‘City of Roses’
Jazz & H ip-H op 101
Locked O ut
Free concert to put emphasis on
cultural and artistic knowledge
African Americans say they're routinely
passed over as boxing officials
See story in Focus, Section C
See story in Metro, Section B
nrtlnnù
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXIV • Number 21
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • May 26. 2004
Traffic Stop
Cultural
Gap Tackled
P hotoby
J aymee R. C m /
Forum draws 150,
but not the police
T he P ortland
O bserver
Deejay Kevin
Berry says the
old school
sounds he
played on
KB00 made
his ‘Time
Sound'show
popular in the
African Ameri­
can community.
But the lyrics o f
some o f the rap
music he
played is cited
as one reason
for his dis­
m issal after 2 3
years.
P o rtla n d p o lice o ffic e rs need
tra in in g to h an d le ten se s itu a tio n s
and m o to rists need to d e m o n stra te
re s p o n s ib le b e h a v io r w h en
sto p p e d by p o lic e , a c c o rd in g to
the fo rm e r p re sid e n t o f th e N a ­
tio n al B lack P ro secu to rs A s s o c ia ­
tion.
Deejay Yanked a t KBOO
'Time Sound' host fired; rap lyrics faulted
B y J aymee R. C uti
T he P ortland O bserver
"Tim e Sound,” a long-running radio show
on KBOO 90.7 will no longer provide a forum
for news, inform ation, m usic and discus­
sion about issues affecting A frican A m eri­
cans after the station fired deejay Kevin
Berry after 23 years o f volunteer service.
B erry ’s plan to retire “T im e S o u n d ” in
tw o years w as cut short w hen he received
a letter from his program director, relieving
him o f his show . T he reason cited w as
failure to attend a m andatory pledge drive
shift. But later, o fficials said he violated
the public station’s policy on playing m usic
th at could be co n sidered offensive.
Berry had been a program m er and radio
host at K B O O since 1981, playing som e
hip-h o p and R & B , but m ostly old school
artists such as A1 G reene and E arth, W ind
& Fire and n ever hard-core, underground
rap, he said.
The show has served as a forum through
the years fo r A frican A m ericans to vent
and discuss issues affecting people o f
color.
continued
y^
on page R4
Honing Skills
Career paths mixed with anti-drug message
B y J aymee R. C uti
T he P orti . and O bserver
)
t
A s teens are m aking crucial d ecisio n s about
th eir careers, a group o f Jefferso n students are
also deciding and co n v in cin g th eir peers to stay
aw ay from drugs.
A gro u p o f Jefferson H igh School freshm an
and sophom ores are learning video production
skills under the d irection o f ex p erts from the
I N orthw est Film C en ter in a project aim ed to
keep k ids o ff drugs.
I C lub D rug A w areness Project is an after
school program at Jefferson, under the d irec­
tion o f teach er Phil H opkins and through a
collaboration w ith O regon P artnership and the
N orthw est Film C enter.
Robert Conde learns to use sound equipment for a
collaborative project between Jefferson High School.
Oregon Partnership and the Northwest Film Center.
continued
y^
Weekm
TheReview
Towns Can’t Marry Out-Of-State
Gays
Three o f the four M assachusetts com m uni­
ties that m arried sam e-sex couples from
outside the state have stopped issuing
licenses to nonresidents after receiving a
w arning o f prosecution from the state attor­
ney general.
General Sanchez on Way Out
Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top U.S. m ili­
tary official in Iraq, will be replaced as part
ot com m and changes that have been in the
w orks for several m onths, adm inistration
officials said Tuesday. The Pentagon also
suspended Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski from
P hotos by M ark W ashington ZT he P ortland O bserver
on page A6
Camerawoman Angel Cobb shoots a drug awareness project with fellow
Jefferson High School student Robert Conde.
her com m and. Both have becom e sym bols
o f lax supervision at the
A bu G hraib prison w here
U.S. soldiers abused Iraqi
inm ates.
continued
yf
on page R4
row inmate David Larry Nelson, who was less
than three hours from execution
Bust fall when the Supreme Court
gave him a temporary reprieve.
Records Show 5,500
Iraqis Killed
Bush Sells Iraq Plan
President Bush sought to
rally global support for the
transfer o f pow er in Iraq,
saying that even E uro­
pean leaders w ho opposed
the w ar now “share the
sam e goal" o f a budding
dem ocracy.
