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May 5,1999
FOCUS
W o m e n C l i m b i n ' H ig h
Bv D ionne P eeples ___________________
C ontributing W riter
Tien it comes to pressing
W
on despite of, and pav­
ing th e way for others,
Margaret C arter, Kay Toran and Jak i
Walker stand out. T his trio of African-
American women has worked to put
this state in the forefront of politics,
housing and service to children and
families.
As each leaves her current position,
they all say that their m others played
an integral role in their success. The
lessons they learned from their m oth­
ers will continue to play a p art in their
future careers, which include becom ­
ing authors and entrepreneurs.
Margaret Carter
After an incident with an abusive
h u sb an d in 1967, M arg aret C a rte r
headed to Portland - a place she had
only dream ed about.
“I left Shreveport, Louisiana with
five babies, a hundred dollars in my
pocket and no place to stay. Period.”
She never regretted it.
C arter retired as a state represen­
tative and as a counselor of 25 years
at Portland Com m unity College- Cas­
cade campus earlier this year. She con­
tinues to work at PCC as a com m u­
nity workforce specialist. She also has
started her own business, M .C arter
and Associates, and will become a lob­
byist. In 2001, she plans to run for the
r>
Kay T o ra ^ ie ft^ a k ^ a ik e ^ re n te ^ ^ n ^ M a rg a re t CarterTright) share a friendship and a deep regard for serving the Portland
communities.
S o u th A frica. She also sp o n so red a
law c re a tin g e n te rp ris e zo n es d e ­
signed to a ttra c t b u sin esses to eco­
n o m ic a lly d e p re s s e d a re a s . S h e
p u sh ed legislation to re train w ork­
ers and u p g rad e th e skills of th e O r­
said. “B ut it is a ch allen g e I hold
d ear. I know th a t anyone w ho can
m an ag e a house w ith n in e k ids and
a h u sb a n d , can ru n a c o rp o ra tio n ”
Kay Toran
Loaded down with dream s, deter­
egon w orkforce.
m ination and a sense of adventure,
A lth o u g h C a r te r h a s w o rk ed
B enjam in and M ary Rose Dean ar­
h a rd to en su re a b e tte r O reg o n , she
rived in Portland from Alabama.
resentative.
said h er biggest acco m p lish m en t is
T he Deans, after w orking in the
“You can’t change from the out­
g ain in g a m asters deg ree w hile ru n ­
shipyards am ong other things, even­
side, you m ust m ake change from
n in g a h o u seh o ld w ith a h u sb an d
tually opened a successful beauty/ bar­
within,” C arter said of politics.
an d n in e ch ild ren .
bershop in 1952, that operates
Carter’s mother, Emma, believed the
Eventually, C arter m arried again
still today as P ortland’s oldest
same thing in addition to hard work.
in 1970, a n d ad d ed four m o re chil­
black-owned business.
At the age of 7, C arter went door-
d re n to h e r five. M a in ta in in g a
“T hey believed in setting
to-door with her m other to register
h ousehold w ith nine ch ild ren w hile
your goals,” said their daughter,
black people to vote in Shreveport, La.
stu d y in g for a m asters degree was
Kay Toran. “They believed ob­
H er father, Rev. H ilton H u n ter
not easy. “It was the g reatest ch al­
stacles are there for you to figure
held NAACP meetings at his church.
lenge to p rep are a four-course m eal
o u t to rem ove th e m o r get
The Ku Klux Kian threatened her
each night, keep up w ith all th e kids’
around them.”
parents, once running them off the road.
activities an d at the sam e tim e p re­
During her journey through
But that never deterred her parents’
p are for academ ic success,” C a rte r
m anagem ent positions within
efforts to use the political system to make
positive change for their
community.
C a rte r has d o n e
the sam e thing for her
in preparation fo r the new millenium
com m unity.
G a te w a y Com m on*
D u rin g her tim e in
A transit oriented development near East 102nd. Includes
attached houses, townhome and garden condos. One & Two
th e
L e g is la tu r e ,
bedroom homes, Priced $95,000 to $140,000
C a rte r h e lp ed m ake
state Senate.
O regon’s term limits prevented her
from seeking another term as state rep­
C o m m u n itie s
th e
R ev . M a r tin
L u th e r K in g J r . ’s
b irth d a y a state holi­
day. She won legisla­
ti o n r e q u i r i n g th e
s ta te to d iv e st from
-
by
state governm ent, Toran held to her
parents’ belief, never allowing an ob­
stacle to become a perm anent fixture.
Toran, the form er director of the
state office for services to children and
families lauded for turning the agency
around, retired from her position in
February though she still works for the
agency as a consultant until her re­
placement is hired. In the m eantim e,
Toran has ventured into another ca­
reer as an author.
Toran, the mother of two adult chil­
dren, is currently writing a book about
her journey through senior management
in state government. The title has not
been decided, she said. But the subtitle
is, “Lessons Lived, Lessons Learned,
Lessons to be Learned: An African-
American Woman’s Perspective.”
Toran, w ho jokes that her age is
somewhere between Margaret C arter
and Jak i Walker, said she has spent
m ore than 30 years in state govern-
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