Committed to Cultural Diversity
www.portlandobserver.com
®*’c
February II. 2004
(Dbsm ier
SECTION
H H K fli
Trees Need Friends
Friends o f Trees will plant trees
an d s h ru b s in th e B o is e /
H um boldt/ K ing/ Sabin/ Vernon
neighborhood on Feb. 21 and the
H ough/Rosm ere and V ancouver
neighborhood on M arch 6. If you
w ant to be a help to your com m u
nity and environm ent, call 503
2 8 4 -T R E E
or
v is
w w w .friendsoftrees.org.
Story Telling For African-
American Readers
T oni M o rriso n 's “ W h o ’s G ot
G am e? T he Lion o r the M ouse?
w ill be read at 11 a.m . Feb. 17 at
B arnes and N oble. 1317 L loyd
C enter.
African Film Festival
Fam ily Film Day at the Kennedy
School presents “ N ightjohn" at
11:30 a.m. and2:30p.m . Saturday
Feb. 21.5736 N.E. 33rd Ave.
Group Support
Providence H ealth System s pre
sents "M anaging a Chronic or
Life-Threatening Illness” at afree
com m unity forum from 7 to 8 p.m
M onday Feb. 16 at Providence St
Vincent Medical C enter's Souther
A uditorium , 9205 SW Barnes
Road.
End Tobacco Dependence
End to b a cc o d ep e n d en c e per
m anently in a six -se rie s class
from 6 :3 0 to 8 p.m . M ondays
from M arch 15 through A pril 12
at K aiser P e rm a n e n te ’s N orth
In te rsta te S e rv ic e s B u ild in g
7201 N. In terstate A ve. C ost is
$ 125. F or m ore inform ation, call
503-286-6816.
Quit Your Diet
K aiser Perm anente offers fitness
tips and w eight m anagem ent by
eating for vitality, health and plea
sure with a tw elve-series class on
Freedom From Diets from 6:30 to
8:30 p.m . T h u rsd ay s starting
M arch 4 through M ay 20.
Laughing Through It
A P ortlan d Jam N ight plans to
h e a l th e c o m m u n i t y ’ s ills
thro u g h lau g h ter at the W ave
T h ea tre in N orth P ortland. T he
live m usic and sketch im prov
C om ed y is at 9 p.m . F ridays
T ic k ets are $7 for ad u lts and $4
fo r kids. F or m ore inform ation
c a ll 5 0 3 - 7 3 5 - 4 1 8 4 o r v is it
w w w .jam -night.com .
Unlocking African-American History
Specialists help
local residents
trace their roots
by J aymee
R. C uti
T he P ortland O bserver
Everyone has their ow n reasons
for researching their roots, accord
ing to genealogical specialists.
For some, their history provides
the m issing pieces to a fam ily m ys
tery, passed on through hazy oral
history. For others, the reason is
pragm atic, identifying a pattern o f
diseases or deaths within the blood
line.
For African A m ericans, there’s
an added challenge.
“Until after the Civil W ar, many
A frican A m ericans d id n ’t have
su rn am es and rec o rd s w e re n ’t
kept,” said C onnie Lenzen, a certi
fied genealogist and m em ber o f the
Genealogical Forum o f Oregon.
African Americas freed from sla
very after the Civil W ar som etim es
changed nam es more than once
before settling on one nam e, fur
ther com plicating the puzzle.
The G enealogical Forum is cel
ebrating Black History M onth by
offering a free open house with
several speakers to highlight the
different avenues and challenges
o f African A m erican genealogical
research.
The event will be held W ednes
day, Feb. 18 at the group’s library at
1505 S.E. G ideon St.,
The G enealogical Forum also
regularly holds classes and has an
extensive library o f city directories
and state records to help research
ers.
“Anytime you have a silent story,
it nags at people,” said Lenzen.
“The Genealogical Forum provides
the tools to find the hidden stories
in their fam ilies.”
W illa Brooks plans to speak at
the open house. Her search led her
to 1870s Kentucky and Sierra Leone.
photo by
Brooks began her search more
than a year ago. At 77, she found
challenges filling in gaps o f infor
m ation because m any o f her rela
tives have died, w ho could have
provided details to help her re
search.
“I can go back to records in
K entucky, but beyond that it was
alw ays sort o f a cloud,” she said.
A fter scouring census logs in
K entucky, Brooks enlisted the help
o f m odem technology.
She w orked with a W ashington,
D.C. organization called African
A ncestry (africa n an cestry .co m ).
After swabbing her cheek for a DN A
sam ple and w aiting for several
months, Brooks discovered she is
related to people from the M ende
tribe o f Sierra Leone, and also has
ancestors from Spain and Ireland.
