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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 1990)
PORTL ERVER Volume X X , Num ber 44 "The Eyes and Ears o f The Community" 25<P N O V E M B E R 21. 1990 Vickers Becomes First African American on N.R.I.D. Board L ittle People Can Cast A Big Shadow By Proffessor Burt PAGE 2 Brunch Honors Local Fam ilies PAGE 3 T he Locker Room T he A in ge Factor Peaps Benefits By Ullysses Ih c k e r PAGE 4 Crisis In Education By Professor Burt PAGE 5 Editor's Note: The appearance o f minister Louis Farrakhan in Portland on Sunday brought out an overflow crowd to hear the popular minister bring forth his message to black Portlanders. Speaking on a variety o f issues, 1 was reminded o f his recent interview with Emerge magazine which cleared up a lot o f mistruths attributed to him by the white media. We decided to call New York, and received permission from the author to re- print portions o f the interview, regarding his relationship with Malcolm X. The interview was conducted by George E. Curry, New York Bureau Chief fo r the Chicago Tribune. Our thanks to Emerge and Mr. Curry. 3 merge: When everybody thinks ZA rkansas C lub of Oregon, at 915 ■“ “N.E. Schuyler Street, from noon to 3 p.m. on November 22 offers a Thanksgiving dinner for Senior Citizens and needy persons. Call Marge at 283- 9433. St. A ndrew 's Com munity C enter also offers a free Thanksgiving dinner for those the hungry and penniless, from noon to 3 p.m. the same day at 4940 N.E. Eighth. To help by donating food or time, call 281-1005. PAGES Entertainm ent T he W iz I—' ortland Community College’s A North/Northeast Skills Center, a INDEX Next Week is th e n a conspiracy against graphics 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 13 V-. ■ long sought and much needed stimulus to employment and economic develop ment in the area was formally dedicated by Governor Neil Goldschmidt, on Wednesday, November 14th. The North/Northeast Skills Center is described as a "one-stop shopping concept” primarily for north/northeast residents seeking training and assistance in finding employment. The Center’s goal is to help allevi ate unemployment and underemployment by providing targeted training programs for up to 300 individuals, initially. The training programs address the increasing technical and professional job skills required of today's workforce. Two programs, building construc tion trades and business/clerical, are currently in operation. There arc plans to add a third training program, hospital support, in March, 1991. The project began operations July 1 on PCC’s Cas cade Campus and will move into perma nent quarters in the Fragmeier Building sometime in early 1991. The building. CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 After twenty years, there is much to be thankful for. This has been a good year for The Observer. But it was necessary to overcome many adversaries for this to be possible. We have made many new friends, retained many old friends, and learned a lot about the pros and cons of publishing a newspaper. We have been rewarded for our service through the faith and dedication of our read ership and our advertiser. We give thanks by saying if we pleased you in 1990, we promise to excite you in 1991! To our old friends, we thank you for your faith; to our new friends we thank you for your hope; and to everyone we thank you for your charity. God Bless, The P ortlan d O bserver sta ff Goldschmidt Dedicates P.C.C.'s N/NE Skills Center PAGE 7 News Religion Locker Room News Business Entertainment News Classifieds Bids/Sub Bids ’ about your early years in the N ation- you had a very close relationship with Mal colm. Farrakhan: It was a very close relation ship, at least from my vantage point. And I think Malcolm even spoke of our relation ship in his autobiography, dial I was closer _______________________ to him than his own brothers. When I gavew up show business I was really suffering in New York, working days, trying to be honest and doing the odd jobs that I never was trained for, getting very little pay and having a growing family. I thought maybe I would do better in my hometown. So I went back to Boston and worked undet Malcolm and became the captain over the men and then minister of the mosque under relationship with him. He was the father I never had. He was the big brother I never had. He was the friend I really never had. He taught me a lot. But when Malcolm X broke from the Nation o f Islam after making the pilgrimage to Mecca and discovering that what he considered to be true Islam was in direct conflict with the teachings o f Elijah Muhammad, his closest friends in the Nation o f Islam turned against him. Louis Farrakhan was among them. Writing inthe December 4, 1964 edition o f the Muslim newspaper Muhammad Speaks, Louis X wrote: ' ‘Only those who wish to be led to hell, or to their doom, will follow Malcolm. The die is set and Malcolm shall not escape, especially after such foolish talk about his benefactor [Elijah Muhammad] in trying to rob him o f the divine glory which Allah has bestowed upon him. Such a man as Malcolm is worthy o f Free Thanksgiving Dinners Help Needy Business P rofile Louis Boston By C. Brow n HE death-and would have met with death if it had not been fo r Muhammad's confidence in Allah fo r victory over the enemies.” On February 21,1965, less than three months later, Malcolm X was gunned down as he addressed a rally in the Audubon Ball room in Harlem. Three Black Muslims were later convicted and given life sentences for plying Malcolm's body with 16 rounds o f ammunition. Farrakhan was never linked to the shooting. Emerge: You’ve said that when Mal colm first broke away from the Nation, a lot of people were really hurt by that. In fact, I think you admitted at one point yourself that perhaps you were using strong language in denouncing him for breaking away from the Nation. Farrakhan paused fo r 35 seconds. Tears welled up, and he tried to hold them back by closing his eyes. Still they came, slowly dripping down his cheeks as he rubbed his eyes with each forefinger. He opened his eyes gently and then broke the silence in a deliberate, barely audible voice. F arrak h an : No one knows the pain of the Muslims who loved Malcolm, who came to Islam as a result of his great preaching, who loved the Honorable Elijah Muhammad because Malcolm taught us so well of him. But to see Malcolm tum on this teacher-we were hurt, and that hurt manifested itself in an anger toward him. That brought great pain, pain