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‘City of Roses’
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXV. Number 5
T,Week¡n
TheReview
Bush Budget $2.57 Trillion
President Bush sent C ongress a
$2.57 trillion budget plan M on
day that w ould boost spending
on the m ilitary and hom eland
security but reduce subsidies
paid to farm ers, cut health pro
gram s for poor people and veter
ans, and trim spending on the
environm ent and education.
W ednesday • February 9. 2005
Taking Contro
Woman
affected by
HIV shares
optimism
•
Patriots Win
3rd Super Bowl
w w w .portlandobserver.com
Established in 1970
•
by K atherine K ovacich
T he P ortland O bserver
T he P atrio ts b ecam e a full-
fledged dynasty w ith their third
Super Bowl victory in four years
on Sunday night, beating the
Philadelphia Eagles 24-21. In
Jacksonville, Fla., police officials
had to use pepper spray to break
up a fracas Sunday night be
tween Philadelphia fans and New
E ngland sup p o rters. N o one
apparently w as injured.
Michael Jackson Jury
Selection Delayed
A death in the fam ily o f M ichael
Ja ckson’s lead defense attorney
will delay ju ry selection in the
pop star’s chi Id m olestation case
for a w eek, the ju d g e said M on
day. T he pending round o f ju ry
selection will involve question
ing o f individual prospects by
defense attorneys and prosecu
tors. T he first round, w hich c re
ated a pool o f 250 prospects,
involved only questioning by
the judge.
Pope John Paul II to
Remain In Hospital
Pope John Paul II will rem ain
hospitalized a few m ore days as
a precaution, the V atican said
M onday, and the Holy S ee's
No. 2 official for the first tim e
publicly addressed the issue o f
a possible papal resignation.
P a p a l s p o k e s m a n J o a q u in
N avarro-V alis said the 84-year-
old pope w as continuing to im
prove and has been sitting in a
chair every day for several hours.
C hoices are a part o f life. People
can choose w hether or not to date
som eone, w hether to have sex,
w hether to get m arried or have a
fam ily. W hat people d o n ’t choose,
though, is to have HIV or AIDS.
The choice is m ade in w hether they
w ant to prevent it or not. Cherrell
Edwards is living with HI V and wants
to help people m ake better choices.
Instead o f looking at the disease
as a burden, E dw ards, 20, sees her
affliction as a gift that allow s her to
share her life with others to pro
m ote aw areness and prevention o f
AIDS.
“I will be able to positively affect
the lives o f others to educate and
em pow er them to be in control o f
their ow n lives so that we can stop
the increasing rates o f this disease
in our com m unities, especially the
black com m unity,” she said. “I w ant
to be a blessing to others and hope
fully offer them inform ation that
can help them save their lives and
o th e rs.”
Edw ards said she w as diagnosed
with HIV in February 2004.
“I am stronger than any disease
and I am in control o f my life,” she
said. “T his is an idea that I try to
share w ith people w hether they are
positive o r not. W e have to take
responsibility fo ro u ro w n lives and
if w e d o n 't protect ourselves then
we c a n ’t expect anyone else to do
it for us. Life is w orth living no
m atter w hat.”
Edw ards said she contracted the
disease from a long-term boyfriend.
N either o f them knew they had HI V
because they h ad n ’t been tested.
“W hen I finally found out, I was
relieved." she said. “ I w as unable to
do anything so know ing why I had
all these physical problem s gave
photo by K atherine
K ovacich /T he P ortland O bserver
Cherrell Edwards, 20, lives with HIV, but she doesn't let it stop her from continuing her education
at Portland Community College.
m e peace. I d o n ’t know if it helped
the pain go aw ay but it helped m e to
cope with it.
“The reason I took it so w ell is
because o f my spiritual life,” she
said. “I alw ays believe G od d o esn ’t
p ut anything on us that we ca n ’t
handle. Me having HIV is a w ay for
me to glorify God, to tell other people
w hat I’ve been through bu, also to
keep them from going dow n the
sam e path.”
F ortunately fo r E dw ards, the
people at her church w ere open and
supportive tow ard her situation.
She recognizes, though, that som e
religious organizations d o n 't w ant
to d eal w ith the issue because when
a person is taught how to have safe
sex. th a t’s seen as prom oting sexual
behavior. "People fear opening up
because th ey ’re afraid th e y ’ll be
ju d g e d ,” she said.
E dw ards believes in the p ro v
erb, “ A w ise m an learns from his
m istakes, a w iser m an learns from
the m istakes o f oth ers.” She said
she hopes that young people take
advantage o f the gift o f life and
learn from her m istakes.
