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Page 2...The Portland Observer...February 26, 1992
p e r s p e c tiv e s
Northwest African'American Writers
Workshop Host Two-Day Conference
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The two-day event, co-hosted by
the Portland Public Schools an the Or
egon Historical Society, began by hon
oring students from various schools in
the North/Northeast Portland Commu
nity who have demonstrated the desire
to become literary participants. They
each read an example of their literary
work. Some shy and some with the
boldness of an adult. One of the readers
was an eight year old named Danny
Doncan, the son of NWAAWW mem
ber Jennifer Doncan. He was so little,
it took two adults to assist him with the
reading of his piece behind the very tall
podium.
Mr. Joseph Franklin, History
teacher at Ockley Green Middle School
and Director of the NWAAWW, was
the main presenter and facilitator. As
sisting Mr. Franklin was the Honorable
Judge RooseveltRobinson.alsoamem-
ber of the Writers Workshop.
The guest speaker of Friday evening
was Dr. Colleen McElroy, professor of
English at the University of Washing
ton. As she concluded her presentation,
Dr. McElroy shared that three young
African American females will travel
to Paris, France with her this Spring.
These young women have each, re
cently, published their very first books.
This trip is being made possible by a
Literary Society Grant.
On Saturday, February first, the
day began with a no-host breakfast that
was opened to the public. Several
African American Historians were
present and were later featured in the
full-day seminar. There were ten dif
ferent authors and historians from Or
egon and Washington, such as: Diane
/
/b y
Professor M c K in le y B u rt
A Dropout Makes Medical History
During every Black History Month,
I make a point of citing our magnificent
African and African American con
tributors to the field of medicine; both
lecture and writings.
This year 1 pay special and very
relevant tribute to them as I recover
dram a very serious medical emergency.
As have millions over the past decades
I am eternally grateful for the genius of
Dr. Charles Drew, the African Ameri
can developer of the Blood Bank. Two
weeks ago an artery burst in my nose
and it was BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS
that kept me alive until surgery could
seal off the offending vessel.
While lying there, setting a hospi
tal record for length of a nose bleed (7
days), I thought of many things of
course, but particularly I reflected upon
the careers of two black medical pio
neers. Their inspired and ingenious
advancements of the healing arts were
significantly involved in my trauma.
Most of us are familiar with the work of
Dr. Drew and the tens of million of lives
saved in war and peace through his
contributions, (The Red Cross Build-
ing/Chapter on N. Vancouver is named
after him).
But how many have heard of
“Vivien T. Thomas”; a Louisiana HIG H
SCHOOL GRADUATE WHO BE
CAME THE TOP SURGICAL TECH
NICIAN IN AMERICA? In a 39 year,
career from 1941 to 1980, this brilliant
black man advanced from laboratory
cleanup at the Vanderbitt University
Medical School to an appointment to
the faculty of the Johns Hopkins Uni
versity Medical School as INSTRUC
TOR IN SURGERY (July 1, 1976).
Along the way this pioneer was respon
sible for some of the most seminal and
fundamental advances in heart surgery
this century (“ Blue Babies,” shock, hy
pertension, blood pressure).
The rather comprehensive title of
hisautobiography hardly does justice to
his career where eventually he trained
and assisted all of the top heart surgeons
the media has ever acquainted you with.
“Pioneering Research in Surgical Shock
and Cardiovascular Surgery: Vivien
Thomas and His Work with Afred
Blalock”, 1985, University of Pennsyl
vania Press (originally published at
$39.95, I believe it’s still on sale for
around $9.00).
Libraries, scholars and Black His
tory buffs should order a companion
set, “The Papers of Alfred Blalock,
Mark M. Ravitch, ed.” currently, the
two volumes (2,047 pp.) are available
from the Johns Hopkins Press, Balti
more, for $17.50 on sale. I recommend
this supplemental reading because the
material authenticates a phenomena that
has constantly occurred in the field of
science and technology (as well as the
arts). That is a black may innovate or
pioneer a process, but the credit will go
to others as the “literatur” is developed-
and HISTORY IS REWRITTEN OR
ADJUSTED.
In these “Blalock Papers” you will
find several citations for Vivien Tho
mas in the Name Index, but if you have
read the “Autobiography,” you will un
derstand that the work of the gifted Mr.
Thomas is integral to most of the pio
neering cardiovascular developments
described- the key contributions of this
century. We may of course reiterate the
comment of Bill Cosby, “Black History;
lost, strayed or stolen,” but we should
attribute another causative. We have
noted that Mr. Vivien T. Thomas was
only a high school graduate, competing
in a field where DEGREES DRIP FROM
SHOULDERS LIKE A COLLECTION
OF THERMOMETERS. A field where
Thomas is responsibe for having trained
most of the best we have around today.
