Page 2...The Portland Observer... J une 3, 1992
civil rights journal ™ e r s v e c t i v es
By Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
v T v v
Mojeska Simkins: She Kept The Faith
The history of the freedom struggle
in this world will record the life and
co n trib u tio n s o f Mary M ojeska
Monteith Simkins. Until her last breath
at the age of 92, this strong and coura
geous African American woman from
South Carolina was a leader and a free
dom fighter. She was considered by
many to have been one of the most
effective "m atriarchs” of the Civil
Rights Movement in the United States.
Mojeska Simkins died in South
Carolina in April 1992. For decades
Simkins was a leader in the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP). She raised
her voice forcefully in the South as well
as in all other sections of the nation.
She also was a leader of the South
ern Organizing Committee for Eco
nomic and Social Justice.
Even d uring the rep ressiv e
VlcCarthyism of the 1950’s Simkins
. efused to submit to the tactics of politi
cal intimidation that was targeted at her
and others who were demanding justice
and freedom. Mojeska was a proud
leader who did not bow to the powerful
forces of racial injustice. She attended
lementary school on the site of Benedict
C< ¡lege from the first grade as a child,
seeking an education at a time when
racial segregation in local schools in
south Carolina attempted to prevent her
from getting an education. She later
graduated from Benedict College in
1921.
Her leadership and reputation as
forceful advocate for the rights of the
oppressed quickly became nationally
known. Simkins worked with W.E.B.
DuBois, Martin Luther King., Ella
Baker, Paul Robeson, and many other
leaders. At meetingsof the Civil Rights
Movement in south Carolina and in
other southern states, friends remem
bered how much people in local com
munities would welcome Mojeska’s
“tell the truth” oratory and grassroots
leadership style.
When she was sixty years old, she
once said, "D on’t call me a senior
citizen because I have just begun to
fight for freedom and the struggle is
life-long! ” At a local radio station near
Columbia, WO1C radio, Mojeska, would
always begin her radio program with
the saying, “ 1 woke up this morning
with my mind set on freedom.” It is
Important that we keep alive the
memory of heroines like Mojeska
Simkins. She gave her entire life for the
struggle to ensure that all children get
an education and to ensure that the
challenges of racial injustice be met by
a greater force of social change move
ment that moved and inspired people to
demand justice.
Appropriately, the funeral for
Mojeska Simkins was held on the cam
Lets Read This Summer
pus of the school and college that she
loved, Benedict College in Columbia,
South Carolina.
Inside of Antisdcl Chapel, Rev.
Dr. Marshall Grigsby, President of
Benedict College, stated, “We have
come to say farewell to one of our
greatest leaders, a woman who kept the
faith in the struggle for a mighty long
time.” Other tributes were given by Dr.
William F. Gibson, Chairman, National
Board of Directors of live N A ACP, and
from Attorney Laughlin McDonald,
Director, American Civil Liberties
Union, southern Region.
As a school teacher, civil rights
leader an human rights advocate,
Mojeska Simkins leaves a legacy of
courage and steadfastness of heart and
soul. She had the determination to speak
out when it was not popular but as she
used to say, “I am sorry!
Long live the memory of Mojeska
Simkins. May we also keep the faith
and stay in the struggle. We are thank
ful that for 92 years this great-grand-
inotherof the freedom movement lived,
struggled, won vie lories and seta living
example of the necessity to be respon
sive and responsible in the ongoing
fight for equal justice. The best way to
give a tribute to the memory of sister
Simkins is to renew and revive the
freedom movement here in the United
States.
