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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 30, 2003)
(Ehe Jlortlau b (ß h sem er luly 30. 2003 Page A3 Focus on Ron Herndon continued from Front rector in 1975, H em don helped es tablish the Black Education C enter, a school in northeast Portland em phasizing the basics. “C hildren learning about their history and culture d o es you no good if the child c a n ’t read and w rite,” he said. H em don credits parents with the strength and success o f H ead Start. Parental involvem ent, from the h ir ing to the curriculum , d ispels the m yth that poor people d o n ’t care about theirchildren and c a n ’t m ake decisions about th eir c h ild ren ’s education, he said. H em don said keeping Head Start al i ve and viable has been a struggle Bluff Burned as Wildfire Prescription i____________ ¿ 2 Ron Hemdon ethnicity, not unlike segregation you saw in M ississippi in 1960,” H em d o n said. "T h e difference now is it’s not ju st based on skin color, it’s based on incom e.” Portland Fire and Rescue and the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services set and controlled a prescribed fire Sunday at Mock's Crest Bluff, on North Willamette Boulevard, between Killingsworth and Ainsworth streets. The fire burned from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., clearing flammable brush and making way for native vegetation on the bluff. The fire reminded many local residents of a wildfire on the bluff last summer that threatened homes in the nearby north Portland neighborhood. photo by M ark W ashington /T hk P ortland O bskrv er You have a segregated school system based on income and ethnicity, not unlike segregation you saw in Mississippi in 1960. Bush Gives Civil Rights Group Cold Shoulder — Portland education activist and Head Start administrator Ron Hemdon though every presidential ad m in is tration. “ E very a d m in is tra tio n sin ce G arter has tried to m ake changes in Head Start that w ould have been harm ful. T his one is the w orst, ab solutely the m ost anti-H ead Start adm inistration that I’ve ever seen because th e y ’re m aking changes to destroy the program and they know it,” he said. In line w ith his Head Start duties, H em don serves on the Educational Crisis Tearn, an independent w atch dog group keeping public schools accessible to kids o f all races and econom ic backgrounds. The group em phasizes teacher training. A ccording to H em don, better- prepared teachers are rarely as signed to struggling schools. “ Y ou have a segregated school sy s te m b a se d on in c o m e an d H em don continued to say that students in low -incom e areas are not exposed to the sam e curriculum as in more affluent com m unities, particularly in the sciences. Som e experts suggest that less exposure to science, m athem atics and engi neering explains w hy few m inori ties are represented in those fields. The Education C risis T eam has been dorm ant during the sum m er m onths, but H em don prom ises that the d istric t’s financing d e partm ent will hear from them soon. In an anthem oflifelong com m it m ent to education, H em don de scribes the role o f the Education C risis Team, saying, “ W e’re push ing for fundam ental change to give low -incom e kids a fair shake.” For m ore inform ation about H em d o n and Head Start,, visit w w w .sav eh ead start.o rg . NAACP president Kweisi Mfume < * K atz to R etire A T (A P )- P o r t la n d ’s three-term m ayor said last w eek that she w o n ’t seek re-election in 2004. V era Katz, 69, w ho in the 1980s becam e the first w om an speaker in O re g o n 's H ouse, said she m ade her decision after talking with fam ily members. “ 1 have other things, other adventures, other challenges 1 w ant to do," K atz w rote in an e-m ail to about 5,000 friends and supporters. “W hat Portland needs m ost over the next year and a hai f is a m ayor w ho is com pletely dedicated to the jo b at hand.” The m ayor and all city officials in Portland must rem ain unaftiliated with political parties. But Katz w as a D em ocrat w hen she served in the House. O nly one c a n d id a te - co m m issio n e r Jim Francesconi - is officially in thé running for next M ay ’s general election. Earl B lum enauer, a D em ocratic congressm an from Portland, has prom ised an announcem ent on a m ay o r’s race after L abor Day. C om m issioner Erik Sten has said he will w ait on B lum enauer’s decision before deciding on a m ayoral cam paign. President George W. Bush Liberal blacks shunned for carefully chosen minority audiences (A P) — Since the days o f W arren G. H arding, presidents have m et at the W hite H ousew ith leaders o fth e N A A CP. N ot Presi dent Bush - at least not yet. More than halfw ay through his presidency. Bush has yet to receive the n a tio n ’s oldest civil rights group o r the L eadership C onfer- enceofC 'ivil Rights, an um brella organization. The president met with the C ongressional Black C aucus for ju st an hour or so during his first fnonth in oftied, but has not responded to a half-dozen subsequent requests to meet again.' W hile Bush, w h o g o t only 9 percen t o f the black vote in 2000, has shunned sit-dow ns w ith established black groups, he has reached out to carefully chosen m inority audiences and to civil rights advocates less critical o f his policies. O ne exam ple is the N ational Urban L eague, w hose annual conference in P itts burgh Bush addressed on M onday. N A A C P president K w eisi M fum e said he requested m eetings w ith Bush in 2001 and 2002, and “w as told politely, in w riting, that h e ’d love to meet, but his schedule ju s t d id n 't allow it.” Political analysts say the p resid en t’s re- election effort is not targeting liberal blacks, but w ealthy, conservative churehgoing blacks as a w ay to increase B u sh ’s share o f the black vote. R ecent G allup polls find that few er than three in 10 blacks approve o f B u sh ’s perfor m ance as president. During his early session with m em bersofthe C ongressional B lack C aucus, Bush said, “ I hope you com e back, and I ’ 11 certainly be invit ing." But there have been no other invitations. NEW S E A S O N S W E ’R E W ILD A B O U T T h is w e e k e n d s a m p le C h in o o k s a lm o n , h o o k - a n d - lin e c a u g h t o ff th e O r e g o n a n d C a lifo rn ia c o a s ts . M e e t th e fis h e r s a n d e n te r to w in a w h o le , fre s h s a lm o n . The fñenMjefr sfare in fausn. E A S Y & F U N C O N C O R D IA N E 3 3 r d & K illin g s w o r t h I ’ < i r t l a n d OR 972 1 1 503 288 3838 O pen 8am tO p m TO S H O P ORENCO • S T A T IO N N E 6 1 s t & C o r n e ll R d H ills b o r o O R 97 1 24 LO C A L L Y O W N E D R A L E IG H H IL L S 7 3 0 0 S W B e a v e r to n - H ills d a le H w y . P o r tla n d O R 9 7 2 2 5 5 0 3 .6 4 8 .6 9 6 8 503 292 6838 O p e n 8 a m -1 O p m O p e n 8 a m -9 p m A & O P E R A T E D SELLW O OD 1 2 14 S E T a c o m a P o r tla n d OR 97202 5 0 3 .2 3 0 .4 9 4 9 O pen 8am 10pm I