Iuly 20. 2005
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
M etro
Woods Coasts to Victory
Golf sensation captures second major
tournament of 2005 at British Open
years >
See Sports, page B6
®l*‘ ^îortlanb (Obstruer
•Tcommunity service
SECTION
o in in u n i t y
a le n d a r
C
Be on 'The Apprentice'
Casting calls for the popular
television show The A ppren
tice will be held on Saturday,
July 23. G et your application at
w w w .nbc.com and com e to the
Bridgeport Hotel in Tigard be
fore 9 a.m. to audition.
Summer In the Garden
The beautiful therapeutic garden
at the Oregon Bum Center, nor
mally closed to the public will be
open on Monday, July 25 for
Garden Arts and Crafts. Come
join the Legacy Emanuel Horti
cultural Therapy students for
garden tours and artist demon
strations. The garden is located
at 3001N. Gantenbein on the cam
pus of Emanuel Hospital.
Camps and Classes
Kids can build one-of-a-kind
clocks, learn to put on a puppet
show and dance to the music
each Wednesday and Saturday
until Aug 31 at the Portland
Children’s Museum. For more
information visit www.Portland
ChildrensM useum .org or call
503-223-6500.
African Music at North Star
The North Star Ballroom, 635 N.
K illingsw orth C ourt, hosts b e
ginning drum m ing and G hana
ian rhythm classes on T ues
days at 6 p.m. On W ednesdays,
an interm ediate level o f the
drumming is offered in addition
to an A frican aerobics/dance
class. All classes are taught by
Chata Addy. For more inform a
tion call 503-632-0411.
Summer Play Days
All summer long come join other
families in Irving Park every
W ednesday at 10 a.m. to gather
with Waldorf School oriented and
inspired families who wish to play,
snack and get wet in the new
water play area. For more infor
m ation, contact w w w .shining
starschool.com.
Shining Star School
O penings for fall enrollm ent at
Shining Star School, a W aldorf
Initiative School near N orth
east Sixth Avenue and Prescott
Street, are now available for
kids going into grade 1 and 2.
T w elve children will be ac
cepted for this sm all com m u
nity based school. For more
inform ation visit w w w .shining
starschool.com orcall 503-753-
4459.
Get Fit, Stay Healthy!
Sankofaa Health Institute offers
a free diabetes support group
from 6 to 7:30 p.m. every third
Thursday at Alberta Simmons
Plaza, 6707 N.E. Martin Luther
King Jr. Blvd. For more informa
tion,call 503-285-2484. Art Camp
Help Needed
AIDS Camp Support Sought
Cam p Starlight is a program of
Cascade AIDS that provides
children affected by HI V/AIDS
the opportunity to enjoy a car
ing, safe, recreational cam ping
experience. The cam p starts at
the end o f A ugust, but volun
teer cam p counselors and d o
nations are needed now. Call
5 0 3 -2 2 3 -5 9 0 7
or
v is it
w w w .cascadeaids.org.
Creative Space For Dance
Aurora Dance Studio, 5433 N. E.
30th (at Killingsworth), offers an
array o f classes for children,
teens and adults at all levels of
ability.Call 503-249-0201 orvisit
online at www.hevanet.com/au-
rora dance for additional infor
mation.
Bradley-Angle House
T he B ra d le y -A n g le H o u se
needs volunteers to help its out
reach against domestic violence.
Women of color and bilingual
women are encouraged to call.
For more information, call 503-
282-9940.
B
Minority Donors Urgently Needed
Local community at loss for transplants
by K atherine B lackmore
T he P ortland O bserver
Organ donations are a matter of
life or death.
F or people like B ernadette
Artharee, a local African American
w ho’s young life was saved when
she was able to get a kidney trans
plant, the question of whether or
not a person should donate their
organs isn’t a hard one to answer.
When she was only 25, Artharee
was diagnosed with polycystic kid
ney disease, a problem her mother,
aunt and uncle also dealt with. A l
though she as able to keep the
disease at bay for many years, the
time finally came when she needed
a kidney transplant.
