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www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVII, Number 26
Sam Brooks
Makes History
in Business
On July 1 six business lead
ers jo in ed the Portland B usi
ness A lliance board o f direc
tors, and heading that group is
Sam Brooks, an advocate for
minority, w om en and em erging
sm all businesses in Portland
and the region.
B ro o k s is p re sid e n t and
fo u n d er o f both S. B rooks and
A sso c ia te s and the O regon
A sso c iatio n o f M inority E n
trep ren e u rs (O A M E ). He is
also the first A frican A m eri
can to serv e as ch a ir for the
d o w n to w n b u sin ess gro u p in
its 137-year h istory.
B rooks founded his self-
nam ed em ploym ent agency 26
years ago in northeast Portland,
creating O reg o n ’s first m inor
ity staffing firm. In 1987 he
form ed O A M E, acollaboration
o f more than 800 com panies in
the northw est doing business
w ith 57 countries. The group
has grow n to becom e the most
diverse business association in
the Pacific Northwest.
He will chair the PBA board
after 20 years o f personal in
volvem ent.
“ B rooks has w orked tire
lessly on behalf o f m inority-
and w om en-ow ned businesses
and we are fortunate that he will
be leading our organization,”
said Sandra M cD onough, A lli
ance president and CEO.
N ine other board m em bers
will step into leadership roles at
the PBA, including treasurer
C harles W ilhoite. W ilhoite is
d irectorof W illam ette M anage
m ent A ssociates and a form er
board chairm an o f the Urban
League o f Portland.
Wednesday • July II, 2007
TI Week in
The Review
Searched Man Wins Appeal
The conviction o f a Portland man
in 2004 w as throw n out by a
fe d e ra l a p p e lla te c o u rt la st
m onth, stating that even though
Bennie D em etrius W ashington
gave his consent to a search that
led to the discovery o f a 9 mm
handgun, the search w as not
legal. See sto ry , p ag e A2.
N-Word Funeral
T h e N A A C P had a fu n eral fo r
the N -w o rd M o nday at th eir
an n u al c o n v e n tio n , in hopes
o f rem o v in g o ne o f th e m ost
v o la tile w ords in the E nglish
la n g u ag e from pop cu ltu re and
rap so n g s. T h e m ock funeral
featured a horse draw n carriage
and black flo w ers. In 1944, the
N A A C P held an o th er funeral
to bury Jim C row . S ee s to r y ,
p a g e A 3.
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Little League Tournament
Play at Peninsula Park
Northside Little League members (left) join Peninsula Little League President Mary Dunn
and District Representatives Marsha Mills and Mary Brooks at Peninsula Park in North
Portland for the District 1 Softball All-Star Tournament, held at the park from July 5
through July 16. This is the first time the tournament has been hosted by Peninsula Park.
Diddy & Porter Done
Just m onths after his longtim e
girlfriend Kim Porter gave birth
to tw in g irls, S ean “D id d y ”
C om bs announced Tuesday that
the pair has split up. The m ove
cam e a few m onths after the two
publicly proclaim ed their love
for one another in a cover story
for E ssence m agazine, w hich
detailed their turbulent history.
New Seven Wonders
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The New Seven W onders o f the
W orld was announced during
the O fficial D eclaration ce r
em ony in Lisbon, Portugal on
Saturday after the first ev er glo
bal election. The new w onders
include the G reat W all o f China,
India's Taj Mahal and the Ro
man Coliseum. The Statue o f Lib
erty was the only A m erican w on
der to reach the finals.
Oden Out for Summer
TheTrail Blazers m ade a spur-of-
the-m om ent decision on M on
day, deciding top draft pick Greg
O d en 's tonsils needs to be re
moved right away, m eaning he'll
likely miss the rest o f sum m er
league. B lazers g en eral m an
ager K evin P ritchard said O den
w as p lay in g w ith to n sils the
size o f g o lf b alls, h am p erin g
his b re a th in g . S ee sto ry in
S p o r ts, p a g e B6.
Bush Continues Showdown
Charles Wilhoite
Judge Youlee You serves Multnomah County as the first Korean-American judge in the state court system.
!
hd
Making the Courtroom More Diversified
First Korean-
American judge
promotes fairness
by C harity P rater
F or the P ortland O bserver
It is an am azing responsibility and accom
plishment to be the first Korean-American judge
and the first A sian-A m erican judge to be ap
pointed to the state court system in Oregon.
Y oulee You o f Portland said it has also been
a big role reversal from h erdays practicing law.
“ I was so accustom ed to being an attorney
for such a long time that I really had a hard time
trying to not critique the attorney in trials,"
says You. “I had to get used to not litigating for
them ."
You said she pursued her February appoint
ment because she w as drawn to being a person
that applies the law in acorrect way, preserving
dignity in the courtroom and w orking with
other professionals like her.
She has follow ed other female judges and
m inorities into the courtroom , like Kenneth
W alker o f Portland and Betty Roberts with a
strong determ ination and perseverance.
“ I grew up with a strong sense o f Asian
culture in my fam ily," says You. “That is a big
part o f who 1 am and I am happy to m ake the
courtroom more diversified."
You has spoken at the K orean-A m erica
Youth C onference to encourage children to
find careers that they love. She also spoke at the
Oregon M inority Lawyers Luncheon, which is
a non-profit organization that helps find schol
arship money for people o f color w ho are taking
the Bar.
You earned a Bachelor o f Arts in econom ics
and urban planning from W ellesley College in
M assachusetts in 1986. After that, she attended
the University o f W ashington School o f Law to
earn her J.D. in 1989.
A fter college, she worked as a staff attorney
at the M etropolitan Public D efenders O ffice in
Portland for four years. There she worked as a
continued ^ ^ r n ip a g e A 6
G eorge Bush refused to tu m o v er
docum ents M onday and urged
two form er aides to refuse to
reveal evidence before congres
sional com m ittees about the fir
ings o f nine law yers last year.
The m otion is the latest in a legal
battle betw een the W hite House
and lawm akers. If neither side
yields, the m atter could land in
federal court.
Baghdad Claims Life of
Oregon Woman
Spc. M ichelle Ring, 26, o f O r
egon w as killed T hursday by
m ortar fire w hile on guard at a
cam p in Baghdad. Ring was a
single m other o f tw o young boys
when she enlisted in the U.S.
Army tw o years ago. She is the
first w om an soldier with O regon
ties to die in the Iraq war.