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S E P T . 3 , 1997
(El]c |3ortlanò O bsctw c
Well What Was It All About?
instrument of
history of American and African blacks is as
our educational development as pencil,
lb P r o i .M« K i m . m B i
ri
ence Scieniuic ^cuncaiy. ,
follow up set, “ More Science: The
e are told that this
Right Kind."
s u m m e r’s p ré se n ta
That was a grouping designed to
tion o f articles here
provide teacher, student and parent
was many things but. mostly we like
with and easier-than-conventional
hearing that we might have been a
means o f approaching and com pre­
little bit better than usual (no sum ­
hending a field o f learning that usu­
mer doldrums at the Portland O b­
ally is made more difficult than nec­
server) and that we filled a num ­
essary. And we approached our task
ber o f diverse needs; some we hadn't
from a number o f viewpoints, taking
though, of.
into account the audience s levels
Well, one thing for sure, we cer­
o f interest and preparation. We
tainly anticipated a strong need for
ranged from real-time examples to
as much information as possible in
the historical.
the fields o f science, mathematics
Most successful in my interac­
and technology-in-general. We tried
tion with those parents who were
to achieve this objective with such
interested in forming science clubs
•» rm IV received series as, “ Is Sci-
W
in the neighborhoods— an old idea
‘back to the future’—was the tech­
nique o f ‘naming a club after a fa­
mous minority, inventor or scien­
tist This was a motivational scheme
that worked, and worked well It was
rewarding that not only were role
m odels chosen from my book,
“ Black Inventors O f America , but
people wen, far afield, documenting
innovators new to me.
It was very rewarding to become
a ‘change agent' for our youth in the
Recipe Wins Prize in
reffon Frver Commission Contest
ers— parents, student and teach­
ers— that blacks sailed ‘tall ships
like the US C onstitution ( ‘O ld
Ironsides'). It is very important to
theprocessoflearningtoknow who
you are and what you and your kind
have achieved from day one ' Too
many o f our children have become
v i c t i m s o f the racist rewrites and
if African Ameri-
itic stage. A good
t e view o f “Black
and African Blacks is as essential a
tool or instrument of our educa­
tional development as pencil, paper
»erica» Seamen in
or computer . I can remember wha,
’ Jeffrey Bolster,
ity Press, 1997
I think was one o f the Rev. Jesse
Jackson’s greatest programs. I his
•
Reading
ames Michael Brodie grew up
believing that reading was
J
“cool.”
His lather, a computer program ­
mer. read the newspaper everyday,
and his mother, a homemaker, was
alwaysburieil in anovel, magazine,or
the Bible "(fur house was filled with
encyclopedias, story books, and
books from different cultures,” say
James, one ol America s most re­
spected children's authors. “There
was always something exciting to
read in our house! Books took me to
places far away from where 1 was.
Lorraine Hansberry, Chinhua Achibe,
and William Shakespeare were some
of my favorite writers.”
But growing up. James noticed
that he rarely saw positive images ot
himsell in books. "I guess I reached
a point in my life,” he recalls, "when
I thought, if I want to see m yself in
nrint. I'm going to have to do the
IS
So Brave: The Story of African Ameri­
can Literature, James was able to ac­
complish his ambitious goals ot put­
ting positive African Americans in
print and passing on to young people
our rich tradition of storytelling.
Sweet Words, written by James
Michael Brodie and Barbara K. Curry,
chronicles African American literary
history through the eyes of a young
girl and her grandfather. When the
young girl pleads with her grandfa­
ther, "Please tell me a story and make
it sing for me. Draw word pictures., .so
I can find myself," he answers by
taking her on an extraordinary jour­
ney filled with places and people who
have changed our lives for the better
B eginning at the tip o f P hillis
W heatley’squill and continuing onto
Toni M orrison's Nobel Prize for Lit­
erature, this eloquently written book
exposes children to the faces and
voices of those who have docu­
mented ourcollcctivc lite in America.
Sweet Words also reveals the influ­
ence of our historical social and po­
litical struggle on literature from
Frederick Douglass’ call for our eman­
cipation from slavery to Dr. Martin
P
w
6 months, 12 m onths, 15 to 18 months
bella are grouped as “ M M R . A new
co m b in a tio n for D TP and H ib has
I I C F A I T II
J? O C U S
and d u rin 8 y ears 4 to 6
ponow ing immunization guidelines
also been developed.
As a p e d ia tric ia n , 1 reco m m en d
that you schedule your infant's first
“ w ell bab y ” d o c to r's ap p o in tm e n t
tw o w eeks after your child is born.
Your p e d ia tric ia n w ill give you a
sch ed u le that w ill tell w hen each
A
S u c c e ssfu l P sych o lo g y
F or M oth ers
Letting Children See That
la
---------
A true ad v a n c e in m e d ic in e in
the 2 0 ,h century has been the con­
tin u in g d e v e lo p m e n t o f vaccin es
to provide protection for our c h il­
dren ag ain st m any d iseases. All
children, however, are not taken tor
their “ shots” in a tim ely fashion.
