* * *•**•* ♦ v ♦ » < * <■•» <•< <• ^ « < • w < t •* « « #• ^ ’«■ w• V • ww-0 * • * ♦ <• W Volumn XXII, Number 1 •• WW ' ♦ < r 4 « - < f * > < « * r * * * * 9 * 4 • ♦ < e*e ♦'w * I M r » . 'r ' ' d 7 c e S i U n iv e rs ity - E u g e n e , 0<® 0 The Eyes and Ears of the Community” -v < -i **w <*< >< S c h O * n -N e w » P * P « O re g o n L ib r 37403 ®If£ ¡JJrrrtíattit (©írscrlier 250 Time To Celebrate African-American Roots During this holiday, December 26 thru Junuary 1, tens o f millions of African- Americans will honor those who have gone before, the living presence o f a people, and those who will follow. Seven evenings o f beautiful, solemn or festive celebrations will see nationwide gatherings o f Black people to honor their faith, strength and determination to secure a viable future against all odds. The Kwanzaa holiday was founded in 1966 by Dr. M ulana Ron Karenga, a renowned African-American professor o f Black History. The structure, includ­ ing homage, feasts, fashions, decorations, icons and an African M arket-place, is in the fashion o f ancient and contemporary African agricultural celebrations o f harvest and thanksgiving. These eons-old traditions antedate all other o f m an­ kind’s recognition o f value systems and spirituality. Given the steadily increasing participation o f community leaders and organi­ zations, it is expected that this year’s Kwanzaa celebration will be the most suc­ cessful and meaningful to date. There will be lectures and panel discussions which will exam ine the many issues critical to the well being o f the com m unity and its residents. And there will be speakers whose expertise and responsibilities will As I stated earlier, this series was form ulated in sort o f a national arena, given that I solicited opinions from across the country (by mail or fax) and also sought a num ber o f local view ­ points. H ow ever, I have been most influenced in the structural sense by the opinion o f a man I m et many years ago in W ashington, D.C. while he was re­ cruiting students for the Atlanta U ni­ versity “ Dual Degree Program ” (Sci­ ence & Humanities). Now president o f one o f the “ Traditional Black C olleges,” he sug­ gested that a short series o f this type would be most useful as a report on the general dynam ics and directions o f the current lead ersh ip -th an would be an attem pt to adequately analyze either individual orgainzations or perform ­ ances within such a constricted fram e­ work. “ If you plan on functioning in your com m unity in any meaningful lend credence to their analyses. The festival nature of Kwanzaa will reveal itself in the incomparable panorama o f African food, music, dance and drumming, when a magnificent African Bazzar will be set up for shoppers-and the day for Karami, the Big Feast. If one sees symbols and icons which might suggest that Dr. Karenga has invented a religion, that is not the case at all. These who have read Professor McKinley B urt’s column “ Perspectives” for the past four years will immediately appreciate that W estern Civilization has-from the Greeks on w a rd -a l ways turned toward Africa and the African for its spiritual sustenance, as well as the other facets o f culture, and for its techology. But as the great cycle o f an eternal world has been turning through its western phase o f wars, pestilence, slavery, racism, atomic bombs and an alleged “ conquest o f space,” we note a parallel and trau­ matic alienation o f mankind as he has been wrenched from his spiritual roots. W ho can sing a spiritual, really? This pitiful mindset has been best expressed this century through the voices o f those who have been labeled the “ Existentialist Philosophers” (Sarte-Hei- degger, et al) who, spiritually bankrupt, gave the cry, “ God is dead!” It is not strange that this sad state o f affairs coincided with the arrogant revisionist program to reject all things African in the historic literature and even the Bibles o f the world. Under the aegis o f the new Neanderthals, the wooly-headed patriarches and law-givers of the Judeo-Christian Bibles and literature have become pale, souless narrators o f events now described as “ folklore.” Ironically, at the very same tim e the most renown o f modem scientists ran into an absolute dead end trying to follow Einstein into a universe o f relativity and quantum theory. They now say that “ in the beginning” there was a Big Bank wherein the universe was created instantaneously from a void which cannot be comprehended by the human mind. This is exactly what the Africans said 6,000 years earlier: “ Spirit moved on the face of the primitive N u - “ I (God) created m yself out of nothing. ’ ’ How fortunate we are that our forefathers wrote in stone and upon papyrus-still to be found in Ethiopia, Nubiaa and Egypt and Egypt, and displayed in Muslims throughout the world. There is still