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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 2005)
I Committed to Cultural Diversity C e le b ra tin g Blac k I lis to ry M onth February 2. 2005 Super Bowl Kicks Off Sunday M etro Patriots picked fo r repeat, but Eagles area't acting like underdogs Æbr sportiani» (Observer See story, page B6 SECTION Getting Rid of Stress “Breaking the Cycle o f Stress,” a free seminar, will be held on Thursday, Feb. 3 from 7 to 8:15 p.m . at A n an d a, 4855 SW W atson, Beaverton. No regis tration required. Get Fit, 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. M artin Luther KingJr. Blvd.Form oreinform a tion, call 503-285-2484. Love the Pooch Problem pooch classes are a must take for anyone who may be new to the world o f pet parenthood or is interested in considering adopting a new friend. Come to the Oregon Humane Society to find out why y our dog does those silly little things. M eetings are every first and third Saturday of the month at 11 a.m. For more information, call 503-285-7722. Women in NAACP W omen in NAACP meets from 10:30a.m. to 1 p.m. the first Sat urday o f each m onth at the American Red Cross Building, 3131 N. Vancouver. F o rq u e s- tions, call 503-249-6263. PCC Skills Learn how to build a W eb-based business in a three-w eek class from 6 to 9 p.m . T uesdays through Feb. 8 in Room 130 of Mt. Tabor Hall at Portland Com m unity C o lle g e ’s S outheast Center, 2305 S.E. 82 Ave. Cost is $49. For more inform ation, call 503-788-6265. African American Read-In T he N in th A n n u al A frican American Read-In will be held on Sunday, Feb. 6 from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at the North Portland Branch Library. G uestreaders will share works by African Am erican au thors. For more information, call 503-988-6280. AIDS Awareness A lbina M in isterial A llian ce sponsors a bi-monthly Support and Education group for Afri can Americans living with HIV/ AIDS at M aranatha Church at 4222 NE 12th Street. The first group will meet Thursday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. and will continue every second and fourth Thurs day of the month. For more infor mation, call Elnathan Hudson at 503-285-0493ext. 217. Sustainable Food A w orkshop to explore ways to make foods affordable, nutritious and culturally appropriate is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 19 at St. A ndrew Com m u nity Center, 4940 N.E. 8th Ave. Cost is a $ 10 donation and lunch will be provided. Call 503-221- 1054 ext. 203 to register. Business Meeting Join North/Northeast Business A ssociation m eetings on the first Monday of each month from 6 to 8 p.m. at Albina Community Bank, 2002 N.E. M artin Luther King Blvd. Morning networking meetings are the third W ednes day o f each month from 7:30 to 9 a.m. a t‘he Blazers Boys and Girls Club, 5250 N.E. Martin Luther King Blvd. For more inform a tion, call 503-249-0487 or visit www.nneba.org. Preschool Open House T illam ook C oo p erativ e P re schools holds its open house on Saturday, March 5 from 10a.m. to 2p.m.at935N.E33 Ave. Financial aid i s a vai lable. For more i nforma- ti on, call 503-234-1691. Aquatic Fitness Providence has a full schedule of fitness classes including w a ter exercising at the Providence Aquatic Center,4805 N.E. Glisan. Fora schedule, call 503-215-6301. Promoting HIV/AIDS Awareness around w ith HI V o r A ID S , not aw are they are sp read in g the d isease to people they care ab o u t.” M any people o f co lo r think o f H IV / A ID S as a gay w hite m a n ’s d isease, but “T hat is d en ial,” acco rd in g to Saadat, w ho notes that in A frica it is a “black heterosexual disease - an equal o p p o rtu by N eil H eilpern nity d isease.” T he P ort land O bserver “P eo p le o f co lo r have A s m a ll a rm y o f alw ay s been rep resen ted P o rtlan d ’s health p racti in th e n u m b e rs,” ad d ed tioners, social service agen Hill, both in the gay co m cies, support groups, and m u n ity an d the stra ig h t faith com m unity m em bers co m m u n ity . are gearing up for a new He said A frican -A m eri phase in the w ar against can m en on “th e d o w n H IV /A ID S. low ” - m en w ho have sex An inform ational battle w ith o th er m en but d o n ’t field know n as N ational necessarily identify as b e Black H IV /A ID S A w are ing gay o r bisexual - a r e in ness and Inform ation D ay denial. w ill be open to the public “T h ey m ay be putting on M onday, Feb. 7, from th em selv es and th eir p art 5 to 8 p.m . at S elf E n ners at risk,” he said. “T hey hancem ent Inc., 3920 N. may be m arried and present K erby A ve. T he ev e n t’s th em selv es as h etero sex u them e is “G et educated. als. T h e ir fem ale partners G et involved. G et tested. ” are n ot aw are o f the risks K athleen Saadat, m an they face.” ager for the com m unities “H o m o p h o b ic fears in o f color initiative for the th e A f r ic a n - A m e r ic a n C ascade A ids Project, said co m m u n ity place a stigm a discussions during the ses on g ay s,” he added, “and sion m ight help overcom e that drives people u n d er fears associated w ith the ground ab o u t honesty and disease. their sexual o rien tatio n .” “People need to be m ade A ccording to the U .S. aw are o f the virus itself, C enters for D isease C o n how it is spread, how to trol and P revention, A fri take