February 12, 1992...The Portland Observer...Page 13 Heroes and Heroines Gone But Not Forgotten Black Cultural Affairs Board Presents an Evening with Nikki Giovanni Lorene Car Saturday, February 15,1992 Smith Memorial Center Ballroom 7:00pm p re s e n ts BLACK ICE (Vintage) . Sat. February 22 Nikki Giovanni is a black poet, best-selling author, and activist. Tickets are available at Portland State’s Ticket office, $7 General, $5 Students. A reception and book sign (Grove Weidenfeld) ing will follow at 9:00 pm in the Cascade Room. PLEASE JO IN US FOR THESE FREE EVENTS P o w e ll's Books 1005 W est B u rn s id e P o rtla n d Black History Month --“ Duke Ellington: In His Own Words” - NPR’s “ Horizons” Salutes In February, National Public R a dio (NPR) celebrates Black History Month with a four-part series "D uke Ellington: In His Own W ords," which airs on N PR ’s acclaim ed documentary program . Horizons. This special series features rare tape o f Ellington recalling some o f the important aspects o f his life and music. This is probably the first time radio listeners will have an oppor tunity to hear these exceptional inter views. (Check local public radio sta tions for broadcast times.) The Ellington tapes were drawn from interviews spanning the years 1955- 72. “ This is the real man giving us insight into parts o f his life w e’ve never known about,” said series producer Donna Limerick. In one interview, Ellington him self says, “ I spend most of my time listening to music, but I have big ears for a lot o f other things.” Included in the program are interviews from G erm any, Canada, the United States, Calcutta, Amsterdam, Denmark, and France. A substantial contributor to A m eri can music, Duke Ellington created four major musical styles-jungle style, mood style, concerto style, and standard style. Early in his career, Ellington was an innovator in using the jazz ensemble and was the first to use the “ voice as instrum ent” in his 1927 composition, “ Creole Love C all.” Known as the “ grand old m an” of big-band jazz, E llington exerted enormous influence upon the big-band style even into the 1970s. Ellington was the first jazz com poser to write ex tended, musically abstract compositions such as “ The Flaming Sw ord,” Beau tiful Indians,” ‘‘SepiaPanoram a,’’ and “ Mood Indigo.” But Ellington claimed, “ I don’t use the term ‘ja z z ’ because I d on’t believe in categories.” Many of Ellington’s larger workers, including “ Black, Brown and B eige,” “ Liberian Suite,” “ Harlem,” “ Deep South Suite,” and “ New W orld A -com in,” took their themes from black history. The Horizons programs arc as fol lows: - In the first program, “ Duke Elling ton: My Evolution,” Ellington rem i nisces about his early musical career and how he evolved into a great ban dleader. Ellington remembers his m usi cal mentors: Harlem jazz pianist James P. Johnson, W illie “ The L ion” Smith, and Thomas “ F ats” Waller. - In the second program, “ Duke Ellington: My Innovations,” Ellington reveals how he formed one of the most impressive bands of the 20th century and talks about how he composed popu lar hits like “ M ood Indigo,” Broadway musicals, the sacred concerts, and long orchestral suites. - In the third Horizons program, “ Duke Ellington: My T ravels,” Elling ton recalls his experiences with other musicians, people, and performances all over the world. - In the final part of the scries, “ Duke Ellington: My Im pressions,” Ellington shares his opinions about many issues, including racial conflict in America, myths about jazz musicians, the role of music critics, and the devel opment of new musical styles such as rock ‘n ’ roll. Host of Horizons is Vcrtamac Grosvenor; senior producer is Donna Limerick. Horizons is produced by NPR’s Division of News and Information. Funding for Horizons com es from NPR member stations nationwide. Resources Documenting Connections And Continuity Of Historical Identities In The Pacific West (Oregon, Utah, Washington & California) By J. M. Gates, MBA “ Independent Scholar Projects" (The Voice of Wç>rk) with research and interpretive history by Gates implemented 1977 - 1992 regarding 19th century and 20th century endeavors... c/o Circle Forum P.O. Box 176 Portland, OR 97207 For Best Results Advertise in the Observer Co-sponsored by Diversity Coordinating Committee and Women’s Union. For more information call BCAB at 725-5660. BY D. BELL In 1962, a young woman arrived in Portland from Long Island, New York who would have a pronounced effect on the community and the yet unrecog nized drug epidemic that followed in the succeeding years. Rosalie J. Boothe and her husband Tom came to Portland in the early 1960’s. A time long before it became popular to address the damaging ef fects o f alcohol and drug abuse. She also arrived with psychological scars that came from a direct experience w ith substance abuse in the lost of a father and brother to alcoholism. in an effort to reconcile these is sues she dedicated many years o f per sonal research and attended courses that were related to alcoholism and drug abuse. This culminated in the establishm ent of the House of Exodus. O ne o f the first com prehensive drug