, age 2—1 he Portland Observer***February 27, 1991
African-Americans In The Persian Gulf
No one w e.com es the onset o f war,
ut w ith the failure o f diplom atic ef-
torts and the clear will o f the w orld's
nations to roll back aggression, war is
now upon us. U nder the circum stances,
w e hope for a w ar that ends as quickly
as possible, with m inim um casualties
on all sides.
A s in all o f A m erica's past wars,
A frican A m ericans take a major role in
defending o u r n atio n ’s interests. The
black presence in the G ulf w ar extends
from the C hairm an o f the Joint Chiefs
o f Staff to alm ost a third of the foot
soldiers in the desert.
Even as African A m ericans take
pride in our importance to the nation’s
military el torts, we look to America to
get on with the long overdue task of
solving its domestic inequities.
As A merica asks African Ameri­
cans to put their lives on the line in the
Gulf, African Americans ask America
to finally com m it its will and resources
to end racial disadvantage in our na­
tion.
Our nation cannot expect African
Americans to risk their lives in the
desert only to return home to suffer dis­
advantage and discrim ination. A m er­
ica's moral banner in the G ulf is cred­
ible only insofar as it lives up to its
democratic and egalitarian ideals. We
urge a nation willing to go to war for its
principles to make the equivalent effort
to end the inequality that subverts those
same principles at home.
Juvenile Denials Increase over 1989
O regon ’ s courts ordered m ore than
2,000 driver license denials for youths
betw een the ages o f 13 and 17 during
1990, according to the M otor Vehicles
Division. This figure is 25 percent higher
than 1989.
T he 2,031 denials were based on
court convictions or determ inations
involving alcohol or drug possession,
use o r abuse. A fter such convictions,
courts order DM V to suspend licenses
or deny the privilege to apply for a
license or perm it. Driving privileges
may be denied even when the offenses
are not related to driving a motor ve­
hicle.
There were 1,694 denials for pos­
session o f alcohol or drugs. This ac­
counted for nearly 84 percent o f the
total. O f the rem ainder, six denials
were for having an open container of
alcohol or drinking in a motor vehicle;
261 were for intoxication for driving
under the influence of intoxicants (DUU);
and 70 were for m iscellaneous alcohol
and drug offenses such as theft, deliv­
ery or manufacturing o f a controlled
substance. Males accounted for 1,460
o f the denials, or 72 p ercen t
Under the law, first offenders are
denied licenses for one year or until the
person becomes 17, whichever is longer.
Repeat offenders are suspended or denied
licenses for one year or until the person
becom es 18, whichever is longer. DMV
statistics show that 296 were second
d e n ia ls, 61 were third denials, 15 were
fourth denials, four were fifth denials,
and one was a sixth denial.
The New Prohibition
In recent years, o u r nation’s dom i­
nan t health concerns have been AIDS
and the spread o f drugs like cocaine,
heroine and m arijuana. Yet, added
together, they still don’t equal the deaths
o r costs to society o f alcohol. Alcohol
abuse and dependence cost our country
S I 36.3 billion last year. Nearly half of
traffic deaths are alcohol-related. Almost
18 m illion Am ericans are alcohol abus­
ers. Should alcohol becom e the focus
o f the “ w ar on d ru g s” ?
The O regon legislature is consid­
erin g requiring alcohol servers to post
sign warning pregnant women o f alco­
h o l’s dangers; another bill would ban
drinking on boats. Blitz Weinhard Brew­
ery wants Oregon to require alcohol
content on beer labels. O thers oppose
the sponsorship o f events by alcohol
brewers, and believe alcohol ads should
be restricted for the same reasons we
lim it ads for cigarettes. Baseball great
Don Newcombe urges abstinence not
only for teens but adults as well.
Is it going too far to urge total pro­
hibition? Are some people better off
NEVER drinking, because they’re ge-
netically predisposed to becoming al­
coholics? Do penalties for alcohol-re­
lated crimes reflect the true cost o f this
drug? Do we need m ore-or less-regula-
tion o f alcohol? W hat do YOU think?
