March 4, 2009
Page A2
Socially Conscious Hip Hop Jam Session
Interstate Firehouse hosts cabarets
P o rtlan d is jo in ­
in g th e r a n k s o f
P h ilad e lp h ia , L .A .,
C h ic a g o an d N ew
Y o rk b y in v it in g
D J ’s M C ’s, d a n c e
c r e w s , p o e ts a n d
flo w o lo g ists o ut o f
the n ig h tc lu b s and
on to the stage fo r a
s e r ie s o f h ip - h o p
c a b a re ts.
M ic C r e n s h a w
w ill
host
th e
Tony Hill
Mie Crenshaw
m o n th ly se rie s at th e In te r­
state F ireh o u se C u ltu ral C e n ­
ter, 5 3 4 0 N. In te rsta te Ave.
E a c h in s t a l l m e n t w ill b e
geared to w ard a so cially c o n ­
scio u s h ip hop ex p erien ce for
the en tire fam ily, ce le b ra tin g
h ip -h o p c u ltu re th ro u g h an
o n g o in g c o lla b o ra tio n w ith
N o rth w est artists.
T h e n e x t sh o w w ill ta k e
p lace on Sunday, M arch 8 at
7 p.m. u nder the them e, “T he
b ’ w ord,” exploring, exposing
and dispelling the m yth o f m i­
sogyny in h ip -h o p cu ltu re.
A n a ll-star gro u p o f artists
will speak about the influence
w om en have had on their craft
as they p erfo rm in sp ired , e x ­
hilarating work. T he p erfo rm ­
e rs in c lu d e T o n y H ill, D J
S u g arm an , DJ C o m p u terfam ,
B is q u its an d G ra v y (d a n c e
crew ), O th ello , S y n d ell, and
U nseen D ance/JoonR A .
T ic k e ts at $ 12 fo r g e n e ra l
a d m is s io n an d $ 1 0 fo r s tu ­
d e n ts a n d s e n io r s w ill be
a v a ila b le at 6 p .m . o n th e
n i g h t o f th e s h o w , w ith
d o o rs o p e n in g at 6 :3 0 p.m .
N ext m o n th ’s ev en t is sc h e d ­
u le d fo r S in d ay , A p ril 12,
a lso at 7 p.m .
E ddie’s Flat Iron Pizza, 1218
N. K illingsw orth St., will part­
n er w ith the 1FCC to host the
hip hop series. T he restau ran t
has been part o f the co m m u ­
nity sin ce 2005.
“We have a very stro n g re ­
p e a t a n d r e g u la r c u s to m e r
b ase an d w e are lo o k in g to
give back to o u r co m m u n ity ,”
said o w n er E d W izaw aty.
Vancouver First Families Celebrate
First Families o f Vancouver’s
African-American Community,
a local history pro ject spon­
sored by N A A C P V ancouver
Branch will celebrate Black his­
tory and culture in song, dance,
and the spoken word on Sun­
day, M arch 8 at W ashington
State U niversity Vancouver.
The free program, at 3:30 p.m.
in the Lecture Hall o f the A d­
ministration Building, is entitled
“Connecting to O ur Heritage.”
Everyone is invited and all ages
are welcome.
The program was originally
p la n n e d fo r B la c k H isto ry
M onth in February, but a full
schedule o f First Fam ilies pub­
lic events pushed it into March.
C orn etta Sm ith developed
First Families with writer Jane
Elder W ulff to tell the story o f
the A frican A m ericans w ho
cam e to Vancouver to work in
the sh ip y ard s d u rin g W orld
War 11, and stayed to build a
com m unity here.
In January 2007, the NAACP
agreed to sponsor the project,
with the goal o f building aware­
ness o f this important part of
Vancouver’s history.
Jefferson
Picks
First
Kia-Lynette Carter o f Jefferson High School was named the
first Rose Festival princess o f 2009 during ceremonies
Monday.
Jefferson High School
senior Kia-Lynette Carter
w as n am ed to the R ose
F estiv al C o u rt M onday,
the first princess from the
tr a d itio n a l
P o rtla n d
schools that m ake up the
court in addition to a new
metro princess that will be
nam ed for the first tim e
this year.
