Volume XXV, Number 46
Committed to cultural diversity
Trent For
Home Team
Join In Celebrating Our
Trail Blazer rookie Gary Trent
is in northeast Portland 's King
Neighborhood. What s he s
doing?
Jazz Sensation
Boney James
Contemporary Jazz
Saxophonist Boney James and
his new album. Seduction.
See Metro, inside.
See Arts And Entertainment, page B3.
ortíanh
longtime Portland resident
Urban League of Portland and the N A A C P ’s
who was denied a teaching
Portland branch. He has been a member of
job in the city because he was
Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity and is a founding
black and then went on to become
a
member
o f the groups’s local graduate center
successful businessman was honored
and undergraduate chapters at the University
Saturday with a Lifetime Achievement
of Oregon and Oregon State University
Award.
He and his wife o f 56 years, Johnnie
Charles B. Maxey was flatly turned down
Obina are the parents of five adult children;
when he applied for a teaching position in
Caroline Avidon of Israel; Virginia Johnson
Portland in the 1940s. He had experience as
of Virginia; Donna Easter ofOakland, Calif.;
a teacher and coach before coming to Ore­
and Charles W. Maxey and Johnathan R
gon, having graduated from Texas College in
Maxey o f Portland
1940 with a major in economics.
A long-time member of Bethel AMF.
But he was told for a black man he was
Church, Maxey also is active in youth and
"too young" to be teaching young white
church activities.
women.
M axey was among six African Am er­
Maxey pushed aside the racism and built
ican men honored for “ taking a stand
a successful life as an entrepreneur and com­
and m aking a difference," by the local
munity activist.
chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority
He said it was a move he never regretted.
during a banquet at Shenanigans’ s on
A native of St. Augustine, Texas, he
the W illam ette.
moved to Portland in 1943 to work in the
The others honored for going "beyond
shipyards before apply ing for a teaching job.
the 9 to 5 to ensure our community’s growth,”
In recalling the school system rejection,
were Lolenzo Poe for youth services; Roy
Maxey said, “ It was hideous.
Jay and Bernie Foster for business achieve­
"I could have been discouraged and bro­
ment and Charles Jordan and Art Alexander
ken when I wasn’t able to make a living in the
for community service.
area that I was trained,” he said.
Poe is director of Multnomah County’s
Maxey had options because o f his col­
Department o f Community and Family Ser­
lege training. He opened Maxey’s Barber
vices. Foster is publisher o f the Skanner
Shop, originally on Northeast Weidler Street.
newspaper o f Portland and Seattle
His other ventures were Maxey’s Better
Jay leads Roy Jay Enterprises and
Buys Grocery, an appl iance store on Weidler,
the Oregon Convention and V isito rs Se r­
a liquorstoreon Martin Luther K ing Jr. Blvd.
vices. Jordan is director o f the Portland
and Freemont Street and a three-store com­
Bureau o f Parks and Recreation and
mercial property investment in northeast
Alexander serves as executive assistant
Portland.
to Portland C ity Com m issioner M ike
Ch a rles B. Maxey, recipient of the Kappa Alpha P s i Lifetime Achievem ent Aw ard
Maxey has served as a leader in the
Lindberg.
pictured above with his wife Joh nn ie Obina Maxey.
A
Civil Rights
Leader Chosen
PresidentClinton has named A. Leon
Higginbotham Jr. o f Massachusetts to the
U S. Commission on C iv il Rights. Until
he retired in 1993, Higginbotham served
as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals.
He has more than 60 honorary degrees.
The commission was established in 1957
to investigate voting and civil rights dis­
crimination complaints.
Schools Get
Gloomy Report
The nation’s schools have made few
academic gains and in some cases even lost
ground since its 10-year quest to reach
ambitious improvement goals by the year
2000. According to last week’s report by
the National Education Goals Panel, in­
fants are healthier, parents are reading
more to their children and math scores
have climbed. But reading scores o f high
school seniors have dropped and student
drug use has climbed.
Assassination
Report Ignored
The Israeli secret service, already un­
der attack for letting an assassin approach
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin unchal­
lenged, acknowledged on Sunday it had
received a tip in June about the confessed
killer’s intentions and did not follow-up.
The disclosure shocked the grieving na­
tion.
Powell Won’t Run For President
olin Powell, a black son of
" I’m not Dwight Eisenhower,” he told
New York.
Jamaican immigrants whose
television interviewer David Frost. " I’mColin
He was commissioned a U.S. Army sec­
father came to America on a
Powell.”
ond lieutenant in 1958.
banana boat, seemed form idable And there were some hard realities he
His career assignments ranged from two
S eattle's Mayor
presidential material as a soldier-hero
was well aware of.
combat tours as a junior officer in Vietnam,
Is Funniest
with the popular appeal of a Dwight
Recent polls showed him running be­
where he survived a helicopter crash, to plum
Eisenhower.
Seattle Mayor Norman Rice won a
hind Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole among
Pentagon jobs, military colleges and White
“funniest mayor” contest last weekend by
But Powell, 58, a retired four-star gener­
Republicans, even though he did better than
House advisory stints. It was quickly appar­
al and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
comparing his rain-soaked city to a mois­
Dole when matched against Clinton.
ent he was or; the fast-track and he climbed
Staff, announced on Wednesday after a long
turizing pad and speaking in an underwater
Many conservative Republicans consid­
steadily to four-star general rank.
period of private agonizing that he will not
gurgle. The African American leader was
er Powell too liberal because of his stated
His tenure as chairman ofthejoint chiefs
run for president in 1996 despite heavy pub­
on H B O ’s “Comic R e lie fV II” show. Rice
support for abortion rights, gun control and
ran
from
Oct. I, 1989 under Republican
lic pressure to do so.
also made humor about Seattle’s green
image.