Join Jack Faust and his guests for this
timely debate on Sunday, March 10th
from 6-7 p.m. For seat reservations,
please call Frank Mungeam, Alison
Highberger or Liza McQuade at 231-
4620. Guests should arrive at KATU
studios (21st & NE Sandy Blvd) be­
tween 5:00-5:15 p.m. the public is
welcome, but reservations are required.
Black History Month Flash Back
R ic h a rd A llen, a Christian gentleman,
General Electric, and the American Bell
was bom a slave, February 14, 1760,
Telephone. He also invented the Egg-
and died in 1831, after having chal­ H atchery incubator.
lenged and revolutionized the religious
D r. D aniel H ale W illiam s, in Chicago,
philosophy of America. Richard Allen
Illinois, at Provident Hospital, performed
was the first black consecrated bishop
the first successful suture on the human
on A m erican soil. He is founder o f the
h e a rt
African M ethodist Episcopal Church.
M aggie L. W a lk e r was A m erica’s first
M a rtin L u th e r K ing. .Ir.. in 1963,
black woman banker. She was presi­
said, W e have waited for more than 340
dent o f the St. Luke Penny Savings
years for our Constitutional and God-
Bank in Virginia. That bank later be­
given rights. The nations o f Asia and
cam e the S t Luke Bank and Trust
Africa are moving in jet-like speed toward
Company.
the goal o f political independence, and
M ad a m e C..I, W a lk e r was the first
we creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward
black woman m illionaire in America.
the gaining o f a cup o f coffeee at a lunch
She was a cosm etic manufacturer.
counter. I guess it is easy for those who
N o rm an R illieux. in 1845, invented a
have never felt the stinging darts of
refinery process. His vacuum evaporat­
segregation to say “ w ait.”
ing pan, used to refine sugar, became
G ranville T, W oods is credited with
the backbone o f the nation’s sugar in­
having fifty patents recorded in the U.S.
dustry.
Patent Office. His patents for transm it­
G a r r e tt M organ is the inventor o f the
ting m essages between m oving trains
gas mask.
w ere purchased by W estinghouse,
E lijah M cC oy invented the drip cup,
used for automatically lubricating
(USPS 959-680)
OREGON'S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN PUBLICATION
Established in 1970
Alfred L. Henderson
Publisher
Joyce Washington
Operations Manager
Gary Ann Garnett
Business Manager
Leon Harris
Editorial Manager
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The Portland Observer- Oregon's Oldest African-American Publication - is a member
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ing Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc., New York, NY.
moving machinery parts. The term “ the
real McCoy” originally referred to Elijah
McCoy and his invention.
Benjamin Banneker built the first Ameri­
can clock. Also, he laid out the full
survey of W ashington, D.C., from his
precise memory o f the Frenchm an’s
blueprints that were taken or sent back
to Paris. Banneker was a noted astrono­
mer, linguist and mathematician.
G w endolyn B rooks, a poet, was the
first black Pulitzer Prize winner. When
Carl Sandburg died, Brooks was named
Illinois Poet Laureate to succeed him in
1968.
D r. C h a rles R, D rew developed the
first large-scale method for separating
plasm a from red blood cells. This al­
lowed blood to be typed, and refriger­
ated for future use. Today, this is called
a blood bank.
M atthew A lexander H enson was a
m ember of the Peary Mission in 1909.
He was sent ahead o f the main party by
45 minutes, which allow s him the credit
o f being the first person to reach the
North Pole on the Arctic C ontinent
Lewis Howa r d L a tim e r invented the
electric light bulb. In 1881, he invented
and owned the patent to the first incan­
descent electic light bulb, complete with
a carbon filam ent
■Ian E. M atzeliger invented the first
shoe-making machine. He patented his
machine in 1883.
C la ra B row n was one o f the pioneers
who helped to establish the State of
Colorado. She was the first black resi­
dent o f that state.
