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F ebruary 8, 1995 • 1 he P ortland O bserver
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Love, Beauty And Truth!
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toil and the giving of one's self for a
secure future.
In this day when, it seems, ev
eryone is attempting to "do their own
thing" without regard for family,
friend or foe, it is not surprising when
acts of love are tew and far between.
When one does come across an un
selfish act of love, it is viewed with
suspicion and beliet that there must
be an ulterior motive; the person
performing an act of love is looked
upon as a fool; a sucker to be used
and misused or at least to be discred
ited in the eyes of all beholders.
Therefore, charitable gifts are given
to the poor with strings attached; 1)
They must kowtow and give thanks
or they will not receive assistance. 2)
They must wait until persons and
agencies are ready to help, no matter
how dire the need might be. 3) Still
they do not meet the requirements for
assistance; they must have nothing
. M. I saacs
Where is the love, beauty and
truth we seek'’ This question, in some
degree, can be seen on all adult faces
in all walks of life. As 1 walk the
streets of our city , view ing mankind
as I go, I see, to some degree, despair,
loss and loneliness on the faces of all
with whom I come in contact. Fear is
most apparent in body language and
mistrust shines forth from the eyes.
Some put on brave faces to meet the
public, masks that hide the hopeless
ness, the depression and in many
instances, the greed, hate and vio
lence lurking close beneath the sur
face. In all I view, fear is the most
prominent emotion. Fear of what to
morrow will bring; fear of death of
self and loved ones; fear of being
alone in this world; fear of hunger;
fear of loss of everything one has
accumulated throughout a lifetime of
material nor, in some instances, must
they have any smattering of pride or
integrity.
In some agencies, receiving gov
ernment funds for assistance to the
needy, you must present your request
for assistance to the lowest person
employed by the agency, travel up
the personnel ladder person by per
son, exposing your needs, your per
sonal business, your life style, your
physical and emotional shortcom
ings to all and sundry, until you reach
the head of the agency, only to find
you do not qualify for assistance.
Meanwhile, you’ve spent all your
money for transportation to and from
the agency, begged neighbors to
babysit, when without meals, etc.,
because this was necessary to keep
all the appointments required to re
ceive assistance. Therefore, you’ve
ended up poorer than before your
requested help. Is there any wonder
that there is hate, mistrust and de
spair among those needing assistance
to maintain life?
A case study, for the sake of
privacy I’ll call this person Mary.
Mary, a widow, found herself short
of funds, with bills she could not pay
because of high rent. If she paid the
rent, electricity, life insurance and
transportation, there would be noth
ing left for food. Therefore, she de
cided to apply for temporary food
stamps until she could find a cheaper
place to live; and thereby, hangs this
tale: She secured a ride to the food
stamp office, only to be told she was
not at the office that handled her area.
Although, she felt she was imposing
on the person giving her a ride, she
was taken to the proper office. There
she was given an appointment to
meet with a case worker two day
hence. Using 50 cents o f her meager
funds she arrived for her appoint
ment, only to find that she was not
told about everyth ing she was to bring
with her. Another appointment was
set up for her to bring in the required
information. Hungry anddisappoint-
ed, Mary' returned home, using a
neighbor’s phone she secured copies
of information required, gathering
all she could find; lest they ask for
something they had forgotten to in
form her she would need A week
passed before her next appointment
for an interview with the case work
er. The morning of her appointment,
Mary received a call from the agency
receptionist, informing her that her
case worker was called away and that
her appointment would be set over to
the next week. More than seven days
has passed since she first went into
the office to apply for food stamps.
By this time, Mary is angry, and she
remembers all the food she has do
nated to feed the poor, all the money
QO-vunq¿OsfricariUsiner leans ® f'~& ie y o s
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bs M orris P rice
A sso cia te
d ir ec to r
*2
A frican Am ericans has reached
levels o f teenage crime and vio
le n c e th a t I w o u ld n ’t h av e
dream ed possible 20 years ago.
However, as a college adm inis
trator, I am also in a position to
w itness an army o f youth, who,
like the teenagers o f the ’60s,
have decided to change the world
they were born in. Armed only
with sweat, determ ination and
optimism - and getting precious
little support from the govern
ment and the older generation -
these young people are truly the
ancestors o f the ’60s radicals.
