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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 22, 1990)
nside Local doctor named for national commission Keeping up with form er N.B.A. player Steve Adams Citizens respond to education and Nike controversies in letters to the editor Should we prosecute drug abusing mothers? Part I I Page 2 Page 5 h o ra ry Page 5 Page 8 PO RTL Volume X X , Num ber 32 ERVER "The Eyes and Ears o f The Community" It is Not The "Persian Gulf", Folks: It Was Called The Ethiopian Sea ! K yra Parker Today’ s explosive situation in the “ M iddle East” ( ‘ Near’ East?) is h ighly by belligerencies among the na tions o f Iraq and Kuwait-and earlier, Iran. In m y high school days the area was referred to as Mesopotamia, but more to the point, the “ Ethiopian Sea” derived its name many thousands o f years ago because o f the presence, cul ture, conquests and administrations o f A frica n peoples. Stone inscriptions and papyri tell it a ll, from treaties and ad m inistrative fiats to religious ceremo nies and shipping documents. See W .E B . Dubois, “ The W orld And A fric a ,” and see M ontet, “ Eternal Egypt” . I like the way that M ontet puts it (pp.220,221,” ...a people o f very high antiquity, who lived before the Trojan August 22, 1990 By Ullysses Tucker, Jr. W ar, and long before the Bible stories were put into w ritin g .” Dubois in a chapter, “ The Land o f The Burnt Faces” (pp. 128,129) documents the Middle East conquests and administrations o f A f r i can Kings, and Queens o f Egypt and the Sudan (Thothm ose 1, 11, 111)” ...Thothmose I, the conqueror o f Syria and the V a lle y of the Euphrates...Thothmose III...his granite head w ith d istini Negro features is in the B ritish Musei ..conquered Syria in 17 campaign and crossed the Euphrates...The Babylonians and S yri ans sent their daughters to him in mar riage, and the descendants o f Syrian Rulers, conquered by his father and educated in Egypt, ruled as slaves o f the Pharaohs.” Matthew Prophet, Superinten dent o f Portland Public Schools, did say several weeks ago, “ The w orld contin ues to change rapidly and today’ s gen eration o f children is seeing, feeling and facing things on a scale not even imag ined by most adults.” Oh, Sir, many o f us adults ‘do’ imagine “ the scale o f change.” But, we also know that some very basic facts have not changed at all, and they never w ill; the truth and reality o f factual history is among them. In order to function as educated and cu l tured citizens, fu lly able to participate equitably in the political and economic order, individuals and peoples must be motivated, and must know who they arc, where they have been and their true role in the order o f things. An educational process o f ‘E X C E L L E N C E ’ w ill do just that! This newspaper recently high lighted ceremonies o f a local “ African Am erican Festival” which culminated w ith a co lo rful parade o f comm unity citizens, I was very impressed w ith the spectacle-this has always been a tradi tion in A frican Am erican communities. But, let us return to ancient times foran account o f the origin o f the African festival 5000 years ago-at a time when A frica ruled the world. Just this b rief description should alert you to the source o fa ll th a t‘pomp and circumstance’ (and finery) found among European Royalty and the Establishment Church. Elisa beth Lam y w ill provide you w ith a dc- alerie B. Currie is President/Owner o f One on One Tax Service be cause she has worked hard, believed in her dream to own a business, and had something to o ffe r the general public. It is one thing to desire your own business, but a company must have a service the people need or want. Death and taxes are tw o elements that consumers cannot avoid. Bo knows football; Currie knows taxes and how to take fu ll advantage o f federal regulations or law. For eight years, Currie worked as a tax auditor/ Revenue agent fo r the Internal Revenue Service before establishing her com pany in October o f 1989. In this nation, there is no better teacher than the IRS when it comes to learning about taxes and tax law. A 1985 graduate o f Portland Slate U. (business administration/account- ing), Currie is married to Dan Currie, a Data System Coordinator fo r the Port land Public Schools. They have one child (Adrain, 13). She has a back ground in public relations, recruiting, and computers. When questioned about why she wanted her own business, the soft-spoken Currie smiled and gave the fo llo w in g answer. “ A fter w orking for the IRS for so long, I wanted to take my skills and do something else w ith them. I started my own business because it is a service to the com m unity and I get the chandce to do what I like, taxes.” P ortland O bserver-H ow can you come to love something that everyone hates? C u rrie -” Taxes are very interesting. It involves a lot o f people, it ’ s ever-chang ing, dynamic, a challenge, and i t ’ s something that I like to do." P ortland O bserver-H ow d iffic u lt is it to stay on top o f ever-changing tax law? C u rrie -’ T t’ s really not all that d iffic u lt once you get the basic understanding o f V Rachelle Greenidge tailed description in her book,’ ’Egyptian M y s te rie s ” -and see ‘ ‘ T im e -L ife Se:ies:Egypt.” Hathor o f Dendera and Horus o f Edfu; “ Horus the Elder was vener ated particularly as the d iv in ity o f light, triumphant over Seth, entity o f dark ness......On the inner face o f the Temple o f Edfu is a m inutely detailed descrip tion o f the A N N U A L F E S T IV A L OF TH E R E U N IO N , in the course o f whiuk Hathor o