www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
M arch 31. 2 0 0 4
Love and Diane, an Urban Portrait
M etro
A documentary featuring Love Hinson and
her family surviving in poverty.
Focus, page B3
JJortlanb ©bseruer
SECTION
C
E
o in m u n i t y
a le n d a r
Fundraise for PALS
The Police A ctivities League,
w hich serves youth in Portland
and G resham , is sponsoring its
8lh annual PA L Cam paign for
C ops Helping Kids dinner auc
tion benefiting PAL at 5:30 p.m.
May 8 at the M ultnom ah A th
letic Club. For more information,
call 503-823-0250.
Valuable Discussion
A talk about V alues, Cultures
and C onflict is at 6 p. m. April 6 at
W om anTree Resource C enter,
2641 N.E. A lberta St. T ickets,
ranging from $1 to $5, are on a
sliding scale. For more inform a
tion, visit w w w .w om antree.org.
Benefit Laughter
C om edySportz hosts a benefit
show for the Portland T illam ook
C ooperative Preschool at 5 p.m.
Saturday, April 17 at 1963N.W .
K earney Street. T ickets are $ 10.
For m ore inform ation, call 503-
236-8888.
Get Involved!
A Black M useum com m ittee
meeting is at Sylvias, 1301 N.E.
D ekum from 1 to 3 p.m. April 3.
For more inform ation, call 503-
284-0617.
R. CUTI/TH E PORTLAND OBSERVER
Bunny Love
PHOTO BY J a YMEE
The Oregon Human Society is
open Easter Sunday, April 11, for
Easter bunny adoptions and a
lesson on how bunnies make great
pets. The Easter Bunny will be
there from 1 to 4 p.m. For more
information,call 503-285-7722or
visit ww w.oregonhum anes.org.
Mentor Walter “ Tiny" Butler (left) talks to his client
Ticole Waller about his future during a meeting at the
YO Center on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Hospice Training
K aiser Perm anente is offering
free training to adults interested
in providing physical and em o
tional support to term inally ill
patients. T he trainings are on
Tuesdays and T hursdays from
6 to 9:30 p.m., from April 27
through M ay 13. For more infor
mation, cal 1503-499-5285.
Bloomfest
E aster Seals O regon announces
Bloom Fest from April 6-10, ask
ing volunteers to coordinate and
sell fresh-cut tulip bunches for
$5. For m ore inform ation, call
503-228-5108ext. 317.
Interest in Adoption?
A free inform ation m eeting for
p ro sp ectiv e adoptive parents
held the third W ednesday o f
every m onth from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
at Belm ont Public Library. 1038
S.E. 39lh Ave. For more inform a
tion, call 503-226-4870 or visit
w w w .openadopt.com .
Reunion Watch
Form er students and faculty o f
G irls Polytechnic, Jam es M on
roe and W ashington-M onroe
high schools have the 66'*' an
nual all-school dinner at 5 p.m.
M onday, April 12 at O ur Lady of
S o rro w s S ch o o l, 5 2 3 9 S.E.
W oodstock Blvd. Tickets are
$15. For m ore inform ation, call
503-236-6557.
Packy Turns 40
Packy, the O regon Z o o ’s el
ephant w hich becam e nation
ally renow ned as the first Asian
elephant born in the W estern
H em isphere in more than 44
years, celebrates his 4O'h birth
day with a cake stom ping from
I0 a .m .to 4 p .m . April 14.Com e
by to sing happy birthday to
Packy, and have a piece o f cake
for yourself. For more inform a
tion. visit w w w .oregonzoo.com .
Trees Need Friends
Friends o f T rees will plant trees
and shrubs in the Piedm ont and
Cathedral Park/St. Johns neigh
borhoods on M arch 27. and in
th e G o o s e
H o llo w
an d
M ontavilla neighborhoods on
April 3. If you want to be a help
to your com m unity and environ
ment, call 503-284-TR EEor visit
w w w .friendsoftrees.org.
LENDING A SHOULDER
Community mentors
change lives
by J aymee R. C uti
T he P ortland O bserver
If it takes a village to raise achild, mentors
say they are preparing young people to take
their place in that village.
Harold W illiam s and W alter "T iny" But
ler often see kids w ho are m ixed up in gangs,
crim e and problem s at home. They are com
m unity m entors, w orking through com m u
nity organizations such as C H 2A , C om m u
nities o f Color, Janus Youth Program s and
the YO Center.
