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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 1991)
• ■ » ♦ * « r • w'»’V • » S • v ♦ ♦’» ♦ * ** • * ♦ »V ’ 9 9 »< ó ' F f * tW * -r r r > , » i October 2. 1991 “The Eyes and Ears of the Community“ Volumn XXI, Number 40 ®Ífe ^n rtín n ít (Dhvuruer Mysterious Fires Strike Jefferson High School BY OBSERVER STAFF busy arsonist has added to the woes of a local innercity high school right at the start of a critical school year. In the past week, firefighters, police and school au thorities have been kept busy fight ing and investigating six deliberate incendiary events. The volatile cir cumstances have been traumatic for pupils, teachers and parents alike. While the Portland School Dis trict has announced a ‘ ‘ Secret Plan to apprehend the perpetrators, our in terviews with some of those vitally concerned do not reflect a great deal of confidence in the process. What does impress all concerned, includ ing our staff, is the coming together of a community that is frustrated, angry and frightened. This hearten ing response has been emphasized on televised news reports, in the print Jefferson High School media, and is supported by our per While school opens as usual this sonal queries of students and teach week, students will not be allowed in ers. We all have been reassured by the building before first period (ex the appearance of scores of parents cept for the special 7:25 A.M. courses). and community activists who are This leads to several unfortunate cir monitoring the situation in the hall cumstances; first. ways and on the campus at large; we have a rather they are to be commended. disoriented con The situation is little different gregation of stu from that when an international ter dents outdoors rorist can singlehandedly place an and exposed to entire airport or other public facility under siege. The authorities report the vagaries of pfOCCSS Ht the weather-and that there are no “ solid leads,’’ though the interaction with drop-out-youths. they have invoked a “ combination Also, that first hour is often used to of standard investigative and surveil complete home work that should have lance practices.” This underlines been done the night before, and just, the value and necessity of the com generally, get oneself together for a munity support cited above. But, we round with the establishment. (You do cannot afford to ignore the conse remember, don’t you?) quences of the disruptive ordeal to The attitude of Jefferson’s princi which the educational process at Jef pal, Alcena Boozer, has been very posi- ferson is being subjected. A w Photo by Veronica Green five. She has praised both students, parents, fire officials and police for work, commitment and “ common sense.” These recent events have no doubt been an immense strain upon the cited support of this commu nity. It is not indicated how long the travail and attrition of the educa tional process will last at Jefferson High School. It is our further hope that we are not facing an extended series of “ copy cat” crimes and that the real and critical business of the institution can be got ten on with. It occurs, too, that this community support that has coalesced around the school can translate into an upscaled participation of parents 4 in the regularly scheduled school ac tivities that require their around-the- year support and commitment. We wish Jefferson the best-there may be another side to this coin. e cannot afford to ignore the consequences of the disruptive ordeal to which the educational Jefferson is being subjected." her, for all of this must have necessar ily distracted her from the primary mis sion of educating young people effec tively when the entire process is al ready under traumatic pressures of fi nance, ambiguous directives and ob jectives, and deserved or undeserved criticisms from every angle. It is our hope that she will continue to receive David Little to Run For City Council Citizens to elect David Little would like to annouce that on September 16, 1991 he filed to run for position 4 (Dick Bogle’s seat) on the Portland City Council. Little believes in citizen solutions and he is willing to work with you, the citizens of the city, in finding those solutions and putting them to work. An employment specialist for the State Employment Division, Little said his top priority will be involving citizens in city government “ No longer can we wait for someone to save us. It’s no city hall, the police department, the fire department or 911 that’s going to save our city ; it’s us, you and me, or dinary citizens working together for a better Portland.” Citizens interested in indentifying key issues in their com munity and developing solutions are encouraged to host a Citizen Solution Session by calling (503) 252-3292. David Little moved to Portland in 1984 after graduating from Oregon State University in Education. He has begun graduate work in pursuit of a masters in public administration de gree at Lewis & Clark College. Cur rently, Little serves as an elected offi cial, vice chairman of the Multnomah Ora Hart Fire Fundraising funds for Ora Hart’s family. The major On September twelfth, a fire was set ablaze in Ora Hart’s home by her six year old grandson. The blaze destroyed her entire bedroom, all of her clothing, shoes and many important documents. They, Ora and her husband, dis covered that their fire insurance had expired. So - the damages to the fam ily dwelling would go undone. Much sadness set-in. The Miriam Missionary Circle, of the Mount Olivet Baptist Church, has taken it upon themselves to host an “ ALL YOU CAN EAT SPAGHETTI DINNER” to assist in the raising of by B i l l B a r b e r H “ I didn’t really see myself excelling as being a gang member. I didn’t know anybody who really could,” he said. As a freshman at Wilson, Enyinwa devel oped a bad reputation. The self-pro