” Like Psam m etichus, he p roved to be the b egin ning o f the end. King Kamehameha Queen Minnie.Lilliuokalan "I, LIL IU O K A L A N I, by the G race o f G od and under the C onstitution o f The H a waiian K ingdom , Q ueen, do hereby so l emnly protest against any and all acts done against myse If and the ConstitutionalGovemment o f the H aw aiian K ingdom by certain p e r sons claim ing to have establish ed a Provi- sio nalG overnm ent o f a n d fo r the Kingdom . N ow to avoid any co llisio n o f arm ed forces, and perhaps loss o f life, I do under this protest a n d im pelled by said fo rc e yield my authority until such tim e as the G o vern m ent o f the U nited Sta tes sh a ll upon the fa c ts being p resented to it undo the action o f its representative and reinstate m e in the authority w hich I claim as the C o n stitu tional S o vereig n o f the H aw aiian Islands. T he U nited States chose n o t to “undo the action of the representativ e” , and by 1900 the "trillio n dollar em pire”o f H awaii had becom e an A m erican Territory, and a state by 1959. T hese events culm inated a century o f effort on the part o f A m ericans to outflank the Europeans in the great “ M anifest D es tiny” predicated race to gobble up and annex the rem aining lands o f the earth still o ccu pied by peoples o f color. U.S. corporations and m issionaries had gained a foothold in every aspect o f H aw aiian infrastructure and culture, and had now m ounted a final a s sault upon thclast Black ruler. Queen Liliuokal- ani was im prisoned but, noble w om an that she was, com pose several beautiful songs. A verse from one spoke forgivingly, "B e hold man not with m alevolence, b u t with forgiveness.” A B irm ingham Jail, if you will! Here w e need to understand that the Q ueen and her husband. K ing K alakaua (1836-1891) w ere very talented and sch o l arly people, w riters, poets, m usicians and inventors. A lm ost all o f the H aw aiian d y nasties w ere o this intellectual and cultural stature. T his B lack royalty entertained and exchanged visits with other royal fam ilies throughout the w orld. (R em em ber that last year I exhibited m any o f the E uropean C o a to f Arms displaying the African for bear ers of prom inent fam ilies.) M uch cultural detail o f the happier earlier tim es is r e vealed in an excellent book by M axine Krantz, H aw aiian M onarchy: The R o m a n tic Years. This past Sunday, January 13, on the “C ollectors" program . Educational C h an nel 10, the cam era panned through several room s o f Q ueen L iliuokalani s form er p a l ace— preserved as a historic site and mu- The v ideo showed many m arv e lous ren man ts o f other and better days, but now here was anything show n that w ould give even a vague hint that the genre w as A frican. N ot unless the view er already possessed some cultural aw areness as he view ed the in stru m ents, calabashes, garm ents, paintings and icons. In the case o f ‘p a in tin g s’, we m ust be cognizant that the artists w ho rendered the illustrations o f the early H aw aiians (like John W eber, the official artist o f C aptain John Cook, the alleged‘discoverer‘of Hawaii), translated the A frican visages into Anglo Saxon look-alikes; som ething we pointed out last week, w hat the R ussians did no t do w ith the statue of A lexander Pushkin, their fam ed B lack poet who overlooks Pushkin Square and the new, noisy M acD onald’s fast food outlet. It was som ew hat different in 1982 when the N ational E ndow m ent for the H um ani ties and U nited A irlines cosponsored a trav eling exhibit “Hawaii: The Royal Isles From A ncient C hieftains To the 50th S tate”. O ne did not have to be nearly so sw ift to d eter m ine that a great deal o f this display w as basically A frican in content (though re ferred to as Polynesian). V isitors to Hawaii m ay see the perm anent exhibit at the B er nice Pauahi B ishop M useum in H onolulu. A brief one page description is given in a S m ithsonian M agazine o f 1982, p. 164. In the Sunday O regonian for 12/25/88, w riter B J . N oles inform s us that the is lan d 's “last reigning m onarch” was King D avid K alakaua, and that it is for him that the fam ous H aw aiian M aritim e C enter is nam ed. We know very w ell, no, that he was not the last reigning m onarch, and that this is ju st another typical d odge by perverse historians w ho w ould hide this entire ugly chapter in A m erican colonialism ; Mr. Noles could be ju s t another victim o f the C h arla tans w ho w arp our history. In any case, the center w as five years in the planning and ‘research ’ stage w hich w as carried out by five m ajor U.S. and H aw aiian corporations. T he ex h ib it typically reflects the euphem is tic nom enclature w hich anthropologists use to conceal the obvious A frican ancestry o f those who peopled the Pacific Islands: "Melanesia [Black Islan d s]”, M icronesia, Polynesia, P rotoaustraloids, M elanesians (you nam e ’em ),Tahiti, Samoa, Palau and Fiji included. It was in the 1970s w hen a w hite student in my B