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Committed to Cultural Diversity
P o litic a lly
M etro
A c tiv e H ip H o p
Dead Prez raps for a reason
'jportlatth (íí)hscruer
o m m u n ity
a le n d a r
Unity in Praise
Saturday, May 19, at 6 p.m., Antioch
Missionary Baptist Church, 5935 N. Min
nesota, invites the community to a free
night of praise featuring many local
guests. Call 503-289-3665, for more infor
mation.
SECTION
Art Hop Focus: Community
Philem on R eid, w hose p aintings,
draw ings and prints interpret the A f
rican A merican jazz culture. His work
will be shown in a dozen or more
locations this weekend through this
m onth's Last Thursday art walk.
Everyone is invited to join the Art
Hop Parade Saturday, scheduled for
2:30 p.m.- You can dress up your dog,
child, bike or yourself; decorate a
float, your car, a wagon or w heelbar
row. You can carry a banner, streamer
or advertise your business; or bring
your music- a band, drum s or other
musical instrum ent to m ake some
noise.
Be it bands, strolling performers,
impromptu street performance, sky-
high b icycles, neighborhood kids
hawking hot dogs, or the hundreds of
artists displaying and selling theirow n
creations street side, there is some
thing to delight anyone open to "the
surprise o f art."
As street elder Allan O liver o f Onda
Gallery puts it: "Art has a transcen
dent kind o f power. It adds an aspect
that is very important to the emotional
and spiritual quality o f our lives and to
the com m unity in which we live."
* ■ -1
Youth Summer Sports
July 5 through July 27, the annual summer
youth sports program held at PSU cam
pus, providing low-income youths ages
10-16, with sports instruction, field trips,
a free medical exam and two free meals
daily. Registration is open now. Visit
palkids.org.
Interstate Farmers Market
A farmers market is held each Wednes--
day through Sept. 26 from 3 - 7 p.m. just
off Interstate Avenue between Overlook
Park and the Interstate Kaiser Permanente
Campus The market is known for its va
riety of quality fresh local produce, baked
goods, cut flowers, artisan cheese, meat
and fish.
‘Our Violent Sun'
On the second Monday of each month
through August, at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., the
M HCC Planetarium Sky Theater explores
the unpredictable behavior and flame
like geysers of our violent sun. Admis
sion is $ l.
Metro Start Heart Walk
Saturday, May 19, the American Heart
Association 'Heart W alk’ festival will
take place at the Vera Katz Eastbank
Esplanade, Southeast Water Avenue and
Main Street, opening ceremonies at 9:45
a.m. To register, visit pdxheartwalk.org.
Seeking the Horizon Luau
Saturday, May 19, the PSU Pacific Is
lander Club will host the annual luau at
the Peter Scott Center, Southwest 10th
Avenue and Hall Street. Doors open at 5
p.m. Tickets available now at the PSU box
office.
Basketball Classic
Saturday, May 26, at SEI, 3920 N. Kerby,
you invited to encourage and support
high school athletes compete in the Port
land Interscholastic League Basketball
Classic. Doors open at 2:30 p.m. with tip-
off at 3 p.m. Proceeds to benefit the Joyce
Washington Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Call Mark Washington at 503-288-0033
for more information.
Cockpit Day
Saturday, May 19, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
the Pearson Air Museum, 1115 E. Fifth
Street, invites the public to explore vin
tage aircrafts; free plane rides are avail
able for children ages 8-17 years old from
10a.m. to 3 p.m. Contact 360-694-7026 for
ticketing information.
International Night
Friday, May 18, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.,
Portland State University, host this 31st
annual event celebrating the student di
versity at PSU. The event will be held in
the Smith Memorial Student Union caf
eteria, 1825 S.W. Broadway. Call 503-725-
4094orvisitois@ pdx.edu for more infor
mation and ticketing.
Learning Improvement
Saturday, May 19, from 10:30 a.m. to
noon, the Celebration Tabernacle, 8131
N. Denver, host the free informational
presentation to improve learning skills
for all ages. Contact 503-286-1668 tor
more information.
Staying Healthy
Tuesday, May 22, Tuesday, June 5, and
W ednesday. June 6, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.,
the North East Health Center, 5329 N.E.
MLK Blvd., will host the forum discuss
ing issues of men and young m en's health.
A gift card will be given to all males
attending. Call 503-988-3387, extension
22242 for more information.
