February 25, 2009
Page A9
B lack H istory M onth
History in the Making
others.
The program "A N ew Birth
o f Freedom" included m usic by
both the San F rancisco Boys
and G irls Chorus, the U. S. M a­
rine and Navy Bands, Poetry
readings, an instrum ental com ­
position o f John W illiam s "Air
and Sim ple Gifts," and the high
lig h t fo r m e, b e in g A re th a
F ra n k lin s re n d itio n o f "M y
Country T i s o f Thee."
These were follow ed by the
introduction o f the Suprem e
C ourt, past P resid en ts, oth er
dignitaries, the fam ilies o f Vice
President-elect Joe Biden and
President-elect O bam a, and the
O bam a C abinet nominees.
F in a lly , B a ra c k H u s s e in
O bam a took the oath o f office
as the 44 th P re sid en t o f the
United States o f America.
President O bam a, the son of
an A frican from K enya and a
European-A m erican from Kan­
sas, w h o se fam ily o n ce d e ­
pended on food stam p s, but
w ho graduated from H arvard
Law School. H ow great is that?
It’s a prom ise fulfilled.
continued ¿ ^ f r o m A 7
see, an estim ated 1.8 m illion
people, shoulder to shoulder,
making up the highest recorded
attendance for any event ever
held in W ashington, D.C.
People spanned the distance
o f more than two miles, from the
Capitol to the Lincoln M em o­
rial where Dr. M artin L uther
King Jr. delivered his "1 have a
Dream speech" in 1963.
The atm osphere was festive.
People were singing, posing for
pictures, hugging strangers and
jo k in g despite the very, very
cold weather. E ven though 1
w asn't cold, som eone gave me
a hand w arm er and it felt good
to know perfect strangers, cared
about me and w anted to share
w hat they had.
There was a star studded cast
of celebrities seated directly in
front o f the podium- the likes of
Oprah Winfrey, M uhammad Ali,
Usher, Don King, Denzel Wash­
ington, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Samuel
L Jackson, Ditty, Jamie Lee Curtis,
A ngela Bassett and num erous
Former Portland NAACP Chapter president Skip Osborne and his wife (center), were among the nearly two million people
who crowded into the nation's capitol for the inauguration o f President Barack Obama, the first black president.
Coalition Leader Takes Reigns
The N ortheast Coalition o f
N eighborhoods board has pro­
m oted Paige Colem an from its
acting executive director to the
jo b permanently.
Colem an, form er volunteer
ch air o f the Boise N eighbor­
hood A sso ciatio n and a d e l­
egate to the N ECN board, took
on the paid position last July
on a six-m onth contract, which
was later extended.
The board had originally in­
tended to conduct an open hir­
ing process, but w ithdrew the
process last month. The m atter
was discussed at length in two
executive sessions.
C o le m a n r e p la c e s P a u l
L ipscom who held the jo b as a
tem p o rary rep lacem en t after
Joseph Santos-L yons lost the
jo b a no-confidence vote ear­
lier in 2(X)8.
Paige Coleman
Rxperiences For A
C h a s e & Weil, LLP
Salutes
B la c k H is to r y
M o n th
Gerald M. Chase
Richard L. Weil
Attorneys at Law
722 SW 2nd Ave. Suite 240
Portland Oregon 97204
Phone 503-294-1414
R emembering
Come Bid With Us
Black History
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rooks
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information on bidding opportunities.
S taffing
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Portland Public Schools
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(503) 916-3576
(503) 916-3109 fax
dfajer@pps.k12.or.us
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