A fu ll m e m b er o f b o th th e H IV
se rv ic e p la n n in g c o u n c il an d th e
m e m b ersh ip an d c o m m u n ity re la
tio n s co m m ittee , E d w a rd s v o lu n
te ers w ith o th e rs in su p p o rtin g
th e allo ca tio n o f R yan W h ite g o v
e rn m e n t fu n d s to o rg a n iz a tio n s
th a t p ro v id e se rv ic e s to p eo p le
living w ith H IV o r A ID S. E dw ards
is a l s o a s p o k e s m o d e l ( th e
o n ly w o m an in fiv e) fo r th e H IV
S to p s W ith M e C a m p a ig n
(w w w .h iv sto p sw ith m e .o rg ).
“ M ost o f the stu ff I talk about is
prevention, how to take control o f
your life to prevent y o u rself from
getting the disease that I live w ith,”
E dw ards said. “I encourage people
to get tested. I w ent sick fo r ab o u t
six m o n th s b efo re I k n ew w h at
w as w ro n g w ith m e. T h en you
ca n m ak e y o u r life b etter. I t’s not
a d ea th se n ten ce. If th ey tak e
ca re o f th e m se lv es, th ey can take
ca re o f o th e rs.”
A fter g raduating high school
w ith honors, E dw ards w ent onto
L ew is and C lark C ollege for a d e
gree in nursing, then to Portland
C om m unity C ollege because o f fi
nancial hardship. E dw ards has also
done volunteer w ork w ith S elf E n
hancem ent, Inc. to speak about HIV
and how if affects her life on a daily
basis.
“ I try to do really w ell in ev e ry
thing that I do,” E dw ards said. “I
have a little fun but I ’m alw ays
thinking about my future. I live for
to d ay .
“ B efore I w as diagnosed, I w as
going to school full tim e and w o rk
ing full tim e. But n o w it’sim p o rtan t
not to overload - stress is hard on
the im m une system . I vo lu n teer a
lot so that helps. Som e days I feel
continued
on page A 10
Fort Vancouver
Honors Black Soldiers
Gas Leak Victims Mourned
The host o f the birthday party
that ended in tragedy survived
by sleeping in another room ,
w hile 18 guests died o f apparent
carbon monoxide poisoning from
a m alfunctioning gas heater,
authorities said M onday. The
bodies w ere discovered Sunday
afternoon at a hostel in Spain
that had been converted from a
15th century herm itage in the
M aestrazgo m ountain district.
African-American
regiment served
fort in 1899
Significant m om ents in black history
are not as far aw ay as som e may think . The
burgeoninganddiversecom m unity in Port
land w e’re a part o f everyday w as a direct
result o f Fort V ancouver and its A frican
A m erican regim ent in the late 1800s.
On Thursday, Feb. 17, at 7 p .m „ the
N ational Park Service will present a special
program entitled “Respite from W ar: A fri
can A m erican Soldiers at V ancouver B ar
racks 1899-1900." highlighting recent re
search by the fo rt's C h ief R anger G reg
Shine.
T his event is in observance o f N ational
A frican Am erican History M onth as e s
tablished by Presidential proclam ation.
Beginning in April 1899. African A m eri
can soldiers from the 24th U.S. Infantry,
photos by M ark W ashington /T h e P orti and O iiskrvf .R one o f the U.S. A rm y'sfour African A m eri
can regim ents, served at V ancouver B ar
Chief Ranger Greg Shine surveys the two grave
racks. This was the first tim e in the history
markers o f African-American soldiers buried at the
o f V ancouver Barracks that African Ameri-
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.
i
J
can soldiers served as part o f the post’s
regular garrison o f soldiers.
T heir arrival also represented the larg
est single influx o f A frican A m erican citi
zens that the city o f V ancouver had ever
seen, and significantly increased the size
o f the A frican A m erican com m unity in
the Portland m etropolitan area and the
Pacific N orthw est.
C h ief R an g erS h in e’s talk will focuson
the 13 m onths that the 24th In fan try 's
C om pany B served at the post, sharing
detailed inform ation largely culled from
period new spapers and governm ent docu
m ents to piece together an overview of
their stay, its broader historical context,
and its value to the com m unity.
“ A lth o u g h th e 2 4 th is o n e o f m an y
p ro m in e n t r e g im e n ts to h av e se rv e d
in o u r c o m m u n ity , th e ir s to ry h a s
b e e n l a r g e l y o b s c u r e d in lo c a l
m e m o r y ," S h in e s a id . “ T h e ir 13-
m o n th s o jo u rn in V a n c o u v e r, s a n d
w ic h e d b e tw e e n f r o n t- lin e s e rv ic e in
C u b a d u rin g th e S p a n is h A m e ric a n
W a r a n d in th e P h ilip p in e s d u rin g th e
P h ilip p in e W ar. p ro v id e s v a lu a b le in-
continued
on page A 6
Venerable F. Booker
Pioneering
Banker Dies
Founded bank
for minority
opportunities
V enerable F. Booker, founder o f
A m erican State Bank on N ortheast
M artin L uther King Jr. Blvd, died
on Jan. 30 from congestive heart
failure. He w as 84.
His original goal w ith A m erican
continued
on page AS
I