Committed to Cultural Diversity
www.portlandobserver.com
February I, 2006
Veteran Actor Honored
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Samuel L. Jackson cemented in
Hollywood history
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See Focus page B2, inside
SECTION
o m m u n ity
C a l e n d a r
B
Exploring Africa
to the Americas
Earn College Credit
C lark C om m unity C ollege in
V ancouver invites high school
students and th e ir parents to
learn about a “ Running Start”
program to earn college credits
w hile in high school. A forum is
scheduled W ednesday, Feb. 1
from 6:30 p in. to 7:30 p.m. in the
Clark College gym at 1800 E.
M cLoughlin Blvd.
Women In NAACP
A special meeting o f W om en in
N A ACP will be held on Sunday,
Feb. 5 from 11 a.m. to 12:30p.m. at
the Am erican Red Cross Build-
ing, 3131 N. Vancouver. Forques-
tions, call 503-249-6263.
Business Meeting
North/Northeast Business Asso­
ciation meetings are on the first
Monday o f each month from 6 to
8 p.m. at Albina Community Bank,
2002 N.E. Martin Luther King BI vd.
Morning networking meetingsare
the third W ednesday o f each
month from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the
Blazers Boys and Girls Club, 5250
N.E. Martin Luther King Blvd.
Work Against Abuse
The group C om m unity A dvo­
cates invites those interested in
protecting children from abuse
to becom e a volunteer support
team member. For more inform a­
tion, call 503-280-1388.
Free College Outreach
The first Saturday o f each month,
from 12p.m. to2p.m .,high school
students can get free help from
O regon State University on pre­
paring for any college at the Matt
D ishm an C om m unity Center, 77
N.E. Knott St.
Go Red for Women Rally
Put on som ething Red and join
th e
A m e ric a n
H e a rt
A ssociation’s Go Red for Women
Rally on Friday, Feb. 3 from 11
a.m. to 1 p.m. The event starts at
the Pioneer Place Shopping C en­
ter, A trium C oncourse Level (by
the food court) on Southw est 5,h
and M orrison, D ow ntow n. For
more inform ation call 1-888-MY
H EART or visit w w w .G oRedFor
W om en.org.
Aquatic Fitness
Providence offers a variety of
fitness classes including water
ex e rcisin g at the P rovidence
Aquatic Center, 4805 N .E. Glisan.
Foraschedule.call 503-215-6301.
African Drumming, Dance
The North Star Ballroom , 635 N.
K illingsworth C t„ hosts begin­
ning drum m ing and G hanaian
rhythm classes on Tuesdays at 6
p.m. On W ednesdays, interm edi­
ate drum m ing is offered in addi­
tion to an A frican aerobics and
dance. Chata Addy teaches all
classes. For more information call
503-632-0411.
Red Cross Teaches Safety
The American Red Cross offers a
range o f safety classes for crisis
situations, from learning how to
baby sit to performing CPR. The
courses are intended for children
aged 8 through adult. For more
information visit www.redcross-
pdx.org.
Parenting Classes
N ew borns d o n ’t com e with in­
struction m anuals but parents
and p are n ts-to -b e can attend
c la s s e s th ro u g h P ro v id e n c e
Health System s to learn about a
variety o f topics from pain and
childbirth to breastfeeding to in­
fant CPR and much more. For
a s c h e d u le o f e v e n ts , c a ll
5 0 3 -5 7 4 -6 5 9 5
or
v isit
w w w .providence.org./classes.
years
•^community service
t
The first South African film to be nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Foreign Film and the first film
shot in the Zulu language, “Yesterday" is the poignant,
compassionate story o f a young rural mother coming to
terms with having been infected with the HIV virus and
worrying about the future of her daughter.
Cascade Festival
of African Films
opens Friday
The 16th Annual Cascade Festival of
African Films, held in honor of both
Black History Month and W omen's
History Month at Portland Community
College Cascade Campus in north Port­
land, will run from Friday, Feb. 3 through
March 4.
The festival will offer five weeks of
films from the African continent and the
Diaspora. All films and related events
are offered to the public free of charge.
Most of the films will be followed with
Diverse women throughout Egypt are interviewed about traditional beliefs and practices, including female
genital mutilation, in the film “ Tahara," directed by Sara Rashad, a first generation Egyptian-American. The
documentary will be presented during the Cascade Festival o f African Films.