This fact is especially relevant to
the contemporary education process
where the educationists and industry
have finally admitted to themselves that
we are not going to be financilly or
structurally able to get all those millions
of students into universities in time to
produce a “Workforce 2000” that can
compete with the world in science and
technology. Rather, we are scrambling
all over the place trying to either up
grade HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES
like Vivien T. Thomas or pushing our
COMMUNITY COLLEGES to prepare
to handle a surge in “Two-Year Techni
cal Degrees” or “Retraining Courses.”
I see my research into the back
grounds of so many “nondegreed” mi
norities who made seminal and sig
nificant contributions to science and the
Industriul Revolution as a critical and
necessary component of the NEW EDU
CATION. More next week!
New Fast-Food Outlet Launched with PDC Aid Is Key to
Owner's Dream to Help a “Lost Generation’
M a tth e w P ro p h e t
BY MATTIE ANN CALLIER-SPEARS
The month of January, filled with
all the events of Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.’saccomplishments, has passed
and now the month of February has
quickly arrived on the tail of a brightly
lit comet. The NW African American
Writers Workshop members have long
awaited this month. For it is in this
month that the writers hosted a gala
conference, reception & awards night,
and luncheon.
Beginning on the thirty-first day of
January at the Red Lion in Lloyd Cen
ter, the NW AAW W g reeted and
mingled with over one hundred citizens
of Portland - all seeking to meet, listen
to or just see what the writers had in
store for them this year. They turned
out in their finery: sparklies, bows and
bangles, dark suits and furs. As they
stood sipping punch, tea and coffee, it
was soon time to begin the program.
CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL
By Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
Continued from front page
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Carl Tai ton, SB A District Director
John Gildman and US National Bank
MLK Jr. Blvd. Branch Manager Phil
Kobberbig.
One who has helped Dunbar the
most is John McCuller, owner of the
Delicious D's building. McCuller, who
for seven years operated Fanner John’s
Restaurant there before retiring and
leasing the site to other operators, turned
away a number of willing buyers with
up-front cash in favor of a partnership
with Dunbar whose promise he wanted
to nurture.
Delicious D’s is open from 10 am to
10 pm Mondays through Saturdays and
from Noon to 8 pm on Sundays. Dunbar
employs 11 people, many of them from
the neighborhood. Two employees, the
head cook and a supervisor, had worked
fro Dunbar at Arctic Circle and chose to
follow him to Delicious D's.
Dunbar, who went to Grant High
School and lives not far from the restau
rant, has gained the respect of neigh
borhood youths with his "tough-love”
attitude. ”1 think they're listening to
me," he says. "They call me Mr. D ."
Dunbar maintains an absolute prohibi
tion against drugs or alcohol on the
premises, which has pleased neighbor
hood residents who were fearful, Dunbar
says, that they restaurant m ight be over
come a magnet for illegal activity.
What motivated Dunbar to do this?
"This has been a dream of mine for a
couple of years,” he says. "I want to be
a role model for kids around here, show
them you can make it as a legitimate
businessman. We have a lost genera
tion, the kids from ages 13 to 21. They
need some role models besides the rap
artists they listen to who put the idea of
violence in their heads.
Portland Observer encourages our readers to write
letterato the editor in response to any articles
we publish.
WÌ jb ^ n rtla n h (Bbseriier
♦ 4 *.
Dunbar is an old hand at handling
crowds and taming sometimes unruly
customers. He worked for six years at
the old Arctic Circle restaurant in Jack-
son Tower on Pioneer Square, which
was regularly inundated with crowds
of customers during Rose Festival and
other big downtown events.
Confident of success, Dunbar al
ready has an eye out for other locations
in North/Northeast to establish Deli
cious D's outlets, in part so he can take
advantage of economies of scale in
ordering food, paper cups, and other
supplies. But also because of the mes
sage it will send to minority youths.
"When I talk to them about how
big I want this to be, they really start
paying attention and say, 'Hey, maybe
there's something to this' and think
maybe this is something they could be
a part of."
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Contributing Writers
Operations Manager
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Mattle Ann Callier-Spears
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Accounting Manager
Gary Ann Garnett
Public Relations
New Jersey: “ Still No Justice, Still No Peace”
In Teaneck, New Jersey, there is a
certain hostile gloom intheairconcem -
ing race relations. This is the situation
in the aftermath of the recent acquittal
of a white police officer, Gary Spath, on
charges of manslaughter in the killing
of an African American male teenager,
Phillip Pannell.
The news that an African Ameri
can male teenager has been fatally shot
by a white police officer is not, unfor
tunately, isolated to the state of New
Jersey. Il is happening all over the
nation. In particular, these incidents
occur in urban areas where the African
American community is concentrated
and policed by persons from outside of
the community.
This New Jersey case, however,
had at one time the potential to send a
message to police departments across
the nation. That message should have
been “Racially motivated police bru
tality will not be tolerated and officers
involved will be prosecuted.” But, that
is not what eventually happened.
