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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 1994)
M arch P age A4 16, 1994 • T he P ortland O bserver Black History Makers of Tomorrow Two Roads: The Black Woman’s Powerful Influence ISTORY IS VERY INCOM PLETE, AND THE FABRIC OF OUR LIVE WOULD BE NOTHING WITHOUT THE BLACK W OM AN. .. She is c h ild bearer, m other, housekeeper, breadwinner, and coun selor. Every since her strong grace ful, proud, Nubian body was espied along the Gambian Coast o f West A frica, this Black Princess has be come a very vital part o f our A m e ri national "McDonald's Black History Makers of Tomorrow" honorees, at the McDonald’s Leadership Conference, are celebrity spokesperson Sinbad and McDonald's Senior Corporate Attorney Ed Honesty. Students from left to right: Andrew McCaskill, Anthony Young-Garner, Javona Braxton, Ftozalynn Banks, Sinbad, Ed Honesty, Nekia Hackwodh, William Hill, Rudyard Lance Moore Hilliard, Chanelle Matthews, Kelli Patterson. H elping Children Cope W ith D isaster Children And Their Response To Disaster Disasters strike quickly and w ith out warning. These events can be traumatic for adults, but they are frightening fo r children i f they don’ t know what to do. D uring a disaster, children may have to leave their homes and daily routines. They may become anxious, confused or frightened. As an adult, you’ ll need to cope w ith the disaster and also give your children crucial guidance about how to response. Children depend on daily rou tines: they wake up, eat breakfast, go to school, play w ith friends. When emcrgcnc ics or disasters interrupt this routine, children become anxious. In a disaster, they’ ll look to you and other adults for help. How you react to an emergency gives them clues about how to act. I f you react w ith alarm, a child may become more scared. They sec our fear as p ro of that the danger is real. C hildren’ s fears also may stem from their im a gination, and you should take these feelings seriously. A child who feels afraid is afraid. Your words and actions can provide natural for adults and children. B ut as an adult, you need to keep control o f the situation. When y o u ’re sure that danger has passed, concentrate on your ch ild ’ s emotional needs by ask ing the child to explain w hat’ s trou bling him or her. Y o ur response d ur ing this “ problem tim e” may have a lasting impact. Be aware that after a disaster, children are most afraid that: the event w ill happen again; someone w ill be injured or kille d; they w ill be separated from the fa m ily and, they w ill be left alone. reassurance. Feelings o f fear arc healthy and / r -A <• < AFTER THE DISASTER: “TIME FOR RECOVERY” Im m ediately after the disaster, try to reduce your c h ild ’ s read and anxiety. Keep the fam ily together. I f you need to look fo r housing and assistance, you may want to leave your children w ith relative or friends. Instead, keep the fa m ily together as much as possible. C hildren get anx ious, and they’ ll w orry that parents w on ’ t return. C alm ly and firm ly explain the situation. As best you can, tell c h il dren what you know about the disas ter. Explain what w ill happen next. - p* . I 'r . Í > * X', * v : > HIS IS THE SECOND IN A SERIES OF ARTICLES TO INFORMTHECOMMUNITY ABOUTTHE NAT-UREOF FRONTS. In the first article on Black fronts, I tried to define a front. Bottom line, I said these arc businesses w ith Black faces w hich, in varying degrees, are selling out in order to obtain short term financial gain. But this says little about how fronts insidiously sabotage the v ita lity , aspirations and capacity o f real Black businesses to compete in the market place. L ik e a w ell placed blow to the knees, many legitimate Black business have been crippled. However, Black businesses arcn’ tju s ta b le to g c tu p .w in O ly m p ic m edals and go s k a tin g o f f to Disneyland. A frican-Am erican busi ness interests arc being seriously hurt, and hurl in a number o f ways. Let me begin to count the ways. Fron ting ac ti v i ty i n general, and B lack fronting in particular, is one o f the way s Blacks arc prevented from gain ing authentic w ork experience, skills and abilities. Fronting denies le g iti mate Black business people access and opportunity to real-world, busi ness environments which arc essen tial preparation to compete in open markets. Genuine Black businesses arc effectively handicapped, ever de pendent on others; when it comes to biding work, the average, not-so-well- meaning white prime contractor w ill say, “ They ain’t qualified.” W hat this situation does is pul Black businesses in a perpetual down spin. They can’ t get regular work. And any fool knows that consistent, m eaningful w ork is what really deter mines the level and quality o f experi ence, and ultim ately, the quality o f