¡Etje
Page 4
■Portiani» (Obstruer
July 9. 2014
CONNECTING IUO Senior Earns Scholarship
conversations on small islands on
Kelsy L. Alston, an upcoming senior at the Univer
the stage, where they interact with
sity of Oregon, was the first recipient of 40 $1,000
nizes. Elliot is wrestling with a secret energy but in isolation from each
journalism scholarships awarded by the National News
addiction to painkillers, and is tor other. The visual captures a dy
paper Publishers Association Foundation scholarship
mented by a brief missed connec namic that arguably exists in all at
committee during the NNPA’s annual convention June
tion during his time in Iraq that had tempts at connection. The blood
25-28 in Portland.
tragic consequences. Odessa is five family of Elliot, Yaz, Odessa, and
This is the fourth year in which the foundation has
years clean, but her own pain over Ginny is an interesting contrast.
awarded journalism scholarships to deserving students
a tragic missed connection in Elliot’s How much does blood matter?
throughout the nation. Students receiving the awards
childhood jeopardizes her recov Physical space? Is it easier to con
must be majoring in journalism, mass communications,
ery, especially when Elliot refuses nect in the anonymity of a chatroom?
muti-media or English and must have at least a 3.0
her grace that he needs himself.
Does that matter?
average in their major field. They are also chosen based
Playwright Hudes, herself a mu
The play wrestles fruitfully with
on a recommendation from a school official and the
sician, often finds musical inspira such questions. The characters —
candidate must also write an essay on why they think
tion for capturing the complicated addicts in all phases of recovery,
they deserve the scholarship.
rhythms of human interaction in her the educated, the poor, the griev
Alston received a strong recommendation from Dr.
plays. Here she takes jazz as her ing, the unforgiven— fail each other
Karla Kennedy, scholarship journalism outreach coor
inspiration— specifically the work in small ways, reel from the pain of
dinator at the University of Oregon. Kennedy also
of John Coltrane. His works, “A past failures, shut each other out,
attended the awards banquet during the NNPA conven
Love Supreme” and “Ascendance” judge too harshly. But also, some
tion.
feature a complex wall of sound that times, they come through for one
The foundation has awarded a total of 116 journalism
achieves a kind of transcendent dis another. It’s not didactic; there is no
scholarships over the past three years with the help of
sonance. It’s a fitting metaphor for moral to the story. Rather, the play
generous sponsors. The support for the upcoming year
attem pts at connection am ong is a call to connection, and a depic
includes Ford, General Motors, Pepsico and Chrysler.
people who are in pain; who are tion of just how messy and beautiful
The chairperson of the NNPAF scholarship committee
worlds apart in age, geography, or that can be.
is Jackie Hampton, publisher of the Mississippi Link
experience; who are broken.
You can catch “Water by the
newspaper in Jackson, Miss.
Kelsy L. Alston
Elliot’s cousin, Yaz, is a music S p o o n fu l” at the O regon
p ro fe sso r w ho tea ch e s about Shakespeare Festival in Ashland
Coltrane. Disappointed in her life from Septem ber to Novem ber.
can do, there is now a coded
and relationships, she struggles Among the other terrific options at
racialization that targets minorities
with Elliot to care for an ailing Ginny OSF this summer and fall are “The
to this day, she says.
and to make sense of her connec Cocoanuts” (a boisterous Marx
nomically benefited the majority
“We have been taught by media
c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 3
tion to the family, in the face of Brothers’ musical that feels hilari
white population by disenfranchis and other institutions that gang
success that leaves her isolated in ously contemporary); “Two Gentle publicly whipped every six months ing black people.
member means Black and Latino
both the academic world and her men of Verona” (delightfully staged
until they left, a penalty now more
For example, Imarisha points to youth, just like we have been taught
home community.
with an all-female cast— what bliss
commonly referred to as “lash the state’s largest city, Portland, that undocumented means Latino,
The worlds and relationships in to watch women sample the rich
laws.”
calling it a “white playground.”
and terrorist means Arab/Middle
the play exist in a mixture of isolation array of roles typically denied them!),
Imarisha says this law and oth
“The excess resources that al Eastern. So while we were told laws
and connection. Haikumom and her and “Richard III” (featuring a won ers dictated what black people low Portland to be such a ‘liberal
like Measure 11 would lock up crimi
diverse chatroom fam ily— a young derfully ruthless king with a biting
could and could not do, and the livable c ity ’— as long as you are nals, we actually see that it has a
Japanese adoptee seeking to find wit).
punishment they could face was middle class and white— are avail racialized impact, and that people
her birth parents; a middle-aged IRS
Darleen Ortega is a judge on the purposely designed as a message able because Oregon never in who have com m itted the same
agent who has left behind any hope Oregon Court of Appeals and the
for African Americans to stay away tended to serve the needs of any crimes are treated markedly differ
of reconnection with the family he first woman o f color to serve in that
from the state.
one but its white population,” she ently based on their race,” says
failed, and an executive who mini capacity. She also serves on the
Whether it be on-the-book laws says. “ [Because o f that] it is em Imarisha.
mizes his addiction— reach, in fits board o f directors o f the Oregon
outlawing interracial marriage, real bedded in all of our institutions
Despite this intentional target
and starts, to connect deeply. All Shakespeare Festival. Her movie | estate covenants confining black that shape every one o f our lives,
ing of blacks in the state, Imarisha
have burned through relatio n review column Opinionated Judge
people to particular parts of town, and has been reinforced and reaf says the mere existence of black
ships and long for a sense of be appears regularly in The
or even de-facto segregation of firm ed for centuries.”
communities is Oregon is solely
longing.
Portland Observer. You can find the state’s public schooling sys
While it’s vital for Oregonians to because of the people’s determina
This production cleverly places her
movie
blog
at tem, Imarisha says every one of realize that there are no longer laws tion, creativity, resilience, commu
the participants in these chatroom opinionatedjudge.blogspot.com.
Oregon’s historic institutions eco overtly stating what black people nity-building, and resistance.
continued
from front
A Hidden History
Upholstery Cleaning • Sofa/Loveseat • Pet Stains • Flood Restorations
R etirement L iving
Smith Tower
CARPÍT CLEANING & STUMER
5 0
515 Washington Street
Vancouver, Washington
7 0
360.695.3474
2 Rooms + Hall
Extra
I rooms $10
■ each with
'co u p o n .
£
VF<? Also Do Janitorial Services
I____________
I Complete House I
! $1(M95 '
I Up to
I lOOOsq feet
Jwith coupon
Licensed • Bonded • Insured
Carpet Cleaning
With Free |
Spot/Stain Removal • 24 Hour Flood Service
Deodehzer
I Upholstery Cleaning • Area Rug Cleaning • Dry Time 2-4 Hours
Free Estimates • Available Weekends
Studio & One-Bedroom Apartments
Federal Rent Subsidies Available
No Costly Buy-Ins or Application Fees
Affordable Rent includes all Utilities except
telephone and cable television
Ideal urban location near shopping, bus lines,
restaurants, and more!
GJ