500
February is
B lack History M onth
(D b se m r
City of Roses
Established in 1970
Volume XXXV, Number 4
T,Weekin
TheReview
Iraqi President: U.S.
Troops Should Stay
Iraq’s president said Tuesday it
would be “com plete nonsense”
to ask foreign troops to leave the
country now , although som e
could depart by year’s end. O ffi
cials began the final vote tally
from elections to produce a gov
ernm ent to confront the insur
gency. See story on page A2.
Jackson Stands Before
Prospective Jurors
M ichael Jackson on M onday
stood before the first group of
prospective jurors who could
decide his fate on charges he
molested a teenage cancer pa
tient and plied the boy with alco
hol at his N everland Ranch. The
pop superstar, accom panied by
four defense lawyers, stood and
smiled as he faced prospective
jurors for the start o f jury selec
tion in what could becom e the
most sensational celebrity trial
the world has ever seen.
Judge Backs
Guantanamo Challenges
The Bush adm inistration must
let foreign terror suspects chal
lenge their confinem ent in U.S.
courts, a judge said M onday in a
ruling that found unconstitu
tional the hearing system set up
by the Pentagon. Foreigners from
about 40 different countries have
been held at the U.S. Navy base
in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - some
for more than three years - w ith
out being charged with a crimes.
They were mainly swept up in
the U.S.-led A fghanistan war.
Bonds to Miss
Spring Training
Barry Bonds is expected to miss
much o f spring training follow
ing arthroscopic surgery M on
day on his right knee, but the San
Francisco G iants slugger should
recover in plenty o f time to re
sume his chase o f Hank A aron’s
home run record in April.
Murder Charges for
Train Crash Suspect
A suicidal man who allegedly
parked his SUV in the path o f a
com m uter train and triggered a
horrific wreck that killed 11 people
was charged with m urder and
could face the death penalty,
a u th o ritie s sa id T h u rs d a y .
Nearly 200were injured. Authori
ties say A lvarez drove his Jeep
C herokee into the path o f a
Metrolink com m uter train early
W ednesday.
Committed to Cultural Diversity
c <5
□
— UJ
1
Wednesday • February 2. 2005
‘The Middle Passage’ to Recovery
Local play
parallels
addiction
and slavery
by J aymee R. C vti
T he P ortland O bserver
A parallel betw een slavery and
addiction is the subject o f a d ra
m atic play w ritten, produced and
staring local A frican-A m ericans
opening this w eek at the M iracles
C lub, 4069 N.E. M artin L uther
King Jr. Blvd.
“On L ife’s Term : T he M iddle
P assage,” tells the stories o f folks
w ho have taken the jo u rn ey or
m iddle passage from drugs and
alcohol to recovery.
“A ddiction is the en slav er,”
said Floyd C ruse, the p la y ’s d i
rector and producer.
T he production opens S atu r
day and runs through tw o w eek
ends. P ortland C able M edia w ill
record the play for broadcast and
plans are already set for film ing
the production fo r a m ovie.
“T he M iddle P assag e” w as
adapted from “On L ife’s T erm s,”
a play by Portland author, poet
and p la y w rig h t N ab eeh M us-
tafah.
T radition ally , the M iddle P as
sage is the A tlantic slave trade,
the triangular route from E urope
to A frica to the N ew W orld.
“G oing from the position o f no
control to control is the reverse
o f the M iddle P a ssa g e ,” said
C ruse. “As you go through, you
cast aside c rim in ality , alienation
photo by
M ark W ashington /T hf . P ortland O bserver
Writer, poet and playwright Nabeeh Mustafa (left) and producer/director Floyd Cruse team up to present “On Life's Term: The
Middle Passage, " a play about slavery and addiction opening this weekend at the local Miracles Club.
and d y sfunctional behaviors that
d o n ’t w ork.”
According toCruse, the com m u
nity has a role in recovery, which is
why meetings at the M iracles Club
are open to the public.
“The com m unity' s role in recov
ery is to go against the current and
allow people to redeem themselves.
Give them a chance,” said Cruse.
His entire cast is com posed of
recovering addicts. He says instead
of directing actors, he is simply
asking them to recall their experi
ences.
