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"The Eyes and Ears o f The Community"
Blacks and Science II: Operation Rescue
By Professor McKinley Burt
It is so heartbreaking when one en
counters the num ber o f so-called “ dis
advantaged” youth that I d o - in the
neighborhood, on the bus, and in the
park you find them, unknowing: “ W ho
am I? W hat am I? W hat is my heri
tage? W here am I going? Som e o f us
have belatedly com e to understand that
these young African A m ericans were
“ disadvantaged” by the educational
process to which they w ere'subjected*.
And I use that latter term advisedly.
The dilem m a o f our children moves
one to recall passages from an often-
quoted set o f quatrains by the famous
Spanish poet, Roberto Juarroz: “ I run
with w hat I was and with w hat I will be,
on the race o f what I am ...and som e
tim es I play that I pass myself. Then
maybe I run in the race o f w hat I’m
not...”
And maybe you run in gangs be
cause the system has failed you. No
question mark should follow that con
clusion. In the previous piece o f this
series I said that here at the threshold o f
the 21 st century, “ W e are told that only
the scientifically literate and the tech
nically proficient will be able to make
it.” But I also asked a question: “ Can
it really be true that African Am ericans
stand helpless and naked before the
storm ?”
O f course not, and that "m assiv e
Black intervention” I spoke o f is al
ready underway in some innercities
around this nation. It is true that these
responses are geared to varying con
cepts o f time rem aining and the im m e
diacy o f c a tastro p h e-b u t the im portant
thing is these events are in motion, and
the remedial efforts are directed at the
heart o f the problem , i.e. the “ Educa
tion System ” for our children. In this
respect, I hope that you will draw from
my “ Perspectives” colum n on the in
side page some very significant exposi
tions o f * ‘Educational E xcellence’ ’ that
will support the more general points I
make here. As before in these pages,
Chicago and its “ com m unity control”
process is given in example.
Greer Debuts
by Nathaniel J. Baker, Jr.
In reference to ‘ ‘response” m echa
nism s that are in place and already
making a significant nationw ide im
pact, there can be no better model pre-
Ron Herndon
sented than that com m itm ent-driven
organization, ‘ ‘National Association for
Schools o f Excellence.” Having held
its first m eeting in O regon in 1988, this
group o f dedicated, nationally recog
nized prinipals has responded to the
crisis in a m anner m atching the urgency
o f the situation. Last week there was
m ailed to every school principal in the
state o f O regon a how -to-do-it book,
“ Partners For Success: Business and
E ducation” . This book detailed the
successful operation mode o f each of
the 22 dented educators in the organi
zation.
This “ manual o f intervention” was
accom panied by a video which gave
graphic exposition o f the keys for suc
cess in successively educating low-
incom e and minority youth. An excel
lent narration by sym phony conductor
Jam es D ePriest wove the threads o f the
individual vignetted into a coheren t and
impressive presentation. “ Partnership”
was indeed the word, for the produc -
R“ »>
7
ERVER
PORTI.
Volume XX, Number 23
r
25<P
June 20.1990
First Annual Gospel Jubilee Excites 900 at
Arlene Schitzer Concert Hall
tion, packaging and shipping was all
financed by the “ A ssociated Oregon
Industries” group and m em bers (their
support was vital to the formation o f the
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
principals group as well-and many others
packed
in
nearly 900 people for the First
participated, too numerous for listing).
Annual Northwest Gospel Jubilee last
The Associated Oregon Industries’
Saturday. The crowd was extremely
cover letter for the mailing advised that
jubilant in response to the program. The
“ next year we w ant to begin a state
evening’s presentation consisted o f two
wide program called the 'Oregon E du
acts; the first act introduced evolution of
cational Excellence A w ards’- P a y Less
gospel music from the early 1600s (and
Drug Stores Northwest has stepped
forward with a grant to underwrite the
costs o f presenting sixty $1000 aw ards
to outstanding school principals and
teachers." I love it! This type o f part
nership between education and indus
try is a fast-developing trend across the
n a tio n -I opted for it when teaching at
the university, when chair o f the M inor
ity Teachers O rganization over a dec
ade ago, and quite often in these pages.
The price for that book, Partners
for Success, is $9.95; it and the video
may be obtained through the Albina
M inisterial Association Head Start
Program (503) 283-1267. Nationwide
distribution follows and there is no doubt
but w hat this organization will bring
BRENDA E. P H IL L IP S
about the particular types o f change
included the presentation o f slaves and
their masters). It illustrated the tyranny,
that I and others have advocated for
the violence, the heartache, and the sepa
years - if w e are to have the scientists,
ration o f fam ilies that the slaves en-
engineers, technicians and support people
necessary for survival. Again I refer • d-red. These sufferers had been brought
you to my “ Perspectives” column in over on slave ships against their will to
be sold in America. During the second
side here. W e cannot allow any school
adm inistration to tell us we c a n ’t have act, gospel music was presented to the
audience, through the African dance and
successful innercity sch ools-now can
its music o f that era, led by Bruce Smith
we perm it them to fail to deliver.
I would like to congratulate Ron and the Afrikan Ballet dancers. In their
Herndon for having the com m itm ent depiction, they caused the audience to
and drive to carry the “ Partners For feel the true rhythm of African music as
Success” concept from idea an«£visu- it was over four hundred years ago.
alization to a program o f great n^jpnal
The Sojourner Truth Theatre’s
significance. Thanks a lot old buddy, 1 actors and actresses gave a life-like
enjoyed the view all the way from that imagery o f the suffering of the slaves.
first meeting.
