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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 2013)
Minority & Small Business Week Page 6 October 2, 2013 MID-K Beauty Supply & Cut Above Salon Supports Minority Business “Two Locations" 3311 NE MLK, Jr. Blvd. Portland, Oregon 97212 503-206-3911 Monday-Saturday, 9am to 7pm Closed Sunday photo by Jonathan Norman is on the cutting edge o f Portland’s rap scene. Life is 2Real 5408 NE MLK Jr. Blvd. Portland, Oregon 97211 503-335-0271 Monday-Saturday • 9am-7pm Open Sundays • llam-5pm Promoter on cutting edge of rap scene Cut Above Salon (Located above Mid-K) 3311 NE MLK Jr. Blvd Portland, Oregon 97212 503-477-5418 ^ 3 BROOKS STAFFING A Division of S. Brooks & Associates, Inc. Your Full Service Staffing Company ■ Local & Federal Staffing ■ Tem porary Staffing Services ■ Employee Recruitment & Executive Searches ■ Consulting ■ A p p ly & Test O nline MEMBER: A O A T L A N O B U S IN « » » A LLIA N C E I I A J|JK I GSA Schedule Contract Holder A m m a n Seatfing AwMTstvin Commitment to Diversity S. Brooks & Associates is an Oregon-based, minority-owned staffing agency with deep roots in the Portland community. It is our mission to provide ongoing employment solutions to employers and applicants that enhance and diversify the workforce. We hope to always provide the highest level of service to our employer clients and job seeking associates. We pride ourselves in being a vital part of the Portland, Oregon community, supporting local businesses, along with minority entrepreneurial endeavors. Think Jobs, Think Brooks. U A /n t BROOKS R E S P O N S IV E , D onovan M . S mith /T he P ortland O bserver S T A F F IN G IN N O V A T IV E , D IV E R S E 1130 NE Alberta Street • Portland, OR 97211 sbrooks.com • jobs@brooks.com • 800.540.7930 503.284.7930 [o] • 503.284.7977 [f] SERVING THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST FOR 30 YEARS by D onovan M . S mith T he P ortland O bserver U nfortunately not m any can claim a successful transition from the harsh realities o f a notorious gangbanging p a s t to tru e e n tr e p r e n e u r s h ip . Jonathan N orm an, also know n as Big Smurf, a.k.a. Sm urf Lucciano, is one o f the exceptions. A n ath letic an d so ciab le kid, N orm an was well liked and know n by his classm ates at W hitaker M iddle School and Lincoln H igh School w here he lettered in four sports. If he w asn’t throw ing the party, he was getting dow n on the dance floor, poppin’ and lockin'. It was the 1980s o f course. But there was another part o f N orm an ’ s life that began to engulf him completely. A round this tim e, gangs began to becom e a part o f his every-day life in north and northeast Portland w here he and m any other m inorities called home. By the tim e he was 17, he had already been shot ju st blocks from his hom e in front o f H um boldt E l em entary. T he gunfire was one o f the e a r lie s t d o c u m e n te d school shootings in the n atio n ’s history. N early a year later N orm an, then know n as ‘Big S m u rf to folks in the neighborhood and an ever-vigilant police squad, w ould be jailed on charges he w ould later be acquitted. “T hat kind o f set the m ark for me, those tw o incidents, for m e to try to do the right things,” he says. Even so he w ould end up behind bars again ju st tw o years later. It was here w here Johnson w ould decide to becom e the catalyst for his ow n destiny. He drew up a plan for his ow n record com pany w hile still in a prison cell. O nce out, he began to put his bid into the budding Portland rap scene. H e put together a group called G ang sters on the M ove and released tw o records. But the flow tow ards business was dam ned again as he w as brought up on racketeering charges due to his gang m em bership. He was facing 30- years-to life. H e w ould then m eet what w ould becom e his flagship art ist, M ark M iles, now know n as “M eezilini” w ho signed him to his label “2 Real R ecords.” N orm an and M eezilini w ere both released from prison during the tail- end o f the 1990s. Johnson released M eezilini’s first album “V oice o f the Streets” gaining him local radio-play and fanfare. Since then, the im print has released several other records that have afforded him the opportu nity to travel across the country for stage shows and do w ork with hip- h o p h e av y w e ig h ts in c lu d in g , J- Stalin, E-40, Snoop D ogg, and 50 Cent. Currently the tw o are booking tours throughout the states prom ot ing M eezilini’s latest m ixtape “Inked U p Iced O ut” w hile gearing fans up for a jo in t album with Bay A rea re cording artist R ydah J Klyde, entitled “R at Poison.” N ow 41, the ow ner o f a prom otion label called R oseville M oneyB ag B oyz and a m ultim edia brand called PirateSide, N orm an hopes that he can parlay the tells o f the tragedies and successes o f P ortland’s often ob scured urban realities across differ ent platform s. “W e’ve kind o f been able to speak for our experiences being part of the three percent black in Oregon and what it’s like coming out o f our neighbor hoods,” he says. “Just letting the world to see where we come from and how we got the same pains and struggles that the big cities are going through.” W hen it com es to his past, N orm an does not shy aw ay from the realities that m ade him. He does, how ever, have this to say, “A s far as a color, as far as a red or a blue, or anything that got to do with a gang, I’m so far past that, with just maturity that it all comes dow n to unity and it com es dow n to everyone looking out for everyone.”
