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
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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.”