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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 1993)
X V * » \ * z- w v > V w r< /^W**’* ' N* ■ I » '•J Page 2...The Portland Observer..January 13,1993 p er sp S ubscribe <HTje 'Portland (©bserurr I (Eljc ^Jurtlattii (0b seru vr (USPS 959-680) OREGON’S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN PUBLICATION Established In 1970 by Alfred L. Henderson CAN BE SENT DIRECTLY TO YOUR HOME FOR ONLY $30.00 The PORTLAND OBSERVER is located at 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Portland, Oregon 97211 503-288-0033 • Fax 288-0015 P lease PER YEAR. fill out , enclose CHECK OR MONEY ORDER, and M ail to : S ubscriptions Deadline for all submitted materials: Articles: Monday, 5:00 pm—Ads: Tuesday, noon T he P ortland O bserver POSTMASTER: Send Address C hanges to: Portland Observer, P.O. Box P ortland , O regon 9 7 2 0 8 P O B ox 3 1 3 7 3137, Portland, OR 97208 Second class postage paid at Portland Oregon. The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper andean not be used in other publications orpersonal usage, without the written consent of the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 1993 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PARTWITHOUTPERMISSION What’s Sporting About Sports? T he P ortland O bserver Joyce Washington Publisher Name Address IS PROHIBITED. city, State Subscriptions :$30.00 per year. The Portland Observer-Oregon's Oldest African-American Publication—is a member of the National Newspaper Association-Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc., New York, NY. and The West Coast Black Publishers Association • Serving Portland and Vancouver zip-code T hank Y ou F or R eading T he P ortland O bserver Introducing A New Psychology ^ o l l v a rA — form a r r i v A as who t h a they t s really n f t c if lC are-active tO OUT soecies. I want ___________________I to recommend a « _____r wonderful participants in transforming the condi book to you, called The Myth of Psy tions of their lives. chology. Its author is Fred Newman, In other words, human beings-as who in addition to being a brilliant individuals and as a species-are not political strategist, is the founder of a objects of change; we are ourselves new, drug-free clinical psychology changers. We have the capacity to alter called social therapy. I am proud to be the conditions that produce pathologi among his students, and a practitioner cal responses (“symptoms”) such as of this new psychology. abuse, depression, loneliness, sexual Why do we need a new psychol dysfunction and the whole gamut of ogy? Because the old one is anti-hu social and emotional problems that man, non-developmental, and has lost beset people in our society. In fact, the whatever relevance it may once have capacity to shape the environments had to the lives of ordinary people. It that shape us-fam ilies, communities, doesn’t work for most people, and it workplaces, countries, the w orld-is does a great deal of harm to m any-in what makes us human. (Other species particular to people of color, to poor can only adapt to their environments, people, and to women. On the first page not transform them.) of his book Dr. Newman quotes from a That is what makes social therapy book by Hussein Abdilahi Bulhan called radical, and humanistic. It is radical Frantz Fanon and the Psychology of because it helps people to change the Oppression: “The dominant psychol conditions of their lives, rather than ogy is founded and imbued with the adapt to them. It is humanistic because outlook that...the Euro-American world it helps people to rediscover, and re view is the only or best world view...and ignite, this fundamentally and uniquely [that] the experiences of white, middle- human capacity. class males are the only or most valid In the ‘60s Black psychology and experiences in the world.” feminist psychology sprang up as the The dominant, mythical psychol result of efforts to cleanse the domi ogy relates to human beings as objects nant psychology of its most flagrant to be changed. It sometime succeeds in biases against people of color and changing people (or at least in getting women. But in attempting to reform rid of their symptoms, or the “signs” of the old psychology they were actually the a problems) through the use of chemi trying to fit in, or adapt, to a scientific cals, behavior modification, electro method that was more relevant to the shock and various other forms of coer movement of stars and atoms than to cion. But we pay a terrible price when the highly complex and unique nature we treat people as things - we dehu of human beings. For the last 20 years manize them. Dr. Newman and his colleagues have By contrast, social therapy helps been working to — create a new science IV IV IU J V U V J U H U k U per - - q --- ---------------------- people to see U themselves and to that is specific to our species. That is what social therapy is, and you can read about it in The Myth of Psychol ogy (available from Castillo Interna tional, the publisher). Not surprisingly, social therapy has not been embraced with open arms by the gatekeepers who guard the doors of