. - i n c a * S c h o e n - N e w s p a f i p r t y o f O re g o n L ib r O re g o n U ni • * » H < 97403 ÖfovER PORTL Volum n X X I, Num ber 39 25<P September 25,1991 "The Eyes and Ears o f The Community" Reverend Cecil Williams “ Walks the Walk” and “ Talks that Talk” to Assist Addicts T he R everend Cecil Williams is a national leader in the fight against the abuse of crack cocaine and the empowerment of the African-American family. I n 1990, Rev. Williams also Co-Chaired the second national conference to focus on “The Black Family/Community & Crack Cocaine- Prevention, Intervention, Treatment and Recovery.” Subtitled “The Rebirth Of A Race,” almost 2,000 attended from across the country. The first conference presented in 1989 was subtitled, “ The Death Of A Race.” M any concepts presented at these conferences are the results of the daily search to indentify and deal with addiction in people’s lives at San Francisco’s Glide Memorial United Methodist Church. Glide Church, in 1991, is one of the fastest growing Methodist Churches in America. Its growth is derived from the emphasis by Williams in cultivating a diversified congregation. From all economic levels, the congregation if forty percent African-American, forty percent white and tweniy percent include Asians, Hispanic and newly arrived Southeastern refugees. "New Suspension System Eliminates Bounce and Sway" PAGE 2 "Mt. Olivet Baptist Church to Relocate" by Mattie Anne Callier-Spears "Discrimination In The Church!" by Michael Lindsey PAGE 4 1 "Black Frats: A Strong Institution" by Ullysses Tucker, Jr. everend Williams has been the Minister of Liberation at Glide for over twenty six years. From that position he has been on the forefront of change, as a minister, a television personality, author, lecturer, community leader and spokesperson for the poor and those in recovery. In February, 1990 Williams began an experiment that may be come one of the most significant models in a war, not against drugs, but against addiction. Hundreds have joined a public/private coalition in conjunction with the residents and R PAGE 3 PAGE 5 Dimond Announces Candidacy for City Council Position Tourplay" PAGE 6 One Stop Record's Top 10 list PAGES Chuck Dimond News Religion Religion News Entertainment Classifieds Classifieds Classifieds Bids/Subbids 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 9 their Tenant’s Association to bring recovery to a San Francisco public housing project. Redefining the prob lem created by addiction, people are being empowered to again take control of their lives. Rated one of the most highly re spected public figures in the city, he consistendy stands with the poor, those addicted to drugs, the outcasts and the outsiders. He has transformed Glide Church into an urban center which powerfully advocates for poor people and those in recovery. Glide’s “ Facts On Crack’’ pro gram, is acknowledged as a leading From the steps of Portland’s Jus tice Center, Chuck Dimond has an nounced that he will be a candidate for Portland City Council, saying he be lieved voters wanted to tear down the “ business as usual banner” that flies over City Hall. “ W e’ve waited too long for gov ernment to answer the alarm bells. It’s time for the people to go to work,” Dimond said. Dimond released a position paper on community policing, the first in a senes on the issues of the 1992 cam paign and challenged other candidates to make public safety their first priorty. “ In the past year Portland families have buried a five-year-old and a 14- month-old child - both shot while in the heart of their own homes. The shots that claimed these children mortally wounded our claim to our community. The hard fact is, there is no community in the midst o f fear and violence. Be fore any voter listens to any idea from any candidate they ought to demand to know how that candidate will work to cure the fear and end the violence.” Dimond called for hiring 100 new police officers and the full implemen tation of community policing, said he would argue for a strong regional plan to manage growth and devote time and resources to the care and education of children. After the announcement, Dimond walked to City Hall and filed for the seat currently held by Dick Bogle. “ I believe the voters will choose to replace Dick Bogle in the next elec tion. They know he’s not up to the task. My full time job over the next eight months is to successfully make the case that I am .” Dimond, 45, spent 25 years cover ing politics and government in radio and television, from local school board meetings to national presidential con ventions. For the past two years, he served as assistant director for commu nications for the state Human Resources Department. He resigned August 16 to devote his full effort ot the campaign program in the country. Begun in March, 1988, the program confronts the rav ages of crack cocaine and works to find solutions for people’s lives. A “ Facts On Crack” brochure prepared by those in recovery has been distrib uted to over one hundred fifty thou sand people. Responding to requests from across the country, Rev. Williams created “ The Drama of Recovery,” a three day training workshop. This project has now been presented in over 15 cities from coast to coast and is creat ing a functional network of recovery. An adjunct of Glide’s substance abuse activity is an intern program for 50 students which will be implemented this year. Each day hundreds of people par ticipate in the many Glide programs specifically designed to allow them to confront the pain which is at the root of their addiction. From these programs has come a book written by the chil dren of San Francisco’s Tenderloin. “ I Have Something To Say About This Big Trouble,” has sold thousands of copies since its release in September, 1989. For the first time, children have been given the opportunity to tell their own story about how they