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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.
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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