¿The
February 22. 2006
■JJortlanò (©hserucr
Page A9
BLACK HISTORY MONTH and the American Experience
It all started on a bus
■^^■1
f \ n December 1,1955,
in Montgomery,
i
, a
Rosa Parks
1
Alabama, Rosa Parks took
w tbe first step toward bus
desegregation. This African-
American woman chose
arrest rather than relin
The Ethnic Heritage Ensemble performs Tuesday. Feb. 28 at Reed College in celebration o f Black
History Month.
quishing her bus seat
African Ensemble Concludes Series
simply because of the
Reed College ends its Black
History Month event series on
Tuesday, Feb. 28. with a perfor
mance by The Ethnic Heritage
Ensemble, a group that has been
breaking the habits of boredom
and pushing beyond nostalgia
into the present for almost 20
color other skin. Her stand
years.
The ensemble’s music fuses
traditional African rhythmic and
melodic sensibilities with popu
lar African American musical
expression.
Kahil El’Zabar plays drums,
percussion and African thumb
piano, Joseph Bowie plays trom
bone, and Ernest Dawkins is
alto and tenor saxophonist.
The performance begins at 7
p.m, with 15-minute intermission
between sets, at Reed College’s
Eliot Hall Chapel. For more infor
mation, call 503-771 -1112.
against racism inspired a
boycott which has improved
all our lives.
Learn to Trace Your History
Free genealogy program Saturday
The North Portland Library,
512 N. Killingsworth St., will
host a free Jump-Start Your
African-American Genealogy
program on Saturday, Feb. 25
from 3:30-5:30 p.m.
Local genealogists and li
brary staff will present infor
mation to help researchers find
information on family histo
ries. Participants will have an
opportunity to practice re
searching techniques and will
be entered in a drawing for a
free DNA test.
Local genealogist O. B. Hill
will discuss his experience
c o n d u c tin g g e n e a lo g y r e
search; author Stephen Hanks
will discuss his book, “Akee
Tree: A D escendant’s Search
fo r his A n c e sto rs on the
Eskridge Plantations;" librar
ian Janet Irwin will offer tips
on using library resources, in
cluding the specialized gene
alogy collection a, Central Li
brary and other genealogy
databases; and Emily Aucilino
of the Genealogical Forum of
Oregon and the International
Society of Genetic Genealo
gists will introduce the basics
of DNA genealogy.
For more information, call 503-
988-4810.
T R I@ M E T
See where it takes you.
503-238-RIDE • trimet.org
Civil Rights Activists
Urge Look Forward
continued
from 45
Alito's “selection represents
the culmination of a 20-year
strategy by conservatives to
retake the courts and a turning
away from the civil rights agenda
represented by the (Earl) War
ren court," Henderson said.
"This carries some symbolism."
Many mourned King's death
even as they worried about how
to keep her mission alive.
"I'm concerned that people
don't take her passing as an
opportunity to further antique
the causes that she and her
husband and others stood for,"
said Theodore M. Shaw, presi
dent of the NAACP Legal De
fense and Education Fund.
“Anybody who thinks that work
is over iseither terribly ignorant
or willfully blind.”
Henderson agreed: "I think
she would be disappointed if the
tributes ended with her being
elevated to some god-like status
without also recommitting our
selves to a social justice agenda
that she very much helped sym
bolize."
A Great Defender of Civil Rights
continued
from A6
versity of Mississippi.
In 1964, Motley was elected
to the New York Senate, the
first African-American woman
to achieve this honor. The fol
lowing year she was chosen to
be Manhattan's Borough Presi
dent. No woman of any color
and no African American of
either sex had this distinction
until her stunning victory.
In 1966, President Lyndon B.
Johnson selected Motley to be
come a federal judge. The ap
pointment was another firs,. She
kept this position for almost 40
years, until Sept. 14, 2005, the
day she died.
1
T oday, w hile w atching
Samuel Alito become a Su
prem e C ourt Ju stic e a fte r
Sandra Day O 'C onnor’s retire
ment, we are once again re
minded of the need for out
standing women and minorities
as high-ranking judges.
Motley stood elbow to elbow
with Dr. King and others in the
tight forequality. Her spirit and
what she accomplished will
serve us well into the future.
Ron Weber is a local writer
and speaker on African Ameri
can history and a regular con
tributor,o the Portland Observer.
I