50xS
Strong Minds
Spoken Words
Local mental health clinic
gets new director.
Poets create atmosphere
o f openness, honesty
See Metro section pageB6
See story on page A6
1 4
\ A.
‘City of Roses’
www.portlandobserver.com
www.portlandQbser
Established in 1970
Volume XXXII • Number 45
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Wednesday • November I 13, 2002
With a Qur'an
“/g o in there ...to free people from a mental prison. ”
on the table to his
—Chaplain Derek Rasheed
side, Voulunteer
Oops-Wrong Car
F irefig h ters in F ram in g h am ,
M ass., w ho w ere practicing with
the Jaw s o f Life ended up m ak ­
ing a big m istake - by cutting up
the w rong car. A ntonio Rocha
parked his car Friday beh i nd the
fire dep artm en t’s headquarters,
n ex t to tw o o th e r c a rs that
firefighters planned to use for
theirdri 11 .W hen Rocha returned,
he found his 1998 H onda A c­
cord m inus a ro o f and doors.
-r, S piritual
Chaplain Derek
Rasheed kneels to
lead a prayer
service at
F reedom
Inverness Jail.
photo by
D a v iii P lechl
T he P ortland O bserver
■M HH
RVljMMNil
NY couple plagued
T w o tourists w ere hospitalized
in New York City afterthey likely
contracted bubonic plague in
their hom e state o fN ew Mexico,
health officials said. Plague is
found in large rodent colonies,
su ch as g ro u n d h o g s in th e
southw estern U nited States.
bin Laden Clothing Banned
L ib e r ia ’s p r e s id e n t b a n n e d
clothing show ing O sam a bin
L ad en ’s likeness T uesday and
w arned that citizens flouting the
m easure faced certain arrest.
Follow ing a m eeting w ith lead­
ers o f L ib eria's M uslim m inor­
ity, C harles T ay lo r ord ered all
garm ents featuring bin L ad en 's
picture surrendered to authori­
ties for burning.
Turkey terrorizes town
A 15-pound wild turkey has been
p estering residents o f O berlin,
O hio and eluding trappers w ho
w ant to capture it. T he bird has
chased after schoolchildren and
pets, trapped people in cars and
left its droppings on porches.
A nim al trapper T h o m said the
bird m ay be roosting in the chim ­
ney o f P ro sp ect E lem en tary
S c h o o l, w h e re it h a s b een
sw ooping on the playground.
Oregon City sewage spill
N early 2 m illion gallo n s o f raw
s e w a g e s p i ll e d in to th e
Wi 1 lamette River a fter a mechani­
cal failure at the T ri-C ity W aste
W ater T reatm ent Plant. M ore
than 60 county and p rivate em ­
ployees w orked to contain the
spill. O fficials said fisherm en
and others sh o u ld n 't use the
river until late afternoon today.
Around the U.S. on a trike
D an Price saw his first Tadpole
T rike in C orvallis in 1992 and
has w anted one ev er since. Price
got his w ish and plans to ride
the 33-pound, 27-speed tricycle
across the U nited S tates in cel­
e b r a tio n . T h e 4 5 - y e a r - o ld
started the 8,500-m ile jo u rn ey
this w eek and plans to arrive in
San D iego in a m onth. From
there, he w ill cy cle to A ustin,
T ex as, K ey W est, F la., and
W ashington, D.C.
Muslim inmates engage in traditional Islamic prayer rituals before Chaplain Rasdeed begins a Friday afternoon service at Inverness Jail.
^ s IN th E t
C ounty J ail
Muslim Chaplain Derek Rasheed helps
inmates find peace through traditional
Islamic belief and faithful practice
by
W ynde D y er /T iie P ortland O bserver
M uslim Derek R asheed sets out on a
spiritual pilgrim ageeach w eek.
Instead o f thousands o f m iles across the
A tlantic to the dry desert p f M akkah. Saudi
A rabia, his jo urneys take him hundreds o f
m iles around the rainy Pacific N orthw est.
