Page 2...The Portland Observer...August 26, 1992
Inspired
Black
Youth
Our Best
Hope
BY JAMES L. POSEY
the African American community
needs a lot more Sister (Brother)
Souljah’s. Whatever one might think
about her rhetoric, it is clear she is a
young person who is passionately in
love with Black people and clearly
understands the Bluvk struggle. Vio­
lence has never been Black people's
choice, but the very prospect raises the
ante. Black people over 40 know n was
the likes of a youthful H. Rap Brown,
Stokely Carmichels, Elridge Clever,
Huey P. Newton, Malcolm X , Angela
Davis and more who stoked the tires ol
Black rage and pride in the sixties and
seventies. These were courageous lieros
and sheros of that era who simply sard
“w e’re fed up and ain’t taking it no
more.” They made the very moderate
rhetoric of other leaders such as Dr.
Martin Luther King, Whitney Young
and Andy Young very attractive. In
fact, history has yet to give these young
Black warriors their due. Black youth
today ought to use their examples as
object lessons as to how they can make
a difference. Generally white people
don’t take Blacks seriously unless there
is some radical consequence to ignor­
ing Black community needs.
But Black people are pretty good at
ignoring their own needs. That is why it
is so important that Black youth recog­
nize their true value. Youthful energy
together with older people’s wisdom
can be a powerful force in the struggle
to improve the quality of life for Afri­
can Americans in Portland. When you’re
young you never think about gelling
old, doing old folks things. But Black
youth already know they’re up against
tremendous odds. Watching their life
short circuited, some paren ts don ’ l ha ve
the capacity to deal physically and psy­
chologically with their teenage chil­
dren. Often today’s teenagers are left to
fend for themselves. Because many
young parents arc barely out of adoles­
cence themselves, it at times creates
interesting dynamics and sometimes
conflicts between toda> s youth and
their parents. For example, its not un­
common to watch young parents (35
and late 40s) avoid former clubs and
socializing places where they use to
jam. they know these same places are
where their children of age are begin­
ning to hang out. One of the most trou­
bling things to watch is relatively young
Black people becoming grandparents
before their lime. It’s a tragic p light-
young tj’aek grandparents and great
grandparents. It’s so hard to deal with
the phrase young grandparents. The
terms should almost never come to­
gether. But the point is that these people
should be enjoying the freedom of their
senior years, hut instead find them­
selves saddled with the responsibility of
raising their grand and great grande hi 1-
dren. They gotta do it because neither
their children nor their children’s chil­
dren have shown enough responsibility
to do the right parent thing. It’s a shame!
So what am 1 saying? Its simple,
today’s African American young people
must shoulder more, not less than their
share of responsibility. Youth will have
to do more than their parents did at the
same age. They must forfeila great deal
of youthful freedom, frivolousncss.and
irresponsibility to help rescue the rest of
the Black community. Instead of youth
looking toolder folks for leadership and
guidance, more youth must step up to
the plate despite their age and supply
the leadership and guidance to make
things work in the Black community.
Black youth because of their energy,
open mindedness, strength, vision and a
hostof other things, cannot just be in the
mix, they must help make the mix.
Statement of State Representative
Avel Gordly
I am joining in this effort to rein­
state sanctions against South Africa
because I am ashamed that Oregon -
through the rapid and ill-timed actions
of Tony M eeker-is the only state or
government entity in the nation that has
seen fit to lift economic sanctions im­
posed on the government of South Af­
rica.
As I look around the world, I see
numerous examples of factional fight­
ing. This month, the visible issue is the
raging war between Serbians and
Croations. The attention of the world
community is now focused on this con­
flict Daily we see reports of human
rights violations. Nightly we see the
horrible pictures of destruction, murder
and starvation wreaked upon this war
tom region. As a world community we
respond, and respond forcefully. I sup­
port those efforts at humanitarian aid
and attempts by the United Nations to
forge a resolution to the fighting.
Yet, I can’t help but think that we
allowed these same type of human rights
violations to go unchecked in South
Africa for decades; indeed for much of
my lifetime. Short of the economic
sanctions we no longer follow in Or­
egon, little has been done to end the
apartheid still thriving in South Africa
today. No troops were sent. No peace­
keeping missions were established.
