Serving the community through cultural diversity
Volume XXV Number X
(Elje ^.iartlanb (©bserlier
n nt nt u n i t u
a I e n ò a r
February 22, 1995
SECTION
B
DIVERSITY TAKES THE STAGE IN A S H LA N D
Fat Tuesday To Open
Mardi Gras
The second annual Old Town Mardi
Gras takes place on Fat Tuesday, Feb. 28
at the Alexis. Bacchus Wine Bar Cafe,
Berbatis Pan, Couch Street Fish House,
Darcelle XV and Co., Key Largo, Opus
Too/Jazz de Opus and The Republic Cafe.
A $6 pass allows admission to the clubs
with proceeds to benefit Central City Con
cern, an agency fighting homelessness and
chemical dependency.
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Black History Speaker
Featured
Darrell Millner, professor at Portland I
State and former chairman o f the Black
Studies Department and Black Faculty Cau
cus, is keynote speaker during a Black
H ¡story Month address on Monday at noon
at Mt. Hood Community College. Millner
, has published several articles on black |
history. The event is free and the public is
encouraged to attend.
L e W a n A le x a n d e r is T h e se u s, D uke of
A th e n s in the O regon S h a k e s p e a r e
F e stiv a l’s production o f William
S h a k e s p e a r e a n d J o h n F letcher's The
Two N oble K insm en.
Saturday Forum Attacks
Injustice
A panel discusses resistance to op
pression and defense o f human rights on
i Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Peace House,
2116 N.E. 18th. The group includes Lisa
j Clay, a community organizer protesting
' the crime bill and death penalty; La Rita
Spencer o f the African American W omen
Against Racism who is suing Meier and
I Frank for alleged racist abuse; and Philis
Whitmore, feminist organizer against Na
zis and the Oregon Citizens Alliance.
Concerts Held At New
College Chapel
Warner Pacific College, 2119 S.E.
' 68th, continues its Concerts in the Chapel
series to celebrate the opening o f the new
I Schlatter Chapel. A recital by members of
the college's music department faculty
l takes place Thursday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Admission is free and the public is cordial
ly invited to attend.
March Begins Women’s
History Month
The W omen's Union and Resource
| Center at Portland State University is spon-
i soring a series o f events during March as
part o f W omen’s History Month. PSU
faculty and guests will present lectures, art
exhibits and gatherings throughout the
month. For more information contact Oona
Jenkins at 725-5672.
Auditions Held For
Children’s Choir
The Oregon Repertory Singers Chil-
) dren’s Choir meets Wednesday afternoons
at Colonial Heights Presbyterian Church.
2828 S.E. Stephens. Auditions are now
being held. Call Mary Ann Kelley, 246-
8989. Scholarships are also available. The
I goal o f the choir is to create a multi-
j cultural, multi-ethnic singing group which
! represents the diversity o f the Portland
area.
MacBeth At PCC
The Portland Community College
Theatre Department will perform Macbeth
during March. The production promises to
be a powerful re-exploration o f William
Shakespeare's timeless story o f greed, pow-
I er murder, lust and evil. Performances will
begin at 8 p.m. on March 3,4, 8,9, 10 and
' 11 in the Performing Arts Center at the
Sylvania Campus, 12000 S.W 49th. Tick
ets are $5.
Cycling Center Needs
Help
A meeting is held Thursday, March 2
at 7 p.m. at the Northeast Precinct, 449
N.E. Emerson, for volunteers interested in
helping kids fix and ride bicycles. Call
288-8864 for more information.
SU B M ISSIO N S: Community
Calendar information will he given
priority if dated two weeks
before the event date.
B. W. G o n za le z (right) a s Ariel a n d M ichael K evin a s P rospero in th e O regon S h a k e s p e a r e F estiva l’s production o f The
T em p est.
frican-Am ericans are playing
a commitment to change and a vision for the
m ajor ro le s at the Oregon
future, according to B.W. Gonzales, an Afri
S hakespeare F e stiva l and
can American actress who in 1994 played
breaking a color barrier as the festival
Ariel in The Tempest, Hippolyta in the Two
begins it 60th season this February.
Noble Kinsmen and four roles in The Col
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Fifteen percent ofthe acting company at
Ashland and will hold notable roles in the six
plays which open the 1995 season this spring.
And although casting has not yet been
finalized for the remaining five plays, Afri
can-American actors have already signed
contracts to hold prominent roles in Blood
Wedding, The Merry' Wives o f Windsor and
Richard II.
The diversity o f the festival comes from
ored Museum.
G onzales, a th ree-y ear veteran at
Ashland, said it's been difficult for people of
color to be cast in Shakespearean produc
tions around the country.
“Some directors believe that casting
African-Americans in these roles will jeop
ardize the production,’ as the audience might
find such casting to be visually challenging,”
she said.
