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August 4. 2004
Mali: Land of Ancient Kingdoms and Empires
began depleting M ali’s natural resources w hile kidnap­
ping hundreds o f thousands o f A fricans to be sold into
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slavery. T hose left in the co u n try becam e eith er
T his large W estern A frican country is surrounded
becam e F rench subjects, forced to pay heavy taxes or
by nine other A frican nations, leaving it with no ocean
slaves under the lash, working for nothing. The first half
access. W ith its m assive resources in gold, Mali once
o f the twentieth century saw many attem pted revolts.
could have been the richest o f A frican countries.
Although they were unsuccessful, the cost to defend
H ow ever, greedy E uropeans from France forced its
their colony that was so far away began becom ing a
inhabitants to survive by fanning. W hile French nobles
terrible financial burden on France. M ali’s plights began
entertained them selves with fortunes from the gold
to draw international attention during the early second
and slave m arket, M ali’s inhabitants starved through
half o f the twentieth century and France began to feel the
droughts and harsh grow ing seasons. A lthough this
pressure from both inside their colony and from around
country is rich in natural history and once was rich in
the world to give Mali its independence. Finally on Sept.
natural resources, today it is one o f the poorest areas
22, 1962 the country gained its freedom. However,
o f the w orld. Due to serious problem s w ith internal
massive droughts from 1968-1974 nearly caused a total
political battles, ongoing poverty, and m ounting health
financial collapse o f the country. Fortunately, Eastern
issues such as A ID S, hope for the younger genera­
and W estern nation stepped in to help.
tions appear grim . T oday, the U nited States, as well as
Today, Mali is p rim a rily a F re n ch -sp ea k in g n atio n
other countries around the w orld send aid in money,
o f o v e r ten m illio n p eo p le. Its n atu ral reso u rce s
food, clothing, and m edicine for inhabitants o f Mali.
to d ay in clu d e fish, g o ld , salt, lim esto n e, u ran iu m ,
C enturies before the days o f Christ, hunters roam ed
ire o re, m an g an e se, tin, an d co p p e r d ep o sits. F a rm ­
the lush and green northern regions o f this nation. By
ing c o n s is ts o f c o tto n , m ille t, ric e , c o rn , v e g ­
the eleventh century, how ever, M uslim raiders from
etab le s, p ea n u ts, c a ttle , sh eep an d g o ats. C o tto n ,
northern regions had overcom e the early pagan A fri­
g o ld , an d liv e sto c k are th e p rim a ry e x p o rts. A s
cans, converting indigenous peoples to Islam. For
m uch o f A frica is still d ren c h ed in p o v erty , in te r­
hundreds more years, ruthless leaders fought to co n ­
c o u n try w ars, an d h e a lth c rise s, E u ro p e a n and
trol over this desired North A frican region w ith all its
W estern n atio n s c o n tin u e to h elp w ith p ea ce su m ­
natural resources. A long with the m ining o f gold, and
m its, m o n ey , fo o d , an d h ea lth c a re . W h ile the
farm ing in the fertile countryside, the desert country
p o ssib ilitie s fo r su c ce ssfu l d e m o c ra c ie s th ro u g h ­
held rich salt m ines. D uring the early 1800s, European
o u t A fric a an d the M id d le E ast a re sm all, w o rld
countries, eager to expand began to take notice o f all
lead ers are h o p efu l th at the fin an c ial an d p o litical
that A frica had to offer. N ative inhabitants o f both
co n d itio n s in M ali an d o th e r A frican n atio n s w ill
continents w ould soon succum b to w ell-equipped
g ra d u a lly im p ro v e. T h e goal o f in te rn atio n a l e c o n o ­
E uropean arm ies. In 1855 the French w ould build a
m ists is th at A frica w ill o n e d ay sta n d on its ow n
site on the fam ed Senegal River at the w est end o f Mali.
again.
It w as not long before France ruled the country and
_____________THE_____________
SPINACOLUMN
School Supplies Assistance
Sending kids back to school with confidence
T h ro u g h o u t the m onth o f A u ­ seek in g a ssista n ce m ust q u alify
gust, the S alvation A rm y w ill be and p re-re g iste r at th e ir local
c o lle c tin g sc h o o lsu p p lie sto d is- office.
tribute to lo w -in co m e fam ilies.
Y our tax-deductible donation
T he P roject B ack to S chool p ro ­ o f $26 will provide a child w ith a
gram has p ro v id ed school su p ­ new backpack filled with grade-
p lies, b ack p ack s, haircu ts, and level school supplies. C ash d ona­
im m u n iza tio n s fo r m ore than tions m ay be m ailed to T he Salva­
10,(XX) needy chi Idren in the past tion A rm y at 1785 N.E. Sandy
10 years. L o w -in c o m e fam ilies Blvd., Portland, O R, 97232.