Humanitarian aid continues to be a
myth.
When Nelson Mandela spoke be­
fore our United State Congress, the
very body Tony Meeker now seeks to
enter, Mandela spoke with hope for
tomorrow. Tomorrow has come and the
apartheid is still begin practiced.
Mandela said then, and I believe he
would say again today, that the eco­
nomic sanctions we in Oregon have
now lifted are what forced the South
African government to begin to re­
spond to his call for human rights and a
new constitution.
Today, the talks are stalled. The
cornerstone of Oregon ’ s passage of leg­
islation to life the sanctions called for
real change, not the possibility of
change. It called for substantial progress
toward dismantling apartheid and es­
tablishing a true democracy. It called
for good faith negotiations with the
Black Majority living under the thumb
of dictatorship.
These conditions have clearly not
been met. We must now respond to the
lack of action by the South African
government by re-instituting these eco­
nomic sanctions. We must hold firm
with the rest of the nation in refusing to
do business with the South African
government until change is truly ac­
complished.
Oregon has long prided itself on
leading the nation with new anti inno­
vative solutions to problems. But this is
one lime when the leadership mantle
was taken by our State Treasurer. Now,
Oregon must again join the rest of the
tuition in holding firm against the ha­
tred and discrimination still being prac­
ticed in South Africa today.
iF.
Portland Observer encourages our readers to write letters
to the editor in response to any articles we publish.
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▼ ▼ ▼ ▼
by Professor M c K in le y B u rt
▼ ▼ ▼
, v
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R e a l M in o r it y B u s in
N o w o r N e v e r ll
Prof. McKinley Burt
It looks like the response to this
Minority Business Series might be as
great as the interest in my “AIDS”
series. Until 1 can get a manual pub­
lished, please feel free to address any
questions to me here at the Portland
Observer, 4747 N.E. Martin Luther
King.Jr. Blvd, Portland, Oregon 97211.
Enclose a self-addressed envelope.
I left off last week with a sugges­
tion that patents and copyrights (also
“Trademarks”) could be a way for even
the everyday individual to convert his
ideas into economic assets. You will
find this information in a separate ar­
ticle this week, "Patents, Copyrights
and Trademarks: Converting Ideas or
Knowledge To Money." This is only an
overview of the process and its advan­
tages, and provides directions to exper­
tise and resources.
Interestingly, I have made presen­
tations about two Portland African
American inventors on television and
at, schools and public events. The first,
Mr. Warren C. Kimbrough, was brought
to my attention by his granddaughter, a
student in my Black Economics Class
at PSU. Though not having finished
high school, he invented and patented
the “GAS LEAK DETECTOR AND
TRAP” which for many years was used
all over the country (filed February 27,
1937 in Omaha Nebraska). In Portland,
atage 70, he invented an “environmen­
tally friendly” trash burner.
A second local black inventor, this
one a graduate engineering Donald
Rutherford, attended Jefferson High
School, University of Oregon and Fisk
University, then graduated from U.S.C.
with a degree in Aeronautical engineer­
ing. He holds patents (and collects roy­
alties) from his invcntionsoflhc“touch
latch” that holds your kitchen cabinet
doors closed-and the sliding door de­
sign in the Volkswagen” busses. At the
Howard Hughes Company in Califor-
nia he designed the engine controls for
"The Spruce Goose, Flying Boat”, THE
LARGEST PLANE EVER MADE (It
was recently bought by a local company
to be displayed in an air museum here).
Before I leave this business of pat­
ents let me mention that there is a class
called “DESIGN PATENTS" which
grant you a right in a new and innovative
style of a device already invented. This
could be anything from a shoe to a chair
or a keyboard to a refrigerator or fish
hooks. We are reminded that we DO
NOT HAVE TO MANUFACTURE
DEVICES OURSELVES to make
money off them. We can “license” the
invention to a company and receive a
“royalty” payment for each one they
sell. Sort of like the copyright royalty
you would receive from a publisher of a
book you wrote.
