Committed to Cultural Diversity
www. port landobserver. tom
June 6, 2 0 0 7
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Cavaliers and
Spurs Face Off
for NBA Finals
M etro
Ælu ^.lortlanh (Dbscruer
SECTION
Dancing Away Controversy
o m n i u n it y
a le n d a r
C
Praise and Worship
Local singer/songw riter G loria Stidum
perform s a free adm ission concert at
E m m anuel T em ple C hurch, 1033 N.
Sum ner, on Saturday, June 9 at 6:30 p.m!
Call Coreinne Peters at 503-758-4556.
Cycle the Well Held
Join Portland W ater Bureau and the C o
lumbia Slough W atershed Council for a
free bicycle tour through P o rtlan d ’s
G roundw ater Protection Area. Specialists
will reveal the mysteries o f groundwater
and how it affects the reliability to the
C ity’s water supply and how to protect it
on Saturday, June 9lh at 9 a.m. T o register
contact Katie Meckes at 503-281-1132.
Youth Summer Sports
July 5 through July 27, the sum m er youth
sports program is held on the Portland
State U niversity cam pus, providing low-
incom e youths ages 10-16, with sports
instruction, field trips, afree medical exam
and tw o free m eals daily. R egistration is
open now. V isit palkids.org.
Washington Park Shuttle
Sum m er service is every 15 m inutes from
10 a.m -7 p.m with m ore than 10 stops
including the O regon Z oo and the Japa
nese G arden. T he shuttle runs daily
through L abor Day. R egularT ri-M et fare
applies.
Interstate Farmers Market
A farm ers market is held each W ednes
day through Sept. 26 from 3 - 7 p.m . ju st
o ff Interstate A venue betw een O verlook
Park and the Interstate K aiser Permanente
C am pus T he m arket is know n for its va
riety o f quality fresh local produce, baked
goods, cut flow ers, artisan cheese, meat
and fish.
Planet Jupiter
O n the second M onday o f each month
through A ugust, at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m ., the
M HCC Planetarium Sky Theaterexpiores
the planet that outshines every other
planet in the sky except Venus. V isitors
will learn how to locate Jupiter and its four
m oons as well as other planets. A dm is
sion is $1.
Portland State
student body
celebrates Roots
by R aymond R endleman
T he P ortland O bserver
It’s rem arkable enough that a m em ber
o f the Shoshone-B annock tribe and the
N orteños gang in Idaho ended up study
ing at Portland State University. But after
also overcom ing a challenge to his stu
dent-body presidential eligibility, Rudy
Soto could enjoy last w eekend’s Roots
F e s tiv a l, a tw o -d a y c e le b ra tio n o f
m ulticultural social contributions that he
launched last year in the South Park Blocks.
A fter all the festival preparations and
Elections Board hassles, Soto w as too
busy dancing with his girlfriend to orga
nize m ore than a sim ple handoff o f student
governm ent’s office keys last Friday in
honor o f his inauguration.
“T h ere’s definitely a connection b e
tw een my w inning the election and my
starting the Roots F estival," he says. “The
Roots Festival show ed people w hat I care
about, and people like m y com m itm ent to
bringing cu ltu res to g eth er in positive
w ays.”
Upon winning 52 percent o f the popular
vote, Soto faced an eligibility challenge
from the other candidate; Patrick Beisell,
whom the Elections Board briefly declared
president-elect. Soto’s m inim um course
load eligibility was reaffirmed under the
guidance o f Chip Lazenby, P S U 's general
legal counsel.
Soto argues that Beisell is more o f stu
dent-governm ent insider, w hich m akes
Beisell “m ore qualified on paper.”
Beisell said that he will not appeal S oto's
position further.
In an election decided by less than 10
,
continued
yf
photo by R aymond R endleman /T he P ortland O bserver
on page B6
R00ts Festival coordinators, (from left) Erin Mason, Leah Meijer and Rudy Soto. PSU's newly inaugurated student-body
president, dance to a Latin-American band called Matices.
Revolutionary Feminist
Organization meeting
Antidote to Widening Health Disparities
M onday, June 11 at6 :3 0 p m ,th ere w illbe
a chance to learn about Radical W om en’s
activities and how to get involved. The
meeting will take place at the Bread and
Roses C enter, 819 N. K illingsw orth St.
Growing segment
heads to the gym
Juneteenth Celebration
Saturday, June 16, from 12 p.m. to dusk,
the public is invited to this free event at
Peninsula Park in north Portland.
Community Support
by R aymond R endleman
T he P ortland O bserver
It's no coincidence that tw o b u ff m em
bers o f the black com m unity recently re
ceived aw ards for their com m itm ent to
strength training.
10 whi tes o f an eq ual ly si zed popu I at ion i n
M ultnomah County, health gurus are push
ing for the com m unity’s dedication to
fitness.
O regon’s leading authority on African-
A m erican health calls these diseases pre
v e n ta b le . c la im in g th a t th e b la c k
population’s seven percent quicker in
crease in diabetes m ortality over the past
decade can be stem m ed through the refi-
The A frican A m erican H ealth C oalition,
a non-profit that touches the lives o f
mi I lions o f A frican A m ericans each year,
rem inds you to support your com m unity
organization. All donations, grants, and
gifts are tax deductible. For more inform a
tion, visit aahc-portland.org.