that die Nation has not overcome, particularly those of us who loved him purely and were not en vious of his greatness. I was his student, but I loved him because I thought he loved the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. When he broke from the Nation I was trying to encourage him to stay. But he had his mind made up. I guess he wanted me to go with him, but I could not go with a student of the teacher. My loyalty for Malcolm was a result of his loy alty to the teacher. But when he broke his loyalty to the teacher then I, like many Muslims, was put in the painful position of children who have to see parents get a divorce. I had to make a decision as to where my loyalty would be, and it was no problem: My loyalty was with the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. But the pain that it created. And then to see Malcolm lose his life as a result of that, and to see the atmosphere created when which is currendy under renovation, is located at 739 N. Killingsworth. PCC operates the center in coopera tion with the Northeast Workforce Cen ter, the Private Industry Council and the State Employment Division. The North east Workforce Center, a companion program operated by the Neighborhood Coalition, also will be located at the Fragmeier Building. The Workforce Center will provide assessment, referral and counseling services. The program also provides basic education and general education diploma Classes as wellaslifeskillsclasses which include money and stress management topics. Funding for the two organizations is $1.8 million for the first year. The skills Center is supported with cash and in- kind contributions from PCC, as well as $600,000 from Governor Goldschmidt’s Workforce 2000 program and a $100,000 contract from the Private Industry Coun cil. Primary funding, including both cash and in-kind contributions, comes from Portland Community College. haron A. Vickers recently was elected Region V Representative to the National Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. Ms. Vickers is the first Af rican American to sit on the Executive Board of the only national organization of sign language interpreters for the deaf in its twenty-five year history. The R.I.D. has over 3300 members in the United States and Canada. Region V is the largest geographical area in the or ganization, covering nine states and one Canadian province. Sharon has worked in the field of deafness for over 15 years; is currently Program Chairperson for the Columbia Regional Program for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired, and is one of approximately ten fully certified Af rican American sign language interpret ers in the United States. She is also involved in various civil rights organi zations such as the Black Professional Network, Klanwatch, Tri-County Serv ice Center for the Deaf and Hearing Im paired, and the National Black Deaf Ad vocates. Sharon is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas R. Vickers. Christmas Bazaar Fights Crime f hristian Women Against Crime are holding a fundraiser for at- risk students tutorial services, suspended, expelled and transitional students from the Portland Public School System. The general public is welcome. The bazaar is on December 1 at 120 N.E. Ivy from 10:00a.m. - 5:00p.m. and features holiday decorations, toys, clothes, Christmas gifts, as well as a variety of baked goods. Seattle Bank Funds Portland Housing Program wo new affordable housing pro grams providing 56 units of lower- income housing in the Portland area were awarded funding today under the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle’s (FHLB) Affordable Housing Program, announced Bank President James R. Faulstich. These programs will be funded through Security Pacific Savings Bank and Washington Federal Savings Bank, both FHLB member institutions, and developed through local nonprofit hous ing developers and government agen cies. The funded programs are a mini mum rent lease purchase program for 21 low-income families which will be fi nanced through Washington Federal Savings Bank, Hillsboro, OR and the development of the Barbara Mayer Building which will provide 32 units of permanent housing for homeless single women in Pordand. The Barbara Mayer program is being financed through Se curity Pacific Savings Bank, Seattle, Washington. Through the Affordable Housing Program, FHLB member financial insti- tutionscan borrow funds from the FHLB at below-market rates or receive direct subsidies, and then loan the monies to housing developers and community organizations for homeownership and rental housing programs targeted to lower- income families. The Affordable Hous ing Program was introduced by the FHLB this year. The minimum rent lease purchase program will be funded through Wash ington Federal Savings Bank and ad ministered by the Housing Authority of Washington County. This program involves relocting and rehabilitating 21 single-family homes donated by the Washington County Department of Land Use and Transportation. The homes will be leased to low-income renters, who will receive homeownership and financial counseling to enable them to purchase their homes within three to five years. The Barbara Mayer Building will be developed by Burnside Projects, a Portland-based nonprofit organization. Burnside Projects will rehabilitate a vacant apartment building in an inner-city Port land neighborhood to provide 32 single rooms of housing for homeless women. The Barbara Mayer building will be part of a model alcohol/drug-free program in which the building is managed by a tenant council of individuals who have successfully completed substance abuse rehabilitation. Other funding sources for this program include the Housing Authority of Portland and the Portland Development Commission. The FHLB sets aside five percent of its net income each year, rising to 10 percent in 1995, to subsidize interest rates on loans advanced under the A f fordable Housing Program. During 1990, the FHLB provided $4.1 million in in terest rate subsidies through 33 separate housing programs in Washington, Ore gon, and Montana. "Housing affordability, housing for the homeless, and community invest ment are among the most pressing issues facing our nation today,” said Faul stich. "Through the Affordable Hous ing Program, we provide a flexible form of financing to support civic-minded institutions, such as Washington Fed eral Savings Bank and Security Pacific Savings Bank, in their efforts to address the housing needs of their communi ties.”