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Do not believe everything you hear about
people: rumors
Expressing yourself as Christian
Spotlight on Greg Smith
Pepsi launches minority partnership
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Volume XX, Number 29
August 1,1990
"The Eyes and Ears o f The Community'
African-American Role Models: Yesterday and Today
Business Profile:
Donnie's Accessories
By ULLYSSES TUCKER, JR.
or many Blacks, who hail from
cities like Chicago, Philadelphia,
Adanta, New Y ork, Dallas, St.
Louis, and other large cultural centers,
Portland is consid­
ered a wasteland.
They com plain
about not being
able to find A fr i­
can fabrics, Black
greeting cards.
B la c k a rt and
p a in tin g s , and
other items that
m ight add sanity
during periods or
moments o f feel­
ing isolated.
Raleigh and
D onnie
L e w is
have solved this
problem w ith the
opening o f D on­
nie’ s Accessories
in Northeast Port­
Photo by Ullysses
land (925 N E
Broadway, 249-
7204), that is the problem o f finding
Black oriented accessories like the one
mentioned above.
L ik e many people in America,
Raleigh and Donnie wanted to w ork for
themselves and eventually gain economic
independence. The Lewises have been
dreaming together for a long time. I t all
started back at Lincoln U niversity in
Jefferson C ity, M o. where they attended
college. Raleigh, a native o f Connecti­
cut, majored in sociology and Donnie
majored in elementary education. She
was raised in St. Louis. They met,
shared more dreams, marriage, and out
o f their vision evolved three children
(K evin, 27; Djuana, 26; and Cheryl,
24). They also have two grandchildren
P o rtla n d O bserver - What made you
realize that you did not want to w ork for
F
From left, Dr. Hallie Johnson: "First lady, white or colored" to receive a certificate to practice medicine in
th e S ta te o f A la b a m a : Eugene Burkins: Inventor of the "Burkins Automatic Machine Cun," 1903 Chicagoan’s
Innovation was unsurpassed in world's military technology until World War II: Veronica LaVonne Holland:
Local Honor Roll student at Jefferson High School, recipient of "Image Award" and a "Black Academic All-
Star"
Students and Parents Win
One! School District and
Board May Get on Track
By PROF. MCKINLEY BURT
I t is sure great to “ w in one’ ' in this
unceasing struggle to gain educational
equity fo r the m in ority (all) children in
the State o f Oregon. I do feel that my
testimony last Wednesday before a key
state commission may have led to this
reassuring subheading fo r an article in
Saturday’ s Oregonian newspaper, * ‘The
Teachers Standards and Practices C om ­
mission Wants to be Sure Prospective
Instructors Have Basic S k ills .” T H E
TEST W IL L BE R E T A IN E D ! Be sure
to see the Observer’ s fo llo w -u p on this
page.
W e promised to “ be back at the
School D istrict ‘ ranch’ for further ex­
amination o f the Lesson Plan D elivery
System.” W hat we are most concerned
w ith in respect to the Lesson Plans - or
w ith the entire C urriculum and Baseline
Essay process — is the delivery o f a
F IN A L PR O D U C T to the classroom.
Just as in a w ell run comm ercial enter­
prise where management expects/de-
mands close and structured cooperation
between every department and all sup­
port personnel to expedite a successful
M A R K E T IN G P L A N - a ll the way
down to the “ detailer” who polices the
shelves in the stores to be certain that
T H E PR O D U C T IS R E A D IL Y A V A IL ­
A B L E TO T H E C U STO M ER A N D
H IG H L Y V IS IB L E . I f this does not
happen the entire e ffo rt and investment
IS W A S T E D !
For the past three weeks (really
three years) the Observer has highlighted
significant, documented models and ex­
amples o f A frican Am erican innova­
tion, historic and current technological,
cultural and role model material that has
been submitted to the Portland School
District (under contract, yet!) -- but which
vita l inform ation has not surfaced on
“ the shelves o f the stores,” i.e. in the
classroom, according to those quoted in
that Oregonian article by B ill Graves
which we reprinted last week; or ac­
cording to innumerable additional re­
ports and inspections by pupils, parents
and teachers.
A t the same time there have been
cited several documented examples o f
forw ard-looking, successfully tested,
award w inning programs submitted to
the district that have received only the
most cursory examination and dismissal
- i f any attention at all. However, in
November, when I spent three fu ll days
and evening in conversation w ith many
score teachers and school administra­
tors attending the annual conference o f
the National Association o f Black Edu­
cators - 1 not only found a great deal o f
interest in these proven models but sev­
eral administrators have returned this
summer fo r further orientation. They
were put up at the customer’s guest
house maintained by the Beaverton
computer/software company I cited. I t ’s
real folks! That ‘ ‘ Partners For Success:
Business and Education.”
