J uly 30, 1997 • T he P ortland O bserver P age A2 Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily Reflect Or Represent The Views Of ‘JjJortlanb © bsm w r S ubscribe to p (E lje ¡ P o r t l a n d ( J D b s m w r he most favorable re sponse to the idea of "Junior Science Clubs" is most appreciated. There is nothing like a concept whose time has come (again) and there is no reason why such useful and educational projects should be the province of only certain in­ come and social groups: worked well 60 years ago! Also appreciated are public ac­ knowledgments of one'scontributions and successful endeavors to bring about change. Ils not at all about a personal clement of praise or appro­ bation, but serves as a mechanism that could generate even more support from industry or the public at large. I have reference to the very thoughtful birthday greeting pub­ lished in a May edition of The Port­ land O bserver by Mr. Herm an Grimes. President. Coast Industries. Thank you very much for this gra­ cious acknowledgment by a former student: “..congratulations on m ak­ ng significant contrioutions ing contributions to m the e S ubscriptions T he P ortland O bserver ; PO B ox 3137 P ortland , O regon 97208 Name: Address. City, State: Zip-Code: T hank Y ou F or R eading T he P ortland O bserver Attention Readers! Please take a minute tosend us your comments. W e’re always trying to give you a better paper and we can’t do it without your help. Tell us what you like and what needs improvement... any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. We take criticism well! Get your powerful pens out NOW and address your letters Io: Editor. Re ad e r Response. P O. Bn was heeun two years two ago years by the Zi by the Zion * was begun ago tween men and women widens even Hill Missionary Baptist Church in more as women are forced to believe Rochester, NY. In Chicago a Do­ that they are less valuable than our mestic V iolence A dvocacy/Care men. Not talking about domestic vio­ Ministry trains church leaders on lence undermines our community s domestic violence and I rinity United unity even more because a superfi­ Church ot Christ has a special minis­ cial and Hawed unity is no unity at try for battered women and children. all. Not talking about domestic vio­ Several years ago in Washington, lence guarantees the destruction of a D C. Rev. Imagine Stewart began the family, not just for one generation, House of imagine to shelter and min­ but for generations to come. ister to battered and homeless women Unfortunately, the black church and children. too often has also participated in the We must end the silence about the silence around domestic violence. sin and the crime of domestic vio­ Too often the black church has even lence in the African American com­ condoned such behavior, counseling munity We must reach out to help women to stay in abusive relation­ those women and those men who are ships. However, a new national caught up in this horrible and terrify­ project. The Black Church and do­ ing cycle of violence. We cannot mestic Violence Task force, located afford for future generations to be in Seattle, is ending the silence and torn apart because we have tolerated beginning the dialogue and action. The African American Initiative of Men Stopping Violence, based in Atlanta, works with African Ameri­ can men who have been barterers. Locally. black churches, mosques and community organizations are taking action. For instance, the Open Arms Ministry, a holistic approach to dealing with domestic violence, To Be Equal: Promise and Change d o lla rs in in ve stm en ts. T h e y are s u cc e ss sto rie s-b e cau se , as they th e m se lve s re c o g n ize , in the S o , Jo y c e R o c h e , p resid en t and B ernice P owell J ackson t must have been 16 or 17 years ago, but I re member it like it was last month. I was sitting in a women's prison in New York State, listen­ ing to women testify to the Governor’s Commission on Do­ mestic Violence. The women, all sentenced to long prison terms of 15 years to life, told their stories and how domestic vio­ lence had been a part of their Periodicals postage paid at Portland. Oregon Subscriptions: $30.00 per year The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manu scripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage without the written consent of the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition ol such ad © 1996 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PAR I WIT H- ban p Civil Rights Journal: unmasking the violence Contributing Writers: Professor McKinley Burt. Lee Perlman, Neil Heilpern by H ugh B. P rice , P resident of the N ational U r ­ s J mail to: Charles Washington Publisher & Editor r Another Sojourn Into Science: Next Generation The Portland Observer can be sent directly to your home for only $30.00 per year. Please fill out, enclose check or money order, and ® lje P o r t la n d e ch a n g e is g o n n a com e. B la c k e n te rp rise m a g a z in e has been c h r o n ic lin g som e o f the ben­ e fits o f that c h a n g e fo r m ore than a quarter cen tu ry. A n d those b e n efits are a lso on d is p la y th is m onth in Fo rtu n e m a g a ­ zin e . Y o u ’ ll be able to spot it e a s ily on the n e w sstan d It ’ s the one w ith the s tr ik in g ga tefo ld co ve r o f A f r i ­ c a n -A m e ric a n entrepreneurs behind It ’ s our re sp o n sib ility to ensure that in the future the tra ils they and the w o rd s: “T h e N e w B la c k Pow er the generation o f b la c k entrepreneurs w ho cam e before them have b lazed is fille d w ith in d iv id u a ls as su p re m e ly W h at is that p ow er? 11 ’ s the freedom to ac hie ve for one s self, and contribute to im p ro vin g the so cie ty, to the best o f one’ s ability, unencum bered by racist law s or c u s­ tom s w h ich have the force o f law. In other w o rd s, the new b la ck p o w er is ju s t the o ld striv in g for achievem ent, su ccess, independence, fin a n c ia l s e c u rity -a n d so m e th in g m ore in tan gib le that these things pro­ duce: the sense o f b e in g a fu ll-fled ged p a rticip a n t in A m e ric a n society. W h at m akes-the achievem ents o f th is generation o f A fr ic a n A m e rica n entrepreneurs so im portant is that they sh o w that tlte p ath w ays into the centers o f p ow er (and w ealth) in A m e ric a n b u sin