Unfortunately, a family donor
w asn’t possible for her, as the dis
ease was hereditary. She went
through dialysis for three years
before she was able to find a new
kidney from a non-family person.
“It’s a wonderful gift that I’ve
received-agift of life. I feel blessed
that someone or their family said
yes to a donation," Artharee said.
Since her transplant six years
ago, Artharee has been able to see
the birth of her grandson, as well as
spend more time with her family in
general. She’s also become the
We encourage everyone to
really take some time and put
the issue on their radar screen.
- Warren Becker, Oregon Donor Program manager
photo by K atherine
B lackmore /T he P ortland O bserver
Organ recipient Bernadette Artharee was given her life back after
receiving a kidney transplant six years ago.
president of her local family busi someone of the same race, due to
ness, Coast Industries. Her life has genetic makeup.
This is why it’s important that
been renewed.
volunteers
step up. On average, 17
National Minority Donor Aware
people
die
everyday waiting for a
ness Day is coming up on Monday,
transplant
and
more than 85,000
Aug. 1, paving the way for educa
people
are
on
the
organ transplant
tion and resources on organ dona
waiting
list.
tion and illustrating the growing
Donating, Becker said, is “the
need for transplants.
ultimate
act of charity. It’s helping
“We encourage everyone to re
and
giving
to your fellow man. It’s
ally take some time and put the
about
donating
life and people get
issue on their radar screen,” said
ting
second
chances.
We have one
Warren Becker, manager for pro
woman
who
received
a new heart
grams at the Oregon Donor Pro
when
she
was
29
years
old or she
gram.
would’ve
died.
After
the
transplant,
African Americans make up 35
percent of those waiting for a kid she and her husband were able to
ney transplant, but only 39 percent have a child. Her child now has a
of the African American popula mom that’s going to be around for
tion has taken the steps to commit quite some time.”
The idea of giving away a part of
to donating.
one’s
body may sound scary, but it
According to Becker, African
Americans statistically have a bet
continued
on page B5
ter chance of being matched with
New Time Clock for Vanport Square
Developer gets one more
year to develop MLK site
mercial space to the north through
by L ee P erlman
new construction, row house de
T he P ortland O bserver
The Portland Developm ent velopm ent to the w est along
Com m ission is giving local de Northeast Garfield Street, and later
velopers Ray Leary and Jeana additional com m ercial and resi
W oolley one more year to de dential developm ent to the south.
The original Vanport project,
velop land on the west side of
N ortheast M artin Luther King as conceived in 2001, would have
Jr. Boulevard betw een A lberta covered three blocks and called
for 500,000 square feet of residen
and K illingsw orth streets.
Phase One o f the project will tial and retail developm ent, in
be the renovation o f the aban cluding a 60,000 square foot gro
doned M arco M achinew orks cery, but the project foundered
building as a 22,000 square foot when the developers were unable
commercial center, divided into to secure a grocery or any other
spaces of 1,000 to 5,000 square sort of anchor. Plans by Portland’s
feet. To this effort, PDC com V esta Corporation to operate a
m itted $4.4 million in urban re call center on the site were the
newal funds and $1.2 million in latest to fall apart.
Leary, a local A frican-A m eri
new market tax credits.
Subsequent phases would can leader and W oolley, a north
involve expansion o f the com- east Portland resident, have en-
Ray Leary
listed new partners in future plans,
replacing the Gerding-Edlen Com
pany, one o f the c ity ’s largest
developers.
The new associates are Jeff
Sackett of Cupstone Partners and
M ichelle Reaves of W inderm ere/
C ronin-C aplan. The latter has
helped lease properties on N orth
east Alberta Street and North M is
sissippi Avenue, and worked with
W oolley on the pending Heritage
Project developm ent on MLK.
R eaves told the PDC she was
very enthusiastic about one a s
pect o f the new proposal: it will
allow occupants to buy th eir
spaces on a condom inium basis.
“F rankly, I d o n ’t get m any
calls from people saying, T want
to rent space on M L K ,” ’ she
told the com m ission. “W hat I do
hear every day is, T w ant space
I can b u y .’ People w ant live-
work space for under $500,000,
and th e re ’s nothing there. W hat
I like about this proposal is,
y o u ’ re o f f e r in g s o m e th in g
people desperately w ant.”