Several years ago I wrote here of
home-based businesses which sold huge
quantities of merchandise which they
never touched. People, with or without
formal business lraining~but with a good
sense of what will appeal to the public-
-locatc manufacturers of the goods or
equipment in directories which can be
found at the public library. They ar­
range with these firms to “DROP SHIP”
the merchandise directly to the custom­
ers whom they have solicited from their
“kitchen table” office with direct mail
catalogues or with T.V. commercials
("Have your credit card ready”). All
payments tire in advance, so the “home-
operator” has only to deduct his profit
from the receipts and mail the manufac­
turer the price for the merchandise he is
going to ship. The customer never knows
that he is not dealing with a firm as big
as Meier & Frank. Hundreds or Orego­
nians operate similar businesses, rang­
ing in “size” from sales of a thousand a
month to a few who gross $100,000.
The fast-growing “Bend, Oregon”
area is proving home to many scores of
small entrepreneurs, people from all
walks of life, from all over the country
who spend half their time skiing or
horseback riding-and the other half
delivering merchandise or information
to their nationwide customers by mail.
UPS, telephone, computer, fax, or voice
mail. Last year 1 wrote a scries here on
telecommunication services from your
home. If you’d like repeat let us know.
I included such information as lists of
AT&TToll-Free Numbers Directory as
well as their other services (get your
own 800 number). All of these activities
arc also amonti the things I notice in
ess
;
Bend when 1 am over there tor a Forest
Sers ice Workshop presentation.
Speaking to that, have you noticed
the great success our enterprising black
businessman, “Roy Jay,” has had pro­
viding a 99 percent white business com­
munity with innovative “convention
marketing” services for tour operators,
hotels, motels and trade and profes­
sional associations (within and without
Oregon) Using those computer and
telefax networks I’ve been advocating
here for several years, plus the innova­
tion of new type limousine services and
similar “inventions,” with no govern­
ment intervention he has kept control
and out competed the best the establish­
ment has to offer. We can ’t al 1 overcome
the racism of the establishment alone,
that for sure, but we need more “pre­
pared” people to try.
Certain opportunities are always
there to be exploited in Oregon or
Mississippi, if you’re ambitious and
willing to ignore your friends, peer
group, and relatives (smiles). I’ve writ­
ten here before about successful black
businessmen and women who “hide”
from all such people and live“wayout.”
The black lumber broker downtown
who buys and sells railway cars o f
redwood all over the nation; the Bea­
verton contractor and investor who puts
together syndicates to build downtown
buildings; the black women entrepre­
neurs, one who handles telecommuni­
cations including satellite for tricounty
business and another who has a chain o f
“while” beauty shops. None has or
ever had a “minority loan.” They got
out and mixed it up with the “opposi-
tio n ” --g o t m u ltic u ltu ra l in a
multicultural society.
I found this out forty years ago
right here on Martin Luther King Jr.
Blvd. when 1 set up “Pacific Business
Service” to provide accounting for many
of the car dealers on the street. Then,
later I set up a “Union Avenue Finance
Company ” at their request to alio w them
to pool their money to finance used car
sales at cheaper rales than the banks and
other commercial lenders. It went quite
well until “ Union Avenue” was aban­
doned for Beaverton., Hillsboro, Gre­
sham and the like.
Similar opportunities are wherever
you look today but no one is going to
drag you to it. Next week, more oppor­
tunities, and “since we spend so much
money on it why aren’t we doing it
ourselves; photo reproduction and pho-
locooving?”
CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL
A “ Coming Together” In Los Angeles
B y Benjam in F. Chavis, Jr.
Just a few days ago, we had another
¡^opportunity to sit with some of the
:”youlh leaders” of South Central Los
Angeles. It was most encouraging to
sec former “gang members” take seri­
ous the challenges of community de­
velopment in the wake of this nation’s
largest and most explosive “uprising”
in this century. There have been numer­
ous press accounts concerning the
“cease-fire” or “truce” between the
“gangs” in South Central and in other
sections of Los Angeles, Yet, the real
atmosphere in some of the areas known
in the past for violent confrontations
between rival gang is something more
thanaclim atcof“ccase-firc”o r“truce.”
