/ B I acl< ' W , ’ i* 0 / Oyr C6 r , e 9 o ° O * 0 Z ° * / ^ ^© Ai z. 0 L, M usic Month V . •• nw r m P O R T L fl Volume XXI, Number 24 ERVER "The Eyes and Ears o f The Community" 25<P June 12,1991 Touch Of Elegance Heights Students Win chool” Video Contest Sunday School. T h is fa ll she w ill enter U n iv e rs ity o f Oregon and m ajor in b io lo g y . A fte r co m p le tin g m edical school, D cbnam w ill be a pe d iatricia n . Shabazz-Adam s, the daughter o f W a lk e d Shabazz and N obie H ill, is a 1991 graduate o f The C a tlin Gabel School. W h ile in hig h school, Shazz- A dam s was a tra ilb la ze r fo r A fric a n - A m e rica n wom en at C a tlin Gabel. In 1990, Shabazz-Adams was elected Andrea Dionne Debnam Rukaiyah Naieemah Shabazz-Adams Civil Rights Journal Racism In U.S. student body president, the firs t A f r i can-A m erican fem ale to h o ld that o f fice. She is also co -fo u n d e r and vice- president o f Sisters G a ining E q u a lity through E xcellence and was selected princess o f O re g o n ’s firs t A fric a n - A m e rica n fe stiva l. She w ill attend C arleton C ollege in N o rth fie ld , M N H e a lth Care b y B e n ja m in F. and m a jo r in Physics o r E ducation A d m in istra tio n . Chavis, Jr. W arren, the daughter o f E m m ett and E loise W arren, is a 1991 graduate o f Benson H ig h School. A t Benson, PAGE 2 W arren exercised her leadership where she founded the sch o o l’ s S p irit C lu b and served as president. A talented graphic artist, W arren was e d ito r o f the Perspectives Parents Have to Think (and act) Positive by Professor McKinley Burt PAGE 2 African-American Festival Northwest Gospel Jubilee PAGE 3 The Locker Room PAGE 4 200th Anniversary of The BUI of Rights sports and freshm en sections o f the 1988 yearbook. She was also selected Vincent Lamar Watson Janet Marie Warren Les Femmes has chosen 22 high school seniors to be presented in th e ir 40th A n n u a l Debutante and C a v a lie r B a ll, “ A T o u ch O f E legance.” D edicated to im p ro v in g the live s o f A fric a n -A m e ric a n youth, w h ile pre Center. Femmes and the Portland Observer have introduced the 1991 debutantes and cavaliers. T h is week meet the rem ain ing fo u r-A n d re a D ionne Debnam , p a rin g them fo r life a fte r high school is one goal o f Les Femmes. The Portland based organization o f w om en has de veloped a s tric t code o f ethics and r ig orous c u rric u lu m fo r the young people to fo llo w . R ukaiyah Naieemah Shabazz-Adams, Janet M arie Warren and Vincent Lamar W atson. Debnam , the daughter o f Chad and M a u ria Debnam , is a 1991 graduate o f S l M a ry ’ s A cadem y. W h ile in high T o rew ard the p articipants fo r fo l lo w in g the ethics code and c u rric u lu m , each senior who demonstrates academic school, Debnam was elected to the F o r seven consecutive weeks Les success and service to the co m m u n ity w ill be honored in the fo rm a l b a ll on Sunday, June 23 at 8 pm in the G rand student body E xe cu tive c o u n cil w h ile being active in the A fric a n -A m e ric a n clu b , French C lu b , M arians and E in ste in ’ s R e la tiv e s -a science club. Debnam is a m em ber o f St. P h illip the B a llro o m o f the O regon C on ve ntio n Deacon C hurch where she teaches as the 1991 C raftsm an o f the Year. W arren w ill attend the A rt In stitu te o f Seattle to enhance her art s k ills . H er goal is to ow n an a dvertising agency. W atson, the son o f C lara L a fa y ette, is a 1991 graduate o f Benson H ig h School. Watson moved to Portland from Texarkana, Texas in his ju n io r year. W h ile at Benson, W atson lettered in fo o tb a ll and track. T h is year W atson was selected as an alternate fo r the Shriners N o rth A ll-S ta r team. He also Student video participant, Ebony Sloan, says, “Stay in school no matter what people say. " Michael Grice, Advisor for Portland Public Schools Youth Council STORY & PHOTOS BY DEAN CAMARDA fo r the a ffa ir was M ich a e l G rice , a d v i sor fo r the P ortland P u b lic Schools Y o u th C o u n cil. H e th in ks it is v ita l to School s p irit, sm ilin g faces and happy feet were in abundanceTuesday m o rn in g , June 11, at G regory H eights M id d le S chool. The occasion was to ac know ledge them as the w inners o f the “ C ool School’ ’ video contest sponsored by F o o t L o cke r and K -S w iss shoes. The contest, open to a ll eighteen m id d le schools in the P ortland d is tric t, was created to encourage students to w o rk together as a team to com m unicate to the p u b lic and to one another the im p o r tance o f staying in school. U sin g a creative m ix o f rap, dance and acting, the tw e n ty -fiv e p a rticip a tin g students produced a vid e o that w on new athletic shoes fo r the entire student body, teach ers and staff. w on g o ld and s ilv e r medals fo r the m ile and 4 0 0 meter relays at the Oregon 4 A track and fie ld meet. W atson attends A cco rd in g to Sean Sloan, one o f the student p a rticip a n ts, p ro d u cin g the A n tio c h B a p tist C