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. THE LARGEST. HOST COMPLETE RETAIL FABRIC STORE IN THE WEST S e p t e m b e r 17 th r o u g h O c to b e r 1 ,1 9 9 6 MAILER SALE! 30% OFF Everything in the store* 1--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 • l im it King City M ayor J a c k K lu ste r L o cal b a r r ie r s d id n o t sto p K in g C ity M a y o r Ja c k K lu ste r a r e p u b lic a n , from jo in in g e ffo rts 6 per coupon • Valid September 17-October I, 1996 SPECIAL SALE 2 D A Y S O N L Y -S E P T E M B E R 2 7 & 2 S 40 1 / Kluster Joins Portland Community Group to ra is e fu n d s fo r th e C e n te r F or C o m m u n i t y M e n ta l H e a lth [C C M H ] b a s e d in N o rth e a st P o rtla n d . E v en th o u g h K lu s te r p re s id e o v e r a c ity th a t h a s i t ’s s h a re o f c o m m u n ity h e a d a c h e , h e say s his c o m p a ssio n for th e n o rth east a g e n c y k n o w s no b o u n d . “ M o re th a n e v e r C C M H n ee d ev e ry d o lla r it c o u ld g et to run it ’s w o n d e rfu l p ro g ra m fo r c h il­ d re n an d a d u lts . E v e ry b o d y c o n c e rn w ith th e v ita lity o f th e re s id e n ts o f p o rtla n d in n e r - city s h o u ld jo in th is e f f o r t," p le a d s K lu ste r. 1.99! ’ Simplicity Patterns %OFF ALL FABRIC c x k n d c il hour«» S alnrilai op t n til 9p»u L im it e d t o s t o c k o n h a n d ! 50 ON THESE PATTERNS Outdoor Warehouse Sale Continues 10-6 Daily New Additions Weekh • Butterick • Vogue • McCalls • Burda Minimum till I u n i Ml linn ( ijih I im HHNJum-’ pm WHOLESALE H O I RS: M( ) \- l HI " ADam-5 ADpni SAIT RD.W OUHam-Spin SI NI),\T 11 (HFam-ipin RETAIL-WHOLESALE FREE PARKING Plentyof CARS • BUSES • RVs 700 S.E. 122nd Ave. Portland, OR 2 5 2 -9 5 3 0 |H M W “ON NOV. 5™, I ’M VO TIN G FOR M Y GRANDM OTHER.” 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 ? ? ? Door prize free Bob Marley T-shirt 21 and older Cover $3 If yo u d o n ’t, w h o will? A nd, if you d o n ’t vote for C lin to n /G o re , y o u r g ran d m o th er can kiss som e critical ben efits goodbye. Because, you know , left to th eir ow n devices, th e D o le-G in g rich R epublicans will co n tin u e to cut, slash o r elim inate im p o rta n t Benefits such as 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. Paid for bv the Democratic National Committee Authorized hy Clinton/Gore % General Committee Inc V O T E i V CLINTON/GORE y O IT’S TOO IMPORTANT NOT TO. » ..w