f Dendera was brought to meet Horus at the new moon to celebrate the day o f the conjunction. So rich in detail are the Edfu Texts that they enable us to reconstruct this happy festival in an evoca tive summary.” “ Excitement pervaded Den dera, starting on the 4th o f the month o f Epiphi and festivities follow ed one another p ra c tic a lly w ith o u t interruption...after several weeks the ‘ Beautiful Sailing o f Hathor’ , the great annual voyage would take place [down the N ile ], and the rite o f the first fruits o f the fie ld would be celebrated...tens o f thousands came to the river banks from the cities and the desert oases. Continued on page 5 25<P Business Profile: Valerie B. Currie President of One on One Tax Service by Professor M cK inley Burt And “ Ethiopia” to the ancients- including B ib lica l Prophets as w ell as the Greeks-was not only Egypt, ‘ ‘ The Blackland,” but The Sudan, Libya, Abyssinia, Punt and most o f Saudia Arabia as well, You would not know these things from reading most contemporary histo ries w ith their deliberate omissions o f black contributions to culture and tech nology. It is fo r this reason I buy books which reproduce ancient maps now found almost exclusively in museums or the Vatican Archives. The m anipulation o f geography has been a principal ploy o f racists. Me* ’ + O reQ f how it all works. What you are looking for are the changes that take place w ithin the different sections o f tax law." Portland Observer-What simple tax advantages do we commonly overlook? C u rrie -” That would probably be inter est expense on your mortgage, contribu- tions to charity, business expenses would be a major one and that includes sup plies and educational seminars, etc... A ll people do not have the same needs. Each situation is totally different.” P o rtla n d O bserver-W hat basic serv ices do you offer? Í what they have to pay. County, c ity, and federal government all have certain taxes that they charge. People sta rt ng new businesses should come in and talk to me first about the type o f business they want to go into or start because they w ill run into certain laws or problems associ ated w ith the business. Each business has its advantages as to what you can or can not w rite o ff as far as expenses are concerned. People need to know this up fro n t.” Portland Observer-Do most people take advantage o f the tax laws that exist? C u rrie -” No, because they are bombarded with so much tax information tliat people are generally afraid o f the tax system as it is today. So, they are m ainly talking to other people in businesses like theirs or others in business to fin d out what they are doing. Laws change overnight. A 3? lo t o f people don’ t have an accountant or a tax person to help them out. When they have questions during tax time, they get the busy signal from the IRS Valerie B. C urrie and they are s till le ft w ith the problem o f filin g on time. I t is especially d iffic u lt i f C u rrie -’ ’ Bookkeeping, tax research, you haven’ t kept adequate records.” handle audit problems, tax returns, pay P o rtla n d O bserver-M ost people’ s per ro ll, employer quarterly taxes, or any ception is that they cannot afford a tax thing that involves taxes w ith the state consultant or accountant. Is is correct or federal government. for them to think this way? P o rtlan d O bserver-W ere the risks o f C u rrie -” I f you are looking for a CPA, starting your own business worth it? the cost w ill be high. As a licensed tax C u rrie -” The biggest th rill to me has consultant’like m yself, the cost is rea been the reception o f the community. sonable priced. It all depends on whether When you first start out, you have no I ’ m representing you before or after the idea who your clients are going to be or IRS gets involved, or the state. I can how you’re going to interact w ith them. speak o f one case where I saved a person Everyone has been so receptive to me. $50,000 w ith some basic inform ation. I Yes, it was worth the risk.” can really help people save some money, Portland Observer-What advice do you believe m e.” have for people wanting to start their P o rtla n d O bserver-W hat do you see own business? for your business in the future? C u rrie -” I would say, know what you C u rrie -’ ’O f course I would like to grow. want to do and know what you can do. I would like more branch offices and Make sure you have the necessary sup serve as a liaison between the IRS and port system also. Startup cost and or the state. I want to protect people and ganizational expense are looked over a provide proper advice to them .” great deal by new businesses. What I ’ ve P o rtla n d O bserver-G ood luck! found out is that the great m ajority o f C u rrie -” Thanks a lo t.” people who go into business know what One on One Tax Service is located at they want to do, but lack the awareness o f the different taxes that are involved or 317 Northeast Killingsworth, (503) 289- 0851. Nike Prez Says "Our Actions Speak for Themselves"...And They Do by Angelique Sanders In the last few days, the Black community has collected its anger against the Nike corporation’ s racially-negli- gent business policies, and, touched o ff by a series o f events including a PUSH- supported rally, rallied against the Nike corporation. Monday started out calm ly: members o f Black support groups from Chicago met w ith the media and mem bers o f Bethel church to eat lunch and share ideas on the Nike-PUSH contro versy. A demonstrator from PUSH car ried a sign proclaim ing the evils o f Nike. Tee-shirts bearing the caption, "N ik e said no to us...Say