Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 1992)
>4-1 -"i J jt ); j * / , 1 ‘> | ,. v - v '.-.'.'-‘* , ì ~.--, . ‘. V W • f v ^ v > V v v V * * » < w v » * » » v » 'r * » - » » w ^ » » » w ’» » » 'r * v w w w » v 'r * w r v v » v v » * * * '» w * » ' k V *» » < r * * * « « * < ' Volumn XXII, Number 46 - - ■ “The Eyes and Ears of the Community’ - - rr - j - - - - ' /r> • - - - ■■■ ■ ■■ ; S"O«,n ’ *•’ ®íje ^ n rlÌan ù ©bsern Through It All, Center Survives 40 Years r Evelyn C ollins, “ M iss C ollins, as she has been known first to hun dreds o f youth and now thousands, continues her m inistry o f love to the N .E . P o rtlan d C o m m u n ity . She teaches, challenges and loves the fourth and fifth generations o f those firstchildrengoingbacktothe 1950’s. She s till insists on helping low in come, single parent households and “ at risk” youth and families. Last December the Board o f D i rectors held the Center’ s firs t annual fund raising banquet. Head o f Port land parks & Recreation and long lim e “ Center Friend” , Charles Jordan was the key note speaker. Last year's event also recognized and awarded several individuals, organizations and businesses that had been instrumen tal in helping the Center through one o f the most d iffic u lt periods in its history. A period which almost saw the doors locked up by CSD, M u lt nomah County Health Department and others because o f code and safety violations. The Board claims success last year and the event did bring in enough money to bring some back b ills and payroll current. On Saturday December 5, 1992 the Grace C ollins Center w ill hold its second annual fund raising banquet. Jessie Brazzel, this year's Banquet C hair has dec ided to keep the event at the Center and the board is looking to New Veterans Benefits Handbook Available One o f the Government’ s most w idely distributed publications entitled Federal Benefits For Veterans And De pendents has been updated for 1992. This best selling handbook describes the wide range o f benefits available to all Veterans and their Dependents, in cluding recent DESERT STO RM V e t erans. E lig ib ility requirements fo r en- titlem entto benefits, the important tim e table fo r benefits, and where to apply 'are described in detail. Education and training benefits fo r Veterans including the G1 B ill, jo b train ing, vocational re h a b ilita tio n ’ , and employm ent assistance are covered extensively. Other major sections de scribe V A loans for home-buying Vets, life insurance, disability benefits, health care, what to do about Agent Orange exposure, death benefits, and benefits for survivors. A ll V A facilities where Veterans should go for assistance in cluding V A hospitals, nursing homes, stage a week o f events at the Center just prior to the banquet. The events w ill be aimed at invitin g the public into the Cen ter not only to vis it but fo r people to see what they can do to help this Com m unity Treasure. W ith the number o f youth and fam ilies that have been touched by Miss C ollins, the board figures that even a modest donation form them would be a new source o f assistance. The Center is certified fo r 59 c h il dren based on CSD regulations. This is a far cry from the days when over a few hundred youth per day would come into the Center from 6 A M to 12 M idnight. In addition to day care, Miss C ollins, her mother, Grace, and staff provided before and after school programs, evening and week-end recreation and outreach a c tiv i ties in the comm unity. That staff, like many o f the current board members con sists o f youth who had been, in a sense, raised in the Center, taught and inspired by the loving woman w ith the stories, the Bible verse and the “ treats” . A t one time there were even Sunday Services at the Center. The Center has seldom operated to ta lly in the black and even today, meeting weekly payroll, taxes and other operating expenses remains a challenge. Parents served by the Center do not pay the fu ll cost o f day care. M iss C ollins s till insists the parent pay depending on income and the a bility to pay. U S D A food subsidies and the steady but dw indling stream o f Evelyn Collins Local Franchises To Serve Pizza To 1,400 Homeless In Oregon’s Two Largest Cities The annual “ D om ino’ s Pizza De livers Lunch to the Homeless” has be come a