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‘City of Roses’
Established in 1970
w w w .portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXV, Number 28
Wednesday • July 6. 2005
Saving Jeff: Clothing label supports school
Activists Pressure Leaders
Activists kept up pressure on
leaders o f the w orld’s richest
nations Tuesday to lift Africa out
o f poverty, but Britain’s treasury
chief said those who believe hu
man misery can be eliminated
“with the stroke o f a pen” may be
disappointed by the results of
this week ’ s G-8 summit. The Make
P o v e rty H isto ry c a m p a ig n
launched has been endorsed by
the Dalai Lama, Pope Benedict
XVI and Nelson Mandela.
Airstrike Deaths Condemned
A fg h a n is ta n ’s g o v e rn m e n t
sharply criticized the U.S. military
Tuesday for killing up to 17civil-
ians in an air strike and ordered an
immediate inquiry. The U. S. called
it a “very unfortunate situation”
and said it also would investi
gate. The air strike in eastern
Afghanistan targeted a known
terrorist base, but an Afghan
government spokesman said the
deaths of the civilians, including
women and children, could not
be justified.
Venus Takes Wimbledon
Venus Williams jumped back into
the top 10 in the WTA Tour
rankings Monday by winning
Wimbledon, ris
ing from No. 16
to No. 8. The
w o m an
she
edged 9-7 in the
th ird set o f
Saturday’s epic
final, L indsay
Davenport, in
c re a se d
h er
hold on No. 1, w hile W illiam s’
sister Serena dropped from No.
4 to No. 6 because she was
upset in the third round at the
All England Club.
by N icole H ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
Makano Makano, Freddy Hamilton Jr. and Jake Feuer
are the local faces behind a new clothing line called
Audacity. Launched in 2003, the fashions have re
ceived much praise from area youth and the media. But
after two years of designing clothing for the skate
boarder, they are now using their talent to save a school
that many have given up on.
This month. Audacity releases a new T-shirt with all
proceeds going to help Jefferson High School, the north
Portland landmark facing declining enrollments, the
loss o f a third of its staff and possibly its long term
future.
All three men have varying reasons for supporting
Jefferson.
“I believe in education, bottom line,” said Feuer. “I
don’t support budget cuts that take away education.”
With north and northeast Portland schools being
restructured, the young entrepreneurs fear that Jefferson
is headed the wrong direction and could someday close.
They see the loss o f teachers at Jefferson as putting
local students at a disadvantage and affecting the
school’s surrounding neighborhoods in a negative
way.
“One of the most talented people I know is a Jefferson
graduate,” said Makano, who is home schooled. “If
their education isn't up to standards then they may be
overlooking other talented students.”
Feuer is a recent graduate from Lake Oswego High
School. Even though both Feuer and Makano live on
another side of town, and have no personal ties to
Jefferson, their motives are sincere.
The two met Hamilton, the designer of their clothing
line and a Jefferson high school graduate, through a
mutual friendship with Charles McGee, the 19-year-old
African American graduate o f Franklin High School
who recently ran for the Portland school board.
When he was 15, Hamilton received an internship
with Nike and received much support from fellow stu
dents and teachers. Now he feels it is duty to give back
to the community and to use his talent to do so.
This is not a school project for a grade but instead for
making a statement," Makano said. “Portland Public
continued
on page A.2
Slow Walking Benefits Obese
R esearch ers at th e U n iv e rsity
o f C o lo rad o at B o u ld er have
better new s for w alkers: S tro ll
ing can help o b ese a d u lts burn
m ore c a lo rie s p er m ile than
b risk w alk in g and m ight even
low er the risk o f a rth ritis and
inju ries to the jo in ts than p ic k
ing up the pace.
photo by N icole H ooper /T he P ortland O bserver
Freddy Hamilton Jr., Jake Feuer and Makano Makano sit on the steps in front o f Jefferson High School in north
Portland. Each is wearing a shirt from their clothing line, Audacity.
■MMHM
MMMM
Making Changes One Step at a Time
Chip Shields reaches beyond activism into politics
Meth Deemed
Top Drug Problem
The crippling reach of metham
phetamine abuse has become the
nation’s leading drug problem
affecting local law enforcement
agencies, according to a survey
o f 500 sheriff s departments in 45
states. About 90 percent of those
interviewed reported increases in
meth-related arrests in theircoun-
ties over the last three years. The
arrests also have swamped agen
cies that assist with caring for
children whose parents have be
come addicted and with cleaning
up toxic chemicals left behind by
meth cookers.
State Rep. Chip Shields confers with Sen. Ave! Gordly on the floor o f the
House in Salem. Shields' legislative district covers parts o f north and
northeast Portland. Gordly represents parts o f northeast and southeast
Portland.
by K atherine Bi ackmore
T he P ortland O bserver
P hoto
by
M ark W ashington /T hf . P ortland O bserver
State Rep. Chip Shields gets his haircut by stylist Anthony “Brutha Luv" Blake and
keeps in touch with his constituents at Geneva 's Shear Perfect Barber and Beauty
Salon on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
His offices are at the capitol in Salem,
bu, C hip Shields still w alks down
Portland's Northeast Martin Luther King
Jr. Boulevard for his haircut. Beyond
receiving a good trim and interesting
neighborhood conversation. Shields
says it keeps him in tune with what’s
going on in the place he lives.
T hat's important, considering he rep
resents House District 43, the state legis
lative district in the heart of north and
northeast Portland's inner city neighbor
hoods. As a Democrat in his first year in
Salem, h e's already been making some
changes.
Shields got involved in politics from a
grassroots, social work background of
helping those around him.
“1 never really had this great epiphany,"
Shields said. “One day you're signing a
petition. The next day you're going to a
meeting. The next day you’re involved in
a march. The next day you're running for
office. Sometimes the progression just
gets a hold of you and you see that you
want to make things better.”
Shields co-founded the local non-profit
group Better People, a local living-wage
job placement and counseling center in
northeast Portland for people trying to
turn their lives around.
Before his election las, year, he got
politically involved in grass roots cam
paigns to raise the state minimum wage,
continued
on page A5