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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 27, 2007)
lune 27, 2007 il,t'|JnrtIanh (S)bseruv 2X‘ Page A3 Camps Rich in African Culture The H om ow o African Arts and Cultures group is back again with three sum m er cam ps providing rich cultural experiences for one week at a time. D esigned to introduce young sters to a variety o f perf orm ing arts activities w hile learning about the richness o f A frica and cultural arts, classes are taught by H om ow o perform ers w ho share their know l edge o f G hanaian drum m ing and dance through lively activities. Stu dents will learn to play som e basic drum rhythm s, dance and hear A f rican stories. T he first cam p began this week at Portland Children’s Museum. The second cam p takes place July 9 through July 13 at the Friendly House C om m unity Center, 1737 N.W . 26th Ave. T he third cam p lakes place July I ('through 20 at the Interstate Firehou e C ultural C en ter, 5340 N. Interstate. For m ore inform ation, call 503- 2 8 8 -3 0 2 5 or e m a il Summer camps by the Homowo arts and culture group introduces kids to African dance and a variety o f performing arts activities. susan@ hom ow o.org. Local Schools Score Writing Gains Prelim inary assessm ent results show Portland students are making substantial gains in w riting profi ciency. Superintendent Vicki P ullipsre leased district-wide scores at a press conference Tuesday at King E l e m e n ta ry S c h o o l, a n o rth e a st school that raised its percentage o f students m eeting or exceeding the w riting benchm ark by 48 percent. All Portland Public Schools fo cused on w riting-this year to in crease teaching capacity and stu dent achievem ent in all schools. "W e’re giving our teachers the tools they need to really make a difference and they are,” Phillips said. "T here is much w ork to be done, but theses scores are a sign that our targeted focus is helping to raise achievem ent in classroom s throughout the city." T he increases in reading test scores were not lim ited to any one cluster or school. Chapm an, King, W interhaven and Faubion showed marked improvement over last year. Debut Film on Tribal Rights A P ortland native and in d e pendent film m aker m akes her na tio n a l te le v is io n d e b u t w ith “ Standing Silent N ation,” a d o cu m entary d ep ictin g the co llisio n b e tw e e n a N a tiv e A m e ric a n fa m ily ’s hem p grow ing practices and op p o sin g U .S. g o vernm ent fo rces. T he film tak es us back to A pril 2000, w hen Alex W hite Plum e and his L ak o ta fam ily p la n ted in d u s trial hem p on the P ine R idge R e s erv atio n in South D ak o ta after o th e r cro p s had failed. W hen fed eral a g e n ts raid ed th e ir fields the L ak o ta N ation w as sw ep t into a B y zan tin e stru g g le Judge bring unique perspective to bench con tin u ed fro m Front treated fairly, both professionally and intellectually. W alker is proud that he w as able to bring diversity to the bench. “It is im portant for everyone to reach out and identify with people o f other races. The more people you meet the sm arter you will becom e," says Walker. Com ing from a difficult child hood, W alker sym pathizes with those that are struggling financially, with drug use, and those that turn tocrim e. "I w ould say that 99 percent o f the crim inal justice system is due to poverty," says W alker. “I see m y self on the other side o f the bench all the time. It was a very real future for me grow ing up w here I did and I am thankful I had the opportunity to get out o f LA .” For som eone w ho has com e so far. W alker is an exam ple for all y o u n g p eo p le. W h e re are his friends from Com pton today? "They are either dead or spend ing life in prison,” says W alker. o ver tribal sovereignty, econom ic rig h ts and co m m o n sense. T he d o cu m en ta ry w ill b ro ad cast on O P B ’s "P o in t o f V iew " T u esd ay , Ju ly 3 at 10 p.m . H erm ann i s an in stru cto r in the d ig ital film an d v id eo d e p a rt m ent at the A rt In stitu te o f P o rt land. Dear Deanna! My grandm other is em barrass ing because sh e’s old and still trying to act young. It’s annoy ing td see my grandm other trying to sing rap songs, sm oke ciga rettes and w earing jeans. My parents d o n ’t mind but I d o n ’t think its right. I feel that she makes h erse lf look fo o lish and she d o esn 't realize that people arc- laughing at her. I would likea few suggestions on how I can have this discussion with my grand m other without appearing disre spectful? --Amber; Oklahoma City, Okla. Dear Amber: Your grandm other is old enough to live her life without worrying about w hat you or anyone else thinks. You could learn things such self-co n fid en ce and the ability to love life from this woman. If she was smoking marijuana and d ressing like a h oochie, you would have a legitim ate problem. But since sh e’s