Committed to Cultural Diversity
www. port landobserver. tom
M etro
'ri!‘
(Ji)bserrter
MISSISSIPPI
AVENUE
Street Fair
July II. 200 7
Live music, local vendors and
lots o f food at this weekend's
festival in north Portland
See Arts & Entertainment, inside
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B
Grandmother Confronts Human Services
SECTION
p o n i i n u nity
C a le n d a r
Tax Help in Rockwood
Beginning, W ednesday, July 11, VITA
tax aide for low-income families will begin
to assist clients at the Rockw ood Com
munity office, 18709 S.E. Stark. Clients are
seen by appointm ent only. A ppointm ents
will be m ade on W ednesdays only from
1 p.m. to 5 p.m., by calling 503-816-1530.
Moonrise Film Festival
Friday and Saturday, July 13 and July 14
Portland State U niversity’s 5th A venue
Cinem a, 510 S.W . Hall St. will host the
Philippines M oonrise Film Festival fea
turing eight independent short films. Both
evenings the doors will open at 6:30 p.m.
with screenings beginning at 7 p.m.
African Arts Camp
H om ow o A frican A rts & C ulture will be
im m ersing students in traditional African
culture m usic and dance. The last avail
able cam p is scheduled on M onday, July
16 thru Friday. July 20, for more inform a
tion call: 503-288-3025,
Friends of Trees
Saturday, July 14, the Friends o f Trees
will be training volunteer neighborhood
coordinators for the Boise, Humbolt, Eliot
and Piedm ont neighborhoods. C ontact
Kathryn at 503-282-8848, extension 12 or
visit friendsoftrees.org.
Mississippi Street Fair
Saturday,July 14,from 10a.m. to7p.m ., the
Mississippi Avenue Street Fair takes place
between North Skidmore and Fremont.
The Boise-Eliot Kid’s C om er will be pro­
viding music, art, magic, gam es and more
with special free events at the Mississippi
Ballroom. This is a free event benefiting the
Boise-Eliot Elementary School.
International Day Festival
Saturday,July 14,from N oonto6p.m ..the
Roseway Neighborhood presents an In­
ternational Day Festival at Northeast 72
Avenue and Sandy Boulevard with free
family-friendly fun and food, followed by
a free movie showing at the Roseway
Theater. Visit PDX ID.com for more infor­
mation.
Harry Potter Book Party
Friday, July 20, at 8 p.m .. In O ther W ords
Bookstore, 8 N.E. K illingsw orth Ave.,
and the Rock and Roll C am p for Girls will
host a m idnight release party for the long-
anticipated, 'H arry P otterandthe Deathly
H allow s’. For more inform ation, call 503-
232-6003 or visit inotherw ords.org.
Zoo Support Party
On Saturday, July 21, from 7 p.m. to 10
p.m., the O regon Z oo F oundation's an­
nual fundraiser prom ises to be the social
event o f the season, featuring the noctur­
nal antics o f the exotic zoo residents,
delicious food and drink and a live perfor­
m a n c e by th e B e a tn ik s . V is it
oregonzoo.org or call 503-2 2 6 -1 5 6 1 for
more inform ation and tickets.
Chunky Dunk PDX
Sunday, July 22, from 5:15 p.m. to 7:15
p.m., the Peninsula ParkCom m unity C en­
ter and Pool, at the corner o f Rosa Parks
W ay (Portland Boulevard) and North
A lbina Street, will host the private pool
party for people o f size and guests. A d­
m ission is $5 per person.
Eliminating Racism
Thursday, Aug. 2, from 8:30a.m . to 12:30
p.m., an eliminating racism workshop will
be hosted in the YW CA Clark County
agency’scom m unity room, 3609 Main St.
in Vancouver. Call 360-906-9103 oremaiI
jkinsey@ yw caclarkcounty.org.
Mock Crest Home Tour
S aturday,July 2 8 ,from 10a.m. to I p.m ..
R ejuvenation’s and Neil Kelly Co. will
sponsor the tour o f six charm ing 19 2 0 's
vintage hom es in the historic M ock Crest
neighborhixxl. Call 503-231 -7264 for more
information.
Native American Home Fair
Saturday, July 28, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m..
Legacy Emanuel Medical Offices. 501 N.
Graham, will host a free event featuring
hom ebuyer assistance information, ral lies
and Native American dance performances.
For more information, visit nayaptlx.org or
call 503-288-8177,extension 232.
Art Classes for All Ages
T he P ortland Art M useum is o ffering a
v ariety o f classe s and w o rkshops for
all ages. C all 5 0 3 -2 7 6 -4 2 5 4 for m ore
inform ation.
Claims abusive
policies and racism
by R aymond R endleman
T he P ortland O bserver
N
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NT O F
□URCES
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6
A grandm other’s protestis helping raise
aw areness about the need for reform in
O regon ’s child-protection system.
For well over a m onth now, Carollynn
Sm ith, 60, has held a w eekly three-hour
vigil in front o f the O regon D epartm ent o f
H um an S e rv ic e s b u ild in g on N orth
V ancouver A venue and A lberta Street to
dispute the state custody o f tw o o f her
grandchildren.
Since she already cares for five grand­
children, Smith c a n ’t see how DHS ju sti­
fies revoking custody o f her tw o young­
est, Clynn Black and K offee Ow ens.
T he hum an-services agency claim s that
S m ith’s age and m odestly-sized house
prevents her from caring for so m any ch il­
dren in a hygienic and nurturing manner.
She refuses to w orry about her protest
turning DHS officials against her case,
and she becom es particularly resolute
when people question her public expres­
sion on this issue.
