(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.
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I