preventive m easures can A m erican s m ake up photo bv N eil H eii . pern /T he P ortland O bserver against getting the virus County health department workers Dita Rhodes (from left), David Zambrano and Stephan Herrera o f the ab o u t 12 p ercen t o f the and the im portance o f g et Brother-to-Brother program, push for greater African-American awareness ofHIV/AIDS. U.S. population w hile ac ting tested to d eterm in e co u n tin g fo r h a lf o f the w hether they have the virus and w hether new H IV cases rep o rted in 2001. treatm ent is n eeded,” S aadat said. A ID S is the leading cau se o f death A ccording to Larry Hill, an HIV co m am ong A frican A m erican w om en ages HIV and AIDS are impacting more people o f color, encouraging a wide variety of m unity developm ent specialist with the 25-34 and A frican A m erican m en, ages people and organizations to join the fight against the disease. People wanting more O regon D epartm ent o f H um an Services, 35-44. E stim ates p roject the m ajority o f information, counseling or confidential testing, can contact any o f the following the HIV rate in O regon is m ore prevalent new HIV infections in teenagers and young organizations: in A frican-A m ericans than o th er groups. adults 25 and younger, w ill be in A frican- F or H IV testin g call M ultnomah County Health Department at 503-988-3775 or the “O ne o f the biggest keys in this w ork A m ericans. Oregon AIDS Hotline at 1 -800-777-AIDS. is people d o n ’t have all the inform ation F or H I V/AIDSservicescallCareLink at503-223-5907, Partnership Project at 503-230- A sim ila r tren d e x is ts in M u ltn o m a h they need. E ith er they have pieces or they 1202 or the Albina M inisterial Alliance at 503-285-0493. C o u n ty . D H S o ffic ia ls n o te th a t A fri are m isinform ed about w hat puts them at F or v o lu n teer o p p o rtu n ities call the Cascade AIDS Project at 503-223-5907. the can A m e ric a n s m ad e up 6 .8 p e rc e n t o f risk and how they can spread the risk o f Multnomah County Health Department at 503-988-3030or the African American Health continued y f on page H5 H IV , ” Hill said. “A lot o f people w alk Coalition a t503-413-1850. ‘Get educated’ event Monday atSEI African Americans made up 6.8 percent of the county population in 2002, yet comprised 11 percent o f the county's total new AIDS cases. HIV/AIDS Testing, Resources Diversifying City Hall Adams turns to multicultural team by J aymee R . C uti T he P ortland O bserver P ortland’s new est C ity C o m m issio n er is com bating perceptions that he is a C ity H all insider w ho adds little diversity to the current all-w hite, m ale panel. Sam A dam s turned those criticism s upside dow n w hen he announced new hires to sta ff his office. T he group is rich is ages, ethnicities, sexual orientatio n s and professional ex periences. A m ong them are N ative A m eri cans, Latinos, A sian A m ericans and a biracial m an w ho is A frican A m erican and C aucasian. T he youngest staffer is in his 20s and an o th er is co m in g out o f retirem ent. T he group boasts 6 0 years o f public sector w ork, 50 years o f private sector w ork and 10 years o f nonprofit experience. “T he first facto r w as the ability to get the jo b done. A m ong those qualified to do the w ork, choo sin g those w ho reflected the broad constitu en cy o f Portland w as a factor," said T om M iller, A d am s' new c h ie f o f staff. Finding C ity Hall “o u tsid ers” w as also a priority for A dam s, w ho is the ultim ate “ insider” as form er M ayor V era K atz's ch ie f o f staff. “T hese are g et-it-d o n e peo p le w ho photo by M ark W ashington ZT he P ortland O bserver A multicultural team drives the office of new Portland City Councilman Sam Adams (right), the former chief o f sta ff to Mayor Vera Katz. Pictured (standing, from left) are Tom Miller. David Gonzalez and Maria Thi Mai; (seated from left) are Greg Leiher, Maria Lim, Jesse Beason, Warren Jimenez and Mary Jo Markle. share my passion for Portland and for shaking up C ity H all,” said Adams. “ I am the City H all insider so I w as looking for hard w orking outsiders: I found them .” T he em p lo y ees include Jane A m es, sta ff representative; Jesse Beason, staff representative; M ary Jo M arkle, staff fel low ; D avid G o n zalez, office manager; W arren Jim e n e z , s ta ff rep resen tativ e; M aria Lim. receptionist; T om M iller,chief o f staff; M aria T hi M ai, sta ff representa tive; G reg L eiher, public advocate liaison; Terry R ichardson and G ordon Johnston. B eason, w ho is half A frican A m erican, is a L ew is and C lark C ollege graduate w ho has w orked as the public outreach specialist for M etro regional governm ent and w as cam paign m anager for form er m ayoral candidate Phil Busse. Beason jo in s the talents o f a form er executive d irecto r o f an econom ic d ev e l opm ent agency, a law yer, a schools ad vocate, a nurse, a retailer, a state parks planner, and a retired lab o r leader. “O ne o f the strengths o f this sta ff is its d iv ersity ,” said A dam s. "It inclu d es a range o f political o utlooks, and E nglish, Spanish and T agalog speakers. It includes p e o p le o f A fric a n -A m e ric a n , A sia n - American. European-A m erican. Iaitinoand N ative A m erican ethnicity. T hey reside in north, n o rth east, so u th east and so u th w est P ortland.”