hurch. H e w ill play fo o tb a ll and study business adm inistra tion at P ortland State U n iv e rs ity in the portant; “ I t ’ s good to stay in school, vid e o was fu n and the message is im reach lads before they are in high school, because by then i t ’ s o fte n too late to help. G rice says, “ The reason w h y th is co rp o ra te -p u b lic school co lla b o ra tio n was such a success, was that it helped the kid s to m ake a sta y-in -sch o ol mes sage rather than us adults try in g to co n vin ce them to stay in school. W e th in k i t ’ s ve ry im p o rta n t to fin d ways to help m ore kid s stay in s c h o o l-if i t helps ten kid s do that, I th in k i t ’ s w o rth i t . ” The students should be proud o f them selves. T h e y earned the rewards o f th e ir earnest e ffo rts . The ideas that w e n t in to o rg a n izin g the vid e o were e n tire ly th e ir o w n , and they w orked together to produce a cle a r and potent message to th e ir peers. I f there was any dou b t about the aim o f the video, it was summed up succinctly by student, Odrick S m ith , w h o says in the video, “ D rin k , there’ s re a lly n o th in g fo r you to do drugs, gangs and vio le n ce are things that should be avoided b y a ll youth. except the w rong things. ” A ls o on hand W ise up, stay in sch o o l.” because i f yo u go o u t in to the street PAGES Black Music Month 15,000 Black Jews Return Home; Wings Over Ethiopia, Part II BY PROFESSOR MCKINLEY BURT PAGE 7 Last week when I began th is ac Urban League Holds Annual Community Dinner ■■■ Si. »... Ì;' ,, ■ (..Ài. count o f the 3,400 year round trip o f E thiopian Jews to th e ir hom eland in Israel, I had no idea h ow m any o f o u r readers w o u ld not o n ly express a gen eral interest in the s u b je c t-b u t w o u ld make an im m ediate connection to the black fem ale used by the French in th e ir PAGE 8 original design fo r Am erica’s “ S TA T U E O F L IB E R T Y ” (see M a y 22 ed itio n o f the Observer, back page). T hat is the reason fo r m y choice o f one o f the scores o f B L A C K M A D O N N AS fo r this week's illustration. In many o f E urope's cathedrals and museums we fin d paintings, statues and other INDEX News Religion The Locker Room Entertainment News Black Music Month News Careers Classifieds Classifieds/Bids Class. /Bids/Sub-bids Bids/Sub-bids 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Black Madonna (Virgin Mary): Her portraits and statues are found in cathedrals and museums all over Europe. This was oannoiois mooei for the STATUE O F LIBERTY. re lig io u s icons that p o rtra y the M o th e r o f C h rist as an A fric a n fem ale. T h is is a concept derived d ire c tly fro m the B ib li cal description o f the actors w ho took young French sculptor, B a rth o ld i, o f an A fric a n m odel to celebrate the * ‘ E m an W O M A N IS T H E M O T H E R O F U S A L L .” cip a tio n o f the B la ck slaves in A m e r ica” . France was a predominately Catho lic co u n try and the statue o f L ib e rty Father Fernandez, a C a th o lic m is sionary w h o worked am ong the ‘ C h ris tia n ’ E thiopians in the 16th century was o rig in a lly a “ B la ck M adonna” . T he A fric a n presence in the B ib le transcends both the O ld Testam ent o f the Hebrews and the N ew Testam ent o f a d e ve lop in g theology. A n d i t tran scends the geographical separations o f E th io p ia , Palestine, B a b ylo n , Kush (A ra b ia F e lix ); E g y p t and W est A fric a . B ut, co n siste n tly, the tra d itio n s and the lite ra tu re (re lig io u s and secular) re fle ct a “ R esurrection T hem e” based upon a m o th e r o f co lo r, as often as not a v irg in , and w h o gave b irth to a w o o le y-h a ire d c h ild . The w o rsh ip o f a bla ck w om an as the m o th e r o f the human race goes back to d im a n tiq u ity . part in the "R e su rre ctio n P la y” , and w hich was in stitu tio n a lize d by the 'es A n d now , scientists (p a le o b io lo - g ists) report a fte r exam ination o f m an’ s tablishm ent ch u rch ’ . There should be little w onder, then, at the choice o f the genes th roughout the w o rld , that “ L U C Y , A N A N C IE N T E T H IO P IA N said, “ They d epict th e ir Gods and he roes bla ck, and th e ir d e v ils and v illa in s w h ite . T hey p a in t C h rist, the Blessed V ir g in and other saints in b la ck fo rm ; and devils and w icked men, white. Thus C h ris t and his apostles are b lack and Judas, w h ite . Annas, Caiphas, P ilate, H e ro d and the Jews are w h ite , w h ile M ich a e l is black, and the D e v il, w h ite ’ ’ (J A . Rogers, 100 Amazing Facts, p.100). N o w then, a very d is tu rb in g ques tio n arises about that h e a v ily traveled route between Israel and E th io p ia - in b oth d ire ctio n s. Last w eek I m entioned s o lic itin g op in io n s about th is sudden “ E th io p ia n A ir li f t C a p e r” and several replies are in , in clu d in g reader specula tio n . M a n y , in c lu d in g m y s e lf, are say in g , “ W a it a m inute, h o ld the p h o n e ” . om pegt i