Committed to Cultural Diversity
www.portlandohserver.com
M etro
O cto b e r 4, 20 0 6
Triple Dose of Pointer Sisters
Three shows are scheduled
with the Oregon Symphony
^ìortlanò (01
See Focus Inside
SECTION
o m m u n ity
a le n d a r
Domestic Violence Summit
Com e hear S. Renee M itchell and
others speak out against violence
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday,
Oet. 7 at Pioneer C ourthouse
Square. For more information visit
w w w .raphaelhouse.eom or call
503-490-8775.
Mid-East Conflict Talk
A town meeting on M iddle East
conflicts will be held Sunday, Oct.
8 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the NW
N eighborhood Cultural Center,
319 N.W. 18th St., bringing to­
gether diverse cultures and reli­
gions toexpress view points about
issues that have divided our local
and global communities. All views
and backgrounds are welcome.
Gourmet Popcorn Sale
Scouts from the Cascade Pacific
Council, Boy Scouts o f America
will be popping up all over north­
w est O re g o n an d so u th w e st
W ashington during O ctober as
they kick off their annual T rail's
End G ourm et Popcorn sales. Pro­
ceeds provide the council and
Scouts units with additional funds
to serve more than 48,000 youths
in the area. T o place an order for
caramel, butter, chocolate, cheese.
Kettle flavors and more, call 503-1
225-5718.
Jefferson Homecoming
The Jefferson Alumni A ssocia­
tion kicks off with a H omecoming
Tailgate Party, W ednesday, Oct.
20. The group is looking for one
car from each class to circle the
Jefferson cam pus. Individuals in­
terested in organizing their class­
mates can bring a grill, som e food
and m usic and have fun. The
Alumni A ssociation m eets every
Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Jefferson
High School. For more inform a­
tion or to host a car for your class,
contact Phoebe Tyeskey at 503-
49< W)985 or Maggie Mashia at 5()3-
331-7507.*
Î
Madison High School Pride
M adison High School 9th graders Jazmyn Smith (from left), Jorge Borgos, Shannon Kennedy and Ji
Portland school. They jo in e d teams o f other volunteers Thursday from the Home Depot and Hands
benches and paint.
Tough Times in Life Shared
Local artist, leaders get personal to help teens
Personal Transformation
P ortland C o m m u n ity C olleg e
hosts a class to achieve a healthy
and more energetic lifestyle. Path­
way to Personal Transform ation
meets from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. T ues­
days through Nov. 2 1 in room 105
at the Portland M etro W orkforce
TrainingCenter,56(X)N.E.42 Ave.
Cost is $59. For more information,
call 503-978-5205.
I
Stroller Class for Moms
Are you a new mom or have a
toddler? G et som e exercise and
meet other moms at the free Stroller
Strides class. 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Tuesdays and Thursday at Pen­
insula Park. All you need is a
stroller, water, a mat o rtow el and
com fortable shoes. Call Helen at
503-260-5018 for more information.
Lents Homeowners Help
M e m b e rs
of
th e
L en ts
H om eow nership Initiative and
partners will host "How to Repair
Y ourC redit", a free home buying
w orkshop on Tuesday, Nov. 14
from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Kelly El­
em entary, 9030 SE Cooper St. If
y o u 'd like to attend please RSVP
to Arnie D iffenauer at 503-788-
8 0 52oram ie@ rosecdc.ore.
Volunteer for Crisis Line
W ant to make a difference in your
com m unity? V olunteers and ad­
vocates are needed for the Port­
land W om en's Crisis Line. The
needs include on-call advocates
to respond in person or over the
phone, outreach and educational
efforts, and fundraising and ad-
ministrative duties. Call 503-232-
4 176 for more information.
community service
Victor Rivas Rivers
Actor to Tell
Story of
Child Abuse
Self empowerment
group sponsors event
It took years o f pain and therapy for
V ictor Rivas Rivers, a Cuban-born vet­
eran star o f television, film and stage, to
step out o f the shadow o f abuse and low
self-esteem to find the beauty behind the
childhood trauma he experienced at the
hands o f his father.
