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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
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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.”
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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
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