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.