no to N ik e ” sold tremendously. The next stop was Nike headquarters in Beaverton, where D ar ry l Tukufu, Ronnie Herndon, and Robert Philips attempted to mediate fo r Nike and PUSH. No results were found at this, and angered participants moved on to ra lly at M t. O live t church. The N ike Chairman, P hilip K night, recently said, "T h is year, 21% o f the new employees hired at N ike have been m inorities. That should show you how serious our com m itm ent is to af firm ative action.” Knight, that doesn’t show a comm itment to affirm ative ac tion, it shows that yo u ’re fillin g your quotas. What the Black com m unity wants to know, K night, is where are the A frican Americans at the top rungs o f the ladder? D on’ty o u want them sitting B A C K . We are not afraid to take our only interested in advertising w ith lily - next to you at the board meetings? Are money elsewhere until we can see Nike white media: N ike w ill not touch Black you saying Blacks can f ill the peon jobs, producing results! Perhaps the heads o f papers or Black radio. And w hy are you but should not be in the vice presidency at N ike, or the board o f directors? A t N ike headquarters in Beaverton, there used to be a qualification for w orking there that said you needed to live w ithin a certain distance from the plant. Is there some stipulation fo r N ike board members that says applicants must live in Bensonhurst? As the head o f the local chapter o f the N AA C P , Robert Philips, says, any corporation that doesn’ t have A frican Americans on every rung o f the ladder “ has a serious problem ” . In a recent speech Donahue, the president o f Nike reminded the audience-as i f to defend him self aeainst Mediators at the Nike-PUSH confrontation at National Urban racism -th at they have a $5 m illio n ad campaign that features Bo Jackson, David Robinson, and John Thompson, as well as Spike Lee and Michael Jordan. I hope N ike doesn’ t feel they can hide behind that when people call them racist. Nike, we aren’ t interested in your stats that tell us you have no qualms w ith Blacks being shoe salesmen, or that popular Blacks can grace your advertising. When we invest money in your corporation via your overpriced merchandise, we ex pect some respect and some results. We’re seeing neither. Your $5 m illio n dollar ad campaign W IL L N O T W IN US League are (from left) Robert Philips, D arryl Tukufu, and Ronnie Herndon. N ike are sitting on their hands, thinking, “ oh, w ell. Blacks only account for 13% o f our market” , but, sirs, Blacks aren’ t the only ones who are angered. T k N ike name is going down like Revlon did; it w ill be correlated w ith racism, and people: NIKES JUST A R E N ’T “ C O O L" ANYMORE! TAKE AC T IO N ! The Observer has approached N ike fo r advertising in the past. It w ill come as no shock to readers, I ’ m sure, hiring from South Africa? When asked, at the press con ference, what would stop Nike from refraining from ever negotiating, Robert Philips said “ nothing” . And it’s true...thc only action that would threaten Nike enough to get them to the negotiation table is kicking where it counts: the money belt. Folks, we need to remem ber what Black Power is and converge on this. We w ill not be kicked around by N ik e ’s shoes and other merchandise. I f that M ike has turned us down. They are you own Nike merchandise already, just tape over the name and the trademark swoosh, or cut them off...otherwise you’re advertising for N ike and against your brothers and sisters. I am completely shocked that our Black support groups, such as the National Urban League, do not agree on this issue. The Observer says to you: W e ’re w orking fo r the downtrodden Blacks. W ho are you w orking for? We have been stomped on by Nike, and we don’ t need to take this. When you think o f how hard you work for each dollar you earn, imagine spending against your race! Imagine your A frican Americans in the Nike corporation being denied promotions due to their color, because you wanted to look good. This is com pletely unacceptable. I don’ t need to ask you which side you think Martin Luther King would have supported on this, because you know in your hearts. Each and every brother and sister out there truly knows the right from the wrong in this issue, and we need to get used to exerting our power! Nike, where are you? The Black ..im m u n ity is w aiting...O f course, we a ll expect you to refrain from negotiat ing until you can “ pump up” your fig ures. to supposedly illustrate the high hiring rate o f Blacks. A fter the negoti ating is done, w e’ ll expect to see these people out o f work. The N ike Chairman said re cently, “ Watch us. We can get even better.” W e ll, you’ ve surely caught our atention. But you’ ve got a long way to go before A frican Americans are going to trust their money w ith you... Nike, where are you? The Black community is waiting... M v demands of Nike: 1) Blacks w ill have the potential to rise above the lower levels o f the corpora tion, a ll the way to the top, based on ca p ab ility rather than color 2) N ike w ill discontinue to ignore the Black media, investing in Black media 13% ofthe tim e, to match the 13% ofthe market Blacks hold 3) You shall continue to invest in the Black com m unity proportionately to the white com m unity 4) You w ill rid the company o f any ra cially-biased parties that have caused the situation the company is presently in 5) You w ill pull your funding o f any sort-taxes or employee w ages-out o f South A frica U ntil you meet these demands, I have no interest in backing up your company w ith my money.