Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 16, 2003)
(Eljc Jìorthxnh (Observer July 16. 2003 Page A5 Couple Attends African American Summit Eugene and Carlene Jackson, representing northeast Portland’s Irvington Covenant Community Development Corporation, meet U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore. at the recent African American Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. E ugene and C arlene Jackson o f M o lalla, rep resen tin g no rth east P o rtla n d 's Irv in g to n C o v en an t C om m unity D evelopm ent C orpo ration, atten d ed the recent A frican A m erican L eadership Sum m it in W ashington D.C. T h e tw o-day conference p ro vided a forum for more than 3X0 African A m erican participants from across the country to discuss a range o f policy issues with senior members o f the United States Congress and the Bush Administration. T he O regon couple w as nom i nated by U. S. Sen. G ordon Sm ith, R -O re., and w as the only represen tatives from the state. Sm ith is a strong su pporter o f Irvington C ovenant C D C , a faith- based, non profit corporation that builds affordable hom es for low- incom e fam ilies and trains ex-of fenders in hom es construction. T rainees are assigned a m entor from Irvington C ovenant C hurch to provide essential support and encouragem ent. All graduates are placed in perm anent jo b in the co n struction industry. The Jackson’s are founding board m em bers o f ICCDC. “ A t this critical tim e in our n atio n 's history, it is im perative that A frican A m erican leaders and federal o fficials exchange ideas about the pressing issues affecting our fam ilies and com m unities," said Sen. K ay B ailey H utchison. R- Texas, co -ch air o f the sum m it. photo by M ark W ashington /T he P or i land O bserver Reflections Mirror Image Bookstore owner O.B. Hill welcomes customer Greg Benton to his new location at 313 N.E. Killingsworth. Book Seller Moves to New Site store, w hich rem ains housed in the W alnut Park Retail Center. The bookstore is now located in the upstairs o f a gray, tw o-story house, this is quite a contrast from it’s fo rm e r location. A lth o u g h sm aller, it still retains a spiritual persona and an A frocentric decor. “ Reflections Bookstore custom Reflections M irror-Im age Book ers need not w orry” , said ow ner store re-opened last w eekend with O.B. Hill. "W e have not gone out- several drum m ers announcing the o f-b u sin ess. I ju s t m oved tw o new location o f O reg o n ’s only blocks w est to ensure that I d o n ’t.” black-ow ned bookstore. R eflec Like other independent book tions M irror-Im age B ookstore is sellers, Hill said he w as finding it n o w lo c a te d a t 313 N .E . difficult to carve out a market w hile Killingsworth. surviving in a com petitive retail Drum m aster BeBop Robinson environm ent during a dow nsw ing led the drum m ing circles. O ther in the econom y. activities included book club m em A ccording to Hill, the bookstore bership drive and outside vending. has struggled for eight years since These ac ti vities wi 11 continue w eek its existence without turning a profit. ends in July to support the book He claim s that northeast Portland seller’s new home. still offers a viable environm ent for The m ove does not apply to the selling Black-interest books. R eflections coffee shop and gift “ If not here, w here?” Hill asks. Independent Afrocentric bookstore struggles during sagging economy # Justice for Janitors P hoto by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver S R CORNER, V I D R E E D ER Portland janitors marched through downtown Portland last week janitors unionize. Today, 57 percent o f janitors in the city to bring attention to inadequate health insurance. Janitors belong to the Local 49 o f the Service Employees International cleaning commercial and government buildings ratified a new contract Saturday that would include paid sick days and health Union. Alice Dale, the chapter president, said the union would like to reach that number, triggering the added benefits by April 2004 coverage for family members when 70 percent o f Portland Candidate No-Shows Draw Ire of NAACP ( A P )— T hree o f the D em ocrats’ nine presidential contenders drew the w rath o f the president o f the N A A C P for skipping the g ro u p ’s candidate forum , highlighting a grow ing discontent am ong blacks tow ard the D em ocratic Party. The six D em ocratic presidential hopefuls shared the stage w ith four em pty chairs, each labeled w ith the -A l Sharpton nam e o f a W hite H ouse candidate us like w e are som e political m is who didn ’t m ake it. They w ere Presi to us, there is still an ax-handle d ent B ush and D em o crats Joe