R osa P ark s, in 1955, with her arrest for
refusing to give up her bus seat to a
white man, sparked a movement that
engaged the U.S.A. This act gave rise to
a M artin Luther King, Jr., leadership in
the Civil Rights Movement. Mrs. Parks
has rightly been labeled “ Mother o f the
Civil Rights M ovem ent.”
F re d e ric k D ouglass was an abolition­
ist and a prom inent orator and educator.
He was the first black to officially call
on President Abraham Lincoln in 1863.
In 1889, he was appointed U.S. Ambas­
sador to Haiti.
T hurgtm d M arsh all was trained by the
brilliant Charles H. Houston, Dean of
the Howard University law School.
Attorney Marshall, Supreme Court
Justice, is the first black to be appointed
to the nation’s highest court. He was a
very successful attorney for the NAACP.
Mr. Marshall represented the plaintiff
in “ Brown Versus the Board o f Educa­
tion o f Topeka, K ansas,” a landmark
desegration case of 1954.
H a rrie t T ub m an , the famous conduc­
tor of ihe Underground Railroad, brought
a great many slaves, including mem­
bers o f her family, to safety and free­
dom.
I
I
' !
e
A History Lesson For Bush: The Gulf,
Quinine & Sickle Cells
by Professor M cKinley Burt
for itself (Henry Hobhouse,*Seeds of
W ar 1. In gratitude, the Birtish govern­
C hange’, N.Y., H arper & R o w ,1987).
I am particularly disturbed by
ment promised a National Home For
the frequent excursions o f our president
The Jews In Palestine (Balfour Decla­ This tight (250 pp.) comprehensive
into rather suspect versions o f history;
survey of the incalculable misery in­
ration). Following on we have not only
such as stating “ how ironic it is that
flicted by Europeans upon people of
the seeds o f today’s ARAB-ISRAELI
Iraq, here on the ‘Persan G ulf,’ was
color throughout the world with the
CONFRONTATIONS, but a contrived
THE CRADLE OF C IV IL IZ A T IO N ".
CASH CROP EN SLA V EM EN T is a
base for British exploitation of the VAST
W hat is ironic is that the “ leader of the
OIL RESERVES OF THE MIDDLE
must for your library (Quinine, Sugar,
free world ” is a victim o f establishm ent
Tea, Cotton and Potato). I wish the
EAST.
INVENTORS O F HISTORY.
author had added OIL A N D DESERT
The early discovery (17th
A lm ost 3000 years ago, the
STORM to his account.
century) of quinines’ curative powers
Greeks identified Africa, “ The Black
led directly to the world-wide disloca­
The latest thinking on antima-
L and” Ethiopis.Sudan and Egypt--as
tions o f colonized races. Over-popula­
larial therapy brings us full circle back
the birthplace o f culture and technol­
tion and mass starvation quickly fol­
to the seventeenth century. Negroes
ogy (Plato and Herodotus, among oth­
lowed the harnessing o f Asian millions
suffer from a type o f anem ia known as
ers). Several weeks ago, I documented
to ‘cash crop plantations’. Swampy, fe­
the sickle-cell condition, which pre­
here that the lands now known as Iraq
ver-infested lands which previously pro­
vents them from having m alaria al­
and Iran were identified by the ancients
duced a marginal supply o f subsistence
though they may act as carriers.
as adjacent to the "E thiopian Sea” .
crops, and where disease kept the popu­
In 1684 a Portuguese writer in
This name reflects their firsthand knowl­
lation in check, were now converted to
Brazil recommended a cure for syphi­
edge of the inhabitants and the fact that
cash crop plantations. The m ass impor­
lis; “ Buy a virgin black girl off a ship,
at least 1400 years before Christ, these
tation o f the m alaria-curing chinchona
and lie with her for a month, and the
lands were subjugated and / or adm ini­
bark kept the laborers alive to produce
cure will be effected.” A piece of
stered by African Kings. People who
tea/ice,rubber,etc. The miseries con­
cruel, self-indulgent nonsense, the moden
INVENT CIV ILIZA TIO N do not have
tinue today, particularly in India
reader will no doubt say. But he or she
toIM PO RT teachers, physicians, archi­
(Bangladesh,Srilanka). The establish­
would be wrong. Between 1920 and
tects, craftsm en, scribes, etc., or build
ment speaks only o f the” ills of the
1950, when the first effective antibiot­
with dried mud.
