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T he P ortland O bserver • J une 14, 1995
“Still I Rise’’Honoring
Achievement At Annual Ball
(Debutantes continue)
Each o f thses young ladies work
close with advisors the second det o f
advisors are Ms. Pam Rahsaan, Mrs.
Serena Stoudamire, Mrs. Brenda
Tripplett and Mrs. Rena Allen. They
all hve serveral young ladies that
they keep in touch with and make
sure they are aware o f all activities
and any changes that may occur.
"S till I Rise" (passage 4)
"Does my sexiness upset you?
does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I ve got diamonds
At the meeting o f my thighs?
Out o f the huts o f histories shame
I rise
Op fro m a pass that's rooted in pain
I rise
/ am a black ocean,
leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I baer in the
tide
This issue o f The Portland Ob­
server w ill feature Debutantes, Kellyu
Dyan Lewis, Maisha Wylycka Raifor,
Cobi Kaenika Smith, LaToshia Lynn
Washington and Wintress Shauntain
Watson.
Kellyu
Dyan
Lewis
Prospective Debutante K e lly
Dyan Lewis a senior at Grant High
School, is the daughter o f Carolyn
and Bonnie Lewis.
“ I bring to Les Femmes, creativ­
ity, leadership skills, sensitivity, hon­
esty and my willingness to achieve.
Because I always seem to have ideas
that work, I also like to make things
happen and to see that they get done
the hight way. Facing up to the things
that you have done wrong keeps you
honest and makes up a better person.
With my willingness to achieve I feel
Les Femmes is an organization that
Maisha
Wylycka
Raifor
w ill put me to the ultimate test. The
test that makes me into a woman, the
women o f Les Femmes give me hope,
friendship, guidance, trust and love.”
Prospective Debutante Maisha
Wylycka Raiford, a senior at Wilson
High School, is the daughter o f
Denice and Charlie Braxton.
“ I bring many things tot he orga­
nization such as, leadership skills,
the ability to get along with others,
and abundance o f energy, personal­
ity, sensitivity, very high social eth­
ics, a sense o f self and self worth, a
strong sense o f morality and honest
Christian upbrnging. A ll thses quali­
ties summarize the dedication for
excellence that I have tried to live
by.”
Cobi
Kaenika
Smith
Prospective Debutante Cobi
Kaenika Smith, a senior at St. Marys
Academy High Schoolo, is the daugh­
ter o f Cora and H ilton Smith.
“ I bring to Les Femmes a strong,
determined and intelligent young
black woman. This young woman
has a mind o f her own, her head on
her shoulders and a future in mind.
Always there to help, responsible
academically, socially or in her fam­
ily. Les Femmes has brought to me a
sense o f accomplishment and belong-
LaToshia
Wash­
ington
Wintress
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Africans Our Africa II
Ghana: Land of
Gold And
Investment
Shauntain
Watson
Prospective Debutante LaToshia
L ynn W a sh in g to n , a s e n io r at
Bensobn High School, is the daugh­
ter o f Brenda Washington.
“ I bring leadershi and unity. I
am a team worker and I enjoy having
meetings and parties. Being a pro­
spective debutante lifts my confi­
dence. it makes me fee! that I am a
special perosn who deserves to be a
part o f such a positive group. Most
importantly I bring a positive atti­
tude. Being positive is im portatntto
me because positivety leads to excel­
lence, and Les Femmes has opened
up many doors so that I can share my
positivity and leadership with oth-
ers.
“ I bring the qualities o f trust,
honesty, leadership and respectful­
ness. I can be trusted to do the things
I say that I am going to do and I feel
others can confide in me. Through
my years in the HOSA program I
learned that confidentiality is a good
quality. I can be trusted, along wiht
trust I bring honesty. I don’t feel it is
important form e to lie. I am a leader,
not a follower. I can think for m yself
and when things get rough I am the
step in.
I feel that the type o f attitude I
hold is something good. I am a well
rounded person who is ready to learn
and teach.
The Les Femmes Senior Debu­
tante director is Mrs. Rena Allen can
be reached at 222-9663 ext 142.
LISCENSED IN OREGON SINCE 1975
George A. Hendrix
MBA, GRI, Broker
ing, a goal to achieve and a standard
to live up to It is these criteria that
have made this young black woman
strong, intelligent, and truly proud to
be a 1995 Les Femmes prospective
debutante.”