lack history class reported that his father who operated one o f P o rtlan d ’s larg est C ruise Line C lubs had told him about his lessons. “ Your talking rubbish— w ho in the hell d o you think I can persuade to spend $5,000 on a South Seas cruise to see a bunch o f niggers (sic)? T hey can do that right dow n on U nion A venue!’’T hat is when I coined the term, ‘T ra v e l A gency A nthro po lo g y ” . To trace the 200 years o f A frican D ynas ties in H aw aii is to large a task for this article but here are a few particulars. An excellent place to begin is w ith the dynasty o f King K am eham eha (1810), first to unite Princess Liliuokalan Later, a King K am eham eha 111 estab lished free schools th roughout the islands, introduced H awaiian language new spapers, established a code o f law s and The first H aw aiian C o n stitu tio n ’. His greatest re form was his program o f ‘T h e G reat M ahclc” or land reform , w hich p erm itted com m on ers to share in land that had previously been the exclusive property o f the King and his clients. It w as at this point that the A m eri cans and E uropeans becam e frightened o f the possibility that a loyal and loving body politic o f A frican descent could foil their plans to convert H awaii into a vast con- glomcratcof foreign-owned sugar and pineapple plantations w orked by cheap docile labor. A lready (1 850s), they were hearing dreaded news from the American mainland that African slavery m ig h t be abolished. From this date onw ard the foreign e x ploiters, w ith the aid o f the U.S. govern m ent, m ounted their p ressures and in filtra tion, prevailing against the w eaker m onar chies that held sw ay until the reign o f the noble Q ueen M innie L iliuokalani. W hite im m igrants were rushed in from many lands, including the Portuguese w ho m iniaturized their guitars to becom e the fabled H aw aiian ‘u k elele'. T h e die was cast, fatally. ' SCHOLARSHIP DEADLINE High school students who are interested In applying for $1,000 college scholarships should request applications by March 16,1990 for Educational Communications Scholarship Foundation, 721 N. McKinley Road, Lake Forest, Illi nois 60045. To receive an applica tion, students should send a note stating their name, address, city, state and zip code, approximate grade point average and year of graduation. Slxty-flve winners will be selected on the basis of aca demic performance, Involvement In extra-curricular activities and need for financial aid. Congratulations -?.XJ .;• «i *"’*•' ‘4 if *s >« ? 1 # 3 •V ■y <\4 V* * •• J J •J '" 1 1. A llegations o f in sen sitiv ity to stu d e n ts a n d staff: “The adm inistration cannot interfere with the First A m endm ent rights o f the students press. We m ust protect the stu d en ts’right to dissent, even if that includes insensitive rem arks. T he opinions expressed in the student newspaper do not represent the v ie ws o f the adm inistration. I regret the lim es our boards m em bers are criticized in the stu dent new spaper, but those o f us in decision m aking roles arc often criticized.” - VI 2. A llegations of n o t im p lem en tin g an effective a ffirm a tiv e action p la n . ‘Affirmativeaction for colleges and universities across the country has been a m ajor ch al lenge and a major problem . PCC is w orking diligently to im prove our affirm ative action record. We are actively w orking tow ard hiring m inorities and have had som e suc cess. “We have probably have a better p er centage o f m inority faculty than any c o l lege or university in the state. W ithin two years, I believe we will achieve our goals, which are based on national percentages. We arc very close to parity in our adm inis trative area, with our goals for m inorities and women based on national norm s. “The college needs cooperation and support from our faculty and staff to achieve these ‘goals. T he facts do not justrfy-A ese broad, sw eeping indictm ents.” -, ► 7- >'■! 3. A llegations of not p ro v id in g s u p p o r t to Je s sic a Bailey. "T hese allegations are untrue. I sent a mem o to the union excoriating the faculty for their position against Jessica Bailey. The m em o was reprinted in the college new spaper. I regret that Jessica’s nam e has been brought up at this time. She left here and w ent to and enviable scholarship o p portunity at Harvard U niversity by her own choice." National Urban League Conference Scheduled for July 29 - August 1 T he 1990 N ational U rban League C on ference w ill be held at the New York H ilton and T ow ers July 29 - A ugust 1 in N ew York City. T he conference them e, “Onward! To aD ccadeofD iffcrcnce!” marks the L eague’s 80th anniversary and its continued com m it m ent to social, econom ic and political ju s Willian Pitt Leleihok II FEBRUARY 14,1990 r/i tice for A frican A m ericans. O ver 18,000 civic and social activists, heads o f corporations and com m unity- based organizations, and agents o f social change across the broad spectrum o f the A frican-A m erican com m unity will m eet at the N ational