Page 2 -T h e Portland Observer •••March 27, 1991
WHERE WE STAND
P E R S P ECT I
General Powell Remembers His Education
The Unwritten American Bargain
able of our culture and
graduated from M orris High
our values, to know
School on Boston Road in the
our history, we were
Bronx when I was 16. My par
equal to our contem ­
ents expected me to go to col-
lege-they expected me to do better poraries from any
school in the nation,
than they had done. And I valued my
and
for that I must
paren ts’ opinion so highly that there
thank
the institution-
w as no question in my mind. 1 was
the
teachers
and fac­
going to college. And where to go to
ulty
o
f
New
York-in-
college was not an issue either. 1 was
c lu d in g
P ublic
accepted at New York University and
Schools
20
and
39,
at the City College o f New York. But
Junior
High
School
52,
NYU cost $750 a year, and CCNY
an
d
M
o
rris
H
igh
cost $10-no contest of a poor boy
Schoo,.
from the South Bronx.
“ My story is not
I d id n ’t do exceptionally well at
very
different from the
C C N Y -or at least. I didn’t think so at
stories
of tens of thou­
the time, I passed with straight C ’s
sands
of
our CCNY
and graduated only because o f my su­
graduates
who re­
perior grades in ROTC, the reserve
ceived
the
benefits
of General Colin L. Powell, chairman of the Joint
O fficer Training Corps. It took me
Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Department of Defense.
a great, free public
four and one-half years, one summer
knowledge wherever, whenever, and
education. M ost of those people fit the
session and a change of academic
in whatever guise that fountain might
same
mold
I
did-kids
from
working-
m ajor-plus straight A ’s in ROTC,-
appear.
class
immigrant
families.
Their
parents
but I did graduate.
But looking more deeply, I be­
had dream s and am bitions for their
My CCNY graduating class went
lieve
there’s a more vital thing to be
children-if
not
always
the
means
to
off in a thousand and one directions,
learned.
It’s the obligation we all have
fulfill
those
dreams.
And
we
lived
in
a
as do all classes. Many people went
tc
keep
the
fountain flowing, now and
city
that
believed
in
its
obligation
to
the same way I did, into the Army.
for
future
generations.
The lesson is
educate
its
youth
and
to
be
the
dream
-
T he Army was exciting: It promised
not
simply
to
get
the
most
we possibly
maker
o
f
those
parents.
adventure, it was a way to serve and
can
out
o
f
every
one
education
we can
It
was
sort
of
an
unwritten
but
intu-
m ost of all it was a job. For me it
get
our
hands
on
and
never
stop
learn­
tively
understood
three-way
bargain:
a
turned out to be a maturing process
ing.
T
hat’s
very
important,
but
there
bargain
among
parents,
kids,
and
schools.
also.
is more. We must ensure there is always
The parents were aw are of it. The kids
Between the ages of 16 and 33,
a fountain to drink from and no ob­
w eren’t so much aware but just sensed
something happened to me because
stacles to drinking.
it
through
their
parents.
The
school
later, when I went to George W ash­
We must ensure there is always
strove to hold to it. Entire neighbor­
ington University and got my mas­
some sort o f bargain-a mutual prom ­
hoods were buoyed by it-how could
ter’s degree, I made an A in every
ise concerning education-among the
they not be? Education was the way up.
course except one, in which I made a
parents, schools, and children in our
Parents worked long hours, many
B. I believe the difference was a m at­
cities. This bargain is the single most
of them at menial tasks. The kids were
ter o f growing up, the sense o f re­
important building block in your fu­
often latchkey boys and girls. There
sponsibility the Army has given me, a
ture. It will determine what America
were so many “ m inorities” that none
few years of w ar and perhaps a wife
will be like in the 21st century. It will
o f us really thought o f ourselves as
and two children.
shape our future more dramatically
being in a m inority. An implicit trust in
Soon after entering the Army, I
than anything else we do.
“ the bargain “ and in one another,
discovered how important CCNY had
I believe it was Henry Adams
person to person and person to institu­
been. I was serving with W est Point­
who said that the purpose o f education
tion, was undefined but nonetheless
ers and with other ROTC graduates
is to increase the extent o f our igno­
powerful, strong and abiding. After all,
who had the benefit of having at­
rance. That sounds a bit crazy until
it was America. And A merica meant
tended some fairly prestigious uni­
you give it some long hard thought. If
progress. There simply was no disput­
versities. But I found out that the edu­
Adams was right, maybe that’s why
ing that-you could get a black eye if
cation my fellow ROTC cadets and 1
my teachers At CCNY and elsewhere
you tried.
had received at CCNY was a great
knew someday I would be sufficiently
Looking back, I guess if I had to
one, notwithstanding my own failure
ignorant to look back and thank them.
say what was the m ost important lesson
to drink as deeply from it as I might
And sufficiently ignorant to want to
I ever leamed-and that’s hard because
have. In terms o f our ability to write,
protect the imperfect but beautiful
there were several-my first inclination
to express ourselves, to reflect the
process that made me that w ay.”
would be to say it is the imperative to
skills and m ental disciplines o f a lib­
drink very deeply at the foundation of
eral arts ed u catio n , to be know ledge­
I
Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation
Launches Desert Storm Scholarship Fund
The 29-year-old M arine Corps.
