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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 15, 2000)
Committed to Cultural Diversity www.portlandobserver.com March 15, 2000 (Tip ^ o rtla n h (©bsertier 50r SECTION B '1 ZfT n tu tu u n i t u I c tt h a r Evelyn Collins, founder of Christian Community Center, dies byj B akm B ell m ission in W ashington D.C. with black youth in 1949 to 1951. She stated that God had touched her heart to m inister in the black com m unity. In the 1951 Miss Collins and her m o th er m oved back w est due to health concerns for Grace Collins who was known as m otherC ollins. Arriving in Portland in 1940. She consequently earned her degree at Portland Cascade College in 1944 and shortly thereafter began to pursue acareer in the ministry. In 1954 some o f the single parents o f the children she ministered to approached her about the possibility o f Day-care. I f it was m ade available then they could seek and gain em ploym ent and break the cycle o f poverty in the process. Once again she w as touched and parlayed a small inheritance her mother received and a $300 loan from h er em ployer M eier & Frank to buy a house and open a day-care for children. W ithin a year the dem and for day-care had out grow n the house and she found and later purchased a form erG erm an Dance Hall at 128 N.E. Russell. Throughout the 50's,60's,7's0,80’s into the 9 0 ’sM iss Collins provided through the center n u r tu r in g , r e c re a tio n , e m p lo y m e n t encouragem ent, and both spiritua and social guidance to literally thousands o f youth. M any o f Portlands African-A m erican baby boom ers, rem em ber her open-door kind o f friendship, understanding ways, generosity to a fault, and w hose life dem onstrated in deed rather than ju st w ords what it m eant to (P lease see 'E v e ly n ' p ag e 1) Spring College Fair T he Pacific N orthw est A ssociation for C o lle g e A d m is s io n C o u n s e lin g (PN ACAC) Portland Spring C ollege Fair will be held at the U niversity o f Portland Chiles C enter on Sunday, April 2 from NO ON - 3 pm. O ver 100 colleges and universities from throughout the country will be on hand to share inform ation with students and their families. A rea high school c o u n selo rs and financial aid adm inistrators will be available to answer specific questions about college planning a n d fin a n c in g an e d u c a tio n . T h e University ofPortland is located at 5000 N Willamette Blvd. Call 503/943-7147. Her favorite phrase from the Bible was “ Delight thyself also in the Lord and he will give you the desires o f your heart.” A nd for over fifty years she toiled diligently in the field o f the Lords ministry nurturing a segm ent o f society that had been pushed to the edges o f the m ainstream and A m erica, the poor, the dow ntrodden, and prim arily black in both W ashington D.C. and later Portland. Her nam e? Evelyn M argaret Collins. Miss C ollins as she w as affectionately known, founded the C hristianC om m unityCenterin 1954. Years before she had suffered harsh criticism from her congregation in the Belm ont district for her m inistry w orking w ith Black youth in N. /N .E. Portland. D espite the criticism she continued to w ork with the youth and fam ilies o f Portland’s Black population. She had w orked with a Lecture on Chinese Healing System M edical science is currently investigating the effectiveness o f Q iG ong in relation to m odem day health syndrom es such as stress, high blood pressure and immune disease disorders. A lecture on QiGong, a Chinese Self-Healing System will be given by G randm aster Ou W en-W ei, research director at Guangzhou Uni versity in China. It will be held on T hursday, M arch 3 0,7- 9 pm. and w orkshops on Saturday, April 1,9 am.-3 pm. at the Friendly House located at 1727 N W 26th & Thurm an. Call Donna Selby at 503/675-9809. Changing the IRS O n S aturday, M arch 25, the C itizen A d v o c a c y P an el P u b lic F orum on Changing the IRS will be held from 9 am. to noon at the Portland Conference Center at 300 NE M ultnomah Street. Independent panel invites public com m ent on issues relating to IRS policy, procedures, and custom er service. Call 1 -888-912-1227 to participate. Five m inutes allotted to each speaker; additional tim e may be provided at discretion o f panel. A ssitance is also available for individual tax problems. Seed the future held it's annual 'Branching out tree and shrub sale'. This years event was held Saturday at Delta Park. Pictured from left to right are Rebecca Kessler, outreach coordinator fo r Friends o f Trees, and Myles Black, tree inspector for Portland Parks and Recreation. During the benefit all o f the trees were sold out. Friends o f Trees promotes community partnership to plant, care fo r and preserve urban trees in order to strengthen neighborhoods, improve the environment and enhance the quality o f urban life. On the Verge Poised on the verge o f a new era, Bridge City Productions is set to open its third se a so n o f th e a tre at th e In te rsta te Firehouse C ultural C enter in Portland, Oregon. On the Verge, or the geography o f yearning by N BC w riter and Reed College graduate Eric Overm yer will be the first o f two exciting productions from BCP this year. Scheduled w ith a gala opening Friday, March 24 at 8 pm., On the Verge will continue Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm. and