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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 1992)
«4 * « » t Page 12. ..T h e Portland Observer ...February 19, 1992 Northwest Afrikan American Ballet Company To Perform At The University of Portland The Northwest A frikan American B allet Company w ill perform at 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23, in the Earle A. Chiles Center at the U niversity o f Portland. The 16-member group is one o f the oldest traditional A frican dance com panies on the West Coast. Their appearance is the feature at traction o f the annual Black History “ C ultural Fest” at the University. The dancers perform original cho reography inspired by the native dances o f Senegal, Gambia, M ali and Guinea, West A frica , accompanied by musi cians playing A frican instruments. The company last visited Portland in 1990 perform ing before 3,600 people at the 1990 Artquake. They have also enter tained at the Arlene Schnitzcr Concert H all and the Seattle Center A u dito rium . Lead d ru m m e r B ru ce S m ith founded the group 10 years ago after he visited West Africa. Smith has since returned to that continent to immerse him self in the study o f traditional West African drum and dance methods. Smith was form erly w ith the rhythm and bl ues band Pleasure. Ray Leary, executive vice presi dent o f Self Enhancement, Inc., w ill serve as emcee for the event benefilting the U niversity o f Portland Association o f A frican American Students. Vocal ist Traci Harris w ill also perform prior to the ballet. Harris sang the national anthem at the Portland T ra il Blazers opening game this year. She has also performed for the Seattle Seahawks at the Kingdome and fo r the “ C alifornia Raisins” television commercials. Tickets are S8.50 general admis sion, available at T icket Master outlets. Could Black History Repeat Itself In 1992? Black History Month is "that time o f year, again" to consider the increas ing importance o f Blacks demographi- cally and economically, says Dr. Samuel L. Myers, Sr., president o f the National Association for Equal Opportunity in H igherEducation(NAFEO ). Theasso- c union is composed o f the presidents o f the nation's 117 H istorically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Despite the impressive array o f bibliographic courses on Black H is tory, views about the subject d iffe r sharply. Dr. Myers states in the Febru ary issue o f Black Excellence maga zin e , p u b lis h e d by NAFEO . "Afrocentrists condemn Eurocentrists for the overemphasis on the Western experience o f Blacks (and) the monoto nous recital o f the horrors o f slavery leaves Blacks demoralized and em bit te re d ," he e m phasized in the publication's lead editorial. But, "E x to llin g the remarkable achievements o f the Black Pharaohs o f Egypt, the early universities in A frica or possible the original A frican to who all human beings trace their genetic o rigin s, leaves Blacks proud," the scholar adds. "Theirs is a rich heritage that predates Europe and America". W ith this ancient background, Dr. Myers focuses on eleven historical is sues s till impacting on modern Blacks in Am erica as we approach the close o f the 20th Century. One o f these most important issues is the current Ayers versus Mabus case, now before the United States Supreme Court. (P lain t i f f Jake Ayers filed suit against form er Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus to de mand that the state provide facilities for the m ajority o f black students at Jack- son State University equal to higher education programs at historically all- white University o f M ississippi in O x ford where now "Separatist" James Meredith first "integrated" law classes in 1961. In the legal brief, filed in response to the p e titio n o f A y e rs et a ll, "M ississippi, though adm itting historic underfunding o f higher education o f Blacks, argues that the state is not re quired constitutionally to take any re medial action now that Blacks are free tochoose any university," Myers writes. The Ayers side argues that segre gation o f Blacks-rooted in h is to ry - c o n tin u e s and there sh o u ld be "unfettered choice" o f all students to attend any University in the state. Set ting a test score for admission to the predominantly W hite university above that which most Black students achieve effectively (as a result o f continued racial disadvantages) excludes them from admission to the University o f M ississippi (and) "they do not have unfettered choice", according to Dr. Myers. "Underfunding historically black colleges makes them less attractive to Black and W hite students who other wise would prefer them and thus "fet ters their choice," the N AFEO presi dent concludes. On behalf o f the HBCUs, NAFEO engaged Prof. J. Clay Smith, a Howard U niversity Law Professor to submit an amicus b rie f supporting Ayers, and the Black College presidents "w orking out o f the necessity behind the scenes", m obilized support o f for the case heard before the Supreme Court last Novem ber. "W e should know the outcome in June, "said M yers in referring to a pos sible court action the may become as h is to ric as the o rig in a l Plessy vs Ferguson "Separate but Equal" deci sion about a hundred years ago in 1896. "Since Blacks arc unique, in con trast to other m inorities, in arguing before the Supreme Court for remedies based on past legally prescribed segre gation, every student should be conver sant w ith this history" says Myers. This month, especially, he suggests that all students become conversant w ith ten other "Black H istory" issues, ranging from the "C olonial Codes" prohibiting the education o f Blacks before 1789 to the 1954 Supreme C ourt decision strik ing down the "Separate but Equal" Doctrine in elementary and secondary education. Could History repeat itself in 1992? BLACK ICE (V in ta g e ) Sat. February 22 (Grove Weidenfeld) Portland Observer encourages our readers to write letters to die editor in response to any articles we publish. P L E A S E JO IN US FO R T H E S E F R E E E V E N T S P o w e ll's B oo ks 1005 W est B u rn sid e P o rtla n d Cultural Training to Celebrate African American History The C hildren’ s Services D ivision and One Church, One C hild are com bining forces to take a “ cultural jo u r ney” through history. Story teller Askari, and the So journer Truth Dance Theatre w ill enter tain and educate CSD caseworkers, fos ter parents and community business leaders on M onday, February 24 th, from nine o ’ c lo c k a.m. to noon at the Maranatha Church, 4222 N.E. 12th Street in Portland. They w ill take participants on a cultural enrichment journey that w ill explore the secret language o f slaves, the function o f language in the African American C om m unity, and the rich ness o f A frican American Culture. The training is also a chance to inform the public about the importance o f providing racially and culturally com patible foster and adoptive homes fo r African American children. There are currently 29 African American c h il dren available fo r adoption in the Port •» land area. Join us fo r an exciting and inform a tive morning as Askari and Company share their culture through dance, song and stories. Black History Month At OSU f February is Black History Month and Oregon State U niversity (OSU) is sponsoring a fu ll calendar o f events organized by the Black Student Asso ciation. Speakers, panel discussions, workshops and musical entertainment w ill portray the black experience. A frican American literature was the focus fo r the second week o f Febru ary. Joy Cross highlighted the week w ith her talk on “ A xio lo g y: D efining The Value Systems o f the W o rld ,” on Wednesday, February 12. Saturday, February 15, Linda Christiansen held a workshop entitled, “ W riting in Your Home Language.” A week-long tribute to Lonnie B. Harris began Sunday, February 16. Events w ill culminate w ith a dinner on Saturday, Feb. 22, featuring Dr. D. Tukufu as the speaker. Sponsored by Kappa Alpha Psi, the dinner w ill be held at 6 p.m. in the M em orial Union, Room 109. A frican American music is the theme for the last week in February. “ An Evening o f Legendary Jazz” w ill be presented by Jerrell Waddell on Monday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. in the M em o rial Union Lounge. On Friday, Feb. 28, the Northwest A frikan American Bal let w ill perform w ith “ Balafon” at 7 p.m. at the LaSells Stewart Center. For more information call O SU ’ s United Black Student Association at 737-2101. ¡v iliz a tio n s c o m e and go, o fte n le a v in g th e ir a rt as th e o n ly re co rd o f th e ir a c c o m p lis h m e n ts . It has been sa id th a t a n a tio n th a t d o e s n 't express its e lf in a rt is a c o n tra d ic tio n in te rm s ; lik e a person w ith o u t a p e rs o n a lity . A n a tio n , lik e a p e rso n , m u s t id e n tify w ith its p a s t as w ell as its fu tu re . I U.S.A. 1 V -’ ’L nr,- . -t
