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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 26, 2011)
Page 22 ®*í* ^Jortlauh O bserver October 26. 2011 ‘House of Payne’ Filmmaker Answers Critics Honored for creating shows on his own terms (AP) — Tyler Perry has got ten plenty of criticism from those who feel his popular movies like "Madea's Family Reunion" bor der on buffoonery and don't re flect well on the black com mu nity. But last week, the filmmaker was honored by the Rev. A1 Sharpton's National Action Net work. The civil rights leader lashed out at Perry's black de tractors, calling them "proper Negroes" who don't understand regular black folk. "This man never apologized for who we were," said Sharpton, at his second annual Triumph Awards. Sharpton said Perry has given work to many black actors who have been ignored by Hollywood, and has created an empire on his own terms: "The ultimate pride is where you don’t have to bend and adjust for others to accept y o u .... He didn't go mainstream, he brought mainstream to us." Perry writes, directs and pro duces his films and sometimes stars in them; he's best known lor his Madea character, the fo u l-m o u th ed , sassy g ra n d mother who has appeared in many of his movies. He is also responsible for the TBS comedy show "House of Payne." But Perry's films rarely get critical acclaim, and some in the black community have accused him of perpetuating stereotypes, "When you start out and you're doing things and you're trying to do the right things, and you find these attacks happening, and you try and figure out, 'Hew do you handle this? How do you deal with this? How do you go there?' So to have someone like you who has done all that you have done ... and have inspired and encouraged and fought for so many people, to stand here and to give me this award, this is really, really awesome," Perry said. Perry said black people first gave him success, and he has sought to tell his community's stories. He accused his critics of trying to rem ove them selves from their roots. Tyler Perry "I stayed with who we are, and what I wish I could get us Perry acknowledged his de to understand as a people is tractors as he thanked Sharpton that instead o f getting your for the award. education and running from us, Margaret Carter Building Dedicated continued from page 11 land campus, greeted the audi ence to a “momentous occa sion” in the renaming of the Technical Education Building to the Margaret Carter Technol ogy Education Building. As the first African-Ameri can woman elected to Oregon Legislature, Carter has remained a tireless advocate for higher e d u c a tio n am ong underrepresented communities in north and northeast Portland. Gleaming in a cerulean blue dress, the g randm other and great-grandmother listened on stage as special guests spoke to her esteemed honor. A performance of “You raise me up,” by three former PCC students underscored the re-• tired senator’s lifelong efforts to “lift up” local residents by ensuring funds for the commu nity college. Rev. Dr. T. Allen Bethel be gan the story of her remarkable journey in 1967 as she stepped off a bus in northeast Portland from native Louisiana, fleeing an abusive relationship with five young daughters in tow. With nowhere to stay, no friends, and no more than a hundred dollars to her name, Carter went on to graduate from Oregon State University and began a life-long relationship with PCC Cascade as an intern in 1973. She was hired a year later as a counselor and psy chology teacher. Gov. John Kitzhaber remem bered the h istorical session Carter was elected to the Or egon House in 1984 as one of his favorites. He commended Carter for a strong ethic that reminded lawmakers to be in clusive to all Oregonians, not just their political parties. U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer recognized the large “rainbow audience” attending the dedica tion, and how such a crowd could only turn out to see the woman who represents it. Many politicians cited Carter’s per sistent, even occasionally “an noying” advocacy to ensure leg islative funding for her educa tion programs. T am iko P hillips, C a rte r’s granddaughter and a PCC Mar garet Carter Skills Center gradu ate, said that her grandmother was the root from which edu cation in her family was pro moted, as a path to economic and social success. As a single parent, Phillips will graduate with a M aster’s degree in Psy chology. When it was her turn to speak, Carter thanked family, friends, fans and the college, “I accept with grace, the grace of my mother, and education for lift ing one se lf u p ,” she said. “These young people are work ing hard and studying hard and keeping the dreams alive through you need to ground and root y ourself in who we are. Every other culture in this country know s the value o f us as black people but we don't know it ourselves," he said. "Somebody said to me about the 'House of Payne,' 'Why do you have fat black people on television?' Because there are fat black people in the world. It's not a stereotype. This is who we are, we need to stop running from our parents and our grand parents and our uncles, we need to stop running from them and embrace them." Perry said his Madea charac ter is silly, but said his films have important messages. After his speech, Sharpton announced that Perry had given the National Action Network a $200,000 donation, to which Sharpton exclaim ed M adea's familiar phrase: "Hallelujer!" institutions like PCC.” Then, embodying the persis tence admired by colleagues, Carter said the scholarship to be left in her name was a few dollars short. Like an auction eer she enlivened the crowd with a spontaneous pledge drive, and asked for donations from everyone, from those wearing grand suits to student chaper ones. Fam ily m em bers, friends, b u sin e ss p a rtn e rs , ch u rch preachers, and even college stu dents stood up and offered $50 to $500 as C arter’s granddaugh ter jotted down pledges’ names. Before long, over $10,000 dollars had been raised, “How many families do we have to care for?” asked Carter. “This will afford some of these people to go to school.” Joyce Washington Born: 1937 - 1996 Joyce Washington Believed in this Community and all those that made this Community Great. Keep Reading the Portland Observer. Your Story is important to our Communitv. îln’ j.lnrtlanb (9hseruer
