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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 17, 1999)
Page A4 March 17,1999 <Tljv ffortianb ©beeruer Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily Reflect Or Represent The Views Of (The |Jn rtla n b (If)bseruer Attention Readers! Pisses ta k e a minute to esndua your comments. W e re always trying to give you a b atter paper and w e can’t do It without your help. Tad us w hat youHke and w hat naada Improvement... any suggestions aia welcomed and appreci ated. W e tak e criticism weHI Get your powerful pens out NOW and eddrees your letters to: Edttor, Reader Response. P.O. Box 3 1 3 7 , Portland. OR 8 7 2 0 8 . 2^ he ^ o rtia n h (©bseruer (USPS 959-680) Established in 1970 Charles W ashington Larry Jackson, Sr. P ublisher E d ito r G ary Ann Taylor Joy Ramos B usiness M anager Copy Editor M ark W ashington H eather Fairchild D istribution M anager G raphic D esigner C ontributing Writers: Richard Luccetti Lee Perlman 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, Oregon 97211 503-288-0033 • Fax 503-288-0015 Email: Pdxobserva aol.com Deadline fo r all submitted materials: A rticles .Friday, 5 :0 0 pm A ds: M onday, 12:00pm POSTMASTER: Send Address Changes To: Portland Observer, P.O. Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208. Periodicals p o sta g e p a id at Portland, Oregon. Subscriptions: $60.00 p e r ye a r The Portland O bserver w elcom es freelance submissions. M anuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and w ill be returned if accom panied by a self addressed envelope. A ll created design display ads becom e the sole property o f the new spaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage w ithout the w ritten consent o f the general manager, unless the client has purchased the com position o f such ad. © 1996 THE PORTLANDOBSERVER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART W ITHOUT PERM ISSION IS PROHIBITED. The Portland O b serv er-O reg o n ’s O ldest M ulticultural P ublication-is a m em ber o f the N ational N ew spaper A ssociation—Founded in 1885, and The N ational A dvertising Representative A m algam ated Publishers, Inc, N ew York, NY, and The W est Coast Black Publishers Association • Serving Portland and V ancouver. SU B SC R IB E TO W ?ortlattb <©bseriier The Portland Observer can be sent directly to your home for only $60.00 per year. Please f ill out, enclose check or money order, and mail to: S ubscriptions T he P ortland O bserver ; PO B ox 3137 P ortland , O regon 97208 Name: _______________ _____ ____________________ — ------------------- A ddress: ______________________________________ — ------------- City, State: _______________ _____________________________________ Z ip -C o d e :_____ ______________________________________ — ----------- T hank Y ou F or R eading T he P ortland O bserver C IV IL R IG H T S J O U R N A L A New Kind Of Politics Bv B ernice P owell J ackson Sooften in this nation’s history w e’ve seen the divide and conquer strategy used to keep people o f color apart. As people o f color, too often we have internalized the racism which has been fed to u s an d w e b e lie v e misconceptions and stereotypes about other people o f color, and sometimes, even about ourselves. In politics, the divide and conquer strategy has been used tim e and again to keep people o f color out o f elected office. N ow there is a group w hich is w orking from a new paradigm , a m ultiracial/m ulticultural coalition w orking together to elect progressive candidates in Los (Angeles. Called C oalition LA , this grassroots group o fcitize n s from the 10* C ity Council D istrict has w orked for m ore than a d e c a d e a g a in s t s u c h d iv is iv e C a lif o r n ia p r o p o s itio n s as Proposition 187, the anti-im m igrant legislation and Proposition 209, the anti-affirm ative action law. W hile they lost these struggles, they found new allies to w ork together across racial and cultural lines and in the past five years they have focused on b rin g in g neighborhoods together, d e v e lo p in g c o m m o n p o litic a l platform s, and running their own m em bers for city council. T his com m unity w ork, based on five m onths o f going door-to-door to ta lk w ith re s id e n ts a b o u t th e ir concerns, has resulted in a Plan o f A ction. N ot surprisingly, they found that residents w anted jobs, better h o u s in g ; a g re e n e r, m o re sa fe com m unity, and better educational opportunities for their children. When asked to im agine the city they could create i f the people w ere really in charge, com m unity residents wanted to m ake governm ent accountable to the residents, to create a clean and healthy environm ent, to get m ore jobs in the com m unity, to create affordable h o u s in g city w id e, to m ak e real changes for children and to ensure safer com m unities. The 10* City Council district in Los Angeles is a diverse one, including some parts o f the Crenshaw district which burned in the 1992 uprising and the fast growing Koreatown. Coalition LA believes that it is by organized participation in neighborhoods in local go vemmen t that can make a di fference in the lives o f people and can give them incentive to become involved in politics and elections. C le a rly , on e k ey to th a t em powerment o f the people is to have leaders w ho tru ly rep resen t the community and who refuse to play the divide and conquer game. California, the nation’s m ost populous state, already has achieved a status ofhaving no racial ethnic majority in the state, w hich will become a demographic reality for the rest o f the nation in another generation. Thus, how people o f color in California work together for political power will be instrumental to the rest o f the nation. W ithin the 10* district. Coalition LA has chosen to support in the up com ing April election an African A m erican candidate new to electoral politics, but not new to the district. Rev. M adison Shockley is a local church pastor in the 10* district and grew up in that neighborhood as well. A civil rights activist, he is on the board o f