enjoying life, you should relax, take her shopping and be blessed that you have a grandm other th a t's on her feet and not deceased or in a nursing home. Dear Deanna! My daughter has left for college and m ade a mess out o f her life. I took the time to help with student loans and scholarships and she has Bunked out o f the first se mester. I learned that she never went to class and her school sup plies haven’t been touched. To m ake m atters worse, sh e’s now back at hom e pregnant and un em ployed. I d o n ’t have time for this and I'm tired o f dealing with her drama. I know this is my daughter but w hat can I do to help w ithout disrupting my life? —Glenda; Birmingham, Ala. Dear Glenda: Courtney Hermann Your daughter’sbad life and m is takes are a reflection o f your poor parenting skills. Ifyou don’t have tim e for your daughter now, you probably d id n 't have tim e when she was growing up and now she A s k Deanna ! Real People, Real Advice An advice column known fo r reality based subjects! doesn ’ t know i f she’s going or com ing. You need to make tim e now because ifyou d o n '(y o u 'll be stuck with her longer than you think. Help her restore her options in life and encourage her to go back to school, get a jo b and find the b ab y 's father so sh e'll have help. Dear Deanna! I recently gave birth to a baby girl. My boyfriend was hoping for a boy an d he se e m e d d is a p p o in te d . T hings were fine until the baby was three m onths old. My boyfriend stopped com ing around and when he did, he alw ays seem ed distant. I later learned that he has a new son that is a month older than my daugh ter. He cheated on me, got som eone pregnant and we had our kids at the sam e time. I am devastated and d o n 't know what to do about this relationship? -Devastated New Mom; Queens, N. Y. Dear Devastated: Y our first m istake is having a baby out o f wedlock. A nother m istake is a boyfriend that show ed disap pointm ent because o f the baby's gender. You can see in advance that ifyou stay with this man y o u ’re going to have cheating, dram a from another w om an and a stressful re lationship. It’s to your advantage to organize the child support pay m ents and seek com m itm ent. If he w o n 't do the right thing, kick him to the curb, raise your child and keep it moving. Ask Deanna is written by Deanna M. Write Ask Deanna! Email: askdeannal@yahoo.com or 264 S. LaCienega Bird. Suite 1283 Beverly Hills, CA 90211. Website: it'trw. askdeanna, com Gambling Can Put You at Odds with Yourself. When you play, set a time limit and stick to a budget. DON’T LET THE GAME PLAY YOU. C a s e S t u d y in L e g a l F i g h t H a s T ra g ic E n d in g con tin u ed fro m F ront cry W ard that allowed him his cozy home. Enjoying life to the fullest, O rr alw ays had a positive attitude that revealed itself through self-deter mination, but his independent spirit ended up w orking against him in hard times. A fter his stroke and bouts with mental illness, he found that the legal system was badly equipped to deal with his circum stances. Fighting hard to overcom e his condition, he was alw ays saying, “ I got to go to w ork," even on his sick bed. B u t, a few m o n th s a g o at S u n n y sid e H o sp ita l, he b roke dow n cry in g saying he w ould n ev e r play g o lf again, and he w as ready to "go w est.” A sked to clarify , he said that he w as not referring to his repossessed hom e in A loha, the area w here he was on e o f the first A frican A m eri ca n s to live startin g nearly 40 y ears ago. Out o f panic or neglect, no one may know for sure, a Are dam aged a room o f his house before the authorities dragged him out for the last time. O rr resisted legal help because he was convinced that outsiders w ere conspiring to steal his trea sured possessions. His previously strong sense o f autonom y, along with not finding anybody in the legal system who could relate to him as a black man, added to those woes. Perhaps if a lawyer had special diversity training, advocates claim , state custody over his affairs m ight have been avoided. When O rrdied, his sister Thelm a Stone was in a battle to gain control over his medical care and state o f affairs. T o honor his life. Stone co m posed a piece titled "Lam entation for my B rother," based on her fight with creditors and Aging and Dis ability Services, saying in part, “ It seem s the system failed him, as it has many others.” R a th er than O rr beco m in g an o th e r statistic o f m ental illn ess. S tone w ants “all o f h u m an ity to re m e m b e rth e lesso n s o fh is life." O rrd ie d Ju n e 15 ,2 0 0 7 at the age of 64. His memorial service was held Friday at Rose City Cem etery. His son Steven O rr preceded him in death in 2005. He is survived by eight brothers and sisters: Ann Lee, K enneth O rr, N ettie S an d ifer, Thelm a Stone. Shelton Glass, Verna G lass, Edward G lass and Evelyn Williams. 877-MY-LIMIT oregonlotteryhelp.org