claimed gang member was skipping classes and all but ruined his academic status. Wilson principal, Gene Valjean, remembers Enyinwa as “ a very intelli gent boy withgreatpotential, who didn’t have much success at Wilson.” Enyinwa freely admits his priorities centered around establishing the gang’s prominence; “ Taking no mess from nobody...we were about money ...money and weapons. What I saw in the gangs at the time” he continued, “ was status. It was a respect thing... maybe the wrong kind of respect. I got caught up in i t It was a ’do or die’ type of situation. ” “ Do or Die” - The front page of the daily newspaper confirms that sentiment all too often! “ I came down here (House of Umoja) one day to see how it ran. It was a nice facility. The people here seemed like they cared. I spent the night here. It seemed like...man if I could really change my life... what would I do? One of the workers here said ‘ ‘ Yourpretty good at hoop and I know the coach at Grant High School. Why don’t you let me hook you up?” I said, “ Yeah. I couldn ’ t really play last year because I had the image of being a gang member.” The basketball coach talked to the football coach. When Pierre decided to play football he didn’t get a free ride to become part of the team. He explains, “ 1 had to take back-up classes and make up work during the summer along with weight training and daily doubles. I figured it takes hard work to get where you want to be, especially if you’re as far back as I was.” Speaking of his new change in at titude after switching high schools, Eny inwa says ‘ ‘ At Grant, the group I started hanging with was the smarter bunch., the group that wanted to get things done. It’s hard to sec the big picture when your in high school,” he added. 0/7/ Barber, left, talks with House of Umoja resident Pierre Enyinwa,right, who excels off and on the basketball court Pierre sees college in his future. Right now computer course work would be his choice. He has increased his efforts in the classroom. This comes from the same kid who for years looked at grades as something he would concentrate on “ next year.” “ But now I’m a Junior,” he emphasizes “ 1 realize I don’t have —__ - ¿i___ i— ...................... ....................... Minorily Business Issue “Nintendo To The Rescue*' by McKinley Burt p e r s p e c tiv e s NEW S 0 3 NEW S 4 many more ’next year’s!’ ” When this reporter asked “ How did you get out of the gang?” Pierre re sponded, ’ ‘I was lucky. My older home boys told me gang banging is not al ways the only way out. They figured I was good at hoop so I should go to school and play hoop. They don’t stand * *.*** • continued on page 7 Governor Barbara Roberts’ Proclamation E N T E R T A IN M E N T 5 Page 13 R E L IG IO N 6 NEW S NEW S C L A S S IF IE D S S U B -B ID S 7 8 9 10 k * . r '• < ' ' » • •; .• •. - - < B ID S 11 - * •♦ * V * * * in your way if they see you’re true about what you really wanted to do... unless you got home boys that really don’t understand or care about you.” As far as anyone having anything nega tive to say about his leaving the gang scene and joining the House of Umoja, Pierre offers, “ House of Umoja has an image of people who go to jail, and get put in here as a consequence. It bugs me that people outside don’t understand a person is trying to change his life by coming here and looking for a better way. I don’t get down on anybody for not having the heart, or decency or the understanding to see what I’m trying to do. People that talk bad about me aren ’ t the people I center my life around.” Pierre has noticed that people re spond differently to him now. “ Yeah, some of the people I hang out with now at school were friends, but we could never hang out because I had no inter est in what they were doing. The people I used to hang out with aren’t doing the same thing I’m into now.” Teachers are responding to Pierre’s more positive attitude as well. “ They aren’t pushing the ’silent type’ thing anymore. It’s like everybody is trying to help me out.” Project Scholarship has recently taken an interest in Pi- i---------------- I X item will be to get a roof back on the house before bad weather sets in. The community is asked to take part in this great fundraising event by coming to the dinner on Oct. 12,1991 from 5-8 pm at 116 NE Schuyler Street, Mt. Olivet Church. Donations of $5 for adults and $2.50 for children are re quested. All persons who are unable to come, for whatever the reason but would like to give, may send your donation to: Mount Olivet Baptist Church c/o ORA HART FUND 116 NE Schuyler Street Portland, OR 97212 jf r f t Page 2 NEW S David Little Education Service District; and ap pointed by the mayor to serve as a Commissioner for the Housing Au thority of Portland. Little recently celebrated his tenth wedding anniver sary with his wife, Gloria Henderson- Little and three children; Bryan (5 yrs old), Diana (3yrs old), and Mychal (2 yrs old). BY MATTIE ANN CALLIER-SPEARS Former Gang Member’s Decision: Front Page or Sports Page ow do I get my name in the paper?” A young person asked the newsman. “ You either do something good or you do something bad. It is your decision,” was his simplistically profound reply. Pierre Enyinwa was running like an express train headed out of control toward the front page. Then one day he decided to visit with some friends and shoot some hoop at the House of Umoja. Enyinwa at 6'4" and 202 lbs. is a good- sized young man for 16 years old. His family moved from Nigeria to the United States when he was just a baby. It is doubtful he had any idea of the dramatic events that would unfold in his life when he moved to Portland in 1981. He got caught up in the gangs in his freshman and sophomore years of high school. One day he sat back to look at how his life was going. He decided it was not on the path he wanted to take. 250 ; ’ M B E S P E C IA L 12 13 14