Volume XXX.
N um ber 16
Wednesday
C om m itted to Cultural Diversity
Established in 1970
vvvvw.portlandobserver.com
50‘
April 19,2000
Les Brown to be keynote speaker at Portlands Diversity Summit
W ell- know n author and speaker Les Brow n
will be the special guest at a day-long sum m it
on w orkplace diversity Apri 126 at the O regon
C onvention Center.
O rganized by Portland G eneral Electric, The
2000 D iversity Sum m it, “ Building Bridges to
Success on the N ew M illennium ,” features
Brown and other respected expects in the area
ofw orkforce diversity. T heconference isopen
to all at a cost o f $99 per person.
“ D eveloping a diverse w orkplace is becom ing
in creasin g ly im portant to the success o f
com panies and organizations,” says PGE
President and CE O Peggy Fowler, w ho will
w elco m e guest to the conference. “This
c o n fe re n c e w ill h elp in d iv id u als b e tte r
understand w hy diversity is so im portant,
offer practical advice on how com panies and
o rg an iz atio n s can b eco m e m ore d iv erse
organization,”
K eynote speaker Les Brown will talk on how
organizations can achieve peak perform ance
in th e n e w m ille n n iu m . B ro w n , an
internationally recognized speaker, is the
author o f “ Live Your D ream s,” and the
form er host o f a nationally syndicated daily
talk show , T he Les Brown Show.
O ther scheduled speakers include Peggy
N agae, a Form er civil right attorney w ho
represented the U.S. governm ent in the
reprobation case for Japanese internm ent
cam p survivors, and A nita Rasm ussen, a
senior m em ber o f the O regon House o f
R epresentatives, and co-sponsor o f the
O re g o n
L e g i s la t u r e s ’
D ay
of
A cknow ledgm ent resolution. N agae will
p ro v id e in sig h ts into “T he P ow er o f
Diversity,” and Rasmussen will speak about
“ h id d e n R a c is m .” A tte n d e e s at th e
Diversity Summit will also be able to attend
breakout sessions led by a V arity o f experts
in the area o f w orkplace diversity. Topics
covered in the sessions include:
Forgiveness: Breaking Council President
M ichael H enderson, author o f eight books
that have been applauded by the likes o f
the Dalai Lam a and A rchbishop D esm ond
Tutu.
C r e a tin g a n d M a in ta in in g In c lu s iv e
O rganization led by D avid C am pt, a form er
W hite house senior policy associate with
the P resident’s Initiative on Race.
Best Practices in Strategic Diversity Training,
and A re Y ou Ready for D iversity Training?
Tw o sessions led by Janet and M ilton
Bennett, recognized expects and educators
in intercultural com m unication.
It’s My Privilege: A ssum ptions A bout a
Level Playing Field In the W orkplace Led by
Judith Y eckel, A ristic D irecto r o f the
Interstate F irehouse C ultural C enter in
N ortheast Portland.
(The IFCC has partnered w ith PGE in
d e v e lo p in g an in te r a c tiv e w o rk s h o p
exploring issues o f diversity through the
use o f the arts.)
Expressing Y our True Colors led by Carolyn
Kalil, educator, counselor and author o f
“ Follow Y our T rue C olors to the Work You
Love.”
O pportunities, Barriers and D iversity in
C orporate Am erica - a w om en’s leadership
panel featuring adi verse panel o f distinguished
women. Facilitated by Carol Dillin, m anager o f
P G E ’s C o rp o ra te C o m m u n ic a tio n s and
Com munity Affair Department.
U n d e r s ta n d in g th e D y n a m ic s o f a
G enerational ly Diverse W ork Force led by
S te v e H a n a m u ra , an a w a rd w in n in g
multicultural expect.
Em ploym ent, A ffirm ative A ction, Sexual
Orientation and HateCrimes: A Legal View led
by M adelyn W essel, chief deputy, City o f
Portland attorney, and Edwards J. Reeves,
partner at Stoel Rieves, LLP.
C reating Beloved Com m unity in D iverse
Corporate A m erica: U niting O rganizations
D epartm ent with Professional Groups, led by
N icole T oussaint and D ixie W orthington,
executive directorand president (respectively)
o f O regon uniting, a non-profit corporation
organized to advance racial ju stice and unity
in Oregon.
The 200 D iversity Sum m it is presented by
Portland General Electric.
Advocates aim to close gap between white and minority care
A: The idea is to have com m unities
decide w hat they need to do in their
com munity, whether it is an American
I ndian reservation or w hether it is an
inner city. W hat are the real issues
here that are causing people to get
diabetes at three tim es the rate o f the
rest o f the co u n try or to die o f
c a r d io v a s c u la r d is e a s e at an
increased rate or have cancer. W hat
can w e do with the help o f federal
resources or funding?
Q : So w hat can com m unities do?
A: T hey are developing m odels for
im proving access to health care in
th e ir c o m m u n ity , w o rk in g w ith
providers, w orking w ith institutions.
But they are also developing m odels
to ch a n g e life sty le s — physical
activity and the w ay people eat, or
s u b s ta n c e a b u s e . T h e y a re
developing their ow n unique m odels
that fit their com m unities.
Q : Forexam ple?