C h ild h o o d i m m u n i z a t i o n s
should be started at age 2 m onths.
By the tim e your child is 2 years
old, many o f the required im m uni­
z a tio n s can be c o m p le te d or in
p ro g re s s . S h o ts g e n e ra lly are
eiven at ages 2 m onths, 4 m onths.
" walnetto C hicken with C itors -M ijustard
F ryer C ommission chicken recipe contest
them again.
Let's see, “what else was it all
about?” We told of the important
manufacturing plants established by
|y on, the magnifi­
ai heights reached
ce
i during these times,
and travails o f black
at
Civil War to the
Immunizations: important t<
James L. Phillips, M.D.
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas
first place with
was his national project to inoculate
pride and consciousness of self
among black people. Do you recall
the little figures o f black children
skipping about with sweater, lunch
boxes and briefcases bearing the
legend,“ ! Am Somebody " Lets see
(NA PS)—M aking th e tr a n s i­
tion to being an at-home mom can
be sm oother w ith th e following
advice from Mothers at Home:
1. Give yourself tim e to make
th e tra n s itio n . T he re w a rd s of
m o th erh o o d can u ltim a te ly be
some of life’s m ost fulfilling, but
is crucial for your ch ild 's health A
survey by Texas C h ild re n ’s H ospital
and B ay lo r C o lle g e o f M ed icin e in
H ouston, revealed that in that region,
less than 20 p ercen t o f 2 -y e a r-o ld
children were properly immunized.
D o n ’, let y o u r c h ild ’s h e a lth go
unprotected.
Im m unizations are now available
and re c o m m e n d e d for p ro te c tio n
against the follow ing diseases: diph­
theria, tetanus, pertussis (w hooping
cough), polio, m easles, m um ps, ru ­
bella (G erm an m easles), hepatitis B,
H a e m o p h ilu s in flu e n z a e ty p e b
(Hib), and varicella (chicken pox).
Some vaccines are com bined in one-
s h o t. D ip h th e r ia , te ta n u s a n d
p e r tu s s is a re g iv e n to g e th e r as
•n T P " and m easles. m um ps and ru-
im m unization is needed.
W hile sc h e d u lin g your c h ild s
v acc in a tio n s, d o n ', forget to take
care o f y o u rs e lf as w ell. A dults
should receive a com bined diphthe ­
ria and tetanus shot every 10 years,
a n d th o s e w h o h a v e n o t h a d
chicken pox are e n co u rag ed to get
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how far we have come and challenges
Women choose to be home to
them to keep working for our contin­
ued progress.
i nurture and cherish their children.
G iven the g reat legacy o f A fri- ,
can A m erican w rite rs, rappers
sh o u ld n ’t be the only sc rib e s our
children know . And w hat a legacy
it is. In a co u n try in w hich A fri­
can A m ericans w ere once fo rb id ­
den by law to read and w rite, our
ac c o m p lish e d sc rib e s have c o m ­
p iled an im p re ssiv e canon o f po­
etry , p ro se, e ssa y s, n ovels, lays,
and film s a g a in st tre m e n d o u s
odds. W ith our w ords we have
won the P u litz e r prize and the
N obel P rize for L ite ra tu re . W ith
OFFERED FOR RACK-TO-SCHOOl
our w ords we have been nam ed
Poet L a u re a te s and c o m p o sed
More than ever, children depend on a healthy visual system ano g<x>u eye
verse fo r p re sid e n tia l In a u g u ra ­
tions. W ith our w ords we have
ch an g ed the c o n sc ie n c e and the
law s o f our n a tio n , lo r as Jam es
ack now ledges, “ it’s still the word
tion about visual clarity, eye
,
doctors stress the importance of regular vision care
th at c a rrie s the th o u g h t." O ur
‘X
v” t d e . e e , J U
- „ » P » « ™ , .» .o re ehiidren fall ,»h,»d
w ords are a v ib ra n t and pow erful
ex tension o f our spirits and souls,
their school work.
,n d do not cause discomfort. Screenings may be
and S w eet W ords So B rave pays
hom age to the vision and te n a c ­
ity o f ta le n te d A frican A m erican
w rite rs and le a d e rs. L ettin g our
c h ild re n see us read and sharing
th is book w ith them are great
PACIFIC UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRY EYE ft VISION CF.NTERS
sta rts to h e lp in g them see how
“c o o l" re a d in g can be.
NORTHEAST PORTLAND
Jam es M ichael B rodie is also
the a u th o r o f C re a te d E qual: The
L ives and Ideas o f B lack A m eri­
5329 NE MLK Jr. Blvd., P ortland
can in n o v a to rs.
Free Vision
Screenings
248-3821