July I, 1992...The Portland Observer...Page 3
UHURU SA SA
Salem Group Establishes Youth Speaking Panels
unrm
7*
X.
Kenyatta Alexander
Uhuru Sa Sa, a non profit Orga
nization within the walls of the Or
egon State Penitentiary, has estab
lished Youth Speaking Panels to ad
dress the issues concern ing our youth
who are at risk as well as the need for
education amongst all youth of all
ethnic background. We do not see the
problems in terms of color, we see it
as an issue that needs to be dealt with
overall.
The areas which we address to
wards our “at risk” youth are “peer
pressure” unwarranted drug addic
tion, unsafe sex, low self esteem, bad
decision making, and senseless gang
involvement, all of which lead to a
Daryl Lee
criminal life style and most likely
imprisonment There will be speak
ers to demonstrate the effects of peer
pressure and then we break into groups
and discuss the reality and pit falls of
all of the above mentioned areas.
On April 29, ,992 we held our first
panel here at the prison. Those in atten
dance were Alonzo Wilson, Security
Personnel from Wilson High School.
This brother brought several students
from that High School with him. Also
Iris Lunsford from McMinville High
School brought students with her. Oth
ers in attendance were Johnny A. Gage,
Johnny W. Gage and Alonzo Graves,
from the Portland House of Umoja,
John Canda from Youth Gang Out
reach Gangs Program, Donald Foster
from Private Industries Counsel, Dapo
Sobomchim from the Oregon Com
missioners on Black Affairs Office in
Salem, Charolette Lewis from Pioneer
Square’ s Art Program .Carolyn Leonard
from the King Neighborhood Facility
in Portland, Elaine Clark, parole and
probation officer in
Wash. County, Leah
Sauer from Mothers
Program in Portland,
Carolyn Clark from
P o rtlan d , M attie
W ilson .Retired Cor-
rectional C aptain,
Vera Woods from
Salem, Also from the
NAACP in Corval
lis Oregon were Mar
garet Bain and Joan
Collison.and the fol
lowing students from
the O regon Slate Johnny A. Gage
U niversity w ere:
M ichelle Jo n es,
Christy Martin,Tina Brummel,Tammy
Bloomer, Kevin Price, Lacole Brooks,
and Julie Harshberger. The Prison staff
were Ron Martin, Minority Affairs,
Carolyn Schnoor, Assistant Superin
tendent, and Mr. Williams OSP Chap
lain.
On June 9, 1992 we held our sec
ond panel and those in attendance were
Alonzo Wilson, who again brought
several students from Wilson High
School with him, Iris Lunsford from
McMinville High School, again with
students from there, David Jackson Jr.,
Coordinator, and Lorianne Thye, Pub
lic Relations-Communications Direc
tor, both from Campfire Gang Peace in
Portland, also in Attendance were Mar
garet Bain from the NAACP, and
Connie Hennes from the Oregon State
University, Dapo Sobomchim from the
Oregon Commissioners on Black Af
fairs, and Carolyn Clark from Portland.
Each program began with Clayton
Howard, Uhuru Business Managerread
ing the UHURU pledge, (Before this
body cr p led g e.
Unity, Honor, Un
derstanding, Respect
and to the Unique
ness of Uhuru) to all
those in attendance.
This is done to show
Unity amongst each
and ev ery one
p resen t.
N ext
C h arles W ilson,
W ays & M eans
Chairman, read the
R ed, B lack and
Green Pledge to our |
sented the purpose for these youth speak
ing panels, “our youth concerns”.
Brother Kevin Lewis began the pro
gram with a “rap” dealing with life in
the ghetto, senseless gang involvement
and drive by shootings
which arc uncalled
for. Next brother
Kenyatte Alexander
spoke on his gang
in v o lv em en t and
why he decided to
get out of the gangs.
B ro th er D eliane
Jones then spoke on
peer pressure and
how he was tricked
into participating in
drug selling.
Next brother
James Crittenden (I),
Charles Wilson (r)
"Ideas
Won't
Work
Unless 1/l/e
Do
99
Salomon Osiris
| |
»
Kevin Lewis
Red, Black and Green Flag of Africa.
John L. Smith Sr., President then intro
duced the guests in attendance and pre
Alonzo Graves
Darryl Lee presented a rap dealing with
education and the need for it to succeed
in our society. Then Johnny Gage spoke
Hammond Sets Sail For Home Port
community and to reach out to our
community about addressing the issues
of our at risk youth through are prison
program ARK. (At Risk Kids) “We
need to believe without seeing and trust,
when trusting is the hardest thing to do”
and “A Journey Of A Thousand Miles
Begins With The First Step”!
These speaking panels are video
taped (audio & Visual) and any Organi
zations or individuals can obtain a copy
of them by writing the Uhuru Business
Manager at the below address.
