Committed to Cultural Diversity
www.portlandobserver.com
May 26. 2004
Courageous
African Americans
M etro
Aviator advanced human rights with
accomplishments
îllc ^ o r tla n b (Obscruvr
See sto ry on B6
SECTION
o ni ni u n i t y
B
C il I e n d n r
Arts Scholarship Extended
The African American Visual
Arts Scholarship at Portland
State U niversity application
deadline has been extended to
July 3 1. The com mittee is seek
ing young A frican-A m erican
artists and offering to pay $3,000
per year. For information, call
503-725-3397or503-725-5560.
Going Green
Our Garden, Inc. is holding its 8*
annual Our Garden Kids Party and
Plant Sale from noon to4 p.m. Sun
day, June 6at King Plaza, 3939N.E.
Martin Luther King Blvd.
Plan On It
A Juneteenth Planning Commit-
, tee will meet every Friday at 6:30
p.m. through June 4 at the Phila
d e lp h ia M issio n ary B ap tist
Church, 236N.E. Mason. For more
information, call 503-282-2216.
Ya Gotta Regatta
You gotta go to the 10'*' annual
Columbia Slough Regatta small
crafts show and paddling event
from 9a.m .to I p.m. Sunday, July
26 at the lowerColumbia Slough.
Boxing officials say they're routinely passed over
B y J aymee R . C irri
T i n P ortland O bserver
Tw o legends in the Oregon boxing field
in m oney and prestige
say th e y ’ve been held back p ro fessio n
ally by a b o y ’s club that d o esn ’t include
than the am ateur fights
he o c c a s io n a lly o v e r
sees.
A frican A m ericans.
Boxing referee Del Ray Lew is d o e sn 't
“ You can look at the
pull punches when it com es to his ex p eri
ence in the field.
new guys (referees) and
see they d o n ’t know what
“I’m the best referee they have. I have
th e y ’re doing. Let them
40 years o f experience in boxing and I
hav en ’t referred a fight here in a y ear and
start at the bottom like I
d id ,” L ew is said.
a h alf,” said Lew is, a boxing great from
H is fru stratio n w ith
northeast Portland w ho w ent pro in 1975
and com peted for cham pionships titles
for the U nited States and North Am erica.
m ission is backed up by
L ew is says his skin co lo r has kept him
from being invited to ju d g e the key pro
local boxing great and
f o rm e r p r o f e s s io n a l
fessional m atches, w hich are m uch higher
boxer, turned inspector.
the Oregon Boxing C om
Ray L am pkin, an o th er
“I was the first inspec
tor in the state o f O regon
Better Homes
and I’ve been left o u t,”
A Fix-It Fair is a free neighbor
hood resource for building a bet
ter home and growing a greener
garden from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Saturday, June 5 at Helensview
High School, 8678 N. E. Sumner.
L am pkin said. “I d o n ’t
know w h a t's happening.
I h av en ’t gotten any calls
about any o f the boxing
show s for the last couple
y ea rs.”
Birth Ready
W hether you need childbirth
preparation classes, or just a re
fresher, Providence Health Sys
tems has a w orkshop for you.
Prepare for pain, lake a weekend
seminar or prepare big sisters
and brothers-to -be throughout
th e su m m e r by v is itin g
www.providence.org/classes or
call 503-574-6595.
Juggling Meds
An Aging Forum at the Provi
dence Center, 4805 N.E. Glisan.,
helps older adult learn how to
manage multiple medications at
6:30p.m. Wednesday, June 16 in
the social room. To register, call
503-574-6595.
Canine 101
The Oregon Humane Society ex
plains problem pooches at C a
nine 101 classes on Saturdays,
June 5 and 19 at 11 a.m. A $10
donation is suggested. For more
information, call 503-285-7722or
visit w w w.oregonhum ane.org.
Know Your Rights
A Know Your Rights public train
ing for people o f color will be
held from noon to 3 p.m. Satur
day, May 29 at Bethel AME
C hurch, 5828 N.E. 8,h Ave.
Childcare and lunch will be pro
vided. For more information, call
503-288-5429.
Women Speak
Women have a voice at Women
in N AACP, a new w om en’s
group, meeting from 10:30 a.m.
to 1 p.m. the first Saturday o f
each month at the American Red
C ro ss B u ild in g , 3131 N.
Vancouver . For questions, call
503-2496263.
Interest in Adoption?