“ W H E R E ’ S TH E BEEF?” L et us
run down a few more o f the significant
A frican and A frican American contribu­
tors that seem not to have found their
way to “ the shelves in the D istrict’ s
stores.” It was, we know , B ill Cosby
who made that provocative video,’ ’Black
H istory: Lost, Strayed or Stolen,” Last
week, the front page article portrayed
pictures o f my teaching demonstration
at the local Black Education Center. A t
the left: “ Geometry and Algebra, using
the famed ‘Golden Section’ (3-4-5 tri­
angle) invented by the Egyptian Survey­
ors - not the Greeks. ’ ’ Interestingly, th is
master element o f computation was also
used by Renaissance artists, and was
recommended on Educational Channel,
10, by the "This O ld House’ ’ program as
a boon to do-it-yourself carpenters w ish­
ing to make highly accurate additions to
their properties.
In the photo to the rig ht 1 am dem­
onstrating that “ A ll computers use
‘ B in ary’ mathematics (base 2) devel­
oped by the A frican Scribes.”
This
paradigm was the basis for the com-
puter/com munication project I put on in
The Dalles, and which won the N A -
tional Science Foundation Award. Again,
an interesting aside. Dr. Stanley Jacob­
sen, a famed scientist on the sta ff o f
Oregon Health Sciences U niversity
(invented DM SO ) read an Oregonian
feature on m y project and called to have
me introduce the concept to the Lake
Oswego Montessori School; but nothing
then or since from the Portland School
D is tric t
I ’l l list ju s t several o f m y “ African
Benchmark Series” that were submit­
ted but have yet to surface. Napoleon’s
1803 Expedition to Egypt: Here I de­
tailed the impact upon Europe and the
w orld when the ‘ general ’ took boat loads
o f savants, mathematicians, astronomers,
scientists and artists to A frica . Standing
his troops before the Pyramids, he stated,
“ 40 centuries o f greatness look down
upon you.
“ He then proceeded to cart back to
Europe the treasures o f the ages from
Egypt and the Sudan — form ing the
basic collection o f the newly-constructed
Louvre Museum. The Em pire style o f
furniture and dress, new mathematical
concepts including projective geome­
try, the so called, “ Fibonacci Series,”
and much, much else.
Also, I submitted documented ma­
terial demonstrating that the Russian
scientist credited w ith developing the
basis fo r “ X-R ay C rystallography,”
began w ith and acknowledged that the
North A frican M uslim s had incorpo­
rated into their art and architectural
designs a rendition o f a ll 230 space
groups and subsets that define the
“ m olecular constructs o f a il matter”
(since their religion forbade the repro­
duction o f the human visage or body,
they concentrated on complex and so­
phisticated abstract design).
More next week.
Statement by John E. Jacob, President and Chief Executive Officer
National Urban League, Inc.
on Visit of Nelson Mandela to the United States
Nelson Mandela’s visit to the United States is a momentous occasion.
As African Americans, we greet out brother Nelson Mandela with joy and gratitude for his soul­
stirring fight against racism and injustice.
Nelson Mandela has suffered greatly for his leadership in the struggle to replace aparthed. In the
process, he has given the world a shining example of strength and fiath.
We have long supported his righteous cause, and today we urge our national leadership to heed
his advice, to retain sanctions until a new order is negotiated in South Africa, and to fully support South
Africa’s freedom movement.
another three or four years to capitalize
on it, but it feels great to be able to do
what you want to do. R ight now, I ’ m
s till making up my m ind about exactly
how I want to evolve. Fortunately, I
have the lead way to do that because
again, my husband
is w orking w ith
me.”
P o rtla n d
O b­
server - Can you
seethe lig h t at the
end o f the tunnel
or are you still
walking in dark­
ness?
Lew is - “ I ’ m s till
w alking in dark­
ness, but I ’m hope­
ful.
I ’ m really
encouraged by the
9k .
people that come
in and the com­
ments we get. I ’ m
convince that it is
going to work. We
are going to make
Tucker, Jr. ’
__________________ it.”
P o rtla n d
O b­
server - Do you believe that Blacks do
Black-oriented atmosphere. Our goal is
not support Blacks in many business
to provide Blake books, cards, paint­
situations?
ings, and we are talking to a person right
Lew is - “ Yes, I do think that. I think
now to get some African fabric (from
that i f yu want them to support you, you
Ghana and Nigeria). We want to be
have to get out there and cultivate them.
African-oriented, but we don’t want
Even I w on’t support a business because
people to be afraid to come in or label us
it is Black. Now, I ’ ll go and try to
a certain way. We are Black-oriented.”
support it, but they have to give me
P o rtlan d O bserver - People say that
encouragement to come back. They
they would like to establish their own
have to show me something for me to
business, but most procrastinate and never
keep coming back to them. I w ill not
get around to it-w h a t advice do you o f­
support a business sim ply because it is
fer these people?