tw o -city event in i t ’s fourth year. M ic h a e l K a uth, P ortland area D om ino ’s Pizza franchisee, along w ith his dow ntow n Portland team members, is busy preparing to serve 1,000 home less men, women, andchildren at Union Gospel M ission M en ’ s Shelter, 15 NW 3rd Ave. “ We know that fo r some, this may be the o nly hot meal they’ ll receive in a week” , explained Kauth, “ We try to make it a happy occasion.” Union Gos pel M ission has arranged for a wide variety o f lunch entertainment from honky-tonk music to mime. Volunteers from Union Gospel M ission and local D om ino’ s Pizza team members along w ith local celebrity volunteers, including Commissioner Gretchen K a fo u ry .K O lN ’s Ed Whelan, and K A T U ’ s Julie Em ry and Paul Linnman w ill be serving the 2,400slices o f pizza donated by D om ino’s Pizza donations from individuals, churches and organizations have made it pos sible for the Center and Miss Collins to continue this work. Board members are w orking to secure the future o f the Center so that many future genera tions o f Pordand's youth and families w ill know the special something started by Miss C ollins when there were few resources available. There is s till so much work to be done. More inform ation on the Center and the banquet w ill come. Tickets, priced at $25.00, are now on sale at the Center. The Board is soliciting the support o f families, churches, organi zations and businesses to buy tables o f 10 seats for the event. For more in fo r mation and early ticket purchase call the Center at 281 -6930 and speak with Joyce Douglas, Adm inistrator or Miss C ollins. You may also speak with any o f the board members: Ralph & LaVeme Davis, Danny Bell, Jessie Brazzel, Mother & Stanley Peterson, W illie & Charles Stoudamire. A d v i sors include: Charles Jordan, Tim Sidel, Carl Parker, Margaret Carter and Ernest Reams. A ll “ Center Children” , the term used to identify Center alumni, are urged to call and come into the Center, vis it Miss C ollins and bring a special e ffo rt g ift or even repay money that Miss C ollins may have loaned them. This is our Center too. Team Portland, and over 100 gallons o f Coca-Cola product contributed by the local bottler. Meanwhile, down south, Daniel Kauth, D om ino’ s Pizza franchisee in Eugene, prepares to serve an expected 400 homeless at the Eugene Mission. “ W c thought it would be a great idea to jo in my brother in Pordand this year and help those folks who are in need right here in Eugene” , commented Daniel. The Eugene Mission is located at 1542 W 1st Ave. Union Gospel Mission and Eu gene Mission are both private non p ro fit agencies providing shelter and food for homeless men, women, and children. Both events w ill be held Novem ber 17th 1992. Portland’ s lunch w ill start at 10:30am and Eugene’ s at 11:00. Both events w ill end at 1:30pm. Portland’ s pizzas w ill be made at the 2280N W G lisan D om ino’s Pizza store location and Eugene’ sat 2260 W 18th. c, <*>«s?n „ Packwood Thanks Oregonians Oregon Senator Bob Packwood today thanked Oregonians fo r relum ing him to the U.S. Sehate and pledged his strong support for Oregon’ s interests. “ I want to thank Oregonians fo r their sup port in this victory, and I want them to know that I w ill continue to w ork hard for them on the issues that are so im p o r tant to our state,” said Packwood. “ M y top p rio rity is finding a per manent solution to the forest manage ment problem in Oregon. I am co m m it ted to w orking fo r a solution to our health care crisis that includes univer sal coverage and cost containment. I w ill work to see the North American free T rade Agreement (N A F T A ) im ple mented because it w ill be good fo r Oregon’ s economy and fo r the nation’ s. And fin a lly , I w ill redouble my efforts on d eficit reduction. We need a bal anced budget amendment and we need to begin the d iffic u lt task o f reducing the federal d e ficit which is strangling economic growth in this country,” said Packwood. “ A dditionally, I w ill prevail on President Bush, one more time, to grant Oregon a w aiver so that we can im ple ment our innovative health care pro gram. Failing that, I ’ll work w ith Presi dent-elect C linton to get our waiver granted,” he continued. Packwood spoke w ith reporters at a news conference during which he praised Congressman