Com m itted to C ultural D iversity
September 15. 2004
Blazer Great Relishes
Hall Induction
M etro
Clyde Drexler joins Dr. J ’ in elite group
ïl!‘ JJortianì» © bseruer
See Sports, page B2
SECTION
C
o ni in u n i t y
a I e n cl it r
Orchid Show
See hundreds of beautiful and
unusual orchids at the Fall 2004
Orchid Show and Sale from on
Oct. 16 and 17 at the Washing­
ton County Fair at the Main Ex­
hibit Hall at 873 N.E. 34 Ave.
Admission is $3 for more infor­
mation, call 503-649-41 18.
Paddle the Willamette
C elebrate with W illam ette
Riverkeepers during the Port­
land Paddle canoe and kayak
event from W illamette Park to
the Ross Island to the East
Bank Esplanade to the Port­
land Boathouse on Oct. 2 at
8:30 a.m. For more information,
call 503-223-6418.
Benefit Show
David’s Harp is a program offer­
ing opportunities for indepen­
dence and an improved quality
of life for adults with mental ill­
ness with a benefit concert at 7
p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23 at Parkrose
United Methodist Church, 11111
N.E. Knott. Tickets are $20 to the
12,h Avenue Hot Club quintet
that plays blends of ‘30s and
‘40s jazz. For more information,
call503-25 M975.
AIDS Walk 2004
Help save lives by participating in
AIDSWalkO4 on Sunday, Sept.
26, presented by Nike. This 5k
event starts at 8:30a.m. at Pioneer
Courthouse Square and ends at
the same location. Activities run
through noon. For more informa­
tion, call 503-223-9255.
B
Homebuying Reality
Local seminars
help potential
homeowners
W ells Fargo has team ed up with Re­
alty T rust to help inform the public that
home buying makes sense and this is
the time to do it.
“A lot o f people have m isconcep­
tio n s,” said W ells Fargo Branch M an­
ager Darryl Sym onds. “ K now ing you
have access is half the b a ttle .”
The Sharing A dvantage Program ,
dem onstrating a partnership betw een
the lending and housing com m unity,
brings m onthly home buying sem inars
to com m unity members.
“We can take som eone who is on the
fence and tell them to forget what they
heard about closing costs or bad credit
preventing them from buying a home,
and instead tell them, this is why you
should buy,” said Sym onds of the sem i­
nars.
The program draw s in nonprofit o r­
photo by M ichael L eighton /T he P or i land O bserver
ganizations such as churches, com m u­ Herbert Williams (from left), a broker with Realty Trust, partners with Wells Fargo hom e mortgage consultant Charles
nity centers and boys and girls clubs, Funches and branch m anager Darryl Sym onds for a H om ebuyer's Sem inar this Saturday at Mallory Avenue Christian Church.
to dem ystify the intim idating process
o f buying a home.
10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at Mallory Avenue Crusade at Northeast 53,d Avenue and ing sem inars, contact Herbert W illiams,
The next two Wells Fargo Homebuyer’s Christian Church, 126 N.E. Alberta St., Prescott.
a broker with Realty Trust at 503-416-
Seminars are on Saturday, Sept. 18 from and from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. at St. Jude Holy
For more inform ation about upcom- 2040 or Symonds at 971 -409-6730.
PCC Looks Ahead at New Opportunities
Gallery of Visual Arts
photo by M ichael L eighton /
T he P ortland O bserver
View art from talented local art­
ists of all ages throughout the
month of September at the Inter­
state Firehouse Cultural Center:
5340 N. Interstate Ave., from 9
a.m .-6p.m ., free.
Demolition begins on the last
Alberta Farm Market
o f two old structures on the
Marketing healthy, affordable,
high quality food, the Alberta
Cooperati ve Grocery offers sea­
sonal produce from local grow­
ers, ready-to-eat food and weekly
entertainment. Open from 10a.m.
to 2 p.m. daily, located on 1500
N.E. Alberta St. For more infor­
mation, call 503-287-4333.
Cascade Campus o f Portland
Community College in north
Portland. Crews last week
used a wrecking crane to
knock down the old wing of
Terrell Hall for new facilities.
Also planned is the October
Experience
Cultural on Alberta
Come to Alberta Street and dis­
cover a thriving urban commu­
nity at the annual community
faironSept. 18 for an outpouring
of street spirit, with a parade,
music, food and a dazzling dis­
play of arts and crafts. Learn
more at www.artonalberta.org.
Get nt, Stay Healthy!
Sankofaa Health Institute offers
a free diabetes support group
from 6 to 7:30 p.m. every third
Thursday at Alberta Simmons
Plaza, 6707 N.E. Martin Luther
King Jr. Blvd. For more informa­
tion, call 503-285-2484.