the dominant psy chology; it doesn’t fit in with the pre vailing view -the ideology-of middle- class white male supremacy which Hussein Bulhan described so precisely. Those who produce ideas that do fit in with that world view get the grants and the jobs and the interviews on TV; those who challenge the official atti tude are dismissed as crackpots and relegated to the fringe, regardless of how useful their work may be. (In the ‘60s the Black Panthers had by far the best drug program in the country, but methadone-a legal substitute for heroin which kept so-called addicts perma nently dependent, and kept many doc tors and administrators permanently employed in the drug industry-got accepted.) It is politics (bad politics), and not what’s good for people, that determines which ideas can get a pub lic hearing. I am committed to bringing Dr. Newman’s discoveries to the attention of those many helping professionals who deeply help their patients and clients but can’t because they lack the scientific tolls to do so, and are “burn ing out” because of it. There are more productive and decent ways to deal with people’s problems than the domi nant psychology dreams about. It’s time we all woke up. Last Friday morning, ABC Televi sion featured one of those 15-minute quickies on a subject which by any reasonable standard would require an hour or more of intense discussion; in actuality, a three-part series of in-depth analysis would be more like it-not to be, of course. The subject, “The almost total ex clusion of blacks from managerial posi tions in professional sports,” Before we go any further, let me comment on another almost total'exclusion. In none of these allegedly “liberal” discussions of the rampant and pervasive prejudice against African Americans in manage ment positions, do we have anyone forth coming with the basic economic fact that “Sports” in this country is a hun dred-billion dollar industry built upon “millions” of black bodies that "pull the wagon, but do not drive it.” Before you quarrel with that “mil lion bodies” figure, consider that w e are not just talking about the few “premier athletes” with big salaries or the few “million dollar niggers” as baseball club ow ner Marjorie Schott described sev eral employees (about 700 in all, base ball, football and basketball). But, mind you, w e must include that gigantic “free, farm team operation” composed of over a thousand colleges which process (and miseducate) tens of thousands of hope ful and naive black youths aiming for the Pros each year—for only a few slots (breeding farms). Our taxes, contributions and tu itions go to support this gigantic ma- Dear Editor: Much blame is heaped upon Con gress for their failure to solve the serious problems facing this country, especially widespread unemployment and the high cost of living, including the high costof medical care. Many people feel this failure is the result of congressmen and senators spending too much time and effort tak ing care of the concerns of special inter est groups who contribute to their cam paign funds to get them elected. Therefore many people would like to see stricter limits on the amount of money which special interest groups can give to a candidate. By Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. Hopes, Aspirations And Struggles For 1993 A A.: • A t-' <4 • • a happiness are no longer mitigated by race and skin color. But we know this hope will only become realized when the destructive forces of racism are exposed and eradicated. One thing is absolutely clear: “We must continue to struggle for justice on all fronts simultaneously with relent less vigor and steadfastness of faith.” 1993 is the year of renewed struggle for economic justice, racial justice, social justice, and environmental justice. Our hopes and aspirations must be articulated in a manner that gives voice to those who are most oppressed in this nation and throughout the world. The immorality of human exploitation and degradation requires a stronger chal lenge and bolder national effort than the challenges and efforts made during the 1960’s The disparities and inequi ties of this society demand an urgent revitalized “Civil Rights Movement.” We have to move beyond just de scribing the problems. We have to even move beyond just analyzing the prob lems that beset our communities. 1993 has to be a year of effective action in terms of the formulation of public poli cies and the building of sound eco nomic development programs at the community level. A priority has to be • • * • * * / ■ * e ■ * placed on youth leadership develop ment in all academic disciplines and vocations. The national call to invest in America must be re-translated to in vesting in communities in ways that help communities become self-empow ered with a sustainable economic base. Job training must be toward business ownership with the ultimate goal of overall community development. Thus, public education must receive renewed support by all levels of government as well as support form the private sector. The bottom line is that the hopes, aspirations and struggles for 1993 are similar in content to the immediate past years, but the real difference