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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 2002)
December 18. 2002 www.portlandobserver.com Committed to Cultural Diversity (El tv Jarlian i» (Dhsvmvr SECTION Turning Young musicians experience the rhythm of drums at Ethos, an inner city music project for mostly kids, but also adults. photo by D avid P lechl /T he P ortland O bserver KIDS O N I^ L . r i ¿¡ME íjp S b BT If i *> I ,2, 'S? ’ B * J " w Ethos makes magic of music affordable, fun by D avid P lechl T he P ortland O bserver Local musician Michelle Boss Barba didn’t want anything to do with the grassroots com munity music project that her friends were starting. But when Barba was asked to fill in as teacher for the program’s first class, she reluc tantly accepted. “1 never thought about teaching,” she said. “In fact, I didn’t want to teach at all.” How quickly her feelings changed. “1 was hooked,” she said. “By the end o f the class, just seeing the kids develop, it was the coolest thing.” Almost four years later, Barba is the pro gram director at Ethos, the non-profit music center for kids of all backgrounds at 27 N.E. Killingsworth. She and founder Charles Lewis continued C o m m u n ity a l e n d a r Sharon McCormick Holiday Celebration O n Saturday, Dec. 21 the Fourth Annual Sharon M cCorm ick H oliday C elebration at the Salvation A rm y M oore Street C om m unity and W arship Center, 5335 N. W illiam s, will include refreshm ents, entertainm ent, suprises and presents for all children under 10 who are accom panied by a parent. The adm ittance w ill run from 1 p.m. to 1:45 p.m . with the program and gift distribution beginning at 1:45 p.m. and lasting until 4 p.m. Adopt a Pet at Oregon Humane Society T he O re g o n H u m a n e S o c ie ty is e x te n d in g its o u tre a c h e ffo rts to se v e ra l a re a p e t s to re s th is m o n th . H e lp th e H u m a n e S o c ie ty b rin g h o m e le ss p e ts in to th e c o m m u n ity , c a ll 5 0 3 -2 8 5 -7 7 2 2 , e x te n s io n 2 0 4 fo r m o re in fo r- m a tio n . Workshops on Weatherization 18 free w o rk sh o p s on w e a th e riz atio n , w a te r c o n se rv a tion and lead p o isio n in g prev en tio n w ill be held at v ario u s lo catio n s in n orth an d n o rth east P o rtlan d to g iv e resid en ts ideas on how to sav e m oney. S top by th e C o m m u n ity E nergy P ro ject o ffices, 422 N .E . A lb erta, o r call 503- 2 8 4-6 8 2 7 for tim es, dates and lo catio n s. McMenamins Kennedy Christmas ‘T is th e s e a s o n fo r h o lid a y fu n a t M c M e n a m in s K e n n e d y S c h o o l. C o m e see T h e D is c ip le s in S o n g on S a tu rd a y , D ec. 2 0 an d S u n d a y , D ec. 21 fro m 7 to 8 p .m . fo r s p irite d h o lid a y c a ro lin g w ith a g o sp e l tw ist. T h e c o n c e rt is fre e . Winter Wonderland Light Show E njo y the N o rth w e s t’s b ig g e st lig h t sh o w from the co m fo rt o f y o u r ow n car at the T h riftw ay W in te r W o n d erlan d light show th is y ear at the P o rtlan d In ternational R acew ay th ro u g h Jan. 1. T he show fe a tu re s 40 fully a n im ated d isp lay scenes, 25 v eh ic le d riv e -th ro u g h arches and 12 th em ed d isp la y areas. T h e ra c e w a y is op en S unday th ro u g h T h u rsd ay from 5 p.m . to 10 p.m . and F rid ay and S atu rd ay n ig h ts u n til 11 p.m . F or m ore in fo rm atio n , call 5 0 3-821-4342. Radical Women Meeting T o c e le b ra te th e 3 0 lh a n n iv e rs a ry o f R oe vs. W ad e, P o r tla n d ’s R a d ic a l W o m en w ill h o st a m e e tin g to e x p lo re th e h is to ry o f th e U n ite d S ta te s ’ re p ro d u c tiv e rig h ts s tru g g le an d how w o m e n can s a fe g u a rd th o se r ig h ts . T h e e v e n t w ill be h e ld on W e d n e sd a y , Ja n . 