C a s c a d e F e s tiv a l o f
*
frican Film
"Africa through African lenses"
discussions led by visiting film directors
and local individuals from the film’s
featured country.
The festival will open with the ac­
claimed A ngolan.film , “The Hero/O
H eroi" directed by Zdzd Gamboa, on
F rid a y , Feb. 3 at M cM en am in s
Kennedy School, 5736 N.E. 33 rd
Ave. There will be screenings at 5
p.m., 7 p.m., and 9 p.m.
The Hero won the Grand Prize in
World Dramatic Competition at the 2005
Sundance Film Festival.
A special festival highlight will be
films on the African legacy in Mexico.
On Thursday, February 9, Mexican film
director, Rafael Rebollar Corona, will
present and discuss his film, “The For­
gotten R o o t“ which focuses on the
rarely noted history of the African pres­
ence in M exico. M r. C o ro n a ’s
AfroMexican trilogy, “The Forgotten
c o n tin u e d
yf
on p a g e H5
A Tradeswoman in a Man’s World
Finds success
despite sexism
by S arah B lount
T he P ortland O bserver
D ebra J. Darco spent herchildhiw xl in an
unforgiving social system , statistically d es­
tined to becom e ju st another victim o f foster
hom es and life on the streets. As an adult,
she faced a firing squad o f sexism , sim ply by
choosing a career in welding.
But for the past 28 years, D arco has used
the m etallic sparks from her welding torch to
find salvation from blind ignorance and ha­
tred.
D arco w as raised in P ortland fo ster
h o m es, fo llo w ed by a flirta tio n w ith
hom elessness and jail. At the age o f 21 she
considered welding, hopingasix-m onth train­
ing program would be a positive change. She
discovered she was a natural.
In 1986, she went to w ork for W agner
M ining in Portland. G etting hired was easy
for Darco becauseof affirm ative action laws,
but her legal protection d id n 't extend into
the firm 's “good old boys” network o f men
who felt she was taking a m an ’s job.
‘The hard part was trying to prove m yself
over and over again to absolutely anybody,”
she said. “I would have janitors com e up and
look at my w elds.”
In 1990, a machinist at W agner indecently
exposed him self to Darco. She reported the
incident to m anagem ent, and after an inves­
tigation the em ployee was term inated.
Darco also filed a police report. She met
with a prosecutor, but hit a brick wall when
she was told no law had been broken. ,n
O regon, indecent exposure is illegal in p u b ­
lic, but not on private property.
“ I collected m yself and said I guess I have
a law to w rite," she said.
Darco w as placed in touch with D eputy
District Attorney John Bradley, and together
they spent evenings in his office, w riting an
indecent exposure law. D arco contacted a
photo by
M ark W ashington /T hf . P ortland O bserver
Veteran welder D.J. Darco spent years proving herself. Now she s helping women overcome gender barriers in skilled trades.
t
The hard part was trying to prove
myself over and over again to absolutely
anybody. 1 would have janitors come up
and look at my welds.
3
state representative and eventually proposed
two house bills, one was an am endm ent to
include “work places" in public places, and
the other w ould create the crim e of indecent
exposure. Both bills were introduced but
never passed.
In the meantime, D arcocontinued to work
)
at W agner and received support from m an­
agem ent, but some o f her co-w orkers be­
cam e more aggressive and unsym pathetic.
She needed security escorts and carried a
w eapon after threats on her life. Her despair
grew when her m other died, leaving her with
no fam ily and no support.
H er resp o n se w as only to im p ro v e her
skills. She becam e a b etter w elder, striving
to out p erfo rm her 3(X) m ale co -w o rk ers.
H er life ’s goal w as a sin g le focus: refu sal
to g iv e up.
“ I w orked circ les aro u n d the g u y s,” she
said. “ I knew my jo b and I knew it w ell."
E v en tu ally , D a rc o 's h a rd w ork in a h o s­
tile en v iro n m en t cam e to fru itio n . S om e o f
h er co -w o rk ers began b ringing th eir w ives
and d au g h ters in to talk to D arco.
T alk in g to o th e r w om en and p ro v id in g
them a voice g av e D arco strength.
“ I b eliev e it h eig h ten ed aw aren ess that
c o n tin u e d
on p a g e Z/5