caste system ” .
ics became available, the cure for terti­
Early on I gained a quantum
Though their resistance to ma­
ary syphilis was, surprisingly enough,
leap in my research upon discovering
laria had not yet been related to the
induced malaria. If a man had bought a
that a study o f the major plants and food
genetic complement of SICKLE CELLS,
black girl in 1684, and she had been a
crops of the world led to new and star­
Africans were soon caught up in this
virgin (and therefore free from venereal
tling insights into the ‘real’ truths un­
savage quest for riches. They were
disease), he would have acquired ma­
derlying the ills o f our “ globalvillage” .
enslaved by the tens o f millions and
laria from her which would have cured
I began with -c o tto n ” , obviously) but
taken to the rice plantations in the fe-
his syphilis. But there is never aught for
soon became fascinated with the his­
verridden west Indies. Soon they were
nought in this world. The girl would in
tory o f QUININE!
provided a new holocaust in North
return have been infected with syphilis,
O riginally, extracted from the
Am erica, the cotton fields of Dixie. As
and unless he had som e quinine at hand,
bark o f the Cinchona tree, laboratory
late as the 1950s, the FBI was rescuing
the man might have died o f malaria.
Synthesis o f this com pound for treating
black and white victims from the new
The advice o f that Portuguese
MALARIA produced the first “ miracle
form o f this involuntary servitude,
writer was good as for as it went. He did
drug” . (Rem em ber the movie, - D r
SHARE CROPPING. Some British
not mention either m alaria or quinine.
Erlichs Magic B ullet” ?). The 1891
corporations were still involved, be­
Only now do we know why the cure
discovery was o f an aniline dye, m eth­
hind American and South African fronts
might have worked. And the great
ylene blue, used to trace the malarial
(several senators owned plantations).
question remained in 1684; How do
parasite in the bloodstream o f a German
Mr. President, I would draw
you cure syphilis in a Negro who can’t
Sailor.
your attention to the fact that the same
get m alaria?” p.28
But the twisted, convoluted
Dr Ehrlich also invented Salvarsan, a
So, I bet you thought you were
story of characters and events has scarcely
“ magic bullet” for the treatment of
taught history in school. Many histori­
begun. In this century we find that
Syphilis. Like tuberculosis, and the
ans and academ ics learned early on that
further developm ent o f the aniline dyes
lately endemic AIDS, these diseases
to invent history it is not necessary to
from coal tars led to the nurturing of a
were not to be found in the lands of
publish FALSE IN FO R M A T IO N -and
young Jew ish c h e m ist, C haim
A frica,A sia and the New W orld-not
be found out a liar. The same results are
W eizmann, who used the same technol­
wntil the ’cash crop’ human vectors of
easily obtained simply by the O M IS­
ogy to invent a process which the Brit­
these plagues brought them to those
SIO N O FTR U TH ! “ O h w hat a tangled
ish USED TO make the millions o f tons
shores form Europe.
web we weave when first we try to
of explosives that won victory in W orld
The following quotation speaks
dcceivc"(Sir W alter Scott).
BPN First Friday Networking After work:
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Reinvestments
Community
African Image Challenged
Z>y Professor McKinley Burt
My introduction to history began in the second grade and it was in the
form o f a little poem that went something like this . . .
Christopher Columbus Sailed The Ocean Blue Discovered America
In 1492”
Of course, it never happened that way.
The only thing that Columbus discovered
was that tool-making Africans had landed
in the New World many centuries earlier.