She asks, "D id G od w ake m e up this
m orning to fight for my grandchildren and
ask m e if I had a perm it? I d o n ’t think so.”
W hile she aw aited w ord from a DHS
photo by R aymond R endi eman /T he P ortland O bserver
inquiry into her house’s size, cleanliness
Carollynn Smith protests outside the Oregon Department of Human Services building on North Vancouver Avenue with
and general suitability for children, a non­ pictures of two o f her grandchildren who are in foster care. She is trying to gain custody of the children and accuses
p r o f it ra d io s ta tio n c r it ic iz e d th e
the state agency of abusive policies.
departm ent’s practices.
it,” w rote Don D arland, president o f the
“ It looks like all the other houses in the
These cases also mark the recent re­ population, although these cases account
O regon Foster Parent Association.
neighborhood, so I was shocked that they
lease o f D H S 's annual "Status o f Children
for a small percentage o f overall violence
S m ith 's protest com es at a tim e when
w o u ld p ic k on h e r ,” s a y s Y v e tte
in O regon’s Child Protection System " re­ toward children. DHS claim s that African
M aranow ski, a v o lu n teer rep o rter for tw o-year-old Stephanie K untupis is re­ port, citing 2006 as the 10-year high in the
and Native Am erican families are about
quiring brain surgery at Legacy Emanuel
KBOO.
state's child-abuse rate.
three times as likely to have children who
Hospital after sustaining injuries while in
Foster-care advocates have w arned for
The report show ed that O regon’s sys­ are victims o f abuse or neglect.
years that dim inishing funds for DHS ser­ the state-sponsored system. "1 get the
tem for preventing abuse is far from per­
Gov. Ted Kulongoski was inspired to
im pression that if my wife w ere white, we
fect.
vices might lead to system atic problem s.
sign five bills on the day DHS released the
w ould have reunification," says the fa­
"T he foster care system is only as good
Forexam ple, foster families abuse chil­
continued
on page H6
as the people who choose to be a part o f ther. Steven Kuntupis.
dren at a higher rate than the general
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Spike Lee’s Katrina
Film Featured
July 21 at Portland Art Museum
Portland will get a repeat perform ance
o f D irector Spike L e e 's “W hen the
Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four A cts”
w hen the docum entary plays Saturday,
July 2 1 at 6:30 p.m. at the N orthwest Film
C e n ter’s W hitsell A uditorium at the
Portland Art M useum , 1219 S.W . Park
A ve.
On Aug. 29. 2005, the city o f New
O rleans was forever changed when H ur­
ricane Katrina destroyed much o f the
city, killed m ore than a thousand resi­
dents and displaced well over a million
people.
Like many w ho w atched the unfold-
ing dram a on television, Lee was shocked
not only by the scale o f the disaster, but
also by the inept em ergency response
and recovery efforts. Com pelled tocom e
to grips with the disaster with his own
"film docum ent," Lee interviewed nearly
100 p eo p le-p o litician s, activists, artists
and ordinary victim s - to tell the stories
o f those who endured the harrowing
ordeal and survived to tell their tales o f
misery, heartbreak, despairand triumph.
Com posed in four acts, "W hen the Director Spike Lee's documentary "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in
Levees Broke" is a sw eeping chronicle Four Acts ” deals with the Hurricane Katrina disaster and the inept emergency
continued
on page B6
response and recovery efforts. The film comes to the big screen July 21 at
the Portland Art Museum.
College
Tuition
Paid in Full
Portland Community
College Cascade Campus
President Algie Gatewood
recognizes Elizabeth Bair
with the ceremonial
presentation o f a
$90.000 Jack Kent
Cooke scholarship,
dedicated to high-
achieving students from
low income households.
PCC graduates are
in rare company
Port land Com m unity College graduates
Nikki Hurtado and Elizabeth B airareinrare
com pany.
The tw o are recipients o f three-year,
$90,000 Jack Kent C ooke U ndergraduate
T ransfer Scholarships, tw o o f 51 nation­
w ide aw ardees who are high-achieving
students from low -incom e households.
T he Jack Kent C o o k e F o undation
aw ards the undergraduate transfer schol­
arships each year to students attending
tw o-year institutions in the U nited States
who plan to transfer to four-year institu­
tions. This year, the Foundation received
723 applications for the scholarships.
"I had n o clu e," H urtado said. “ I'm just
amazed. It is such a big award that I thought
I co u ld n 't ever win it."
Bair was equally surprised.
“ It's a huge opportunity for m e," said
Bair, who earned a tw o-year degree in
gerontology and a transfer degree at PCC.
“ I'm a later student and by the time I finish
my bachelor's degree I ’ 11 be 5 2. Th i s makes
all the difference. I c a n 't believe it."
Bair, 48, o f northeast Portland, plans to
attend Pacific University. In 2004, Bair was
w orking at a call center in Portland while
supplementing her income by making jew ­
elry and cleaning houses when she d e­
cided to enroll at the college to become an
occupational therapist.
An occupational therapist helps those
in jured in accidents to live independently.
She was inspired by her mother, who was
diligently cared for by therapists, m arvel­
ing at the difference they made in her life.
“ I decided I’d rather do that than be a
m anager o f a call center," said Bair, who
lives part time in C oos Bay. “The hard part
was believing that I could do it at mv age
I went through a lot of changes at that time,
a divorce, a lot o f things changed in my life.
So I decided to take a few months off I
wanted to spend some time alone to think
what I wanted to do with my future. I have
a lot of life left and I d idn’t want to sleep
through it."
Hurtado, who once gave up on her
education, enrolled at PCC in 2 0 0 4 fo ro n e
reason: she wanted to be the first in her
continued
on page H6
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