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l u t P ortland O bsi rvi r • J anuar '» 29. 1997
New Northeast Coalition President wants more outreach
by
L ee P erlman
Willie Brown comes from the
northeast Portland community, and
he'd like to see the Northeast Coali
tion of Neighborhoods be more in
touch with it.
Brown is president of the board of
non-profit community outreach pro
gram this year, succeeding Pauline
Bradford His personal priority this
year, he says, is for the city-funded
program to do better outreach to
individuals and institutions in the
area. For one thing, he says, he plans
to visit with each o f the thirteen
neighborhixxl associations that make
up the coalition and are served by it.
of them know about the hearings
where those decisions are made." He
is concerned, he says, by those ad
versely affected by the changes as
well as those who benefit from them
Brown has served on the board lor
five years He has been one of the
members most concerned about the
loss ol programs started by the agen
cy such as the Northeast W orktorce
Center (which split away to become
a separate agency), and the Youth
G a n g O u tre a c h P ro g ra m The
$280.000 contract for the latter was
awarded by Multnomah County (his
year to the House of Uinoja in part
nership with the Janus Youth Pro-
"I want to know if they’re getting the
quality of services they want," Brown
says. "It’s fine to make decisions in
an ivory tower, but w e’re bound to
give the services citizens want.
“One of the things w e’ve fallen
short on is our advocacy role on
behalfofcitizens When people bring
issues to us. we have to deal with
them in a more timely manner "
Gesturing toward the new devel
opment now under construction on
Northeast Martin Luther King Jr.
Boulevard, and the traffic changes
recently installed he says. "D eci
sions are being made that affect the
people who live here, and how many
gram and Edgefield Youth Center
Brown says his concern was that the
award represented a diversion of
money and attention to youth crime
problems away from the inner north
east
"I certainly am concerned about
the direction o f funds going out of
the area," he says. "T here's no other
area that you can tell me has the
frequency of drive-by shootings, of
people killed on the street, as here.
I’m really appalled at the way this
program was dealt with. We put it
together, and they did things with it
P rof . M c K inely B urt
Moors can be gained from the May
June’ 1982 issue ol the 'A RA M CO
W orld Magazine. "Science: the Is
lamic Legacy”. (Vol.33. No 3). Here,
of course you get the unadulterated
truth -- the power of petroleum
riches can liberalize the most con
servative minds, witness this intro
ductory statement (My Muslim stu
dents told me even more).
"B ecause Saudia A rabia and
Aram co - 'T h e Arabian American
Oil Company - have been so close
ly associated with petroleum, one ol
the w orld’s chief sources of energy
- and with each other - it is partic
ular appropriate (hat this special
issue be devoted to the story of
Islamic Science in both the Golden
Age and the modern age: Saudia
Arabia, Kuwait, The United Arab
Em irates and other Islamic conn
tries".
Will wonders never cease (also
see the July. 1988 issue ol "National
Geographic" Magazine, "When The
Moors Ruled Spain: The Art of the
M oors” ). The first publication from
Aramco Inc.' 1345 Avenue of the
Americas. New York, N Y. 10019
(I d o n ’t know the price. Mine is a
courtesy copy). Some excellent
books on the subject by famed black
historians Van Sertim s and J.A
Rogers may be found at the Rellec
tions Book Store at Martin Luther
King Blvd. and N.E. Killingsworlh.
I will be autographing my Book on
Black Inventors there on Saturday,
February 8 at 4 P.M. Another Black
Renaissance.
O ther "Black Renaissances” to
follow In February.
Muslims who, using Africa as a
launching pad, charged across the
Strait of G ibraltar into Spain and
then on into France. The com plex
ions o f (heir populations eternally
reflecting a dusky inheritance from
the southern invaders who retrieved
Europe from its infamous "Dark
Ages”.
Not only did the Moorish intelli
gentsia bring with them m athem at
ics, including the ubiquitous symbol
zero, and the powerful com putation
al tool, algebra, but because their
religion did not permit them to make
representation of the deity or other
theistic icons, their art concentrated
on the exploration of geometric con
cepts. The beauty and intricacies of
the genre led to many benefits be
yond the esthetic, beyond fresco,
architecture.
For instance, modern m athem ati
cians and scientists have reaped a
rich harvest from the pioneering
work of the Moors; few ifany giving
attribution to the invaders from A f
rica. The Russians, who are credited
with the innovation of "X-Ray Crys
tallography”. the important tool by
which chemical analyses are made,
pursued this science after discover
ing that the Moors had com pletely
defined the possible configurations
of two-dimensional and three-di
mensional space (The 230 basic
space groups). Abstractions how re
vealed nature’s order.
Those interested in more specif
ics o f spatial geometry should get
"In tro d u ctio n to G eom etry" by
Coxcter. A most revealing look at
the intellectual prowess of the dusky
No, these fecund wellsprings of
intellectual vigor did not gush forth
on a single continent; but rather,
the African spirit and drive is an
ongoing, continuous expression of
an age-old ’elan vital’ (The French
term for the vigorous life force of
the universe).
What does W ebster have to say
about such momentous, culture
shaking convulsions which, som e
times, have rendered society asun
der, but always have advanced man
kind to a new plateau; does the
dictionary definition speak to the
sort of spiritual rebirths that nol
only have sustained the sons and
daughters of A frica in times of trial
and tribulation, but have propelled
them to new heights? (Taking the
other races along with them).