“It was a very emotional moment
when I got the inform ation back.
because y o u ’re ju st out there as an well.
African A m erican and you d o n ’t
“T h e sto rie s are a tre a su re
have any sen se o f w here you tro v e for h isto ria n s a h undred
started," she said. “T h ere’s a big years from now , e sp ec ially for
gap between K entucky and Sierra A frican A m erican s. T his is the
Leone, and I'm going to continue last ch ance to get the stories dow n
tracing that.”
from peo p le w ho su rv iv ed the
According to Lenzen, some write civil w ar,” she said.
books or reports on their research
For more inform ation on the G e
to pass along to the next genera nealogical F o ru m ’s schedule o f
tion. But an individual’s findings classes, visit w w w .gfo.org o r call
appeal to a broader audience, as 503-963-1932.
Gospel
Extravaganza
Planned
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Two events support
PCC scholarships
C i,K U e t stuM
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Volunteer Training
Train to be a Providence Hospice
volunteer to help those facing
term inal illness, from 9:30a.m . to
noon T uesdays and Thursdays
through March. 2. T he series costs
$250. T o register, call 503-574-
9498.
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Genealogist Connie Lenzen (right) and sisters Willa Brooks and Dorothy Turner, research an Oregon Census record from 1850.
T tFL U S 7 7 /
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OVFC PARtQUto
Control Rage
L earn to co n tro l y o u r an g e r in
p o s i t i v e w a y s in K a is e r
P erm an e n te’s D ealing w ith A n
g er class from 6 :3 0 to 8 :30 p.m .
W edn esd ay s th ro u g h M arch 24
at K aiser P e rm a n e n te ’s T ow n
H all, 3704 N. In terstate A ve
C ost is $140. T o reg ister, call
503-286-6816.
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Celebrate this Month
C elebrate Black History Month at
Mt. Scott C om m unity C enter's
Family Night, from 7 to 9 p.m. Feb
20. Portland Parks and Recreation
recognizes Black H istory Month
with m odem , rap and traditional
m usic, dance, stories and crafts.
Cost is $1.50. 5530 S.E. 72 Ave.
For m ore inform ation, call 503-
8234870.
Uptown Readers
Barnes and N oble hosts a reading
o f “Black Renaissance Harlem:
U ptow n"at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb.
28 at 1317 Lloyd Center.
An artist's drawing shows the
proposed “Killingsworth Station, " a
housing and commercial venture planned on
the northeast corner o f the new Max light rail station
on North Killingworth and Interstate Avenue.
‘Killingsworth Station’ Eyed for Intersection
Block could hold
106 new housing
units, businesses
A com m ittee o f neighbors, governm ent
officials and other com m unity representa
tives has recom m ended that a city block at
the intersection o f North Interstate Avenue
and Killingsworth Street be developed into
"K illingsw orth Station,” with 106 units of
new housing and ground floor businesses.
Tuesday, the Portland Development C om
m issio n a n n o u n c e d th a t the te am o f
KemperCo, LLC, Innovative Housing, Inc.,
and Peninsula C om m unity D evelopm ent
Corp., has been chosen to develop the co m
plex. on the northeast co m er o f the future
Killingsw orth Max light-rail station.
“W e picked the proposal that we thought
represented the shape and future o f where
we w ould like to see the Interstate C orridor
go," notes W alter Valenta, selection co m
mittee m e m b eran d co -ch airo f the Interstate
CorridorU rban Renewal Advisory C om m it
tee.
The Killingsw orth Station project will be
the first m ajor PDC-sponsored developm ent
at an Interstate MAX light rail station and is
intended to serve as a model for other tran
sit-supportive developm ents along Inter
state.
Interstate MAX is scheduled to open
continued
on page H2
A Gospel Extravaganza will be
held at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 28 at
the V ancouver A venue Baptist
Church, 3138 N. Vancouver Ave.
“Why are we here?” is the theme
of the 20,h annual event, co-spon
sored by Portland Community Col
lege with performances from the St.
Luke Lutheran Church Choir, Young
People of Zion, the Visualize Mime
team and many other groups.
The extravaganza is free with a
souvenir book available in exchange
for donations.
In addition, a special banquet to
celebrate the gospel celebration an
niversary is scheduled for Friday,
Feb. 27 at 6:30 p.m. in the Terrace
Room at the University of Portland
Commons. 5000N. Willamette BI vd.
Vanessa Gaston, director of the Ur
ban League of Portland, will be the
guest speaker. There will be live
music. The banquet ticket price is
$25 or $250 for a table that seats 10.
The dinner is at 7 p.m.
Proceeds collected from the ban
quet and Gospel Extravaganza will
help support the PCC Foundation
scholarship fund. For more informa
tion, call 503-943-2244.