Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 2002)
November 13. 2002 Page A6 Spiritual Freedom in the County Jail co n tin u ed fr o m F ron t P enitentiary, and state prisons in U m atilla, Salem , Pendleton and the Dalles. A t first the O IC O ’s services w ere n o t w idely utilized. R asheed said he rem em bers the days w hen he w ould drive 100 m iles to counsel o ne o r tw o inm ates. H is Friday J um m ah service at Inverness started w ith only three o r four inm ates. “N ow betw een 15 and 20 people com e,” R asheed said. “It’s a w o n derful blessing. Som etim es w e even get deputies and ja il adm inistration in for service. O nce, the s ta te ’s head chaplain cam e.” J um m ah is held each Friday at 1 p.m. D ressed in a white robe and cap w ith Q u r’an in hand, R asheed c h e c k s in to In v e rn e ss and g a th e r s w h ite to w e ls f o r in m ates to kneel on. T hen he begins by signaling the a h d a n .o rth e call to prayer, as inm ates d ressed in blue scrubs file in the d o o r o f a m e e tin g ro o m -tu m e d -m o s q u e . T hey rem ove th eir plastic sandals and w ash their hands in the trad i tional m anner before kneeling to pray to A llah during the hour-long service. The O IC O chaplains do their best to get correctional sta ff to acco m m odate the special needs o f M u s lim inm ates, like the provision o f halal meals, tim e forprayer five times a day and special head coverings fo r fem ale inm ates. liever. He said the attracting pow er w as the uniqueness o f the religion and the w ay o f life it em bodied. The rational concepts appealed to his desire for stability and peace. For the first tim e in his life he under stood that G od had a plan. “ It gave m e this sense o f assur an ce that no m atter w hat the des tiny is, it is in the hands o f G od,” he said. “ I had this trem endous faith in the unseen, the possibilities o f to m orrow and the presence o f a lov ing and endearing C reato r.” R asheed takes that experience w ith him into the ja ils each day. W hen he m et Darryl Wilson, aC'hris- tia n in m a te at Inverness w ho was a cu rio u s about the I s la m ic f a ith , R a s h e e d sa id he rem em bers W ilson w as afraid he would h a v e to g iv e up C h ristianity to b e com e a M uslim . He exp lain ed to W il —Darryl Wilson, son that the Islam ic a Muslim inmate at Inverness J faith w as an exten sion o f Christianity, A bdul w as aw ay in G erm any w ith based on the b e lie f that G o d ’s final the m ilitary w hen he called his m e s s a g e w a s r e v e a le d to th e y o u n g er b ro th er and su g g ested P rophet M uham m ad. “ He told m e that i f I w as a good that R asheed m ight w ant to look C hristian, I w ould be an even better into the N ation o f Islam. “ H e to ld m e , ‘T r y it,if y o u d o n ’t M u slim ,” W ilson said. A fter consulting w ith R asheed like it, forget it, ’ I w as rebellious and he knew it w ould help m e,” Rasheed fo r alm o st a year, W ilson decided said. “ I to ld him , ‘N o w ay, brother, to convert. S ince then, he said he feels better able to deal w ith jail, the m am a w ould kil 1 m e !’” B ut he did try it, and w hi le at first ju stice system and life in general. “ I t’s a spiritual escap e,” W ilson the Islam ic faith seem ed different, R asheed said once he b ecam e ac said. “ Instead o f thinking ju st about custom ed to the practices, he w as ja il, w hich has very little happiness able to be a truly d isciplined b e in it, I have the jo y o f peace o f R asheed said at first O ctober Lewis, the woman arrested with four men on suspicion o f form ing a Port land-based terrorist cell, w as not allow ed to w ear her traditional head garm ents. D uring a counseling ses sion, he encouraged her to talk to her law yer about the problem and jai 1 officials later al lowed her to wear the required covering. “ I saw how that really im pacted her,” Rasheed said. “She w as very upset to be seen in publ ic w ithout it.” B om in D etroit and raised in Portland, R asheed said he w as a devout C hristian until he becam e M uslim at the age o f 15. H is brother He told me that if I was a