treatm ent centers to base in inner N/NE Portland. Mrs. Boothe came from a religious and supportive family, and earned a Bachelor’s degree in bacteriology. She was also an accom plished vocalist who sang at many churches, and with the Portland Opera during the sixties and seventies. After working numerous years with the Multnomah County Alcohol Rcovery Project, she opened the House o f Exo dus in 1976. Her husband Tom Boothe, a managem ent consultant, donated two houses at 5011 and 5027 NE 27th. The Boothes initiated this endeavor with their own personal assets. T heorginal program was soley geared toward out patients. The following year, Multnomah County funded a limited number of clients. In 1978, the county doubled their funding. This enabled the House o f Exodus to move to 15th and Killingsworth. Further demonstrated success in 1978, led to the County tripling their funding. The Federal D epartment of Labor also funded a youth com ponent By 1981, House of Exodus had expanded from 50 clients in it’s initial year to a program with 300 clients, which included a residential component, a youth com ponent, and a state wide referral system. Curiously enough, even though House o f Exodus was based in inner N/ NE Portland, 60% o f their clients were white. In an effort to meet the needs of their clients, many o f whom were indi gent, the program provided residual services, as in the matters of job referal for exam ple. A client m ight receive clothing, transportation, and even daycare. In February 1984, Mrs. Boothe succumbed to cancer. Reverend Ings the assistant Director was unable to continue the mission of the House of Exodus due to changes in personnel and the politics o f the the time. However, Mr. Tom Boothe contin ued to provide diagnostic evaluation, through public contracts and to private clients. Mrs. Rosalie J. Boothe was indeed a pioneer in the area of alcohol and drug abuse treatment. She dem onstrated both vision and caring in her efforts to deal with addiction, long before it became fashionable. She was truly a heroine in our own local community. Black History Month: A Time to Assist People of African Descent Everywhere BY WALTER E. FAUNTROY Retired M em ber of Congress and ANC Advisor on International Department, Finance and Trade. As we celebrate Black History Month, 1992 and honor the experience and achievements of black people in America; as we pause to chart a course for the continued survival and progress o f blacks in America, let us include in our celebrations, homage to the experi ences and achievements o f blacks in Africa and elsewhere in the diaspora. For example, we cannot let the month o f February pass without cele brating the dramatic release o f Nelson Mandela from prison, two years a g o - Fcbruary 11, 1990-after 27 years of confinement in South Africa for his uncompromising resistance to apart heid. The streets of American cities were flooded with those who shared in the ecstasy of black South Africans and who pledged their continued support to end apartheid and its tentacles. Mr. Mandela reminds us in a re cent letter which he sent to Congress man Dymally (D-CA, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa) in honor Black History M onth, that the struggle against apartheid is not yet over, and even when it is over, the struggle against the deprivations and inequities which are the legacy of apartheid will neces sarily continue for many years. For example, the lives o f millions of black South Africans hang in the balance as a result o f wretched and pervasive pov erty occasioned by the immoral South African system of apartheid. As a re sult o f this racially oppressive system, 81% o f black South Africans who live in the homelands live in abject pov erty, with no electricity, no plumbing, no tap water, diseased and m alnour ished. In Mr. M andela’s letter to Con gressman Dymally he cites some addi tional horrifying statistics about the plight of black South Africans: that median schooling for whites is 9.2 years but for blacks is only 2 years; that there A. Philip Randolph is one doctor for everv whites but only one doctor fix 9 blaek\ that average month? n i win'. - is $950 but for blacks o> z 190; that there is an im m ediate i r 2 m il lion homes to house th< .t *ho must now live in cardboard shacks or worse. Sharing our meager resources with our South African brothers and sisters is both noble and practical. Most o f the people reading this news story are probably substantially better off than the average South African black (re member: median schooling, 2 years; average monthly income $190). B e cause South African blacks are cur rently in the midst o f a major assault on the apartheid system, each dollar received now may well be worth much more to them than the same sum sent in a year from now. Assisting South Africans is a splendid way to celebrate Black History M onth, 1992. I, there fore, encourage you to "P ick Up Your Phone. Let our South African Brothers Know They A re Not A lo n e !'' Martin Luther King, Ji lack Labor History These excerpts are fro m M anning M arable’s book "H ow Capitalism Un derdeveloped Black Am erica, 1983." Marable is a professor o f