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Books/Bids/Classifieds To place your ad, email Advertising deadlines 12:00 Noon Monday Hours: Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. advertising@theskanner.com Book Reviews American Tapestry: The Story of the Black, White, and Multiracial Ancestors of Michelle Obama by Rachel L. Swarns “On November 4, 2008, Michelle Obama stood before a crowd of thousands of roaring, singing and weeping sup- porters in Chicago’s Grant Park... It was Election Night and her husband had just become the first African-American We honor the many accomplishments of African Americans. It is our primary goal as a labor union to better the lives of all people working in the building trades through advocacy, civil demonstration, and the long-held belief that workers deserve a "family wage" - fair pay for an honest day's work. A family wage, and the benefits that go with it, not only strengthens families, but also allows our communities to become stronger, more cohesive, and more responsive to their citizens' needs. Our family wage agenda reflects our commitment to people working in the building trades, and to workers every- where. In this small way, we are doing our part to help people achieve the American Dream. This dream that work- ers can hold dear regardless of race, color, national origin, gender, creed, or religious beliefs. The Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters Representing more than 5.000 construction work- ers in Oregon State. Do you want to know more about becoming a Union carpenter? President of the United States… Like many African-Ameri- cans… Mrs. Obama knew her grandparents as a girl, but only bits and pieces about the relatives who came before them. She had grown up hearing whispers about white ancestors in her in her fam- ily tree, but no one knew who they were… — Excerpted from the Intro- duction (pgs. 3-15) inside the White House. The First Lady’s lineage as a most-intriguing, multiracial mosaic. The Black Chicago Renaissance Edited by Darlene Clark Hine and John McCluskey, Jr. Between Barack Obama’s heartfelt memoir “Dreams from My Father” and a few further-enlightening, encyclo- pedic biographies of the President written by the likes of Dinesh Sharma (“Barack Obama in Hawai’I and Indone- sia”) and David Maraniss (“Barack Obama: The Story”), we have a pretty complete picture of the President’s heritage. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said about the First Lady prior to the publication of this painstakingly- researched opus. Thus, the nation owes a debt of gratitude to Rachel L. Swarns, a reporter for the New York Times since 1995, for donning her investigative journalist cap to dig into Michelle Robinson Obama’s past. The upshot of that quest resulted in a reconstructed family tree going back to the 18th Century, including a slave-owning white great-great-great grandfa- ther. He was a plantation owner who mated with teenaged Melvinia Shields, Michelle’s maternal great-great-great grandmother. From evidence unearthed, the author estab- lishes that he victim was helpless to protest because she had not only been “separated from any close family” since the age of eight but was “living in a society that viewed a white man’s rape of his slave women as a right, not a crime.” Most of Michelle Obama’s ancestors lived in the Deep South, with her paternal great-grandfather, James Preston Johnson, who settled in Chicago in 1908, being among the first to participate in the Great African-American Migration northward. The book includes photos of both black and white relatives, a motley crew whose progeny you hope might someday have an opportunity to assemble to share a beer in the Rose Garden, if not make up for lost generations at a full- blown family reunion Since the Harlem Renaissance, New York has been con- sidered the unofficial capital of black America. However, that designation might be undeserving when one reflects upon Chicago’s considerable contributions not only cultur- ally, but socially and politically. For example, the Windy City sent its first African-Amer- ican to Congress sixteen years before the Big Apple which only elected Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. in 1944. Further- more, half of the six black U.S. Senators in history represented Illinois, and I know I don’t have to tell you that President Obama hails from Chicago. In terms of the arts, the city boasted such icons as novelist Richard Wright, choreographer Katherine Dunham, and poets Arna Bontemps, Margaret Walker and Gwendolyn Brooks during its heyday. What’s ironic is that at the very same time they were promot- ing positive images of African-Americans, Amos ‘n’ Andy, a minstrel radio show originating in Chicago, was doing just the opposite. The white stars of that popular program did demeaning impersonations featuring “mispronounced words, garbled grammar and characterizations of black women as bossy and black men as clownish.” Meanwhile, A. Philip Ran- dolph was organizing the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters into a union to demand a living wage from the Chicago Pullman Car Company, “the single-largest employer of black people in the United States.” An impressive history lesson and compendium of fasci- nating factoids proving that the so-called Second City need not take a back seat to New York, at least when discussing the achievements of its African-American intelligentsia. ADDICTION COUNSELOR Train for a valuable, fulfilling career. Earn Addiction Counselor Professional Certification in Washington State. Clark College classes begin September 24. Call Dr. Mar- cia Roi, 360-992-2171 Take time to read www.theskanner.com by Kam Williams Special To The Skanner News 9-5-12 NETWORKING - OPEN HOUSE Interstate Bridge Partners: PCL Civil Constructors, Inc., American Bridge Company, Fluor Enterprises, Inc., URS Corporation, would like to invite DBE firms in the A/E/C Industry who are interested in partnering opportunities on the Columbia River Cross- ing Project (CRC) to join them for a networking open house. Information will be available from OMWESB and OMWBE about certification in OR and WA. Please plan on joining The Interstate Bridge Partners at one of our Open Houses: September 18, 2012 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Red Lion Hotel Vancouver at the Quay, WA September 19, 2012 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Red Lion Hotel Bellevue, WA Please RSVP to Jamie Thornton at (425) 394-4200 or at JLThornton@pcl.com by Friday, September 7, 2012. 9-5-12 September 5, 2012 The Portland Skanner Page 11