8 at 7 p .m . a t th e B re a d a n d R o s e s C e n te r , 8 1 9 N . K illin g s w o rth . T h e re w ill be a m u lti-e th n ic b u ffe t w ith V eg an an d V e g ita ria n o p tio n s se rv e d at 6 :3 0 p.m . fo r a d o n a tio n o n $6. i HMM ■ M ■ H I on page B5 ■ M H M H M M H M ! Bridge Builders Extravaganza Kwanzaa Gala and Ball to honor area’s young adults The Bridge Builders will hold their Sixth Annual Kwanzaa Gala and Gentlemen’s Ball on Saturday, Dec. 28 at 7:30 p.m. at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts Newmark Theatre. The Portland-based event is the region’s most extravagant celebration in honor ofyoung adults. The ceremony will begin with a holiday cel ebration o f Kwanzaa with the lighting o f the ceremonial Kinara; an ancestral call honoring “fallen heroes” who have died since last year’s Kwanzaa celebration. ^ m h m m b m h b w m h Performances by the Bridge Builders’ Pro spective Gents Club will put celebrants in a festive mood with their use o f canes, dance, speech and step teams. This year’s celebration will honor the young men who completed the group’s rites o f passage and have graduated to post-secondary institu tions across the nation. The celebration will also honor the group’s recent college graduates. Tickets for the gala are $30 and $20, with a limited number o f student tickets at $ 10. Tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster outlets and the Portland Center for Performing Arts box office. Proceeds benefit the Bridge Builders’ Scholar ship Program. For more information call 503-306- 2960, extension 3. The Bridge Builders’ mission is to strengthen the African American community by administer ing rites o f passage programs that promotes spirituality, scholarship, entrepreneurship and community building. H H H H H H H H M H H M H H H PCC Expansion Site Gets Minority Investment A construction bond for new buildings and classroom s at Portland Com m unity College is a boost to som e o f the c ity ’s disadvantaged w ork ers and co m p a n ie s b e c a u se o f the co lleg e’s M inority, W omen and Emerging Small B usiness effort. A lexander A debaw o and his A m erican Building C onstruction Co. recently began dem olition work for the co lleg e’s Cascade Cam pus in north Portland. The state-certified m inority business en terprise is doing dem olition work on the south side o f Killingsworth Street, completing demo lition w ork on the block by another m inority firm. N orthw est Infrastructure. A debaw o believes dem olition is like m ili tary strategy w here each w orker is looking after each other to ensure a safe m ission. “On every project the priority is to do the work safely, then the perform ance and execu tion o f the work in a tim ely fashion,” said A debaw o, who w orks on roughly 10 projects every year. A debaw o founded his com pany in 1995 after graduating from Portland State U niver sity. He originally cam e to O regon from N igeria w here his entire fam ily was in the construc tion business. His com pany not only does dem olition but also does rem odeling, roofing and other phases o f construction. He says w orking in the N orthw est offers challenges he d o esn ’t see in N igeria. The culture and construction rules are very differ ent, he said. A debaw o, no stranger to PCC, rem oved a m odular building from the cam pus in 1998. « Workers for minority contractor Alexander Adebawo level land where the Cascade Campus of Portland Community College has expanded on the south side of North Killingsworth to accommodate a new athletic center, photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver He can hardly contain his enthusiasm for w orking on his second PCC construction project. “Demolition is w orthw hile because it paves the way for som ething new that is helpful to * the com m unity,” he said. College officials say its construction manag ers and general contractors must try to reach a target goal o f 20 percent in hiring women, minor ity or emerging small businesses.
