Page A 7
January 14. 2 0 0 9
Building Bridgesfor a King Birthday, Black History Gathering
McMenamins
Better Community
p a rtic u la rly im p re s s e d w ith
Jackson's work m entoring young
Holiday, Jackson is a living ex­ men, having made the extra effort
am ple o f K ing's inclusive ap­ to drop off ad pick up a teenager
proach and efforts to bui Id bridges with problem s at home.
that make stronger com m unities.
Ja ckson is also in v o lv ed in
Although no longer a student, health issues. He helped create
Jackson is still active in the alumni a m onthly m en's h ealth forum ,
chapter of Kappa A lpha Psi do­ w here A frican-A m erican m en
ing com m unity service through­ can m eet to d isc u ss h ealth is­
out the com m unity. But this is far sues like eating rig h t, can cer,
from the only community-oriented and can get their b lood p re s­
work he does.
sure checked.
Ja ckson is tireless. B etw een
Jackson is affable and dapper.
w ork, fam ily, and com m unity T he b a b y -fa c e d 2 8 -y e a r-o ld
service he ends up w orking 10 w ears a neat and thin goatee.
hour days m entoring te en a g ­
He was bom and raised in Port­
ers, spark in g an in terest sci­ land to Filipina m other and A fri­
en ce and te ch n o lo g y am ong can-A m erican father. Jackson at­
school c h ild re n , and g ettin g te n d ed D avid D o u g las H igh
A frican-A m erican m en to take School and went on attend Port­
b e tte r c a re o f th e ir h e a lth , land State University where he
am ong others.
majored in business and played
"The m ost im portant thing is football and basketball.
g iving back to the com m unity
H e w as draw n to the p re ­
and settin g that p o sitiv e ex ­ dom inantly A frican -A m erican
am ple," said Jackson.
fraternity b ecause o f its em p h a­
J a c k s o n c le a rly w a n ts to sis on public serv ice and the
strengthen com m unities, and one ex p ectatio n th at he w ould c o n ­
central way he's doing it is by tinue to serve afte r college.
encouraging future generations
"I w anted to be a part o f an
to step up and take a stake in it. organization that w as about d o ­
On a recent S aturday, Jack- ing positive thing s in the co m ­
son w asn't lounging about at m unity," said Jackson.
hom e, but at a church in n o rth ­
O n a typical day, he rises at
east P ortland hunched ov er a 6 a.m . and rouses his 5 and 6
laptop at a table surrounded by year old children to have a break­
ch ildren. He e x p lain ed an e n g i­ fast and talk ab o u t school. He
neering lesson to the kids w hile then goes to w ork at the Banfield
g oading one to sit up.
Pet H ospital. A fter w ork he a t­
O ne o f K appa A lpha Psi's tends to his v ario u s p ro jects,
proudest projects is L ego R o­ getting hom e at about 8 or 9. But
often tim es, Jack so n tries to
b o tics.
T he program gets m inority bring his kids to co m m u n ity
ch ildren interested in science service activities, ju s t as his
and technology at an early age. parents did w ith him .
K ids c o m p e te a g a in s t o th e r
Jackson ex plain ed that b e­
schools to building robots out c a u s e he g re w u p in a
o f L egos and program m ing them m ulticultural h o u seh o ld he is
to perform tasks.
able to im m erse h im self in a
"It's g oing to be som ething variety o f hum an en v iro n m en ts
very special," said Jackson, who and can build partn ersh ip s.
notes that sim ilar program s tend
A fter g raduatin g he becam e
to be aim ed at m ore affluent in c re asin g ly in v o lv e d in the
children.
local alum ni ch a p te r o f K appa
A n o th er project Ja ckson is A lpha Psi, and w as recen tly
particularly proud o f is the work e le c te d to th e p o s itio n o f
m e n to r in g y o u n g A f r ic a n - polem arch, the eq u iv alen t o f
A m erican m en in the P ersp ec­ presid en t.
tive G ents C lub. He and other
A fter taking o ver he's tried
m em bers o f the fratern ity take to reenergize the o rg an izatio n ,
tim e to m eet w ith young people w hich has draw n the p raise o f
and d iscuss the issues they are previously inactive m em bers.
facing and try to steer them on
E rnest H artzo g jo in e d the
the right path.
sam e fraternity in 1953, but had
"T o see them as a senior been inactive in the alumni ch ap ­
going to college, and seeing te r until Jackson cam e long.
T h e 8 0 - y e a r - o ld r e ti r e d
that it’s a reality — that they can
m ake it — that drives m e," said school ad m in istra to r said he
w as im p re ssed by Ja c k so n 's
Jackson.
