Jungle Book
An orphaned child
discovers his true family
See Arts & Entertainment, page A7
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVIII, N um ber 44
.Week ¡n
Thc Review
Veterans Day Pledge
Transition to Power
President-elect O bam a honored
fallen troops Tuesday by plac
ing a wreath at a m em orial in
C hicago and making a Veterans
D ay pledge. "Let us rededicate
ourselves to keep a sacred trust
with all w ho have worn the uni
form o f the United States o f
America: that Am erica will serve
you as well as you have served
your country," O bam a said.
Obama triumph
culminates with
tears, embraces
Bush Thanks Veterans
by J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
President Bush thanked veter
ans T uesday for serving their
country, noting w istfully that
he'll "miss being com m ander in
chief o f such a fabulous group."
Bush marked his last Veterans
Day as president with a visit to a
New York pier that is hom e to the
W orld W ar II aircraft carrier In
trepid.
‘Mama Africa' Remembered
\i.ik j
* "
I a
"Ma,na
rjc a " w j,ose
■the country w as grip p ed by
apartheid, died M onday o f a heart
attack. She was 76. M akeba per
formed with musical legends from
around the world — ja zz mae-
stros N ina Sim one and Dizzy
G illespie, Harry B elafonte, Paul
Simon — and sang for world
leaders such as John F. Kennedy
and N elson M andela.
Wednesday • November 12. 2008
In living room s and election
parties across Portland people
shed tears and em braced one
a n o th e r in d is b e lie f as they
learned that Barack O bam a would
be their next president. For many,
the election trium ph was a cathar
tic culm ination o f past milestones
that overcam e racial barriers.
T w enty-four years ago state
Sen. Margaret Carter was celebrat
ing a sm aller m ilestone after hav
ing becom e the first A frican-
A m erican w om an elected to the
O regon Legislature.
On election night last T ues
day, Carter was holding a “re
elect Carter and an elect Barack
O bam a" party at Club Lexus ip the
Rose Garden with 300 people from
her north and northeast Portland
district.
“It was absolutely crazy," said
C arter o f the event.
C a rte r w as in tro d u c in g a
speaker to the crow d when she
noticed that no one was listening
to her. Puzzled, she looked up at
the screen behind her to see that
CN N had ju st called the election
for Obama, the first African Ameri
can to win the presidency.
“W e were all A m ericans,” said
Carter o f the event, who described
the room breaking into jubilation
with no dry eyes in sight.
Roy Jay, an African-American
entrepreneur whose nam e has
been bandied about as a future
mayor, was also at C arter’s elec
tion party.
"They we re scream ing, they
were crying, they were hugging.
It was like Am erica had won the
biggest W orld Series ever," said
Jay, w ho added, “and this is the
W orld Series because we have a
new pitcher on the m ound."
“ It sort o f makes you feel ex
trem ely well and excited because
o f the fact that Am erica fought
past color,” said Jay o f his linger
ing im pressions o f the election.
State Rep. Chip Shields, who
represents parts o f north and
northeast Portland, was at the
Convention Center where the lo
cal Dem ocratic Party was waiting
President George Bush welcomes President-elect Barack Obama to the White House on
Monday, visiting for nearly two hours and offering the nation a glimpse o f a new first family at
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
for the election results to trickle in
when he found out O bam a had
won.
“ I th in k peo p le w ere p ro
foundly moved by the historical
nature o f the speech, not only for
the potential for the country, but
also the potential of taking a step
from a very dark past when it
com es to race in this country,"
said Shields, an early O bam a
backer.
Shields had to leave early to
relieve the babysitter watching
hiseight-m onth-old daughter. On
the drive up Martin Luther King
‘It was a historic night,'
‘We’ve made It to that
mountalntop,’ - Lolenzo
‘The ancestors are proud
and smiling, ’ - State Sen.
Poe, county policy advisor
AvelGordly
continued
on page A2
Dean to Step Down
D e m o c r a tic
N a tio n a l
C o m m itte e
C h a irm a n
Howard Dean
plans to step
down from his
post when his
term expires in
•January, wrapping up a tenure in
w hich the party heavily invested
in all 50 states for a payoff that
helped elect Barack O bam a presi
dent.
