10
I he Portland O bserver-Septem ber 19, 1990
TRI-MET NEWS
CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1
BERTRAM M. LEE
JOINS
BOARD OF REEBOK
INTERNATIONAL, LTD.
Bertram M. Lee, a businessman with
interests in sports, com m unications and
finance, has been elected to the Board of
directors o f Reebok International, Ltd.,
it was announced today by Paul Fire
m an, C hairm an and C h ief Executive
O fficer. Mr. L ee’s election expands
R eeb o k ’s board to 10 members.
M r. Lee, 51, Chairm an o f the Board
o f BM L Associates, a Boston holding
com pany. His ow nership interests and
positions include Chairman and T reas
urer o f Albimar Management, which owns
tw o radio stations in the East and M id
w est, including WKYS in W ashington,
D.C.; C hairm an and Treasurer o f the
D enver Nuggets National Football A s
sociation franchise; Chairman o f the
Boston Bank o f Commerce; President o f
K ELLEE Com m unications Group.
“ W e arc delighted to have Bert Lee
join the Reebok board,” Mr. Fireman
said. “ Bert and 1 met last spring when
we accepted the assignm ent to host Nel
son M andela’s visit to Boston. Together
we helped to form a celebration and
fund-raising activity that was truly a
unique experience for Boston and in
deed the New England community. Bert’s
dedication to human rights, his business
acumen and entrepreneurial spirit fit well
with Reebok, as we strive to build a
com pany com m itted to making a differ
ence,” he said.
From 1978-1986, Mr. Lee was Presi
dent and M ember o f the Board o f D irec
tors o f New England Television Corpo
ration, parent company of B oston’s
W NET-TV (now W HDH-TV), which
was the first minority-controlled CBS
netw ork affiliate. He was a member o f
the Board o f Directors o f Shawmut N a
tional Bank of Boston from i 9084-1989.
He is Chairman o f TransAfrica
Forum , a leading anti-partheid nonprofit
organization and is a m em ber o f the
Board o f Directors of the Jackie Robin
son Foundation;the Martin Luther King
C enter for Nonviolent Social Change;
the Joint Center for Political and Eco
nom ic Studies; the Congressional Black
C aucus Foundation; the National A sso
ciation for Sickle Cell Disease and the
Drew Child Developm ent Corporation.
A native o f Norfolk, Virginia, Lee
holds a BA in political science from
North Central College in Naperville,
Illinois. He served in the U.S. Army
1963-1965. He is married to Laura Muihpy
Lee, has three children, and lives in
Chicago.
Reebok International, Ltd., head
quartered in Stoughton, M assachusetts
is the leading designer and marketer of
active lifestyle and perform ance prod
ucts, including footwear and apparel.
T he com pany’s operating units include
the A V IA , Boston W haler, Reebok,
R ockport and Apparel Products (includ
ing the Ellesse sportswear brand) divi
sions. Sales for 1989 totaled $1,822 bil
lion.
UMOJA YOUTH
RETURN FROM
PHILADELPHIA
Six Portland House o f Um oja Youth
have returned from Philadelphia after
spending 2 months o f orientation in the
U m oja Program from David & Falaka
Fattah founders o f the Philadelphia based
H ouse o f Umoja. The Youth have re
turned to pursue education and em ploy
m ent opportunities while continuing to
w ork with the Portland Project, helping
on the internal site design and on the de
velopm ent o f program activities, with
plans to enter the House in late October.
T he Portland House o f Um oja con
tinues to honor the request o f the six
youths and their parents that they remain
anonym ous and that their identities be
protected.
For future information contact:
L olenzo T. Poe at 248-3406 o r Iris M.D.
Bell at 287-7488.
