JJortlanh (Ohsemer
Page A IO
S e p te m b e r 10. 2 0 0 8
Local Youth Focus on Leadership
E m p o w e rin g
refu g ee s and
im m ig ra n ts
A pproxim ately 200 African
youth between the ages of 12
and 24 at the Immigrant and
Refugee Community O rganiza­
tion (IRCO) for the 5th annual
African Youth Leadership Con­
ference.
The purpose of the Aug. 16
conference was to empower refu­
gee and immigrant youth from
A frica to succeed in America
and to groom them to be the
future leaders of their cultural
com m unities in Portland.
In keeping with the nature
and purpose of the conference,
it was all planned and organized
by the youth themselves.
Under the supportive super­
vision of IRCO ’s Africa House
staff, more than 20 youth on the
organizing committee met ev­
ery Saturday morning for al­
most three months, leading and
staffing com m ittees such as
food, volunteers, transporta­
tio n , w o rk sh o p s, k e y n o te
speakers, entertainm ent and
fashion show.
In the process, the young
leaders learned about team ­
work, compromise, the value of
brainstorm ing, accountability,
responsibility and deadlines.
The them e o f this y e a r’s
event was Integrating African
and American Cultures, and that
theme was evident throughout
the four w orkshops: cultural
heritage, higher education, ju s­
tice system and health.
Amina Mohamed, Suneia Mohamed and other youth listen to speakers.
Dr. Theresa Gibson, A ssis­
tant Professor and practitioner
of Family M edicine at Oregon
H ealth Sciences U niversity,
helped the youth recognize and
deal with the confusion when
their African culture tells them
one thing and the American
culture says just the opposite.
Forexample, in many African
cultures lots of body fa, is a
mark of good health while the
American culture says it is evi­
dence of poor health choices;
or A frican c u ltu re e x p e c ts
people to marry and begin child
bearing in their teens but Ameri­
can c u ltu re b e lie v e s th ey
should wait until later.
Staff members from IR C O 's
domestic violence services and
Brian Davidson, a deputy dis­
trict attorney for M ultnomah
County, also talked about the
cultural differences, pointing
out that acceptable family be­
havior in A fricacan land people
injail in America.
D avidson also talked about
M easure 11 and the serious im ­
pact of crim inal behavior on
youth. He warned them o f not
just immediate legal actions but
a very real probability o f being
deported when they later apply
for citizenship if there is a felony
record.
T he y o u th ask ed A m ina
M ohamed and Omar Cole to be
the keynote speakers because
they are A frican youth who
have overcom e great difficul­
ties but persevered with their
education.
A m ina M o h am ed ta lk e d
about fleeing Somalia, living in
a Kenyan refugee cam p, com ­
ing to A m éricain 1996 when she
was 16 years old and starting
high school as a freshman.
In addition to not knowing
the language, she talked
about the difficulties o f
making the adjustment from
living in crow ded tents to
having to neg o tiate her
way in a large A merican
high school.
A d d itio n a l s tru g g le s
were being m isunderstood
by other students because
o f r e lig io u s is s u e s at
school, academic burdens,
dealing with changing fam ­
ily life between two c u l­
tures and the challenge of
planning for the future.
In 2 0 0 7 , M o h am ed
graduated from Portland
S tate U niversity w ith a
Bachelor o f Science in so­
cial science and black stud­
ies, the first person in her
fam ily to com plete college.
“ I pride m yself for having the
strength and opportunity to go
to school and com e ou, at the
end o f the tunnel because not
only was this my dream, it was
also my mother’s dream and also
set an exam ple for my younger
siblings,” she said.
M ohamed wants to continue
her education to get at M aster’s
degree and she urged the youth
to pursue their own dreams, e s­
pecially o f education.
“ Know that know ledge will
open many doors,” she said.
"Even though som etim es we
struggle, we still have to ge, up
and open more doors because if
we don’t get up then we cannot
trium ph at the end,” she said.
O ther features o f the confer­
ence included a question and
answ er forum with two young
Portland Police officers, a panel
discussion with board members
from IR C O 's Africa House, an
African dance perform ance by
Loveness W esa and an African
fashion show.
Grand Opening Celebration
P ortland M iracle R evival C hurch
invites you to celebrate our 11th Annual
International Prophetic Crusade
September 17-21,2008 7:00 Nightly
Marriage & Engaged Couples Workshop
on Saturday 9:30-12:30pm
Sheriff Candidate is Change Agent
zona and is w o rk in g on a 22 years. Aster, a native of the
doctorial degree from Taft Uni­ African country of Eretria. They
have three sons, Dia, Benyam
versity in California.
He holds degrees in busi­
He also teaches crim inal ju s­ and Mubarak who are between 18
ness management and com m u­ tice at Mt. Hood Community and 21 years old.
nications from Concordia U ni­ College and Pioneer Pacific
He said family values to him
versity, a M aster’s Degree in College.
means raising children who are
Business Administration from
He lives in northeast Portland contributing members of the com­
North Central University in Ari- where he is married to his wife of munity.
continued
Sunday Service 10:30am&7:00pm.
from Front
Theme: "The Wise Master Builder"-I Corinthians 3:10-15.
8333 N.Ivanhoe St., Portland, OR 97203
SAVE THE DATE
Police Victim’s Family Settles
continued
from Front
tutional. A federal judge in Port­
land rejected the challenge, and
an appeals court earlier this year
said the policy was not unconsti­
tutional as written.
The city, however, could have
been held liable in trial on thequcs-
tion of whether the police violated
Perez's constitutional rights.
Mayor Tom Potter issued a
statement supporting the settle­
ment, though he said Sery’s ac­
tions were justified.
“Any lossoflife diminishes not
only a family and the officers in­
volved. but our entire community.
And every death raises old ques­
tions of trust between the commu­
nity and the men and women we
have asked to protect us. We must
continue working togetherto break
down the stereotypes that keep us
from being true partners in build­
ing the Portland we all desire,"
A dvertise w ith diversity in
| J n r t l a n d (JP h fcew rr
Potter said. “I hope that the settle-
mentwillbringclosuretotheoffic-
ers and their families and to the
family of Mr. Perez.”
Associated Press contributed
to this story.
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