Letter To The Editor:
Open Letter to Mayor J.E. Bud Clark
Dear Mayor Clark:
I am writing you this letter because
o f concern relating with the General-
z.vd Anti-Black movement taking place
in Portland. The riots following the
Rodney King verdict are currently be
ing used as an excuse that all Blacks are
b id., No thought is given regarding how
peoples attitudes change to a degree,
when constantly treated unfairly. The
tapes showing Rodney King being
beaten have been show to the entire
world, but ihe decision by the jury, let
till Nationalities know how racist,
America is. To make matters worse, a
tape was used as the means to arrest
individuals because of the beating of
Reginald Denny. I am not saying that no
one should have been arrested regard-
ing Denny being beaten, but I am saying
that Justice should not be such a farce.
Mayor Clark, you will be in charge
of Portland until January 1993, and the
hate crime attitude is leaping into ac
tion. Neither of the Mayoral candidates
appear to have any interest in trying to
halt the current hate epidemic. We arc
now beginning festivities in the celebra
tion of Rosar.a, please do not just sit
there and allow problems to erupt dur
ing our Rose Festival activities. Some
people are even trying to instigate trouble
by saying Trail Blazer Clyde Drcxlcr
intentionally stuck Utah Jazz player,
John Stockton in the eye at Memorial
Coliseum on May 26, while Drexler is
Portlands USA Olympic representative
to Barcelona’92. Something is wrong
when people think that way, because
that’s why so many basketball players
already wear eye guards to prevent that
from happening in advance. The citi
zens of Portland want to have days of
enjoyment with excellent weather fore
casts, don’t let them down. All cultures
in Portland respect you, hopefully, you
will also respect other cultures. I love
Portland very mush and that is the rea
son for my continued volunteerism in
community activism.
Thank you for your time and con
sideration, since I have made it a point
to let the City know, that I had written
you a very important letter.
Sincerely,
Charles C. Flake
concerned Northeast Resident
To The Editor:
Rodney King’s beating and the
jury s decision was injustice of the high
est order, and America is left in shock.
And the outcry , and unfortunately
the riots that have swept throughout
America, has again focused our atten
tion to black bias in our society.
One man, one beating, one jury’s
decision, has turned this country on it’s
ear.
But about another, more far reach
ing black injustice, the murder by white
fascist Planned parenthood and the abor
tion industry of over 16,000,000 (53%
of all abortions) are black Americans
since Re v. Wade.
That is the ultimate injustice, the
wanton destruction of an entire race’s
generation, yet black America sleeps!
It should be up in arms, angry and
disgusted, and involved big time in
saving it’s future.
Small groups have been struggling
for years to stop the holocaust, but an
army is needed to really tell America of
the injustice being done to an entire
generation, that will never be able to
come to our rescue in our time of need
because it has been murdered, one per
son at a lime; by greedy, selfish, racist,
fascist, Godless infidels who hide be
hind “convenience”, “rights”, "Choice”,
and only deal in death, lies, torture, and
injustice.
Slop Injustice! Slop Abortion!
M. Kennedy
P.S., “I have a dream” too!
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BY MYLES BRAND
A couple of months ago, while
lunching at a Chinese restaurant in
Eugene, I couldn’t help overhearing
twoUniversity of Oregon students,both
somewhat older, talking about Measure
5 and the cuts the University faces.
“What do you think will happen?,”
one of them asked, with curiosity. “Look,
I’m graduating this year,” the other
replied. “I don’t care what happens to
the university: I got mine, and I don’t
care.
Fortunately, most Orcgonians-in-
cluding most University of Oregon stu-
dents-would reject this sentiment. At
least, that is my hope: this kind of
thinking signals an unsettling shill away
from the shared community values that
helped build this state and country to
those that are more self-interested.
Still, individual anger toward state
government did have much to do with
the passage of Measure 5 in November
1990. I have heard some of this anger
myself as I have gone around the state
in recent months talking about higher
education and the University of Or
egon. Generally, it is not directed at
education, but rather at state govern
ment in general and all government
everywhere. But clearly, this anger has
a lot to do with our inability, so far, to
solve this problem that we created lor
ourselves in a way that serves our col
lective long-term interests.
