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
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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.