That deflated a “ Powellmania” phenom­
enon fanned by polls suggesting he could
beat Democratic President B ill Clinton and
Glickman Leaves
provide a fresh, exciting new brand o f nation­
Trail Blazers
al leadership.
Marshall Glickman, who rose from
But the speculation had also been tem­
ball boy to president of Portland Trail
pered by talk that perhaps the general — a
Blazers, Inc. and the Oregon Arena Project,
dignified if not Olympian figure — could not
resigned on Friday. Glickman, the son ofj
stomach the sort of wilting public scrutiny
Trai 1 Blazer founder Harry GI ickman, said
and questioning a White House candidate
he wanted to explore future career oppor­
must endure.
tunities. But there was speculation o f pow­
That point seemed prophetic as Powell
er play moves in the Blazer front office.
admitted at a news conference that a presi­
dential run would require “a passion and a
James Brown's W ife
commitment that despite my every effort I
Recants Abuse
did not yet have.”
James Brown’s wife now denies he hit
The sense of letdown among supporters
her and wants to drop domestic violence
high and low was sharpened by his record of
charges against him. “This has been a total
integrity and glittering achievement He had
mistake,” Adrienne Brown said in an affi­
raised himself up from obscurity to rarified
Gen. Colin Pow ell a nd one of his m any honors, the Spingarn M e d a lp re sen ted b v
heights as the first black chief o f the U.S.
davit released Friday in Columbia, S.C.
former N A A C P Executive Director Benjam in Hooks.
Brown, 62, was arrested Oct. 3 1 after his
military in the sort of rags-to-riches saga
affirmative action programmes promoting
President George Bush until Sept. 30, 1993
success story people love.
wife called 9-1-1 and told deputies he hit
equal opportunity for minorities in jobs and
underClinton, when he retired after35 year
her in the face. She said in the affidavit, she
Many simply assumed he would seek the
education. Some of them pledged to oppose
of service.
accidentally hit a mirror.
White House — how could he not9 — and his
a Powell candidacy with all they had.
He caught the public eye dur.ng th,
saga inevitably sparked comparison with the
Cohn Luther Powell was born April 5,
1990-91 G u lf War against Iraq, when he bon
Eisenhower epic o f 1952.
Governor Finds
937, in New York C ity’s tough South Bronx
much of the burden of selling the effort to thi
"Ike,”
a
popular
idol
since
his
days
as
district,
the
son
of
a
seamstress
and
a
ship-
public
with crisp, clear televised briefings.
Approval Rating
allied commander in Europe in World War
pingclerk
who,
Powell
likes
to
recall,
arrived
Since
retirine h e h a s w o r k e d „ „
After 10 months in office. Gov. John
II, was drafted into presidential politics by
in
America
aboard
a United Fruit Company
Kitzhaber has an approval rating o f 69
Republican leaders who knew a winner when
steamer in 1920.
percent among fellow Democrats and a
they saw one. He rode a wave of “ I Like Ike”
Powell’s own ticket to success was the
respectable 43 percent among Republi­
enthusiasm to an easy victory, and two White
Reserve
Officer Training Corps, a programme
cans, according to a recent poll. The rat­
House terms.
for
university
students that absorbed most of
ings are among the highest of any Oregon
Powel I was always uneasy with the “black
his
energies
when
he was, by his own admis­
governor in recent history.
Ike” parallels.
sion, a so-so student at the City College of
C
SPORTS
Sternwheelers
Race Sunday
“f
1 i he Great American Stern-
I w h eeler R a c e ” betw een
A Oregon’s two famous riva
sternwheelers, the “Sternwheeler
Columbia Gorge” and the “Steamer
Portland” is set for 2 p.m. Sunday.
The race takes place on the Willamette
starting at the St. Johns railroad bridge and
ending between the Freemont and Steel
bridges, downtown. It’s a re-match of last
year’s classic, in which the "Portland" nar­
rowly defeated the “Columbia Gorge” in
the first race o f its kind in over 40 years.
The race also is a grand celebration of
river heritage. Last year, a large number of
pleasure craft and thousands of on-lookers
watched from bridges, overpasses,
riverbanks and waterfront parks. Th is year,
a new inclusion in the event will be other
notable boats including the members o f the
“Antique & Wooded Boats Society”, the
Sterhwheeler "Cascade Queen" and the
historic replica of the sailing ship “Lady
Washington.”
Seats are available on board the "Co­
lumbia Gorge” for guests to ride during the
race.
A good location to watch the begin­
ning ofthe event is at Swan Island. The best
location to watch the finish o f the event is
Waterfront Park.
Join us as we celebrate The
Portland Observer’s 25th
year in the community by
placing an ad in our Silver
Anniversary Souvenir Book.
4747 Martin Luther King Jr.Blvd,
Portland, OR 97211
Call (503) 288-0033
FAX 288-0015
Drop by or phone
We look forw ard
to your participation.
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