Urban League C onference to exam ine the condition o f A frican A m eri cans and their quest for parity in this coun ty - The Honorable William J. Bennett, Director of the O ffice of N ational Drug C ontrol Policy; John N. Sturdivant, N ational P resi dent o f the A m erican Federation o f G ov ernm ent Em ployees; The H onorable Lee P. Brow n, New York C ity Police C om m is sioner; and D t . C arl C. Bell. E xecutive D irector o f the C om m unity M ental Health C ouncil in C hicago and author o f P revent ing B lack H om icide" in The State o f Black A m erica 1990 are ju st som e o f the distin guished speakers scheduled to address the SKI ... to Wanda Irving, Communications Services D irector for City of P ortland’s E nviron m ental Services Bureau, has been selected for inclusion in the 1990 M aquis Edition o f “W ho’s W ho o f A m erican W omen”. O nly one in every three thousand women in the U nited States, receives this honor. Irving is currently the second highest ranking B lack m anager in City governm ent, behind Parks Superintendent C harles Jordan. The American Cancer Society, Oregon Division presents VINTAGE & VIBES Vintage & Vibes w ill com bine on S un day, February 25th at the M asonic Tem ple for the A m erican C ancer S ociety’s N inth A nnual W inetasting. A harm onious blend o f internationally renow ned wines and gourm et foods from around the globe w ill be served in concert with the Big Band sound o f Lionel H am p ton, M aster o f the Vibes. T his y e a r’s w inetasting form at has been changed to include two separate functions. First, the form al w inetasting will be held in the Sunken Ballroom from4:0()pm to 6:00pm. Here, guest will be treated to a full spec trum o f wines from internationally renowned vintners, as well as a wide array o f cheese, pâté and bread. A ugm enting these ep icu rean delights, Lionel H am pton and his trio will perform an intim ate set. A fter the w inetasting, a dinner dance will be held upstairs in the G rand B allroom from 6:30pm to 10:30pm . Patrons w ill be served a light dinner and special desserts provided by seven "Jazz C lubs” located in different areas o f the ballroom . T hese clubs will be operated by seven local restaurants, and w ill feature som e o f their finest wares. T hroughout all o f this, everyone w ill be sw inging and sw aying to the inim itable sounds o f Lionel H am pton and his full 17 piece orchestra. H am pton is sure to play m any favorites from his Sw ing Era days w ith B enny G oodm an’s orchestra, as well as som e new er com positions. About his imminent eng agement in Portland, L ionel H am pton said, “I am very excited about being in Portland again, and being able to do a benefit for the A m erican C ancer Society. I d o n 't know o f anyone w hose life has not been affected by cancer in one way or another, and it m akes us feel good to be able to help out an organization such as the A m erican C ancer Society that has done so m uch for so many folks across the country." T he A m erican C ancer Society is deeply grateful to K aren H insdale for coordinating the donation o f all the w ines, as w ell as E urobcst Foods and Le Panier for their gracious donations o f the cheese, pâté and French bread. For tickets or m ore inform ation reg ard ing V intage & Vibes, please call the A m eri can CanceT Society at 295-6422 or 1-800- 227-2345. Albina Multi-Service Center to Relocate Back to Vancouver Ave. conference. N ational Urban League President and C hief Executive O fficer John E. Jacob will Oregon Dept. o f Human Resources D irector Kevin Concannon today announced that deliver his annual policy address during the the Slate M ulti-Service Center w ill relocate to new quarters in m id-August after keynote session on Sunday, July 29. are ju st untangling legalisms that threaten to delay the proposed move. som e o f the distinguished speakers sched uled to address the conference. N ational Urban League President and C hief Executive O fficer John E. Jacob w ill deliver his annual policy address during the keynote session on Sunday, July 29. The Portland Observer Newspaper 4747 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr., Blvd. (Formerly Union Avenue) The center w ill be located at 5011 N. Vancouver Ave. which was its former home for more than 10 years before landlord problems forced i t to move to temporary facilities in 1982. O rig in a lly designed to be a one-stop shopping center fo r Social Services, the new location w ill house only four o f the original 22 agencies that provided services to Portland area residents but is scheduled to be enlarged to 48,000 square feel to accom modate Vocation Rehabilitation, A d u lt And F am ily Services, Em ployment, and C hildren Services D ivision. The project is being redeveloped by the W yant Group o f Salem, o f w hich local developer Chad Dcbman is affiliated. Financing problems threaten the project in itia lly but these were resolved after stale o ffic ia ls agreed to sign a 15 year lease at a cost o f $48,000 per month A --r *• » I ss?