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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 19, 2012)
December 19, 2012___________________________ 'JjJovtÌattÒ Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views o f the Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com. (© bsetUet___________________________ Page 7 ____O pinion A Passionate Leader Who Inspired Others The legacy of Charles Washington will live on by M indy C ooper The first time I m et Charles W ash ington, I had longed to see his face and talk to him about a jo b . I had m oved to P ortland and on a w him one day, I picked up the Portland O bserver, the m ost prevalent new s p a p er w ith in m y new n o rth e a st n eig h b o rh o o d . I had ju s t graduated w ith a d e gree in both jo u rn alism and a n th ro pology, and all I knew w as that I w anted to w ork for a publication w hich held integrity at its core. So as soon as I w alked through the doors o f the Portland O bserver office on M artin L uther K ing B oulevard, in stantly I knew I ’d found one o f these rarities— and I persisted until I m et w ith the “boss” face to face. I didn ’ t know w ho or w hat kind o f people rest w ithin the office w alls. B ut in the lobby, I could see a p ic ture o f a glow ing m iddle-aged black w om an, w hose sm ile w as one c e r tainly intended for all to see w hen visiting the office, soon to becom e my hom e for nearly tw o years. I learned the w o m a n ’s nam e as Joyce W ashington, the beloved and respected m other and com m unity ch am pion for change. O f the sm all, yet hard-w orking staff, h er sons had becom e an integral part o f the new s paper that w orked tirelessly to e n su re th e v o ic e s o f in d iv id u a ls th roughout the co m m u n ity co n tin ued after her death, and C huck w as the leader o f the fight. C harles “C h u ck ” W ashington, publisher, boss, fam ily m an, and friend, w ill alw ays g o dow n in my history as the ep ito m e o f w hat it m eans to be a ‘heart m a n ’. The im pact he had on m y life w ill never cease to be rem em bered, and I w ill carry his passions and beliefs for a b etter tom orrow , fo r a com m unity he truly loved and cared for, ev ery w here I go. T hough he knew there w ould be a point in the future, w hen I needed to experience a new path, looking back on all o f o u r conversations, I truly believe he w as m uch m ore o f a visionary than anyone co u ld ever know . H e let those in his presence fill in their ow n conclusions, and ind ep en d en t thought w as valued w ithin his conversations. Still, his m ission to bring m ore equity to the com m unity w as one topic he never him to be at their fullest potential, and I know I am truly blessed to have been a part o f his w orld. “W her ev er you go, d o n ’t forget about us,” he w ould say. H e certainly taught m e to be a stronger journalist, and through this, a m ore resilient w om an. C h u ck had a w ay to m ake you feel like w hen you care you becom e a part o f so m e thing extrem ely im portant. W h ile at th e p a p e r , C h u c k w o u ld say he w a n ted the h ard and m e an in g fu l n ew s to be p u b licized . F ru stra te d w ith th e m e d ia to d ay , w h ic h d o e s n ’t a lw a y s h ig h lig h t th e d iffic u lt tru th s o f th e c ity , he w a n te d p e o p le to lik e w h at th ey re a d e v e ry w eek , b u t m o st o f all, Charles Washington he w a n ted the p a p e r to stan d fo r had a lack o f w ords to express. so m e th in g . T o m e, C h u ck w as a true w ords- C h u c k striv e d fo r h o n e st and m an. H is sentences, and often tim e g o o d p re ss a b o u t th e A fric a n - rants, alw ays em phasized the inevi A m e ric a n an d m in o rity p o p u la tability o f change, and the im p o r tio n s . tance o f carrying w hat you learn H e s tro v e to in s p ir e th o s e w ith you and sharing y o u r ex p eri a ro u n d him to k eep th e ir p a ssio n s en ces. aliv e , w h ile sim u lta n e o u s ly h a r W h en I d e c id e d I n e e d e d a n e ssin g w h at it is th ey tru ly feel change in m y life, he encouraged stro n g ly ab o u t. and supported my decision to find C h u c k w as a lw a y s lo o k in g ou t w h atev er it w as that I w as looking an d b e y o n d the c u rre n t state o f for. He alw ays inspired those around how o u r so c ie ty w o rk e d , an d he n e v e r sto p p e d see in g w h at life c o u ld b e. H e s u p p o rte d th o s e a ro u n d h im , and at th e sam e tim e in s p ire d in d iv id u a ls to gro w th e ir o w n w in g s. H e b e lie v e d in c o m m u n ity , an d no m a tte r how h ard d a y s b e c a m e , he n e v e r see m e d to sto p b e lie v in g in its p o te n tia l to be g re a t. H e c a rrie d a lot o f re s p o n s ib il ity . T o th is d a y , I w ill n e v e r a c tu ally k n o w h o w m u ch w o rk g o es in to b e in g a p u b lis h e r o f a fa m ily - ru n , in d e p e n d e n t n e w sp a p e r d e d i c a te d to m in o rity v o ic e , in a tim e w h en m o n e y is h ard to fin d . I can o n ly h o p e he w as as p ro u d o f the w o rk b ein g d o n e in th e o ffic e as I am . I am tru ly h o n o re d to h av e k n o w n him . But his legacy w ill live on. He taught m e this; to alw ays rem em ber w hat is im portant and the experi ences you live, and carry these les sons and stories w ith us w herever w e go. C huck, you gave me so much. T h an k you fo r changing my life. Y ou w ill alw ays be truly m issed by all those w ho knew you. Mindy Cooper is a recent re porter fo r the Portland