February is
50(¿
Black History Month
‘City of Roses’
www.portlandobserver.com
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXV. Number 6
Wednesday • February 16, 2005
Police Committedt0 Diversity
Sharon: Israel
at Crossroads of Peace
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said
Tuesday that Israel is standing
at a crossroads of peace. At the
summit a week ago, Sharon and
Palestinian leader M ahmoud
Abbas declared a truce to end
more than four years of blood­
shed.
Iraq War Cost Rises
President Bush is asking Con­
gress for another $82 billion to
cover the costs of ongoing mili­
tary operations in Iraq and A f­
ghanistan and a myriad of other
internationally related expenses,
such as training Iraqi security
forces, aiding tsunami victims
and helping military forces in
other nations.
‘Genius’ RayCharles
Triumphs at Grammys
Ray Charles final album, “G e­
nius Loves Company,” won a
leading eight Grammy awards
on Sunday night, including al­
bum of the year, record of the
year for “Here We Go Again”
with Norah Jones, and pop vo­
cal album.
Jackson
Hospitalized
for Flu
Michael Jack-
son was taken
to a h ospital
w ith th e flu
Tuesday morning, delaying jury
selection for a week in the
singer’s child molestation trial.
Iran Mosque Fire Kills 35
Fire broke out at a m osque in
central Tehran during M on­
day evening prayers, killing at
least 35 w orshippers and in­
jurin g more than 200 others.
The fire at the Arg M osque
was blam ed on an electrical
malfunction.
R espected
O fficer
Prom oted
Bureau to
hire 70 new
officers
by K atherine K ovacich
T he P orti . and O bserver
People want to see other people who look
like them, who grew up in the same neighbor­
hood, who understand their needs.
When the community knows and respects
someone enforcing the law because that
person grew up in the same environment,
there’s more of an understanding and will­
ingness to cooperate. It’s for this reason
that the Portland Police Bureau is looking for
a few good officers - 70 of them. In the next
few months, the agency is dedicating itself
to increasing diversity through the agency.
“W e're looking for people whocare, who
want to help and who want to make a differ­
ence,” said Chief of Police Derrick Foxworth,
the second African-American to lead the
force in the city’s history.
The goal of creating a more diverse police
force isone element o f acommunity policing
plan that recognizes a shared responsibility
and a connection between the police and
community in making Portland a safer, more
livable city.
Often, how the general public feels about
the police department is based on who and
what they see, according to Police Bureau
Recruiting Officer Larry Anderson, who also
is African-American.
He said there’s been a concern that the
police need more local representation. Rather
than search for officers from across the
country, the bureau hopes to find more
neighborhood interest.
“T h ere is ta le n t here in the city o f
P o rtlan d and the P acific N o rth w est that
can be viable and successfu l,” said L ieu­
te n a n t K evin M odica, an o th e r A frican-
A m erican o fficer. “ It is im p erativ e that
we becom e reflectiv e o f geographic and
c u ltu ra l c o m m u n itie s.”
M odica said it’s very possible to have
Jackson takes watch
at East Precinct
photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortean » O bserver
Harry Jackson, a respected police officer from northeast Portland, now commands
the late afternoon to midnight watch in East Precinct.
a better representation of the com m unity
on the police force. He listed the current
num bers as 46 A sian, 37 African A m eri­
can, 23 Hispanic, and eight Native A m eri­
cans. Not a lot when considered th a t’s out
China Mine BlastKills203
R escu e cre w s on T u e sd a y
were searchi ng for a dozen coal
m iners missing nearly 800 feet
underground after a gas explo­
sion in C hina’s northeast killed
203 people in the deadliest
mining disaster reported since
c o m m u n is t
r u le
began
in 1949.
JFK Rocker
Sold at Auction
An oak rocking chair that Presi­
dent John F. Kennedy used to
rest his bad back sold for
$96,000 to an anonym ous tele­
phone bidder Tuesday at the
opening o f a three-day auc­
tio n o f p ro p e rty from the
K ennedy fam ily’s hom es.
Rev. Helen Haynes, Perlia Bell, Tyrone James and Dr. Rev. Leroy Haynes Jr.
gather for the “Stop the Violence" worship service at Allen Temple Church.
Praying to Stop Violence
Gathering follows rash of killings
by K atherine K ovacich
T he P ortland O bserver
Perlia Bell has had a little too much fuel to
add to her fire lately. Along with being a
survivor of domestic abuse. Bell saw her
daughter Asia killed by gunfire and her son-
in-law blinded from a shot to the head in
2002.