history and economics at Purdue University and writes a column syndicated in 140 newspapers. Over twenty-five years has now passed since the major upheavals of Black workers, youth and students which was termed the Black Pow er and Civil Rights Movements. Black political militancy spread from streets and lunch counters to factory shops and produc tion lines across the country. Black unrest at the point o f production cre ated new and dynamic organizations: the League o f Revolutionary Black Workers in Detroit; the Black Panther Caucus at the Fremont, California General Motors plant; and the United Black Brotherhood in M ahwah, New Jersey. In the Deep South, civil rights activists from the Southern Christian Leadership Council helped to organize sanitation w orkers’ strikes in St. Pe tersburg, Florida, Atlanta, Georgia, and Memphis, Tennessee. Ralph D. Aber nathy, Hosea W illiams, Corctta Scott King and A. Philip Randolph supported the vigorous unionization efforts o f the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) in the Deep South. Abernathy, W il liams and Andrew Young were arrested in September, 1968, for nonviolently blocking the path of garbage trucks in Atlanta. On June 21, 1969, Abernathy and W illiams were arrested in C har leston, South Carolina, for supporting A FSCM E’s Local 1199 attempts to unionize hospital employees. By Sep tember, 1972, hundreds of Black trade unionists, led by AFSCME Secretary- Treasurer William Lucy and Cleveland Robinson, president of the Distributive W orkers o f America, created the C oali tion o f Black Trade Unionists in Chi cago. By its second annual convention, held in W ashington, D.C., May 25-27, 1973, 1,141 Black delegates represent ing 33 unions were in attendance; 35-40 percent were Black women. It cannot be overemphasized that the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements were fundamentally w ork ing class and poor people’s movements. From the very beginning, progressive unions were involved in the desegrega tion campaigns. The United Auto W ork ers, United Packinghouse W orkers, District 65, Local 1199 in New York City, and the Brotherhood o f Sleeping Car Porters all contributed funds to Martin Luther King Jr.’s Montgomery County bus boycott of 1955-56. And in rural areas o f the Black Belt, small independ ent Black farmers risked their fam ilies’ safety by opening their homes to free dom riders and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) work ers. Black farm workers, sharecroppers. service workers and semi-skilled op eratives were the great majority of those dedicated foot soldiers who challenged white hegemony at Selma’s Pettus Bridge and in the streets of Birmingham. SNCC understood well the importance of Black working class support for the Civil Rights Movement and thus recognized the need to develop an employment strategy for Blacks. Labor unions also understood the connection. In November, 1963, a num ber o f labor unions financed a conference at Howard University that brought dem ocratic socialists, trade union organizers and radical civil rights activists together. C ivil rights workers, Black and white, recognized by late 1964 that dem ands simply for desegre gating the South’s civil society lacked economic direction. In 1965 Jessie Morris, SN C C ’s field secretary in Mississippi, helped to establish the Poor People’s Corporation. Serving as its executive secretary, Morris funnelled financial aid for various labor projects initiated by poor Black workers. That same year, the Mississippi Freedom Labor Union (MFLU) was created by two Council o f Federated Organiza tions staff members. Historian Clay Carson relates that ‘‘within a few months, the MFLU attracted over a thousand members in several counties through its demands for a $1.25 an hour m ini mum wage, free medical care, social security, accident insurance, and equal ity for blacks in wages, em ploym ent opportunities, and working conditions.” MFLU relied upon the fund raising re sources of SNCC and “ by that fall had developed its ow n sources o f financial support.” As “ W e Shall O vercom e” gave ground to “ Black P ow er’’ in the mid-1960s, a wave of nationalist activ ism seized the new generation o f Black urban workers and students. M ilitant Black construction unions were formed, such as the Trade Union Local 124 in Detroit, and United Com m unity C o n struction Workers of Boston. Black steel workers at Sparrows Point, M aryland, formed the Shipyard W orkers for Job Equality, pressuring Bethlehem Steel to halt its policies o f hiring and prom o tion discrimination against Blacks. In most of the protest actions, there was the recognition that racism in the plants also undercut the “ econom ic status o f white workers.” For exam ple, when the United Black Brothers struck at M ahw ah's auto plant in A pril, 1969, they urged white w orkers to “ stay out and support us in this fight.” Submitted by Donna Hammond and Jam ie Partridge o f the A. Philip R a n dolph Institute. The Portland C hapter o f the A. Philip Randolph Institute meets the 2nd Thursday o f each m onth at 1125 S.E. Madison, Suite 103. F or in form ation, call 235-9444. G uests are welcome. (