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Page 6
April 2, 2014
Portland Youth Conference Rescheduled
Activist asks for
help to make
event successful
D onovan M. S mith /
T he P ortland O bserver
photo by
Community activist Imani Muhammad is
asking for local support to make a re-
\
scheduled Portland Youth Summit
Conference successful. The event
u » was postponed because of a winter
UH’I t
snow storm and is now planned
D onovan M. S mith
T he P ortland O bserver
by
for next weekend, April
11-12 at Portland
State Univer- '
sity, concluding
with an evening
concert at the
Blazers Boys
and Girls Club
on Northeast
Martin Luther
King Jr. Boule­
vard.
A winter snowstorm that postponed a
youth summit during Black History Month
will take place over two days, April 11 and
April 12 at Portland State University with a
concluding concert at the Blazers Boys and
Girls Club.
Portland activist Imani Muhammad is look­
ing for help to make the annual event a
success.
Muhammad and her organization Youth
Organized and United to Help (Y.O.U.th),
has held the Portland Annual Youth Summit,
since 2007 after the death o f Davonte
Lightfoot, a 14-year-old who was gunned
Make the Connection... NOW!
Youth Empowerment
JOB FAIR
Ages 17 to 25
Thursday April 10, 2014
Time: 10:00am -2:00
Concordia University
I ' FT*
3*
Hagen Campus Center
2811 NE Holman Street
Portland, OR 97211
The North Northeast Business Association, Concordia University, Campus Lynks and PCC
Cascade Black Student Union and over 25 local youth services providers and schools have
united to create a Job Fair to highlight the talents and skills of the NOW Generation (North-
Northeast Portland's Outstanding Workforce) ages 17-25. THE FUTURE IS NOW!!I
The NOW Generation is invited to meet with recruiters
to fill summer job opportunities, regular full-time and part-time positions and internships. If you
are motivated to work, have the basic job readiness skills needed to apply, interview and retain
a job, this is the Job Fair for-YOU!
down by another teen near the comer of
North Killingsworth Street and Albina Av­
enue.
“That’s when that phrase ‘don’t let any­
one die in vain’ became clear to m e’’,
Muhammad says.
This year’s summit was planned for Feb­
ruary this year, but postponed because of a
snow storm that shut down much of the
city’s operations.
Muhammad, currently program director at
the Boys and Girls Club and a teacher at the
former Victory Outreach Middle School where
Lightfoot was one of her pupils, recalls the
young boy with fondness, the good, the bad,
and the scars.
“Davonte, he had a little swag to him. He
had a baby face, but you could tell that he had
either been living the street life— had older
siblings and cousins that had kinda taught
him the game. W e’re looking at a 12/13 year-
old, but still he hung out with 18-year-olds,”
she said.
The summit will provide an atmosphere
for young people and adults to tackle vio­
lence issues while exploring elements of Hip
Hop and historical connections with the so-
called African Diaspora through interactive
workshops.
Videotaped sessions with popular Fruit of
Islam orator Nuri Muhammad and rapper-
activist Jasiri X, recorded when they came to
Portland for the earlier scheduled event, will
also be showcased.
M usic at the Y.O.U.th sum m it will be
provided by various youth and seasoned
perform ers in the com m unity including
but not lim ited to M ic Capes and Rasheed
Jamal o f the three man Hip Hop collective,
‘The R esistance.’ Mic Crenshaw and
M adgesdiq will headline a Saturday night
concert with features by S wiggle M andela
and Talilo. The youngest o f the nig h t’s
talents will com e from a 6 and 7-year-old
dance group.
M uham m ad urges the com m unity to
support her group’s effort. She says do­
nations are especially needed to offset
costs from the earlier postponem ent, much
o f which were exhausted in prom otion of
the event’s February date.
She is also searching for som eone who
can print up some shirts pro bono; if they
are not able to find one soon they may not
be able to give a free shirt to participants
as they have done every year in the past.
M ost o f all, M uham m ad says she hopes
to see the com m unity come out in full
support o f its young people and have a
good time.
To help with The 8th Annual Portland
Youth Summit, email Imani Muhammad at
info@portlandyouthsummit.org. For more
information, visit portlandyouthsummit.org.
Charles Washington
Past Publisher of the Portland Observer
In memory of an outstanding and dedicated
member of Portland's Longest Standing
Minority Publication.
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