A: Am erican Indian reservations may
be developing m odels that relate to
A ssocia t t u P klss
O regon health care advocates want
to change the disparity in health care
betw een w hites and m inority groups,
and th ey ’re starting w ith them selves.
Planners o f the ninth M ulticultural
H ealth C onference, being held in
P o r tla n d , c h a lle n g e d th e 4 0 0
p a r ti c ip a n ts to p le d g e to do
som ething positive tow ard being a
h ea lth ier person and living in a
healthier com m unity.
T hey asked conference participants
to becom e am bassadors o f healthy
living by donating blood, maintaining
a healthy w eight, having a PAP test,
learning CPR, quitting sm oking and
encouraging fam ily, co-w orkers and
people in the com m unity to do the
same.
T he organizers also invited U.S.
Surgeon General D avid Satcher to
talk M onday about com m u n ities
b rid g in g th e gap in h ea lth care
b e tw e e n m in o ritie s a n d w h ites.
Satcher, the 16th surgeon general o f
the U nited S tates, is th e second
person in history to sim ultaneously
hold the position o f surgeon general
and assistant secretary for health. He
said he w ould like to be know n as the
surgeon general w ho listened to
people and responded with effective
programs.
T hat’s w hy he w as im pressed with
the people attending the conference
— com m unity advo­
c a te s a n d le a d e rs , h e a lth c a re
providers and policy-m akers— who
are w orking together to end health
disparities that burden com m unities
o f color in O regon. T he meeting
c o n tin u e s th ro u g h to d a y at the
D oubletree Hotel L loyd Center.
The O regon effort m irrors the types
o f program s that S atcher’s office is
promoting. Here are excerpts from an
interview in w hich Satcher talked
about having com m unities bridge the
health care gap:
Q : How w ould it w ork?
Surgeon General Dr David Satcher
Thursday
Scattered
Show ers
( Please see Minority page 5)
On Friday, April 14, 2000, Katie Sieben o f the
Democratic National Convention and Reverend Ronald
L. Williams fie ld questions and hold discussion with local
activist and community' leaders as they prepare fo r a
major voter registration drive to challenge the
community to use its voting power to secure its future.
The National Democratic Convention encouraged a
pledge o f support fo r the delegates o f the Democratic
Party preparing fo r the National Convention. The State
Convention will be held on June 24, 2000.
Friday
Through the weekend
M ostly
Cloudy
There is a lot o f in vol vement o f African
Americans.
Q : W hat about providers o f m edical
care, doctors, nurses?
A : T hat is w hat I m ean w hen I say w e
have to get m ore involvem ent. We
need to get more people in our nursing
sc h o o ls, m ed ical sch o o ls, dental
schools, etc. W e are reaching out
w ith program s. M edical schools are
being asked to reach out in their local
com m unities and get kids involved
even w'hen they are in elem entary and
m iddle schools, so that they will
pursue careers in health professions.
A gain, w e have a long w ay to go. We
have got this anti-affirm ative action
in m any states, w hich is hurting us in
term s o f getting m ore involvem ent.
Q : O n other side o f that, can w hite
people be sensitive to the needs o f
m inorities w ho need m edical care.
A: W e all need to be m ore culturally
sen sitiv e and aw are o f o u r ow n
Bethel AME plays host to voter registration drive
Weather
Today
som e o f their issues o f storytelling
and so forth; A sian A m ericans w ant
to use things other than traditional
m edicine___
Q : W ith health care in general, a lot o f
people d o n ’t take advantage because
o f a certain kind o f fear or lack oftrust;
they d o n ’t w ant to be experim ented
on.
A: A gain, I think that is why it is
im portant to have com m unity-based
program s, because if people trust
anybody, they ought to trust people
in their own com m unities. W e do
have to get more African A m ericans,
A m e ric a n In d ia n s , H is p a n ic s
in v o lv ed in running h ealth care
p ro g ra m s and ru n n in g rese arch
program s. They ought to be people
that people know and trust.
But I m ust say that if you look at the
NIH (National Institutes o f Health)
c lin ic a l tr ia ls , th e re is m o re
involvem ent o f m inorities than ever
in history, so w hat was true even
three years ago is no longer true.
Scattered
Show ers
64F/17°C
44°F/6°C
Saturday
68°F/19°C
47°F/7°C
Sunday
Show ers
Scattered
Show ers
69°F/20°C
48°F/8°t
67°F/18°C
47°F/7°C
62°F/16°C
47°F/7°C
Inside-A_ _ _ _ _ Metro-B
Margaret Carter tries to get the
A health Q& A for a healthy
vote out...................................1
Easter for your kids............... 3 Governor Khitzaber joins
Earth Day 2000
Stadard Dairy opening........... 1
approaches.............................. 5 Kenyans lead in the Boston
A time for remembrances of the Marathon................................. 4
resurrection..............................6 El O bservador......................... 5
W eek in Review.....................2
This Week
in History
On April 19, 1995, a truck bomb exploded
outside the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building
in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, and
in ju rin g 500. Tim o th y M c V e ig h was
convicted of the bombing and sentenced to
death.
On April 20, 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court
upheld the use o f busing to achieve racial
desegregation in schools.
On April 24, 1898, Spain declared war on the
United States after rejecting A m e rica 's
ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba.
t