PORTLAND OBSERVER
'The Eyes and Ears ol the Community
Office: (503)288-0033
Fax«; (503)288-0015
<
Fessenden, 5-Interstate, 6- Martin Luther
King Jr.Blvd., 8- N.E. 15th Avenue, 10-
N.E. 33rd A venue, 4 0 -Mocks Crest, 41-
Fremont, 70-12th Avenue and 77-Broad-
way-Lovejoy. Tri-M ei buses stop within
blocks o f the Convention Center more
than 1,000 tim es daily.
Nine parking lots, with a total o f
5,000 spaces downtown and in the Lloyd
Center area, will offer free parking. Free
City Center Parking lots will be a S.W.
10th and Yamhill, S.W . Fourth and
Yamhill, S.W. Third and Alder, N.W .
Front and Davis and N.W. Sixth between
Hoyt and Irving. Event-goers can ride
MAX from these lots to the Convention
Center.
Tri-M et shuttle buses will run every
15 m inutes from four other free parking
lots at 825 N.E. M ultnomah, 700 N.E.
Multnomah, 500 N.E. M ultnomah, and
from N.W . Front Avenue between the
Broadway and Steel Bridges, No fare or
com m em orative ticket is needed on the
shuttles.
“ W e hope the people o f the region
will take us up on these free offers, so we
can all enjoy the Oregon Convention
Center party w ithout traffic jam s and
parking hassles, “ Cowen said.
AMERICAN RED
CROSS CLASS
SCHEDULED
The Red Cross is instructing an Adult
CPR class at the Good Samaritan Hospi
tal, M ain Hospital, 1015 N.W. 22nd,
Portland, Conference Room B 1 & 2, on
Thursday, O ctober 4, from 6 to 10 p.m.
The cost for training is $15, ($20 in
cludes the book).
Certification will be issued upon
completion o f the training. CPR teaches
the proper rescue skills for adult victims
of respiratory emergencies, choking, heart
attack, or cardiac arrest. Primary em pha
sis is given to learning skills with hands-
on practice. For pre-registration and pre
payment information, call the Red Cross
at 280-1440.
OARDING ON INSULT:
BY: NYEWUSI ASKARI
W hat a difference a week makes.
At the beginning of last week, sev
eral local African American leaders
appeared somewhat baffled, indifferent,
dazed, stunned and distracted by the
NIKE/ Operation PUSH controversy,
however, by the time the weekend rolled
into Oregon, those leaders had clarified
their positions.
At a press conference last Friday,
the Coalition of B lack Men, the N A ACP,
the Urban League of Portland and others
met with the press and members of
Operation PUSH to make it clear that
they indeed supported PUS H’s goals and
objectives. Displaying a united front, the
leaders revealed that some of them favor
mediation while others arc in favor of the
boycott,however, none disputed the need
for concrete action against the NIKE
Corporation.
Later, during the same day, NIKE
released information about the number
of African Americans and minorities it
employs throughout the United Slates.
*NIKE says its overall workforce
totals 3,703.
*NIKE classifies 622 o f its em ploy
ees as “ Officials and managers. O f that
total, 10 are African A mericans, 9 are
Hispanic, 18 are Asian and 2 arc A m eri
can Indian.
*NIKE says it lists 309 em ployees
as “ Professionals.” O f that total, 3 are
African Americans, 1 is Hispanic, 11 are
Asian and 1 is American Indian. Also,
NIKE says that those 309 Professional
employees are women.
If the numbers are correct, we should
be hearing from other minority groups
soon, especially the American Indian.
A fter NIKE released the figures,
Portland’s African American com m u
nity was awash with conversation. Much
of the conversation was centered around
Ullysses T ucker’s Septem ber 5lh article
that asserted that NIKE was over repre
sented by minorities. Many readers had
assumed that T ucker’s figures were fact;
that his assertions deserved closer ex
amination and just maybe Operation
PUSH was unfairly pushing NIKE. By
Friday’s end, there was no doubt that the
tide of opinion and support had shifted in
favor o f Operation PUSH.