Community Support
The African American Health Coalition,
a non-profit that touches the lives of
m illionsof African Americans each year,
reminds you to support your community
organization. All donations, grants, and
gifts are tax deductible. For more informa
tion, visit aahc-portland.org.
Ceramics Pottery Sale
Tuesday, May 29 through Thursday.
May 3 1. the PCC Rock Creek cam pus,
17705 N. W. Springville Rd., the ceram
ics guild will hold its sem i-annual pot
tery sale in the art gallery and atrium in
Building 3.
communitv servic e
See story in Arts & Entertainment, inside
Saturday’s
celebration brings
people together
The A lberta Art Hop and parade
will take place on Saturday, May 19
with the goal o f creating com m unity
through the pow er o f the arts.
The eight annual event is an invita
tion for people to com e together to
create art together w hether as audi
ence or participant. It is a day long
celebration o f the arts with special
events scheduled from 11 a.m. to 8
p.m .
This creative-cultural arts festival
is put on by the street's local business
ow ners and artists, coordinated by
Art on Alberta.
Each year the festival is guided by
a theme. This year's them e is "Eyes
on A lberta—The G reat Aha!"
A rtists and residents will dem on
strate, using various original art form s
from visual arts to fashion, what the
A lberta arts district m eans as a com
munity. The festival them e will throw
a spotlight on w hat's new and special,
what lights up our eyes and our im agi
nations.
The “All A lberta A rtist” this year is
Philemon R eid will show his
paintings, drawings and prints on
African Am erican ja zz culture at
locations up an d down N ortheast
Alberta S tre e t during Saturday's
Art Hop. R eid is the “All Alberta
Artist" for this ye a r's celebration.
Young Artists
Honor Unsung Heroes
As they explore identity,
race and gentrification
by N icole R onal H ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
Artist Kathe Sw aback moved to Portland in 2002
and opened Art Up on Northeast 16th and Alberta
Street. Like many others who m oved here recently,
she had no idea o f the historic contributions that
A frican-A m ericans made to her neighborhood. But
what Swaback did know was that she d id n 't want to
be another white person m oving on A lberta and not
doing anything for the A frican-A m erican com m u
nity.
This year, as a part of Saturday’s annual Art Hop
celebration, she along with 12 young women aged 12-17
will showcase Project Look Up featuring 80-inch oil
portraits honoring 10 women of color.
In exploring them es o f identity, racism and
gentrification, the young artists discovered and utilized
their own strengths, goals and dreams of their future in
creating these portraits. The Regional Arts and Culture
Council awarded a grant for the exhibit.
The goal was not only to teach art but honor local
African Americans who have blazed new trails and made
a positive difference in Portland.
Like Swaback, and perhaps the young artists them
selves, many local residents regardless of color may not
know the local history and how African-American women
have contributed.
“One of my passions is working with teens and I just
tried to put it all together," said Swaback. “If kids don't
have people in their lives that they can look up to, they
w on't be able to achieved their dreams,” she said, "They
need more than celebrities and reality TV people for role
Oil portraits honoring 1 0 w om en o f color are going on display beginning baturoay ounng m e n i u e n c
Art Hop celebration at Art Up stu d io s. 1 6 1 4 N.E. Alberta St. The creators include Trisha Taylor (far
left) who is honoring Maya Angelou; S a d e ' B ea sley (top. center) who is honoring Elizabeth Catlett
and Beatrice Cannady; and Tricia Knope (center, bottom ) who is honoring Roslyn Hill.
models.”
The components for the project came together when
Swaback became familiar with Rosalyn Hill.
Hillis a black woman and a fixture in the Alberta and
northeast community who owns several properties,
a successful woman by any means.
continued
on pane II2
Jefferson Grad Earns Doctorate from Harvard
Will use her
expertise to
teach teachers
F ifte e n y ears ago, D yan
Watson graduated with highest
honors from Thomas Jefferson
High School.
Jefferson has been given a bum
wrap over the years as it struggles
to maintain educational standards
and meet enrollment goals. De-
r — “
I
Dyan W atson
............—
S
; spile its battle to reclaim its good was already an adult when their
name, the school serving north parents divorced. The family
1 and northeast P ortland, has relocated to O regon to start
her bachelor s, master
te a c h in g c e rtific a te
Willamette University in S
graduated brilliant minds that afresh and Dyan landed in
contribute to our community and Vernon Elementary in northeast
Watson was true to hi
glory and graduated cum
,« our society as a u hole. One ol
Portland and then Binnsmead
Upon graduation, she too