“As I took a look at them in all
theirdi versity, I saw that all o f them
are victims of institutionalized alien
ation, gender discrim ination and
racism.”
“The Middle Passage” is sched
uled for two shows on Saturday,
Feb. 5 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.; one show
on Sunday Feb. 6 at 7 p.m.; two
show s on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 3
p.m. and 7 p.m.; and one show on
Sunday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m.
T ick ets are $12 and $7 for
Miracles Club members, seniors and
students. Tickets can be purchased
at M iracles Club, R eflection’s C of
fee Shop, G eneva’s Shear Perfec
tion, Hanna Bea’s, Billy Reed’s and
Reflections Bookstore.
For more information, call 503-
284-0985.
Women ‘Go Red’
for Heart Disease
cooking dem onstrations and give
aways. In the evening, Portland’s
Kaiser Permanente Building will be
lit up in red, along with national
landmarks such as the Seattle Space
Needle and the Empire State Build
by K atherine K ovacich
ing.
The Go Red For W om en cam
T he P ortland O bserver
Think o f the most common dis paign started last year to educate
ease killing women today. No, it’s and em power women with i nforma-
not breast cancer - it’s heart dis tion on reducing the risk factors for
ease. More than one out o f every heart disease, like exercise, healthy
ea tin g , w eig h t
th re e w om en
m a in te n a n c e ,
die o f heart dis
quitting sm ok
ease, stroke or American Heart
ing and keeping
o th e r c a r d io
Association«
your blood pres
v a s c u la r d is
sure in check.
ease. A frican
According to
Am erican w o
th e A m e ric a n
men are even
more likely to
H eart A ssocia
tion, cardiovas
d evelop heart
cu la r d ise a se s
d is e a s e
be
cause o f a ten
kill more women
th a n m en . In
dency tow ard
high blood pres
2002, heart dis
ease killed more
sure.
than 5,000 O r
O n F riday ,
Feb. 4, women
egon women, 10
tim e s
m ore
an d m en n a
tionwide will don red clothing to women than breast cancer. W omen
bring awareness to this disease and also have a higher stroke death rate
its devastating effects on health. A than men.
red dress statue will be in place at
“A lot o f women in my family
Pioneer Courthouse Square and a have been affected by heart dis
15-minute walk is planned by hun ease and stroke," said Francesca
dreds o f em ployees from Legacy Fabile, communications directorfor
Health Care System and Portland A m erican H eart A ssociation of
General Electric.
Portland. “
Cerem onies are scheduled at 11
“I believe it's frustrating for the
a.m. at the Pioneer Place Shopping
continued
on page A4
Center, with free health screenings.
Friday Fashion
statement to
bring awareness
ftefr uwneti
c
www.portlandobserver.com
Jazz Around Every Corner
Second annual
jazz festival
set to begin
The 2005 Portland Jazz Festi
val will descend on Portland for
an even longer, more com pre
hensive musical event than last
year’s highly successful inau
gural run. From Friday, Feb. 11
through Sunday, Feb. 20, Port
land will become the city o f jazz
with more than 75 perform ances
and special events at various
intimate spaces and venues.
Headlining this y ear's festi
val are veteran international jazz
headliners, in clu d in g b assist
Charlie Haden and his band Q uar
tet W est, v o c a lis t D ia n n e
include The Bad Plus, Patricia Bar
ber, Luciana Souza, Tommy Smith,
Doug W amble and many others.
O ther headliners include John
Patitucci, Danilo Perez, and the
North American premiere of Andy
Narell and Calypsociation, a 13-
piece steel dnim orchestra.
The festival offers som ething
for ev ery o n e from m usic fans,
ja zz fan atics, h isto rian s, ed u c a
tors and stu d en t-m u sician s. A
tribute to the late Jim P epper, a
N ative A m erican sax man from
P o rtlan d , p rom ises to delight
ev ery o n e.
Individual tickets are available
Luciana Souza
through all Safeway/TicketsW est
Reeves, bassist Dave Holland, and outlets, or by calling 503-224-8499
Vibraphonist Joe L o ck e's 4 Walls or 1 -800-992-8499. The event also
o f Freedom. Up-and-com ing acts boasts dozens o f free concerts.
I