T he P ortland O bserver • S eptember 18, 1996
Just As Surely As
“All Roads Lead To Rome”
Fans mourn
the death of
Tupac Shakur
i
Fans and the music industry Sat
urday lamented the death o f contro
versial rap star Tupac Shakur, who
died six days after being shot in a
gangland-style ambush.
The rapper's short and explosive
life ended Friday at University M edi
cal Center in Las Vegas, where he
had been in critical condition since
the shooting near the famed Las
Vegas strip Sept7.
T he 2 5 -y ear-o ld sin g e r and
actor’s death was due to “ respira
tory failuie and cardiopulmonary
arrest," the hospital said Surgeons
removed his right lung last Sunday.
The death of Shakur, one o f the
most controversial perform ers of
hardcore "gangsta" rap, saddened
and shocked the fans w ho had
snapped up millions o f his records.
His fellow rap star Coolio said:
"Despite some o f his shortcomings,
he always gave you something with
his music. He gave you something
to think about or he gave you som e
thing to laugh about or he gave you
something to cry about.”
Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse
Jackson, who prayed with Shakur's
mother at the rapper's bedside last
Sunday, told the Los Angeles Times,
“This is so, so sad. Sometimes the
lure of violent culture is so magnetic
that even when one overcom es it
with material success, it continues
to call. H ecouldn’tbreak the cycle."
The rap star's life often mirrored
the violence portrayed in his music.
Last Saturday a gunman in a white
Cadillac opened fire on Shakur’s
car as he drove with friends to a Las
Vegas nightclub after watching the
Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon world
heavyweight title fight. Shakur was
hit four times.
Death Row co-founder M arion
“Suge” Knight, 31, was in the car
with Shakur and suffered a minor
injury in the shooting.
Shakur, who lived in Los A nge
les, was rarely out o f trouble, spend
ing much of the last 2 1/2 years in
court, prison or hospitals.
In November 1994 he was shot
five times while being robbed of
$40,0(X) in jew els in the lobby o f a
Manhattan recording studio. In Feb
ruary 1995 he was sentenced to
prison for involvement in a sexual
attack on a 21 -year-old woman in a
New York hotel room. He spent
eight months behind bars until he
was released pending his appeal.
P age A3
in I ' k o k M t
That vain and portentous axiom
attributed to the pom pous C aesars o f
the ancient Roman Em pire be ap
plied to certain rogue elem ents o f the
U S . G overnm ent. W hether the head
line is about crack/cocaine-driven
gangs in Pilot Rock, O regon or in a
rural Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania,
the com m on v ecto r for this new
Am erican pathology proves to be the
Central Intelligence’ Agency.
There is little hum or, in the fact
that the very name o fth is rogue agen
cy is an oxym oron and even less in
the m edia reports that "the C l A prom
ises to conduct a very thorough in
ternal’ investigation o f these very
serious charges — they doubt that
there is any truth in them ." H asn ’t
that always been their stock position
through the years, w henever faced
with possible congressional investi
gation o f destructive and/or venal
behavior?
One o f our readers suggests that
there might be sort o f a m acabre sort
o f hum or involved if we w ere to see
th a t parag o n o f v irtu e , W illiam
Bennett - w ho as we noted last week
was the natio n ’s D rug C zar under
President Bush - lead a m arch o f the
Christian C oalition out o f W ashing
ton, D.C. and dow n the highw ay to
Dulles A irport, stopping at the CIA
headquarters to pray and protest (he
surely jests).
Also a headliner at the ‘N atio n ’s
Com edy S to re’, is Janet Reno o f the
Justice D epartm ent who pulled sev
eral ligam ents rushing to the podium
to deny any and all reports that the
CIA was ever involved in any she
nanigans. How strange, since up to
her reign, the departm ent has shied
away from even the recognition that
the other agency exists.
Several talk show hosts speculate
Young parents
need volunteers
The O regon H uman D evelopm ent
C orporation is actively recruiting for
volunteers to help with it’s Y oung
Parents Program . V olunteers, tw elve
years old and older, are needed for
help with child care in a nursery
setting during the w eekly support
m eetings, W ednesdays 4:00 pm to
6:30 pm. (Last W ednesday o f the
month 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm, and other
flexible tim es available for volun
teering.) Interested people pleasecall
OH DC, 640-6349.
that Reno is still cringing from the
relations o f FBI involvem ent in the
w hole ugly m atter; Peter L evine’s,
“T he Big W hite Lie: The CIA And
T h e C ra c k /C o c a in e E p id e m ic ” ,
pp.275-276,280. T h u n d er’s M outh
Press, N Y. N Y. 1993. O f course,
the Black C ongressional C aucus and
the N A A C P have known this for
years Remember the w ell-docum ent
ed “C O IN T E L P R O ” and attacks
and dis-inform ation pogrom s m ount
ed against Black leaders and public
officials.
