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'City of Roses’
Established in 1970
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXV, Number 14
Wednesday • April 13. 2005
T,Weekin
TheReview
Racial
Gaps
Endure
Urban League
measures inequities
Clinton Pledges AIDS Help
Former President Bill Clinton
announced Monday that his
found-ation’s HIV/AIDS Ini
tiative is pledging $10 million
to deliver treatment to 10,000
children in at least 10 countries
by the end of the year, part of
an effort to reach more than
60,000 youngsters by the end
of next year.
Man Releases Girls
A man wielding two knives
pulled four girls off a public
bus in northwest Germany on
Tuesday and held them hos
tage in a cellar for hours before
setting them free unharmed,
authorities said.
Collapse Leaves 30 Dead
Rescuers digging through the
concrete debris o f a collapsed
Bangladesh sweater factory
heard survivors pleading for
help Tuesday, a day after the
nine-story building toppled
when a boi ler exploded, killing
at least 30 people and trapping
200. Rescuers were hopeful
that more lives could be saved.
Tyson to
Return
to Ring
Mike Tyson is returning to the
ring. The former heavyweight
champion will fight for the
first time in nearly a year, fac
ing journeyman Kevin McBride
on June 11 at Washington’s
MCI Center. The 38-year-old
Tyson is 50-5 with two no
contests and 44 knockouts.
He lost two of his last three
fights.
Disgraced Cardinal Law
Leads Pope Mass
Cardinal Bernard Law, whose
failures to stop sexually abu
sive priests sparked the worst
crisis in American church his
tory, led a Mass for thousands
mourning Pope John Paul II at
St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday
after police whisked away a
victim protesting outside.
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photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Cathy Galbraith helps preserves the history o f Portland's pioneers, including African-Americans, at the new Architectural
Heritage Center at 701 S.E. Grand Ave.
History Center Opens
African-American artifacts included
by L ee P erlman
T he P ortland O bserver
historic artifacts that include 300 stained
glass window, 400 doorknobs, 1,200
pieces o f hardware, 1,100 light fixtures,
wallpapers and murals. M uch o f this
inventory was recovered from buildings
dem olished in the old Albina neighbor
hood by foundation founders Jerry Bosco
and Ben Milligan.
Not everything in the collection is
catalogued as being from the African-
Am erican com m unity, but a few things
are. Foundation executive director Cathy
Galbraith says the collection includes
the tile floor from the defunct Albina
Bank, once located on North Russell
Street.
Bosco and M illigan also m anaged to
During the heyday o f urban renewal,
m ore than 4 0 0 A frican -A m e rica n
hom es were taken dow n to m ake room
for w hat is now the Rose Quarter.
A nother 280 were destroyed to expand
Em anuel Hospital. Yet more were lost
to m ake way for the 1-5 freeway.
Although the hom es them selves are
gone, bites and pieces can be found in
the B osco-M illigan F oundation’s A r
chitectural Heritage Center.
The center, housed in a newly re
stored historic buildingat701S.E Grand
Ave., officially opened last month.
It is the repository o f a collection of
salvage a balcony, once “reserved for
colored people” during tim es o f segre
g a tio n , a n d tw o b e n c h e s fro m
dow ntow n’s Fox T heater before it was
dem olished to m ake way for an office
building.
The preservation activity continues
to this day.
“People call us up all the tim e,”
Galbraith says “ You can ’t believe the
extent o f what people offer us.”
On the other hand, much important
material has been lost, and this trend
continues as well.
Recently the Albina Christian Cen-
continued
(AP) — Though income and education
gaps between black and white Americans
have narrowed significantly, black house
holds still have barely one-tenth the net
worth of white households, according to a
new National Urban League report.
M id d le c la ss
b la c k s ’ te n u o u s
hold on prosperity
reflects racial dis
crimination in hous
ing and o th e r
w e a lth - b u ild in g
arenas - both his
torically and now -
and suggests that
today’s civil rights
Urban League
battles are largely
President Marc
e c o n o m ic , said
Morial
Marc H. Morial, Ur
ban League president.
“Since the 1960s, one of the success sto
ries is the growth of the African-American
middle class - those who are college-edu
cated, participating throughout the Ameri
can economy and growing in stature and
influence,” Morial said. “But what we face is
that these successes of 40 years are being
eroded. The danger is the great backslide
that can occur.”
"gte,
“The State of Black America 2(X)5,” re
leased April 6, comes as the Urban League
also calls on Congress to assemble a bipar
tisan commission on economic equality and
advancement.
Analyzing a broad range of government
statistics, the report compares life quality for
blacks and whites in dozens of categories
related toeconomics, health, education, civic
participation and social justice. Taking the
whole picture into account, the report pro
duced a measure of blacks overall well-be
ing, which it described as barely three-fourths
that of whites - a ratio that was unchanged
on page AS
continued
'y f
on page A3
Directing ‘Rocky Horror’ at Clinton Street
Tony Burgess throws a
party each Saturday night
by N icole H ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
Every Saturday night, young
people dressed in lingerie and cor
sets venture to the Clinton Street
Theater. Many are underage and
parents’ join them. For the past 27
years, every Saturday at midnight,
the low-budget film “Rocky Horror
Picture Show” has been a staple for
the small southeast Portland land
mark.
The premise of the show has both
sexual overtones and science fic
tion. Actors reenact scenes while the
movie serves as a backdrop. The
audience comes prepared with props.
It attracts the geeks, the chic and so-
called virgins — the reference to first
time attendees of the show. The vir
gins are branded with lipstick; agiant
V on their forehead so there is no
escaping the initiation that awaits
them.
Somewhere in all this madness is
Tony Burgess, a young black man
with deep dimples and an affection
ate smile whom regulars seein to
worship, after all he is the director of
photo by N icole
H ooper /T he P ortland O bserver
Tony Burgess commands a large audience each Saturday night at the Clinton Street Theater in
southeast Portland directing live theater during the showing o f the classic movie “Rocky Horror
Picture Show. ’
i
the live action.
Burgess has been involved with
the Rocky Horror Picture Show
since the age of 14. He has been on
stage as the lead role as Dr. Frank-
n-furter (Played by Tim Curry in the
1975 movie) and has served as mas
ter of ceremonies for the stage pro
duction o f the classic in California.
He has directed for the local en
semble since early 2004. By a unani
mous vote, cast members urged
Burgess to direct them. But it took
them three times tocon vince him to
take on the position.
Before his leadership. Rocky
Horror wasn ’ t commandi ng the large
audience that Clinton Street needed.
Closing the theater was a consider
ation. But after Burgess put his
magical spin on the show, the lines
are now down the block.
As a volunteer, Burgess knows
what he is doing every Saturday
night for the rest of the year. For
him, the experience has been stress
ful but fun. The compensation o f a
“job well done" is sufficient for him.
Burgess believes he and the ac
tors have played a huge role in
bringing people back to the theater.
He also enjoys the diversity o f the
continued
on page AS
t