Volume XXIV Number 4 1
Serving the community through cultural diversity
Bootsy Collins
Entertainer Bootsy Collins
and his rubber band will
perform in Portland.
October 12. 1994
Quarterback
Cousins
Northwest A rtist
Featured
One is the quarterback at
Wilson High, the other leads
the Jefferson Democrats.
Wi'.sZ Coast
See Entertainment, page B3.
Black Publishers
present Seattle s Mona Lake
Jones.
See Sports, page B2.
See Metro, inside.
(Ehe ffiartíanh (T
Central
Library
Moves
NAACP Sues Chavis
The NAACP has sued its former ex
ecutive director, Benjamin Chavis, tor the
$82,400 he used in an attempt to settle a
sexual discrimination claim by Mary
Stansel. In acounter lawsuit filed in Wash
ington, D C. Superior Court, the NAACP
said Chavis “had no authority” to make the
deal with the former aide without prior
approval of the 64-member board of direc
tors.
Clinton Praised On Haiti
Walter Fauntroy, former Congress
man from the District of Columbia and ex-
chairman of a House task force on Haiti has
praised President Clinton for his leader
ship and accord on Haiti. He said an inva
sion would have made the job of reconcili
ation and recovery enormously more diffi
cult. “We must support and protect those
Haitians who are committed to abiding by
the Haitian Constitution while punishing
those who by their actions demonstrate
that they are not,” he said.
U.S. Has Rental
Shortage
The U.S. Census Bureau says there
are not enough vacant housing units avail
able in the nation with rents low enough to
effectively alleviate cost burdens for low-
income renters. African Americans and
other minorities are two to three times
more likely than white residents to live in
low-income households. Almost two mil
lion affordable vacant units were for rent in
1991, but there were over fi ve mil I ion low-
income renters with heavy housing cost
burdens.
Tyson’s Claim Denied
A U.S. District Court has denied Mike
Tyson's claim he is being wrongly held
because of his conviction by a Marion
County, Indianacourt. The judge dismissed
Tyson’s writ claiming the selection of the i
initial trial judge was wrong; the exclusion |
of certain evidence; the application of
Indiana’s rape shield law; and the judge’s
denial of a jury instruction, was wrong.
Judge Sarah Evans Barker ordered that
these issues not be raised in that court
again. Tyson is due to by released next j
May from the Indiana Youth Center.
Study Finds Higher
Taxes
Black hom eowners in many of the
I n atio n ’s suburbs pay higher properly
taxes than their counterparts, accord
ing to a New York Tim es report. The
Tim es reported that the survey in
cluded 30 cities and 31 suburbs and
found that black homeow ners are taxed
more than whites on com parable homes
in 58 percent o f the suburbs and 30
percent o f the cities. The report said
one probable reason is the flight of
business ow ners from some suburbs
as blacks move in and white leave,
saddling those who stay behind with a
higher tax burden
P o r tla n d ’s h isto ric M u ltn om ah
County Central Library will close its doors
in late fall for a major renovation.
The 81-year-old library at 801 S.W.
10th is undergoing a face lift that will take
two-and-a-half years to complete.
Closure begins Nov. 26 as work crews
begin moving the library’s 1.25 million books
and other materials to temporary quarters.
T he lib rary will then reopen as
“TransCentral Library” Dec. 19at 1400S.W.
Fourth Ave., with much of its collection
available.
Because of the size and complexity of
the move, many of the books and materials
will not be accessible until the move is com
pleted in mid-January.
“Moving will help ensure the safety of
library patrons, staff and library resources,”
said Ginnie Cooper, the county’s director of
libraries. “We know that no time is a good
time to close a library, but construction at
Central begins in February and we’ve chosen
December to close for the move because we
know it is traditionally the slowesttime of the
year for library users. We apologize for the
inconvenience this will cause our patrons.”
Prometheus Jones sits outside the landmark Central Library as workers inside prepare to move to temporary quarters. The
library will soon undergo a major remodeling that will take almost three years to complete.
Minority Contracting
To Get Examined
Gandhi To
Discuss
Nonviolence
P
run Gandhi, the grandson of
India's legendary “Mahatma”
Gandhi, will be at Portland
State University Monday, Oct. 17 to
discuss “Nonviolence or Nonexist
ence: Options for the 21 st Century.”
This free public lecture will begin at
noon in the PSU Smith Ballroom.
Mayor Vera Katz said the study would
focus on the opportunities and barriers faced
by people of color and women.