In April of 1990, young Phillip
Pannell was shot twice by Officer Spath
in Teancck, New Jersey. Officer Spath
claimed that Pannell had made a mo
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tion by putting his hand in his pocket
that served as a threat to the police
officer. Spath says he killed Pannell in
self defense. Yet, after investigating
this case, the Attorney General of New
Jersey decided to prosecute Officer
Spath on charges of manslaughter after
witnesses revealed that Pannell was
actually shot while holding both of his
arms up in the air surrendering to Offi
cer Spath.
The city of Teaneck and the state of
New Jersey waited to see if justice
would be done in this case. On February
11, 1992, an all white jury concluded
that Officer Spath was not guilty of the
charges although the state presented
medical and scientific evidence that
Pannell was shot twice while his arms
were raised.
We have conducted a survey of
similar cases in other parts of the coun
try and we have found that all white
juries are very reluctant to convict a
white police officer in the killing of an
African American male, no matter what
evidence is presented during the trial.
White police officers are more than
“presumed innocent” in these type of
cases; they are usually found innocent.
Production Staff
Dean Babb
Sharon Camarda
Gary Ann Garnett
Jennifer Johnson
M ARTIN
Name
KING
DAY
Address
city, State
zip-code
T hank Y ou F or R eading
T he P ortland O bserver
R o b in so n , au th o r “ B lacks in
Bremerton”; Mrs. J.M. Gates, MBA;
Dr. Quinlard Taylor, professor of Afri
can American History University of
Oregon; Ralph Hayes, University of
Washington; Dr. Darrell Millner, pro
fessor of Black Studies Program Port
land State University; Esther Hall
Mumford, author “Seattle Black Victo
rians, 1852-1901”; Patricia Thomas,
chairman of the Kitsap County Black
History Society; Joseph Franklin, au
thor “All Through the Night"; Charles
Mutchler, assistant archivist with the
Eastern Washington University; Eliza
beth McLagen, author “Peculiar Para
dise.”
The seminar and forum which fo
cused on the history of the Northwest
African American Experience was con
cluded with a luncheon which was held
in the elegant Maxi’s Dining Room.
The guest speaker was none other than
the Superintendent of Portland Public
Schools, Dr. Matthew Prophet.
The Honorable Margaret Carter
opened the program by singing “A Place
in the Sun - Keep Moving Oh,” dedi
cated to Dr. Prophet. She was accom
panied by the nimble fingers of “Mr.
Music” himself, Danny Osborne.
Dr. Prophet opened by saying that
he will, in five more months, be leaving
the Portland Public Schools but he will
not be leaving the city of Portland. “No.
I am not abandoning you,” he said. He
stated that he will probably be just as
busy or even busier after he has retired.
Dr. Prophet stated that while he
was sitting and awaiting his turn, he
jotted down some notes. From these
C o n tin u ed on p a g e 7
Thus, Phillip Pannell’s name will be
added to the growing list of victims of
racially motivated police brutality.
Phillip’s mother, Mrs. Thelma
Pannell, cried out in the Hackensack,
NJ courtroom where the trial was held.
When the jury foreman stated the “Not
guilty” verdict, Mrs. Pannell shouted,
“No! No!...Why, Lord Jesus, why?”
The Pannell family, like many other
African American families, now will
have to live with the knowledge that the
justice system “usually does not work
for us.”
African Americans are about 25%
of the approximately 40,000 persons
who reside in Teaneck. If racial justice
is to be a reality in this community, or
in any community in the United States,
then acts of wanton racially motivated
police violence must be stopped.
There are many religious leaders
and other civic leaders in New Jersey
who are now trying to secure peace and
better race relations in the state after the
emotions of many have been disturbed
by the Teaneck verdict. We support
those efforts for reconciliation, but we
know that until there is justice, there
will certainly be no peace.
Dear Editor:
1 met John and Joyce DeZcll last
fall and spent much time with them to
sound out their ideas, cth ics and morals.
I like what I observed and we talked
about. They are family people, well
educated, and have high morals for
their children and others.
John is determined to help correct
some of the things that need to be done
for all of us. To build on what is good,
and try to get us back to more help for
people problems. He has done his home
work well, he knows what hasn’t been
done and what needs doing.
He is opposing Bob Packwood and
has been campaigning forovcr9 months.
Bob had done very little for Southern
Oregon but seems to have helped New
York much.
Perry Atkinson is throwing his name
in the ring. 1 would hope he would
reconsider and not split the vote like A1
Mobley tried for Barbara Roberts and
Dave Fronmcyer. Give John DeZcll a
line or call P.O. Box 624 Medford,
Oregon 97501, phone 535-90745, or he
could use financial help. If you arc like
a lot of us it cannot be much, but each
dollar helps. Send this to his treasurer,
G coffcry R. Socnccr, 4360 S.W.
Dickinson Ave., Portland, OR 97219
Phone: 244-2038.
Sincerely,
Violet Koehn
P.O. Box 308
Chiloquin, OR 97624
(503) 381-2240