sportiani* (Dhscmer
August 8, 2012
Arts
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Volume X X X X . Number 13
31, 2010
Wednesday • March 31.2010
y
ENTER1
ENTERTAINMENT
H ousing
Special Edition
S
City of Roses'
See inside, pages 4-5
com m unity service
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Young,
B la c k
G ifte d
Recognizing kids
on right track
m J akk T homas
T h F PoMTf AMlOlM m RK
Portland's African-Am erican youth are often caught up
tn a net o f negative public perceptions brought by news o f
gang violence, the sobering achievement gap and school
drop out rates
But there's plenty o f young black kids in Portland who are
on the right path, making good grades, headed to college,
and arc making positive contributions to the city A new
photographic tribute recognizes the hard work ot some of
these students and shows that there is still reason to be
optimistic
Snoop Dogg is reinventing himself as Snoop Lion.
New Name,
Changing Tune
(A P)— Snoop Dogg says he was
"bom again" during a visit to Ja
maica in January, is changing his
name to Snoop Lion and is ready to
make music that his "kids and grand
parents can listen to."
The artist known for gangster rap
is releasing a reggae album called
"Reincarnated" in the fall.
The West Coast rapper held a
news conference in New York last
week. Later he played five songs for
a small crowd, including one called
"No Guns Allowed." It features his
daughter.
The album will be followed with
a documentary of the same name. It
features him making music and will
include some personal elements of
his life, a producer of the film said. It
will debut at the Toronto Interna
tional Film Festival in September.
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“ Young. Black A Gifted.** a photo essay putting the
spotlight on the accomplishments o f high-achieving A fri
can-American students, opens to the public on Monday.
A pril 5 at Portland School District headquarters at 501 N
Dixon St and w ill later be moved to the L loyd I enter
Mall.
The project is the brain child ol Reiko W illiam s, the
district's family and community engagement manager, who
said she got the idea after having a conversation with
someone who seemed shocked when she mentioned an
African-American student that wasexcellmg After the con
versation she worried that all the attention on the problems
o f young black students was drowning out the hard work o f
others.
“ You hear so much about deficits and achievement gaps."
she said
W illiam s said the exhibit came together with a call for
nominations o f black students doing well district-wide, and
the recruitment ot a photographer and web developer
Skylar Holt, a freshman at Jefferson High School is one of
the 13 students featured in the exhibit.
Holts gets A ’sand B s in school She does especially well
in English classes, taught by Anne Novinger, one of her
favorite teachers, and chemistry is getting steadily easier
Holt plans to go to college and is thinking about law school
down the road.
"I’m enjoying it a lot," she said o f her high school “ I like
continued y f on puge ¡9
m oron
J akv I
diversity
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ANnOasravoa
Skylar Holt excels as freshm an a t Jefferson High School in north Portland H er contribution as one o f the
city s ‘ Young. Black A G ifte d ’ students is part o f a new exhibit coming to school district headquarters and
Lloyd Center M all
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