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Special
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Nurturing Pride
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African dance connects
kids to their heritage
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See story, Metro section
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Volume XXXVIII, Number 7
Week in
The Review
Gang Violence Confronted
A fter a teenager is shot and in­
jured on Sunday, officials are
talking about how to reduce a
spike of youth violence. Rob
Ingrain, gang-prevention coor­
dinator for the m ayor's office,
says funding based on increased
aw areness may turn the issue
around. See story, page A2.
United Way Chief Leaving
After four years
that saw overhead
expenses cut from
31 percent to 16.4
percent. U nited
Way of the Colum­
bia-Willamette President Brent
Stewart announced his resigna­
tion from the organization, ef­
fective March 14. Stewart is leav­
ing to guide the United Way
chapter in Kansas City.
‘Pimped’ Comment Scorned
Howard W olfson, com m unica­
tions director for the IIi I lary Cl inton
campaign, on Friday excoriated
MSNBC’s David Shuster for sug­
gesting the Clinton campaign had
“pimped out" 27-year-old Chelsea
by having her place phone calls to
celebrities and Democratic Party
delegates on her mother’s behalf
Shuster was suspended by the
network.
Kanye West’s Grammys
At the 50th-an-
nual Grammys on
S unday n ig h t,
ra p p e r K anye
West took home
best rap album for
“Graduation,” best solo perfor­
mance for “Stronger,” best rap
song for “Good Life” and best rap
performance by duo or group for
hi s col I aboration with Common on
“Southside.”
Sheriff Schedules Exit
Multnomah County
S h e riff
B ernie
Giusto says he will
resign by the end of
the year and fight
any attempt to seize his badge
following allegations that he lied
about when he knew of former
Gov. Neil Goldschmidt’s sexual
abuse of a teenager.
ir .
1 0 7 /1
.1
Established in 1970
I I
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Wednesday • February 13, 2008
Red Cross
Commitsto Diversity
Aim is cultural
competence,
more saved lives
The local changes also came with an eye
to the failures in responding to Hurricane
Katrina on the Gulf Coast, as Red Cross
officials across the country began to see
special challenges when preparing for and
responding to crises in multicultural popu­
lations.
by R aymond R endleman
The challenges exist, officials found, not
T he P ortland O bserver
only with respect to widespread disasters
Longtime Portland activist Antoinette like Katrina, but also in serving everyday
E dw ards' position as diversity outreach emergencies like strokes, dialysis treatment
m anager is the most recent development and motor-vehicle collisions.
towards cultural com petence in the e f­
Seeing how Edwards has advocated for
forts of an organization dedicated to pro­ ways to enhance work with communities of
viding emergency services to the area’s color for more than 25 years, new leaders in
entire population.
the Red Cross’ local chapter seized her for
partnering with black. Latino, Asian, Native
and
o th e r
u n d e rse rv e d
communities, in
an effort to en­
sure their engage­
ment in the work
of saving and re­
building lives.
Citing break­
th roughs never
before made by
Red
C ross,
Edwards relishes
the excitement of an
opportunity to use
imagination and en­
ergy to improve the
organization's ser­
vices
A portrait o f Charles Richard Drew, an African-American
“The potential to
physician who lived during the first half of the 20th century,
save lives is huge,”
is displayed in the Red Cross lobby on Vancouver Avenue.
she says, pointing
Drew protested against the practice of racial segregation
out that change not
in blood donations of different races.
only affects victims.
The Oregon Trail Chapter of the Ameri­ “Everyone can give. You can volunteer,
can Red Cross hired Edwards last month as give blood and work with disasters. There
part of a commitment to achieving a multi­ are so many opportunities, and I think some­
plicity of people, programs and services that times you just have to ask, so people can feel
has intensified since last year's switch of the welcome.”
organization's chief executive.
Concepts like “respectful engagement”
photo ba
R aymond R endi . eman /T ih P orte and O bserver
Longtime community advocate Antoinette Edwards relishes the opportunity to use
her imagination and energy to advance the Oregon Trail Chapter o f the American
Red Cross.
and "language of welcoming" are not used
lightly by Edwards.
“It’s not just typical, PC cultural aware­
ness; it’s ongoing,” she says. "That’s be­
yond race, culture, class or privilege, and
that’s why I’m excited about Red Cross,
because it’s that open invitation."
The effort toward sensitivity does have
special significance to her as an African
American. Blacks have suffered particularly
from policies in the medical field. Edwards
sees hope in people uniting against racism
continued ' y ^ on page ,43
Six Charged for 9/11
Military prosecutors filed capital
charges against a former leader of
A1 Q aeda and five o th e r
Guantanamo detainees on Mon­
day for roles in the Sept. 11 terror
attacks, but possible violations
during theirconlinement may jeop­
ardize the death-penalty cases.
Housing Relief Sought
Some homeowners threatened with
foreclosure would get a 30-day
reprieve under a federal initiative
announced T uesday. D ubbed
"Project Lifeline," the program will
be available to people who have
taken out all types of mortgages,
not just the high-cost loans that
have been the focus of previous
relief efforts.
Maceo Parker performs Sunday, Feb. 24 at the Crystal Ballroom.
RIorL
History
and
Festival kicks off Friday
Cecil Taylor performs Sun­
day. Feb. 17 at 2 p.m. at the
Portland Marriott Waterfront.
«
I
Most jazz festivals in America
play it safe, sticking with a success­
ful and predictable stable of artists
who rarely take the music beyond
its resting place in history.
The fifth-annual Portland Jazz
Festival, scheduled overtwo weeks
beginning Friday, Feb. 15 through
Sunday, Feb. 24, dares to go where
few jazz festivals in North America
have ever been.
Indeed, any jazz event which
opens with Iree-jazz innovator
Ornette Coleman and later closes
with avant-garde pianist Cecil Tay­
lor is admittedly “out there." The
2(XW Portland Jazz Festival remains
a diverse experience: a kaleido­
scope of sounds and colors going
Jazz legend Ornette Coleman opens the annual
Portland Jazz Festival on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the
Arelene Schnitzer Concert Hall
every which way.
ing the theme of the festival. The
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Shape of Jazz to Come, the title of
honoree Coleman opens the festi­ his landmark 19 5 9 recording.
val Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Arlene
continued "y ^ on page A3
Schnitzer Concert Hall by sound-
The Classical Jazz Quartet,
featuring Kenny Barron, Ron
Carter, Stefon Harris and
Lewis Nash, will highlight
the Portland Jazz Festival,
when they perform Saturday,
Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the
Newmark Theater.