As a volunteer chaplain, R asheed offers
religious services for M uslim s incarcerated
in county, state and federal jails. A long with
the three other chaplains w ho com prise the
O reg o n Islam ic C h ap lain O rg an izatio n
(O1CO), R asheed m akes daily trips to 10
correctional facilities in O regon and south­
ern W ashington. For prisoners - including
the five suspected A l-Q uaida coconspira­
tors in P ortland’s - he leads the traditional
Friday service o f Jum m ah, provides advo­
cacy, counseling and prayer services during
their incarceration.
“ I go in there w ith a m ission - to free
people from a m ental prison," R asheed said.
The O1CO chaplains started o ff alm ost
three years ago with a m ission o f their own.
C haplains W ali Lucas, M uham m ad R a’oog,
H abibullah G reen and R asheed had been
providing sim ilar services independently at
m edical, educational and m ilitary facilities
for a few years w ithout any kjnd o f organi­
zational netw ork. T hey noticed that C hris­
tian and Jew ish services w ere offered in
M ultnom ah C ounty Jails, but the Islamic
faith w as not represented. So they enlisted
in the help o f M ikal H am m ad Shabazz, an
Imam w ith 25 years o f experience at the
M uslim C om m unity Center.
“The popularity o f the Islam ic Faith w as
grow ing rapidly,” Imam Shabazz said. “A nd
yf
on page.4 6
Measure passes, but ‘no’ vote
brings new questions
The gargoyles perched atop the
doors to Duke U niversity’s new
G othic dorm itory were m eant to
surprise and honor tw o w ealthy
donors. A ubrey and K athleen
M cClendon, who gave $5.5 mil
lion to build the dorm , were
shocked to find their ow n like­
nesses staring dow n
hall that bears their nan
dem anded they be take
ri
continued
Racism Deleted
Duke to take down
unflattering gargoyles
s
honestly, m inisters and other religious pro­
viders w ere ju st not qualified to provide the
particular and peculiar rituals our faith re­
quires us to practice.”
Shabazz held a m eeting with m em bers o f
the M uslim com m unity to address the issue.
C om m ittee m em bers decided that in orderto
provide a successful reentry into the M us­
lim com m unity, inm ates needed guidance
and advocacy on the inside if they w ere to
be faithful and productive on the outside.
“ M any tim es people get out ofjail looking
for an utopian society," Shabazz said. “W hen
it isn ’t there, they tend to fall back into som e
o f the sam e difficulties.”
So he discontinued his services at the
Muslim Community Center and became Imam
and Head Chaplain for the OICO. A long with
R asheed, Lucas, Ra 'o o f and G reen, Shabazz
organized chaplain services for M ultnom ah
C o u n ty ’s Inverness Jail, the Federal Justice
C enter in dow ntow n Portland, C lark and
W ashington C ounty Jails, Sheridan Federal
B. F razier /T he A ssociated P ress
In 21 st C entury O regon it m ight have seem ed a no-brainer:
Should voters rem ove racially offensive language from the state
constitution, w here it had lurked forgotten for nearly 150 years?
The m easure passed, but in a state aw ash in liberal tradition,
by J oseph
31 percent still v oted ‘no.”
O ne passage w iped out by last w e e k 's election reads, “N o
free N egro, or m ulatto, not residing in this state at the tim e o f the
adoption o f this constitution, shall com e, reside, o r be w ithin
this State, or hold any real estate.”
O ver the decades, racist provisions in O reg o n ’s constitution
and statutes have been as hardy and stubborn as the pioneers
4 member o f the Heritage High School Marchihg Band performs in the rain during the
Vancouver Veterans Day Parade on Saturday. The parade included more than 100 military,
veteran and civic organizations and almost 2 ,5 0 0 participants.
photo by
D avid P lechi TT he P ortland O bserver
I
w ho w rote them .
W hether those w ho voted “no” on M easure 14 w ere reluc­
tant to tam per w ith a historical docum ent or w hether there w ere
hidden racial feelings is unclear.
O ther objectionable language and provisions in the consti­
tution have been rem oved gradually. That w hich rem ained has
survived a century o f opportunities for change through the
continued
I
y^
on page .46