As Oregonians, we have an urgent,
shared need to do something about the
dire effects of Measure 5. Higher edu
cation and other essential stale services
arc on a collision course with the luturc.
Measure 5 is in the driver’s scat.
Let’s look at this more closely,
starting with Measure 5 itself, through
which Oregonians, understandably frus
trated by loo-high property taxes, sent a
loud message to state government: they
wanted tax relief, and they wanted it
now.
Measure 5 was structured to pro
vide such relief by reducing the state
General Fund, which supports a host of
essential slate services ranging from
M ail
Portland Impact’s Youth Service Center needs youth and adult volunteers
to seive on a Neighborhood Accountability Board. The Board works with
first-time juvenile offenders and their guardians to discuss and assign
consequences for the offense.
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The Portland Observer-Oregon's Oldest African-American Publication-is a member
of the National Newspaper Association—Founded in 1885, and The National
Youth, ages 16 and over, are especially needed. The Board meets one or
two evenings monthly. Volunteers must attend a training is scheduled to
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to plan for a strong future in which the
University helps point the way for other
American public Universities.
We still have much to offer; we
aren’t going out of business. But we are
being forced to limit opportunities for
the next generation of Oregonians at
exactly the wrong time in the state’s
history. With further steep increases in
tuition, the next round of Measure 5 cuts
could mean up to 10,000 fewer univer
sity students
statewidc-not because of enroll
ment limits, but simply because this
many additional young Oregonians
won’t be able to afford to go to college.
In contrast, we know that there will
be at least 35 percent more 18-year-old
Oregonians by the end of the decade.
This is not some soft projection: the
students already are there in the state’s
classrooms, moving up through the
grades toward graduation. We also know
that as a state, we are moving away from
a resource-based economy to one that
emphasizes information and service.
For every job lost in the timber industry,
10 are being created that require a col
lege education.
No one can deny that this economic
transition is painful, in some parts of the
state pinching families and whole com
munities. But seeing this, young Orego
nians realize that Oregon’s future will
be very different from its past, and that
a college degree will be essential if
they-and the state-arc to have the future
that we all deserve.
Overall, Oregon and the Pacific
Northwest arc doing well. Our economy
has been growing faster than the na
tional average, and the long-term eco
nomic outlook remains good.
...If wc play our cards right, that is.
Wc need to ensure the continued avail
ability of affordable, high-quality, pub
lic higher education. If not, wc could be
looking at the last generation of Orego
nians for a long time to come who even
will be able to say, “I got mine.”
Myles Brand became the 14th presi
dent of the University of Oregon in July
1989.
to :
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corrections and human services to higher
education. Ironically, many middle-class
Oregonians who voted for Measure 5
have yet to see resulting property tax
relief. But Measure 5 is having a signifi
cant impact elsewhere. It is forcing
draconian reductions and budget cuts
statewide-and not just in higher educa
tion. Many people in rural areas of the
state also are being hard hit by cutbacks
in slate-funded services.
In higher education, the first round
of Measure 5 cuts, in 1990, were painful
enough. Now, the Oregon State System
of Higher education (OSSHE), includ
ing the University of Oregon, is plan
ning for a 20-percent reduction in 1993-
95 budgets due to Measure 5 shortfalls.
Additionally, earlier this year, in keep
ing with Gov. Barbara Roberts’ goal to
eliminate an additional 4,000 state gov
ernment jobs by the end of June 1993,
OSSHEannouncedthatitwouldcut791
positions.
What do such cuts mean? On the
positive side, under Gov. Roberts’ lead
ership, they ar forcing those of us in slate
government to reexamine everything
we do, to ensure that we are as efficient
and productive as possible. The Univer
sity of Oregon, for example, is working
with local schools and Lane Commu
nity College to identify ways in which
we can save money by cooperating in
the delivery and purchase of as many
day-to-day functions and services as
possible.
But unless Oregonians solve the
stale finance problem-in an equitable,
timely and bipartisan fashion-such cost
saving measures will not be enough.
