J une 30, 1993 • T he P ortland O bserver
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More Good Summer Reading -Or Anytime
First, let me remind you that life
is fu ll o f little disappointments ( and
big ones too) That new black book
store I told sou about last week
has closed almost before it opened.
A t the "Tw o G Shopping Center"
on M artin Luther King Blvd . across
fro m the Cable
Access F a c ility
The C om m unity
s till has a great
need for such an
institution, and I
hope this objectiv e
w ill be attained in
the near future
I w ill earn on
by listing several African-American
C atalog B ookstores' th a t have
excellent selections o f both current
and tim e-tested classics in our
literature, movies and videos Be
sure to see last week’ s observer
N ew spaper (P erspectives, p.2)
for the in itia l listing o f books and
sources.
W rite or call: African American
Images, 1909 W 95th street. Dept
MC. Chicago. Ill 6064T (312) 445-
0322: Also. A & B Book Distributors.
Inc . 149 Lawrence Street. Brooklyn.
New York 11201, (718) 596-3369.
Now, for a most useful general catalog
covering all subjects under the sun
from ethnic to science, fiction to his
tory. self-help to
medicine, music to
b ib lio g ra p h ie s ,
write. Edward R
H am ilton, Book
seller. Falls V il
lage. Ct 06031-
5000 & Barnes
And Noble. Book
sellers. 126 Fifth
Ave., N Y . N Y. 10011
There follows some more o f the
best in my personal library , out o f a
thousand or more (always ask for the
latest edition and the paper back if
available) Now . we all have our fa
vorite local sources and mine is the
Looking Glass Bookstore at 318 S W.
Taylor (227-4760). Very excellent
personal service, and i f item is no, in
stock, they w ill promptly locate a source
and order it foryou O f course, thereis
Powell's on West Burnside and there
is Dalton's I do not know i f Barnes <Jt
Noble has opened the planned Port
land Store yet
"Secrets O f The Great Pyramid"
by Peter Tompkins (Harper & Row).
This is the best o f the books on the
great py ranuds built by the Africans in
Egypt, accurate, detailed and thor
oughly documented—well illustrated
and supported by mathematics and
much factual history without racial
bias This is a must!
Whether you are interested in
science or you have y oungsters headed
in that direction, the following two
books w ill be very helpful and enlight
ening You can all grow w ith them
through the years as you begin to
understand more and more w ith these
two easy -reading books: easy reading,
plain language "UndcrstandingPhys-
ics” by Isaac Asimov (Dorset Press)
y ou may still be able to get this 700
page. 3-part book for only $9.95 from
The Scholars Bookshelf. 110 M elrich
Road. Cranbury. N.J. 08512. ship-
pmg $400 If no,, order locally
The other science book is "The
World o f Measurements" by H Arthur
K le in (S im o n <& S ch u ste r--g ct
latest edition) This wonderful book
should be a companion to every o ne -
student. the curious, historian or just
general interest How. why and when
did man begin measuring things, and
how does he do it yet today Distance,
objects, temperature, light, atoms, ra
diation. speed, electricity , time, age o f
fossils, sound, pressure, gravity or
whatever. It's hard to put this one
down
Order the follow ing three little
paperback gems from that local Look
ing Glass Bookstore. "The Mismeasure
O f Man." by Steven Gould This book
tells how all those racist attacks on the
minority I Q. and intellect developed
and the manner in which so-called
science aided and a betted this trav
esty - u n til this day Both historic base
and current thinking—refutations. The
other two books are for those with
strong science interests and w ho won
der about where modem physics is
going (like that Super C ollide r'
they’ re going to tax you for) Get
"Dancing Wu L i Masters" and/or “ The
Tao o f Phy sics”
So many readers keep asking for
this citation that I am going to repeat
it for every body "Stay ing Power The
History o f Black People in Britain” by
Peter Freyer (Humanities Press) The
book is fu ll o f exciting rev elations o f
African presence and contributions in
England, from the Scottish'bands to
the pensioned American slave veter
ans w ho fo u g h t against the
slaveholders like Washington and
Jefferson in Revolutionary War (or
der from that "Barnes & Noble Book
store” , $12.95).
