January 13, 2016 The Skanner Page 3
News
Obituary: Garfield DeBardelaben
February 19, 1946 – December 7, 2015
W
jazz, and enjoyed cook-
ell-known
Port-
ing. His work took him
land psychologist
to countries throughout
Garfield Debarde-
the world, and he was es-
laben died at the age of
pecially interested in his-
69, following a lengthy ill-
torical sites and learning
ness. He was the first Af-
how people interact.
rican American licensed
He served on the Ore-
clinical psychologist in
gon State Commission on
the state of Oregon, and
Black Affairs and on the
served as the first Black
president of the Oregon Garfield DeBardelaben De La Salle North Catho-
lic High School Board of
Psychological
Associa-
tion. A member of the NTL Institute Trustees. He was a board member of
of Applied Behavioral Sciences, he Cancer Care Resources and the Afri-
has provided consulting services to can American Mental Health Com-
Fortune 500 clients throughout the mission, in addition to many other
U.S., Asia and Europe. Clients in- organizations. He was a consultant
cluded The World Bank, Motorola, for many departments of the state
Intel, Dupont and Portland’s Bureau of Oregon as well as Portland Public
Schools.
of Police, to name a few.
He held a PhD in clinical psycholo-
He was founding principal of In-
terpersonal Relations Internation- gy from Wayne State Univ.
He is survived by his wife Marian,
al, LLC, a multi-ethnic organization
development consulting firm. His brothers Robert Lee (Gail), San Fran-
firm specializes in helping business- cisco; David (Eartha), Pittsburgh;
es solve interpersonal and produc- Ande (Karen), New Castle, Pa. and
tivity issues, and develop effective sister Deborah Jacoway (Michael),
leaders. In addition to his private Charlottesville, Virginia; an aunt,
practice, he worked on the Good Ida Belle Northington, Pittsburgh.
Samaritan Hospital rehabilitation He was preceded in death by his par-
team, and was a clinician at Oregon ents, Robert and Georgie Mae, and
Health & Science University. Debar- brother, William.
delaben also specialized in diversity
A memorial service will be held
and inclusion. His influence fos- Feb. 21, 2 – 4 p .m., at the Agnes Fla-
tered racial dialogue with constitu- nagan Chapel, Lewis & Clark College.
ents and citizens.
Interment will be at Lone Fir Ceme-
Debardelaben was a big fan of Or- tery in Portland. A private homego-
egon Public Broadcasting and loved ing service will be held in Pennsyl-
watching old movies. He enjoyed vania at a later date.
Youth
cont’d from pg 1
night of the summit will feature an ar-
ray of workshops aimed at youth and
adults alike on topics ranging from
becoming an emcee to healthy living.
There will also be a youth talent show-
case.
Event founder Imani Muhammad
said by structuring the event around
five major aspects of hip-hop culture --
emceeing, graffiti, DJing, b-boying, and
graffiti-writing -- she is able to equip
young people with life skills in a way
she may not be able to using more con-
ventional methods.
“
the shooting death of one of her for-
mer pupils, 14-year-old Davonte Light-
foot, who was shot at the intersection
of North Killingsworth and Albina in
2007. The first Youth Summit took place
a few weeks later.
In the years since, the summit has
brought out big names like Professor
Griff, of the legendary rap group Pub-
lic Enemy, and popular hip hop activist
Jasiri X.
“Davonte is one name,” Muhamed
said. “We can run the names down in
our city, but [also] of course national-
We’re going to give them the knowledge of
why you need to know how to write and put
thoughts to paper
“We might address how a young per-
son can be an emcee, and teach them
how to write lyrics -- but at the same
time, we’re going to give them the
knowledge of why you need to know
how to write and put thoughts to pa-
per,” Muhammad said. “It’s taking them
where they’re at in terms of the music.
But then once we have them hooked in,
then we can unlock a lot of their minds
and give them some real knowledge
that they may not be getting in the pub-
lic school situation or at home.”
Other presenters for this year’s sum-
mit will include rapper and social en-
trepreneur Mic Crenshaw, journalist
Jesse Muhammad, teacher Sebastien
Elkouby and Devin S. James, author of
the book Inside Ferguson.
Muhammad said watching the sum-
mit enter its 10th year is an accomplish-
ment.
She started the event in response to
ly, of young men and women who have
been in killed, in — I wouldn’t call it
senseless violence, because there is
a reason behind it -- but I would call it
foolishness. “
She said through the years, the type
of violence affecting youth has changed
from organized crime to becoming
more random.
But the root is largely the same: disen-
franchisement.
“It’s just lack of opportunity for those
that aren’t part of the ‘haves.’ We have a
huge divide of the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-
nots’ in the city so if you’re hustling
day-to-day trying to make it, and you’re
not able to make it, then you’re natu-
rally going to resort to some criminal
or dysfunctional activity,” Muhammad
said. “So I think a lot of what we’re see-
ing today is that the young people don’t
have hope, and they also don’t have any
guidance or direction.”
March
cont’d from pg 3
ity materials for the demonstration.
In addition to Don’t Shoot, VOZ and
Right to Dream Too, Sisters of the
Road, Hazelnut Grove and Western
Regional Advocacy Project are all
named as co-organizers for the rally.
Publicity materials for the linked
demonstrations say groups are join-
ing together in solidarity to address
economic, racial and housing injus-
tice. A press release from Portland
Tenants United said the final portion
of the rally will focus specifically on
“
tenancy without cause, and that the
rights and protections that are afford-
ed to tenants are unenforceable -- par-
ticularly those designed to protect
tenants from illegal discrimination
and retaliation.”
Facebook groups for events planned
during earlier parts of the day use
broader language, saying they want
to join together to address the inter-
sections of different types of oppres-
sion, including racial, housing and
economic injustice.
The city’s ‘renters protections’ passed in
October do not adequately address this crisis
housing and displacement issues.
“The city has not done enough to
solve the housing crisis it declared in
September 2015. Full rights and pro-
tections for tenants are the only long
term solution to this current crisis,
not simply extended notice periods
for exorbitant rent increases and un-
just no-cause evictions,” PTU’s release
reads. “The city’s ‘renters protections’
passed in October do not adequately
address this crisis nor acknowledge
or mitigate its impact. Organizers
from Portland Tenants United (PTU)
will raise awareness and galvanize ac-
tion around the fact that our housing
crisis is rooted in weak tenant rights
and protections, such as the statewide
preemption against rent control and
the ability to issue terminations of
“This is a collaboration of organi-
zations, movements, and individuals
that work in our communities to en-
gage and resist legalized oppression,”
reads the Facebook event page for an
event organized by Don’t Shoot Port-
land beginning downtown at 8 a.m.
“We come together on this day to syn-
ergize our efforts into a larger com-
munity movement of CHANGE MAK-
ERS. We come together on this day to
share the work we are doing, and will
continue to do as long as there is sys-
temic oppression.”
To learn more, visit the Face-
book page for A People’s Solidarity
March, which includes links to other
events: https://www.facebook.com/
events/1552736671683452/