Home Improvement
The largest show if its kind on
the West Coast featuring the
latest trends, the newest prod­
ucts and expert advice for re­
modeling, new construction and
home improvement is coming to
the City of Roses Sept. 23 - 26 at
the Oregon Convention Center.
Visit www.remodelshow.com for
ticket information.
Choose To Adopt
A free inr unation meeting for
pro' .ctive 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,h A ve. For more i nforma-
tion, call 503-226-4870 or visit
www.openadopt.com.
Home Improvement
The Community Energy Project
holds free workshops on water
conservation and weatheriza­
tion. For more information, call
503-284-4962.
demolition o f the Fragmeier
Building for the future Moriaty
Arts and Humanities Building
on the corner o f Killingsworth
Street and Albina Avenue.
College year begins
Sept. 27 with new
buildings, programs
Portland Community College will open its
doors to students on Monday, Sept. 27.
Despite three years of budget cuts, stu­
dents can expect plenty of opportunities to
get a top-rate education as the college sys­
tem has successfully carried out a major
expansion of facilities on its campuses with
five new buildings.
The college’s new district president,
Preston Pulliams, will be on hand to welcome
new and returning students. In addition, the
Cascade Campus in north Portland has a new
campus president with Algie Gatewood.
PCC turns 43 this year. The college began
offering classes in 1961 at the old Failing
Elementary School in the Ross Island area
with a dozen students earning diplomas the
following year. The college is a local success
story, now serving more than 83,000 full- and
part-time students in a multi-campus sys­
tem.
“Portland Community Col lege ’ s national
reputation for excellence is what attracted
me to the job," said Pulliams. “I attended a
national community college conference here
11 years ago and was very impressed with
Portland and the college. I look forward to
sharing the PCC story this year and in the
years to come.”
Thanks to the 2000 voter-approved $ 144
million bond measure for new space, tech­
nology and building repairs, PCC has ex­
panded its facilities by 370,000 square feet
and has so far invested $ 100 million in bond
program funds.
Hundreds of people have been in on the
expansion effort. Staff and construction
contractors are busily readying the facili­
ties, moving offices, laying carpet, outfitting
smart classrooms, installing phones and
other activities to welcome students.
The PCC Cascade Campus, serving north
and northeast Portland, will bring three new
buildings on line this fall. The $15 million
investment includes a building devoted to
technology studies, a building to house
programs such as fire science, criminal jus-
continued
on page H2
Columnist Shares ‘Life on my Own Terms’
New CD touches
on abuse, healing
Award-winning newspaper columnist S.
Renee Mitchell not only writes prose for The
Oregonian, she is also a playwright, an ac­
tress and a self-published poet who has
performed her original work in Portland,
Washington, D.C., and New York City.
“I enjoy writing a column for a living and
it pays the bills,” says Mitchell, a single mom
of three children. “But poetry is really what
feeds my spirit.”
This summer, Mitchell decided to take the
advice of many of her admirers who have
heard her perform. This month, she officially
releases her first spoken word CD under the
stage name, NaelNay! Black On Track
Records, a Portland company that produces
primarily hip-hop artists, put together the
original soundtrack.
“The music alone is bumping,” says
Michael Hampton. CEO of Black on Track.
“But Nae!Nay!’s powerful, and sometimes
seductive, delivery really takes hip hop to a
whole ‘nother level.”
Most of the 10 singles on Mitchell’s CD,
titled Life On My Terms, flow from personal
experience. Brown vs. Board of Education
talks about how 50 years after the
groundbreaking ruling that outlawed segre­
gation in public schools, Mitchell still en­
counters some whites who still harbor racist
views about the intelligence of black people.
The chorus reminds us of how much progress
is still needed: “Integration hasn’t cured
racism or closed the achievement gap and
that’s a fact. The Brown ruling changed
America, but it didn’t change minds.”
Mitchell’s emotional poem, Deafening
Silence, deals with black-on-black crime.
Earlier this year, she performed the piece to
a standing ovation at a community forum on
gang violence. And the powerfully haunt­
ing lyrics of “Hit Me” are about surviving
verbal abuse. “You don’t have to hit me to
hurt me,” Mitchell writes. “My internal pain
lasts eternally / You don’t have to say those
words to make yourself heard / You’re giv­
ing me treatment that I don’t deserve I You
don’t have to hit me.”
"People have asked me why I chose to
talk about some very painful, personal things
that I’ve experienced,” Mitchell says. “But
I believe that’s the only way you can truly
begin the healing process. People call it
S. R enee Mitchell
courage. I call it self-preservation."
Not all of the CD’s poetry is serious,
though. Mitchell has a few fun pieces, such
as the comical “Don’t Touch My Hair," and
continued
on page R6