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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 3, 1992)
■r • « • 1 V olum n XXII, Num ber 2 3 ’The E yes and Ears o f th e C o m m u n ity ” ^pnrtlanh Wall P o r tll® and would lite to work a minimum of 350 hours, commencing on or about June 15.1992 and termi nating on or about August 31,1992. These jobs are J 2 V 850 M¿ .... unemployment is estimated to be between 6.5 and 7.2%. It should be noted that unemployment for black youth is estimated at 45-55%. and off the streets. The money that we earn will assist our parents in pur chasing dothes and other necessities for school next fall, in fact, “some of us might not be able to return toschod if we cannot work this summer.“ condition is REAL for the greater Portland Metropolitan Area. A ccord ing to M r. G e ra ld i------------------- D eloney, P articip an t Advocate for the Port land Private Industry C o u n c il, th e re a re 23,790 disadvantaged youth, ages 14-21 in the tri- c o u n ty a re a o f C la c k a m a s , M u lt nomah and W ashing ton Counties. In addi tion to this group, there are an estim ated 7000 youth in that same age bracket who will also be seeking work this summer. These youth will be seeking work and co m p etin g w ith adults in a labor market where the unemployment is estimated to be between 6.5 and 7.2%. It should be noted that unem ploym ent for black youth is estim ated at 45-55% . - M e w s p f ip ■ L ib r- Where are the JOBS? 2500 W hile the proceed ing advertisem ent is Fictional, the 35 S C IO -” Mr s . < a n c *=■=* f Or e rs ity Un O re g o n E ugene, 37 40 BY BILL COUNCIL The N/NE Employment and Busi ness Development Action plan has been developed and is reprinted here: F o llo w in g the L .A . rio t Sam Brooks, Darrell Tukufu and Ronnie Herndon asked Portland Community, business and government leaders to meet and intensify collaborative efforts to address three o f the underlying reasons for the riot: adult unemployment, youth unemployment and lack of business growth and development. Though there was no explosion in * P o rtlan d , the root causes arc as preva lent. It is in all our in te r e s t to w ork harder, smarter and faster to eradicate in Portland the causes that led to the de struction in L.A. At the first m eeting it was agreed to set a g o a l o f re d u c in g adult and youth un e m p lo y m e n t in P o r tla n d ’s B la c k C om m unity to no higher than m etro politan levels. The national at tention focused on South Central Los Angeles serves as a rem inder o f how much remains to be done in urban neigh borhoods. I l was also a grim reminder Ä Photo by Veronica Green Tony Ross interviews Edna Gordon who has recently moved to Portland from Magnolia, Arkansas. or now high a price com m unities will pay if inner city residents continue be ing excluded from the benefits o f eco nomic growth and development. Portland is no different, in our city we have built a strong economic base in the region only to leave behind a 19 square mile area in the central city where conditions arc worse now than they were ten years ago. In spile of the beginning o f many positive efforts within the community there is increas ing frustration with lack o f community business ownership and employment opportunities. Com m unity leaders came together several years ago to form the N./N.E. Economic Development Alliance. With broad involvement o f citizens and ev ery major organization in N/NE Port land, a plan of action was prepared to address a broad range o f economic de velopment and em plcym ent needs. Now is the time to broaden and quicken efforts implement this plan and focus on strategic actions which will bring near term results in business growth and development and job op portunities for youth and adults. A ctivi ties which are in place need to be ex panded and made more effective. Gaps in program s will be identified and quickly filled. Business and com m u nity leaders have to come to the table with resources and expertise. W e will collectively identify op portunities for greater private sector involvement and define areas where existing community, private and gov ernm ent programs can be enhanced or accelerated. Jobs For Community Residents According to most conservative estim ates unemployment in N./NE. is more than twice that o f the m etropoli tan areas. The com munity needs greater access to new jobs being created within Continued on page 5 1992 African American Festival Comes Up Rosy! BY MATTIE ANN CALLIER-SPEARS Cheers, applause, laughter, tears and many smiling faces can all describe the first two events of the African Ameri can Festival, a sanctioned rose Festival event. This year, the African american Festival will feature three days o f jo y ous celebration. The first night, May 29th, over four hundred people gath ered at the Portland Foursquare Church on southeast Ankeny to hear and w it Local Ministers Begin A Campaign For Racial Reconciliation £ ■ » w- BY PROF. MCKINLEY BURT Rev. Daniel Simmons, pastor o f Christ C ovenant Church and Rev. Henry Greenidge, pastor of Irvington Covenant Church have launched a “Campaign for Racial Reconciliation They have given substance to their “concern about the polarization anddi- vision along racial lines in Portland”. As they have put it, “we won dered why it