"H e's m otivating o th ers to infectious drive, and reinvolved
get us to do things w e'd like to h im self in the fraternity.
do," said Sean M urray, a K appa
Jack so n 's w ife, C obi, w ho
alum and hum an resources m an­ w orks for a n on-p ro fit p ro v id ­
ag er fo r P ortland P olice, w ho ing technology to u nder-serv ed
has w orked w ith Jack so n on a a r e a s , r e m e m b e r s J a c k s o n
breaking his leg, but still c o n ­
n um ber o f initiativ es.
M urray said that he's been tinuing his reg u lar schedule.
continued
on pa g e A 9
refreshm ents will be available fo rpurchase.
T w o lead in g sch o lars o f b lack h isto ry ,
as w ell as new local research , w ill shine
light on tw o pivotal yet largely u nknow n
Kennedy School
hosts event
On M onday, Jan. 26, at 7
p.m ., a special H isto ry Pub
w ill b e p r e s e n te d a t
M c M e n a m in s K e n n e d y
School, 5736 N.E. 33rd Ave.,
in h o n o r o f the in a u g u ra­
tion o f o u r c o u n try ’s first
A fric a n -A m e ric a n p r e s i­
dent, the b irth d ay o f M a r­
tin L u th er K ing Jr. and the
s ta r t o f B la c k H is to r y
Tim Hills
Darrell Millner
M o n th .
areas o f the A frican -A m erican e x p erien ce
G u ests o f all ages are w elcom e and
ad m issio n is free; p lease b rin g a c o n tri­ in O reg o n . F irst, the sig n ifican ce o f Y ork,
sole A fric an -A m erica n m em ber o f L ew is
bution o f can n ed goo d s for d o n ation to
and C la rk ’s C o rp s o f D isco v ery , is ex-
the O regon Food Bank. M cM enam ins
IMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMH
plo red th ro u g h a rem ark ab le film called
Searching for York, w hich aired on O regon
Public B ro ad castin g ’s “O reg o n E x p eri­
en c e ” in N o v em b er 2008. T he p ro g ra m ’s
second focal point is from that perio d of
g reat o p tim ism for A frican A m ericans in
the 1860s and ‘70s, follow ing the passage
o f the E m an cip atio n P ro clam atio n and the
14th and 15th A m endm ents.
M cM enam ins H isto rian T im H ills will
detail the p erso n a lities o f th is c ity ’s sm all
but vital A frican -A m erican co m m u n ity
and the u n p reced en ted ad v an ces m ade by
these co u rag eo u s and sk illed m en and
w om en, many o f w hom w ere form er slaves.
Dr. Darrell Millner, professorofBlaekStud-
ies at Portland State U niversity, will offer his
persp ectiv e on the subject, p lacing the
event’s two topics in the larger context o f the
overall African-A m erican experience in O r­
egon as well as the historic current events in
our n atio n 's capital.
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ I
NMMMMMI
Woman Boxer has Gusto to Compete
con tin u ed
fro m A 3
black eye.
She mul led the idea over, and
discussed it with her employers
before finally tossing acoin
to settle the matter. The coin
said "fight."
"I'm m ost scared about
the cage door closing,"
said D eSim one o f the fight
she was anticipating in a
few days.
MMA
c o m b a ta n ts
square o ff in a cage w ear­
ing m outhpieces and four-
inch gloves m ade o f syn­
thetic material. T here's no
eye gouging, fish-hook­
ing, direct strikes to the
throat or back o f the head,
and com batants can only
use punches w hen their
opponent is on the ground.
On a Saturday night in
November, the Roseland
Theatre was bathed in blind­
ing sea of yellow and white
lights. A tow ering cage
made out o f black metal
loomed in a sea o f seats.
" 1 was roasting hot," said
DeSimone, who emerged
wearing a sports bra, ath­
letic shorts, and gloves.
H er lan k y o p p o n en t,
C hrista Shaffer, em erged
on the other side o f the
ring. D eSim one recalls be­
ing m entally terrified, and
struggled to stay focused
on toppling her adversary.
The referee signaled to
go ahead. The tw o ner­
v o u sly d a n c e d a ro u n d
each other, before Shaffer
to o k a few s w in g s at
D eSim one, who dodged
each one before tackling
her. Shaffer struggled back
before D eSim one got her in a
sleeper hold, ending the match in
40 seconds. The room exploded
afterwards.
"It's alw ays good to get the
fight overwithquickly," saidOriza,
who is em barrassed to adm it that
she was so proud she cried when
D eSimone won.
D eSim one's unlikely victory
earned her a nickname: "crash
course," which she wears proudly.
Martin Luther King Jr. Coloring Page
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