Sundays at 2 pm. through April 15, 2000. US West Portland Festival Symphony The US West Portland Festival Symphony presents its Einstein C ham ber O rchestra in a benefit concert for the G oose Hollow Family Shelter and K BPS, Portland’s Classical Music Radio Station. The concert will be on Saturday, March 25,2000 at 7:30 p m . at the A rlene Schnitzer Concert H all. Tickets available at Ticketm aster and PCPA. The Portland Festival Sym phony will bejoined by M ichael A llen Harrison, noted pianist, and selected m em bers o f the M etropolitan Youth Sym phony for a night o f rom antic classical music. Portland Men Wanted For Hazardous Journey Prom ise K eepers (PK), the D enver-based international m inistry for men, officially announced the date and venue for its year 2000 m en’s conference in Portland. The Rose G arden will host an expected 19,000 m en for a day-and-a-half conference on July 21 and 22. The Portland conference is expected to draw men from throughout th e N orth w est in c lu d in g C alifo rn ia, N evada, Idaho and British Columbia. Bowling for Rhinos H elp save the endangered rhinos by bowling with the keepers from the Oregon Zoo. The event will be held on March 25. For more information and to pledge sheets, call 226-1561, ext. 255. i Local fashion designer retails LaNOSSI in new location bv F li . icia L, S uper pl J hl P ortland O bserver From N ew Y ork b o ro u g h s to P ortland backyards to the streets o f W atts, if you haven’t realized that todays fashions have been heavily influenced from the USA round’ the w ay o f urban culture, then y o u ’ve been up under a rock. Q uincy Jones stated is best in the forward o f the book M en o f Color Fashion, H istory, F undam entals that "African-American men have alw ays m aintained a sense o f p rid e in the w ay we presen t ourselves. The root o f this can p r o b a b ly b e tr a c e d b a ck to the motherland where fe stiv e adornment was p a rt o f our culture... representing tribal allegiance, social standing, and religious affiliation... and whenever possible, we put out own spin on style. African-American m ale style is a dynamic, diverse expression o f what works. Men o f co lo r are trendsetters who carry tradition in their hip pockets. Black men keep style m oving... their outwear has b een a v ita l e x p r e ssio n o f in n er developm ent.” So here, w e take a day in the life o f one local fashion designer, Jerry M anns; the local creator& designerofL aN ossi With I aNossi, I he likes to mix the unlikely elem ent. W hat m ight be unusual to the average designer, are likely phat and fashionable to create in Manns mind. M ann has a knack for pairing fabrics or designs that may not normally go together, but once taken to the drawing board to flip & fin esse... booyaa! M anns label is definitely not a cookie cutter im age o f what every shorty or fella from ‘round is rockin’. LaN ossi’s designs have been steppin’ into the scene by having the knack for a whole new seam to set his retails aside from the norm. Enter L aN o s s i. H eretoaddm uch llava to your fashion forte. Q&A • H ow long have you been designing? Professionally, five strong years. But I started to craft m y skills was when I w as about 16 or 17, back in 1987. Fellas like Ray Roberts, others and I started in high school design wha, w e labeled Boys M aking Fashions, Inti. I started with airbrushing clothes. 1 had an itch for w hat was goin ’ on during the surge o f hip-hop & fashion culture. • (J; What/who doyou f e e l isy o u r biggest co m p etitio n ? Tim e. W hat 1 do to make it in this business is that I run all day; constantly. From sunrise to sunset. I ‘m out here like Carl Lewis. The only difference is that I'm not in a track meet. I’m ju st runnin’ for the prom otion o f Lanossi, its creativity, it’s developm ent and it's staying power. It's not even that I feel that I have to prove what I can do. It’s that my ideas that I com e up with; m aybe say, creations that 1 though, o f to design years ago, I see m ajor designers ju s t starting to flow on that those ideas now. And then I’m like.those fashion spreads in VIBE, SO L R C E , BLAZE, GQ. etc..T hat’s me! • Q: / hear th at yo u 're in discussion with K enny A n derson on p r o m o tin g L a n o ssi.H o w d id th at com e about? T rueindeed. 1,’s g o in ’ dow nlikethat! Icante into contact with him when he lived & played for the Blazers. W e used to hang ou, at the Lotus. We basically ju st vibed together on som e ideas about my clothing line. Thus, on his recent trips back to Portland, w e continue to have meetings. He saw that I w as at that next level and how 1 sti 11 have that desire in my heart. Kenny basically said."W ord! . .. I’ll see you out in LA w ith me in M ay.” LaNossi is goin to attend this 52-team basketbal 1 summer league tournam ent that A nderson does in Harlem, NY. W e’re ju st v ib in ’ like that. • Q: With sta rtin g y o u r own line o f fa sh io n s, I assum e y o u 'v e h ad to turn obstacles into positive challenges. ..h o w do yo u handle negative influences, specifically as a y o u n g A fric a n -A m e ric a n m a le? E specially in the city o f Portland. P o sitiveisaspositivedoes. You ca n ’t vibe o ff o f anyone doing negative ‘cuz negative’s no, hard to do. • Q: W hat the biggest hurdle that yo u 'v e fa c e d with m oving m ore into m ainstream o f (P lease see 'L aN o ssi' p ag e 2) Jerry Manns I