mentality am ong some in the D emo tre sse s .” B lacks have been a solid co n Lieberman, Dick Gephardt and Den cratic Party,” Sharpton yelled from stituency for the D em ocratic p resi nis K ucinich. the podium , w aving a w ooden ax dential nom inee in recent elections. W hile B u sh ’s absence w asn ’t a handle. “ I w ant to stop people from surprise — he h asn ’t attended p re w anting o u r vote but not w anting In 2000, Al G ore captured 90 p er vious N A A C P conventions since to be seen w ith us in public, treating cent o f the black vote to G eorge W. B u sh ’s 9 percent, one o f the low est taking office — the g ro u p ’s leaders w e re o u tra g e d at th e D em ocratic no-show s. “ In essence, you now have becom e persona non grata,” N A A CP President Kweisi M fum e said o f the D em ocrats w ho passed on the event. “Y our po litical capital isthe equiva lent o f confederate do l lars.” B la c k le a d e rs h av e been rem inding the can didates that they cannot be taken for granted in next y e a r's election, but the party is o f f to a rocky start with m inorities in this election cycle. Black party leaders were furious when the D em ocratic N ational Com m ittee planned to lay o ff 10 staffers this spring, and all w ere black. The DNC backed o ff that plan H eat up the ummu with $20,000, a TABASCO’ B ackyard B arbecue and has been w ork in g P rize P ack iN tu n w . a S tainless S teel G as G rill , or one of many w ith the C ongressional TABASCO’ M erchandise P rize P acks . Black C aucus to ease ten sions. A1 Sharpton com pared the D em ocratic Party to the late form er G eorgia G ov. L ester M addox, a segregationist w ho d ur G ami S iams I uni JO, 2005 ing the 1960s w ould take up an ax handle to chase blacks from his A tlanta fried chicken restaurant. “ A nytim e w e can give a party 92 percent o f our vote and have to still beg som e people to com e talk Anytime we can give a party 92 percent o f our vote and have to still beg some people to come talk to us, there is still an ax-handle mentality among some in the Democratic Party. GO AHEA^ ^SCRATCH. •ITHE STORE'S SPRINKLERS WORK. I percentages for a R epublican in decades, according to exit sur veys. Hill C linton got m ore than 80 percent in his tw o D em ocratic presidential cam paigns. B ut S ta n le y T h o rn to n , an N A A C P m em b er from M iam i, said the D em o crats have m oved so far to the c e n te r th at so m e tim es he c a n 't tell them a p a rt from R ep u b lican s. D em o cratic c a n d id a te s m u s t d is tin g u is h th em selv es to w in black vo tes, he said. Credit Score Myths they were dragging down my score, I closed hal fa dozen com puter store and departm ent store cards w hich I no longer use. "If I run my credit report, w on’t th atd ragd ow n mv credit score?" No, not at all. Y ou can request yourow n credit report anytim e you like and it w o n ’t drag dow n your score. H ow ever, the inquiries that are done by filling out credit and car appl ications wi 11 low er your score. T hings have changed recently and it w ill not adversely affect you as it has in the past and lenders know that a sm art shopper will go over their options before a pur chase. You should work with som e one that cares about your needs and can shop a large inventory for you. “ I’ve never m issed a paym ent. JMyyredit score m ust be high.’’ This could not be m ore w rong. M any people get upset w hen they get their credit score and find out how low their credit score is. Pay ing on tim e is one o f the best things for your FIC O score, but it’s only o n eo fo v er 100 variables m aking up your credit score. H aving m any open accounts does as much dam age to your credit score, as there is potential for you to run up your credit limit on all your accounts. People w ith good credit tend to have too m uch credit, and too m any old accounts that they no longer use. L enders view that as a risk. W hen I got my score it w as ok, You can reach David Reeder by but needed im proving. B ecause e-mail al reederdavid/ vahoo. com. ANNIE MAE’S UNIQUE GIFTS & APPAREL 2621 NE Alberta Street Portland, Oregon 97211 503 528-2933 Tuesday - Saturday 10:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Shop at Annie Mae's Unique Gifts & Apparel A friendly, and affordable store to purchase: Women Apparel • Lady’s hats • Shoes • Unique Jewelry • Men Cultural Attire Greeting Cards • Porcelain Dolls • Limited Edition o f Figurines H. & B. Too NOW OPEN Oregon’s Oldest Licensed Pawnshop 4709 N.E. Martin Luther King Blvd. 2 blocks south of Alberta Weekdays til 6 p.m. - Saturdays til 4 p.m. Free Parking - State Controlled Rates - Se Habla Español www.hbloan.com Oregon Family Business for over 50 years Lie. #306 I