Court Sides With
Death Row Inmate
S h ery l R o b in so n m ade h er c o m ­
m en ts S atu rd ay to a b o u t 150 c o m ­
m u n ity m em b ers at a so m e tim e s
co n ten tio u s forum at S e lf E n h an ce­
m en t, Inc. in no rth P o rtlan d , titled
“T ra ffic S to p s, C iv il R ig h ts an d
Yo."
T h e p u b lic d isc u ssio n w as an
a ttem p t to c o n v e rt h o p e le ssn e ss
in to e m p o w e rm e n t and turn a n g e r
in to p o sitiv e en e rg y a fte r p o lice
fa tally shot Ja m e s Ja h a r P erez and
K en d ra Ja m e s, tw o un arm ed A fri­
c a n -A m e ric a n m o to rists w ith in a
y ear, an d the p o lice sh o o tin g d eath
o f Jo s e M ejia P o o t d u rin g a d is tu r­
ban ce at local p sy c h ia tric h o sp i­
tal.
T h e m ost re c e n t sh o o tin g , the
M arch 28 p o lice k illin g o f Ja h a r
P erez d u rin g a traffic stop in the St.
J o h n s c o m m u n ity , h a s a lre a d y
been d eb a te d in p u b lic h earin g s.
B ut a n g ry fe e lin g s rem ain am o n g
p e o p le w ho say th ey h av e been
sto p p ed u n fairly by p o lice becau se
o f th e ir race.
R o b in so n said c u ltu ra l d iffe r­
e n ces b etw een c itiz e n s an d p o lice
can e x a c e rb a te traffic sto p s, an d
d iv e rsity tra in in g can h elp safely
b rid g e that c u ltu ra l gap.
S h e sa id p o lic e o ff ic e rs a re
fo rced to m ak e d iffic u lt and c o n ­
tro v e rsia l d e c is io n s w ith in a m a t­
ter o f se c o n d s, so m e tim e s w ith o u t
c o m p le te in fo rm atio n .
“T h e re is no su ch th in g as a
r o u t i n e t r a f f i c s t o p , ” s a id
R o b in so n , w ho h as in v e s tig a te d
fo r th e U .S . D e p a rtm e n t o f Ju s tic e
h u n d re d s o f c a se s tie d to p o lice
m isc o n d u c t.
S h e said it w as im p o rta n t fo r
p o lice o ffic e rs to receiv e e x te n siv e
tra in in g on su ch s itu a tio n s and
that o th e r c itie s h av e sp en t m il­
lio n s o f d o lla rs to im p ro v e h a n ­
d lin g o f ten se situ a tio n s. C itiz e n s
sh o u ld d e m o n s tra te re a s o n a b le
b eh av io r, she said , su ch as tu rn ­
ing o f f the e n g in e an d ra d io w hen
sto p p e d by p o lice.
O n e a u d ie n c e m em b er sh o u ted
that he had a rig h t to listen to his
rad io w ith o u t b ein g h arassed .
“ W e h a v e to fo llo w r u l e s ,”
R o b in so n said. “ D u rin g the traffic
Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez
The Supreme Court ailed unanimously that a
convicted A labama k i Her can pursue an appeal
claiming lethal injection is cruel and unusual
punishment in hiscase Justices said that lower
courts were wrong to bkick appeals by death
M ore than 5,500 Iraqis died
violently in just Baghdad and
three provinces in the first 12
m onths o f the occupation, an
A s s o c ia te d P re s s su rv e y
found. The toll from both crimi­
nal and political violence ran
dram atically higher than vio­
lent deaths before the war,
according to statistics from
morgues.
FBI Apologizes to Portland Lawyer
Offering a rare public apology, the FBI
admitted m istakenly linking a Portland
law yer's fingerprint to one found near the
Brandon Mayfield with wife Mona
scene o f a terrorist bom bing in Spai
blunder that led to his im prisonmenl
more than tw o w eeks Brandon Mayl
and his wife, Mona M ayfield, reacted t<
a n n o u n c e m e n t M o n d ay . T h e c o i
charges the governm ent with targeting tl
because o f their M uslim faith. See sti
p ag eA 2 . (A P photo)