The cast consisted o f both Black and
Next w eek, specific science m od white performers.
Brenda Phillips, who portrayed
els and role m odels in the c la ssro o m -
why can’t we get it done here in Port a blues singer, rendered an extraordi
land?
nary performance. She showed to the
audience the correlation between blues
Brenda Phillips Elates the Audience
and gospel music. This performance
was more than ju st a form o f entertain
ment: there were slide presentations
that gave stim ulating imagery on triple-
screens. The penetrating voice of Glenda
Pullen brought the audience to their feet
with the presentation o f “ Precious Lord,
Take My H and” , as it was sung by Ma-
halia Jackson many years ago. The work
that went into this production, the assis
tance from the community, and the spon
sorship from the various businesses, all
came together to make the event endur
ing and very successful.
A special twelve-voice ensemble
Brenda Phillips, who portrayed
a blues singer, rendered an ex
traordinary performance. She
showed to the audience the cor
relation between blues and gos
pel music. This performance
was more than just a form of
entertainment...
presented spirituals, such as “ Amazing
G race” , “ Steal A w ay” , “ G o Down
M oses” , and a presentation from the
FISK Jubilee Singers o f Nashville Ten
nessee. The music director Ricky Cal-
lier, along with producer Bruce W atts,
developed the script and the format. The
second act presented M aranathe Choir,
the Angelic Glow and Love Band, Ser-
monettes, and the Watson family from
Tacoma. The inspirational sounds all
came together in the presentation of the
second act, giving the audience a well-
rounded presentation o f origin of A fri
can American Gospel music. The first
was narrated by J. Camell Foreman. The
emcee for the evening was Jeanette Russell
Brown; the program director was Bruce
M. Watts; lighting was done by Kobe
Enright. Costume design was thought
up by W anda W alden; the theatrical
director was Nyewusi Askari; Bruce
Smith acted as dance director; while
Glen Butler and Ayanna Patterson were
in charge o f stage direction. Set design
was conducted by M ark Loring; the
technical director was John Pierce; Gloria
Carter was in charge o f publicity; and
the program assistant was Andrea Salmon.
The president o f the African
American Festival Association, W av
erly Davis, would like to convey this
message:
To the citizens o f metropolitan Port
land: y o u sh o u ld be p r o u d o f
Portland a n d this region fo r bring
ing the A frica n A m erica n F estival
into the m ainstream o f sp ecia l
events. I t is truly a p le a s u r e fo r the
A frica n A m erican F estiva l A sso
ciation to have been able to bring
to the P o rtla n d m etropolitan
com m unity, a g rea t visibility o f
the rich culture a n d a rt o f the
A frica n A m erican C om m unity
through this unique p resentation
that in tro d u ced the course o f g o s
p e l m usic fr o m the early 1600s to
the quality o f liva b ility we enjoy in
P ortland, a n d w ish to fu r th e r en
hance, w hich w ould n ot be p o s
sible w ithout co m m itted citizens
continually striving toward the goal
o f unity in the com m unity. I w o u ld
like to convey sp ecia l thanks a n d
deep appreciation to o u r bo a rd o f
directors a n d executive com m ittee
f o r their lavish efforts. C o m m is
sioner M ike L indberg, his s ta ff
a n d the P o rtla n d C ity C ouncil,
P o rtla n d R ose F estiva l A sso cia
tion and its president N orm Daniels.
A very sp e cia l thanks to the P o r t
land O bserver new paper’s s ta ff
a n d m a n a g em en t f o r their ha rd
w ork a n d dedication.
I w ish to give the m o st high
honor to the L o rd f o r the vision
a n d the challenge to serve in this
capacity a n d to serve the N -N E
com m unity.
" June-teenth" Tradition Kept Alive By Pioneering Spirit of Portland Woman
A ngela R. G reer, native Port
lander, now thrives upon a new career.
Aside from being an executive for A dult
and Family Service, m odel, wife, and
mother, Angela is now em barking on yet
another career as an actress. She re
cently perform ed in the African A m eri
can jubilee theater perform ance at the
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
June-teenth Celebration at Bethel Church
Mrs. Greer explains that the
role she played as a slave was
so powerful that she could
really feel what her ancestors
felt in that era.
This was Mrs. G reer’s debut, and
she also plans to achieve the status the
many other Black actors and actresses
have achieved in a m arket where there
are not many roles for Blacks. As dedi
cated as she is to have her four other
careers, she just m ight make i t
Congratulations
Clara Peoples
"Keeps tradition alive"
Strawberry soda, fried chicken, barbecued ribs, and watermel
ons are traditional foods o f the June-teenth celebration
Clara Peoples has pioneered a significant num ber o f program s and kept traditions alive in our community, and this
being the week o f June nineteenth, she continues her efforts for the June-teenth celebration.
On June nineteenth, she coordinated a gala celebration at Bethel Church which drew over 400 people. Mrs. Peoples
talks about the importance o f keeping the June-teenth tradition alive.
Traditions can easily slip away unless we do more to educate our youth. Tradition will keep us strong.
"June-teenth" symbol submitted by Claudia Peoples.
In past years this symbol was placed on tee shirt during the
June-teenth celebration.
The Portland Observer is the Official
Newspaper of the African-American Festival