Page A 4
M a y 30, 2001
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mion
Somebody Ought To Say Something
Wlje
^ o r tla n ò When Back Row Seats Are
(©bseruer the Best in the House!
B y L.K, B ass
USPS 959680
Established 1970
STAFF
E
d it o r
P
C
in
h ie f
,
u b l is h e r
Charles H. Washington
E
d it o r
Larry J. Jackson, Sr.
B
M
u s in e s s
anager
Gary Ann Taylor
A sst . P ublisher
Michael Leighton
C
opy
E
d it o r
Joy Ramos
C
r e a t iv e
D
ir e c t o r
I f you ask anyone w hat he or she
thinks o f the Portland Public School
district right now , your apt to see
rolling eyes, furled foreheads, puzzled
looks or dism ayed faces. H ow ever,
the initial response your apt to hear,
is com m on: “ W hat a m ess that is!”
The PPS Board m ay be perform ing
their jo b s the best they can, but at the
last board m eeting on M ay 21, the
best perform ance w as to be found in
the B oard Student R epresentative
and the supporting cast o f w hat was
largely a Lincoln H igh S chool co n ­
stituency and m em bers o f the Crisis
Team.
W hat w as before the board w as a
‘procedural g litch ’ preventing a vote
on policies regarding student in ­
volvem ent and participation in school
affairs.
T he board agreed to approve the
policy in principle and stated that
they expected to approve them co m ­
pletely at the next board m eeting. The
B o a rd S tu d e n t R e p r e s e n ta tiv e
thanked them for their support and
expressed indulgence o v er the o c­
currence o f ‘the procedural g litch ’
but echoed the great frustrations felt
and concerns o ver how the policy
process had proceeded. Citing that it
was unacceptable for the board not
to m ake a decision after having had
three m onths to review the policies
subm itted; that m any o f the students
in attendance that night had expected
their com plete approval. A t one point,
concluding that this delay, sim ply
exemplified the communication break­
dow ns that exists in the PPS d is­
trict. ..
Shortly thereafter, in quiet ca­
dence, dow n the aisles cam e m em ­
bers o f the Crisis Team. W ithin m in­
utes o f lining up before the board,
things got loud.
Then louder. U nable to proceed
w ith * business as usual’ the board
left and am azingly enough, th at’s
w hen com m unication and m eaning­
ful dialogue took place. T h at’s when
the back row seats becam e the best in
Lydia K. Bass
the house! W e all w atched in am aze­
m ent the interactions betw een the
largely Lincoln High School students,
som e parents and Crisis Team m em ­
bers. T he crisis team echoed their
great frustrations and concerns over
the ongoing achievem ent gap o f kids
acro ss the riv er. C itin g th a t it w as
u n a c ce p ta b le for th e b o ard n o t to
h av e m ad e so lid p ro g ress in clo s­
ing th e ach iev em en t gap afte r three
years. T h ey ask ed the kids to u n ­
d ersta n d th at th ey w ere th e re p ro ­
testin g , n ot ju s t for eq u a l e d u c a ­
tio n b ut for w h at co m es w ith that
ed u catio n : o p p o rtu n ities, the rig h t
to m ake a d ecen t living an d to c o m ­
pete eq u itab ly fo r jo b s ; th a t m any
o f the c risis sch o o l stu d e n ts in a t­
te n d a n c e th a t n ig h t, h ad b e e n
sh o rtch an g ed b y th e d istric t.
T he stu d en ts listen e d th o u g h t­
fully. T h en co u n tered w ith th e ir
rig h t to speak w ith o u t in terru p tio n ,
fo r w h ich the C risis T eam ap o lo ­
g ized and ask ed fo r u n d e rsta n d ­
ing.
T he stu d en ts not o n ly a c ce p te d
th eir ap o lo g y b u t also sta te d th at
th ey too b eliev e d an d su p p o rted
the m issio n th at all ch ild re n d e ­
serv ed an equal ed u c a tio n an d by
ex ch an g in g p h o n e n u m b e rs in d i­
cated th ey m ay be o f su p p o rt to
them in the future.
T he m eetin g resu m ed w ith the
retu rn o f the board. A s L in c o ln
stu d en ts w en t rig h t b ack to w o rk
p resen tin g th e ir case fo r m o re s tu ­
d en t Involvem ent and p a rticip a tio n
in stu d en t affairs. T h ey th a n k ed
T he B oard for th e ir co u ra g e to re ­
turn and the C risis T eam fo r th e ir
co u rag e to p u ll back.