hope. Leadership, Then And Now; Conclusion manner other than a w writer [and I dol. do], riter land you d o n ’t w ant to spend the next year trying to respond to a angry, neglected or suspicious co n stitu en cy .” W ell put, my man. Several weeks ago I cited several early, quite successful black entrepre­ neurs ( “ T hen” ), com m enting on how much they were able to accom plish without television-nationw ide organi­ zation, marketing and distribution. Now, there are number o f magazines pub­ lished by African A m ericans that are directed toward inspiring and support­ ing black business. As valuable as the how-to-do-it articles are, the documented “ success” stories can have even more o f an im pact (see “ Black Enterprise- Emerge-Dollars A nd Sense” ). New leaders in the field o f com m erce are coming on strong. From these journals we learn that several black entrepreneurs seem to have ï Perspectives Nostalgia: One More Once! ■■ m astered n not o t just iu s t t the h e large la r a e scale « r a le super­ «m w . m arket concept but also chain distribu­ tion at the level o f several dozen stores. This was to be expected som e years ago except for the racist constraints o f fi­ nancing and/or securing satisfactory lease­ holds. For years (as in Portland), blacks have held m anagerial jobs in this field and others but have been restricted to producing wealth for others-r/ie new plantation! O n the othe side o f the coin we see a failure in leadership that is hard to ex­ plain. From my clippings o f articles in the black press around the country (and as you’ve seen on television), in some urban centers blacks are marching and picketing against an “ in vasion o f Asian- owned small stores.” Many blacks (fi­ nally) are becom ing as incredulous as “ Tony B row n” that in cities like New York where African Americans have BILLIONS in buying power, you would a News I Reebok Human Rights Award Shines Light On Haitian Refugees In South Florida And Children Of War In Mozambique by McKinley Burt h a lawyers v and activists e ____ __ have black scream- ing on the sidewalk instead o f SETTING UP A STORE A W EEK. How long before their counterparts will be m arch­ ing here. I do n ’t think more college edu­ cation will help, do you? O ther areas o f business are showing the same escalation o f will and purpose. In Iowa we havea black man who formed a small group to purchase several hundred miles o f railroad that the Union Pacific was abandoning. Developing new con­ cepts o f personal and innovative serv­ ices for farmers and distributors he is making quite a success o f the venture. W omen are showing a significant in­ crease in both professional and m er­ chandising fields—this fact is extremely im portant, considering the disintegra­ tion o f the jo b m arket W hile in Portland we have several blacks now who have perceived the opportunities and necessity for larger- Page 2 ___ •_ ■ housing _____ scale developm ent (within the federal framework), there is nothing here like the privately owned, African Ameri­ can owned projects in the south (No one seems to have noticed that even Russia is giving up collectives and going for the gold). W ithout capital in a capitalis­ tic w orld—and the choices and opportu­ nities that come with it-y o u will be either a slave or a serf no matter w hat the policiticans or activists tell you. (Note that sixty years ago Portland blacks were developing m ultiple housing). A recurrent com m entary on leader­ ship and organizations is about a failure to issue timely and accurate financial reports. This is com ing from all areas and black citizens are asking “ are they lazy, incompetent, or is it just C O N ­ TEM PT?” And again from the grass­ roots people who write in to the black newspapers; “ W hat is the use o f send- Sports Religion Blazers Looking Forward To 1992 An Antidote For ‘Church Tasting’ by BUI Barber by Michael Lindsey P age 2 P age 2 Page3 EDITORIAL NEWS SPORTS RELIGION 2 ENTERTAINMENT 2 2 3 4 • A I • « • • * \ blacks in the east and south are chal­ lenging both industry and state envi­ ronmental agencies over the trend of dumping the nations trash (including medical waste) in counties that are predominately African American. The African nations rebelled years ago against the shipments from Europe and A m er­ ica. It is noted, too, that in many parts o f the country blacks have brought a new perspective to the problem of gangs and unreachable youth. You may have s en on “ PB S ” the innovative program in Texas that recognizes ju st how ener­ getic, intelligent and adventurous teen­ agers are. There has been 5% recidi­ vism in a program that puts 100 youths on the road at the time in caravans of mule-drawn w agons in the mode (and uniforms) o f the fabled black cavalry. They cook, horseshoe, repair, go to class and earn a stipend. There is hope. ear * CLASSIFIEDS