is there now appears to be a new opportunity to express our hopes and dreams with a sense that there will be more receptive ears in Washington with the Clinton Administration. Yes, expectations are high. Some will argue thatexpectations are too high to possibly have a chance of being fulfilled. We say, “We will make our de mands know n, we will share our dreams and hopes, and we will fight with re newed determination to achieve racial and economic justice by all means nec essary!” • » ft •. > 4 chine-but that is not the beginning of the matter, is it? From elementary school through high school, each year, mil lions of African American children neglect home-work and study periods for the playground and sandlots, serv ing their frantic, media-driven preoc cupation with a professional sport’s career. I wish there were someway to quantify the resulting attrition in grade levels, SAT scores, and in terms of drop-outs, truancies and ensuing gang involvement. I’m not saying that all go this way, but the horrendous pressures are there Kids do not think in terms of the statistical realities Do you? I ’ m going to get back to that “ABC Management Quickie”, b u t , first, let me point out several other key eco nomic facts It is equally obv ious that it is the "Black Body Machine” that di rectly or indirectly drives billions in capital formation manifested in stadi ums and adjoining realestate, fran chises, television network properties, sports equipment manufacturers and distributors, the profits of public carri ers like airlines and bus companies, ticket v endors, concessionaires and you name them. That old rascal, Maijorie Schott, could better have described her employees as “Billion” dollar African Americans. And 1 should have included in all that black generation of incalculable wealth, the salaries of sports w riters in both T. V. and print media, studio and satellite technicians, remote teams, film processors and other personnel involved in some of the most lucrative and well paid jobs in American industry--In a most racially exclusive industry. But let us return to Friday ’ s 15 mi nute ABC “quickie.” The panel consisted of an ABC news commentator, not known as ex actly a guru of sports, and three guests, one white and two blacks The former was a director of a "think tank,” the director of the “Center For The Study of Sports In Society .” The blacks were the head of an association of black athletes and Benjamin Hooks of the NAACp. As I have said, the program was of short duration ad absolutely controlled by the newsman who was quick to interrupt whenever the guests seemed about to make a critical point He was usually about the “millionaire black athletes,” as though that settled the matter about opportunities for Af rican Americans in the field of sports. Nobody mentioned (was allowed to) the “real” money generators I have listed here Howev er, the head of the black athletes association made the telling point that there wasn’t a single black team doctor I all of professional sports Generally, the entire farce was in the mode of sport’s writers and historians who always fail to mention that it was the guts and perseverance (and cash) of a black St Louis Cardinal baseball player who went to court and won the “Free Agent” concept for all the baseball players. How many hun dreds of millions has that produced? How soon they forget. The Portland Observer encourages our readers to write letters to the editor in response to any articles we publish. CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL For the vast majority of the more th,.n thirty million African Americans who live in the United States, 1993 represents more than just a “new” year. For many in the African American com munity this is the "year of re lie f’ from twelve consecutive years of racially motivated economic exploitation, bru tality, and disillusionment in the na tional context of an Administration in Washington that just did not genuinely care about the socioeconomic condi tion of the community. This is not intended to lay blame on Presidents Reagan and Bush for all of the ills and problems resident in people of color communities in the nation. It is important, however, to candidly say that the failure of the White House to set a clear moral tone against the steady rise in overt racist behavior in most of the major institutions of this society during the last twelve years, is an ab horrent reality that should be challenged by the incoming Clinton Administra tion. Thus, we begin this year with a sense of renewed hope. It is a hope that our nation will accelerate toward be coming and welcoming the transition into a truly multiracial and multicultural society where justice, prosperity, and ! ivf b y Professor M cK inley B urt But such limits would put most candidates at a great disadvantage when running against wealthy candidates who can spend and unlimited amount of their own money on their own campaigns since limiting campaign spending, it self, has been declared unconstitutional. Example: The Associated Press re ported that Michael Huffington of Cali fornia spent nearly S5.4 million, mainly hisown money, to win aseat in Congress in the 