e ss are s ig n ific a n tly m ore open than they used to be. w e ll-p re p are d as they were. T h a t ’ s w h y the U rb an L e a g u e m ovem ent has taken as its them e for preneurs ... W e m ust no lo n ge r be satisfied w a tch in g in aw e, from a distance as others p lay the gam e...” R o b in so n and h is co lle a g u e s led our N atio n al E c o n o m ic D evelopm ent S u m m it held in C le v e la n d in late it. (For more information, write the Black Church and Domestic Vio­ lence Task Force. Center for the Pre­ vention of Sexual and Domestic Vio­ lence, 936 N. 34th St., Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98103 or call them at (206) 634-1903 or e-mall them at cpsdv @cpsdv.seanet com ) sense o f what the w o rld o f business and governm ent requires by intro­ du cin g them to men and w om en w ho can serve as mentors. N o t in cid e n ­ tally, B E E P has also helped m ore than 120 com panies and governm ent agencies recruit a m ore diverse and m ore talented w orkforce. T h e se and other concerted e f­ forts m ust continu e to be m ade, fo r it’ s c le a r that, even as w e celebrate M a y . A tten d ed b y o ffic ia ls o f lo c a l, re g io n a l, national and fortune 500 current su cce sses, A fr ic a n A m e r i­ co m p a n ie s, its purpose w as to in ­ form m ore m in o ritie s about fra n ch is­ can s have a ve ry lo n g c lim b to e c o ­ n o m ic s e lf-s u ffic ie n c y ahead o f in g s u p p lie r and d istrib u to r opportu- n ities-and to sh o w A m e rica n b u si­ ness there’ s a w h o le p oo l o f talent them. N o r sh o u ld we pretend that subtle and overt d isc rim in a tio n has disappeared from any o f the le v e ls to contribute to its e co n o m ic vita lity . A s M y ro n F . R o b in so n , the p re si­ they need to tap into. In late June, our B la c k E xe cu tive E xch a n g e Pro gram held its 28th an­ nual conference in Atlanta. Supported by corporate and in d ivid u al contribu­ dent o f the U rb an L e a g u e o f G reater C le v e la n d sa y s, “ ou r jo b for the tw e n ty-first century is to strengthen o u r e co n o m ic base through the c re ­ tions, this effort recruits business e x ­ ecutives and governm ent o fficia ls to teach as V is itin g Professors at H isto ri­ c a lly B la c k C o lle g e s and U niversities. o f the A m e ric a n w o rkp la ce . B u t w e sh o u ld take heart. F o r, w hat the B la c k E n te rp rise and F o r ­ tune M a g a zin e s a rticle s underscore is that the c lim b is b e in g m ade w ith great fe rvo r b y these entrepreneurs and m an y m ore lik e them . T h e ir su cce sses enable us to c a rry into the future that w o n d erfu l p ro p h e cy o f ation o f b u sin e ss ow ners and entre- Its objective is to give students a keener the past: a ch an g e is go n n a com e. this year, and for o u r annual c o n fe r­ ence, w h ic h b e gin s A u g u s t 3, “ E c o ­ n o m ic Pow er: T h e next C i v i l R ig h ts F ro n tie r.” W e w ant to underscore as stro n g ly as p o ssib le that o n e ’ s a b ility to fu lly participate in the s o cie ty has becom e c ru c ia lly dependent on o n e ’ s a b ility T h i s W a y fo r B la c k E m p o w e r m e n t What is the Solution to Political Corruption? The American People by D r . L enora F ui . ani 41 or the last several weeks, the U.S. Senate has been conducting hearings into the financing of the 1996 presidential campaigns. W h ile these h e a rin gs are b ein g used b y both p arties to try to gain an advantage o v e r one another, they nonetheless g ro w out o f the very intense p u b lic co n ce rn w ith p o litic a l co rru p tio n and w ith the in flu e n ce o f b ig m o n e y in p o litic s. M a n y o f the p o litic a l co m m en la tors and jo u rn a lists c o v e rin g the hear in g s have a lre a d y stated that nothing is g o in g to be d on e; that noth in g w ill be done about political corruption, about the extent to which democracy has been subverted; that nothing can be done about the fact that so many people in the country are alienated from and distrustful of government. They say that nothing will be done. But. Idisagrec I think they’re wrong. Because something is being done. It's the grassroots movement for po­ litical reform That movement is called the Reform Party We re w hat's being done We have some very serious prob­ lems in America There arc serious issues of poverty and joblessness and an educational system in deep, deep trouble. We have racial antagonisms and profound m isunderstandings betw een different com m unities. These problems are not new. And they must, of course, be addressed That is our issue -- that's the Relorm Party's issue We have got toturn our attention to the fact that we have a political system, a system of gover­ nance and policy making that doesn't sufficiently work to solve problems. No small part of this problem - the problem of not being able to solve our problem s -- is due to the excessive loyalty that most po liti­ cians have to their parties rather than to the people. It is this kind of partisanism - putting party inter­ ests above the interests of the people of this country -- that must be addressed. There are Americans across this country - rich and poor, business people andcivil servants, people from the Black community, the Latino community, the Asian community, the while community, the gay com ­ munity-- who want to come together and find real solutions. These Ameri­ cans are finding that the two major parties have not served us as well as they should in this regard, because they place such a premium on loyalty to the party rather than loyalty to the people. And so we have created a new political mechanism, a new party that will not play one constituency off against another, but will instead find ways to bring people in to the process through term limits, cam­ paign finance reform, opening up the ballot and promoting inclusion and better participation at every level of the political process! Only in its .infancy, the Reform Party is already made up of diverse people. At the same time, though, we arc not so diverse as we might think. For we are all Americans. Our loyalty is to our communities and to our country and to one an­ other And with that, we can solve any problem Creditor Send your letters to the Editor to: Editor, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208