the product or service. I t ’ s no secret ¿'«S •' * ’ ? - s rooms. There is a special m otivation to grow and be somebody when young Black children are exposed to Black women functioning in a ll aspects o f ment. D uring the period when Black men were unable to obtain w ork, the Black woman was rig ht there to take up the slack. Then when the opportu nity came so, the Black man could get a proper edu cation, the Black woman was right there, w orking , tw o jobs some times, to support her man. . . beside a ll o f this, she received a proper education o f her own, and entered the lucrative market o f high finance, after her man got his education, and said “ bye baby I need my space.” She overcame her emotional tu r m oil, rose to place o f prominence in a man-dominated w orld, and is s till flourishing there. This same Black woman does not forget to look back, remember her roots, and now hold hands w ith and encourage her passive Black sisters. She holds meetings and confer ences, te llin g other struggling Black women to take control o f their own lives and try to move on. Our B lack teenage g irls arc given daily examples o f successful Black women liv in g in their time, and rig ht here among them. These same girls are personally encouraged, toto red, and shown how to be their very best by an ethical, moral, and rewarding sys successful living. No working Black woman, young or old, should feel helpless or hope less. The tiniest contribution that you can give, supports the up building o f our society and culture. Your contribution is making sure the very cloth o f our future is strong. You give fa int hope to those women who are sidetracked in life by hus band and boyfriend abuse. You, Black lady, is the beacon light that guides those whose way is slowed down by the rough seas o f ignorance. Yours, may be the “ only voice” that can penetrate the chaotic, drug- befogged brain o f the seemingly out casts o f live. Surely, your hands can be a vital life lin e to our wanabees to gangland. Grip those hands, hold tig htly to them, love them, please, let no more slip aw ay. . . As you drive the streets to and from w ork, as you ride our public transportation, know your place here very life o f one o f her own. sion. She begged at times to try and Include children in recovery ac allay some severe punishment o f a tivities. G ive children chores that are child. Then when that child was their responsibility. This w ill help fin a lly sold away from her bosom, she children feel they are part o f the re bore the emotional wounds to her tem. covery. Having a task w ill help them When at last, the Black woman grave. understand that everything w ill be all Yes, she was there first, and fore was incorporated into the K -6 system right. most, in he fig h t for our freedom. and level o f our education, a dramatic Y o u can help c h ild re n cope turn o f events took place. First Black Harriet Tubman and M ary M cCleod by understand w h a t causes th e ir Bethune, among many others, car kids received a continuous connec a n xie tie s and fears. Reassure them w ith firm n ess and lo ve . Y o u r c h il- O r e g o n B u s in e s s N e t w o dren w i ll re a liz e th a t life w ill Oregon Business N etwork is tak- P ro g ra m : “ M a k in g A n O ut- e v e n tu a lly re tu rn to n o rm a l. I f a ing place Tuesday, March 22,1994 - standing First Impression: c h ild does n ot respond to the above 6:31 P.M . at the Travelodge Hotel, Speaker: Don W right, A form er s u g g e s tio n s , seek h e lp fro m a 1441 NE 2nd Avenue, Portland, OR Portland radio personality, Don is m e n ta l hea lth s p e c ia lis t. Admission Is S till O nly S3. Mem- consideredoneoftheforem ostexecu- For more inform ation and con bers - S5.00 Non-Members & Guests tive speech coach in the N W . This is tacts regarding this subject, please call the Bureau o f Portland Fire, Res- cue&Em ergency Services, PatSwan, Com m unity Relations Assistant, 823- 3754. Black Business Fronts: Not Just A Blow To The Knees J ames L. P osey '¿•r * Crouch down and talk to children at their eye level. Encourage children to talk. Let children talk about the disaster as much as they want. Encourage them to describe what they’re feeling, lis ten to what they say. I f possible, in clude the entire fa m ily in the discus can Odyssey. F ro m th e slave b lo c k s to the c o rp o ra tio n m e e tin g ro o m s , her very presence has sustained o u r entire way o f life . N ot w it h o u t m uted c o m p la in ts , and a s p iritu a l fire th a t burned deep w ith in , d id she bear the h u m ilia tio n o f the S la v e -M a s te r’ s advances. Y e t our race possessed the in b o rn a b ility to persevere and s u rv iv e ! This Black Beauty was house maid, fie ld hand, Master’ s toy, and s till her Black m an’ s lo v e r . . . deep, deep, w ithin her was always