Help Loaves & Ashes
The T wo Rivers Loaves & Fishes C enter,
9009 N. Foss St., needs volunteerdrivers
fo r m e a ls-o n -w h e e ls to e h su re that
hom ebound seniors in St. Johns receive
nutritional m eals and a bit o f com panion
ship. Call 503-988-4088.
African American Council
Y ou’re invited on the third T uesday o f
each m onth from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
when the A frican A m erican A dvisory
Council m eets at the King Facility, 4815
N.E. Seventh Ave. Call 503-823-0000.
Vancouver Outdoors Market
Saturdays and Sundays, through Oct. 27,
the V ancouver O utdoor M arket will fea
ture fresh produce, food, and arts and
crafts. H ours are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on
Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on
S undays.
Diabetes Support Group
Legacy Emanuel H ospital hosts a d iabe
tes support group the first and third
Thursdays o f every month, from 7 p.m. to
8p.m ., in Room 1027.
Parenting Classes
N ew borns d o n 't com e with instruction
m anuals but parents and parents-to-be
can attend classes through Providence
Health System s to Icam about a variety o f
to p ic s from pain and c h ild b irth to
breastfeeding to infant CPR and much
more. For a schedule o f events, call 503-
574-6595 or visit: pnw idence.org/classes.
photoby
R aymond R endleman /T he P ortland O bserver
Former diabetics Morcell and Anthony 0 'Neal play to their strengths at
■Dishman Community Center under the guidance of Garland Brown (left), a
Multnomah County 2007 Public Health Hero.
A s a w ay to turn aw ay from drugs and
obesity, a growing segm ent o f the A fri
can-A m erican com m unity heads regularly
to the gym.
Much o f the m ovem ent stems from the
refusal to believe that there is no hope in
curtailing a prevalence o f cardiovascular
diseases. C onsidering that an average o f
25 blacks will die from diabetes for every
I
nancing o f strength-training programs.
"M inority com m unities were already
disproportionately impacted, so budget
cuts are going to affect blacks m ore,” says
C orliss M cKeever, president o f the A fri
can A m erican Health Coalition.
R esponding to the cause o f the dispar
ity, M cK eever says "there are a million
reasons.” but she sees a cure in the in
creased access to be gained through sys
tem atic expansion o f outreach programs.
She cites the federally funded Dishman
C om m unity C enter in northeast Portland
as a successful- means o f curtailing the
im pact o f obesity o f the black com munity.
But such program s need people to run
them, and few em ployees can work as hard
as G arland Brown, D ishm an’s fitness
trainer. W hile staying sensitive to the
clientele's needs. Brown can keep a weight
room packed with people at full tilt.
“He has no problem showing people
again and again: th at's another thing I like
about G arland," says Morcel I O ’ Neal. who
has worked with Brown for several years.
“For him it's all about the medical prob
lems, so he worked around my diabetes."
This sort o f feedback caught the atten
tion o f the M ultnomah County Health
Department, which recently presented him
a Public Health Hero award. "A s we ad
dress these health disparities head on, our
effort has been to forge connections with
the affected com m unities, so Garland is
our partner in the black com m unity,” says
Lillian Shirley, departm ent director.
The scarcity o f m edia attention to the
tro u b lin g tren d s ad d itio n ally bothers
Shirley, who toiled over last fall's release
o f the “Ethnic Disparities in M ultnomah
C ounty" report. “All we can do is take that
data and m ake sure that all the right people
look at that data," she says.
T h at's why Shirley is helping health
departm ents becom e the m edia by releas
ing a “Hidden Epidem ic” program on pub
lic television this com ing fall.
Brown argues for any sort o f program
ming that m otivates the com m unity to be
active. “T hey all talk about how they want
to stay fit, get healthy and all that, but you
got to sacrifice the time to do it. because
it’s hard w ork," he says. “You d o n ’t have
to com e to com pete, you just have to do
som ething, even if you just walk in the
n eighborhood."
Although com petition isoptional, many
blacks em brace this aspect, trading the
adversity in their lives for sport.
A fter spending the prim e six years of
his life in jail, Julius Thom as realized that
continued
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on page R6
Darryl! L.C. Moch
Black Gay Pride
Brother To Brother
hosts events, party
Hundreds o f people are expected to
celebrate the 6th annual Portland Black
Pride 2007, Saturday. June 9 through
Sunday, June 17.
Produced by Brother T o Brother, a
support and advocacy organization
for African-American gay and bisexual
men, their fam ilies and their friends,
the local group aim s to create a voice
and outlet for the growing black gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgendercom -
m unity in the Northwest.
The them e o f this y ea r's celebra
tion is H aram bee (Let Us C om e T o
gether). It's a call to build com m unity
and be part o f a larger com m unity
effort for visibility, equality and ju s
tice, according to Darryl! L.C. Moch.
ex e cu tiv e d irec to r o f B rother To
Brother.
T his y ea r’s events will include a
health forum for black lesbian and
bisexual w om en and special guest
p e rfo rm a n c e s by O re g o n n a tiv e
Law anda Jackson, Pebbles Campbell
Starr, and Lady Chablis (from S eattle).
Com m unity dialogues are scheduled
on being black, gay and HIV positive;
the interconnection o f racism and ho
m ophobia in the African A merican
com m unity, and other topics.
continued
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on page R6