AuC oin for wag ing a tough campaign on the issues. Court Says Fair Housing Law Applies To Insurance The U.S. C o u rto f Appeals forthe Seventh C ircu it recently agreed on Tuesday, O ctober 2nd, w ith the N A A C P ’s position that redlining is a form o f racial discrimination which in the insuring o f homes violates the Fair Housing A ct o f 1968, and ordered a lower court to reconsider a case the Association had brought against an insurance company in Madison, W is consin. The low er court had said earlier that the property and insurance casu alty business was not covered by the Fair Housing Act. It must now rehear the case. “ This is an extremely important decision since it plainly states it is illegal for insurance firm s to deny African-Americans insurance on their homes, or to charge them higher pre miums, or to practice any type o f d iscrim in atio n,” Dr. Benjam in L . Hooks, Executive D irector/CEO ofthe N A A C P said. S p e cifica lly, the N A A C P had charged that by discouraging African- Americans from obtaining home in surance from the American Fam ily M utual Insurance Co., the firm had in effect discriminated against them by making it more d iffic u lt to obtain m ort gages - which require the homeowner be insured. The suit further accused the firm o f engaging in unlaw ful practices in cluding: instructing its agents not to sell policies to African-Am ericans; fa ilin g and refusing to market their insurance to African-Am erican prop erty owners; fa ilin g to locate agents and agencies in , and in close proxim ity to, predominantly African-American neighborhoods, and charging lower rates in predominantly white neigh borhoods than it charges in predomi nantly African-American neighbor hoods fo r properties o f comparable value and risk. In rejecting American F am ily’s challenge to the N A A C P ’s involve ment in the case the court said: “ Con gress amended the statute o f 1988 to authorize suit by anyone who ‘be lieves that he w ill be injured by a discriminatory housing practice that is about to occur* and unless this statue is unconstitutional several o f the plaintiffs, and the N AA C P itse lf as an organization whose members include many black persons in the housing market, have standing.” Cooperating attorneys in the case were W illiam H. Lynch and James Hall o f Milwaukee. Representing the N A A C P ’s Na tional O ffice were N A A C P General Counsel Dennis C. Hayes and W illie Abrams, Assistant General Counsel. Continued on page 7 Did The Election Mandate Change For Oregon/Portland? BY PROF. MCKINLEY BURT This is certain to be a cause for discussion her in the land o f big trees, logger, Spotted Owls, skinheads, the Religious Right and a relatively small number o f African Americans. The lat ter have been said to live in a “ Peculiar Paradise” , nothing has changed. Jim H ill has become State Trea surer, Elizabeth Furse has gone to Con gress, A vcl G ordly has joined Margaret Carter and B ill M cCoy in the state legislature, and Vera Katz is Mayor- elect o f Portland, Bob Packwood kept his seat in the senate, w hile we lost a senior position in the House when AuCoin resigned to contest that incum bency. The “ party” alignment in the State House did not change that much, but the Republicans have got to gird against a determined e ffo rt by the R eli gious Right to “ take over” . A ll o f the special initiatives failed in terms o f the results sought by their sponsors-including the infamous“ Mca- surc 9” (correct me i f I ’m wrong). Presi dential candidate B ill C lin to n took Oregon’ s electoral votes, but the popu lar vote could hardy be termed a “ land slide” . A ll in all I would say that there was no evidence anywhere o f any groundswcll o f support for any particu lar social or cconom ic philosophy. There were no mandates! Given that profound observation, 1 return you now to our regular program ming. That, o f course, has to do w ith a com m un ity’ s growing concern w ith several areas o f A frican American lead ership. I have been articulating con cerns o f the comm unity-in-gcncral and my own particular fears and frustra tions. L ike others, I continue to encoun ter many unforgivable expressions o f contempt and disregard for the social and economic welfare o f the Northeast sector o f c ity -w h ile , like the congress, self-appointed