Committed to Cultural Diversity
www.portlandobserver.com
lune 15. 2005
The Portland Observer
joins the many families
honoring dad on Sunday
M etro
^ a r t l a n b (©bseruer
Oj
community service
SECTION
C
o in in u n i t y
¿ t i e n d ¿i r
Black Gay Pride Festival
From W ed n esd ay , June 15,
through Sunday, June 19, Brother
to Brother will be hosting various
events for the gay black commu
nity, including fund-raisers, HIV
testing, a BBQ and a Black Out
Party at Moon Star Bar and Grill.
For more information, call 503-
471-7991 or visit w w w .broto
bropdx.org.
Adoption Information
Prospective parents looking into
adoption can attend a meeting on
Wednesday, June 15 from 6 to
7:30 p.m. at the Belmont Public
Library at 1038 S.E. 39,h St. The
session will acquaint clients with
the philosophy and services of
Open Adoption and Family Ser
vices. For more information, call
503-226-4870 or visit www.open
adopt.org.
B
Encouraging Kids to Love Books
Summer
reading
encouraged
by K atherine B lackmore
T he P ortland O bserver
By the last day of school for the year,
children are already daydreaming about their
plans of playing outside until the sun sets or
watching as much television as humanly
possible. For most, the last thing on their
minds is curling up with a good book, espe
cially after doing homework for nine months.
But SM ART (Start Making a Reader To
day) encourages families to keep their young
children reading over the summer, and with
good reason.
Jefferson High Reunion
Reading not only keeps their budding
Help is needed to plan a 10-year
minds
sharp, but helps keep families to
reunion in late August for the
gether.
Jefferson High School Class of
“It is so important not only for the bond
1995. Wenedell Raiford is encour
between
the parents and the children, but so
aging his old classmates to con
that
they
can make progress academically
tact him about attending and
and
feel
confident
about reading, which will
making plans for the event. For
trickle
into
other
subjects,” said Linda
m o re in fo rm a tio n c o n ta c t
Riedman,
marketing
manager for SMART.
jenelley77 @yahoo.com.
“School can be a lot o f pressure for kids
Friends of the Trees
because they know they’ll be corrected or
Come to the Friends of Trees for have tests. This will be a time to have fun
Neighborhood CoordinatorTrain- with reading.”
ing on Saturday, June 11 starting
SMART has been in fruition for 13 years
at 9 a.m. in an effort to organize in Oregon, serving over90,000children since
tree plantings. To register, call 1992. The non-profit’s main vision is to
503-282-8846 extension 25. For enhance reading skills and attitudes among
m o re
in fo rm a tio n ,
v isit students in kindergarten through third grade.
www.friendsoftrees.org.
Each volunteer is assigned to read with
two children for one hour a week, each child
Black Museum of Oregon
having two different volunteers. The chil
Leaders o f the Black M useum
dren are given two books a month to take
o f O regon will hold a m em ber
home, keep and continue to read. More than
ship and com m ittee m eeting at
1.2 million books have been given out over
Reflections C offee H ouse, 446
the years.
N.E. Killingsworth, on Saturday,
“W e’ve seen their excitement. W e’re
June 11 at 3 p.m . to discuss the
hoping they have these books in their home
future o f the m useum . For more
and can read to their brothers and sisters or
inform ation contact Mr. King J.
with their parents and family,” Riedman said.
503-284-0617.
A local child gets precious one-on-one attention from a SMART (Start Making a Reader Today) volunteer.
“It's all about getting children to love books."
And getting children to love books means
more reading overthe summer, which means
better reading ability when they go back to
school in the fall.
“W e've seen that third grade is a turning
point where children stop learning to read and
they start reading to learn. By third grade, it’s
important that they know how to read to learn
about all kinds of different subjects. They
comprehend at adeeper level,” Riedman said.
“When they don’t know how to read at that
level, they fall behind. A lot of kindergartners
are coming to school unprepared, with no
exposure to books or the general alphabet. It's
a pretty critical time.”
Having educated children not only helps
continued
on page 11.1
SMART summer reading list
recommendations
• “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” by Judith Viorst
• “Giraffes C an’t Dance” by Giles Andreae
• “Im ogene’s Antlers” by David Small
• “L illy’s Purple Plastic Purse” by Kevin Henkes
• “My Mama Had a Dancing Heart” by Libba Moore Gray
• “No Jumping on the Bed!” by Todd Arnold
• “Sam Gets Lost” by Mary Labatt
• “Snowmen at Night” by Carolyn Buehner
• “Stellaluna" by Janell Cannon
Some SM ART tips for encouraging your child to read include: allowing your child
to choose an appropriate book that they’re interested in; talking about the book you
share together; rereading a favorite book; creating a comfortable, caring environment
for your child to figure out new words; and overlooking mistakes if it doesn’t interrupt
the flow o f the story to keep frustration levels low.
African Drums and Dance
The North Star Ballroom hosts
ongoing classes on Tuesday and
W ednesday’s. Tuition is either
$ 15 drop in fee or $75 for6 weeks.
Ghanaian rhythms will be pre
sented through beginning and
advanced drumming and you can
also work up a sweat at their A f
rican Aerobics class. North Star
Ballroom is located at 635 N
Killingsworth Ct. For more infor
mation, call 503-283-2080.
Bradley-Angle House
The Bradley-Angle House needs
volunteers to help its outreach
a g a in s t d o m e stic v io le n c e .
Women of color and bilingual
women are encouraged to call.