Grant
Application
Period Opens
he Black United Fund of
Oregon is now accepting
proposals for its General
P urpose G rants program . The
deadline for proposals is5:30p.m .
March 15.
T
G rants are available to non-profit
com m unity-based o rg an izatio n s and
program s th roughout O regon serv-
ing low -incom e people o f all b ack
g rounds in the follow ing areas: Eco-
n o m ic D e v e lo p m e n t E d u c a tio n ,
H ealth, Human S ervices, A rts and
C ulture and Social Justice. G rants
go up to $5,000 each.
The fund is an independent p h il
an th ropic and com m unity d ev elop-
m ent organ izatio n that assists in the
social and econom ic developm ent o f
O re g o n ’s low -incom e com m unities
and in increasing cultural aw areness.
B lack U nited Fund program s are p ri
m arily su p ported by co n trib u tio n s
from in d ividuals through w orkplace
payroll d eduction.
In addition to its allo catio n s pro
gram s the Black U nited Fund offers
m anagem ent a ssistan ce, com m unity
developm ent and outreach and e d u
cation program s to support o rg a n i
zational grow th and to build self-
sufficiency am ong resid en ts in low-
incom e com m unities.
G roups funded in the past in-
j elude M iracle T h eatre, O p eratio n
EASY and St. A ndrew Legal C linic
i in P ortland, the H ispanic A dvocacy
C ouncil in the Bend R edm ond area,
C en tro de A yuda in N ew port and
, M ore inform ation is av ailable from
K ristin Sandvik, director o f program s
at 282-7973.
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Finishing Touches To Sabin Development
P roG rass w orkers S te v e S c h ro c k a n d Dan E d m o n d s a d d th e finishing to u c h e s to lan d sca p in g a t 4 4 0 8 N.E. 10th, a du p lex for
low -incom e resid en ts d e v e lo p e d b y the S a b in C o m m u n ity D e v e lo p m e n t Corp. P roG rass d o n a te d a lm o st $ 4 ,0 0 0 in m aterials
a n d labor, which included n e w s o d a n d a sprinkler sy s te m . It w a s the first o f se v e ra l Sa b in h o u s e s fin a n c e d b y th e non-profit
corporation aw aiting P roG rass la n d sca p e services.
(Photo by Donn Thomas)
Portland’s Largest
Valentine From
United Grocers
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Jim R o b inson, p resid en t o f Thriftway S to re s, Inc., p r e s e n ts a valentine ch eck,
rep resen tin g $ 8 5 ,4 0 0 in fo o d d o n ations from U nited G rocers m e m b e r sto res, to
O fficer H en ry G roepper o f th e Portland P olice D epartm ent. This w as part o f the
third a n n u a l H ave a Heart F ood Drive for th e Portland Police B u rea u 's S u n sh in e
Division.
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“Some directors also feel, in spite of the
fact that African Americans graduate from
the same colleges and conservatories as our
white peers do - that we do not have a facility
for the language.' as one small-minded direc
tor once told me.
“ I give the festival credit for it’s
vision: the vision o f the g reater good,
not ju st in theatre, but in all o f hum anity.
T here is a great deal o f support and
h u m a n ity to be d is c o v e r e d h e r e ,”
G onzales said.
The 1995 festival will include Dr.
Endesha Ida Mae H olland's From the
Mississippi Delta in its opening weekend. An
African American will direct the play and
three black women will portray more than 20
characters.
An African American will design the
costumes for the world premier o f Emma's
Child, which opens at the festival April 1.
The season began Feb. 17 w ith a week o f
previews, but officially opens Feb. 24 with a
perform ance o f W illiam S hakespeare's
Twelfth Night. The play runs through Oct.
29.
The west coast premiere o f Howard
Brenton and David Hare's Pravdaopens Feb.
25. The play runs through July 9. Thorton
W ilder's The Skin o f Our Teeth opens Feb.
25 and runs through Oct. 28.
Emma’sChild by Kristine Thatcherjoins
the repertory later in the spring as does Nagle
Jackson's This Day and Age.
Ashland lies halfvvay between Portland
and San Francisco on Interstate 5.
For tickets and information, contact the
Oregon Shakespeare Festival Box Office at
(503) 482-4331.
The Portland Police Bureau's Sunshine
Division received Portland's largest valen
tine, on Feb. 14, worth over $85,400. United
Grocers and Western Family Foods present
ed the Sunshine Division with a valentine
representing the retail value o f all food do
nated during the Have a Heart Food Drive
Two 40-foot trai ler true k de I i vered thou
sands o f pounds o f donated food to the Sun
shine Division warehouse These donations
were added to the food collected at all partic
ipating United Grocers member stores.
“The Have a Heart Food Drive brings in
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