Scholarship Foundation last week an­
nounced that it has established a col­
lege scholarship fund for the children
o f all Desert Storm casualties from the
A rm y, Navy, C oast G uard, A ir Force
and Marines. Donations received will
be used to set up a trust for children
w hose mothers and fathers have died or
are missing in action in the Gulf. The
trust will be set up through Fidelity
Investments. To date, 277 service people
have been killed in the deploym ent of
U.S. military forces in the G ulf region.
“ The establishm ent o f this fund is
our way o f assuring these youngsters
that A m erica appreciates the sacrifice
that their mothers and fathers have made
for their country.” says Fete Haas, former
M arine and president o f the Marine
Corps. Scholarship Fund.
The trust will purchase zero-cou­
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pon Treasury bonds that mature upon
each child’s graduation from high school.
A zero-coupon Treasury bond is a
government bond bought at a discount
o f the face value and redeemed at full
value at maturity.
Since 1962. over 4,400 one-year
scholarships totaling $6.5 million have
been awarded by the Foundation. In
addition to its annual scholarship awards
to the children o f M arines and former
M arines, the Marines Corps. Scholar­
ship foundation set up the Lebanon
fund after the bombing of the Marine
barracks in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983.
That fund granted 113 scholarships,
each in the am ount o f $10,000 to the
sons and daughters of Army, Navy and
M arine service people who died in the
bombing.
The Marine Corps. Scholarship
foundation was established in 1962 to
encourage financially needy and de­
serving children o f Marines and former
M arines to obtain a college or voca­
tional school education.
Contributions to the Desert Storm
Fund can be sent to:
Marine Corps. Scholarship Foun­
dation, Inc.
Desert Storm Fund
P.O. Box 3008
Princeton, NJ 08543-3008
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Senator McCoy
Invites Citizens
To Discuss
Concerns
Senator McCoy invites the resi­
dents and businesses in Senate District
8 (House Districts 17 and 18) to join
him to discuss issues that concern the
people of the District.
Come with questions, concerns and/
or solutions to issues that affect you.
Your Senator in Salem needs to hear
what is on your mind.
WHEN: Saturday, April 6, 1991.
TIME: 8 :0 0 - 10:30 a.m.
PLACE: 2205 N. Lombard Street
(Union Hall)
by Professor McKinley Burt
gins, “ Anacalypsis” ; G erald Massey,
“ Book o f the B eginnings"; Rashidi,
“ African Presence in Early A sia”
(Journal o f African Civilizations, Van
Sertima). Also see W.B. Dubois.
Blacks in Military:
Part II
In these accounts, as in the Field
Museum o f History, Chicago, you may
see the photographs, busts, religious
icons and other artifacts recovered from
the Indus V alley-bringing an incredu­
lous gasp as one views the African
(Negroid) features of gods, warriors,
and citizens from the ancient world
now shown side by side, “ G iant Olmec
Heads from Central A m erica (National
Geographic, 1986, e t c .) - ” Ancient
African Busts from G hana, W est A f­
rica (Journal of African Civilizations” —
and busts o f the ancient Indian God,
Buddha at the Angkor Temple (Rashidi,
African Presence in Early A sia).” You
will quickly see that ALL HAVE THE
VERY SAME AFRICAN HAIR-DO,
THICK NOSE AND LIPS, AND
ALM OND EYES; several with com
rows and all! O f course, your Bible
would tell you the same thing, “ THE
CUSHITES FROM THE EA ST” .
There is much, much more but not
room to tell it. But, finally this week let
us move several thousand years ahead
o f those African cultures in India to the
19th Dynasty in Egypt/Ethiopia, 1300-
1200 B.C. Here we speak o f two famed
African generals and administrators
whose exploits in that part o f the Middle
East bordering on today’s Persian G ulf
brought about a NEW W ORLD O R ­
DER in that era (see National G eo­
graphic M agazine for April). This is in
the time o f Moses!