7
P lease m a k e c h e c k s p a y ­
able to “T h e S alv a tio n A rm y ”
and d esig n ate "P ro jec t: Back
to S ch o o l” on th e n o te s line.
T o organize a donation dri ve,
o r to v o lu n te e r w ith T h e S a l­
vation A rm y P ro ject: B ack to
S chool p ro g ra m , p lease c o n ­
tact y o u r local S alv a tio n A rm y
office.
**AII classes are free of charge!
African American Health Coalition, Inc.
Presents for your health,
Wellness W ithin REACH Activity Calendar
Aerobics
Mallory Ave. Christian Church
Pilates ( C o n t a c t A A H C )
M att Dishman
Mon. Wed, Fri, 6-7am, Pierce • 5:30-6:20pm,
Granville • 6:30-7:30pm, Nickerson
Tue, 8-9pm
An ongoing senes of questions and answers about Amencas natural healing profession
Part 9. Low Back Surgery:
The unkindest and most unnecessary cut of all.
: Should I try chiropractic I sive hospital bills. With Chiroprac­ m ake any decision, heed the
for my low back pain or tic, the only side effects are the advice o f the “fath er” o f low
have surgery and get it “fixed
disappearance o f symptoms and back surgery: “exhaust all m eth­
right?”
the recurrence of vitality.
ods o f conservative care before
: W ehearthisquestionquite
: Which technique has better considering surgery to the lum ­
often and considering many
results for low back prob­ bar (low back) spine.” T o find
physicians’ pro-surgery preoccu­ lems, Chiropractic or surgery? out how C hiropractic can help
pation, it's no wonder people ask A: A ccording to a recent issue o f you avoid back surgery, or for
such questions. That is, until they C om puter M edicine, low back answ ers to any questions you
examine the facts. The truth is that surgery is one o f the least e ffec­ m ight have about your health,
in about 90% o f low back pain, the tive procedures. In fact, 75 to please call us at the phone num ­
problem is mechanical. Chiroprac­ 99% are unsuccessful. Before you ber displayed below.
tic has had and continues to have
the best technique for treating
sp in al m e ch a n ica l p ro b lem s
through gentle, exact adjustment
2124 N.E. Hancock Street
with highly skilled hands. And
Portland, Oregon 97212
Chiropractic requires no drugs,
P h o n e: ( 5 0 3 ) 2 8 7 *5 5 0 4
surgery, recuperation or expen-
Q
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Flowers' C hiropractic Office
Stretching/Body Sculpting
Low Im pact Aerobics
Daniel’s Mem orial Church
M att Dishman
Tue, 7:15-8:15pm, Granville
Tue, Thu, 7-8am, Lois
W a te r Aerobics ( C o n t a c t A A H C )
Columbia Pool, M att Dishman
Tai Chi ( C o n t a c t A A H C )
St.John’s Comunity Center
(Class courtesy o f H itt Dishman)
Tue, 6:30-7:30pm
African Dance
M att Dishman
W a lk in g G r o u p
Sat, 10-1 lam, Addo
Peninsula Park
Sat 12:30pm, Woods
Body Conditioning
W ild Oats Market
Lloyd Ctr, 1st FI. in front of Sears
Tue, Thu, 6:30pm, Woods
FATHER, KARATE EXPERT,
ACCOUNTANT,
FBI SPECIAL
AGENT.
Sat. 9:3O-IO:3Oam, Nickerson
Intelligence Analysts
W eight Mgnt./Conditioning
W h itaker Track
Chicago Step
M att Dishman
Tue. Thu, 9 -1 Oam, Hasan
Fri, 6:30pm, Kendrick
Kickboxing
^ ^ ¡ ■ ’ifiiii7>
Mallory Ave. Chritian Church
Yoga
W ild Oats Market
Tue, Thu, 7:30-8:30pm, O’Rourke
Tue, Thu, 6-7pm, Keller
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Pl I ’l'V 'l I’ ' l l ‘•I (|,itiv i e v j '. 't l l m . f Mlllt.'WV
Columbia Pool. 7701 N Chautaqua
Peninsula Park. 700 N Portland
Daniel’$ Memorial Churdi, 1234 NE Killingsworth
St John’s Community Center, 8427 N. Central
Malory Are Oirettan Churdi (Gym), 126 NE Alberta
Whitaker Track, NE 42nd & Killingsworth
Matt Dishman. 77 NE Knott
Wild Oats Market. 3S3S NE ISth
Apply online lod.iy at w w w tbi|obs coin
“ Must be II or older to participate. Please contact AAHC before showing up to the first class and for
more information at 503-413-1850 or kdempsey@aahc-portland.org. Please receive approval from your
doctor before beginning exercise class.
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R ac ia l and Ethnic A p p r o a c h » to C om m u nity H e a lth
A P rogram of th e African A m erican H ealth Coalition. Inc.
Sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C O C )
Contact AAHC at S 0 3 -4 I3 -IIS 0 or visit our web site at wwwaahc-pordand.org
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