PaSe 4
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¡ P o r t la t t ò (J E )b s e ru e r
December 24, 2014
Change Agent
c o n t i n u e d f r o m fr o n t
Amber Starks’s passion for natural hair led her to successfully advocate for the re-writing o f state
law easing regulations on hairstylists who braid, weave and lock hair without the use o f chemicals.
w ith natural h air styles as a vo lu n
teer hair stylist. A t the tim e you
could not o ffer to brain h air even as
volunteer w ithout the required 1,700
hours o f cosm eto lo g y classes.
M aking m atters w orse, A frican-
A m erican children are o v er-rep re
sented in the foster care system ,
and m any adoptive parents are un
fam iliar w ith natural h air care.
“ So m any o f us learn this at hom e,
from o ur fam ilies,’’Starks said, “W e
need that to be reco g n ized .”
Since the passing o f the bill, other
black hair care specialists can open
and operate their ow n legitim ate
businesses outside their hom es.
“ B efore, y ou ju st had to hope
you knew som eone, w ord o f m outh,”
Starks says. “ It w as hard if you had
a child bu t you d id n ’t have insider
know ledge, because there w o u ld n ’t
be som eone to tell you w here to g o .”
“T h is kind o f aw ard is so im por
tant to m e,” Starks says, as she
tw ists a c lie n t’s hair. “It’s not ju s t
im portant to black fam ilies, but to
everyone. W e cater to all kinds o f
fam ilies, and I w ork w ith a lot o f kids,
and all this is im portant to them .
T hey deserve to have these skills
passed along to them regardless o f
w ho raises them o r w hat their fam ily
looks like.
Starks also gives credit to the
U rban L eague o f P ortland w here
she enrolled in a social ju stice and
leadership program . T he tools she
gained during that program helped
em pow ered h er to tackle the legisla
tive process.
Starks w ill continue to w ork from
h er dow ntow n P ortland salon and
you can learn m ore about her b usi
n ess
and
her
s to r y
at
consciouscoils.com , call o r text 971 -
998-8606, or visit 1033 S.W . Yamhill
St Suite 405, Portland.
O O M B M H H IN M N O M S M N O M IN IM O N H O O N M N M N M M N M M M N M M N
Clearing the Air
c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 3
o f hip hop show s.
T ensions cam e to a h ead last
M arch after an incident at the Blue
M onk in southeast Portland, w hen
Portland-based rapper Immac ulate left
his ow n show in protest o f a heavy
police presence. The night still bum s
bright for m any o f Portland’s rap
fans, and last w eek the City A uditor’s
Independent Police Review Board
released results o f an investigation
that it hoped w ould prove or dis
prove a perception that law enforce
m ent was pre-deposed to targeting
black m usic events.
O ver 30 local rappers and hip-
hop artists, prom oters, officers, and
city officials w ere interview ed for
the investigation, officials said.
“O ne w ay to m ove the co n v ersa
tion b ey o n d conflicting narratives
o f w h eth er p olice are present at hip-
h op ev en ts m ore than o th er types o f
m usic events is fo r there to [be]
b etter docum entation by the P o rt
land P olice B ureau o f the w alk
th ro u g h s it d o e s c o n d u c t,” th e
board found.
T he review noted that sim ilar in
stances o f police and fire m arshal
inspections arrived on m ore m ain
stream w hite-audience events like
PD X Pop N ow o r at v e n u e ’s like
K elly ’s O ly m p ia n .lt concluded that
despite no definitive ev id en ce o f
w hether o r not black venues are
targeted m ore often, the perception
that they are is pervasive and needs
to be addressed.
T he rep o rt said the b e lie f in the
h ip -h o p c o m m u n ity th a t e v e n ts
w hich are p erceived to have a sig
nificant p ercentage o f b lack patrons
are subject to clo ser scrutiny than
o th er types o f m usic ev en ts is one
that should greatly co n cern city
officials.
T he review also m akes m any sug
gestions to how the city can a d
dress these perceptions. O ne o f the
m ost im portant points w as fo r p o
lice and fire d epartm ent officials to
develop a standard operating p ro
cedure for how it conducts w alk
throughs o f local venues.
T he review also calls fo r the city
to open and m aintain an extended
dialogue w ith m em bers o f the hip-
h op and b lack m usic com m unity,
letting conversations to flow m ore
easily and the m usic to be ap p reci
ated m ore at ease.
