Brothers of Basketball
years
Portland's Josh and Seth Tarver are
a dynamic duo at Oregon State
of
See story, Metro seetion
•'communio? service
‘City of Roses’
Volume XXXVII, Number 3
Established in 1970
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Wednesday • January 17, 2007
.W eek ¡n
The Review
HNMM
Obama in the Running
Democratic Sen.
Barack Obama on
Tuesday filed pa­
pers creatin g a
presidential ex ­
ploratory commit­
tee, the initial step
in a presidential bid that could
make him the nation's first black
to occupy the White House. See
story, page A2.
Postal Service Letter Car­
rier Andy Ngiu makes his
rounds in northeast Port­
land during a Tuesday
morning snowstorm that
surprised forecasters for its
velocity. An expected dust­
ing of snow turned into four
inches by afternoon. The
remainder of the week
called for partly cloudy
skies and a bit warmer
weather.
Bomb Kills 4 US Soldiers
A roadside bomb killed four U.S.
soldiers in northwestern Iraq, the
military said Tuesday. The blast
struck the Task Force Lightning
Soldiers assigned to the 4th Bri­
gade, 1st Cavalry Division Mon­
day while they were conducting
operations.
Attack Rocks University
An e x p lo s io n o u ts id e a
Baghdad university as students
were heading home for the day
kilied at least 65 people on Tues-
day, in the deadliest o f several
attacks on predom inantly Shiite
areas. The attack cam e a day
after the United Nations said
more than 34,000 Iraqi civilians
died last year in sectarian vio­
lence.
Saddam Aides Hanged
Saddam H ussein’s h alf brother
and the form er ch ief o f Iraq’s
Revolutionary Court were both
hanged before dawn M onday,
but the half-brother's head was
severed by the noose — lead­
ing to outrage from Sunnis who
claim the body was m utilated.
King Holiday Celebrated
From the pulpit of the church
where Martin Luther King Jr. once
was pastor, Atlanta’s Mayor re­
minded the congregation Mon­
day that his work for peace and
justice remains unfinished. See
story, page A2.
Heavy
Snowfall
a Surprise
photo by M ark W ashington /
T he P ortland O bserver
Anti-Affirmative Action Group Targets Oregon
Follows battles
in other states
by S arah B lount
T he P ortland O bserver
A group supporting a ban of public affir­
mative action programs based on race and
gender preferences is landing on ballots
across the country, and Oregon may be one
of its next targets.
The confusingly titled American Civil
Rights Coalition, a California-based group,
has poured millions of dollars into other
states, introducing initiatives that strike
Affirmati ve Action - programs used to level
public agency and educational playing Helds
for women and minorities.
A recent proposal passed in Michigan
with more than half the vote. It banned
affirmative action programs that give prefer­
ential treatment to groups or individuals
based on their race, gender, color, ethnicity
or national origin for public employment,
education, or contracting purposes.
With their sites set on future state pro­
posals possibly as soon as the 2(M)H election,
the coalition has set up exploratory commit­
tees for preference bans on ballots in Or­
egon, Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Ne­
braska, Nevada, South Dakota, Utah and
Wyoming.
U.S. affirmative action laws center heavily
on access to education for minority stu­
dents. A ccordingtothe American Civil Lib­
erties Union, a group in support of affirma­
ance when hiring diverse suppliers and con­
tractors.
“There is not a written policy, we don’t
have hard, firm goals,” said John Persen,
coordinator of procurement diversity.
"We have aspirational goals." he said.
"We look at projects and opportunities for
small firms, and we have outreach events to
get as much participa­
tion as possible.”
An affirmative action
ban could affect the way
the City of Portland does
business - city code re­
quires any employer that
supplies services to the
city in excess of $2,500
must be certified as an
“ Equal E m ploym ent
i - Greg Wolley, Portland Bureau of Purchases Program Coordinator
Opportunity Affirmative
Action Employer".
However,
not
all
programs
would be nega­
directly
affect
the
college’s
system.
tive action, the number of black students
tively
affected.
Portland's
Bureau
of Pur­
“We
have
an
open
admission
policy
so
admitted at the University of California at
Berkeley fell from 562 in 1997 to 191 in 1998 we don't screen applicants like at larger chases helps women and minority-owned
when an anti-affirmative action measure universities in Michigan and Washington," and emerging businesses secure contracts
passed in California. The ACLU also re­ Hoang said. “Anyone who wants to attend with municipal agencies. Program coordina­
tor Greg Wolley said a possible ban would
ported a drop in the number of Hispanic can, regardless of race and gender."
PCC does not have measurable goals as
students admitted: from l,045to434in 1998.
continued
on page A3
In 2000, the Seattle Times reported the mandated by the office of federal compli­
<4
share of Seattle public-works contracts
awarded to minority or women-owned firms
decreased by more than 25 percent when
Washington State voters enacted a ban in
1997.
Chau Hoang, administrative assistant for
Portland Community College’s affirmative
action office, said a ban in Oregon would not
We set up our program
to buffer against this
sort o f thing.
Activist Addresses Health Disparities
Big Night for ‘Dreamgirts’
The O scars got their front-run­
ners on M onday: “D ream girls”
and “Babel’’ are likely to duke it
out for best film after winning
Golden Globes. “Dreamgirls" is
also leading the pack in N A ACP
Image Award nom inations. See
story, page B3,
|l I. i l l
Ihi
Helping women
struck by HIV
and abuse
by S arah B i . ount
T he P ortland O bserver
Cherrell Edwardsisalready a veteran HIV
advocate in Portland, and now her untiring
advocacy has earned her national attention,
plus a local program to help women who
suffer from the disease and abuse.
In addressing health disparities dispro­
portionately affecting black men and women,
Edwards, 22, stands on the verge of many
more accomplishments.
She appeared on MTV for the network's
"Think HIV" campaign in August, and in
October appeared on Oprah for a segment
examining HIV/AIDS in African American
women.
Meanwhile, Edwards seeks non-profit sta­
tus for Collective Care Services, the organi­
zation she founded, and has been busy
securing events for the new year, including
work on the cable access television show
Urban Vibe, an HIV awareness retreat for
women and girls and this weekend's Eshe
Celebration at Portland Community Col lege
Cascade Campus.
Edwards became inti mate ly aw are of HI V/ Portland activist Cherrell Edwards poses for cameras in Toronto as a spokes­
AIDS education asa child, when she realized woman for the MTV network 's campaign to promote HIV protection and testing.
I
her mother was at high risk of contracting the
disease because she injected drugs.
Her mother never contracted the disease,
but died of Hepatitis C in 2000. Edwards
believed this w as the end of her battle with
HIV, but after ending a three-year relation­
ship in 2004 with a boyfriend who was not
monogamous, she was diagnosed with HIV.
Shortly after, Edwards became a client at
Portland's W omen's Intercommunity AIDS
Resources, and started networking with other
women of color who speak out about women
and HIV. She started her own program to
empow er black women through a common,
unified space.
“This teaches us we can come together
and receive love and support from another
black woman," she said.
African Americans represent 13 percent
of the U.S. population, but reportedly ac­
count for approximately half of the nation's
diagnoses.
Despite this reality there remains an out­
dated yet still lingering belief in this country
that it is a gay white male's disease.
Portland has Brother to Brother as an
advocacy group for gay and bisexual black
men (Edwards resigned as a staff member
this past fall) but services for black women
still fall short, despite it being the leading
cause of death for African American women
continued
on page A3