experience the drug culture that surrounds their lives. “ Computers & You,” is the merg ing of hundreds of thousands of dollars of computer hardware and software, volunteers from the Bay Area’s com puter industry and the people of the Tenderloin. Opened at Glide in Janu ary, 1989, many of these people have been placed in jobs as a result of their training and students indicate improve ments in their school grades. Glide is the most comprehensive non-profit provider of human services in San Francisco with a food program serving approximately 3,300 meals each day. There is also a Children’s Pro gram, Crisis Center and a program to meet the specific needs of the poor, the homeless and single parent families. Under Williams’ direction, the Glide Goodlett AIDS Project provides edu cation, help and counsel to individuals who are HIV positive. Williams serves on the board of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Non-Violent Change in Atlanta, Geor gia and is Chair of the Northern Cali fornia Martin Luther King, Jr. Birth day Observance Committee which, each year, presents the alrgest holi day commemoration in the United States, outside of Atlanta. His commitment to human rights is unswerving. He joined Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Great March in Washington in 1963. He organized contingents from Northern California to commemorate the historic moment in 1983 and in 1988 in Washington, D.C. He stood with the Black Pan thers, played a significant role in the anti-war movement and was deeply involved in the Patty Hearst/SLAcase in which he was designated a media tor. Williams’ autobiography, “ I’m Alive,” is published by Harper and Row. He regularly is invited to sub mit articles for publications around the world. In February, 1990, his views on genocide in the Black community were published on the op-ed page of The New York Times. Each Sunday morning Williams “ walks that walk” and “ talks that talk” at the now famous Glide Sun day Celebration. Created in 1966, the Celebrations are an intense multi-media mixture of music, singing and speak ing, all without traditional religious symbolism and concentrating instead on contemporary issues. The Reverend Cecil Williams is one of the first African Americans to graduate from Southern Methodist Uni versity. He was bom in San Angelo, Texas. He is married to Janice Mirikitani and is the father to a son and a daughter. Crime and Punishment in America, Part I by P r o f e s s o r M c K in le y B u r t We cry and wring our hands, over whelmed by the media reports on the immorality and savagery in our com munities; but is there anything new about all this? We would not be the first to observe that “ WESTERN CIVILI ZATION IS FUNDAMENTALLY VIOLENT,” and always has been. The contemporary trauma of our culture is not some phenomenon that has arisen from some generic disability peculiar to this generation. Many of us, whatever the age group, arc reflecting that, “ It was rough out there in the ‘old days’ but nothing like this.” There is the wailing, “ We could safely walk to the store, sit on the porch, go out to the parking lot alone, or enjoy a public event without an apprehension of imminent danger. And we could have a difference of opinion with a neighbor (or even a stranger) and not anticipate a possible shootouL Or come home and find grandma stretched out cold with Jun ior long gone to the crack- house with her Social Se curity! eck.” However, we should not be so naive as to sup pose that the GRASS ROOTS people are the pri mary victims of ‘ ‘perpetra tors” in this heightening onslaught against our bod ies, property and sensibili ties. On Wall Street and in the banks, and saving and loans, the MBAs o f Harvard, Wharton and Y ale have raised the art of highway robbery to a level not seen since the turn of this century when the Morgans, Rockefellers and old man Kennedy recklessly pilaged the nation. And were admired and enshrined in what seems cyclic versions of the “ American Dream.” The “ new” phases are new in name only; “ junk bonds and lever aged buyouts.” With the aid of our so-called Crimi nal ‘ ‘Justice” System, we seek to arrest the headlong failure of a process in free fall. Few of the players (or public) seem to comprehend the meaning of that initial insight in our first paragraph here, that ‘ ‘western civilization is fude- mcntally violent. ’ ’ The failures to iden tify the problem and structure relevant goals remind me of nothing so much as that simplistic prescription offered by the playwrights Gilbert and Sullivan in their farcical little folk opera, “ The Mikado;” “ My object all sublime, I shall achieve in time. Let the punish ment fit the crime.” If there is a solution it must lie in the context of our experience and espe cially this is indicated for a black popu lation which, apparently, cannot rely upon the structure or empathy of the current social systems. Survival to date has depended upon intergroup dynam ics peculiar to the African American from slavery to die civil rights era -- and of course similar dynamics have sustained other hyphenated Americans in the so-called “ melting pot.” So, let us examine things in this particular ethnic light Of course there is nothing new here, whether one views things in ei ther a religious or a secular contexL For many of us the Bible provides our con cepts of justice, morality, fairness, legality and other codified prescrip tions for ethical relationships. And at the same time there are described ter rible times of complete breakdowns in law and order as a whole as well as in interpersonal relationships. Butalways these conditions are followed on by equally violent periods of ‘ ‘punishment for sins” leading to eventual redemp tion and restoration of righteousness. And the secular-minded are able to go back 2000 years further in history to find their models in African history -- continued on pngt; 7