good Christian, I would be an even better Muslim Derek Rasheed leads inmates in the Friday Jummah service. PHOTOS BY W Y N D E D Y E R mind.” R asheed said the five m em bers o f the alleged terrorist cell are like w ise in high spirits. H e said the jail tim e is providing them an o p portu nity to read, study and strengthen th eir faith. “They are hopeful that they will be vindicated,” he said. “N o one is m opeful, grunty o r down. They have a spirit and a faith that can connect them even in incarceration.” A s for his ow n feelings on terror ism, Rasheed is hesitant to talk about the view s o f m ilitant M uslim s. He said that w hile the Q u r’an does allow for M uslim s to protect and defend them selves, their property, oth er M uslim s and the Islam ic faith - it does not allow for innocent Keeping Minds Strong C ultural com petency strengthens local m ental health clinic by D avid P lechl T he P ortland O bserver Jackie Strong was bom and raised in northeast Portland and has lived here for m ost o fh is life. As a private m ental health practitio n er for o v er 25 years, he kno w s the com m unity and the urgency o f those in need. “M ental health issues are around us every place w e turn,” he said. A s th e new d ire c to r o f N E C ascadia B ehavioral H ealth C are, S trong w ill spearhead new p ro gram s that bridg e the gap betw een the A frican A m erican com m unity and com petent m ental health care. “ P eople in a crisis seem to re spond m ore readily to som eone that looks like them ,” Strong said. “T hey tend to be able to w ork through the issues a lot m ore successfully.” A rm ed w ith a m asters’ degree in social w ork from the U niversity o f W ashington, and decades o f p ri vate practice and consulting ex p e rience, S trong plans to challenge p ast practices th at have ignored the cultural com p o n en t o f beh av ioral health care. “ H istorically there have n ev er been enough services for the A fri can A m erican population,” he said, adding that o th er ethnic groups have suffered as w ell. ‘Project R espond’ is C ascadia’s answ er to that dilem m a. Five top- notch cultural specialists w orking in cooperation with the co unty’s acute care system w ill oversee cultural policy and provide in-field services to African American, Russian & East European, A sian, N ative A m erican and Latino populations. Form er d irector M arylin Sim s p assed the reins to S trong so she could g et settled into her new role as the A frican A m erican C ultural Specialist. “W e have a h igher n u m b er o f people o f co lo r providing services here to m ake sure w e are sensitive to clien ts,” she said. Five intake centers across Port land provide m axim um accessibi lity to localized clients covered under V erity o r Verity Plus - M ultnom ah C o unty’s low -to-m oderate income mental health insurance plan - o r the O regon H ealth Plan. T h e M o b ile C risis R esponse T eam su pplem ents services pro v ided o n -site by handling crisis intervention at hospitals and p o lice calls. The team can be d is p atch ed o n location to pro v id e co u n selin g o r to transport a client to a clin ic o r hospital for treatm ent. people to be killed o r targeted. H e thinks because o f poverty, oppression and political m otiva tions som e M uslim s have been taught different versions o f the Is lam ic faith w hich m ay allow for in nocent fatalities in the nam e o f pa triotism. “S om e people pick up w eapons to tear things dow n,” R asheed said. “O ther people p ick u p tools to bui Id som ething up.” H e added that he cannot talk from the perspective o f a m ilitant M uslim , o r so-called terrorist, be cause even the w ord ‘terro rist’ is subjective. He said in this day and age people w ho care deeply about the envirom ent could be labeled as terrorists, along w ith anybody else w ho speaks their m ind in disagree m ent w ith the status quo. R asheed said it w ill be G o d ’s place to ju d g e the acts o f terrorists, not his or A m erica’s. “ T o m e, th e se a c ts seem un- Isla m ic an d d e s p e ra te ,” he said. “ B u t 1 can v o te , I h a v e n ’t liv ed a life o f o p p re s sio n an d I h a v e n ’t seen three g en eratio n s o f m y fam ily killed. I live in the lap o f luxury. I lik e d riv in g m y n ic e c a r an d liv ing in a g o o d co u n try . 