Does history really repeat it
self? Take a look at the African-
Am erican contingent o f the so-
called G eneration X. This gener
ation has adopted afros, bell bot
toms, angry music and a defiant
distaste for anything that resem
bles The Establishment.
of
O f
M u ltic u ltu ra l a d m issio n ;
D e P auw U niversity ; G reen
castle , I ndiana
A DM IS S IO N /C O O R D IX A T O R
I d o n ’t want to hear another
h orror story about the next gen
eration o f A frican A m ericans.
Pundits on TV and in the papers,
school officials, and governm ent
bureaucrats have all w eighed in
on the lethal mix o f violence and
ap ath y am ong young A frican
A m ericans. I would like to re
mind the w ell-m eaning com m en
tators that what this generation
needs are a few heroes, and that
these kids may have a better his
torical sense o f “the good old
days’’ than we care to adm it.
As a child of the ’60s, I readi
ly admit that this generation of
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Wishes You A Happy New Year
As We Begin
Our 25th Anniversary
A H M I V E R S A R Y______ o f publication.
CfinUncn !/intenten t
(503) 735-1795 700 N. Killingsworth, Portland Oregon 97217
MIRACLES CLUB
&
XCEL (X-CONVICTS EMBRACING LIFE)
Present’s
Black History Month Lecture Series
Every Sunday During Black History Month
5:00 -6:00 P.M.
Sunday, February 12th Professor McKinley Burt, Author, Historian
Sunday, February 19th Halim Rahsaan, Youth Counselor,
Community Activist
'i f ( / l ò i e
cffafa tDne e f a O ì n k / 2
- ^ m e lic a n dateti rt /ficcfùì
Sunday, February 26th Kamau Sadiki, Engineer, Intellectual,
Organizer
Free Admission To All Lectures
dftXAxafh
— vlrneHcan
■ K e itla y .'Hiili’
(Ofien
103 NE Morris St., Portland, OR 97212
Herfnesctny - tfantny
V ifatictcfaif
J():()Cnni-(S :OOftnt
2808 , IO > Unititi in ttie ì O/ting i /U p U.
Otti* rl - U n iìn y 'jn ciicn (.tO.J ) 288-5246
Mt Olivet
Baptist Church
8501 N. Chautauqua Blvd.,
at Willis Blvd.
W orship Services 8:00am & 1 I 00am.
Church School 9:30 to 10:30am.
B ible Study. Wednesdays, 10:30am & 7:00pm
Radio M inistry each Sunday, 8:00am on K B M S
¿Teaching Church With A Reaching Ministry
Dr. James E. Martin. Senior Pastor
(503) 240-PRAY
FA
,,
Luther King and M alcolm X.
Tought that if we worked hard,
turned the other cheek, and re
formed our own com m unities, we
had believed that truth, justice
and the A m erican way would
eventually win out. The assassi
nations proved us wrong.
Shocked by the Rodney King
verdict in 1993, frustrated A fri
can-Am erican youth in Los An
geles set fire to the city as a
reflection o f their d isb elief in
so ciety ’s ability to provide ju s
tice. The m essage co u ld n ’t have
been clearer: “ Burn, baby, burn!”
W here were the com forting
words from the civil rights veter
ans - who, a mere 25 years earli
er, attem pted to send the same
m essage in the same m anner? Is
it so hard to believe that to d ay ’s
youth have read th eir history
books and learned that seldom
C^ticrccs
i
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„ r tr r > r > r -ltin n <
does anything change w ithout a
spark?
Many people condem n to
d ay ’s G eneration X for being
feckless, reactionary and imma
ture. We ask, “ W here did they
learn such attitudes?” We need
look no further than ourselves.
Youth o f the ’60s were hell
bent to change the world and de
term ined not to become part of
the problem . We were com m it
ted. We believed that the world
as it had been handed down to us
should not an would not, remain
the racist place it was. What hap
pened? After 25 years, w e're hell
bent on getting a better jo b with
a corner office. And w e’re com
m itted again - com m itted to not
rocking the boat.
It shouldn't surprise us ex-radi
cals that African-American youth
aren’t running after jobs at the big
corporations but are rather volun
teering in grassroots community or
ganizations. Some are postponing law
school to join the Peace Corps. Afri
can-American students at my univer
sity in January did a reenactment of
Martin Luther King’s 1963 march on
Washington. They want to change
the world.