There has been a lot o f discussion
across America by both blacks and
whites concerning "Black Athena" by
M artin Bernal (Rutgers V Press).
Volume I. "The Fabrication o f A n
cient Greece 1785-1985", was pub
lished in 1987. Volume II, “ The A r
cheological and Documentary E vi
dence". was published in 1991 These
critical w ritings about the Afroasiatic
roots o f Classical C ivilization’ (so-
called Greco-Roman) rev eal how rac
ist historians o f the 18th and 19th
centurv rew rote and distorted history
in order to hide the African origin.
Order through "Looking Glass Book
store” .
This erudite professor o f Govern
ment Studies at Cornell University
and formerly a Fellow o f K in g ’s Col
lege, Cambridge England, has under
standably incurred the wrath o f every
racist scholar, historian and educator
in the U.S.. and the world
F in a lly , a world-class w hite
scholar has come forward and thor
oughly established and documented
that the pioneering black historians
w ere right about the seminal and origi
nal African contribution to the world
culture, philosophy , science and reli
gion.
The detractors o f "P ortland’s
Baseline Essays" and national detrac
tors o f "M ulticultural Curriculum and
Education" w ere sent reeling by these
publications More good reading next
week.
The Tax Law That Can Confiscate Up To 70% Portland Takes Initial Steps To Improve
Per Cent Of Your Assets When You Die
Minority Contracting
BY OMARI KENYATTA, J. D.
D id you know there is a federal
tax law that gives the I R S the right
to confiscate up to 70% per cent o f
your assets when you die’’
This federal tax legislation was
formulated w ith the help o f a wealthy
Senator from Oklahoma, by the name
o f Robert S Kerr However, the Sena
tor died in 1978. he left an estate o f
worth $20,000,000 dollars After his
death, it was discov ered that this Sena
tor died interstate, in other words he
died without a w ill His heirs received
a b ill from the IR S on his estate for
$9,000,000 dollars, this money had to
be paid in fu ll w ithin 9 months from
the date o f the letter, from the I R S
You are probably say ing to your
self good he got what he deserv ed
But. this w riter wants you to know it 's
not his intention to castigate the Sena
tor for not having a w ill but. to show
you what can happen ifyou do not get
the proper information about your es
tate w hen you prepare your w ill or i f
you don’t have a w ill I f this can
happened toa Senatoras wealthy as he
was, it can happen to you. even i f you
have a much smaller estate I f your
estate exceeds $600,000 dollars, fed
eral estate taxes w ill be lev ied upon it
right after your death The rate o f the
taxes w ill quickly rise from 37% per
cent to 55% per cent
There is a solution for the above
Problem:
What one can do. is buy an inex
pensive Insurance policy, the name o f
this policy is called (joint and last
surv iv or) or second to die policy . It
w ill cost you about 1 % per cent o f your
net worth each year This kind o f
policy can save your heirs from many
problems after your death One thing
this policy would do is keep the heirs
from having to come up with large
sums o f cash to pay the federal estate
BY JAMES POSEY
After years o f floundering, the
city finally follows through on its com-
mitincnt to level the contracting play-
ing field. In a recent City Council
informal hearing, council members
unanimously approved a 12-poin,plan
that should improve contracting op
portunitics for m inorities throughout
the city and the state
Mayor Vera Katz outlined the
work o f staff, which was lead prima-
rily by Assistant C ity Attorney
Madelyn Wcsscll and Sam Adams,
the mayor's executive assistant. Scv-
eral policy and procedural changes
were proposed that arc intended to
open access to minority contractors
and ensure a greaterdegree ofequality
in the contracting process. Much o f
the proposal included recommcnda-
tions made by N A M C O and other
minority contractors to improve the
system.
