Page A3
February 13, 2008
Red Cross
continued
JL
Commitsto Diversity
fro m F ront
w hen looking at this history.
"T hroughout the challenges o f
segregation, black folks had to sepa
rately donate blood from w hite blood
because it co u ld n 't be mixed, but we
still showed up and did that,” she
says.
She expressed pride seeing a por
trait o f C harles Richard Drew in the
lobby o f P ortland’s Red C ross head
quarters. Drew was an African-Ameri
can physician who protested against
the practice o f racial segregation in
blood donations and made strides for
Red Cross to prom ote equality during
the middle o f the last century.
The advances remain significant
because non-w hites’ low er donation
rate o f m uch-needed organs and bone
marrow may still stem from the legacy
o f using populations o f color for medi
cal experimentation. For Edwards, the
question alw ays rests on the level o f
com m itm ent for w hich any particular
person is ready.
“How do we get together and mo ve
beyond that uncom fortable, ‘yeah,
that was then?’ Because we have
work to do,” she says.
Before com m itting to a career as a
diversity consultant, Edw ards served
PHOTO BY RAYMOND R k NDILMAN/T h L PORTLAND OBSLRVLR
Antoinette Edwards, the new diversity outreach manager for the American Red Cross, teams up with AmeriCorps workers (from
left) Mike Fish, Hillary Turby, Rose Bottle and Aman Kubrom, along with Kim Bryant, Red Cross community activity coordinator.
as the executive director for Portland' s
Youlh ( )pp< irtunity Center and worked
as the coordinator o f the Jefferson
and C olum bia Villa Family Resource
Centers.
“We’re a nonprofit that everyone
can profit from," she says. " It’s not
dependant on a personality, but it’s a
value that’s part o f every fiber."
To this end, Edw ard s’ hiring is not
the only change com ing to the chap
ter, where the goal is to increase the
m ulticultural representation in the
board of directors and am ongst all
paid staff.
The organization is expanding its
Spanish-language safety offerings
and Latino health outreach efforts,
and extending service in neighbor
hoods most affected by house fires,
many o f which are located in diverse
communities.
Red Cross and A m eriC orps will
also spend several days this month at
Humboldt Elementary in north Port
land conducting interactive presen
tations about safety. With the eco
nomic- challenges facing both the
school and its students - over 95
percent o f whom are on the free- or
reduced-lunch program - traditional
RedCross training and m aterials were
out of the question.
Edwards would also like to an
nounce that space in the Red Cross
facility on North V ancouver Avenue
is available for com m unity meetings.
Call her at 503-528-5639 to reserve.
Join the City C ouncil at a
C om m unity B udget F orum
and Black History
continued
fro m Front
The legendary alto saxophonist,
whose last Portland appearance was
in 1983. will be celebrated through
a series o f perform ances, lectures,
panel discussions, and w orkshops
dealing with the issue o f ja z z ’s fu
ture shape.
The festival’s two w eekends of
headline program m ing and 18 tick
eted events act as bookends to
support com m unity education and
outreach efforts on week days.
A focal point o f these efforts are
performances o f the Incredible Jour
ney o f Jazz, a60-m inute m usic-the
ater piece tracing Black History
m ovem ents and events in parallel
setting to the evolution o f jazz music
as A m erica's only indigenous art
form.
These perform ances are staged
for free at selected Portland area
m iddle schools w here students are
exposed to African rhythm s, drum-
The festival s theme The Shape o f
Jazz, to Come is the title o f Cole
man's landmark 1959 recording
ming. the singing and chanting on
slave ships, to the eventual ev o lu
tion o f gospel, ragtime, blues, and
the sy n c o p a te d sw ing o f ja z z
through rap and hip hop.
D espite m u ltip le venues, the
festival has stream lined tick etin g
pro ced u res w ith all show s on sale
at all T ic k etM a ste r locations, the
P ortland C e n ter for the P erfo rm
ing A rts box office, or by calling
503-228-JA ZZ(5299). Tickets and
a co m p lete schedule o f events
are also av ailab le by v isitin g the
P ortland Jazz Festival online at
pdxjazz.com .
Thursday, February 21
2 Options
Alder Elementary School
17200 SE Alder Street
Wednesday, February 27
Metropolitan Learning Center
2033 NW Glisan
S am e For mat <8 Times f o r Roth Locutions!
6 :0 0 -6 :3 0 - PM C o m m u n ity F air
6 :3 0 -8 :3 0 - PM B u d g e t F o r u m
For more information or to sign up for childcare or a Spanish
language option, visit
\\ w w, portlandonlinc.com /comnHinity b u d get
* * * * * * * * * *
For more information, call 823-5288
All locations are ADA accessible.
Special needs: call 823-4519 in advance, ’FDD: 823-6868
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