F ebruary 26, 1997 • T he P o r ii and O bm R vi r
P agi A ó
french branch o f
Ration o f Isiam emerges
The head of the French branch
of A m erican Black Muslim leader
Louis F arrak h an ’s N ation o f Is
lam said in an interview p ub
lish ed M onday that he hated
France but was sent there by God
to organize blacks.
“I hate France but I must accom
plish my task here. I was mandated
by G od to do th is .' K arim
Muhammed told the daily newspa
per Le Figaro
Muhammed said he defined him
self as French-speaking rather than
French His father is from the
French West Indies and his mother
is from the former French North
African territory of Algeria.
“ W e are not a s e c t." said
Muhammed whose followers have
begun to appear in areas of Paris
frequented by young blacks
The followers, like their men
tors in the United States, are im
peccably dressed and sell Nation of
Isiam publications on street cor
ners.
“We only want to inform and
federate blacks but this annoys cer
tain lobbies so we are accused of all
sorts of ills." said Muhammed who
attacked whites in general, Jews in
particular and what he called “alien
ated blacks" who have integrated
into French society at large.
The interview with Muhammed,
who declined to say how many
followers his group had in France,
was accompanied by worried com
ments by French anti-racist lead
ers.
Fode Sylla, Malian-born presi
dent of the powerful SOS-Racism
group, said Nation of Islam influ
ence in France would have been
unthinkable several years ago.
He attributed it to the country 's
economic crisis and the "increas
ing ghettoization of French soci
ety.”
There are no official f igures on
the number of blacks in France
since census-taking according to
skin color is illegal and residents of
French overseas areas with black
populations are free to settle in
metropolitan France at will.
Some French West Indian black
intellectuals in Paris have been in
volved in the past in separatist
movements.
Many children of black im m i
grants from form er French A fri
can colonies are born M uslim but
are largely divorced from reli
gion, grow ing up in high-rise-
blighted suburban areas where
drugs and juvenile delinquency
are rife.
Such im m ig ran ts, m any of
whom enter the country illegally,
are the target of police campaigns
to identify them as such and right
ist campaigns to expel them.
‘Three. Christians kitted in ‘E gypt
Attackers shot and killeU-three
Christians in southern Egypt, the
Interior Ministry said last Friday.
The attack came despite stepped-
up police security following adeadly
attack on a Christian church.
The bodies o f the three men were
found Thursday night in a field in
the village o f El-Zuheir in Minya
province, 145 miles south of Cairo,
the Interior Ministry said.
Police stationed arm ored ve
hicles around churches and in
creased patrols in southern Egypt
after gunmen burst into the Mar
Girgis church on Wednesday and
opened fire on a charity meeting,
killing eight people, including two
women A ninth person shot in the
attack died o f his wounds Thurs
day.
In C airo, M oham m ed Sayed
Tantawi. the grand sheik o f Al-
Azhar. condemned the El-Fiqriya
attack as “ villainous, cowardly and
low.”
He added: “N o religions con-
done this monstrous act and pro
hibit it.”
Tantawi, who heads the nation’s
main religious institution, made
the remarks in a sermon at Friday's
weekly prayer service. They were
carried on Egypt’s Middle East
News Agency.
Minya province has long been a
site o f strife between the govern
ment and Muslim militants seek
ing to overthrow Egypt’s secular
governm ent and install Islamic
rule.
Coptic Christians, who make up
just 10 percent o f Egypt’s 60 mil
lion people but are a large minority
in southern Egyptian provinces like
Minya. have been targeted by mili
tants on grounds that they are her
etics.
The deaths in El-Fiqriya and El-
Zuheir brought to more than 1.050
the number o f people killed since
the strife began in 1992. Most o f
the victims have been police or
militants killed in southern Egypt.
Vernell Laudermilk
Vernell Laudermilk was born on February 10, 1955 he
passed awav on February 7, ¡997 in Portland, Oregon. Mr.
Laudermilk worked fo r the City o f Portland, Parks and
Recreation as a landscape gardener. Mr. Laudermilk was a
lifelong Portland Oregon resident. He attended Irvington
Elem entary School and Adams High School. 1 ernell
Laudermilk is survived by his mother and step father;
Glennie and H ilbert Rutler o f Portland; brothers Donald
Laudermilk, Maui, Hawaii, and Aaron Laudermilk o f Port
land; sisters Deborah Laudermilk, Sherry Gill, Robin
Laudermilk, Dedral Laudermilk, all o f Portland.
fo s p e i worbd mourns, remembers star
A permanent void was left in the
gospel music world with the death of
Bishop Jeff Banks In Banks' fruit
ful life - which included an early
career with gospel giant Mahal la
Jackson - he was one of the music
industry’s most enduring and influ
ential leaders.
Banks was respected and beloved
for his re lig io u s and m u sical
mentorship, for his inclusive phi
losophy toward all and for his pow
erful preaching style.
Born and reared in Pittsburgh,
Pa., Banks died of cancer at age 69
on Jan. 31. A wake and funeral
services were held Feb. 7 and 8 in
Newark N.J., where he 31 years
earlier organized the Revival Temple
Church. He founded its Revival
Temple Mass Choir and led it to
international fame on Savoy Records.
