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