"Without economic equality we cannot
have true equality in our community for all of
our citizens. This study will enable us to make
sure those opportunities exist for people who
have previously been shut out of the main
stream in the construction industry," said Katz.
Similar studies have been done around the
county as a result of a Supreme Court decision
invalidating state and local government affir
mative action programs relating to construc
tion bids.
The studies explore whether there is a
need for employment oriented programs for
people who are traditionally discriminated
against, primarily people of color and women.
Subsequent programs attempt to remedy
past discrimination proven by the disparity
studies.
The study is expected to help fend off
legal challenges to programs local govern
ments institute in the future and assist minority
and women owned businesses in the metro
politan area.
A
Arun Gandhi, the grandson of India's
legendary “Mahatma'' Gandhi.
sters to keep a diary of anger, an “angry
book” to chronicle, understand and per
haps purge their anger. Anger, of itself, is
not a bad thing, he said, but it should be
used effectively and positively, to solve an
issue or conflict. He also promotes his
grandfather's principle of "trusteeship,"
the belief that we are trustees for one
another, so what we have and are should
benefit not only ourselves but society as a
whole.
In keeping with his philosophies,
Gandhi presented workshops on nonvio
lent conflict resolution and management to
rival youth gangs in South Africa this past
Like his grandfather, whose non
violent civil disobedience led to In d ia's
eventual em ancipation from Great B rit
ain, Arun G andhi had dedicated his life
to the achievem ent of peace through
nonviolence.
“Hundreds of institutions teach com
bat,” he said. “I believe in providing people
the means to discuss and learn about the
power of non-violent philosophies.”
Cities mus, address the causes of vio
lence rather than its results, he maintains.
And we must begin early, teaching our
children to resolve conflict in ways other
than with violence. Offering conflict reso
lution and peer mediation in schools in one
thing he advocates. Another is for young-
ortland has called for a study
of minority hiring by contrac
to rs w ho re c e iv e public
contracts.
▼
Continued to page B4
The Portland effort has been designed to
provide information regarding apprenticeship
and employment systems which have histori
cally operated in the construction trades.
“Workforce data and other evidence we
have reviewed indicated that there have been
significant barriers to equal opportunity,” said
Madelyn Wessel, a city attorney who is head
ing up the study.
Wessel said many local governments have
seen their minority and women-owned busi
ness participation drop off considerably since
they lost the legal basis for establishing en
forceable contracting goals in 1989.
Some indirect obstacles to minority and
women-owned businesses and workers have
been identified as lack of credit, bonding and
technical education.
Officials expect the study will examine
such barriers in detail, providing valuable in
sights into problem-solving strategies.
“The city's public works projects must be
a vehicle of opportunity for all the citizens of
this community,” said Katz. “I am committed
to doing everything possible to ensure that they
are.
Katz said a fair, rigorous and detailed
study has been a high priority. She welcomed
the participation in the study which includes
Multnomah and Washington counties, Tri-Met,
Gresham, Metro and the state of Oregon.
Leary Resigns From Self Enhancement
Portland organization provid
Tony Hopson, S E I's president and
ing in n e r-c ity youth w ith
founder, will assume Leary 's duties to com
constructive alternatives to
plete a capital campaign for a proposed Cen
drugs, gangs and violence is losing
ter for Self Enhancement, scheduled for
one of its managers.
groundbreaking at Unthank Park in North
east Portland in m id-1995.
Ray Leary, the executive vice president
“It is with a full heart and warm wishes
of Self Enhancement, Inc., has resigned to
that I leave SEI after working with a very
join Adidas America, the international manu
special group of people, in a very special
facturer of sports footwear and apparel. He
city,” Leary said. “I look forward to continu
will oversee the company’s national urban
ing to serve young people and families in
business efforts from their headquarters in
North/Northeast Portland and in communi
Portland.
ties across the country.”
A
Hopson said while Leary was leaving his
official capacity at SEI, the organization was
counting on his continued support because of
his dedication to children and the commu
nity.
Over the last 13 years, SEI has grown
from a week-long summer basketball camp
to a year-round, in-school program that serves
over 12,000 students in seven elementary,
middle and high schools in North and North
east Portland.
SEI has raised $5 million of the $8.5
million needed to build the proposed center
Completion of the building will allow SEI to
triple the number of young people currently
served.
The center will be a 60,000 square-foot
facility containing classrooms, computer and
music laboratories, a multi-cultural library,
athletic facilities, a dance studio, auditorium
and administrative offices.
Programs would include self esteem and
social development, career and special talent
development, academic enhancement, cultural
development, health and athletic development
and community and family involvement.
31
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