R eaves said a beneficial a s
pect o f the new plans involves
updating an existing building.
It’s som ething people can put
th eir hands around, rather than
a proposed structure d e v e lo p
ers hope they can build, she
said.
T h re e P o rtla n d b u s in e s s
leaders, M arco Shaw o f Fife
restaurant, John Kim of L iving
C olor and A dam M ilne o f Old
Tow n Pizza - all have said they
w ould be interested in having
space in the building.
A fric a n -A m e ric a n d e v e l
oper and K ing N eighborhood
A s s o c ia tio n C h a ir C h a d
D ebnum said the ea rlie r p ro
p o sa ls fo r V a n p o rt S q u a re
failed due to unrealistic ex p ec
ta tio n s and u n r e a lis tic d e
m ands placed on the d ev elo p
ers, which he im plied w ere m o
tiv ated by racism .
“ All our lives, w e ’ve been
g iv en ju s t e n o u g h to f a il,”
D ebnum said.
N eighbor Ken D ragoon said
the cu rrent proposal contained
too m any unansw ered q u e s
tio n s.
Portland Scholar Gains Leadership Skills
Graduate overcomes obstacles
by L ee
P erlman
T he P ortland O bserver
As her Grant High School career
ended, Isata Yansaneh achieved ac
ceptance from her peers and leadership
qualities in her drive to excel in her
education.
One of her rewards came when the
Lloyd District Community Association
awarded her a $ 1,000 scholarship, beat
ing out 15 other students despite the
fact that her grade point average of
3.17, while certainly respectable, was
by no means the top mark in her class.
“We didn’t want to just restrict this
to the c la ss v a le d ic to ria n , the
association's Anne Grimmer says. “We
looked at other qualities."
Among her outstanding credentials
were her leadershipqualities. Her peers
voted her class president in her fresh
man. sophomore and junior years, and
student body president in her senior
year.
“Grant has a very diverse student
body, and I'm very diverse myself,"
Yansaneh told the Portland Observer.
“Everyone I hang around with is from
a different background.”
Her parents were immigrants from
Sierra Leone, in East Africa, and they
separated when she was quite young.
Her mother lives in Virginia, and she
has lived with her father since age five.
Math teacher Margaret Calvert wrote
of Yansaneh, “She faced almost con
stant pressure from other African
American students to assimilate. She
was often viewed as an outsider be
cause her father is an immigrant...In the
end she remained true to herself and as
a result helped to define what it mean,
to be an African-American student here
at Grant. She was unapologetic about
her academic success and her ambition
to make an impact on her community.”
Yansaneh does no, agree with all of
this - she says she never felt like an
“outsider” - but admits pressure to
conform. Instead, she remained true to
her father's emphasis on education,
and won her peers’ respect for it.
“I’m very personable," she says.
“I'm no, very shy and I can talk to
people. People feel comfortable around
me. If I can help someone out, I do it.”
P hoto by N icole H ixiper /T he P ortland O bserver
Isata Yansaneh stayed true to her father's emphasis
on education and won her peers' respect for it.
Her public service commitment ex
tends to being a volunteer counselor at
a Portland Parks Bureau summercamp.
This summer, she is working for Self-
Enhancement, Inc. in a program at
Jefferson High School. Mornings, she
tutors high school students in math
and English. In the afternoons, she
works with younger students in a pro
gram that combines visits to potential
c a re e r site s, co m m u n ity se rv ic e
projects, and recreation. SEI has
awarded her a $5,000 renewable schol
arship.
In a past summer, she worked as an
intern a, the Oregon Association of
Minority Entrepreneurs, where she ran
a small store and ultimately learned
how to create a business plan.
In the fall, she is bound for Spelman
College in Atlanta, Ga.
Yansaneh admits that for someone
who prides herself on her diversity of
interests, the historically black women’s
college may seem an off choice. How
ever, she says, “O f the schools I did get
into, I decided this was the one for me. If
I'm going to pu, that much time and
continued
on page R5