was that 11:00 a.m . on Sunday m orning was still the most segregated hour in o u r n a tio n , and w hy, in ste a d o f leading the way in the fight against racism , the church is cither resisting or dragging its feet. Wedccidcd the best place to begin was within our own church denom ination (E vangelical Church of America)’. The forward-looking ministers ini tiated their concept on a recent Thurs day evening and plan the format to be a continuing process. The workshop was very impressive, involving three of A » - '.' MbVWI ' • ■' * the Covenant congregations: Irvington Covenant, Christ Covenant and Viet namese Evangelical Covenant Church of Beaverton. The event was held at the Irvington Church, 1712/1718 N .E. 11th Avenue. M em bers o f various ethnic c o m m u n itie s w ere inv ited to tell o f their e x p e rie n c e s , an d , th e n , the group a sse m b le d into sm all g ro u p s to r e spo n d to the p re se n ta tio n s o f the se v e ra l sp e a k e rs and to d e v e lo p so lu tio n s . S p e a k e rs w e re : A rn o ld Í. •- « -, ** *• 1 •• L ittle h e a d , fo u n d e r o f A m e ric a n In d ian C o u n c il of Portland; K haled A lam , A Palestinian student at G eorge Fox U niversity; Daniel Tran, pastor o f V ietnam ese E vangelical Covenant; a n d th is w r ite r , M cK inley Burt, au- thor/historian. T h e fo u n d in g pastors saw the cam p a ig n d e v e lo p in g within the following areas: 1. Confession. 2. R elationship building opportuni ties for becom ing more fam iliar and personally involved with people o f dif ferent races. 3. Panel/forum to examine race is su e s, p a rtic u la rly w ith re sp e c t to church history, seg regation, culture and doctrine. 4. Celebration of cultural diversity. Again, the structure o f the forum was most impressive and it seem s c e r tain that the “Cam paign for Racial R econciliation” will bring a needed healing and fellow ship to our com m u- mty. * • « f * < 4 ss the jubilant sounds ness the jubilant sounds o o f f the the Gospel Gospel Choir Jubilee which featured gospel choirs from all over the Northwest and general Portland Metropolitan area. The very next day, May 30th, the second day o f the rose Festival, the African American Festival held a G os pel Soiree on center stage at the W ater front Park. The program featured the sounds o f “ His Song”, Mt. Hood Com munity College Choir, Inspirational sounds from Eugene, O regon, the % erm onettes,andthedetíutperfi It performance o f the “ Mighty Untouchables:. The cha- rism aof the “Mighty Untouchables” truly overw helm ed and lifted the people. The crowd at the waterfront couldn’t get enough. They continued to shout“ More! More! M ore!” And--they were certainly accommodated. This was also the first time perfor mance for the Mt. Hood community College’sG ospel/Jazz Choir. They gave a splendid performance that the audi ence will treasure for a very long time. If you did not go to either o f these events, there is still another to come. The one everyone is awaiting! The spec tacular N orthw est Gospel Jubilee will be held on the 13th day of June at the Arlene Schnitzer Performing Arts C en ter. The curtain is scheduled to go up at 7 pm sharp. Be there! Tickets are now on sale at all major ticket outlets. D on’t miss it! Congratulations Ivery Lee Mays, Jr. Ivery graduated from Benson High School in June of 1991. He is now in his first year o f college attending Oregon State University, maintaining a 3.74 grade point average. His major is in Electrical Engineering, and he is pledging in Fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha. Ivery has received a Certificate of Honor from The Educational Opportunities Program, in recog nition o f scholastic achievem ent at Oregon State University, and acertificate that certifies that Ivery was duly initiated as a m ember o f Alpha Lambda Delta national Academic Honor Society for Fresh men. The managem ent and staff at The O bserver would like to this opportunity to say, keep the good work up Ivery, we are very proud o f you. Students Celebrate Rewarding Partnership With Business Community King Elementary second graders invite parents and members of the busi ness community to celebrate the suc cess of their “ Dream Star Neighbor hood” project on Thursday (June 4) at 6:30 p.m. at the school, 4906 N. E. 6th Street. Students will present their “ neighborhood” and thank business partners for their involvement in the project. Guests include Oregon Super intendent o f Public Instruction Norma Paulus, a co-sponsor, and representa tives from U.S. Bank, U.S. Post Office, Safeway and other neighborhood busi nesses. A year’s study of safety, drug and alcohol prevention and career education concluded with students building a small- scale “ideal” neighborhood. That Dream Star Neighborhood iscom plete with stu dents’ homes equipped with recycling bins), a police station, fire department, hospital, church, U.S. bank, U.S. Post Office, school, Safeway and an apple refrigeration plant. Materials were d o nated by businesses including Alpcnrose Dairy and BESCO Associates o f Los Angeles. Students learned about each busi ness represented in their model through guest speakers and tours. For example, a U.S. Bank representative explained Continued on page 4 -V* * «.« . * ' • - ''.ri * ■ * z * - r - , - •• I 1-