leaders deny any respon sib ility and loudly blame the “ white folks dow ntow n” fo r failures usually occasioned by lack o f a bility and,often, just plain greed. I suggest that you read my article on page 2 o f this issue o f the Portland Observer; “ Perspectives: The T h rill Is Gone” . .This is the conclusion o f a series o f four articles that severely take to task some o f the directions and p ri orities o f Portland leadership. This piece was the fourth o f a series and it would be good i f you could secure the earlier articles. Before that, I wrote another.scries,“ Nonminority Business” which also provided useful and struc tured analysis as well as “ realistic” goals that could be immediately im ple mented. Speaking in reference to previous material in this newspaper, be sure to see that relevant and signicant “ Letter- To-The E ditor” on page o f last week’s edition (11/4/92). Ms. Harris o f North Portland, an African American woman with some serious reservations about our comm unity, vigorously and rig h t fu lly attacks some major and disheart ening trends in thiscom munity. Taking her cue from Mr. Posey, another w riter fo r this newspaper (“ courage to bring issues to the forefront” ), Ms. Harris proceeds to spell out a number o f the ugly and destructive activities that have kept this community operating at one- h alf o f its true potential; that sees our youth deprived o f much o f the guid ance and role-model structure that nor m ally would have been provided. Some excerpts follow . (The term“ oppressor” may offend you, but she is right, you know. I have suffered from some o f the same crap. They smile in your face!) “ Black oppressors are considered by the white-powers-that-bc’ as a good personal reference fo r bla ck jo b applicants (whether you list them or not)., state and local government w ill not hire you unless you have been okayed by the black oppressors... you are not a part o f their clique. They arc gate-keepers...they’ ve sold out in order to fu rthe r th eir own selfish needs...if you’ re bright you can’ t be used... Where is the m illions that have been earmarked for economic develop ment in this com m unity?” Lady, you arc so right about a number o f p itifu l but dangerous in d i viduals who not only hold “ us” back, but end up projecting the rest o f us to the city and state as equally inept and greedy .B u t don ’ t leave to w n -g i ve me a call. I, too, have had your problems, but had enough footwork and experi ence to gel around them. And I, too, have had grinning hypocrites in my home or o ffice on “ inform ation expe ditions” , people who after peeking at your papers, return to their “ cliques” as you say and proceed in their operations which are carefully designed to shoot you out o f the process. Be careful lady, for i f you haven’t noticed, these clowns never invite you to “ their homes” -a n d i f you are sucked into their organizations, you s till w ill not know what is going on because the “ real business” is always trans acted at the homes o f the lead people in the incestuous grouping. Fortunately, their white masters just love to inform and snitch on them, probably from a perverse desire to let “ a ll” the slaves kn o w w ho is re a lly ru n n in g the plantation. Rest assured that our de scriptions do not fit the m ajority o f the northeast population, but enough to keep the community depressed and “ oppressed” . D on’t leave, we gonna w in sister. They don’ t have brains enough to last much longer. I have more time and resources now. I get out and make m y own pre sentations to the establishm ent-indus try, educators, o fficials and grassroots p e o p le -w h ite and black. U n fo rtu nately, sister, fo r a little w hile longer you are going to have to sell your skills and gifts on your o w n -e ve n pro tect your rear. I ’ve had to engage a sharp attorney to go after several in d i viduals who have typed in my name to charters and documents o f com m unity corporations and g ra nt proposals o f which I ’ve never heard. The only language these greedy lovers-of-the- community w ill understand is “ pay me fo r those checks cashed or go to Uncle Sam's housing pro gram -do n ’ tc a ll me, m ail my money, n ow !” I t ’ s going to get better lady, but a number o f us need to start reclaim ing our com m unity-as w ell as country.