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M artin L uther K ing J r
2008
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special
issue
community service
‘City y of Roses'
Roses
íSartíanh ©bseruer
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Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVIII, Number 2
Week ¡n
The Review
momentum
Oozono Steps into Ring
Expectations rise for
first black president
m issioner Sam Adams. Dozono,
the ow ner of A zum anoTravel, is
known for organizing walks to
support local schools and post-
Sept. 1 I flights to help New York
City. M eanwhile, tw ootherpoli-
ticians are calling it quits. See
re la te d sto ry , page A2.
McMurtry chimed in, saying, “ It
by R aymond R endleman
feels so good that the charism a
T he P ortland O bserver
Walk into various public spaces he has is overcoming money and
in the city, and murmurs of Demo­ pow er.”
With a victory in the Iowa Cau­
cratic presidential front-runner
Barack Obama can be heard on cuses on Thursday and running
everyone's lips. Walk into Reflec­ neck-and-neck with Hillary Clinton
tions Coffee House on Northeast in New Hampshire at press time on
KillingworthStreet.andexcitement Tuesday, Obama is building mo­
about Obama drowns out even the mentum to make history.
sounds of espresso grinding.
Portland's black community
“Obama brings hope to the could have been described last
American people and a fresh out­ week as tentatively excited. But
look,” Dolly England told the Port­ now his populism has even spread
land O bserver on Tuesday amid to the radical sector.
"1 can only see it as more good
the line of people that she was
helping serve drinks.
continued
on page A 7
Reflections co-ow ner Gloria
Apology for Slavery
New Jersey, the last Northeast
state to abolish slavery in 1846,
became the first Northern state
to apologize for slavery, as leg­
islators approved a resolution
Monday expressing “profound
regret” for the state's role in the
practice.
Tigers Win Championship
The second-ranked Louisiana
State University Tigers danced,
dodged and darted their way into
the end zone Monday night for a
38-24 victory, winning the co l­
lege football cham pionship title
game into a horrible replay for
No. 1 Ohio State.
Trackers Called Invasive
MAP Inform ation Technology!
p u ttin g c o m p u te r c h ip s on
grade-schoolers’ backpacks, an
experiment that the ACLU ripped
M onday.as invasive and unnec-|
essary.
U S Last in Health
In a report released Tuesday in
the H ealth A ffa irs jo u rn a l,
France, Japan and Australia rated
best and the United States worst
among 19 industrialized nations
focusing on preventable deaths
due to treatable conditions.
Wednesday • lanuary 9, 2008
Obama’s
The race for P o rtlan d ’s next
mayor became more interesting
Monday with the candidacy of
Sho Dozono challenging Com ­
Corp, plans to test a tracking
system in M iddletown, R.I., by
.portlandobscrver.com
www.portlandobserve
Established in 1970
Presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama with his wife, Michelle and daughters, Malia (left) and
Sasha, on stage after winning the Iowa Caucuses Tuesday. Mdkihg rum a front-runner in the race
for the White House. (AP photo)
Obama represents Kings
dream coming to fruition,
and that reality is based not
on his color but on the
content of his character.
-R ev. Renee'Ward
An Anti-W ar L egacythat Resonates
Two soldiers reflect on
Martin Luther King Jr.
Twisters Rattle Arkansas
A tornado was reported blowing
across eastern Arkansas T ues­
day, a day after a freak cluster of
January tw isters sprung up in
the unseasonably warm M id­
west and dem olished houses,
knocked a railroad locomotive
off its tracks and shuttered a
courthouse.
Refuge Rangers Kill
Classified as a “problem animal,”
Tusker, a towering 50-year-old
photo by
bull elephant who had become a
favorite for Charara safari camp
visitors in Zim babw e, was ex­
ecuted Sunday after New Y ear's
party-goers provoked the ani­
C harity P raier /T iii P or i land O bsery er
Adriana Moyola refused to deploy to Iraq and was discharged from military service. 7 thought that
the war was racist and unjust. I couldn t find one reason to go,' she said.
by C harity
mal into trampling several cars.
photo by
C harity P ra tir /T iii P oru and O bsiraer
Jessica Acosca served two deployments in Iraq and may be
called up for a third. She is careful not to dispute her Com­
mander in Chief, President Bush, but feels it is appropriate for
others to question whether or not the war is right.
P rater
T he P ortland O bserver
What would Martin Luther King
Jr. say about the war in Iraq?
Two Oregon women with mili­
tary connections have their opin­
ions. One went AWOL rather than
be deployed and the other awaits a
possible third tour of duty.
Jessica Acosca, 28, the veteran
of two deployments, finds solace in
King's legacy of advocating non­
violent. peaceful solutions to con-
11 id s and his opposition to the Viet-
nam War.
She feels King would say it is
time for the world to acknowledge
its differences and stop dividing
itself.
Acosca was firs, deployed to
Iraq in the 2003 invasion.
“Our mission was to save Iraq
from Saddam Hussein," she said.
Due to a family emergency, she
returned home a few months later
only to be redeployed again in 2005
for a full year.
Active soldiers are not allowed
to dispute their commander-in-
chief, currently President Bush, or
oppose any war that they are en­
gaged in. despite how they may feel
in their hearts. Doing so can bring
referees on the playground."
She also understood that being
a soldier could be very dangerous.
“World War II and Auschwitz
were situations that needed force
to intercept." she said, "This time it
is very different. If violence is nec-
If violence is necessary then
send me, but I pray that those
(the political leaders) that have
told you to do it have the
integrity to do what is right.
a
- Jessica Acosca
about criminal charges.
When Acosca signed up for
military service, she did so with the
understanding that soldiers were
also peace mediators in conflicts.
President Bush called them "the
essary then send me. but I pray that
those (the political leaders) that
have told you to do it have the
integrity to do what is right."
continued
'y f
on page A 7
I