Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, February 21, 1996, Page 6, Image 6

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BLACK HISTORY
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Black History:
“Whom The Gods Would Destroy, They First Make Angry”
Bv I ’ k o e . M c K in l e y B u r t
This very ant icnt w arning (to keep
one's cool) ha» been used to admon­
ish the hoi tempered throughout the
ages, whether inspired by outright
Irontal assaults, or by milder slings
Harlem Lives Are History
Makers Of Tomorrow
Harlem Diary: Nine
Voices of Resilience
and arrow s o f outrageous fate. This
m axim has led me to a sober assess­
ment and sim ple resolution o f many
a puzzling situation. I'm sure it will
obtain in the follow ing matter.
For the last three days my phone
has been ringing o ff the hook and my
fax m achine beeps som ething ter­
rible: “Did you know that there is
going to be a Black Inventors E xhi­
bition at S acred H eart? Bet you
w eren ’t told about it!” Click!
“Say M cKinley! W h a t’sg o in g on
about this Black Inventors thing at
Sacred H eart? W e hear y o u ’ve been
deliberately excluded - yet y o u ’re
the first person in the country to
recognize the contributions o f these
brilliant A frican A m erican innova­
tors, w riting a book about them and
lecturing around the nation. Slaves
still slight their ow n.”
“Hey M cK inley, I ’m calling you
back because I ’ve had a chance to
talk the m atter over with the m em ­
bers o f our organization. W e d o n ’t
know w hether this is som e ’N eg ro ’
shenanigan or som e white folks. In
any case we can gel a picket line
around the place. Y o u 'v e got a big
fan club in tow n because many scores
o f our children are in the sciences
and technology because o f your tele­
vision and school p resen tatio n s—
reaching both black and w hite au d i­
ences.”
T hat is all well and good, but I
sw ear I know nothing at all about the
affair and h av en ’t been privileged to
converse with anyone about it. A
caller did provide me with a phone
n u m b e r-n o other inform ation (287-
7203)—and quickly hung up. The
person at that num ber said they knew
little about an “Inventors” presenta­
tion but thought it had som ething to
do with an “I H ave A D ream F ou n d a­
tion,” and said to page a M r. Phil
Christensen at 202-5561. No reply,
as o f this date.
W ell, it is all too m ysterious for
me, so lets get back to the ranch—
G hana, in this case (I referred the
readers to an article in this m o n th ’s
■M »
CHICKEN & BISCUITS
C e leb rates B lack H istory
“We believe that helping individuals of
diverse backgrounds and cultures helps build
a solid community.”
No Relief
Soon For
Housing
Prices
NAVEL ORANGES
SWEET and FULL OF JUICE
LARGE SIZE 72 COUNT
Equal Opportunity Employer
Continued from front
SEEDLESS GRAPES
RED FLAME or THOM PSON
LARGE SIZE
?5ss
POUND
98
0
RED DELICIOUS APPLES
LARGE SIZE EXTRA FANCY
The FRIENDLIEST STORES In Town since 1908
WE RESERVE THE
RIGHT TO LIMIT
SPECIALS EFFECTIVE TUESDAY through SUNDAY
FEBRUARY 20 through 25, ,996
QUANTITIES
M EM BER OF U NITED G ROCERS
FOR YOUR NEAREST KIENOW S STORE CALL 659-5220
ir o n H o u x
W IIK D A VS
• a m »« 9 a m
SUNDAY
9 a.m . t a t p.m.
HOME DELIVERY IS AVAILABLE CALL: 215-4595
Portland.
W hile this m eans vitality for the
area the study concluded that it’s also
m eans that tenants o f housing that is
sold m ust relocate to other areas.
It finds that as residents continue
opposition to the addition o f m ulti­
family housing units in various neigh­
borhood throughout the region, there
is the resultant effect o f hopelessness
and o th er social problem .
It states that w ith the supply o f
land so lim ited, as evidence by the
recent rise in land costs, gentrification
threatens in the future to be increas­
ingly destructive for low er incom e
residents o f our region.