Black. I w ill attempt to support them fo r
Lewis - “ Do it. The only thing to do is
that reason, but whether or not I keep
to get out there and try. Y o um igh th ave
coming
back is entirely up to them.”
to start on a small scale. I started slightly
P
o
rtlan
d
O bserver - Are you one o f the
on a larger scale because my husband is
best-kept secrets in Portland?
s till w orking a fu ll-tim e job . So, that
Lewis - “ I have to wonder because we
gives me a little more “ lead w ay” to do
have people coming in day after day
the type o f thing that I ’ m doing. I f
telling us how their friend or sister told
you’ re w orking a nine-to-five and don’t
them about us. N ot just Blacks are
have anyone to help you, you can start
coming in; a ll types o f people are buy­
smaller by doing something on the
ing our products and it’s happening more
weekends or evenings. I f you have
and more. W ord o f mouth really puts
something in mind, get started...”
our business out there...”
P o rtlan d O bserver - H ow does it feel
P o rtla n d O bserver - Good luck in the
to run your own business?
future.
Lewis - “ Great! I t ’ s a w onderful feel­
Lewis - “ Thanks.”
ing even though (sm iling) w e’re not
making any money. I t ’ s going to take
start it. Once I left m y jo b to move here
w ith my husband, I said that i f I ’ m ever
going to do it, this would be the tim e...”
Portland Observer - describe your store?
Lew is - “ W e have alittle b it o f every­
thing. We are trying to evolve into a
DONNIE LEWIS
someone else anymore?
Lew is - “ Doing the same thing day after
day and year after year. I did n ’ t know
what else to do because like most people,
you don’t want to give up that steady
paycheck. Y o u ’ ve got that and every­
thing else is chance, especially when
you’ re going out on your own. I had
never been in business before and I
did n ’ t know how it worked or how to
I
Teacher Testing Intact: Well, Sort of!
W e take this opportunity to pro­
mission was inclined to allow those who
Redmond, Oregon who gave some o f
vide our readers with this follow -up on
the July 25 hearings at Salem on “ The
Proposed Repeal o f the Basic Skills
failed one section o f the three-element
examination to seek a W A IV E R to
become certified. Consistent with a de­
scription o f the commissions action as
“ w afflin g ” , Deanna Woods is quoted
in the Oregonian article as saying, “ W e ’re
the most telling testimony in favor o f
Test.”
Professor M cK inley Burt, a
feature writer for this newspaper pre­
sented very telling testimony in favor
o f retaining the C -B E S T , an evaluator
o f the “ most m inim al skills” .
W h at is new is that last Friday
(July 2 7 ) the Teachers Standards and
Practices Commission, State o f O re­
gon, galloped to die monumental hedge
o f the century. As headlined by B ill
Graves, education reporter for the O re­
gonian, we have the following, * ‘Panel
Seeks Compromise on W a y to Test
Teachers: The Commission wants to
be sure prospective instructors have
looking for a compromise because we
still have a public that doesn’t feel it is
A S S U R E D O F Q U A L IT Y T E A C H ­
E R S .” W e ’U attest to that, which is why
the Observer has mounted a determined
advocacy for students, parents, and those
competent teachers who highly resent
any further deterioration o f the system.
There has been a very pronounced
increase in tempo at die Observer o f­
fices since several pro-test advocates
made an Oregon (and multi-state) m ail­
ing o f M r. Burt’s key critique o f the C -
retaining the test. She was a prime
mover in the 1983 effort that brought
the tests to Oregon. Johnson had only
recently returned from Washington,
D .C . where she gave structured input
to the national meeting o f a teacher
credentialing organization. Ms. Johnson
was a member o f the State Board o f
Higher Education, 1962-1975 and is a
member o f the American Association
o f H igher Education;
Professor M c K in ley Burt was also
privileged to a lengthy conversation
w ith D r. Richard Mtyetic, Administra­
tor o f theCom m issiononTeacherCre-
dentiahng, State o f California. Burt
BES test and its detractors. Phone calls
was thanked for his thought-provok­
ing article and his key testimony be­
fore the commission. D r. M ajetic is
promise. Right?
The commission asked it’s chair­
and subscription orders have come in
from a ll over (the article was published
sending him a recent test evaluation,
along w ith important statistics as soon
woman, Deanna Woods, to appoint a
committee to structure proposals for
June 27, front page).
There was a very inform ative con­
versation with Ms. Elizabeth Johnson o f
as the package is completed. A ll re­
basic skills.” And, then o f course
there was the famous Missouri C om ­
its September 27 meeting. The com-
quested subscriptions to the Portland
Observer (D o you have yours?).
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