December 18. 2002
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
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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
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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.
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■ 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
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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.