The “word in the hood” is that what
I is taking
place in the African American
I community
Angeles is a “coming
I together” in Los
unity and peace in order to
I struggle against the evils of racism,
I economic exploitation and genocide.
I That is why the police and many others
I cannot understand this unexpected and
I in some quarters undesired unity among
I the tens of thousands of youth in Los
I Angeles who have taken their own ini­
I tiative to stop the killing.
What if this spirit of “coming to­
I
I gether” would spread to other cities in
I the United Slates? What if the laying
I down of guns by the Bloods and the
I Crips in Los Angeles is a prelude to
serious the prevention of drugs
I taking
in the community? Wc believe that the
I young men and women who arc in­
I volved in this welcomed “coming to­
I gether” should be supported and ap­
I plauded. The eventual outcome of the
I situation in South Central Los Angeles
I will have national implications.
We arc, therefore, categorically in
I
I opposition to the White House program
I known as “Weed and Seed.” The U.S.
Department of Justice along with other
I T he P ortland O bserver I
j CAN BE SENT DIRECTLY TO j
J YOUR HOME ONLY $25.00 j
I
PER YEAR.
I P lease
p e r s p e c tiv e s
federal agencies arc now attempting to
make Los Angeles a national model for
“weeding out” gang members and “seed­
ing in” questionable social projects.
Why does the recent decline in fratri­
cide in South Central make the govern­
ment nervous? Why have some police
officers in Los Angeles expressed “as­
tonishment” because the “coming to­
gether” in L.A. is working and improv­
ing?
The urban crisis throughout the
nation will not be solved by the imple­
mentation of programs like “Weed and
Seed” because as presently designed
these programs will actually cause more
violence and death. Youlh who wind up
in gangs should not be “mowed down”
like cutting undcsired weeds and grass.
Why has President Bush noleommcnied
on the positive initiative of the youth in
L.A. not to riot, not to kill but to bring
peace and unity to the community?
While in South Central L.A. we
also witnessed the efforts of commu­
nity leader and activist, Fred Williams.
“Mr. Frcd,”as he is affectionately called
by the youth in the housing projects in
Walts, is President of the Cross Colours
Common Ground Foundation. For a
three day period, Williamsand the foun­
dation sponsored a back-to-school free
haircut marathon. Thousands of young­
sters from Jordan Downs, Imperial
Courts, and Nikcrson Gardens housing
projects received free haircuts, hook
bags, school supplies and Cross Colours
clothing. “ Mr. Fred” is an ex-gang
member and at the age of 33 he has
gained the respect of all ages in the
community lor his 16 years of working
io “retrieve high school dropouts.” in
addition, Williams has been working
hard to help ensure that the "coming
together” continues to hold.
One theme of the Cross Colours
Common Ground Foundation is "Edu­
cation is the Key." 1 he foundation has
placed an emphasis on the importance
of getting an education and had moti­
vated thousands of youth to slay in
school until graduation. One of the
great challenges of our time is to pro­
vide quality public school education on
ar. equal, non-discriminatory basis for
all of llte children in every suite in the
nation.
Community development goes be­
yond the construction of buildings and
streets. Ail ol the people who live in
Soudt Central L.A. as well as the mil­
lions of persons who reside in the inner
cities across the country, must be given
a chance to participate in the economy
meaningfully through employment and
ownership of businesses. But a key
component of any effective community
development should be the focus on
youth involvement and training.
Il appears that thousands of young
people in Los Angeles and in other
cities know what time it is and they arc
rightfully demanding a voice and pres­
ence in all cflorls to “reclaim urban
America.’ As the 1992 Presidential
Campaign moves into the final leg, it
will be ol interest to note how these
issues of community empowerment will
be viewed by the candidates. One thing
is for certain, the problems of Los
Angeles before and after the “upris­
ing are the problems of the nation as
a whole.
In the meantim e, we will be
highlighting the good and constructive
ellorts ol persons like Fred Williams
and the CrossColoursCommon Ground
Foundation, 2164 E 25th Street. Los
Angeles, California, 9(X)58. The emer­
gence of positive, nonviolent, brother­
hood ami sisterhood is Los Angeles
signals the possibility that this “coming
together can and should emerge in
every village and city.
i