August 21, 2002
Qtye Jîortlanô (Dbseruer
Page A4
O pinion
The Portland Observer
Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
Charles H. Washington
___________ USPS 959-680__________
Established 1970
4 7 4 7 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.,
C o n E u it o k
Joy Ramos
E d i t OK -I N -C H liF .P U IL IS H C K
E D I T O K
M ichael Leighton
D lS T K IK V T IO N
\l
I N A C f «
C i n n n
D I lic r iii
Paul Neufeldt
W K I T £ K ,
PHOTO CKAPHBK
David Plechl
Mark Washington
Portland. OR 97211
P ost / uastch : Send address changes to Portland Observer PO Box 3 1 3 7 , Portland, OR 9 7 2 0 8
_________ P e rio d ical Postage paid In P o rtlan d , OR i Sub scrip tio n s are $ 6 0 .0 0 per year__________
5 0 3 2 8 3 0 0 3 3 • FAX5 0 3 2 8 3 0 0 1 5 • EMAIL: news&Dortlandobserver.com ?ubscriDhon@oortiandob 9etver.QSin ad5@PQdlandQbtttY&&t !n
The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs
should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope.
All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and cannot be used
in other publications or personal usage without the written consent of the general manager,
unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 1996 THE PORTLAND
OBSERVER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART
WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED.
National Newspaper Association—Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Repre
sentative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers
Association • Serving Portland and Vancouver.
Jo A nn B owman S peaks : Seat African Americans at the Table
The Portland Observer is proud to publish the
first part o f an interview with form er state Rep. Jo
Ann Bowman. Our correspondent, Yugen Fardan
Rashad, recently sat down with Bowman to discuss
her leadership in the issues o f criminal justice and
other topics.
Yugen: Would you agree with the statement that
many young people today snub the efforts of previ
ous generations who fought to ensure equal access
and opportunities in society?
Bow m an: I put that responsibility solely on my
generation because we were raised under a false
illusion that somehow everything was equal. Our
parents fought the civil rights struggle, did the sitL
ins, and opened doors that created opportunities.
What they did not tell us how bad it really was.
Yugen: Okay, so our generation is closer to those
folks who stoked the flames o f the civil rights
struggles.
Bowm an. I grew up during the time when every
evening, conversation was about civil rights, black
empowerment and how do we get educated so that
we can be qualified for the jobs and opportunities to
develop our own businesses in our community, and
becoming self sufficient.
Y ugen: And there are a number o f youth that do
complete school and move on to careers.
Bow m an: I notice a massive education gap be
tween young people today just finishing education
and starting a career.
Yugen: Really! Pray tell.
Bowman: Public education doesn’t tell us our
whole history. After w e’ve finished school, there is
another education component that talks about our
history, of who we are, where we came from, and
where w e’re headed.
Yugen: Well, if local political and voter turn out in
the black community is an indicator of where we’re
headed...
Bowman: Today we have voter turnout of 17 to 22
percent of the people who actually bother to participate
in an election season. What that says is that people
don’t see themselves in the system. And for an African
American not to utilize that right is criminal.
Yugen: What would you cite as reasons for this
dilemma?
Bowman: Black people operate under radar so
they don’t have to react to the racism and sexism, and
all the other issues people are impacted by on a day-
to-day basis. I think, for the most part, black people
are focused on raising families and paying bills. And
so the variety of issues black people have to ad
dress... they feel they’re in a state of paralysis.
Yugen: Yeah. Issues like education, affordable
pressures when you’re an African American elected
official?
Bo w m an: I think there is a lot of pressure on those
folks to address everything. With this, I think the
average person says, “ There is nothing I can do
personally to have an impact” .
Yugen: And now w e’re about to seat a new gov
ernor.
Bowman: In terms of the race for governor, I met
with Gail Shibley (campaign worker) and said to her,
“How many blacks are on Ted Kulongowski’s cam
paign staff.” I told her, “You want to come to me and
ask how to get blacks to volunteer for his campaign.
Well first, we want to see whom you hire (paid
campaign staffers) and if they all look like you and not
like the community, he says he’ll represent. That
sends a message right away.
Yugen: Has it ever been any different in local
politics?
Bowman: When I worked for Bev Stein, (past
county chair) she was one of the few public officials
Jo Ann Bowman
When I moved to Portland in 1991, we had an African
American police chief, county chair, a couple o f legislators,
and a city council member. And just in 12 years, African
American leadership has almost disappeared.
— Jo Ann Bowman, former state representative
housing.
Bow m an: The education crisis, and making sure
your kids get a quality education, can overwhelm the
average person. Unless you have a lot of time to
watch what happens in public schools, you really
don’t have aclue in terms of what your child is facing
day to day. Then, you look at the issue of affordable
housing: Fewer families trying to get a starter home,
when they can’t afford one. And so you have the
added pressure of not being able to provide for your
family, struggling with the day-to-day life, even
before you begin to look at the political arena.
Yugen: What about black people taking more
ownership in the political process?
Bowman: Most blacks believe the political arena
doesn't reflect them. And look at who serves on the
city council. And the county commission, with two
Latinos, bu, no African Americans. When I moved to
Portland in 1991, we had an African American police
chief, county chair, a couple of legislators, and a city
council member. And just in 12 years, African Ameri
can leadership has almost disappeared.