By Sunday’s end, Operation PUSH
had established a Portland PUSH C hap
ter; had gained the support of Portland’s
Black Muslim community; had gained
the support o f Portland’s only Urban
Contemporary Radio Station KBMS, and
had appeared at Bethel and Mount O l
ivet Churches. Sunday concluded with
an appearance on KATU’s “ Town Hall.”
A week earlier, a group of 17 A fri
can American leaders from across the
country sent a letter to NIKE voicing
their support o f Operation PU SH ’S boy
cott of NIKE products. Among those
leaders w ere Dorothy I. Height, Presi
dent of the National Council of Negro
Women; Bishop John H. Adams, founder
and chair o f the Congress o f National
Black Churches; M aryland Stale Sena
tor, Clarence Mitchell; Delores Tucker,
chair o f the Democratic National C om
mittee Black Caucus and Julius L. Cham
bers, director-counsel o f the NA A CP
Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
THE INSULT
As has been the tradition with A fri
can Americans in their quest for social,
economic and political justice in A m er
ica, the PUSH boycott of NIKE finds its
foundation, spirituality and strength in
the Black Church. In no uncertain terms,
the boycott is being led by the Black
Church.
The NIKE controversy continues
closest to the spiritual, to God. Through
According to African American out African American com m unities, the
Historian, Lerone Bennett, the African spiritual one(s) assume priority in social
American Church has been at the fore relationships.
front o f such struggles. “ On a Sunday in
The Black Church is more than a
November, 1786, a group o f Negro wor c h u rc h . It is both a social and a religious
shipers were pulled from their knees dur unit. W hen it speaks, African Americans
ing prayer at St. G eorge’s M ethodist listen.
Episcopal Church. W ithout a work, the
W hat African Americans are seeing
Negro worshipers filed out o f the c h urc h. and hearing now is disrespect. NIKE,
Under the leadership o f two ex-slaves, they are beginning to say, “ Is disre
Richard Allen and Absalom Jones, the specting one of our spiritual ones, Rev.
disenchanted M ethodists organized the Tyrone Crider.”
Free African Society.”
Some o f N IK E’s African A merican
On M onday, Septem ber 17, 1990, supporters should explain the difference
the Rev. Tyrone Crider and about 50 between American politics and African
demonstrators were shouted down by American religious thought and prac
NIKE shareholders while they prayed.
tice.
Throughout the comings and goings
Operation PUSH knows that time is
o f the boycott, NIKE has been accused on their side. W hy? Because it is obvious
o f insulting the Black Church, especially that NIKE is going to continue to insult
concerning the way it has responded to the Black Church and Rev. Crider. It is
Rev. Crider.
suffice to say that NIKE will be misled
It is obvious that NIKE has little or down a path that brings it on a collision
no knowledge o f Black Church tradi course with many African A merican
tions or the pow er o f the Black Church. churches in this country. The more the
As the saying goes, "Y o u can mess wid insults, the more organizations we will
my dog, run into my car, but please do n ’t see joining ranks wit Operation PUSH.
mess wid my church!”
This boycott is more than about
Although there seems, to the uncul money or tennis shoes ore statem ents
tured m ind and eye, a split between the that sound good. It’s about w hether or
Black sacred and the Black secular, not m ajor corporations like NIKE are
whenever the Black Church is under going to act responsible, be responsible
unfair attack, or appears to be, mass and show responsible leadership as we
segm ents o f the black sacred and secular prepare to enter into the 21st century.
merge as one. W e are talking about tra
Betcha one thang..W hen other cor
d itio n s tradition that broke the back porations open their books and num bers
bone o f segregation in this country. At to the general public, especially the Black
the head o f this tradition is the African Public, we gon cringe in our boots!
American preacher. It is a respected tra
What all of this really says is, ‘ ‘Amer
dition with a traditional African world ica has a serious case o f segregation and
view. This view holds that there is a it is making our county ill-prepared to
fundamental unity between God and man; enter the 21st century united.
that the spiritual realm is the ultimate
existence and that the Black Preacher, in
the African American com m unity, is
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