the Southern C hristian Leadership Conference in Los Angeles and is also a member o f the African- Amencan/Korean- American Christian Alliance and the African-American/ Jewish Leadership Connection. Rev. Shockley clearly understand the need to b u ild m u ltiracial/m u lticu ltu ral alliances in the 21 ■ century. It was the beating o f Rodney King by L. A. police officers which resulted in the acquittal o f the police by a Simi Valley jury which sparked the uprising in 1992. R odney K in g 's sim ple question o f ’W hy c a n 't we ju st all get President Clinton Called On To Fight Against Police Brutality Unprecedented Coalition Of Civil Rights Leaders unify in call for action. A d iv e rse g ro u p o f A fric an - American, A sian, Latino and Jew ish leaders d em anded th at P resident C lin to n tak e actio n a g a in st th e growing national epidem ic o f police brutality. The group o f leaders issued their appeal to C linton at a press co n fe re n ce held re c e n tly at th e National Press Club and convened by National Urban League President Hugh Price. Price, citing the police killings o f A m adou Diallo in N ew Y ork, T yisha M ille r in R iv e rsid e , an d D eo n Grimmett in Pittsburgh, declared that “recurring instances o f im proper use ofdeadly force,excessive useofforce. racial profiling, abuse o f basic civil liberties, and routine harassm ent o f m inorities who have done little or nothing wrong, are vivid signs o f a national epidemic o f police brutality.” As he spoke, Price w as flanked by: Jesse L. Jack so n , p resid e n t, R ainbow /P ush C o alitio n ; K w eisi M fum e, president & C E O , N A A C P; Johnnie L. C ochran, Jr., attorney; R everend A1 S harpton, president, T heN ational Action N etw ork; W ade H e n d e rso n , e x e c u tiv e d ir e c to r . L ead ersh ip C o n feren ce on C iv il rights; Raul Y zaguirre, president, N ational Council o f La Raza; Joseph Lowery, Chairman, Black Leadership Forum; Abe Foxman, president, Anti- Defam ation League; Karen Narasaki, executive director, A m erican C ivil L iberties Union. Price called on PresidentClinton to: •Convene a W hite H ouse sum m it this spring to place the national spotlight on this problem •Dispatch a blue ribbon panel. New Medicare Reimbursement Rates Metro Area Counties to Get Increases of More Than 10% Thanks to changes w ritten into law byU .S. Senator Ron W yden (D-Ore.), Oregon seniors will benefit from large increases in reim bursem ent rates for m anaged care under the M edicare p la n . In m u ch o f th e P o rtla n d m etropolitan area, w here m ore than h alf o f all seniors are enrolled in m anaged care plans, increases will be m ore than 10% next year. The increases com e about as a re su lt o f c h a n g es su g g e sted by W yden to the form ula, know n as the A A PCC , used for determ ining the rates at w hich m anaged care plans are reim bursed for enrolling seniors. The changes w ere passed into law as part o f the Balanced B udget A ct o f 1997. Previously, the AA PCC rew arded w a ste fu l co n d u c t and p u n ish e d seniors in places with efficient health care systems, such as Oregon. In m any cases around the country, higher reim bursem ent rates have translated into additional benefits like prescription drug coverage, and free eyeglasses and hearing aids, am ong others. “O regon seniors should see results from these increases in better services and m ore choice from m anaged care providers,” said W yden. “Senator Smith and I are now fighting for further legislation to m ake sure that these increases continue in the years ahead, and ensure that they translate into the kind o f im proved benefits that seniors deserve.” M etro a re a c o u n tie s w ill see particularly strong increases in 2000, w ith rises o f 10.6% in M ultnomah county, 12.4% in Clackamas County, 9.8% in W ashington County, and 9.1 % in C olum bia County. along?” was echoed throughout the nation. N ow com m unity activists in Los A ngeles are out to prove that not only can we all get along, but we can w o rk to g e th e r to m a k e o u r co m m u n ities a b e tte r p la ce for ourselves and our children. T hat sounds like new politics to me. T hat sounds like a vision for the 21“ century we all need to model. arm ed w ith su b p o en a pow er, to conduct public hearings to ferret out evidence o f p olice b rutality and abuse. W here there is widespread evidence o f abuse, the panel should devise guidelines for state and local p o lic e d e p a r tm e n ts , c o v e rin g appropriate use o f deadly force and prohibitions against detaining and s e a r c h in g p e o p le w h o a r e n ’t suspects in sp e cific crim es and w ho’ve done little or nothing wrong •Take legal action against police departments that repeatedly brutalize and abuse people by placing these departm ents “ into receivership until they straighten out.” •Investigate practices o f racial profiling H enderson expressed hope that the group’s diversity w ould persuade P resident C linton to take action. “T oday, m any o rg an izatio n s are speaking w ith one voice in the hope o f P resid en t C lin to n m o v in g to address this growing national crisis,” said H enderson. Just m om en ts before the press co n feren ce, P rice receiv ed a letter from B ill C lin to n in w h ich the P resid en t called the issue o f p olice abuse and m isco n d u ct “critica l.” A tto r n e y G e n e ra l J a n e t R e n o agreed to m eet w ith civil rights le a d e rs an d a c k n o w le d g e d th e gravity o f the p o lice b ru tality issue in h er w eekly press conference. R eno stated that in the p ast five years, her departm ent has crim inally p ro secu ted m ore than 300 o fficers, r e s u lt in g in m o r e th a n 2 0 0 c o n v ic tio n s , w ith a n o th e r 100 in v estig atio n s ongoing. Photo: Jason Miccolo Johnson W ashington, D.C. - National Urban League President Hugh Price, right, flanked by civil rights leaders Kweisi Mfum e, president & CEO, NAACP; Dr. Joseph Lowery, chairman, Black Leadership Forum; Abe Foxman, president, Anti-Defamation League; Joe Madison. 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