1 h av e no pro b lem b eing a g o o d M uslim and a g o o d A m erican c itiz e n . I tru st the g o v e rn m e n t an d I d o n ’t like to th in k a b o u t w h at g o es o n in the d ark . B u t o n e d ay I hope things w ill becom e m ore balanced b e c a u se rig h t now th ere is no in n o c e n c e in th is e q u a tio n .” H ow d o es R asheed defend Is lam ? By being a chaplain. Although they hope to som eday get a con tract w ith M ultnom ah C ounty, the O IC O currently funds all o f their services out o f their ow n pockets. R asheed also w orks as an on-call e m e rg e n c y c h a p la in th ro u g h a traum a intervention program in as sociation w ith local police and fire departm ents in O regon and W ash ington. “ It is m y w ay to give back ,” he said. “ If G od w ills it, w e w ill be rew arded.” A ccording to Im am Shabazz, the O IC O is already reaping rew ards - in the form o f new m em bers. They ju s t graduated four new chaplains, including tw o non-M uslim s, from th eir 10-week certification course. T he course counts for college cred its to be used tow ards a four-year degree. “ It’s growing, it’s alive,” Shabazz said. “T he possibilities are end less.” T his year R asheed hopes it will be possible for him to m ake his first real pilgrim age to M akkah. F or m ore inform ation on the O r egon Islam ic C haplains O rganiza tion, call 503-295-2095 o r em ail islam icchaplain@ yahoo.com . Racism Deleted co n tin u ed Portland native Jackie Strong is the new director ofNE Cascadia. photo by D avid “W e ’re out in the com m unity m eeting the needs o f hom eless cli ents o r people that for som e reason can’t make it to the office,” Sims said. O utpatient services cater to m ore highly functioning clients. Patients get counseling from trained m ental health therapists as w ell as access to a psychiatrist o r nurse practitio ner that can p rescribe m edication. A ll clients are assisted in navi g ating the social service system , w hich som etim es m eans access to basic needs such as shelter and food. T herapists and case m an ag ers can help m em bers enroll for treatm ent through a intake process and som e tim es a referral is all a clien ts needs to get started. W hatever the case, C ascadia is confident its specialists will find w hat w orks for everyone. “C ultural com petency is inte P i . echl grated th ro u g h o u t the C ascadia philosophy,” S im s said. A dult outpatient services p ro vide case-by-case individualized therapy to help clients address long term issues. “A lot o f state hospitals have closed dow n, som e o f those people have such intense situations they w o u ld n ’t be able to function by them selves,” Strong said. “T he goal at C ascadia is to provide services to clients in recognition o f their ow n strengths, w orld view s, and p h ilo so p hies.” I’saac O w usu spends about 20- 30 hours a w eek at the N E center. He was referred to the center after m ajor depression gripped him follow ing a traffic accident that left his thinking abilities clouded and unreliable. “T his is w hat I do to keep m y se lf above the w ater,” O w u su said. “T his helps m e to com m unicate.” O w usu co u n ts on C a sc a d ia ’s support groups and services, w hich he says have helped him redevelop his concentration as w ell as his confidence. “ I d o n ’t think I could have com e this far if I d id n ’t h ave this place to com e to,” he said. “ It’s really acces sible, a lot o f people in the co m m u nity need the services that C ascadia p ro v id es.” fr o m F ront initiative process. “ I didn ’t feel any opposition to it at all,” M ichael Leighton, editor o f the black-oriented Portland O b server n ew spaper said. “ M aybe it’s the 30 percent o f the people w ho w ill vote against anything,” he said. “ I w ould hope people d id n ’t vote that w ay be cause they w ant racist language o r because they support racism .” “ O re g o n ’s n a tio n a l lib eral reputation