1992 election. Thus, if the voters are ever going to get Congress to concentrate on reducing the high cost of living and unemploy ment, they are going to have to use another method, in addition to voting, to exert enough influence over these law makers to make them do it. Fortunately, there is already such a method. The problem is to make enough voters aware of this method to make it work. Space limits do not permit an ex planation of this method in this letter. But an article, “How We, As Voters, Could Get Back Control Over Our Gov ernment,” does explain it. A copy of this article will be sent free to anyone who sends a stamped, self-addressed enve lope to me at Box 127, Gillette, WY 82717. Sincerely, Stephen Tarver More Black Pioneers In Health Care Continued from front page first to prove the efficacy of the antibiotic “Aureomycin” in human tests and the same with another, "Terramycin ” Be tween 1948 and 1952 Wright published thirty papers on his research with w hat were becoming known to the world as “wonder drugs.” Long before that, though, Dr. Wright had entered the U S. Army Medical Corp, and it was here that he changed the treatment of "Smallpox” throughout the world. He introduced the “intraderma” method of vaccination for the disease, injecting into the skin, not through it. These seminal, pioneering contributions to medicine are just a pan of his total, inspired adv ancementsin the field Turn ing to cancer research, he published 15 key papers on his precedent setting in vestigations of such drugs as terropterene, triethylene melamine, folic acid and hor mones as cancer-fighting therapies. To gether w ith the aid of his daughter, Dr. Jane W right, he pioneered today’s chemo-therapy in the treatment of can cer. But, that is not nearly all of his thoroughy documented and prol lfic work As Police Surgeon for the city of New York, Dr. Wright specialized in surgery associated with head injuries and frac tures. He devised a neck brace for frac tures of the neck that is still in use today. He invented a special blade plate for the surgical treatment of fractures about the knee joint, still in use today, especially in sports medicine. He also wrote the key chapter on “head injuries" for the stan dard medical text on such injuries (scudder’s); Just some of his 89 scientific publications Isn’t it just sickening that the medi cal and pharmaceutical fraternities and industries have avoided publicity and acknowledgements of this great man in their reams of publications and institu tional advertising? And the same for the coriters of medical texts as well? Hau he been a notorious criminal ( or well-known comedian), both the public and our chil dren would know all about him -and the fact that he was a black man (like Willie Horton, or say Uncle Ben! or Aunt Jemima! Amos and Andy! Stcp’nFetchit! Try ing to get America to recognize the true talents of African am ericans- not just those perverted to secure eco nomic survival—is still lik®- trying t0 walk up a “down” escalator. But we cannot cease in our efforts to guide and motivate our children, or to effectively direct ourown goals and ambitions. Don’t waste the foundation our fathers have laid down for US Remember that when it conies to medical science it was Africans who taught the Grecks-from organiza tion and delineations of the disciplines and professions to eye surgery, C-Sec- tions, gastronomic remedies and skull fractures See "Magic, myth and Medi cine’” by Dr Atkison at your public library. Cellular One To Donate Money On Behalf Of Subscribers Cellular Long Distance Charges Help Children Every long distance call made by a Cellular One subscriber through the month of December will result in a 25 centdonationtothechildren’s wardsof four Oregon hospitals. Cellular One of Oregon and SW Washington anticipates raising about S40.000.00 to benefit children through donations to Doemtvccher Children’s Hospital-Portland, Sacred Heart Gen eral Hospital-Eugcnc, Rouge Valley M edical C enter-M edford and St. Charles Medical Center-Bend. Last year, Docmbccher Children’s Hospital received S3O.O5O.OO from Cellular One’s holiday giving program. The contribution to the hospital went to ward the purchase of a neonatal moni tor. “Our holiday giving program is a means for our customers and employ ees to help children throughout Or egon. The program is also a way for Cellular One to say thanks to our sub scribers and our community for being very good to us,” said Rich Begcrt, General Manager of Cellular One for Oregon and SW Washington. The pro gram is in its fourth year. Volunteers from Cellular One will jft / * A , . . »V . . * ' ■' , ■ * • . ' visit children in the pediatric wards of the four hospitals during the holidays. The children will be able to call Santa Claus or friends and relatives on por table cellular phones. Santa Claus will be answering the calls from the Cellu lar One Service Center in Bend. Cellular One of Oregon and SW Washington is a wholly-owned sub sidiary of McCaw Cellular communi cations, the leading cellular commu nications provider in the United States. Cellular One employ s over 265 people, managing operations throughout Or egon and SW Washington.