C a rte r is th e v arsity
c h e e rle a d in g ca p ta in at
Jefferson and is a comrfiu-
nity serv ice co o rd in ato r
fo r the N atio n al H onor
Society.
S h e p la n s to a tte n d
Spelman C ollege and pur­
sue a career in journalism .
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
and Planting
Friends of Trees volunteers dismount bikes and grab shovels to plant trees in
northeast Portland. The ‘Green teams' pulled 20 big trees and shovels on bikes to
the yards where they were planted. In all, 154 trees were planted Saturday in the
Woodlawn, Vernon and Concordia neighborhoods.
Retired Soldier Honored
The chief o f Staff
for the Oregon
Army National
Guard presents the
Oregon Exceptional
Service Medal and
a copy o f the Creed
o f the Non com­
missioned Officer
to retired Master
Sgt. Earl Henry
Winchester, the
first African-
American member
o f the Oregon
National Guard.
Storms don’t eat,
sleep or take holidays.
Trust us, we know.
T h e O r e g o n N a tio n a l
G uard D iv ersity C ouncil held
a co m m em o ra tiv e cerem o n y
o b serv in g A frican A m erican
H eritag e M onth T h u rsd ay at
the O reg o n M ilitary D ep a rt­
m ent in Salem .
Ronnie Brooks, NAACP Ex­
ecutive Board M em ber o f the
Salem Chapter, was the keynote
speaker. Brooks is also the A s­ jo in e d by his w ife, V irginia,
p ire C o o rd in a to r at M cK ay s is te r N o rm a K e n n e d y and
High School in Salem and head son P eter W inchester.
B ro o k s
h i g h li g h te d
pastor o f To G od Be the Glory
W
i
n
c
h
e
s
te
r
's
a
c c o m p lis h ­
Church, also in Salem.
m
en
ts.
R e tire d M a ste r S gt. E arl
"If it were not for him, I would
H en ry W in ch ester, the first
A frican-A m erican m em ber o f n ot be your keynote speaker
the O re g o n N atio n al G u ard today— I stand on that m an's
w as ho n o red at the cerem ony. shoulders," Brooks said.
Oregon Jobless Numbers Grow
ag e p o in ts , th e f a s te s t 12-
m onth rise since 1980.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski offered
econom ist.
reassurances
that state officials
T h e f ig u r e s r e le a s e d
were
doing
everything
they can
T h u rs d a y sh o w e d d e c lin e s
to
put
people
back
to
work.
acro ss six o f the eig h t larg est
"T oday's new s isn 't ju s t a
in d u stry se c to rs in O re g o n ,
number.
It represents our fam ­
led by the loss o f 4 ,5 0 0 jo b s
ily
m
e
m
b ers an d n e ig h b o rs
in trad e , tra n sp o rta tio n an d
deeply
affected
by this reces­
u tilities, ab o u t 4 ,4 0 0 jo b s in
sion,"
Kulongoski
said.
m a n u fa ctu rin g and 2 ,1 0 0 in
The
governor
said
the state
co n stru c tio n .
O verall, nearly 215,000 O r­ is on schedule to break ground
egonians were unem ployed in on $175 m illion worth o f de­
January, by far the largest num ­ ferred m aintenance for public
b u ild in g s , u n iv e rs itie s and
ber since World War II.
From Decem ber 2007 to D e­ com m unity colleges to repair
cem ber 2008, O regon's unem ­ the infrastructure and provide
ploym ent rate rose 3 percent­ jobs.
State hurt more than most
•‘ W E ’RE R E A D Y 24/7 F O R W H A T E V E R S T O R M S D IS H
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blankets, bottled water ard ron-penshable food items available
v .u
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Let’s turn the answers on.
t
(AP) — A dismal report on
rising unemployment in Oregon
show s the jobless rate up to 9.9
percent as the state's econom y
sinks faster than most others in
the nation.
T h e Ja n u a ry em p lo y m e n t
n u m b ers for O regon show ed
the state lost 14,600 jobs as the
u n e m p lo y m e n t rate ju m p e d
nearly a percentage point from
D e c e m b e r, w h en O re g o n
ranked the sixth w orst in the
country.
"O regon has been hit harder
than the nation o ver the last
year," said Art Ayre, state labor