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50£ 37 years of community service M artin L uther K ing J r . A New G ent ( I T n ) 2 0 0 / Special Edition < Martlanh ©hseruer nf P ncoe’ ‘City of Roses ‘P i t v Volume XXXVII, Number O 7n Established ¡n in t 1970 www.portlandobserver.com Committed to Cultural Diversity Wednesday • lanuary 10, 2007 .Week ¡n The Review Florida Wins Championship Quarterback Chris Leak of Florida com pleted 25 o f 36 passes for 212 yards and one touchdow n dur ing a 4 1 - 14 victory overO hioState on the BCS C ham pionshipG am e on M onday. Leak was nam ed of fensive player o f the gam e. Young Black Men Killed Portland’s First tw o m urder vic tim s o f 2007 w ere young black men, one just 14 years old and the o th eray o u n g fath e ro f tw ins who were shot and killed along city streets, days apart and on oppo site sides o f the river. See story, photo by page A2 US Airstrikes in Africa H elico p ter g u n sh ip s attack ed suspected al-Q aida fighters in Som aliaTuesday after U.S. forces staged airstrikes in the First offen sive in the African country since 18 A m erican soldiers w ere killed there in 1993, w itnesses said. Mural Artist Packs Passionint0 Work speak to civil rights, econom ic ju s tice and life in America for historical African A merican figures and oth- White House Warned In a blunt w arning to the W hite H ouse,congressional Dem ocrats said M onday they may seek to deny funds for the type o f short term troop buildup that President Bush is expected to announce for Iraq W ednesday night. Sharpton Considers Run by L ee P erlman T he P ortland O bserver W hen asked to reflect on the upcom ing Rev. M artin Luther King Jr. holiday, Isaka S ham sud-D in scratches his long, w hite beard and says, judiciously, "A s an orator, he was one o f the greatest w ho ever C iv il rig h ts a c tiv is t A1 Sharpton said M onday he is s e rio u s ly considering a run for presi dent. "I don't hear any rea son not to," Sharpton, 52, said in an interview during an urban af fairs conference sponsored by by S arah B lount another civil rights leader, the T he P ortland O bserver Rev. Jesse Jackson. 2006 was a rough year for Port S New Execution Video A new videoof Saddam Hussein's c o rp se , w ith a g a p in g neck wound, was posted on the Intem et early Tuesday, the second leaked release o f clandestine pictures from the form er leader's hanging. Gov. Opens Legislature C alling the opening o f the 2007 L egislature a "great moment o f opportunity for O regon," Gov. T ed K ulongoski on M onday urged lawmakers to put aside their partisan differences and im prove education and health care for O regon's children. u 2. •3 Ç • q oh m o - 1 O' Z) H k- o 0¿ X = ~ £ £ 0 3Í) -C £ ■J Zll J u S C ’ g z 3 n 5 n “ lived. As a sym bolic Figure, h e’s great. But elevating King to the point where h e’s a solitary Figure is w rong.’’ Sham sud-D in is a famed Port land mural artist whose work adorns the sides o f several local buildings with powerful cultural im ages that about in school are put on a level fore. I call it cow ardice.” S h am su d -D in has spent d e with Dr. King, and he’s the only one black leadei. Fhcre’saconcenti ited cades b rin g in g positive im ages inovcmerd to select who the lead o f A fric a n A m e ric a n c u ltu re through his own m ural art. His Ire appreciates the accom plish ers are we learn about in history. m ents o f the icons o f the modem “ If you watch your T V with the m u r a ls a d o rn th e S a lv a tio n Civil Rights Movement, but reminds sound o ff y o u ’d think there were A rm y 's M oore S treet C e n te r in us that the movement itself included no black people in this country. north P ortland, the U n iv ersity o f Even on the Spanish channel there O reg o n D ental C lin ic and the so many people. “ It w asn't ju st one black woman are no non-white people in a posi O regon C o nvention C enter. The on a bus; there were a whole lot of tion o f authority. T h ere's an ab latter portrays A frican-A m erican thin s going on before that. H un sence in black leadership in not continued on page A5 dreds o f white leaders we learn recognizing this or bringing it to the Harry Jackson Retires After 26 Years Officer with ties to community reflects on his service land police Lt. H arry Jackson. Events piled on one another by early spring, beginning with a public criticism o fracial proFiling within the police bureau. April revealed a scandal and su b se quent dem otion o f police chief D errick Foxw orth, and the sum m er heat brought aculm ination o f youth and gang trouble in north and northeast Portland. officer quietly at home, aw ay from ever, political forces brought Jack- so n back to n o rth e a s t the pressure cooker o f the force. B orn in O k lah o m a, Jackson K illingsw orth after only eight moved to Portland at age 10. He m onths - an absence o f m inority began his career in 1976 at the O r lieutenants and sergeants sparked egon State Police Departm ent. He controversy under F o x w o rth ’s then becam e an officer with the Poit leadership. At 62 years old. Jackson be o f Portland for three years, before em b ark in g o n a2 6 -y ear career with gins a New Year feeling blessed. The deaths o fa fe w o f hiscontem - the city ’s police bureau. For 13 years Jackson reported to poraries in 2006 were not lost on theold North Precinct in S t.Jo h n 's, him, including famed Knott Street moving into detective work at cen boxers Halim Rahsaan and W ade tral precinct follow ed by a prom o Sm ith, and M ultnomah County tion to sergeant. Jackson received circuit court judge Clifford F ree his final promotion, to lieutenant, in man. Having avoided a heart at- 2(X)4 and was transferred from north continued on page .43 east to southeast precinct. How By m id-N ovem ber, Jackson be gan to experience intense chest pains. By Nov. 20 he underwent bypass surgery. Having endured enough to make even a veteran cop fold. Jackson also faced an im pending change in hispolicepension.So,after3()years in law enforcem ent, he made adeci- sion h e'd been considering for the past several months. His retirement announcem ent cam e shortly before his surgery, andon Dec. 29 Jackson spent his last official day as a police Lt. Harry Jackson The Making of an MLK Celebration Portland tribute precedes birth of federal holiday O' 0s ri M ark VV vsiiington /T he P ortland O bserver Powerful cultural images are the trademark o f Portland mural artist Isaka Shamsud-Din, who stands next to his latest work on the south wall o f the Portland Musician's Union Hall at 325 N.E. 20th Ave. by S arah B i . ount T he P ortland O bserv er P o rtla n d 's annual trib u te to Martin Luther King Jr. began 28 years ago, when three men were draw n to g e th er to h o n o r King through a three-night show case of oral history. From its humble begin nings, this celebration has evolved in to o n e o f the largest annual MLK Day events in the country. Dr. King said “we must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools." P ortland's d i verse cultures and com m unities have exem plified this ideal year af ter year, through their support and assistance to the World Arts Foun dation Inc., who show cases an an nual trib u te , "K eep A liv e the Dream." The Portland non-profit’s annual celebration is rooted in a rich his tory o f African culture and African Am erican G ospel, but crosses co n tinents to feature Irish and Latin American perform ances as well. “The main thrust is to be educa tional as well as culturally di verse,” said Michael "C happie" G rice, d i rector o f the annual event. Ken Berry is the longtime executive producer o f Portland's annual tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. "Keep Grice, executive producer Ken Alive the Dream," to be held this year at the Highland Christian Center, 7600 N.E. Glisan St. Berry, and Herb Caw thornc have staged “ Keep Alive the D ream ” honored with a Icileral holiday. But vice staged at New Hope M ission continued on page A3 since its first official service 22 years the roots o f this special service go ary Baptist Church in north Port land. ago - one year before King was back to May 1978, at a m odest ser I I