AFRICAN INSIGHT
Opportunities
Questions that folks often ask
me about Africa border on political
and economic development.
Some are curious questions on
investment opportunities. And as I
said in this column before it ’ s lime
black Americans think seriously o f
investing their hard earn money in
their ancestral land.
Needless to tell you, 90 percent
ol the foreign investors in my native
Nigeria are white folks. They in­
vested m illions in oil and mining
ventures and are now reaping b il­
lions. Don’ t listen to the western
media. Call me i f you decide to in­
vest in any part o f Africa.
JJ. Rawlings, the President o f
the Republic o f Ghana, was in the
United states on official working visit.
Here is what he said on the subject:
- I f you are looking for the
future, it is in A fric a . L ik e other
sleeping giants before her, such as
China and some East Asian coun­
tries, A fric a is undergoing funda
mental political and economic trans­
formations that merit closer attention
from the Western world.
The 21st century w ill see a new,
revitalized Africa, and we in the Re­
public o f Ghana have decided firm ­
ly that we w ill show the world what
is positive and successful, what is no­
ble and elevating from our continent.
In many ways, A fric a is s till
‘'undiscovered.” Yes there is the in ­
comparable w ild life . There are the
great gorges and famous waterfalls,
and unfathomable mineral and oth­
er natural resources.
The suffering and hardship that
affect parts o f A frica has also been
thoroughly documented. But this g i­
ant o f a continent is stirring and I am
confident that you who put faith,
commitments and your investments
in A frica w ill not be disappointed. In
recent years astute business people
have been doing just that — looking
to the continent as a dynamic region
to make sound new investments.
B
a n k in g
on
Not only does Africa have valu­
able natural resources, but also a
huge, increasingly better-educated
population whose demands can
stimulate new phases o f industrial
development and a world economic
boom. M ining, for example, has al­
ways been big business in Africa, but
now investors are shifting to more
value-added production, taking ad­
vantage o f lower labor costs.
Agribusiness, the energy sector,
manufacturing, financial and tourism
services offer great opportunities. In
telecommunications, the giants o f in­
dustry from the United States. Japan,
and Britain are all making invest­
ments in a continent ripe tor major
new initiatives.
Political stability and security o f
W hen th e N ew York
T im es r e c o m m e n d e d
f iv e m a jo r African ex­
changes on which Amer­
ican investors m ig h t in ­
vest, G h a n a a p la c e d
a t th e top o f th e list.
investment are o f paramount im por­
tance to investors. I acknowledge
that in this respect, the history o f
conflicts in certain parts o f A frica
have given some investors pause.
7$
A
But as we get to the roots o f these
c o n flic ti, we can clearly see that
econom ic developm ent w ill con­
tribute immensely to resolving many
o f these situations.
We in dem ocratic Ghana are
proud to be in a country o f peace and
political stability that offers an ide­
al haven fo r foreign investment. We
have a stable political and social en­
vironment in which the safety o f per­
sons, property and investment is as­
sured. We have a government that
fo llo w s a prudent and d isciplined
econom ic program, a liberalized
trade p olicy and an exchange rate
regime that makes it simple to deal
in foreign currency.
Our stock exchange has recently
been ranked among the best o f
emerging stock markets in terms o f
capital appreciation. When the New
York Times recommended five ma­
jo r A frica n exchanges on w hich
Am erican investors m ight invest,
Ghana’s placed at the top o f the list.
We have a well-endowed natur­
al resources base o f gold, diamonds,
manganese, bauxite, hardwoods, o il
and gas, as w ell as large tracts o f
arable land and a climate that bene­
fits agriculture and the exploitation
o f sea resources.
Cordial relations between labor,
management and government, and a
workforce that is better educated and
skilled than in many places in the
world makes it very promising.
Ghana offers much more. We
have ready access to regional and in­
ternational markets, such as the 2(X)
m illio n people o f the 16 member
Econom ic C om m unity o f West
A frica States. Investors also benefit
from the insurance and guarantees
accorded to Ghana by the M u ltila t­
eral Investment Guarantee Agency
o f the World Bank Group.
- n
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