“ I chose to forgive my father," Rivers
says, “by not allow ing his behavior in my
house and by teaching peace.”
On M onday, Oct. 9, from 6:30 p.m. to
8:30 p.m ..R ivers will be talking about his
fascinating life story and reading from his
memoirs, “A Private Family Matter," in a
free public book signing at Portland C om ­
munity C ollege’s Cascade Cam pus. Ev­
eryone is welcome.
The com m unity-based event is spon­
sored by the Healing Roots Village, a new
collaboration o f agencies and individu­
als working toem pow erblack women and
theirchildren; Hacienda Com m unity D e­
velopment Corp., a non-profit com m itted
to im proving the livability o f low-income
Latino families: and PCC Cascade, which
offers 14,(XM) students a year a diverse,
culturally rich urban experience.
continued
yf
on page B5
Master drummer Obo Addy lends
his story to a unique book about
life as a teen.
At the age o f 15, O bo A ddy
lived in G hana. A stubborn te en ­
ag er w ith a love for m usic, he
w ould clim b the w alls o f n ig h t­
clu b s to hear the b eats being
played. T hen he met Joe Kelly
O d am p tan . He b ecam e O b o 's
m en to r and O bo b ecam e a m aster
drummer.
A d d y 's story o f his life as a
te en ag er is told in “ W hen You
W ere 15: An A n thology A bout
W hy A dults M atter to T een s." It
features over 50 stories from m em ­
bers o f the P ortland com m unity,
including City C om m issioner Sam
A dam s, m usician Art A lexakis o f
the band E v erclear and school
su p erin ten d en t V ickie Phillips.
Each o f them w rites about an adult
w ho w as there for them at a tough
tim e in life.
T he book is part o f the "W hen
You W ere 15” com m unity ed u ca­
tio n c a m p a ig n c r e a te d by
M ultnom ah County and R eclaim ­
ing Futures. Funded by the R o b ­
ert W ood Johnson F oundation,
R eclaim ing F utures is one o f 1(1 p
acro ss the co untry seeking to ii
o u tco m es for youth w ith drug and i
p ro b lem s w ho are in tro u b le w ith t
“ W hen You W ere 15" seeks to
carin g ad u lts in terested in spendit
Art Alexakis o f the band Everclear is one o f 50 members o f the Portland community
who participated in a book to help teenagers with drug and alcohol problems.
I T h ro u g h him our ears w ere trained
to h e a r .. .all m usic, good m usic like
classical, mam bo, and s u in g ... 'Y ou
can play any music.’ lie would sav.”
loday. Addy
flr
1’ • ,
.'jfl
i "a
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w ith the youth in fun, every d ay activ ities.
In an ex cerp t from A d d y 's story, he
shares lessons he learned from his m en ­
tor:
“ I Joe Kelly O d am p tan | w as a m entor to
a lot ol us y oung, w an t-lo -b e-m u sician s.
has
traveled the
w orld play in g and teach in g m usic
and dance. A ddy is also the founder
and artistic d irecto r ol H om o wo A f­
rican A rts and C u ltu re, a Portland-
based n o n -p ro fit o rg an izatio n . T he
credit is due. at least in part, to his
m entor.
T h o u g h each story in the anthol-
ogy is unique, each o f the w riters
share how . w hen I hey w ere teenag-
ers. an adult m ade a m em orable dif-
ference in th eir lives. Now that
th e y 're all ad u lts, not m uch has
chan g ed - teens still need ad u lts to
help them be successful.
"C u rren tly , there are about 55(1
* youth on p ro b atio n in this co u n ty ."
__ J says Joanne F uller, d irec to r o f the
M ultnom ah C ounty D epartm ent o f
C om m unity Justice. “ M any o f these
youth d o n 't have ad u lts in th eir
lives w ho can help them see a p o si­
tive future. A sa c o m m u n ity , w eean
ch an g e that. S u p p o rtin g teens is easy and
tun. It ju st takes a little bit o f tim e out o f
our w eek ."
Through a partnership with Big Brothers
continued
on page H5