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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2007)
<El. Page A6 1 r t la ttò ® b « e m r August I. 2007 A Source of Pride continued Portland R&B legend Liv Warfield sings with her band at a well- attended event at Dawson Park that included tables from various neighborhood and city-based organizations. from Front in the refinement of the park,” says George Lozovoy, Dawson Park’s lead planner. The park's had a small upgrade about six years ago after a spike in criminal activity. Amenities like permanent checkers tables were added. Seeingathreat still looming, park officials are keeping an eye on safety. “There are some security con cerns because of the large and dense trees, so we still need to get a better sense of the neighborhood, but one option is to essentially redo the area with new landscaping that’s just more visible,” Lozovoy says. Many local activists expressed satisfaction that Dawson was get ting some much-needed attention. “W e’ve tried to piecemeal a lot of these things, but now they’re all going to happen," says Gary Hamp ton, co-chair of the Eliot Neighbor hood Association. O th er re sid e n ts qu estio n ed whether the city’s emphasis on safety wouldencroach on the park’s natural beauty and usability. “To me it’s never been a gang park, but the police try to make it that way,” says Lee Roberts, who photos by R aymond R endi . eman /T he P ortland O bserver Portland Parks and Recreation planner George Lozovoy (right) discusses the freshly unveiled diagrams o f Dawson Park's new look. met with friends in the park as a teenager in the 1960s and has walked through it regularly ever since. Roberts wishes that the city would bring back barbeque pits, which he claimed fostered commu M NMHMMMMMHMMMMMMM Dear Deanna! My boyfriend is very overbear ing and condescending. He al ways has som ething to say about everything and seems as if he waits to pounce on me when I make a m istake. I am becoming stressed because I have to con centrate on everything that 1 do and everything that 1 say. The only time things are good is when he's not around or watching tele vision. 1 want to talk to him about this problem but I feel it will cause problems. Is it me or is he just rude? --Anonymous; Dallas, Texas Dear Anonymous: Ask ö Real People, Real Advice An advice column known for its fearless approach to reality-based subjects! Your boyfriend is a rude, inse cure bully. If he has your best interests at heart, he w ouldn’t talk to you like a dog. The next time he tries to call you out, you need to stand up for yourself and let him know where y o u 're com ing from. If you h av en 't slipped, made a m istake or done anything to deserve his lip service, let him have it full force. You then need to let him know that you will not tolerate anymore disrespect and if he continues, then walk and keep it moving. serious and you can clean your car and get over it. Dear Deanna! I am fresh out of a long term rela tionship and I really enjoy my single life and freedom. My girl friends all envy me and now their boyfriends are accusing them of cheating and looking for men when they hang out with me. I am not going to w ater dow n my lifestyle right now and my friends are having a hard time with this. They say that 1 am acting loose and as if I do n ’t have any morals. I think th ey ’re tied down to balls and chains and are jealous. Am I wrong? —Happy and Free; On An Officer and a Beauty Queen continued from Front Goodwin is trying for the crown and banner again for the 2008 title. This time she is preparing by sculpting her body with the help of a personal trainer and honing her interview skills through a membership with Toastmasters International. Toastmasters, acl ub where you make speeches to be critiqued by fel low members. Goodwin and her Goodwin has another reason to husband joined the UO branch in January, where she’s been working aspire for the domestic and interna on limiting the “uh” factor in her tional titles. “T m not sure there has ever been speeches. “I feel even more confident this a woman of color to win Mrs. O r egon, and I don’t think there's ever year,” she said. If she succeeds in winning the been an African American Mrs. Mrs. Oregon title. Goodwin will then America,” she said. " I’d love to be take an expenses-paid trip to Na the first.” This y e a r's Mrs. O regon pag tionals. After that, she may get to represent married women through eant takes place Saturday, Oct. 6 at C lackam as High School. out the world. line Reader I hear them pull the seatbelts out for the car seat. Each time I go Dear Happy: with one of my friends, 1 have to The men o f your friends are inse go to the car wash because of cure and obviously don't know their fingerprints, trash and garbage women as well as they think. If your from the kids. How do I tell my behavior is affecting them, you need friends I don’t want their kids in to cool off and slow it down a bit when you’re around them. These my car? —Joyce; Tampa, Fla. are your friends and you need to Dear Joyce: still show some respect and regard Your situation is sensitive but for the differences in your relation not as uncommon as you think. ships, or lack thereof. At the end of You have to decide if y o u ’re go the day, enjoy your life and realize ing to choose friends w ithout that everyone is responsible for kids or be mature and handle this their choices. Yours just appears Dear Deanna! like an adult. All you have to do more fun right now. I have a few girlfriends and they is tell your friends that you prefer all have small kids. I d o n ’t mind they drive because y o u ’re un Ask Deanna is written by Deanna their kids and I love them. How com fortable with the situation. M. Write Ask Deanna! Email: ever, I have a problem when it It's going to be alm ost offensive askdeanna! @ yahoo.com or 264 comes to our car arrangem ents. 1 but you have the right to care for S. IxiCieneya Hlvd. Suite ¡283 just purchased a new car and it your vehicle however you choose. Beverly Hills, CA 9021!. Website: isn’tchild friendly. I cringe when On another note, it’s not that t t w , askdeanna. com Elvis’ Legacy Mixed in Black Community As the 30th anniversary of Elvis P re sle y ’s death a p proaches, an expert on black popular culture says that Elvis’ enduring legacy among fans both black and white has more to do with his display of “unbridled white male sexuality” than his music. Mark Anthony Neal, an au thor and associate professor at Duke University, says some in the black community resented Elvis because he made his for tune populari/ing black musical forms and because of a myth that he thought blacks were in ferior. “Elvis, in his own way, at tempted to show some sort of respect for the musical forms that he was essentially exploit ing," Neal says. “There is no concrete evidence of him being a racist." Elvis, whodied Aug. 16,1977, nity cohesiveness many years ago. be a key source of African-Ameri Lozovoy says, “We discussed can pride and connectivity. “If you want to see someone you having barbeque pits, but it just haven’t seen for a long time, you becomes unruly.” Regardless of what the city ac just have to sit around here, and complishes in restoring the park, eventually they will come,” Rob Roberts declares that it will always erts says. Mark Anthony Neal enjoyed and was influenced by black music, Neal says. “He emerged at a time when the practice of covers was very prominent. The black version ot a song was marketed to black audiences and the white version was marketed to white audi ences. “Take ‘Hound Dog.’ Every one knows that Big Mama Thornton recorded the song before Elvis did. What Elvis showed was that you could have a white artist who could record black music and be successful with it. “He was simply the person that helped popularize rhythm and blues, as well as rock-a- billy and country.” Neal says Elvis' popularity, including the proliferation of im personators and the suggestion that he may still be alive, are about Elvis “the package and the icon” rather than his work as a musician. “ He did n 't change the mu sical landscape. Elvis w asn’t an innovator. He didn't bring anything musical to the table. He simply popularized deriva tives of R&B and country," Neal says. é Your needs have changed. 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