"Burn, baby, burn” is no dry
phrase from a history book to
these kids but a word o f w arning
from a bright generation who may
have been paying more attention
to their history lessons than we
imagined. If our older genera
tion has failed, it is by failing to
give the younger generation the
same kind o f heroes and d irec
tions we had. Martin Luther King
provided a direction for our an
ger, a d ire c tio n th at to d a y 's
young African A m ericans need
badly.
Miracles Club
(Efye I f J o r f l a t t b ( 0 b s r r u e r
I
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.........................
At first glance, these may
seem like nothing but fashion
sta te m e n ts from a re b ellio u s
youth unconcerned with politics.
But look more closely: African-
Am erican youth are also return
ing to the civil grass-roots. The
m ovem ent started with people
who tried to change the world by
changing them selves. But some
where along the way the move
ment forgot its grass roots, and
th a t’s when it lost a lot o f us.
Although the slogans are dif
ferent, today’s students reflect
the same attitudes we chanted in
the ’60s: "Burn, baby, burn.” “ If
y o u ’re not a part o f the solution
y o u 're a part o f the problem ."
“ D on’t trust anyone over 30.”
"Burn, baby, burn” was the
expression o f a frustrated gener
ation that felt helpless and be
trayed after the deaths o f Martin
she donated to United Way for social
services; a lifetime of giving and now
when she is in need, there is no assis
tance readily available. Mary calls
the supervisor of the food stamp agen
cy and voices her complaint. The
supervisor tells Mary to come in and
a field worker would be available to
take her information. Mary' comes
into the office and meets with the
field worker who informs here that
all information given before would
have to be filed again, because no
one knows were to locate the file the
other case worker had started. Luck
ily, Mary had put all the information
into her purse, wisely surmising that
something like this would happen.
The new field worker does not iden
tify herself, but she is pleasant enough
and sympathized with Mary regard
ing the length of time taken to pro
cess here application tor food stamps.
(Continued next week.)
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Sunday School - 9:30am
Sunday Morning Worship Service - 1 1:00am
Sunday School Teacher’s Meeting Tues - 6:30pm
Bible Study Wednesday 6:00pm
Prayer Meeting Wednesday - 7:00pm
Church Phone Number
287-7457
We Invite You To Come And Worship With Us.
The Church Where Everybody is Somebody And Chris! Is All.
Dr. Joe S. Hardie, Pastor
FAITH TEMPLE CHURCH
4224 S.E.62nd Avenue
(between Powell & Foster)
Portland, Oregon 97206
SUNDAY
Sunday School 9:30am
Morning Worship 10:45am
Evangelistic Service 7:30pm
Tuesday Pastoral Teaching 7:00pm
FRIDAY
Evangelistic Service 7:00pm
DAILY
Prayer 12:00pm & 6:00pm
(50,3) 774-5470
PASTORS: Bishop Robert Simpson, Jr • Dr Ida M Simpson
February 18, 1995
The 5th annual Prayer Breakfast of the Portland Section of the National
Council of Negro Women will be held on Saturday, February 18, 1995 at
Shenanigan's Restaurant, 4575 N. Channel Ave., Swan Island from 9:00
AM to 12:00 Noon. Breakfast will be served between 9:00 and 10:30 a m
Tickets are $15.00 and may be obtained by calling 282-2789.
Js>t. ^a«I ¿fiMtsstottaru
^Baptist (Churclj
8101 N. Fiske Avenue • Portland Oregon 97203
Church Phone: 289-0147 • Study Phone: 289-1911
Sunday Service 10:45
Sunday School 9:30
Bible Study 6:00
Evening Service 7:00pm
Pastor, Re. James C.E. Faulkner
Lighthouse Church Of God In Christ
8138 N Hudson
Portland, OR 97203
(503) 283-3558 * Church (503) 283-0169 * Home
Elder Tom Moore, Pastor
Sunday School 9:30 A M.
Sunday Morning Worship 11:45 A.M.
YPWW 6:30 P.M
Sunday Evening Worship 7:30 P.M.
Tuesday Prayer/Bible Band 7:30 P M
Friday Worship Service 7:00 P.M.
"Come Unto Me All Ye That Labor And Are Heavy Laden.
And I Will Give Yon Rest Take My Yoke Upon You
And Learn Of Me." Matt. 11 28 29
We have a place for you Come fellowship with us!
A Welcome Is Awaiting You!