W illthe B lackand Hispanic youth
be able to survive this latter-day ho
locaust intact? It is rather difficult to
assess the resiliency o f the ‘h o o d ’ —
o f w hat may be left o f the nurturing
capacity o f that tu rf euphem istically
known as the ghetto or the barrio. As
I stated a week ago, not only has
U rban R enew al/M odel C ities d e
stroyed a good part o f he m inority
econom ic and social com plex -- but
in com bination with the drug war
against people o f color, the ability o f
the succeeding generation to rede
velop their heritage is impaired.
T he task o fev alu atin g the rem ain
ing econom ic and social capital o f
urban A m erica in respect to m inori
ties is m ade even m ore difficult on
fabric
Depot
the one hand by the processes I cited
from the book “T he G eography o f
N owhere: The Rise and D ecline o f
A m erica's M an-m ade L andscape”
(K unstler, Sim on & Shuster, 1993).
This was the program m ed exodous
to the suburbs o f the affluent and the
tax base (“ W hite Flight” ). The new
freeways took them away.
Also, we have it that there now has
been a reversal o f this process in
many parts o f the country and the
new dem ographics not only reflect
new pressure o f gentrification by a
returning w hite population (forget
returning industry and jo b s), but an
influx o f ou t-o f-state populations
which easily out bid econom ically
disadvantaged and im m obile m inor
ities for innercity housing stock.
The establishm ent o f rigid urban
boundaries does not, o f course, less
en the pressures. T he deterioration
o f the urban schools that began with
‘w hite flight’ and loss o f the tax
bases necessary to support any city ’s
infrastructure was obviously accel
erated by the im position o fth e crack '
cocaine holocaust. “ R om e” is burn
ing and it is going to require a lot
more than the rhetoric o f politicians
to put out the raging fires as our
N ero ’s fiddle away.
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Woodlawn
suspects arrested
Portland Police D etectives have
charged three suspects for the A u
gust 25, 1996 beating death o f Edith
Ann M osqueda. She was beaten and
killed while in W oodlaw n Park at
approxim ately 1:00 a m . that S un
day morning.
The first two suspects w here ar
rested andcharged with M urder last
week. The first suspect is D eandrae
W illiam Patten, m ale black, DOB
10-04-78, o f 933 N E O neonta St.
Portland, Oregon. Also charged was
Douglas W atson, m ale black, DOB
08-19-78, o f 1 5 3 1 NE M organ St.
Portland, Oregon.
Portland Police D etectives have
also charged with M urder Jam es
C ortez W ade Jr. a black male, DOB
03-20-78.
W ade is a Portland resides in the
1100 block o f NE Dean.
W ade, accom panied by his at
torney, turned him self in to d etec
tives on S eptem ber 10, at approxi
m ately 11:00 p.m.
W ade is lodge in the m ultnom ah
County D etention C enter aw aiting
arraignm ent.
M otivation appears to have been
“to com m it a crim e” . T his investi
gation is continuing as detectives
have further leads to com plete.
D etectives have further leads to
develop and no photographs will be
released at this time.
Jamaican Association
presents
End of Summer Jam
Sat. Sept. 21-96
HOUSE OF SOUND
3620 N. Williams
info - 282-9062
9 pm until ? ? ?
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Cover $3
If yo u d o n ’t, w h o will?
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M edicare an d M edicaid. Social Security. Even letting assault w eap o n s back on o u r
streets.
You have th e p o w er to stop them .
P resid en t C lin to n is m eeting o u r responsibilities to o u r g ran d p a re n ts. H e ex p a n d ed
access to quality H ealth C are • Increased fu n d in g for Breast C an cer Researcn
• Increased P ension an d H ealth In su ran ce p o rtab ility • b o u g h t against d rastic tu ts
in M ed icare an d M edicaid • ( fpposed using Social Security benefits to balance the
bud g et • Insured that Pension Benefits are safeguarded for retirem ent • Passed the
toughest C rim e Bill ever.
P resid en t C lin to n is dealing w ith th e h ard issues. But he c a n ’t co n tin u e to d o it
w ith o u t your vote.
O n Nov. 5th, vote for th e peo p le you care ab o u t.
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