Measure 5 goes beyond efficiency: it
means reducing services that people
value and will miss.
Recall that this is the second reduc
tion caused by Measure 5. The Univer
sity of Oregon already cut 10 percent of
its base budget in the current biennium.
Though we eliminated several major
programs, we have been able to main
tain our basic commiuncnt to providing
quality undergraduate and graduate edu
cation for today’s students. We continue
PORTLAND IMPACT’S
NEIGHBORHOOD ACCOUNTABILITY BOARD
NEEDS YOU!
IMPACT JUVENILE CRIME IN YOUR AREA
fill out ,
MONEY ORDER,
and
with “Powell’s Books Store” at 10th
and W. Burnside.
For back issues, one of the best
sources is “Cameron’s book store" at
S.W. 3rd and stark (they also have a
good selection of used books).
The magazines I have cited are
well worth the subscription price, given
theirexcellcnt readability, broad cover
age of subject matter, and their coher
ent, systematic layout. More over, for
the student they represent universally
accepted citation and documentation
for school papers and presentations-
especially for elementary and high
school. Also, you will find excellent
bibliographies for each article.
Now, next week I will furnish a
similar list of African American Pub
lishing Companies-though you would
keep in mind that the publisher I’ve
cited will offer a wealth of books on the
blackexpcrience. I would also make the
case for a much more selective choice in
viewing television. All four of the maga
zines I listed also produce informative
and interesting documentaries, ones that
are frequently seen on channels 6,8,9,10
and 24, but not exclusively, watch for
them on network or cable television.
Measure 5 Collision Course
ENCLOSE CHECK OR
The PORTLAND OBSERVER is
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4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Portland, Oregon 97211
503-288-0033 • Fax 288-0015
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. Dover Publications Inc., 31 East 2nd
St., Mineola, N.Y. 11501
.University of Pennsylvania Press,
Blockley Hall, 418 Service Dr., Phila
delphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6097
. The Johns Hopkins University
Press, 701 West 40th Street, Suite 275,
Baltimore, MD 21211-2190
I would also suggest a subscription
to these excellent magazines; for your
self or your child, the student;
.National Geographic, P.O. Box
2895, Washington, D.C. 20077-9960,
12 months subscription, $21.00
.Sm ithsonian A ssociates, 900
Jefferson Drive, Washington, D.C.
20560,12 months subscription, $20.00
.Scientific American, P.O. Box
3186, Harlan, IA 51593-2377, 12
month’s subscription, $29.95
.Popular Science, P.O. Box 51824,
Boulder, Colorado 80321-1824, 12
month’s subscription, $13.94
In rcpcct to magazines of general
readership like those above, you ’ 11 find
a broad selection on the racks at your
nearest “Daltons Book Store”, and at
“Richs” onS.W. Alder, justaboveS.W .
Broadway. And most of us are familiar
Il is that time of year again when I
provide a number of very economical
sources for all kinds of rewarding read
ing; general, research material, ethnic,
multicultural, science, mathematics,
sociology, history biology, psychology,
languages, literature, politics, business,
medicine and many other categories.
The sources I list are not, in most
cases, the original publishers of the
books cited in their catalogs, but are
specialty wholesalers who buy the origi
nal publishers overruns. Hence, the dis
count prices. I have dealt with these
companies for years and many of the
gems of knowledge I’ve been able to
favor the readers with have from these
texts. I recommend these Free Catalogs
to the general reader, students, teachers
and researchers.
Request from:
.A Common Reader, 141 tompkins
Ave., Pleasantville N.Y. 10570
.Barnes & Noble, 126 Fifth Ave.
New York, N.Y. 10011
.Daedalus Books, P.O. Box 9132,
Hyattsville, MD 20781-0932
.Edward R. Hamilton, Falls Vil
lage, CT 06031-5000
.The S cholar’s B ookshelf, 51
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