His detailed reports to Queen Isabella of
Spain describe how the metal arrowheads
sent back to the assayers proved to be of the
exact same alloy as used by the peoples on
the west coast of Africa. See Ivan Van
Sertima's book. They Came Before Co­
lumbus (Mr. Van Sertima, a Black Rutgers
University Professor, is a consultant to
Portland Public Schools, and a world-rec­
ognized authority on the early presence of
Blacks in the Americas). It was the Norwe­
gian explorer, Thor Heyerdahl (Kon Tiki.
1950) who conclusively demonstrated that
it was easily possible to traverse the broad
expanses of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
in the simple balsa and reed boats used
throughout history by peoples of African
descent.
Given the conventional omission of
these accomplishments from standard texts,
what then, Is history. Is it simply a compen­
dium of dammable lies concocted by an
allegedly superior master race, with the
intent of maintaining an ethnic and cultural
oneupmanship? Is it a finely-tuned cultural
device to justify the horrors of slavery and
colonialism? Is history simply a manipulat­
ive tool for shaping the political and social
infrastructure of Third World Countries to
a format which permits a continuation of
centuries-old economic exploitation? Is
history the current scheme foV denying
identity and self-esteem to African-Ameri­
cans in a society where Image is every­
I
thing? H istory is any and all of these things.
So who is it so blind and so naive to ask,
w h at Is the need fo r Black H istory?
In direct relevancy, it most immedi­
ately comes to mind that there is in this
world a most monstrous travesty of a na­
tion, South Africa, whose white (enfran­
chised) citizens still claim to have taken
over an "unoccupied" land. Anyone who
has read the well-documented book by Black
historian. Walter Rodney (How Europe
Underdeveloped Africa, Howard Univer­
sity Press, 1982) will well understand why
in the preceding paragraph I have sug­
gested the real intent of establishment ver­
sions of history. The fact of the matter is
that the African owners of the land have left
an 8,000 year old archaelogical record of
their occupancy, including vegetation-
covered buildings and mining and smelting
operations. Even more to the exploitative
point we have this Associated Press report
of January 17, 1987:
Minerals exempted
"TenSoulhAfrican-producedstra-
legic minerals, have been ruled exempt
from the U.S. import ban under the anti-
apartheid sanctions law because they
were essential to the U S. economy or
defense, a State Department official said
Friday.
Another official said five compa­
nies had been removedfrom a list o f 1 44
South African companies that are being
boycotted by Ihe United Stales.
Among the minerals that can be im­
ported are andalusite; antimony:
chrysolite asbestos; chromium, includ­
ing ferromanganese and ferrosilicoman-
ganese; platinum group metals; rutile,
including titanium-bearing slag; and
vanadium.”
This, of course, is in addition to the
trillions in gold and diamonds produced by
slave labor to date.
For years there has been a valiant effort
on the part of African-Americans to regain
and authenticate their history-with only
partial success. An illustration is the fol­
lowing excerpt from an article appearing in
the Portland Observer, January 4, 1984. In
th 1970s there was a revolt on the part of the
Black scholars in this white (African) or­
ganization, scholars whose disgust and
resentment of the standard perversions and
omissions by the authorities prompted them
to withdraw and set up their own African
Studies organization. This development in
no way implied that the problem had been
solved-anyone than one Affirmative Ac­
tion appointment of a single Black signifies
that there is equality of opportunity in a
given industry. Less than one-tenth of one
percent of the membership of this African
studies organization was (is) Black.
African image challenged
"To many Americans, the mention o f
Africa conjures up a land o f wild beasts,
darkjungles, half-naked natives and tyrant
leaders-w hat some refer to as the 'Dark
Continent:
"What Z would like to do is try to
transform the negative image o f Af­
r ic a ” he says. "If Africa is not re­
spected, thenBlackpeople are not going
to be respected.”
by Henry Duvall
"Reinvestments in the Community" is a weekly column appearinq
in API publications throughout the USA.
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