Oregon Advance Times_1968-02-29

- , .- The Oregon Advance/TIMES Publishing Company A non-profit corporation . • Chairman of the Board .••. Vice-Chairman , • • •..•••••..... Secretary , .••••••••.... , ••.. Treasurer •..•••.••.•••. • , , , , .•...... , , , •... , ... , . Publisher • , • . .. , ...•. , , •....... Rozell Gilmore ....•...•..... , ... , •... Hazel G. Hays ...... , , ..... , ..... , .. Amelia Stiggers •...• , ..•. , . , .•. , , .... Srunuel Johnson Editor , , , , ..... , . , , • . . . , .....••.. , .. , , ... , ..... , Dan Hayes Assistant Editor , • • •.•..••.•... , .•..•.••.....•.....•... Larry Lakey Office Co-ordinator • . . . • . ••..•.•••.....•.........•.•... Averill Geus Advertising Manager , . , •••........ , .....••.......... , ...• Joe Harris The Albina community does not have a single voice. Each person has ideas th'at are his own and many groups speak only for their members. This newspaper In its editorials says what its editorial board believes. But it is only one of the voices of Albina. You, too, have a voice. And you can speak out by writing letters to the editor. Our pages are small and our space is limited. So please speak about things here, at home. If we do not have room for all letters, those that are about national and international affairs will have to be set aside in favor of letters that talk about the special problems and hopes of people here at home. And keep them short. If they run over 250 words, we probably will have to shorten them. SPEAK our To the Editor: Offices at 714-1/2 N, E, Alberta, Portland. Phone • • ..•• , ..•.•.. 288- 6409 Portland, Ore. 9721 I In the Albina community there exists an environment which casts an image of temp– tation to the weak-minded as well as the broad-minded ci– tizen, Two intersections of thought come into focus when one speaks of the visual and the physical exposure in rela– tion to said temptation. Mailing Address .•. , , ......•. , ... Post Office Box 11274 Subscriptions: By mail, $4.50 per year in advance By carrier, 40¢ per month (voluntary) Newstand, single copy, 10¢ STATEMENT The Oregon Advance/TIMES goes to press weekly to serve residents of the North-No r th– east Central area of Portland with news about the life of our community; info 1 mation on the opportunities before us; discussion of the social and politic!!! issues that confront us. The Oregon Advance/TIMES gives to our community a newspaper which factually reports the news of our area and aggressively seeks the full rights of ou r citizens. lt will pro– vide a forum for community expression and help people become more conscious of their obligations to themselves and their community. In all this, the truth, as we see it, will be consistently presented. Visualize - in full view of the community - the hard– working and concerned indi– vidual as compared to the non- working (pocket full of easy money) counterpart. Hard-working John Q. Citi– zen travels along the path of life hardly noticed because society-at-large accepts his actions as the norm. But John Q's counterpart the "gigolo" does nothing more than ride around all day and night "primp," "hustle the buck," "smoke dope" and en– gage in numerous other vices society condemns. These "gi– golos" prevail in our community - their number small but their image stands out like a lighted neon sign. Page 2 Vol, 1, No, 5 February 29, 1968 Black Powe, Concept Each individual Black person has his own concept of the meaning of Black Power. To some Black Power means Black people joined together for the common cause of total free– dom to participate in the main– stream of our society; freedom for every Black man to reach his potential as a human being, not as a Black man. There is no such thing to– day that is, a Black man reaching his full potential as a human being. He reaches his potential today only as a Black man. There is nothing new in the Black Power concept to the Black man. In the days of slav– ery, the Black man even then in his struggle for freedom at– tempted to use Black Power. Nat Turner and Harriet Tub– man attempted to use Black Power in extremely different ways. But they had the same purpose freedom for the Black man. Nat Turner chose revolt. Harriet Tubman chose to help lead Black People out of slavery in the South to hope– ful freedom in the North. The Black man today each may se– lect a different way, but his goal is still the same - freedom. The stark facts of the pres– ent racial confrontation in America are that the great masses of American Black men no longer can be persuaded by white liberals or Black states– men that it is to their advantage to be patient and that they post– pone the attainment and enjoy– ment of elementary rights which are granted by the Constitution and protected by governmental power for every other Ameri– can. The Black man not only is revolting against overt and fla– grant forms of racism of the distorted bigots, but also in showing revulsion against the moral dry rot of tokenism, moderation, evasiveness, denial and double talk of the respect– able and gentle people of preju– dice. This revolution is being fought by an oppressed minority which does not begin to match the majority in the control of eco– nomic or political power. It can call only upon the dignity and strength of a united Black people. This is Black Power. As the Black man in America becomes unified, more willing to work together, he will be– come more powerful. He now is demanding that America keep the promises made to him as a human being. He will not settle for less. Each day he is be– coming more impatient. Black Power is not the theme of an oppressed man who is sur– rendering to his oppressor. Black Power means he is de– manding the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. "No work and all play, a pocketful of money the easy way." WOULD YOU BE TEMPTED? While sitting and listening or walking and talking about the problems and tensions ex– isting in community and human relations proceed fur– ther to motivate and stimU– late ideas and solutions re– gardless of how trivial or unimportant they might seem. Speak out ALBINA. Be heard and do not slow down. Phy– sically take it upon yourselves as community-minded citi– zens to be informed and to inform. Mentally consider now a long term test of emo– tional maturity combined with a continuous process of com– promise and adjustment. "Speak out, it is just like talking - Rid the Poisoned Mind." Ronald O. Webb 3633 N. Commercial LEARNING nm TRUTH To the Editor: I run distressed at the re– action of Portland and Oswego newspapers to the recent con– ference on ''The Philosophy of Black Power" held at Our Lady of the Lake Church in Oswego. We have not been able to find any gun shops that have been bought out by Oswego housewives, as one newspaper claims. All of the stores that sell guns, which I called, You, Civic Obligation ~:at:~u~~: ~~::e/~~ ~:: In the deep South there are Negroes being