Ironically, she was less than a week away
from finishing the planning for a “Stop the
Violence" service when she found out her
two nephews had been affected by gun
violence - one was shot in the arm, and the
other died.
“W e’re here because violence and the
threat of violence is killing our sons and
daughters,” said Dr. Rev. Leroy Haynes Jr.
during the “Stop the Violence” service held
at Allen Temple Church in northeast Port­
land Saturday evening. “W e're here be­
cause we care for the victims of violence. We
believe that we can make a difference if we
can unite and stand together. We can take
back our community.”
Haynes has been planning the event with
Bell for months. The passionate energy that
filled the pews was bittersweet - both melan­
choly that violence has killed so many loved
ones on a daily basis, and grateful to each
other and God that they can survive, stick
together and fight through the epidemic.
The evening was filled with youthful
dance and moving gospel song, along with
speeches from those affected by all sorts of
violence.
“We have a common bond together in
saving our chi Idren, our daughters, our sons,"
Haynes said. “We pray to save our lives, but
also our perpetrator’s.”
A theme throughout the night was the
importance of fathers taking a positive step
to be a part of their children's lives.
“Where are the men?” asked John Canady
of the Neighborhood Association. “The men
who swore to love, honor and protect? The
o f 1,051 sworn officers.
“While it’s refreshing to see other offic­
ers of color, it’s can be frustrating to not see
continued
y^
on page A 10
men who made these children? In homes
where parents are absent, children are more
often to think about suicide. Where are the
gatekeepers of this community? They are
silent right now and I am angry about that.
God is looking for a few good men who are
not afraid to take care of their wives and
support their families.”
“A boy cannot become a man until he's
held o n e ’s h an d ,” said E lder R obert
Richardson.
He spoke about the 15-year syndrome, in
which a household has a 15-year-old child,
a 30-year-old mother and a 45-year-old grand­
mother. Without responsible adult figures
in life, youth look to the streets for maturity.
“I never thought I’d open Black History
Month in a funeral home,” Richardson said.
He voiced the ridiculousness of a race turn­
ing against itself with violence. “God didn't
call us here tonight to turn the pistol on each
other. We are our brother's keeper."
Richardson exclaimed that the rate of vio­
lence is distressing.
“Before one wound heals, we get a new
by L ee P erlman
T he P ortland O bserver
In many ways, it’s a new world for Harry
Jackson, a respected police officer known
for his years of dedicated service to the
northeast Portland community. Last fall,
Jackson was promoted to lieutenant and the
next day assigned to East Precinct as its late
afternoon to midnight watch commander.
“I’m not on the street as much as I was,”
Jackson says. “There’s more paperwork. I
direct other officers to do certain things, like
community policing.”
As for his new surroundings, the city
neighborhoods east of 82nd Avenue, he
says, “I’m learning the area. It’s all new to
me, and sometimes I get completely lost.”
But he is anything but new to Portland
police work. New mayor and former police
chief Tom Potter, made that clear at a recent
gathering of the Gateway Area Business
A sso ciatio n . P utting his arm around
Jackson’s shoulders he said, “I’ve known
this man for 25 years. H e’s one of Portland's
finest police officers.”
In northeast Portland, Jackson is a living
legend. Working for Northeast Precinct, he
became known as a man of boundless en­
ergy and love for his job, for whom a mere 40-
hour week was unusual. He was known in
particular for his work to eradicate street
prostitution on Martin Luther King Jr. Bou­
levard.
A favorite method was walking along the
street in an aggressively friendly way in his
police uniform with the prostitutes - who,
continued
y^
on page A10
cut,” he said. Richardson continued to say
that people who are hurt will turn around to
hurt other people. “The condition of our
heart is a testimony o f our situation.”
Beyond gang violence, the issue of do­
mestic violence was confronted.
“One out of every three people suffer from
some form of domestic violence,” said Jimmi
Henderson of the UMOJ A Gang Program. “I
see violence everyday, I see abuse every­
day.”
Henderson made a plea for fathers to be
more active in the lives o f their children, to
provide themselves as a role model so that
their kids don’t have to look elsewhere.
Lynn Kern shared her haunting story of
being raped twice as a 14-year-old, and the
lack of response from others to her pain. In
a time when women w eren't as respected,
Kern’s mother told her she was ruined, and
the police and courts did nothing.
Twenty years later, when Kern tried to
find ways to relax for medical reasons, a
continued
y^
on page A 10
A dance group from Albina Christian Life Center adds to the music and songs that
lifted hearts Saturday at the “Stop the Violence " service.