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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 2004)
50ç 2A t Reduce your chances of heart disease and high blood pressure Black History Month See page A8 for details ^Ínrtl¿tnh ©h ‘City of Roses’ te r Established in 1970 Volume XXXIII • Number 8 m . portlandobserver.com to Cultural Diversity Wednesday • February 25.2004 ’Week in 1 heReview Call for Gay Marriage Ban Jumping into a volatile election- year debate on same-sex wed dings, President Bush on Tues day backed a c o n stitu tio n a l amendment banning gay marriage, a move he said was needed to stop •judges from changing the defini tion of the “most enduring human institution.” Sen. John Kerry, Bush's likely Democratic oppo nent, issued a statement saying that Bush was injecting into na tional debate a "wedge issue to divide the American people and draw attention away from issues such as job losses and foreign policy. X- Haiti Pleads for Help With rebels threatening to assault the capital, Haiti President Jean- Bertrand Aristide on Tuesday confirmed another city had been attacked and sought international help to bolster his government, saying that thousands might oth erwise be killed or become boat people fleeing to the United States. Tapes Taunt Bush Two audiotapes believed to be from al-Qaida’s second-in-com mand - one taunting President Bush and the other assailing France’s decision to ban Muslim headscarves in public schools were broadcast on Arabic televi sion networks on Tuesday. One o f the tapes said the terror net work is “still in the holy war battle ground” and vowed to carry out more terrorist attacks against the United States. CIA Sees Growing Threat CIA Director George Tenet said Yuesday that the al-Qaida terror group is seriously damaged but has spread its radical anti-Ameri can agenda to other Islamic ex tremist groups that now pose the greatest threat to the U nited States. “The steady growth of Osama bin Laden’s anti-U.S. sen timent through the wider Sunni (Islamic)extremist movement, and the broad dissem ination o f al Qaida’s destructive expertise, en sure that a serious threat will re main for the foreseeable future,” Tenet said. Executions on TV Supported Tw o-thirds o f Am ericans polled last month said they support the idea o f televising executions - and 21 percent said they’d pay to watch Osama bin Laden put to death. Eleven percent said they would pay to see Saddam Hussein executed. The national telephone poll of more than 1,000 people aged 18 or older was done forT rio cab le network by Harris Interactive. Í ' I Portland hip-hop and rap artists M ackin■ Rob. also known as Rob Sacóte (from left): Tommy Gum. aka Tommy Mitchell: and MacTay. aka Dontay Antoine-are the vocals behind Young F.A.M.E. and the group's debut album “ The Movement." S ta r by J aymee Quality R. C uti T he P ortland O bserver Portland’s urban black music scene needs help, according to a young rapper, musician and owner of his own record label. The city is not without talent, says Brian Mason Jr., but local performers suffer from a lack of unity and have difficulty finding breakout success. Mason is trying to combat that by work ing with hip-hop and rap artists in what he calls “the movement" and -yting them up with professional quality recordings and marketing. “We have good talent and we want to add rappers with the concept that multiple rappers can have a group and a solo career and support the movement to break out of Local hip-hop group paving the way this local rap scene," he says. Mason is also his own client. As B Maja, he performs for Pound 4 Pound records and works behind the scenes with Young F.A.M.E., one of the most an ticipated groups to emerge from the local music scene. Mason functions as the group’s engineer and promoter. He gets help from Young F.A.M.E.’s vocal talents, including Dontay Antoine (MacTay), Tommy Mitchell (Tommy Gunz) and Rob Bacote (Mackin' Rob). Antoine works at Geneva’s Shear Perfec tion Barber and Beauty Salon just north of Killingsworth Street on Northeast Martin Luther King Boulevard where he hands out continued yf on page B3 BLACK HISTORY MONTH SPECIAL When Faith and Politics Intertwine Drawing from Black Panther experience by S ean P . N elson , T HE PoR T I.A N D O BSERVER The often controversial Black Pan ther Party was part of a major move ment for equality for African Ameri cans during the civil rights era. While its legacy persists, many of its stories are lost and misconstrued by modem analysts. From northeast Portland’s Allen Temple Christian Methodist Episco pal Church, Senior Pastor Dr. Rev. Leroy Haynes sets the party’s record straight and discusses his connection to the social movement during a time when African Americans made leaps and bounds toward equal rights. Haynes preaches to his congrega tion of 600 drawing from his experi ence as a Black Panther in Texas in the 1960s. It also advocated for poor minorities against an establishment too intent on maintaining the pri vilegesof affluent white businessmen and professionals at the ex pense of African Americans. In 1969, an attempt to merge the organi- zation with the Student Nonviolent Coordi- n ating C o m m itte e led to S to c k e ly Carmichael being appointed as the prime minister of the Black Panther Party in Los Angeles. An effort was then made to create a chapter of the Black Panther Party to Texas. It was to be located in Dallas. “The Black Panther Party was the vanguard of the African-American revolution in America during this par ticular stage. It was the epitome of the rights and dignity struggle of Afri can Americans," Haynes said. Although the party is known for wanting tochange police procedures, most of its work involved survival programs for African Americans, many of which still exist today. These included free breakfast programs at local schools, free health clinics, di rect deposit programs for elderly Af rican Americans' Social Security and Sickle Cell Anemia programs, and Liberation Schools which taught African-American history. Because of these programs, the Black Panther Party grew rapidly. Haynes participated efforts to advance the party in Texas, where chapters were formed in Dallas, Hous ton, San Antonio, Beaumont and Tyler. He served as a co-chair of the Black Panther Party in Texas after being a co-organizer of a local Texas chapter. He believes African Americans to day need a spiritual compass to ac complish change in America. The B lack Panther Party was started in 1966 by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton in Oakland, Calif. It advo cated a defensive posture by African Americans against the racist, corrupt tactics of the Oakland Police Depart photo by C harles C. K ing /F or T iie P orti and O rse «VER ment. Later, the party was active in Los Dr. Rev. Leroy Haynes o f northeast Portland's Angeles and elsewhere in the coun Allen Temple Church preaches form his expert try. ences as a Black Panther during the 1960s. Today's idea of community polic ing is a legacy of the Black Panther continued on page A2 Louis Farrakhan F arrak h an to S peak V ia W orld B ro a d c a st The Honorable Louis Farrakhan will address the nation via satellite in a live broadcast to air in Portland and over 113 cities across America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Central and South America. The event takes place on Sunday, Feb. 29 at 10 a.m. as Minister Farrakhan delivers the keynote address at the University of Illinois-Chicago Pavilion. He will speak on reparations, but he will also cover subjects on the Nation of Islam and Michael Jackson, the war in Iraq, the upcoming 2004 presidential elections and other vital issues confronting our commu nity. The broadcast will be aired locally via a big screen at Self Enhancement, Inc , 3920 N. Kerby Ave. A $10 donation will be accepted with doors opening at 9 a.m. For more information about the SEIevent,call 503-331-9829. For further information on where you can view the live satellite broadcast call toll free at 866-602-1230, extension 200or email fcnprod@aol.com.
