lune 9, 2010
îl'* JJtirtlanì» (Obseruer
Page 5
Sotomayor Revisits School, Projects
Newest justice recalls formative years
(AP) -- U.S. Supreme Court Jus
tice Sonia Sotomayor returned to
the New York City housing project
where she spent part o f her child
hood Friday, recalling how an un
likely encounter there with Robert
F. Kennedy ignited her passion for
public service.
The Bronx native fought back
tears at the ceremony renaming the
Bronxdale Houses after Sotomayor.
In an em otional speech,
Sotomayor said she lived in the project
during the most formative years of
her life. On a spring afternoon in 1958,
she looked out of her second-story
window and saw a famous face.
"Robert Kennedy was coming to
visit our projects. I had never before
looked down on red hair that bright,"
she said, adding that she went to the
library to look him up. "I was capti
vated by his career. Through this
chance encounter above the old
community center, my interest in
public service was awakened."
-With many residents of the com
plex listening in the audience, and her
mother wiping away tears in the front
row, Sotomayor reflected on a child
hood that was spent surrounded by
family. Her cousins, also from the
projects, would join her at the local
fast food joint for hamburger-eating
competitions, she said.
"I do remember each time 1 drive
by that White Castle, the hours and
hours o f laughter that my cousins
and I had as we roamed the grounds
o f this housing project, and played
in the playgrounds, and screamed
and fought and laughed and lived,"
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor reacts as she
speaks during a naming ceremony in her honor Friday. The
Bronxdale Houses, a city housing development where Sotomayor
lived as a child, was renamed Justice Sonia Sotomayor House
following a petition drive by residents to honor her. (AP photo)
she said.
After speaking, she danced on
stage with the choir from her alma
mater, Cardinal Spellman High
School.
Darryl Moore, a 42-year-old resi
dent walking nearby with his4-year-
old daughter, said he hoped the new
name— the Justice Sonia Sotomayor
Houses and Community Center —
would be a reminder to his children
that they could go far in life no
matter where they grew up.
"It's good to know somebody
that came from housing and went on
to be successful. Hopefully with her
name here some better things will
happen," he said.
Sotomayor assured the children
that she was once a kid just like
them. In those days, she aspired to
be a lawyer, but never dreamed she'd
get to the Supreme Court.
Donations Support ‘Z Man’ Scholarships
Honoring officer,
community hero
The Portland Police Bureau
partnered with local businesses and
community leaders to raise more
than $100,000 during the Z-Man
Scholarship Foundation’s first an
nual benefit auction.
Last month’s event attracted well
over 300 guests, who bid for more
than 160 donated items ranging from
autographed shoes from Portland
Trail Blazer LaMarcus Aldridge to
vacation travel packages, fine jew
elry, an enormous Victorian doll
house, and Oregon wines.
The foundation aw ards high
school scholarships to students
residing in the Portland community,
based financial need, academ ic
achievement, a commitment to pub
lic service and leadership potential.
The scholarship fund was estab
lished in memory o f Portland Police
Officer Mark “Z-Man” Zylawy, who
patrolled northeast Portland for
Crisis Center Wins Support
A proposed 16-bed crisis center
has won the support o f the Portland
Development Commission which
has allocated $2 million for its cre
atio n on the second flo o r o f
M ultn o m ah C o u n ty ’s H ooper
Detoxification Center at 20 N.E.
Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
The taxpayer monies will come
from the Central Eastside Urban
more than 17 years. The highly re
The Z-Man scholarship program
garded officer was killed on Jan. 27, strives to inspire the young people
2008, in a tragic highway acci o f Portland to utilize their educa-
dent.
During his career, he earned
the respect o f com m unity m em
bers and his fellow officers for his
hard work, dedication, integrity
and p o sitiv e a ttitu d e. O fficer
Zylaw y was publicly recognized
for his superior police service,
receiving 30 com m endations, two
unit citations, and the B ureau’s
M edal o f Valor.
tional opportunities and to give back
to their community— in the spirit o f
Officer Zylawy.
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how ever recent events dem on
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