T here w ere a lo t o f le sso n s to be
learn ed th at n ig h t, b u t th e g re a te st
on e cam e from the sp irit an d m o ral
fortitude o f the kids from b o th sid es
o f the river!
By the w ay, the b o ard cam e b ack
an d ad o p ted th e s tu d e n t’s p o lic y
fo r stu d e n t in v o lv em en t - u n a n i­
m ously.
a
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O p e n house, J u n e 2. For
information, contact HOST:
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en espaònol. contacte: 503-282-7744.
Este seguro detnencionar a HOST
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Sullivan Remembered
for Civil Rights Crusades
The Rev. Leon H. Sullivan, the civil
rights crusader w ho wrote the Sullivan
Principles, an international code ofbusi-
ness conduct that helped end apart­
heid in South Africa, recently died o f
leukemia. He was 78.
Sullivan, a well-known retired Phila­
delphia minister, died at Scottsdale
Healthcare-Osbom Hospital in subur­
ban Scottsdale, A Z, said his daughter
Hope Sullivan Rose.
Sullivan’s daughter issued a press
statement, w hich started that at the
tim e o f his death, Rev. S ullivan
"was surrounded by his family and
friends and was at peace. W e ask that
everyone respect our fam ily’s wishes
and give us tim e to grieve privately.
We have shared our father w ith the
world; allow us one moment to remem­
ber him am ongst ourselves.”
Sullivan was best known for devis­
ing the Sullivan Principles in the 1970’s
after he becam e the first Black board
m em ber at General Motors Corp, in
1971. H e decried them as “a code that
com panies o f America and the world
came to follow to end apartheid peace­
fully, starting with the workplace.”
Com panies doing business in South
Africa w ere encouraged to give oppor­
tunities to their Black w orker and help
local com munities. “W hen I started
this program, a Black man had no legal
standing in South Africa,” Sullivan
once said. “ Literally, you had to break
a w hole system o f inequity through­
out South Africa.”
As a Philadelphia minister in the
early 1960s, Sullivan organized a non­
violent boycott o f local companies
that w ould not hire Blacks. The slogan
was: “D o n ’t buy where you d o n ’t
work.” The boycotts worked, and jobs
eventually were offered to people o f all
races, but m any did not have the skills
required for the openings.
Sullivan offered a solution to the
challenge in 1964by beginning Oppor­
tunities IndustrializationCenter(OIC),
a job training program affecting about
1.5 million people in 142 centers world­
wide. A fter retiring active from Zion
BaptistChurch in Philadelphia in 1988,
Sullivan m oved to metro Phoenix. But
he remained active. His Phoenix based
International Foundation for Educa­
tion and Self-H elp aided hundreds o f
thousands o f people in Africa and the
United State. He also served as an
advisor to the GM board. Beginning in
1991, Sullivan held several well-at­
tended A frican-A frican A m erican
Summit conferences for Black Ameri­
can and African leaders in Africa. At
the tim e o f his death, Sullivan was
preparing for the 6th African-African
American Summit in Nigeria, which
was slated for this month. Sullivan’s
daughter, H ope Sullivan Rose, said
she will lead the conference on her
father’s behalf, perhaps this fall. In
1992, then-President George Bush
aw arded Sullivan the Presidential
Medal ofFreedom .
In 1999, Sullivan and United Na-
tions Secretary-General Kofi Annan
announced an updated version o f the
Sullivan Principles to encourage fair
em ploym ent around the world.
Sullivan was bom in Charleston,
WV, and educated at W est Virginia
State University, Columbia University
and Union Theological Seminary. In
his hometown o f Charleston, a street
was nam ed after him in August. He
recalled his first encounterw ith racism
he was about 8 when he tried to buy a
soda from and sit at a drug store counter
in Charleston. “T hat was my first real
confrontation with segregation and
Black and W hite, “he said. “So I de­
cided ... that I was going to stand up
agains t that kind o f thing the rest o f my
life.” A fter conducting a desegrega­
tion drive in the city, the owner o f the
then-segregated restaurant offered him
a free meal. Leaders across the country
recalled Sullivan’s leadership and his
world contributions. The Rev. Jesse
Jackson said in a press statement: “He
was one o f m y earliest mentors and
dearest friends, I loved him ... he was a
tall giant, he was a selfless giant. He set
up training centers all over Africa and
Latin America. He w as a world leader.
W ith conferences, he did more to bring
together African-A m ericans together
than anybody in history.”
Kofi A nnan recalled: “Reverend
Sullivan show ed us all how much one
individual can do.’’ Rev. Sullivan is
survived by his wife, the former Grace
Banks; three children, Julie, Howard
and Hope; and seven grandchildren
and admirers around the world.
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