The readers will have to forgive me
if I seem to skip around a bit on my
dates in this series. O bviously, it might
have been better to follow a straight
time line from the ancient world of
Africa and the Middle East Regions and
come up to present times. But, as luck
would have it, the famed African G en­
eral Hannibal was prominent in the
m e d ia -a s well as the fact that Napo-
“ leon was mentioned in some quarters as
having utilized that great African’s strate­
gies in his own campaign (implemented,
interestingly, by a host o f African gen­
erals).
Today, we revert again to antiq­
uity, beginning with an Asian region
and em pire which is quite well-docu­
mented to have flourished thousands of
years before Christ! We refer to INDIA
and the black cultures there which
reached such advanced heights long
before Egypt, Ethiopia and the S u d a n -
in fact, the Ganges River is named after
General Ganges of early Ethiopia who
led an African expedition back to India
to conquer maurauding tribes who had
invaded the birthplace o f his ancestors.
These facts and others are more
than adequately substantiated in reli­
able texts, in museums, and by ancient
Greek historians. See “ J.A. Rogers,
Sex and Race, Vol. I” , and his “ Nature
Knows No Color Line” , as well as his
“ 100 A m azing Facts A bout the
‘ ‘Sethos I (Seti I), to whom belongs
N egro” ...Anta Diop, “ The African
Origin o f Civilization” ; Godfrey H ig­
«
i o i n r n i ’ t 'n i o t n m h
in thp V a llp v n f
Effective Study Habits
The following lime m anagement
strategies can be used to improve your
study habits. Pick two or three to prac­
tice using. Once you’ve mastered those,
choose a couple more.
1. Study difficult or boring sub­
jects first! If a particular subject is hard
or puts you to sleep, tackle it first while
you are fresh.
2. Be aware of your best time o f
day! Many people learn best in the
daylight hours. Observe yourself to find
out if this is true for you. If it is,
schedule study time during the day. If
not, find out what time is best.
3. Use your waiting time effec­
tively! Ten minutes w aiting on a bus or
5 minutes between classes can add up.
Have short study tasks written on 3 x 5
cards, e.g. formulas or definitions, and
pull them out to study while waiting.
4. Use a regular study area! W hen
you use the same place to study, day
after day, your body and mind become
trained. It should help you focus your
concentrations m ore quickly.
5. D on’tgettoocom fortable! Easy
chairs, the bed, or a sofa are dangerous
places to study. If too com fortable,
your body may be getting the message
“ time to sleep” rather than ‘ time to
study.”
6. Avoid noise distractions! D on’t
study in front o f the TV. If you really
are certain you study better with music,
make sure you select a kind that doesn t
interfere with your concentration.
7. Avoid the phone! The tele­
phone is a perfect interrupter, you d on’ t
have to be a telephone victim. Just say,
“ I can’t talk. I’m studying.” It almost
always works!
M IL .,
.
- .X»
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PORTLANCFOBSERVER
Are • The • Proud • Sponsors • Of
Reinvestments
Community
TJrïïgs and the TrWhïtë TTeviP' Theory
By V ic k ie Huges
I recently read an article titled,
“ Drugs and the ’ W hite D e v il’ The­
o ry ” by Howard K urtz (W ashington
Post-1990). The article stated that many
blacks believe that w hite higher o f f i­
cials are a llow in g drugs to enter and
destroy our black com m unities. There
is no way that we can ever prove this
belief. It is true that drugs are being
brought into the country and are reach­
ing our black com m unities but we
cannot ignore the fact that the drugs
arc reaching other com m unities as
w ell. We are all aware o f the fact that
drugs have affected many people, not
ju s t blacks. There arc several statis­
tics to back up this fact.
I f whites were plotting to use
drugs as a way to elim inate and de­
stroy us, w hy would they allow so
many o f their ow n to get caught up in
the destruction? I ’m sure that they
can think o f better ways to destroy us
w ith ou t k illin g o f f their own. M any
o f us feel that whites own and control
this country. I f whites have that much
power over us, w o u ld n 't it be easier
for them to ship us to A frica i f they arc
thin kin g up ways to get rid o f us?
In my opinion, the Drugs and the
‘ W hite D e v il’ Theory is ridiculous.
T o sell, buy, or use drugs is a matter o f
personal choice. Y ou cither want to
get involved w ith drugs or you don’ L
I f drugs are w ith in reach, you can de­
cide to resist temptations o r accept it.
N o one can force you to do anything
you don’ t want to do.