a deter m ination, to be true to her man. A ll day long she bowed down, swept doors, cooked meals, washed clothes, picked cotton, and plowed fields. A t evening tim e she marshalled her in dom itable strength, and provided meals and consolation fo r her c h il dren and her man. There were pre sented to her, many occasions, when she had to plea to her Master for the tion w ith the Black M other’ s nurtur ing. Then a true sense o f pride came over them that it was a lrig h t to be different. T h e ir academics took a quantum leap, and embryonic profes sionals were bom in the Black class ried the banners that lead to many advancements in our race. R em em ber w hen M rs. Rosa Parks, tired, and frustrated after a hard day’ s work, just said “ N o !” It opened up and triggered in a new era o f involvement for young and old women in the C iv il Rights M ove that in order to hire a competent, efficient w orkforce and to acquire and maintain dependable equipment, a serious black business must have consistent, profitable work. A c c o rd in g ly , B la c k fro n ts s i phon o f f m uch o f th is w o rk . Some a u th o ritie s agree th a t fro n tin g is one o f the m ost p o te n t fo rm s o f ra c ia l d is c rim in a tio n . I t ’ s p o te n t because o f its d ece ptive nature - g iv in g the appearance o f progress fo r some B la c k s , w h ile m ost arc den ie d real g ro w th o p p o rtu n itie s . The legitimate Black business is struggling to keep its w ork crews employed, stay out in front o f the IRS and insurance companies, pay the mandated high wage rate for less than proficient workers, and patch up less than acceptable equipment. And, on and on and on, just dealing w ith the everyday headaches o f runningasmall business. Consequently, Black busi nesses are drowning in a competitive market, unable to keep their heads above the economic water. And yet, perhaps the greatest impact is how fronting sells future generations short. Maybe only a few can make this connection, but while young whites are surrounded by pros perous role models in every field. Black youth have all but lost th cirrole models in the construction trade and other labor-intensive fields where we were once commonplace. This was when Black men were real producers and bread winners fo r their families. In spite o f its blue-collar image, it was a vocation black youth had to respect, and many looked up to. But today, Black fronts, the new role models, have almost become the rule rather than the exception. The front is quite common, grinning up in the w hite man’ s face, like a Cheshire cat or even a “ tom ” cat, begging for contracts and ending up passing the benefits on to whites who already have steady work. And the way the white and Black gatekeepers patron ize this sort o f behavior, it is calcu lated to reward the wrongdoers and punish those who are trying to do it right. In fact, any Black business that has been around fora w hilecan clearly chart the history o f fronting in O r egon. And over the years, many have watched how numerous Blacks have been beguiled tim e and time again, like lambs to slaughter, into fronting activities. W ell, one docs not have to won der too long about what perpetuates this phenomenon. It can be summed up in tw o words: desperation and deprivation. These tw in evils fore shadow this entire issue. Blacks gen erally realize that m illio n s o f dollars have flowed like water through this com m unity and continue to cascade on whites, like showers from M u lt nomah Falls. But Blacks have been consistently dying o f economic thirst in this midst o f plenty. U nfortunately, some Blacks arc w illin g do anything to drink from this economic w ell- spring, including selling out their own brothers and sisters. It is, w ithout a doubt, a carry over from the legacy o f slavery in this country. But whatever the cause, some how serious-minded Blacks must take action to arrest these Black fronts who have been striking us on the knees fo r some time. But fo r now, their action, along w ith the cumula tive hostile environment for Black business, is striking economic death blows to the head and heart o f A fr i can-Am erican business enterprise. James Posey is a small business owner w ith a background in social work and com m unity activism. among us. Y o u r are watched, emulated, talked after, talked about, and many desire to be ju s t life you someday. . . some boy, some g irl, admires you, and w ill listen to you. The power and influence o f the Black woman is “ real power.” W alk proudly w ith it. Talk seriously and directly w ith it. Let it shine from every molecule o f your proud Nubian being. You are on the w orld stage o f life. Use that stage w e ll. . . rk a “ must see” presentation for anyone in business, sales or public relations. 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