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lanuary 4. 2006
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Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
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Disasters Leave Enduring Legacies
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Human suffering
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P o r tla n d P u b lic S c h o o ls
THURSDAY, JAN. 12, 2006
OREGON CONVENTION CENTER
777 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Portland, OR
5:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
w w w .p p s .k 1 2 .o r.u s
(5 0 3 )9 1 6 -3 3 0 4
STUDENT PERFORMANCES
More than 1,100 students to perform
Learn the who, what & how of kindergarten
TOOLS, INFORMATION & RESOURCES
Supporting all students
R ev . S ala W.J. N olan
2005 was a year of much suffering and it came as
the tsunami of Dec. 26,2004 still reverberated through­
out the world.
The worst hurricane season in U.S. history has
damaged the Gulf Coast in ways that will extend to
generations. And an earthquake has devastated
Kashmir, where reliefis terribly complicated by Indian
and Pakistani political claims.
These events were life-shattering and will leave
enduring legacies. They are especially notable be­
cause of the human suffering that was unmasked. We
saw Aging and African American citizens in the wake
of Katrina, without food and water or medical care, left
abandoned on bridges and in nursing homes and
sports arenas. The visible poverty among so many
citizens of the richest country in the world - and their
isolation for 15 months without cause. He was
given pc or medical care, which often occurs in
prison He died last month at the age of 58, and we
remember him.
Remember Marilyn Buck, Leonard Peltier, Oscar
Lopez and others who languish in prison. Remember
Assata Shakur, who has a price on her head. In June,
lOenvironmentaland animal protection activists from
the San Francisco Bay area were subpoenaed to a
grand jury after police raids failed to produce evi­
dence of criminal wrongdoing.
Since the Patriot Act passed, our government has
acquired vastly broadened authority to monitor, ar­
rest and detain citizens. We have learned that free­
doms not protected will erode.
Recently, I traveled to the Gulf Coast after the
hurricane carrying supplies and assessing what we
could do to help. I met a little boy, about 10 or II,
collecting toys for his younger brother and sister.
When his turn came, there were no appropriate toys
in the van for him. He turned away, dejected. Then I
remembered that my 5-year-old niece had given me
Everyday there are unseen tsunamis,
floods and earthquakes. They take place in
U.S. prisons, which house one fourth of all
the prisoners in the world.
utter abandonment by the institutions obligated to
serve them - shocked the planet.
Bu, everyday there are unseen tsunamis, floods
and earthquakes. They take place in U.S. prisons,
which house one fourth of all the prisoners in the
world. They happen among immigrants in the hous­
ing projects of France. They occur in Darfur, where
there is politically-induced famine.
These unnatural disasters also occur among the
fanners of Vieques and fishers of the Marshall Islands
whose livelihoods and health have been damaged by
years of bomb testing; with school-aged children in
broken neighborhoods; with Afghan nationals in the
cells of Guantanamo and, in secret prisons in East
Europe and Saudi Arabia.
All over our world, where government institutions
fail to protect their citizens or actively harm them,
unnatural disasters happen. And when those who
suffer are forgotten, the devastation is terrible.
C onsider the political activists who were im ­
prisoned in the 1960s and 1970s. Richard W illiams
was one o f them. Follow ing 9 / 11, he was placed in
her most precious rubber frog and told me to give it
to somebody special. I pulled the frog out of my
pocket and gave it to the boy. His face lit up and he
ran off with it, laughing and teasing his little brother.
In that moment, the disaster was forgotten and he was
just a boy again.
The prisons of the U.S. hold fathers and mothers
whose children, more likely than not, will grow up in
an earthquake of poverty chaos. You probably know
some of them, because the invisible flood of incar­
ceration is enormous, but you may not know the
secrets they keep because discrimination is a power­
ful force in their lives. Remember them. What could
you do for the children? What could you do for
someone who is ill? How much could be done by
remembrance and a well-place word for political pris­
oners and indigenous people of contaminated lands.
Remember those who suffer from the secret non­
natural tsunamis of our world today, and consider
what is in your hand. Will you do with what you have?
Saia W. J. Nolan is minister o f Criminal Justice
anti Human Rights fo r the United Church o f Christ.
Opportunities for kids,parents, and families
FREE PARKING
Boycott Schwarzenegger
From Cleveland, Jefferson Campus,
Madison, Marshall
Campus, Roosevelt Campus and Wilson
high schools
FREE CHILDCARE
For children four years and older
THE CONTENTS OF THIS PUBLICATION WERE DFVELOPED UNDER A
GRANT FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION HOWEVER, THESE
CONTENTS DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT THE POLICY OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND YOU SHOULD NOT ASSUME
ENDORSEMENT BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PORTLAND
PUBLIC SCHOOLS IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
California Gov. Schwarzenegger
has shown where he stands when
it comes to the black community of
Los Angeles.
When he refused clemency for
Stanley “Tookie” Williams on Dec.
13, Schwarzenegger carried out an
execution for a murder that Will­
iams said that he did not commit.
Was it because Williams was the
co-founder of the Los Angeles Crips
gang?
Did Schwarzenegger take incon­
sideration that Williams put out
nine anti violence books for chil­
dren and incarcerated adults; that
he was nominated five times for the
Nobel Peace Prize; and that he single
handedly made peace treaties be­
tween rival gangs across the coun­
try, resulting in a big drop in the
murder rate.
W illiams has even mentored
many Chicago Public Schixil prin­
ciples and students. He also was
awarded a 2(X)5 Presidential Call to
Service award by President Bush.
The only Christmas present that
the governor was willing to give to
the people of Los Angeles was the
death of Stanley “Tookie” Will­
iams. Did Schwarzenegger really
think that he was a terminator, like
the rolt he played in the movies,
when it came to Mr. Williams life?
Thanks to the Freedom Socialist
Party o f Portland, a local group
that's trying to make a change for
the better when it comes to the poor
and working class people, I was
able tocome across the phone num­
ber to the Governor's office and
obtain background information on
the Williams case.
N ot only did I c a lle d
Schwarzenegger's office and urge
clemency for Williams, I went door-
to-door letting my neighbors read
the background on Williams and
even use my phone to make addi­
tional pleas to the governor.
I call out to the people of Los
A ngeles to b o y co tt G ov.
Schwarzenegger. I feel that he
should have spared Mr. Williams
life.
Even in a case like this, when
someone goes out of their way to
help others, we live in a system
where that person always ends up
being murdered.
Rest in peace “Tookie.”
Gary Clay Sr.