I f we arc going to blame whites
the black drug dealers w ho are selling
drugs to those i i ou r black com m uni­
ties? A rc we going to say that whites
are m aking them do this? The true
issue here is choice, not power! As
referenced in Howard K u rtz ’ s article,
drugs are a m ajor problem in many
cities run by black p o litician s, w ith
black police, chiefs. I f, whites are
trying to destroy us, these prom inent,
black figures should be able to stop
them. A fte r a ll, they are in powerful
It is useless to try to put a ll o f the
blame on others. T h a i’s the easy way
out! W hy not redirect our thoughts to
the solutions o f the destruction o f our
neighborhoods rather titan the hy|X>lhc-
sized causes o f the problems. The ques­
tion should not be how did these drugs
get into our com m unities, but rather,
how do we as a people keep them out or
i f they get in to our com m unities what
can we do to help people resist them.
it w hile grow ing up, he/she m ay not be
successful in life w ithout the inner
m otivation to want to succeed. I do
believe that many o f m y peers w ho are
products o f "b la c k m iddle class” fa m i­
lies had it too easy. Parents o f these
children gave them everything. N o w ,
some o f these children have fallen by
the wayside because they never devel­
oped the m otivation to succeed on their
own. Things were handed to them on a
silver platter; they had it too easy. O n
the other hand. I ’ ve seen so many in d i­
viduals some out o f poor black com m u­
nities w ith inner m otivation and high
self-esteem who have gone on to be­
come bankers, plumbers, lawyers, elec­
tricians, doctors, janitors, educators (and
the list goes on). These in dividu als
developed the attitude that they wanted
to do better than their parents d id . They
wanted to get out o f the slumps they
were in because they did not want to
Although drugs have become a prob­
lem among all nationalities, le t’ s focus
on the lo w income black neighborhoods
for a moment. M any o f the people liv ­
ing in these neighborhoods have low
self-esteem, believe that they arc sup­
posed to stay poor, and decide to sell or
use drugs as the easy. w ay.out o f their
misery. We must unite as a people and
communicate to the poor black com ­
m unities that there are other ways, out,
other avenues to get out o f this predica­
ment.
I feel that the first step we must
take is to m otivate our people to want to
be the best that they can be. I grew up in
a black m iddle class fa m ily environ­
spend theirentire lives this way. So see,
there is hope fo r those in lo w income
black communities.
W e must teach our people how to
get a proper education, how to seek
avenues fo r financial aid, how to fin d a
good jo b , and how to feel good about
themselves. As my dad, who is an ele­
mentary school principal, once said,
“ Every child can learn. Hc/shc must
have the proper environm ent to do so.”
W c arc that environm ent! W c must do
what weean to foster learning and s e lf­
esteem. We must keep our people o f f
drugs, o f f wcl fare, out o f gangs, and o f f
the streets. It is up to us to help our
people. W c owe it to our com m unities.
Stop blam ing others fo r the destruction
o f our people and let's get busy!
■
ment. Some say that I had it easy. I feel
that no matter how "e a sy” a person has
for the drug problems in our commu-
nities, how arc we going to explain
"Reinvestments in the Community" is a weekly column appearing
in API publications throughout the USA.
’ Z • *
./■ A '
the Kings which com pletely dw arfs, as
do several others, the tiny but more
famous tomb o f Tutankham un, was a
great fighter in western Asia. He espe­
cially had to contend with the Hittite
Kingdom which was now seriously threat­
ening Egyptian interests in Palestine
and Syria. His son was the inevitable
Ramesses II, ruling from about 1290 to
1225 BC who left his unm istakable mark
all over Egypt. He was a grandiose
builder in his own right (the great Hy-
postyle Hall at Karnak and the tem ple o f
Abu Simbel are owed to him ), and even
where he did not build he often superim ­
posed his name upon existing m onu­
ments, usually cut indelibly deep and so
easily recognizable. He lived to a very
great age and is supposed to have fa­
thered multitudes of children; his mummy
is one of the best preserved in the Cairo
Museum. He fought the H ittites on and
off for twenty years, with a great battle
at Kadesh on the O rontes that he cele­
brated in a gigantic relief on one o f the
walls o f his mortuary tem ple on the
W est Bank at Thebes and upon other of
his constructions. (His, by the way, is
the fallen statue supposed to have in­
spired Shelley’s poem about Ozyman-
dias. King of Kings.) Finally Ram esses
II made peace with the Hittites and the
treaty is carved in hieroglyphs on a wall
in the Karnak temple. The treaty gives
northern Syria to the Hittites and Pales­
tine to the Egyptians and expresses a
fulsome regard for each other on the part
o f the two powers. Ram esses II married
a Hittite princess.”
Jordan, Paul, “ Egypt the Black
Land” , N.Y., Phadon-Oxford, 1976
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