‘America fought past color,’ ‘People were profoundly
moved,' - State Rep. Chip
- Roy Jay, African American
Chamber executive
Shields
- Bob Boyer, Obama alternate
delegate
Airport’s Lost Dog Found
A dog that bolted from its kennel
at the Portland A irport last week
has been reunited with its ow n
ers. A Horizon Air baggage han
dler let the 6-year-old blue heeler
named B earou, of his kennel and
the dog b o lte d . A b u sin e ss
ow ner near the airport spotted
the dog ahd recognized him from
a photo he saw on the news.
Brother Charged in Death
A so u th e a st
Portland man
w as charged
w ith m urder
M o n d a y in
the stabbing
death o f his
sister who was found in his apart
ment Friday. A week earlier,
Theresa Ann Rockwood, 52, had
gone to visit her brother, Joseph
Rockw ood, who suffered from a
mental illness, and was not heard
from again.
Gas Prices Keep Falling
T he price o f gas in O regon
plunged another 19 cents in the
past week to $2.38. The price is
about $ I a gallon cheaper than it
w as ju st one m onth ago and
nearly $2 a gallon less than its
July peak.
Tax Proposal for Roads, Jobs
M otorists would see a 2-cent-a-
gallon increase in the state gaso
line tax and higher vehicle fees
under a plan proposed Monday
by Gov. Ted Kulongoski to pay
for road and bridge im prove
ments and create thousands of
new construction jobs
I
Presidential Dreams: 6Yes they Can’
by J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
W hen B arack O bam a
clinched his ascendance to
the presidency last week,
grow nups were not the only
ones sw ept up in the fervor.
In fact, the enthusiasm has
trickled down to Portlanders
who are a decade a way from
voting.
The kids at Rosa Parks
School, one o f P ortland's
more di verse schools, know
th a t th e ir c o u n try has
changed. Their faces light
up at the mention o f the new
president's name, and when
a s k e d to s h a re th e ir
thoughts on the election
their hands sfuMit into the
air as their eyes open wide.
They know that som ething
historic has occurred, and
are eager to share what they
know.
Calvin Jackson, an A fri
c a n - A m e r ic a n se c o n d -
grader at Rosa Parks, said
the election has him think
ing big.
“ I want to be like O bam a
and run for president and lower
the prices on stuff. I want to build
houses for people,” said a beam
ing Jackson. “ I want to be in the
White House with my family too,"
he added
Second
g ra d e r M a la y a
M cGrant said she learned that “a
black person, a Chinese person or
a white person can be president."
Her classm ate. Leslie Cabal
lero said O bam a would represent
all Americans.
“O bam a, h e 's not ju st a person
for blacks, but w hites too." she
said.
The kids al&o have a general
idea o f how O bam a's election fits
in with the struggles forequality
led by Rosa Parks and Martin
Luther King Jr.
Lawyer, veterinarian, secret
agent, and president are all pro
fessions called out by the kids
when asked what they aspire to
be.
“People can do stuff. They
d o n 't have to sit in the back. They
can go places,” says second-
grader T eya Shear.
“It's not just a dream for them
an y m o re,” says th e stu d e n ts’
teacher Daphne Bussey, who has
worked hard to make sure her
students understand the signifi
cance o f the Illinois S enator's
election.
B ussey ex p lain s that
the electio n cam e at an
ideal tim e. She has a field
trip to Portland S tate U n i
v ersity p la n n ed , w hich
aim s to get thc kids th in k
ing a b o u t th e ir fu tu re
education by having them
sit in on a class.
Lori Ann M artin, the
principal's secretary, says
she has been im pressed
with how closely thc stu
dents have follow ed the
election. She recalls one
student who knew the ex
act electoral vote count
O bam a received. M artin
promptly gave the student
a piece of candy.
M art i n also mentions that
the election has been par
ticularly important for Afri
can immigrants who have
children at Rosa Parks. She
recalls Somali and Kenyan
PHOTO BY J a KE T ho MA s /T i IE PORTLAND OBSERVER
parents being moved to tears
Second graders at Rosa Parks School in north Portland are learning the significance of the election o f
by th c e le c tio n o f th e
Barack Obama as the first black president. They actually believe and know they can be president. ’
Kenyan-bom Obama.
said Rose Parks second grade teacher Daphne Bussey.
Local kids
know country
has changed