Leaving a Legacy
le n g e rs B rid g e C lu b o f A m e ri
c a n B rid g e A s s o c ia tio n , th e
strin g o f b u sin e ss a n d p ro fe s E b o n y R o se S k i C lu b , B u b b lin g
s io n a l a w a rd s , in c lu d in g th e B ro w n S u g ar, a n d th e A lp h a C hi
B u sin e ss E x c e lle n c e A w a rd , th e Pi O m e g a S o ro rity a n d F ra te r
K in g N e ig h b o rh o o d B u sin e s s n ity A lp h a M u B e ta C h a p te r.
A w a rd , a n d th e D e lta S ig m a
A life c e le b ra tio n is p e n d in g
T h e ta W o m e n o f E x c e lle n c e a rra n g e m e n ts o f s e rv ic e s an d
A w ard .
w ill b e a n n o u n c e d b y th e P o rt
S he w ill b e re m e m b e re d fo r la n d O b se rv e r as so o n as th e y
h e r s e rv ic e to th e c o m m u n ity as are fo rm u la te d .
w ell, as b e in g a c tiv e w ith the
T h e K n a u ls fa m ily h a s b e en
A m e ric a n C a n c e r S o c ie ty an d so d e e p ly c o n n e c te d to th e A f
the S is te r C irc le . S h e w as an a c ric a n A m e ric a n c o m m u n ity in
tiv e m e m b e r o f d o z e n s o f c o m P o rtlan d . T h e P o rtla n d O b se rv e r
m u n ity o rg a n iz a tio n s a n d so cial sh a re s in th e lo v e fo r G e n e v a
c lu b s, in c lu d in g th e N e w H o p e an d h o p e s th a t the e n tire c o m
B a p t i s t C h u r c h , th e U r b a n m u n ity w ill jo in in h o n o rin g and
L e a g u e o f P o rtla n d , th e C h a l c e le b ra tin g h e r life an d m em o ry .
c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 3
THE
SPINACOLUMN
An ongoing senes of questions and answers about America’s natural healing profession
Part 30. Genuine Benefits of Chiropractic Help
f ~ \ : C a n a c h i r o p r a c t o r re
ally help m y p ro b lem s?
: Y ou h a v e n o d o u b t h e a rd
h o w c h ir o p r a c to r s h e lp e d a
frien d ’s headaches, neck pain, neck
stiffness, back pain o r fatigue?
B u t, it is p e rfe c tly n o rm a l fo r y o u
to w o n d e r w h e th e r a c h iro p ra c to r
can re a lly y o u r p a rtic u la r p ro b le m s.
Y o u r h ead ach es. Y o u r n eck p ain an d /
o r s tiffn e ss. Y o u r b a c k p a in o r o th e r
sy m p to m s. P ro b le m s y o u m ay h a v e
h ad fo r so m e tim e.
T h e tru th is, d o c to rs o f c h iro p ra c tic
are e x tre m ely su cc e ssfu l at e lim in a tin g
m an y sy m p to m s. O fte n m o re q u ic k ly
and effectiv ely than o th e r h ealin g m e th
ods.
B u t, y o u r d o c to r o f c h iro p ra c tic can
d o so m u ch m o re fo r y o u th an ju s t
tre a tin g sy m p to m s. Y o u r c h iro p ra c to r
is c o n c e rn e d w ith m a k in g su re y o u r
e n tire b o d y is fu n c tio n in g p ro p e rly .
T h e re fo re , y o u r c h iro p ra c to r g o es
b e y o n d tre a tin g y o u r im m e d ia te
sy m p to m s to m ak e su re y o u r b o d y
is still fu n c tio n in g e ffic ie n tly . T h a t
is th e o n ly w ay tru e h e a lth can be
a c h ie v e d .
B ut w e a re n ’t th e o n ly o n es w ho
h a v e said it. C h iro p ra c tic h as been
a c c e p te d by the u ltim a te a u th o rity ;
y o u th e p e o p le.
Flowers' Chiropractic Office
Dr. Billy R. Flowers
2124 NE Hancock, Portland Oregon 97212 •
P h o n e : ( 5 0 3 ) 2 8 7 *5 5 0 4