It is unclear w hether city planners
agree with this findings.
But M orrissette said it will stand
the test o f tim e.
:
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1 mm 1
6 rA/n
3120 NE
Martin Luther King
Jr. King Blvd.
To A dve vii se In
FLYIN' WEST
package 1 now put togetherhX)*0*0*r
O regon industry. The basics have
not changed, but now, for instance, I
specify vans instead o f Grey hound
busses to lake youth ( and some par­
en ts, to rem ote sites -Industnal p ro ­
cesses that the average inner city
resident w ould have no contact with,
keep in m ind the "Harvey Alum inum
Com pany M odel” I have cited in
several articles.
This is w here I describe a learning
environm ent for the w orkforce in
these “self-contained cities" w hich
very closely approxim ates that ex p e­
rienced by m any o f the black inven­
tors. And w hich brings increasing
attention to my often-expressed views
on the necessity for real tim e’ co n ­
siderations in the 'C om m unity C ol­
le g e ’ a p p r o a c h to p re p a rin g a
w orkforce for the technology o f the
21st century.
It is very rew arding to gel queries
from industry as to my views on the
“universal application” o f success­
ful learning environm ents to date for
African A m ericans. H ey! Have tech­
niques, will travel. No time for an ­
ger!
C oncert Spans
Spectrum
T he U niversity G ospel E nsem ble,
directed by Julie N eufeld, celebrates
Black H istory M onth, with an 8 p.m.
program T hursday in Beall C oncert
Hall on the U niversity o f O regon
cam pus in Eugene.
Special guest artists included UO
E nglish Professor Edw in C olem an,
UO M usic Instructor John G ainer,
the Eric Richardson Q uintet and the
O regon C h ild ren ’s Choir, directed
by UO P rofessor Randy M oore.
The program spans a wide spectrum of
African-American music Ringing from
gospel, rock ‘n’ roll and jazz to African
interpretive dance. Gainer, fonnerdirector
of the Gospel Ensemble and director of
Inspiratu inal Si Hinds, willdemt mstrate rag­
time, rhythm and blues, Pentecost and
reggae styles with an instrumental group.
introduces nine young
people who live in New
York City's Harlem and
who despite incredible
challenges, manage to
keep themselves
focused and moving
toward goals that
include college, career,
home ownership and
better lives for their
children. The two hour
special premiers
Sunday at 9 p.m. on
the Discovery Channel.
Natural History M agazine, Febru­
ary: “ K ingdom O f G old,”p.36). I
em phasized that part o f the article
w hich dealt with the inventiveness o f
a people who. w ithout formal train ­
ing, took abandoned autos and trucks,
worn out industrial m achinery and
railw ay e q u ip m e n t-a n d converted
this chaos o f iron and steel into so­
phisticated devices and im plem ents
for m anufacturing, food processing,
agricultural and “new type transpor­
tation vehicles.”
E uropean industrialists and en g i­
neers are sim ply am azed, but several
fellow m em bers o f the “A ssociated
O regon Industries” group were not
surprised at all. As they pointed out
at a local m eeting, “this is ju st further
evidence o f the validity o f the co n ­
cepts you put forth in your book,
Black Inventors o f A m erica’ - i t is
no w onder that the U.S. Forest S er­
vice and other G overnm ent agencies
engaged your services over the years
to dem onstrate that A frican A m eri­
cans have (and have alw ays had, the
ability to operate or design the m ost
sophisticated technology.”
A nd this is ju st the type o f updated
IJnitlanh (0 h & ewer
5949 NE
Martin Luther King
Jr. King Blvd.
( nil 503-2SX-0033
O'
3532A NE
MLK Jr. Blvd
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fOR »81 ONLY AT MIX ttftttASR&S
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P o r t l a n d , O r a ag o n
jf^ H ^ F R I/S Â T /S U N
MLK 503-335-0905
T H R O U G H 'M A R C H
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CALL ( 5 0 i ) 2 8 9 5 4 5 0
FOR RESERVA TIO N S & IN FO
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