Mr. Clayton Lamont Howard
Box #5838277
2605 State Street
John L. Smith
Mr. Clayton Lamont Howard
Box #5838277
2605 State Street
Salem, Oregon 97310
Washer fit Dryer s1 9 9 -
Refrioerators
From *129-
«•»
Ranges From $ 1 2 9 -
Open Mon.-Fri. 9:00'om to 5:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Sunday Closed
HM1 Dwayne Eric Hammond
Brown Is Spaced-Out On
Portland’s Youth
Continued From Front Page
i bike, you must first have a desire to
earn oryou will never learn anything.”
Recently, Brown’s achievements
■vcrc heralded in the TVRO (Televi
sion Receive Only) Magazine, May
1992 edition. This is an international
jublication; so, Future Television, of
*hich Bennie Brown, Jr. is President,
las now received international rccog-
lition.
Brown is well known in the Port-
and Metropolitan area by his winning
anile, through his“gift-of-gab” and by
Delaine Jones
McMurphy's
Appliance Center
BY MATTIE ANN CALLIER-SPEARS
When the Naval fleet arrived in Port
land for the Rose Festival, on board the
magnificent USS Cleveland, which was
docked at terminal four in St. Johns' be
cause of its size, was HM1 Dwayne Eric
Hammond.
Ofcr. Hammond spent time with fam
ily and friends during his brief visit
In March,of this year,Ofcr. Hammond
received a special award, in a group of
twenty-eight crew members, from Capt.
Thomas E. Hopson, commanding Officer
of the USS Cleveland LPD7. This award
was one of many which Ofcr. Hammond
has received since his lime of enlistment
in the Navy.
Ofcr. Hammond entered the Navy
immediately following graduation from
Benson High School, which was thirteen
years ago. He is married to a New Orleans
beauty named Crystal and they have a son
named Dwayne, Jr..
Bom and raised in Pordand, Oregon,
Ofcr. Hammond had a lot to show his ere w
members when he arrived but he said that
he couldn’t squeeze everything into such
a short time. Maybe next time.
Congrtulations and keep up the good
work!
on the House of Umoja program which
he works for and he was followed by
Alonzo Graves, an ex-gang member,
who speaks all around the UnitcdStates
to our youth about senseless gang in
volvement.
Next C harles W ilson, Jam es
C ritte n d en , K enyatta A lex an d er,
Delaine Jones, Irvin Poindexter and
Joh n Sm ith Jr. demonstrated a play that
showed peer pressure and it’s effects on
our youth. This play was written by
John Smith Sr., President of Uhuru.
Next Salomon Osiris spokeon prob
lems of drug use and Don White spoke
on unsafe sex. The program ended with
brother Kevin Lewis giving a rap deal
ing with “it’s time for all of us to come
together.
To conclude the program thepresi-
dent, John Smith Sr.
gave an overall view
of the program and
stated thatpeerpres-
sure structured is a
universal excepted
rule of behavior and
conduct that leads
to love, not war, re
spect, not d isre
spect, this enhances
su p p o rt
and
discourage’s vio
lence. And to the
parents he stated that
if we are to restore
the formal level of
admirable social in
teraction in our community amongst
our youth we “must” intervene in a
structured manner to help our youth
develop their qualities and let them
know that they are important and have
some worth, and we need to create
some avenues so that the troubled youth
can get our their frustrations construc
tively rather than destructively. He also
addressed the issue that our black com
munity leaders need to support the youth
struggle and we need moral leaders,
leaders who care, leaders who are be
lievable, that have moral authorities.
We are aware that in the past Uhuru’s
name has been misrepresented by some
of our executive leaders but that was
then and this is now. We have new
leaders whose primarily focus is to
educated our members and prepare them
through realistic reentry back into the
School. She is now completing her first
year at the University of Portland as a
Business Administration major.
W hen
Bennie
n n /i I p a n P t t P
asked what his
Russell Brown
" .....What « Person needs is 8 s,ron9
main goal in
are the proud
d e s ire <° learn a n d h e c a n learn
life is, his re
parentsoftwo
anything he sets his m ind o n ......,
sponse was,
“
My
c h ild r e n :
goal
is to open
S h a la u n d a ,
a
specialty
school
which
will
include
19, and Andre’, 23. Shalaunda was
courses
in:
fiber
optics,
lasers,
satellite
recognized, last year, and crowned as
repairand installation, transmitting data
Rose Princess from Jefferson High
making his customers happy while in
stalling their multi-channel satellite
dishes.
via satellite, satellite dish design. There
is so much I want to do but money is
slow coming. Maybe one day 1 will
have a Space Center located in North
east Portland just like the one at the
Epcot Space Center in Florida. Those
of us who have already made it should
pursue and present areas of study which
will capture the interest of our youth
and thus incite a willingness to learn.
Always remember - if you have a
desire to learn, you will learn. Never be
afraid to try!”
S m a ll B u s in e s s
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