The most critical clement o f the
city's proposal was the agreement to
move ahead on funding a disparity
study. This study has long been pro
posed by many tocstablish a firm legal
Send your letters to the Editor to:
foundation for the implementation o f
a goals program The most significant
Editor, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 972108
aspect o f the proposal is the w illin g
former African American employees to conduct a comprehensiv e national ness to move forward in making posi
without stating that both complaints survey o f m inority organizations. tive changes in the absence o f a
were dismissed due to lack o f grounds IM PACT identified 678 minority or "Croson-type" disparity study This
for a claim
ganizations, 3.1 percent out o f 22.000
The article also mentions sev eral total since 1987, a sim ilar number. 3
successful African American conv en 5 percent o f PO VA's total bookings
tions that were put together with the has been minority groups.
hard work o f local African American
POVA also has an aggressive
representatives POVA booked each M in o rity Business E n te rp rise s
one o f those conventions with the purchasing program. Last year. 9.4 make this selection process include
invaluable help o f local representa percent o f POVA's total MERC pur more community input than ever be
tives.
chase went to minority businesses fore.
F in a lly . M r M oore accuses POVA also has exceeded its affirm a
“ I am pleased to report that this
POVA o f a "lack o f sincere commit tive action hiring objects v iews at all nationw tdc recruitment and the com
ment and inv olv ement as it relates to levels w ithin the association Cur parisons it made possible showed
African American convention mar rently. 42 percent o f PO VA's Con clearly that both o f our internal can
keting. delegate servicing and espe vention Sales Department is minority didates—Charles Moose and David
cially hiring practices for marketing status
W illia m s —were o f unsurpassable
and top management positions " In
Sincerely
quality.
1990. POVA contracted with IMPACT
W.Gary Grimmer
“ Assistant C hief W illiam s is a
Business Consultants, a minontv firm.
Executive Director
superb public servant and an out
tier
Letter To The Editor:
I am w riting in response to the
article by Stephen Moore which ap
peared in the June 2 edition o f The
Portland Observer entitled “ Metro
Calls For Review O f Recommenda
tion Excluding Blacks ’’ A few points
brought out it the article need to be
clarified
M r Moore states that POVA's
M inority Intern Program was never
implemented Actually , the program
was implemented and continues to
successfully p ro vid e in d u s try
exposure to minority students Since
the program's inception in 1988,
11 minority students out o f 54 total
have completed internships at POVA
That is 20 percent M r Moore goes
on to mention two discrimination
complaints filed against POVA by
taxes w ithin 9 months The Insurance
policy would protect the surviving
spouse, in other words the entire es-
tate would be pass on to the surv iving
spouse without paying federal estate
taxes. What would happen when the
last surv iv ing spouse dies is; the in-
surance company would be required
to pay the federal estate taxes, for this
estate.
I hope the readers o f this article
w ill take this educational information
and talk to someone that understands
estate taxes and planning before they
have their w ill drafted Even if you
have a small estate you should still
look into how you can protect your
surv iving spouse and your heirs, from
such a large loss o f your estate. You
arc probably not aware o f the fact
there arc people who have lost their
entire estate Because o f federal estate
taxes and other fees. 1 think you know
what other fees I'm referring to
'"Che (SLditór
factor demonstrates real courage and
commitment on the part o f the City
Council and. especially, the Mayor to
do the right thing We give the Mayor
an A + for leadership in the matter
W hile the council w ill not take
formal action on Katz's Fair Con
tracting and Employment Initiative
until June 30, they should be applauded
for their actions thus far. We encour
age all N AM C O members and friends
to call or write council members and
commend them for their efforts
In contrast to other media repre
sentations. this development may not
be headline grabbing or sensational
news But the progress the city is
making in its m inority contracting
policy is the kind o f change that w ill
make a difference. Cautious optimism
is shared by most who view this action
by the city as the first real attempt to
practice true economic diversity and
inclusion
We can t give Mayor Katz enough
credit for leadership in the matter, but
it obvious that every council member
was anxious to contribute to the solu
tion. Council members may recognize
how important their actions are in
terms o f silencing the many criticisms
o f minority contractor groups But
they also may not fu lly realize how
their actions w ill serve to psychologi
cally lift community spirits and pro
mote economic healing.
In the face o f so many problems
confronting the African-Am erican
community, this action w ill hopefully
set an example o f how local govern
ments can work w ith communities in
good faith to bring about economic
reforms But make no mistake about
it, this is just the first step. The city
must understand that the problem o f
discrimination in contracting is in
sidious and w ill not be easily extin
guished
The other solemn question is now
that there are serious attempts to open
up the process, w ill minorities be ready,
or get ready, to take advantage o f the
opportunities? W hile what the city is
attempting to do is fair and right, it is
not a give away. M inority contractors
must be not only capable o f perform
ing. but must spend some time going
the extra mile to ensure that their
business house is in order. Take it
from someone who knows, after years
o f try ing to knock down barriers, this
may be as big a hurdle to clear as racial
discrimination itself Because when it
is all said and done, regardless o f
racism and discrimination, contract
ing is a tough competitive business
that takes no prisoners.