A free information meeting for
prospective adoptive parents is
held the third Wednesday of
every month from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
at Belmont Public Library, 1038
S.E. 39"’ Ave. For more informa
tion, call 503-226-4870 or visit
www.openadopt.com.
A Healing Song
Sankofaa Health Institute offers a
free diabetes support group from
6 to 7:30 p.m. every third Thurs
day at Alberta Simmons Plaza,
6707 N.E. MLK Blvd. For more
information, call 503-285-2484.
NAACP Meetings
The Portland Branch o f the N A A (T
holds two monthly executive com
mittee meetings For more informa-
tion.cal]503-284-7722.
Referee Del
Ray Lewis
has 40 years
experience in
the ring. The
local boxing
legend is
upset with
favored
treatment by
Oregon fight
officials that
put African-
American
referees like
him out o f
work.
Lampkin and Lewis are
the only A frican A m eri
cans on the O regon Box-
ingC om m ission.
But L am pkin says h e ’s not even invited
to com m ittee m eetings.
Boxing great Ray Lampkin says the
Oregon Boxing Commission has a poor
record o f including African Americans in
officiating fights.
“They say, ‘Oh. I d id n ’t think o f y o u .’
T h ey ’ve alw ays got an excuse that they
forget w ho we are,” he said.
L am p k in sta rted b o x in g in 1957, won
his first to u rn am en t in 1958 and m issed
th e O ly m p ic tr y o u ts to a tte n d h is
la th e r ’s fu n eral. In stead , he tu rn ed pro
P a n a m a C ity in 1975.
and b ecam e a b o x in g leg en d w hen he
n arro w ly lo st the w o rld lig h tw e ig h t
c h a m p io n s h ip in a fig h t la stin g 14
on O regon altogether. He has applica
tions in with C alifornia and N evada box
ing organizations and says h e’ll answ er
r o u n d s a g a in s t R o b e r to D u ra n
those calls when they com e.
in
L ew is says h e’s considering giving up
Local Fighters Compete at Lincoln City
New generation brings distinction to boxing
Four local boxers will prove to the world
that the Pacific Northwest produces pro
fessional fighters to contend with when
they jab and dodge their way to boxing
distinction during professional matches next
week in Lincoln City.
The athletes are on the fight card during
the second night of Commotion at the Ocean
V at the Chinook W indsCasino. Filming the
night’s action will be FOX Sports Net for
their popular Sunday Night Fights.
National Golden Gloves ju n io r w elter
weight champion, National Ringside cham
pion and Police Athletic League champion,
Molly McConnell will make her pro debut
during the event.
The other local talents include M arcus
Pernell, who has a fam ily connection to
O reg o n ’s boxing history, will be m aking
his first professional fight in his hom e
state.
On May 15, Pernell won his first profes
sional fight with a knockout in the first
round. His father is the well known Ray
“Lightning” Lampkin, the first boxer from
Oregon to go professional and ultimately
fight for a championship against Roberto
H a llo *
Fam en
Support
Youth
The Multi-Cultural Sports
Hall of Fame is celebrat
ing its third year as a
nonprofit organization for
local professional ath
letes with a Sunday, June
6 dinner and fundraiser
at Billy Reed's Restau
rant on northeast Martin
Luther King Boulevard.
Our youth today and their
future is the theme of the
Duran in March 1975.
Native Oregonian, Reggie Davis (10-2,
5KOs) o f Portland, has been boxing since he
was 12 years old and fighting professional ly
for the past three years. A junior m iddle
weight, Davis earned a place at the 2000
Olympic Boxing trials and won his last fight
with a knockout in the first round.
West Linn resident and Oregon native.
Michael L ucero(7-7-1.2 KOs), will fight in
his 16th professional fight at Com motion at
the Ocean.
annual event. The sup
port generated from the
dinner is used to develop
innovative projects that
serve the community.
"We would like to give
The Aroma
of Barbeque
back what has been mis
placed." said Thad Spen
cer, a board member and
founder of the hall-of-
fame group. “Our youth
are in desperate need of
P hoto by M ark W ashington /
T he P ortland O bserver
Darnell Hurst o f Blue Ribbon Barbeque and
Carl o f Big K Dog House tempted visitors at
the Mississippi Avenue Street Fair in north
Portland Saturday with ribs, chicken and other
barbequed delights.
support and encourage
ment."
For more information, email
Spencer at spencerboxing
@yahoo.com.