Before that, he was half of gospel's
famed Banks Brothers duet.
"Bishop Banks was one of the last
gospel pioneers," said Savoy Direc
tor Milton Biggham. “He distin
guished himself as a trailblazer for
many who aspired to sing and play
gospel music, "his charm, his c h a
risma, his personality were infec
tious,” Biggham added. “ Bishop
Banks only made friends. He was
well-liked by everybody.”
Banks’ most recent album with
the Revival Temple ;:hoir, I AM
What God Says I Am on Savoy
Records, became a hit 50 years after
his recording debut. They have re
leased nine vibrant albums on Savoy
Robert E. Donaldson, born March 26, 1933 in Portland,
Oregon. He passed on February 4, 1997.
Robert attended school in Portland. He left Portland at
the age o f 19, traveled to Chicago and soon after met and
married Juanita Martin. iMter he join ed the Air Force.
Robert worked as a warehouseman and a social service
worker. He moved back to Portland from Chicago with his
fam ily in 1964.
Rob loved jazz and good conversation. He is survived by:
his mother, Novella Donaldson; one daughter, Wanda; five
sons, Robert, Michael, Carl Stewart and James; 12 grand
children; 3 great-grand children; one brother, Ren Webb;
and a host o f friends and other relatives.
In 1957, The Banks Brothers be-
came the first gospel act to appear at
the Newport Jazz. Festival. I he next
year, they performed at Carnegie
Hall with Mahalia Jackson In 1966.
Banks founded the Newark church
and, soon, its choir. He often per
formed as a narrator on the choir’s
album and always was billed with it.
Their string of hits include The
Storm Is Over, Prayer Will Fix It
and H e’s All Over Me. Their albums
on Savoy include I Am What God
Says I Am. The Righteous, Caught
Up In The Rapture, The Storm Is
Over and He’s All Over Me.
The Savoy family was deeply sad
dened by Banks’ passing, but knows
G od’s disciple has found peace in
Heaven.
Chavis choice is rife w ith meaning
Benjamin F. Chavis’ decision Io
join the Nation of Islam means a
strict diet, frequent daily prayers
and strict devotion to the tenets of
Islam for him
Supporters also hope it means
good things for the ci vil rights m ove
ment.
“The nation has always had the
purpose of strengthening blacks, and
Reverend Chavis has demonstrated
an ability to brin£ people together,"
said Rufus Cook, a Chicago attorney
who works with the Nation of Islam.
“ It appears to me th is should
strengthen their overall effort.”
Others are more skeptical.
“I just don't see Chavis as a major
player on the national scene any
more,” said David Bositis, policy
analyst for the Joint Center for Po
litical and Economic Studies. "He
used to have a national framework to
work from but fie doesn’t anymore.
He can’t have the same impact.”
The former head of the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People, who changed his
name to Chavis Muhammad, an
nounced his conversion over the
weekend On Monday, he said the
influence the Nation of Islam holds
in the black community helped spur
his decision.
“I predict in the next coming
months the Nation of Islam is going
to grow as an effective tool to resur
rect our people,” Chavis M uham
mad said
“What other organization is tak
ing men and women out of despair
and making them upright? There
has been a convergence and I have
evolved into the Nation of Islam."
The impact of the conversion may
be strongly felt within the Nation of
Islam since it’s leader, Louis Farra-
khan, is 63 and has fought off pros
tate cancer in recent years. /
Chavis M uhammad dism issed
talk of replacing Farrakhan as "wild
speculation" and said he didn’t ex-
pect any problems from Nation of
Islam ministers who hope to succeed
Farrakhan.
“It’s premature to talk about suc
cessors to Minister Farrakhan because
the minister is strong, healthy and
vibrant,” Chavis Muhammad said
“And I'm pleased to report that I have
been embraced by all of the leader
ship. We have a good talk this morn
ing and this was no suiprise to them."
A stirring orator, Farrakhan was
the chief apostle of Nation of Islam
founder Elijah Muhammad. The re
ligion advocates separation from
white society and adheres to strict
moral and dietary codes.
Chavis Muhammad said he wel
comes the changes his conversion
entails
“I can be completely obedient to
God in the Nation of Islam. It calls
for a disciplined lifestyle and that is
appealing to me,” Chavis M uham
mad said, adding that his wife
M artha will also take the name
Muhammad.
"There will be changes. For ex
ample I used to pray twice a day and
now I will pray seven times a day. I
like that. I want to raise my family in
complete obedience to God. That s
good discipline.”
In the 1970s, Chavis Muhammad
spent more than four years in North
Carolina prisons after being con
victed in the firebombing o f a white-
owned grocery during a battle over
school desegregation in Wilmington.
Theconviction was later overturned.
He worked as a minister for the
United Church of Christ until 1993.
when he was hired to lead the
NAACP That lasted just 16 months
until Chavis Mo.Uflmmad was fired
for using the organization’s money
to settle a sex discrimination claim
without telling the board of direc
tors.
