H-i ib iW iT .iMiBA
P age A4
A ugus I 2, 1995 » I he P ortland O bserver
Having Learned From Experience , Lets Act Like It
Bv P rof . M c K inley B i h i
In term s of a successful gam e
plan lor the advancem ent o f the ec o ­
nom ic status o f inner-city residents,
nothing beats the advice o f the Buick
C om pany o f yesterday: “Ask the man/
w om an who ow ns one.” W ho else
should know best?
H ow ever, we note the d isclaim ­
ers that com e with the directions for
new “easy to assem ble" toys: "Som e
ju d g m en t is required.” Y ou would
not be wrong if you equated this
adm onition to tod ay ’s com m ent in
m y Perspectives colum n
An unhappy reader, follow ing
an early them e o f mine, is quoted;
“ Local leadership captives o f o u t­
sider board of directors... ‘w e ’ have
lost direction and control, not to
m ention, m illio n s in real estate.”
(That is what w e know about!)
T h is e n c o re w e d o n ’t need,
w here our “prim e m overs" talk-that-
black-talk, then skip o ver highly
qualified A frican A m ericans to se­
cure the appointm ent o f their "fav o r­
ite while folks.” A form er student o f
m ine describes the process as one o f
neo-uncle T om s and A unt Jem m as
rebuilding the old plantation network.
In my own case, over a 25 year p e­
riod, I ’ve had a 95 percent success
rate for obtaining grants or invest­
ments, with directing roles biased
toward those who could best understand
the goals specified in the “Needs A«?»?:
ment” or the “Marketing Plan."
That is the “one side o f the coin.”
O ne the other hand, it is quite o b v i­
ous that in other to advance the ec o ­
nom ic level (and ow nership) o f the
com m unity, the technical input o f
many cultures is required; especially,
considering that the alleged "A ffir­
m ative A ction” process did not w ork
long enough or diligently enough to
bring m inorities and women to an y ­
thing like a meaningful level o f c o m ­
petitiveness. So, like others in my
peer group, I’ve reached into the old
“encore” bag again.
In the early ’70s, I leased G rey-’
hound busses to take black parents
and youth out to see various U.S.
Forest Service operations such as
l i c e farm s, nurseries and h o rticu l­
tural labs. The idea was to expose the
youth to career opportunities they
would not be made aw are o f in the
ghetto (or in school). It worked like
a charm and resulted in over a score
of youths getting good jobs and sup­
port for a college education while
working. Interestingly, a num ber of
"parents” also got jo b s as a result o f
the exposure. Both were draw n from
classes I taught at P.S.U. and new s­
paper ads I ran in the Portland O b­
server.
So, this tim e I’ve draw n on that
particular experience for one o f my
“encore’ projects. Taking advantage
of the fact that a num ber o f my former
students (all w hite) are in executive
or supervisory positions out there in
the w estside com puter chips and elec­
trical instrum entdom ain, w e’vecom e
up with a "variation on the them e,"
where occasionally com pany vans
•
dignitaries, especially overseas buyZ’
ers. O ne had several cancellations*
this sum m er and we were able to*
invite a couple o f dignitaries of our*
o w n , in c lu d in g se v eral A frican*
A m erican scientists and educators -
again I'm designing an innovative
project, we hope will deliv erth e ed u ­
cational product we could not p er­
suade the school district to produce.
All inall, I wouldsay thalmostactivity
is about establishing some productive cri­
teria and innovating schemes that will help
to counter the social pathologies and trau
mas that besiege us today. And perhaps
to inspire som e o f that m iddle-class
in our com m unity who thought we
had it made. The “real estate" analysis
will appear later in a “Minority Econom­
ics" article.
are em ployed to bring out kids and
parents. The idea, again, is o rienta­
tion and m o tiv atio n and special
projects - a favorite sim ilar to the one
with w hich I won a N ational Science
F oundation prize for The D alles
School District.
It is may hope that this time I
have better luck in persuading m i­
nority fathers to involve their bosses
and plant m anagers in sim ilar activi­
ties. Som etim es it is very hard to
convince grass roots people that a lot
can be accom plished with ju st initia­
tive and com m itm ent - though one
mav lack status or degrees in special­
ized subjects.
A n o th e r d e v e lo p m e n t h as
proved very pro d u ctiv e. S everal
plants have guest houses for visiting
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Children can't stand up for themselves. Which makes them an easy mark for politicians when they're
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Heart And Soul
Of Cooking
Featured
Continued from Metro, page B I
▲
lard, tallow and bacon grease.
She credit her expertise with
“great teachers," especially her m oth­
er. H er favorite foods include barbe­
cue, chitterlings, greens, cake, and
pie.
“ And d o n ’t forget biscuits, torti­
llas and beans, B lacknall adds.
The book is available at Porter
E nterprises, inside o f N ew berry’s at
Lloyd Center; R oslyns' G arden and
C offee H ouse at 1438 N.E. A lberta
St.; and Reflections Book Store at
the W alnut Park S hopping C enter,
446 N.E. K illingsw orth. The sug­
gested retail price is $12.95.
A nother book singing party will
be held at Reflections, Aug. 26 from
2 p in. to 4 p in.
Dad’s
Grandfather’s General Store
To Open
Leonard Smith, a longtim e com ­
munity activist, has announced the
grand opening o f his new G randfa­
th e r’s G en eral S tore at 3524 N.
M ississippi Ave.
T he unveiling o f this fresh new
store, ju s t north o f Fremont, will take
place on T uesday beginning at 6p.m .
in conjunction with N ational Night
()ut, the annual neighborhood crim e
prevention event.
Sm ith will provide live music
and free balloons for the children.
In addition to his own selection
o f snacks, ice cream, groceries and
convenience items, the store will fea­
ture such ice cream specialties as
real, m ade-to-order m ilkshakes, ba­
nana splits and sundaes.
On hand for the grand opening
will be John B arnes’ m obile barbe­
cue, P orky’s, which will be at the
store on a regular schedule. The store
is now own, seven days a week from
8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Smith invites the public to enjoy
N at ional N ight Out by stop by for the
special festivities, music, barbecue
and delicious ice cream
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