w as ch allen g ed by (failed) gay rights initiatives in the 1990s and som ew hat by this vote as w ell,” said political ana lyst Jim M oore. “T he state’s na tional reputation has alw ays had a hole in it.” H e noted that the state som e w hat reluctantly in the 1960s re m oved real estate covenants that could block resale o f property to A sians and blacks. A constitu tional provision barring C hinese from ow ning property in the state rem ains and w as not affected by T u esd ay ’s vote, he said. H e said som e w ho v oted for M easure 14 m ay have done so because it seem ed to negate the history o f the state. C het Orloff, director emeritus o f the O regon H istorical Society, said som e o f the people w ho voted “no” m ay have felt the constitu tion should stand as a historical record. B ut not all o f them. “Fiveor 10 percent, maybe more, o f the people w ho voted it down have som e racist attitudes and this is being reflected.” he said. “This is giving them an opportunity to express it in a secret w ay.” T he m easure passed in all 36 counties but had its toughest o p position in sparsely populated and usually conservative rural counties such as H arney, Lake, W heeler, M alheur, K lam ath and Crook. D iscrim inatory language once w as ram pant in O reg o n ’s legal codes and constitution. M uch o f it that lasted w as m oot, o v errid den by am endm ents to the U.S. C onstitution. M any o fO regon’s early settlers w e re d is e n c h a n te d S o u th e rn w hites, w ho brought their ideas, and in som e cases their slaves, with them. M any m ore displaced by the Civil W ar follow ed, often settling in the Rogue V alley, w hich w as isolated by poor roads from the resto fth e state until fairly recently. There, attitudes grew and pros pered, generally unleavened by w hat w as going on around them. H ow ever both R ogue V alley c o u n ti e s o f J a c k s o n a n d Jo sep h in e passed M easure 14 handily. T he Ku K lux K ian, an anti- C atholic m ovem ent in O regon, w as instrum ental in the 1922 elec tion o fG o v . W alter Pierce. In that year O regon voted to c lo s e all C atholic schools in the state, a decision throw n out by the U .S. S uprem e C ourt in 1925. “T here w as a segm ent o f the population that w as active in the K ian,” said O regon State U niver sity political analyst Bill Lunch. “T hose people a re n ’t around anym ore, but their children and grandchildren are,” he said, ad d ing that political, cultural and so cial attitudes often are inherited. African American Catholic Community Oregon Mission Revival 2002 Features Fr. Joseph McGowan WILLAMETTE Federal Credit Union im turnom » National ( aMftt ( ’nica . S Oancrararat Agency 2151 N W. Front Avenue Portland, Oregon 97209 <503)299^539 • (888) 900 *559 The A frican A m erican C atholic C om m unity o f O regon ( A A C O ) wi 11 host its annual revival on N ovem ber 18-20 at St. A ndrew Catholic C hurch located at 806 NE Alberta St. The revival them e is “W ho Are the Disciples Among U s?" This year’s R evivalist is Fr. Jo seph M cG ow an, parochial vicar at the Religious Education Convention sponsored by the A rchdiocese o f Seattle. His presentation topic, “T he Gospel o f M ark and Them es for Preaching in Communities ofC olor.” Fr. M cG ow an is a recipient o f the O u ts ta n d in g R e lig io u s L ead er A w ard presented by the City o f Se attle Jaycees and he received the O utstanding aw ard at Seattle U ni versity. Fr. M cG ow an is one o f only a handful o f A frican-Am erican Jesu its in the Northwest. Throughout his career he has focused on social ju s tice and education. T he A A C C O sponsors this an nual revival as a w ay o f spreading the good new s o f the gospel in the A frican-A m erican tradition. The revival is sponsored jo in tly by the A rchdiocese and three inner-city parishes (St. A ndrew , H oly R e deem er and I m m aculate Heart ) and w ill be held at St. A ndrew C atholic C hurch each o f the three nights beginning at 7p.m . Parish choirs w ill be featured. Participants o f all denom inations and cultural back grounds are invited. A good will offering w ill be taken.