Chavis Muhammad also helped
organize the Million Man March in
1995 with Farrakhan.
Supreme court hears religious freedom case
What began as a landmark-pres
ervation squabble in a small Texas
town has become a constitutional
test o f religious freedom
The original question that led to
last W ednesday’s argument in the
Supreme Court was whether a Catho
lic church could enlarge its sanctu
ary. But the case has become, ac
cording to the Rev. Oliver Thomas
o f the National Council o f Churches
o f Christ, “the most important reli
gious-freedom case the Supreme
Court has ever had to decide.”
“ It affects every single religious
organization and individual in the
OF// h a v i n g Cjd-Cemary ey
M abie Jean K yles
Sunrise, June 23,1940, Manhattan, Kansas
Sunset, February 17,1997, Portland, Oregon
Mabie Jean was born June 23, 1940 in
M anhattan, K ansas to Frieda and Percy
Hickman. She moved to Portland, Oregon in
about 1943. She attended Boise and Holliday
Grade Schools and Jefferson High School. Her
father, Percy and her sister, Joyce W ashington
and Brother, Larry Hickman preceded her in
death. She leaves to mourn, her son, Shelby
Kyles, her mother, Frieda Murray and her
sister, Iva Collins; and a host of nieces and
nephews. Mabie was a very well liked person whom everyone loved and
appreciated. Her hobbies were sewing and reading. Mabie worked at Bess
Kaiser Hospital for 28 years as an anesthesiologist assistant. Mabie was
easy to love, that’s why she went up above. She was gentle, she was kind,
so she left the world behind. Even though she's gone today, in our hearts
she always stay. We loved you Mabie!
Funeral Services were Friday, February 21, 1997 at Fellowship Mis
sionary Baptist Church. Reverend Johnny Pack, IV, Pastor o f Fellowship
Missionary Baptist Church officiated. Internment Rose City Cemetery.
Cox Funeral Home
o f Robert Donaldson, Jr.
in the past two dozen years.
Banks' gospel calling began in
his Pittsburgh childhood, when he
began singing and playing piano tor
the Carter C M E. Church. He soon
sang and played for Pittsburgh’s
Mary Johnson Singers, then became
accompanist for Mahalia Jackson
Banks’ career continued to blos
som and he recorded his first album
on Atlantic Records in 1947 He
then moved Io Newark and teamed
up with his brother Charles as The
Banks Brothers -- a duel that be
came gospel icons on Regal Records,
then on Savoy Records. Their big
gest hit, Lord I Tried, became a
gospel standard on Savoy. "They
were the first successful male duo to
sing gospel," Biggham noted.
2736 N.E. Rodney, Portland,
Oregon (503) 281 -4891
“Before You Must
Make a Decision”
Inspect the Beautiful Cox Funeral Chapel
“Planning your funeral is our first
consideration. Equipped to serve all
religions, races, veterans and
fraternal organizations. ”
-Jerom e Tanner, Funeral Director
United States, no matter their be
lief,” said Thomas, one o f many
religious leaders with a vital interest
in the outcome
At issue is the constitutionality of
the Religious Freedom Restoration
Act, a 1993 federal law aimed at
curbing governmental interference
with Americans' spiritual lives
A Catholic archbishop sued after
Boerne, Texas, officials thwarted a
church’s attempt to tear down all but
the facade o f its 1920s building and
erect a larger sanctuary.
Archbishop P.F. Flores’ lawsuit
invoked the 1993 law, which Con
gress enacted in response to a 1990
Supreme Court decision that said
laws otherwise neutral toward reli
gion are not unconstitutional simply
because they may infringe on some
people’s religious beliefs.
The 1990 decision came in an
Oregon case about American Indian
rituals. The court found no constitu
tional right to take the hallucino
genic drug pey ote as a religious prac-
tice.
Religious and civil rights groups
who pushed for congressional ac
tion contended that the court, in
the rationale used to decide the
peyote case, had turned its back on
v igorously p ro tectin g religious
rights.
The groups traced Supreme Court
rulings back to 1963 that established
a much tougher standard. Those rul
ings said government could not pass
or enforce laws restricting religious
liberty unless it showed a “compel
ling state interest” and used the
' ’ least restrictive means’ ’ for achiev
ing the goals.
In the 1993 law. Congress re
stored the tougher standard It said
the federal, state and local officials
had to show a “compelling reason”
before they imposed a “substantial
burden” on som eone’s religious
beliefs.
Officials in the Texas city are
asking the Supreme Court to rule
that the law violates the I Oth Amend
ment rights o f states and local gov
ernments by forcing them to allow
more protection for religious beliefs
than the Constitution requires.
The L.I.F.E. Center Needs Your
Help!
We Are In Need O f Your Help With New And
Quality Used Items Such As,
Beds
Sofas
Baby Beds
Kitchen Items
and
Monetary Donation Are Always Accepted
We Will Pick-Up. Call for an appointment. Our
mission is to provide certain basic needs to
families and individuals in the greater Portland area.
L.I.F.E. Center
Leslie Garth-Clark
Executive Director
Phone (503) 284-6878
F ax(503)281-4321