Yugen: That was quick. Are there any added
who selected committee and staff members who were
representative of the community. She didn’t sit and
scratch her head “ Oh, I need ex number of blacks or
Latinos. Instead, she said who are the best people to
help me address this issue. You look at other types
of organizations who are supposed to be represen
tative of the broader community and what you hear
is “I couldn’t find any blacks to serve”. Well, where
did you look? If you only look at the people around
the table I guess NO.
The flip side is people will talk to one in five blacks
and think they’ve got the view of that community. It
doesn’t, nor should that person be the only one that
interacts with that community. An elected official has
a responsibility to show up and be there and not just
at election time. That means to be there, working on
those tough issues that impact the communities.
And by having an Asian, Latino or African American
on your staff, says you acknowledge that the world
is bigger than just the white people surrounding you,
and that you have made an effort to make sure your
staff is diversified. Now it may not be as diversified
as I would like it to be, but when I walk into an elected
official’s office and everyone is European American,
I have to ask the question, how committed are they
to the issues I care about, or do they know the issues
I care about?
Y ugen: Are we that far apart?
Bowman: The breach is that wide because there’s
such a small community of colors here.
Yugen: Please share your involvement on an issue
in the legislature that impacted the political process
and resulted in an outcome you’re proud of.
Bow m an: There was a law introduced that would
make it a crime to give a false name to a police officer.
And the reason was because when they (police) bust
up keg parties where kids are underage and drinking
(beer), chances are the kids will give a false name. So
if they had this law on the books, they could hold the
kid accountable for giving the wrong name. So I
asked ‘Okay, it’s already against the law to drink if
you’re underage, and if you bust up a keg party, do
you not take those kids home and release them to an
adult guardian if you catch them drinking? If that’s
the case, then why do we need this law?
Yugen: Okay.
Bowman: Then I said that the neighborhood I live
in, police stop kids all the time and do what they call
a “ walk and talk” . “Hey, how you doing, where you
going, who you hangin’ with, can I look in your bag,
is it okay if I check your pockets?” So, in that situation
the kid is not under arrest or suspected of doing
anything wrong, its just a “walk and talk,” for infor
mation for the officer. So would that kid now have a
criminal record if he said my name is Joe Blow? I see
how law enforcement interacts with young people in
our community, and even the other committee mem
bers (legislature) who were not African American,
started saying “Oh, well you’re right... And, why do
you (police) need that law again?" And so they
withdrew the law, and there are many situations
where I could say well, in my community this is how
it play s out. If I had not been in that room asking those
questions...
Y ugen: Great point. I see the importance of having
diversity at the decision table.
Bowman: So when new laws are passed to prevent
criminal behavior, I believe that’s a code word for ‘we
will be able to arrest more African Americans, Latinos
and more people of color’. If I was in the audience, I
would never have been able to impact whether that
kind of legislation moved forward. The fact that I was
a committee member, they were forced to answer my
questions and even educated the other people at that
table and they started saying “well, you’re right”,
and so the police had to back off and finally decided
that’s not a good law.
?
Giving
our best.
SAFEWAY BÄCK ro SCHOOL SAVik(6SÎ
z
Attention
SENIORS
H tW FOR
SENIORS ONLY...
Safeway Senior
Shuttle Service!
In tro d u cin g a great n ew service for
o u r n eig h b o rh o o d senior citizens
FREE grocery shopping shuttle
service" to your nearby A insw orth
& M L K B lvd Safeway Food A D ru g
and Renaissance M a rk e t T W IC E a
M o n th * O n o r around th e 3rd an d
15th o f each m onth. This Service is
FREE to seniors age 6 0 an d over
Plerne Seaton GroadchiUna and udaats
H IU NOT U P t M i r W ^ r t » Shuttle at oarome
L O O K F O K O U K S P fC IA l
•WAT TK A N SK O K TA TIO N T K O L L fY S t K V K t
K H U H J L ! n n t A V TO O K M L K BLVD
S A F tW A Y an d K tN A IS S A N C I M A K K f T FO K
C O M K t IT S O f TAILS'
fAISAFEWAY
L J 7 P O O O A DRUG
tlenruUanre ftlaxht
RfRtCRft ftintRICftR
OMMER Of COWHlf Wf
OfWf&OK
For More
Information Call:
501 572 OKI2
Visit Safewaÿs
Web site at
www.safeway.com
Available at
Safeway:
1 uMinN tftANMrn| 1
Iw P STtAM
MOM» V
PRICES EFFtenVf AUGUST 2002
Mor
Sur
Tut
1 Wad J [ Thur 1
[2 lJ
[2 3
jI 2 4 !
m i r o . » « « M N H r « w M Sana, « a n
Ne Irin »
i.— r r t i or
< *1 .
a w aan « *
Q u a *) e m
e ra " « »
» « “ « *»
» ra a a ra » la w a a m r « a an a '« « « » ’
la e M a r a n lu, (X Ga One <rae a*»a „ Mnraen) », e a * « I
* e a k e M r a The toaa a**>
* *■" * *
cïDOï :
i
1
I
I