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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 2006)
50j¿ Bi-racial Challenges fPClPS o f •^community service ‘City of Roses' Ballet Flamenco Playwright on journey of self- realization Acclaimed dancer coming to Portland See story, Metro section See story, Metro section B » ^Inrtlatth (Dhseriuu* Established in 1970 Volume XXXVI, Number 46 TLWeek ¡n The Review Randolph Sued for $1 Million Zach Randolph, the lead in g sc o re r and rebounder for the P ortlan d Trail Blazers, has been sued by a woman who al leges he sexu ally assaulted her last August at the Hotel Vintage Plaza in down town Portland. The civil suit seeks at least $1 million in damages. Randolph was not criminally charged after a police investiga tion of the complaint. Grant Stays Undefeated Grant High School advances in the State Football Cham pion ships following last Friday’s 7-6 victory over Reynolds. They face West Salem at 7 p.m. this Friday at Lincoln High School. The Gen erals are undefeated for the sea son and the only team left in the playoffs from the Portland Inter scholastic League. Legendary Journalist Dies Legendary ‘60 M inutes’ cor respondent Ed B rad ley , the p r e - e m in e n t African-Ameri can journalist of his time, died of complications from leu k em ia T h u rsd ay . Bradley's probing questions and salt-and-pepper beard d istin guished him to millions of televi sion viewers. He was 65. See story, page A2 Racial Disparities Persist Decades after the civil rights m ovement, racial disparities in income, education and home ow nership persist and, by some m easurem ents, are grow ing. W hite households had incomes that were two-thirds higher than blacks and 40 percent higher than Hispanics last year, ac cording to data released T ues day by the Census Bureau. Stereotypes Hurt Men Flawed government policies and negative stereotyping of minor ity men have limited their eco nomic opportunities, a new study says. The study by the Join, Cen- terfor Political and Economic Stud ies urges improved health care and education for minorities and less media consolidation. Officer Admits Misconduct A police officer accused of asking women to lift their skirts duringatraf- fic stop pleaded guilty to official misconduct and resigned from the Portland Police Bureau Mon day. John Wood, 31, faces two years of probation and 100 hours of community service. See story, page A2. www.portlandobserver.com Committed to Cultural Diversity Wednesday • November 15, 2006 M onument for the Ages 4 »Ar I ‘ B I .. - 4 . ; ; ■« m W The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. deliv ers his ‘I Have a Dream' speech dur ing the 1963 March on Washington, not far from where the King Memorial will be built on the National Mall. civilian on the Mall. Clinton, who received a standing ova tion from the largely black crow d, noted that the memorial will stand between the Jefferson Memorial and the Lincoln M e morial. He said it is appropriate for King's memorial to be between the man who helped found the nation and the man who protected the nation's ideals during the Civil War. "It belongs here," C linton said. About 5,(XX) people braved light rain, cold winds and mud for the cerem onial groundbreaking, including poet and nov elist Maya Angelou, television personal ity Oprah W infrey, the Rev. Jesse Jack- son and several m em bers o f Congress. W infrey credited King and other civil rights leaders with making it possible for her to achieve what she's done. continued on page A3 Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. (center), overcome with emotion, with Yolanda King, and Rev. Al Sharpton, take part in the ground breaking ceremony for the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington Monday. (AP photo) Ground Broken for King Memorial (A P) - President Bush, appearing at a groundbreaking cerem ony Monday for a memorial honoring slain civil rights leader Dr. M artin L uther King Jr., said the National Mall m onum ent will "preserve his legacy for ages." U nder overcast skies, Bush joined form er President Clinton and a host of civil rights figures and m em bers o f C on gress to celebrate the m onum ent to be built not far from w here King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech on Aug. 28, 1963. "When Martin Luther King cam e to W ashington in the sum m er o f 1963," Bush said, "he cam e to hold this nation to its own standards. ... He stood not far from here ... with thousands gathered around him. His dream spread a message o f hope." "An assassin's bullet could not shatter his dream," Bush said. "As we break ground, we give M artin Luther King his rightful place am ong the many A m eri cans honored on the National Mall. It will unite the men who declared the promise o f A m erica and defended the promise of A m erica with the man who redeemed the prom ise o f A m erica." The memorial, to be built roughly a half-m ile from the Lincoln M emorial, where King gave his historic speech, will be the first to honor an African American VOTING Bernice King, daughter o f slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., is kissed by her father's sister Christine King Farris during the ceremonies, marking the beginning o f the construction o f the King Memorial on the National Mall in Washington D.C. (AP photo) Oregonians and citizens nationwide overwhelmingly voted to the left during the Nov. 7 election, forcing Democratic Party control o f both houses o f Congress fo r the first time since 1994. The Portland Observer asked people what they hope to see from their new representatives. Neighborhood Citizens Force Change: Residents Speak Out I think we need to lixik at what people have already tried that doesn’t work. We need to take a more active, grassroots role with more local participation. -K im m y Figueroa Congress usually tends to compromise when they’re not in agreement. Clinton man aged to balance the budget and give us a surplus with a Republican Congress. -Joseph Mclnturff After 20 years of voting I think they're all the same, but I don’t think Congress and the president should ever be in the same party. -W ayn e Wagner I’m excited about (Gov.) Kulongoski because I’m a union man. I’d also like to see some change in the course of action in Iraq. -M ichael Wallingford The most exciting thing is increased partici pation in African American leadership, including the governor-elect of Massachu setts (Deval Patrick) and the Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee (Rep. Charles Rangel. D-N. Y.). I think democrats are the only hope we have for increasing access to health care and education. -L aticia Tillman Portland Community College offered non-credit classes I was interested in until cutbacks. I think there will be more course offerings, student aid and grants. -P eterC hang t* Africa Center Unites a Continent Fast growing community served by S arah B lount T he P ortland O bserver Portland's Immigrant and Refugee Com m unity O rganization (IRCO) has begun a new chapter for African refugees living in Oregon. The launch o f A frica House, a service center supporting im m i grants from 28 countries, is the first for O regon’s pan-African com m unity. The center will extend beyond IR C O 's services to help refugees adjust them selves culturally, civi- photo by M ark W ashington TT hf . P o r ti . ank O bserver cally and socially by providing help in navigating Djimet Dogo coordinates services at the new Africa House, providing social and cultural services for thousands of African A merican society - social services, health and w el refugees and citizens living in Oregon. fare assistance, education and transportation and V cultural norms. “W e’ve been dream ing about this for a long tim e," said Djimet Dogo, the project’s coordinator and a native o f Chad who m oved to O regon in 1999. O regon’s African population is one o f the state's fastest growing, home to many “second m igrants", w ho m oved here from other states. O ut o f an estim ated 15,000 to 2(),(XX) A fricans living here, many are refugees living in the upper W illam ette Valley. Dogo said the state can expect even more A fri cans when an influx o f 2O.(XX) central A frican refugees arrive in the United States next year. IR C O 's advisory board, the African Com m unity Center o f O regon, consulted IRCO on the needs o f African refugees, com ing up with the Africa House. continued on page A J