From the looks o f their toweri ng statures,
one might expect these men to coach or play
professional sports, but these gentle giants
have dedicated their lives to P ortland’s kids.
W illiam s and B utler say their approach to
m entoring is holistic.
“ It’s kind o f hard to ju st deal with the
client and not to deal with the other issues in
his life," W illiam s said. “ It kind o f trickles
dow n.”
O ften, m entors find them selves connect
ing entire fam ilies with counseling, housing
needs o r jo b opportunities.
M any o f the clients W illiam s and Butler
work with are assigned through the Oregon
Youth A uthority or by probation officers.
“W e w anted to give kids som ebody who
w ould be in their corner w hen their co m er
w as em pty," said Butler.
High school and m iddle school-aged cli
ents com e to them with problem s ranging
from hom elessness and a lack o f education
to drugs, alcohol and gang involvem ent,
they say.
W illiam s is a lifelong Portland resident
and Jefferson High School graduate. He
says his form er coaches in track, w restling,
football, golf and M idnight Basketball helped
show him the value o f mentors.
Butler mentors to give back to h isco m m u -
nity. A Madison High SchtMil graduate, Butler
found him self in trouble and in jail for what
he calls “bad choices.”
"I want to make sure kids d o n 't go through
som e o f the things I w ent through,” he says.
Ticole W aller, 22, has been B utler’s client
for three years through the YO C enter in
northeast Portland.
continued y ^ on page H6
Candidate Pledges
Support for Minorities
Woodlawn resident
runs for state
representative
by M ichael L eighton
T he P ortland O bserver
A neighborhood activist w ants to build
ties to the local A frican-A m erican com m u
nity in her pledge to support m inority issues
in a race for state representative.
T ina Kotek prom ises to
build the necessary rela
tionships and coalitions
to cham pion sm art public
policies in the State Legis
lature that are important to
local residents. She is run
ning forelection in the May
D em ocratic Prim ary for
H ouse D istrict 43, rep re
senting north and north
east Portland.
K o tek 's central cam
paign them e is m aking a
positive difference forchil-
dren and families. T he e f
fort m eshes with her jo b
experience as policy direc
tor for Children First for
O re g o n , a n o n - p ro f it
ch ild ren 's advocacy group, and as a public
policy advocate for the O regon Food Bank.
She said her district needs an experienced
activist like herself to prom ote health care,
affordable childcare and getting at the root
causes o f hunger.
“No fam ily should be left out," she said.
Kotek moved to northeast Portland three
years ago, lured by an affordable hom e in
her W oodlaw n neighborhood and a diverse
com m unity. A native o f W ashington, D C.,
she fell in love with O regon afterenrolling at
the U niversity o f O regon in Eugene in the
late 80s.
Kotek serves as secretary and land use
chair for her W oodlaw n N eighborhood A s
sociation. She previously served in the
H osford-A bernethy N eighborhood A sso
ciation o f southeast Portland.
She prom otes the revitalization o f local
photo b \
Tina Kotek wants
to represent north
and northeast
Portland in Salem.
photo by M ark
W ashington /
T he P ortland
O bserver
neighborhtxxls, but not the econom ic co n
sequences w hen m inority and low-incom e
populations are driven out, a process often
referred to as gentrification.
“Revitalization is im portant, but we want
to keep the diversity," she said.
continued y ^ on page H6
J aymee R. C i ti /T he P or i land O bserver
WomenStrength instructor Brooke Brown simulates an aggressive stance to take
when approached by a stranger.
Women Find Strength
Free self defense
class empowers
participants
by J aymee R. C lti
T he P ortland O bserver
The reasons that brought m ore than 20
w om en together for a free self-defense class
were as diverse as the w om en them selves.
Som e
a tte n d e d
th e
th r e e - p a r t
\
W om enStrength scries to participate in pro-
gram s em pow ering w om en. For others, they
have been victim s o f dom estic violence or
sexual abuse them selves, and w ant to learn
skills to break that pattern.
W o m e n S tre n g th , a p ro g ra m fu n d ed
through the Portland Police Bureau, has
been active in Portland since 1979, ed u cat
ing and training w om en to defend them
selves from attackers. The strength o f the
continued y ^ on page R6