W ebster's Ninth New Collegiate
dictionary: "renaissance (ren-a-
sants, fr. to be born again) a. The
transitional movement in Europe
between medieval and modern times
beginning in the 14th century in
Italy, lasting into the 17th century,
and marked by a humanistic reviv
al of classical influence expressed
in a flowering o f the arts and liter
ature and by the beginning of m od
ern science.” (M uch more than
Shakespeare told us).
On what devious rascals some
Saxons can be. Just as in most
American textbooks, novels and
movies there is no mention of the
fecund catalyst that launched this
"humanistic revival of . arts, liter
ature and science”, e.g. the culture
laden "M oors”, the dark-skinned
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Referral Tips
Ray King is president/founder of
Black Heritage Products, Inc. from
Greensboro, North Carolina.
Ray King was here in Portland
Saturday through Monday. January
11 th-13th, 1997 to dem onstrate and
discuss the mission of this unique
Afro-American owned manufactur
ing company.
Black Heritage Products, Inc. has
been growing since their inception
in 1993 with representatives spread
out across America, plus two conn
tries with the goal to educate Afro-
Americans and others to realize the
collective buying power of our peo
ple and to effectively rechannel some
of the millions of dollars that are
currently leaving those com m uni
ties back to the people, resulting in a
234 N. Skidmore: $475/month, 1 bedroom,
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The forum will include testim o
nials from parents and families with
loved ones serving time under the
measure, an overview of the impact
the measure is having at both the
state and local levels, and options for
reform through the 1997 Oregon
Legislative Session.
The purpose of the forum is to
increase community awareness of
Measure I I and the ongoing effect it
is having at both the state and local
level and tocreate an opportunity for
networking tor people and organi
zations concerned with the measure
and its impact "W e need to make
sure that everybody knows what
Measure I I is about ant the impact
it is having on our community. Dis
proportionate representation ol
people of color in O regon's Presi
dent and CEO of the Urban League
Citizens for Measure 11 Re
form is a recently formed group of
O regonians who are concerned
about the long range effects of
Measure I I on the state of Oregon
Its mission is to affect the repeal
or substantial reform of the m ea
sure.
The Urban League of Portland is
a nonprofit, community-based hu
man service, economic and social
justice agency serving youth and
families, students, job seekers, and
seniors in the metro area. The
Forum is made possible by a grant
from A Territory Resource (ATR)
Retaining African-American dollars
1843 N. Schofield #3: $475/month,
1 bedroom, on-site laundry, gas utilities, off-
street parking, yard area.
Offering a Complete Range of Quality
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The Urban League of Portland's
Legal Education and Em pow er
ment Project (LEEP) and Citizens
for Measure 11 Reform are spon
soring acom m unity forum on mea
sure 11 on Saturday, February I,
from 1 0 :0 0 am to 3 :0 0 p m at
Lutheran Inner City M inistries lo
cated at 4219 NE M artin Luther
King Jr Blvd
Passed in 1994 by 66% of O re
gon voters. Measure I I establishes
mandatory minimum sentences for
certain felony crimes. Measure 11
bars early release, leave or a re
duced sentence for any reason. The
measure applies to juveniles 15
years or older and includes first
time offenders.
Fo r R ent
are
'arpet Installation Services
cooperative arrangement with other
non-profit agencies to share stall
I unci ions
Now 47. Brown works al the
Donald E Long juvenile center He
has served on the city 's Housing and
Community Development Com m is
sion. and the bureau’s Bureau Advi
sory Committee. He is divorced, and
has one daughter He grew up in
northeast Portland, where h is m oth
er was a foster parent tor 30 years “II
it hadn't been lor some caring peo
ple I w ouldn't have done as well as
1 have." he says.
Urban League to sponsor
Forum on Measure 11
Four great African renaissances
by
that were not appropriate."
Noting that President Clinton re
cently declared lighting youthgangs
a top priority he s a y s . "I hope state
officials do the same. If we had the
resources the state gives to fight
forest fires we w ouldn’t have these
problems."
Another priority, he says, is "do
ing more with less." "W ith Ballot
Measure 47, citizens were sending a
message to government T hey're
saying. You have enough money,
change the way you're doing busi
n e s s ." One way. he says, might be a
stronger community for all.
He shared also a startling finding
(hat came from a Smithsonian report
regarding how long dollars were re
tained in various communities across
America. The comparison was this;
dollars were retained in Anglo com
munities forever, Jewish communi
ties 28 days, Asian communities 21
days. Afro communities 4 hrs.
Also only 7%> of Afro American
dollars were spent with each other of
the collective $35<>-$4(M> billion at
I heir disposal according to Kwaanza
Kunjulu (Black economics).
This was very disturbing and re
vealing, indicating that there is a
need for a change if people are truly
concerned about the unable longev
ity continuation of Afro-Americans
communities.
To find out more about Black Her
itage Educational Products and how
you can participate and become a part
of the solution instead of the problem,
call Joshua Polk at 283 1476 or
Balmda Bowman at ( 360) 944 7756,
or office: (503 >285-5286 #2,24 hours
John Olive and Beverly Lockhart
Stone are representatives ol Black
Heritage Educational Products. The
product lines features a wide range
of personal care products with unique
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work market. The office is located at
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