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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 ” .
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