News
Models
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Most of the women Forster captured in black and white in
1975 are in their 60s now, though some have passed away.
Others have moved out of state, and a few could not be lo-
cated.
Forster said prints of the few who hadn’t been found were
placed on a table in the hope that someone may recognize
them.
The women who remain in Portland — Debbie Hicks,
Patsy Andrews, Rosa Bletson-Washington and Sue Chiles
— took to the runway with style and confidence.
Those not present from the original shoots included:
Mariam Fletcher, Sophia Gentry, Melinda Hicks, Barbara
Garnett, Terry Napper and Jackie Allen.
Hicks called the experience “incredible.” Despite losing
contact, the women’s comradery remained. “It was as if we
had not missed a beat. The girls were on cue, and we didn’t
even have a rehearsal,” Hicks said.
According to Hicks, all of the women from the Forster’s
original shoot were a part of a now-defunct Northeast Port-
land-based modeling troupe called the “Golden Girls.”
“We ate together, we did these shows all over the state
of Oregon — on the coast, up in the mountains, here in the
neighborhood, so we pretty much got a chance to know each
other and each other’s moves,” Hicks said. “[The reunion
show] proved that nobody’s lost anything.”
Hicks said when she heard people were looking to find
them this past summer she was both surprised and elated.
“Most of us weren’t looking to be big-time models,” she
PHOTO BY BRUCE FORSTER
‘It was as if we had not missed a
beat. The girls were on cue, and
we didn’t even have a rehearsal’
The top floor of the North Portland library became a runway Sept. 27 during a fashion show reuniting a
group of African American models Portland photographer Bruce Forster worked with in 1975. The models
were reunited this summer after The Skanner News published a feature about Forster’s shoot and a call to
the community.
said. “We were just having fun, and pursuing a sort-of-kind-
of dream here in Portland. If we made something of it, that
was great. If we didn’t, that was great. We just wanted to
give back to the neighborhood.”
Hicks said she has no ambition to walk the runway, only
to act as a resource for young women who are considering a
career path in modeling. “I don’t know if our babies under-
stand what true beauty is anymore, and how important it is
for them to actually love themselves. If I could interest just
a handful of girls in what it really means to be successful I’d
really be satisfied,” Hicks said.
Several other women, who weren’t a part of Forster’s
original shoots back in 1975, also joined the runway, round-
ing the Sunday afternoon celebration. All the models were
styled by Yollanda Nins-Johnson.
“The overall thing was the joy of being together and the
joy of being back together,” Forster said. “It was just so
much fun to hear them getting ready and putting on their
makeup, and just jiving with each other. It just got a lot of
spirits up,” he said.
Alzheimer’s
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yloid deposits in their brain but haven’t de-
veloped memory loss. Another requirement
is that study needs to be diverse. Every fifth
participant needs to be a minority or the
study can’t move forward.
This brain health intervention is especial-
ly important because Black people are more
than twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s
disease as White people.
African American patients are more likely
to be diagnosed at a later stage of the dis-
ease with fewer treatment options and worse
health outcomes.
A report from the Alzheimer’s Association
called the high rate of disease among Afri-
can American people an emerging public
health crisis.
Social science studies have shown low
participation in medical research among Af-
rican Americans.
Most studies mention the 40-year -long
Tuskegee experiment as a reason to mistrust
medical experiments. Starting in the 1930s,
U.S. Public Health Service lied to hundreds
of African American men, who were told
they were simply being treated for “bad
blood,” a colloquial term applied to various
illnesses, including syphilis, anemia and fa-
tigue.
awareness of clinical trials, miscommuni-
cation by researchers and economic or time
constraints.
Attitudes about medical experiments are
slowly changing. A 2011 study conducted in
Boston showed that African Americans are
Black people are more than twice as likely to
develop Alzheimer’s disease as White people
The two-thirds of study participants who
had syphilis already were never told their
specific diagnosis, and were left untreated
for the course of the study.
The experiment, which ended 43 years
ago, fundamentally changed the rules for
clinical studies with the passage of the 1974
National Research Act. But the betrayal still
casts a shadow over medical research.
Other barriers to getting diverse peo-
ple into research studies include a lack of
more likely to participate in a clinical trial
if they have been previously exposed to re-
search.
At the Friday meeting, there will be an
information session about the A4 study and
then an ice cream social. Rice plans to share
his experiences volunteering for clinical re-
search trials. He has been part of seven stud-
ies so far.
“Word of mouth travels faster than news-
papers and TV,” Rice said. “When you have
business ownership among African Ameri-
cans.
“Black community development should
encompass a range of possibilities, not only
individual, but also collective and commu-
nity ownership,” Bates said.
“Historically Blacks have shared collec-
tive values of putting down roots, creating
number of Black homeowners in the city.
The article notes that Blacks owned 4,199
homes in Portland in 2012, down from
4,626 in 2010 and 5,044 in 2000.
That same report said that behind Native
Americans, Black people were the sec-
ond-most denied group when it comes to
home mortgages in the County — a startling
a friend who has been through it and is will-
ing to share with you, or a loved one who
has been through it and willing to share with
you, that is a plus right there.”
There are future plans to visit the Holly-
wood Senior Center in inner Northeast Port-
land, as well as attending the Charles Jordan
Community Center meeting for Grandpar-
ents Raising Grandchildren. He would like
to convene in East Portland to reach those
who have been displaced by gentrification.
Rice said volunteering for clinical trials is
a way to give back to the community and
contribute to a large body of research.
“What I want people to understand is that
when you take a clinical trial you’re helping
your loved ones, not only of your race, but
you’re helping everybody,” he said.
To receive notice of upcoming infor-
mation sessions or to participate in the A4
Study, contact study coordinator Allison
Bianchi at (503) 494-7615, or email adre-
search@ohsu.edu.
Housing
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she said the housing market in the state will
continue to be unstable.
“I think that, until the laws are changed
are changed to protect the community, I
think we’re just throwing our good money
into bad,” she said.
Roberts also added that the $20 million
Mayor Hales pledged towards affordable
housing in North and Northeast Portland has
yet to come to fruition.
Other advocates and civic organizations in
the Black community have realized the spe-
cific toll the rising cost of living has had on
African-descended populations in the city
for some time now.
In the Urban League’s updated “State of
Black Oregon” report, released earlier this
year, Portland State University Professor
Lisa K. Bates noted displacement as an is-
sue largely rooted in the lack of home and
Behind Native Americans, Black people were the
second-most denied group when it comes to
home mortgages in the County
multi-generational opportunities and build-
ing communitywide prosperity.”
An article penned by the Portland Tri-
bune’s Steve Law this year noted the falling
14.7 percent in 2012.
The Skanner reported this summer that
despite only accounting for 7 percent of the
county’s inhabitants, African Americans
have disproportionately high rates of home-
lessness compared to other races, making up
24 percent of Portland’s homeless popula-
tion.
Despite disproportionate housing rates for
Blacks and other people of color in the city
and county, the proposed $30 million plan
makes no mention of focusing on race in its
efforts.
For the past two months, the cities of Port-
land and Gresham, along with Home For-
ward and Multnomah County, have been
hosting fair housing assessment meetings
that are free and open to the public across
the metro area.
During the last meeting it was noted that
East 82nd Avenue, an area many low-income
groups have migrated to in the past decade,
is already seeing signs of gentrifying, as are
other East County neighborhoods.
October 7, 2015 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Page 3