James Posey is a local, small busi
ness ow ner w ith a background in so
cial work and community activism.
Mayor Vera Katz Selects Charles Moose
To Be Portland’s Chief Of Police
© je ^ o rfla n it © bscruer
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The Portland O bserver-Oregon's Oldest African-American Publlcatlon-
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
P lease fill out ,
ing and realigning patrol districts to
neighborhoods We are. indeed,
blessed to have the services o f
these two fine officers and I look
forward to continuing to work with
both o f them
“ The outside candidates were also
in the first rank among law enforce
ment executives
"C h ie f Brann has had an exem
plary record o f fighting crime, first in
Santa Ana, C a lif, and more recently
in Hayward where he turned a tradi
tion-bound police department into a
national model o f community polic
ing
“ C hief Mangan o f Spokane of
fers remarkable intellectual capacity
and an exceptional ability to translate
theory into practice
"In the end. however, my deci
sion was made not just on the basis o f
the intrinsic strengths each o f the
candidates offered—and each offered
a great many more than I have enu-
merated-but also, finally, on how I
judged each would perform in This
city, at This time, in the face o f the
particular challenges we face today.
Clearly, the name o f Charles Moose
rose to the top
“ Unquestionably, C hief Moose
has his work cut out for him. I have
high expectations I share the frustra
tions the community feels at the in
tractability o f crime in the city. It
must be brought undercontrol through
a community-based process that re
duces crime and the fear o f crime.
Like all Portlanders. I want results. It
w ill take all o f us working together to
get them
It is now may pleasure to intro
duce to the people o f this great city,
our new C hief o f Police, Charles
Moose.”
Black lssue....Big Concern
Metro Tells Visitors Association To Wait
ENCLOSE CHECK OR
MONEY ORDER,
and
standing law enforcement officer w ho
commands the respect o f the commu
nity, the Police Bureau and law en
forcement colleagues across the coun
try. He managed production o f the
Bureau s five-year transition plan and
has managed its transition to commu
nity policing as the number-two o ffi
cial in the Bureau He developed the
B u re a u s
n eighborhood-based
patrol deployment plan for rcdistrict-
( Continued from front page
M ail to :
( 'ont inuedfrom front page
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T hank Y ou F or R eading
¡ T he P ortland O bserver ■
to believe that tax funding is vital to
theircfforts. they have failed lob rin g
to light a companion entity. the POVA
Foundation which isa new non profit
operation that is receiving funds from
undisclosed sources The Foundation
is supposedly for educational pur
poses. but has the ability to receive
m illions o f dollars without having to
answer to anyone other than their
board o f directors
PO VA's most recent proposition
to include job training programs in
the hotel industry was viewed as be
ing insulting "Everyone knows that
blacks, htspames and poor w lutes arc
the ones that arc cleaning the rooms.
m aking the beds, sweeping the
floors and parking the cars, so I am
not sure what type o f job training
programs that they re referring to” ,
said another black business profes
sional that has been follow ing the
recent revelations “ I f these POVA
hotels arc really interested, then
why aren't they talking about man
agem ent. sales and m a rk e tin g
positions that arc in the range o f
$35,(XX) and up and not the ones of
$17,(XX) and down'.’"
Il w ill now be up to the specially
selected committee to developed
a plan for the minority marketing
project as w ell as a substantial
budget. " I f PO VA professes to
sec a real and sincere need for the
inclusion o f the Black vendor in the
industry, one would be curious
as to w hy they arc resisting the redis
tribution o f the METRO contract dol
lars .''
U hilc POVA continues to claim
that they aredoingan outstandingjob
in the area o f Black and ethnic mar
keting. more recent information from
individual as well as an article in a
national magazine indicates a con
tinual number o f Black conv entions
and conferences that have not se
lected Portland, prim arily due to this
pending issue