For more information, call 503-
282-9940.
Women Mentors
W omen in Com m unity Service
are seeking volunteer m entors
for fem ale offenders at Coffee
C reek C o rre c tio n a l F acility.
M entors provide support and
e n c o u r a g e m e n t to w o m en
transitioning from prison back
into the com m unity. M entors
must be fem ale, 24 or older.
T raining is provided. Call 503-
570-6614 for more information.
Children'sMuseum Activities
Portland C h ild ren ’s M useum
will hold a variety o f art activi
ties for children throughout the
m onth, including m edium s u s
ing m osaic, A frican arts and
culture and garden stepping-
stones. For more inform ation,
c a ll 5 0 3 -2 2 3 -6 5 0 0 o r v isit
www.pnitlandchildieasmuseum.org.
Get Fit, Stay Healthy!
Sankofaa Health Institute offers a
free diabetes support group from
6 to 7:30 p.m. every third Thurs
day at Alberta Simmons Plaza,
6707 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr.
Blvd. For more information, call
503-285-2484.
I
Author, Historian
to Perform
Local Pastor
Admits to
Sexual Abuse
Black Pioneers host event
Oregon Northwest Black Pioneers will host a cul
tural performance by award winning author Velma
M aiaThomason Saturday, June 25 at 7 p.m. at Salem's
historic Elsinore Theatre. Thomas will perform selec
tions from her book and CD “No Man Can Hinder Me:
The Journey from Slavery to Emancipation through
Song.”
“This is a unique
chance to experi
ence the traditional
music that African
A m erican slaves
sang to sustain and
encourage one an
other,” said Willie
Richardson, chair
person of the O r
eg o n N o rth w e st
B lack P io n e e rs.
“Through the work
Velma Maia Thomas
of Velma MaiaTho-
mas, their enduring spirit lives on, a testament to the
ability of the people to overcome anything - at all
costs and against all odds.”
Thom as is an ordained m inister, historian, gene
alogist and the author o f three books on A merican
Black history, including “Lest We Forget, ” a c o l
lection o f historic papers, m em oirs, personal e f
fects, and photographs. The book chronicles the
plight o f an estim ated KM) m illion A fricans from
their rich pre-slavery culture to their enslavem ent
in A m erican South. T hom as is also the creator of
the nationally acclaim ed Black H olocaust Exhibit
in her hom etow n o f A tlanta, Ga.
A gala reception and book signing with Thomas is
scheduled before the performance at 6 p.m. The event
is the first annual fundraiser of the Oregon Northwest
Black Pioneers, an educational dedicated to preserv
ing the historical contributions of African-American
Oregonians.
General admission is $30 for the performance and
$60 to include the reception with the author. For
tic k e ts c a ll 5 0 3 -3 7 5 -3 5 7 4 o r o n lin e at
www.ticketswest.com
photo by N icoi . e H( x > per /T he P ortland O bserver
Getting a proof o f payment receipt from a downtown parking meter
will cost more starting July 1.
Parking Rates and
Hours to Increase
Downtown on-street parking rates
and hours o f operation wil 1 change on
July 1. The short-term rate will in
crease from $ I to $ 1.25 an hour and
the long-term rate will increase to
match the short-term rate. In addition,
the hours o f parking meter operation
will beextended from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The added revenue is mostly dedi
cated to pay ing $ 15 million in revenue
bonds that serve as the city's share in
the design and construction o f the
Portland Mall Revitalization Project.
The City Council approved the new
parking fees last August.
Portland's downtown meter rates
still remain considerably lowerthan the
two nearest major cities on the west
coast. Seattle charges $1.50 an hour
and San Francisco charges $2 an hour.
In fo rm a tio n a l b ro c h u re s and
signage have been applied to all the
dow ntow n Sm artM eters to inform
parkers of the changes.
Rev. Roy Tate, 54, an African-American
pastor at Christ Memorial Church of God in
Christ, testified Monday in M ultnomah
County Circuit Court that he had sex with a
16-year-old member of his church 16 years
ago.
T a te c la im e d he d id n o t know the
ag e o f the te e n a g e r and n e v e r b o th
e re d to a sk , a ssu m in g she w as a s e n io r
in h ig h s c h o o l, a b o u t th e sam e age as
h is d a u g h te r at the tim e.
The young woman, now 32, is suing the
national denom ination. Church o f God in
C hrist, Inc, for not punishing Tate for his
actions and for failing to warn those in the
congregation about him. She claim s that
Tate repeatedly raped her w hile she was a
sophom ore at Jefferson High School be
tween 1989 and 1990. S h e 'sa sk in g fo r$ 1 0
million in damages.
Tate adm itted that he was under the
authority o f the national denom ination
when these events transpired. H e's been
the pastor o f the north Killingsworth Street
church since it was founded in 1981.
The fam ily accusing Tate left Christ
Memorial soon after the sexual abuse came
to light.
But things didn’t stop there. He was
accused o f m ishandling church money and
inappropriate behavior w ith other women,
charges he has denied. The accusations
caused the chu rch 's m em bership to drop
from 75 to approxim ately a dozen. Eventu
ally, eight m em bers o f the church went to
B ishop A.R. Hopkins to dem and som e
thing be done about Tate.
A church tribunal found Tate guilty in
2003 and he was ordered suspended as
pastor for three years. He refused to step
dow n, claim ing that the m ajority o f the
c h u rc h 's m em bership d id n 't agree to put
him on tr ia l. He re m a in s as C h rist
M em orial’s current pastor.
i