beaten, killed and intimidated for trying to go to the polls to cast their vote. All kinds of phony examinations are given them and every possible method is used to discourage them. Yet, they keep battling against the seemingly insur– mountable odds to vote. We, in the state of Oregon, have but to go to any of the many registration booths, put down our name, age and party and we are eligible to cast our vote. The apathy shown along this line is deplorable. One takes out a petition to get s ig– natures to battle a tax issue, and seven out of every ten sold to housewives (or to any– one else) since the confer– people approached agree that it ence. is just what is needed. You Our church has been inter– then ask for their precinct card ested in doing something to and they have none. help the relationship runong Seven names which could have the races. We held the con– ference as a part of our ef- m ade the difference in getting forts to more fullyunderstand a tax reduction or some other the situation. The information project cannot be used. It provided was a part of what we need to know if we are seems that the folks who have to do any good at all. Our all the answers to our prob- efforts will fail if we be– lems are among the missing lieve that everything is rosy, when the times comes to mark that we need not be concerned because we are so far away. a ballot. Without the truth and without It is surprising how much the whole picture, we will your vote can count. Whatever fail. you do, get that little card now It was made clear to the that certifi·es audience that Mrs. Hazel Hays . you are a regis- and Tom Wilson did not speak for anyone else. Their re- tered voter. marks were their own im– pressions of some existing serious situations. Had they been white and said the srune things, the re– action to the conferencewould have been mild. FatherTheo– dore Hesburgh, president of Notre Drune, recently warned that undereducation of400,000 Negro youths a year in predominantly Negro schools constitues a "time-bomb" in American society, The Rev. Dr. Franklin Clark Fry, president of the Lutheran Church in America said, at a meeting of the 32 synod presidents of his church, that "more destructive and bloody uprisings are imminent, and they are no longer going to be confined to the ghetto area. Future riots will be carried into white racial areas." If all who have commented and reported on the conference had actually been there, then the solid contribution which was made to our understand– ing by Mrs. Hays and Wilson would be more fully appre– ciated. Who are we to ask if we want to know about Black Power? Can a Negro speak to us without getting into ex– cessive criticism and pres– sure? Can he tell us what he believes to be the truth? Does he do us a favor by only telling us what we would prefer to hear? It is a bad situation if each of us cannot have the freedom and courage to respond honestly when we are asked for information on a controversial topic. Our audience's reaction was at least as warm and enthu– siastic as that in recent dis– cussions to our group by several different speakers. Some did not agree with one or another of those presen– tations. Several things started to happen in Oswego after the presentation by Mrs. Hays and Wilson. Sixtypeople from several Oswego churches ar– ranged to visit Albina to learn of various programs and ways in which some help might be given. They learned a lot. A local dress shop proprietor spoke to my wife about the possibilities of hiring aNegro saleslady in her store. A construction executive com– mented to a friend of mine that since he hired college students in the summertime, he thought he could do some– thing positive by hiring Ne– groes. A friend asked whether it would be a good idea for Oswego to hire and help train a Negro man for our police force. That's progress, and Mrs. Hays and Wilson did it. William Creighton 1154 Andrews Rd. Lake Oswego To tht> Editor: One of the most important institutions in a Model City is a community college. "The enterprise should be federally and state financed and tuition free to all adults. It should be designed to meet the pe– culiar and growing educational needs of the idle Negro and white adults" of the area. "It should not be, primarily, the beginning of traditional higher education. Acommun– ity college, as we speak of it here, is not a Junior Aca– demic College that em– phasizes youth education and teaches subjects for a de– sired academic level of at– tainment, but a system that teaches people in accordance with their peculiar economic and social needs," The function of a commun– ity college should not be, pri– marily, the awarding of de– grees but to train people in every-day jobs of life. "The basic facilities of such colleges always should be where the people are whom the institution is designed to serve. The difference be– tween a community college and a traditional college has been said to be this: You go to a traditional two or four year college; a commun– ity college comes to you." The community college is to the urban poor of today what the agricultural college was to the American farmer some years ago. Every ef– fort should be put forth to place a community college in the Model City where it will be convenient for the poor, both black and white. This is one way of helping people become tax producers and not tax consumers. "The black· and white poor, along with most other adults today, must be given continu– ing education." There is a knowledge ex– plosion, which demands that every person continue his edu– cation. After one finishes school and obtains a job, he should go back to school at least four times before a~e 65. Continuing education is necessary for continuing em– ployment in the world of to– day. The whole Model City should be planned. It should not be allowed to just happen. The community college should be as close to the planned residential area as possible. The proximity of the colle,!:e to the poor, both black and white, will say loud and clear that it is for their needs. The shift in populations and job requirements makes com– munity colleges a necessary part of the community of the dispossessed. L. 0, Stone, Vicar, St. Philips Episcopal Church Upstate Congratulations To the Editor: We are looking forward to reading your paper and hope your new venture is very suc– cessful. Sincerely, Jon and Ina Westerholm Halsey, Ore. Avoiding Prejudices Talked By Panel On March 1, the YWCA will hold a conference, open to the public, on the topic, "Rearing Children of Good Will To Live in an Open So– ciety," It is hoped that a pooling of ideas and resources of interested peoole will result. The conference will be held at the downtown YWCA, 1111 S, W. 10th Ave., and will start at 9:30 a.m. A special luncheon address will be given by Dr. Richard Frost of Reed College. The conference will be sponsored by the Housing Edu– cation Committee of the YWCA. ..