Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 2013)
f L t January 16, 2013 M a rtin L u th er K ing J r . Page 35 2013 sp e c i a l eu i l ion Prophet of the City’s Streets c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 33 P o rtlan d , M u b arak becam e m otivated to act. “ We need help,” he recalls thinking, “We need to help the hom eless.” He began fighting for the basic rights that all hum ans are entitled to, w hether they can afford to live in a house or not. “These are hum ans here,” he said. “W e w ant to be treated like everybody else.” M ubarak began to speak out and educate. He started using and fo o d . O nce they have those, th ere’s no excuse not to be productive.” W ith lim ited reso u rce s, the o rg an iz atio n helps people find w ork and housing. At least 30 people have found housing in the last year, said M ubarak, who has lived in doors for two years now, but spends many o f his days help ing run the Right 2 Dream Too cam p. his life upside down. He fell into isolation and drugs. He lost touch with his fam ily, his wife, his hom e, and his jo b w orking as an A erosm ith tech nician. “N obody could help m e,” he said. With no purpose or direction, M ubarak says he threw darts at cities pinned on a dartboard to choose his next destination. In each city he visited, he’d flood businesses with his resume to find work. His housing could not be sustained, leaving him to pack his few belongings and move to the streets. M ubarak trained him self to depend on no one but him self. H e sa v e d m o n e y u n til he skipped on to the next city. - Ibrahim Murbarak, a founder of Portland’s Right 2 Dream Too E ventually, M ubarak landed here and found a reason to the w ord houseless instead o f “I see new people walking stay. hom eless. on the stree ts d a ily ,” said In Portland, a city M ubarak “Saying we are w ithout a M ubarak, “They are afraid.” calls “a hub for trav elers;” the hom e is like saying we are People without housing and street-savvy nom ad began lis w ithout a heart,” he said. sq uatters are alw ays at the tening to the problem s o f people M ub arak started R ight 2 bottom , said M ubarak. “We living on the streets. Survive, an advocacy group to m ust carry a lot on our shoul The hom eless were strug teach people w ithout housing ders. People look as the hom e gling to get by w ith high rents, that they have constitutional less as failures. If y o u ’re not overcrow ded shelters, and no and civil rights. From that, providing to the capitalistic w here to legally sleep or camp. rose R ight 2 D ream Too, a system y o u ’re called a waste, There were few , if any public perm anent cam p for the tem ste re o ty p e d as ra p ists, n o toilets, or shelters that allow ed porarily houseless to live. goods, and drug addicts.” children. U sing a vacant lot on the “T h at’s not true,” he said, “It costs $700 a m onth for co rn er o f N orthw est Fourth M ubarak hopes to change an apartm ent in Portland. W hat A venue and Burnside Street, the m inds of the houseless and if you w ork at M cD onalds?” M ubarak and Right 2 Dream said M ubarak. “Isn ’t it a hu Too volunteers provide food, man right to relieve yourself?” and a warm , sheltered place to he continued. “W here are you rest for up to 90 people a day. going to go? You get caught In a year and 2 m onth span F uneral going outside three tim es and since its opening, m ore than H ome y o u ’re a reg istered sex o f 2 ,0 0 0 p e o p le h a v e b e e n fen d er.” served. As w itness to the m istreat “ P e o p le n ee d tw o b asic m ent o f hom eless people in needs,” said M ubarak, “Sleep those who have a hom e. The A m erican D ream d o esn ’t pan out for everyone; he said, but e v e ry o n e h as th e rig h t to dream . “If you reach for the stars and land on the m oon, y o u ’re not a failure,” he said. “Just because y o u ’re not in a house, y o u ’re not a failure. Failure is not seeing, low aim is.” M ubarak is a resource for the people w alking in the vi cious circle o f the city. He offers them a way out. “H om elessness m ay not be the place for you,” he says, “I can show you a different way, but you have to help you rself,” he says. “Be better than your- self. Do it for yourself.” Albina Ministerial Allumée C ity-Y\ ide Martin Luther King, Jr. Worship Service People look as the homeless as failures. I f you’re not providing to the capitalistic system you ’re called a waste, stereotyped as rapists, no goods, and drug addicts. Them e: Remember! Celebrate! Act! King’s Dream for Our World Speaker: Dr. Yvette Alex Assensoh I ice Presi(lent fo r Office o f Equity' and Inclusion, University o f Oregon A CELEBRATION IN SONG. POETRY. DANCE AND WORD When: Sunday, January 20,2013,5:30pm Where: Maranatha Church 4222 N.E. 12th Ave Portland, O r97211 (503)288-7241 Sponsor by: TbeA .M A ., the oldest mut largest M inisterial Alliance in North and Northeast Portland. T erry F amily In Loving Memory Helen Marie Lawson-Tanner A memorial service for Helen Marie Lawson-Tanner will be held Saturday, Jan. 19 at 3 p.m. at Philadelphia Mission ary Baptist Church, 238 N.E. Mason St. She was bom May 29, 1924. Sunset was Jan. 8,2013. Survivors include her son, George W. Brown; grandchildren, Lori Brown, Yulonda Chapman, Cesario Chapman and M arcel Roshto; great grandchildren, Kiara Sanders and Christopher Hunt; sister.Jean Blocker; brother, George W. Lawson; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives and friends. You’re gone but never forgotten. We miss and love you dearly! 2337 N. Williams Ave. Portland, Or 97227 503-249-1788 We make the service personal, You make the tribute personal. Every tim e w e a r r a n g e a p e rso n a liz e d fu n e ra l service, w e take special p rid e g o in g th e e x tra m ile. W ith o u r o n lin e M em o rial O b itu ary , n o w w e c a n d o even m ore. F riends a n d fam ily c a n find o u t service in fo rm atio n , view photos, re a d o b itu a ry , o r d e r flo w ers a n d leave p e rso n a l m essages o f co n d o len ce s from an y w h e re , an y tim e. Simply go to our website. www.terryfamilyfuneralhome.com “Dedicated to providing excellent service and superior care o f your loved one ” D w ight A. T erry Oregon License CO-3644 A m y S. T erry Oregon License FS-0395