Observer who continues on her path in jo u r nalism. Dear God! When Will it Stop? Stand up, speak out and organize by M arian W right E delman T he h o rre n dous new s from N ew tow n, Conn, has pierced our hearts. A black- clad m an in his 20s w ith se m i autom atic guns m ade an elem entary school for kindergartners through fourth graders the scene o f the w orst m ass shooting in a public school in A m erican history. T w enty children w ere shot and killed. Seven adults w ere shot and killed. D ozens o f p ar ents are e x p erien c in g the w o rst nightm are any parent could im a g ine. M ore than 500 young children in the school are traum atized. O nce again w e are faced w ith unspeakable horror from gun v io lence and once again w e are re m inded that there is no safe harb o r for o u r children. H ow young do the victim s have to be and how m any children need to die before w e stop the proliferation o f guns in our n a tion and the killing o f innocents? T he m ost recent statistics reveal 2,694 children and teens w ere killed by gunfire in 2010; 1,773 o f them w ere victim s o f hom icide and 67 o f these w ere elem entary school-age children. If those children and teens w ere still alive they w ould fill 108 classroom s o f 25 each. Since 1979 w hen gun death data w ere first co llected by age, a sh o ck ing 119,079 children and teens have been killed by gun violence. T hat is m ore child deaths in A m erica than A m erican battle deaths in W orld W arl(5 3 ,4 0 2 )o rin Vietnam (47,434) o r in the K orean W ar (33,739) or in the Iraq W ar (3,517). W here is our an ti-w ar m ovem ent to p rotect ch il dren from pervasive gun violence here at hom e? T his slaughter o f innocents hap pens because w e protect guns, b e fore children and o th er hum an b e ings. O u r hearts and prayers go out to the paren ts and teach ers and children and the entire N ew tow n com m unity that has been ripped ap art by each bullet shot this m o rn ing. W e know the co m m u n ity will n ev er be the sam e. T he N ew tow n fam ilies w ho lost children w ill never be the sam e. T he fam ilies o f the teachers w ho w ere killed w ill never be the sam e. Every child at the Sandy H ook Elem entary School will never be the sam e. Each and all o f us m ust do m ore to stop this intolerable and w anton epidem ic o f gun violence and d e m and that o u r political leaders do m ore. W e c a n ’t ju s t talk about it after every m ass shooting and then do nothing until the next m ass shoot ing w hen w e profess shock and talk about it again. T h e la te st terrib le trag ed y at Sandy H ook Elem entary is no fluke. It is a result o f the senseless, im m oral neglect o f all o f us as a nation to protect children instead o f guns and to speak out against the perva sive culture o f violence and p ro lif eration o f guns in our nation. It is up to us to stop these p reventable trag edies. W e have so m uch w ork to do to build safe com m unities fo r o ur c h il dren and need leaders at all levels o f g o v e rn m e n t w h o w ill stan d up ag ain st the N R A and fo r every c h ild ’s right to live and learn free o f gun v iolence. B ut that w ill not hap pen until m others and g ran d m o th ers, fathers and grandfathers, sis ters and brothers, aunts and uncles, and neighbors and faith leaders and everybody w ho believes that ch il dren have a right to grow up safely stand up together and m ake a m ighty ruckus as long as necessary to break the gun lo b b y ’s veto on com m on sense gun policy. O u r law s an d no t th e N R A m ust c o n tro l w h o can o b ta in firea rm s. It is w ay p a st tim e to d e m a n d e n a c tm e n t o f fe d e ra l g u n s a fe ty m e a su re s, in c lu d in g e n d in g th e g un sh o w lo o p h o le th a t a llo w s p riv a te d e a le rs to sell g u n s w ith o u t a lic e n se an d a v o id re q u ire d b a c k g ro u n d c h ec k s. W e m ust reinstate the assault w eapons ban that expired in 2004, and require co n su m er safety stan dards for all guns. W hy in the w orld do w e regulate teddy bears and toy guns and not real guns that have snuffed out tens o f thousands o f child lives? W hy are leaders capitulating to the p o w erful gun lobby o v er the rights o f children and all people to life and safety ? I hope these shocking C o n n ecti cut ch ild sacrifices in this holy sea son w ill force enough o f us at last to stand up, speak out, and organize w ith urgency and persistence until the president, m em bers o f C ongress, governors and state legislators put ch ild safety ahead o f political ex p e diency. W e m ust aspire and act together to becom e the w orld leader in p ro tecting children against gun v io lence rath er than leading the w orld in ch ild victim s o f guns. Every c h ild ’s life is sacred and it is long past tim e that w e protect all our children. A lb e rt C am u s, N obel L a u re a te, s p e a k in g at a D o m in ic a n m o n a s tery in 1948 said: “ P e rh a p s w e c a n n o t p re v e n t th is w o rld from b e in g a w o rld in w h ich c h ild re n are to rtu re d . B ut w e c an re d u c e th e n u m b e r o f to rtu re d c h ild re n .” H e d e sc rib e d o u r re s p o n sib ility as h u m a n b e in g s “ if not to re d u c e e v il, at le ast no t to ad d to it” an d “to re fu se to c o n se n t to c o n d i tio n s w h ic h to rtu re in n o c e n ts.” It is tim e fo r a critical m ass o f A m ericans to refuse to consent to the killing o f children by gun vio lence. Marian Wright Edelman is presi dent o f the Children’s Defense Fund.
