the Coalition was launched off of: black parents who came out and said, “No. we don't want this. This is unfair.” This is how the Coalition got started. That’s what led to the formation, one reason that led to the formation of the Black United Front, so I think that’s the reason why it appeared as if the initial protest was not inclusive of large numbers of people, or it may not have been as loud as many expected. Quarterly: As far as your own personal background, it seems to me, as one of the leaders of the Black United Front, you were perhaps more politically advanced, had more organizing skills from college and from other activities. Do yon see this as one of the driving forces behind it, or do you think the black community was ready to move, and you served as simply a catalyst. Herndon: It’s been my contention that the community is . . . at that point, 1mean, ever since I’ve been in Portland I’ve always felt that the black community was ready to move. There were a lot of forces at work that prevented that from happening very ... very systematically. They made certain moves and presented certain people who would keep the community from moving. I’ve always had a tremendous amount of confidence in the feelings of common people in this community, that they wanted life to be much better for themselves and their children, and that was reflected in, I think, a lot of things people have seen. But getting to your question directly, the Black United Front was formed over a year ago, and the feeling. . .people had organizing skills and skills in other areas; analytical skills, research skills, but I don’t think that myself, personally, I don't think that that was the reason why you’ve seen such a ground swell or you’ve seen such participation among members of the community. 1 think that all the people brought to it the skills that they had, and the reason it worked is that those skills were blended so well, and they were used to attack the problem as a unit rather than in the past having people try to do it themselves as individuals. Quarterly: In response to that, a couple of things. Why after such a long time did the black community come out in such a point of militancy? After being dormant, after being generally regarded as conservative, to go from that to a point where it's either this or the boycott. Why did the Black United Front take so long to surface in your first news conference? What was going on from a year ago when it was conceived to three months, four months ago when it was announced? Herndon: 1 don't think the community is conservative. 1 think leadership has been conservative, and that’s the image the community has been given through leadership that often was not chosen by people in the community, and often did not reflect the interest of the community. So I don’t think the community was conservative. 1 think that if you look at certain issues that developed over the past few I think primarily it was just the pressure that the black community was putting on everybody that led to the changes that were made. years, the reaction to the proposed Nordstrom project, you see people come out in opposition to it. The reaction to when three or four black men were killed by the police a few years ago. I think about 300 or 400 people cam e .. .went to the inquest, of Ricky Johnson. . . . People are willing to do that because you are talking about their very lives, the lives of their children, and their children mean as much to them as they mean to anybody else, and they're willing to fight for them and also fight for other issues that affect them in the city. It’s just that in the past, leadership has not tried to harness that energy as much. In some cases they had done all they could to try to misdirect it. So in the second part of your question about the Black United Front, given the situation in Portland, you want to try to create an organization that is going to successfully counter the trend that has gone on for maybe 20 years; it's going to take a lot of study, a lot of research, a lot of hammering out of issues, tactics and procedures, and we think it was well worth the year, the year spent doing that, given what we’ve been able to do on the issue of education. It was a year well spent. Quarterly: How did you and Reverend Jackson get together, and how, given that kind of background of conservative religious leadership, how did so much black religious leadership come about to support a boycott? Herndon: Well, again I don't think that the leadership among the ministers was really conservative. It’s just based upon my contact with the minis; tecs since I’ve been here. When I first got here, a year after I first got here, you had the Roosevelt boycott. Well, there were ministers that were involved in that. A school was set up for Roosevelt students, and I’m sure there was a lot of help from ministers. Ministers don't want to get burned anymore than anybody else, and they’re not going to step out on the issue unless they can see that people are sincere, that people who are behind it are motivated for good reasons, not for personal reasons, and I think that's been their reluctance in the past. Oftentimes they really couldn’t tell, you know, what is this issue, and the people that are involved in it; are they sincere? Because if I'm going to speak on it, then automatically it gives the impression that I’m speaking for my congregation. That's a lot of responsibility. So I think; and this should prove once again, that when an issue is presented, when it’s researched carefully, the ministers they can have some confidence in; that they will come out. And you’re not going to ge.t a complete reversal of somebody’s basic policy and basic posture, be it political or whatever, in six weeks. That’s not going to happen. What this shows me is that they always felt and they were always concerned about what was going on. I've seen individual men just speak out on other social ills in the community ever since I've been here. Quarterly: Let’s talk about Reverend Jackson specifically. How did you two get together, and how did he come into the Black United Front? Herndon: Well. I’ve known Reverend Jackson, known of him. I guess, since. . . 1971, I think, or '70. when I first met him. and I had a lol of respect for him, and he’s always been involved in the community and in Loaves and Fishes at his church. He was one of the first people. 1 think, that spoke out against the busing program when Blanchard initiated it. and he’s taken a stand against oppression of black people in South Africa. When you're trying to organize to effect any kind of change, those are the kinds of people that logically you’d want to get together, people who have a history of being involved and work to better the conditions of people in the community. We met through some other child care programs. I do have a great deal of respect for what he’s done for the community, and as president of the NAACP. he took a stance on the visit of the South African ambassador. He signed a letter and spoke against it. which is something that that organization hadn’t done before he become president. And he could be counted upon. He got the NAACP involved in a lawsuit against the state about how it was spending its economic development money. So I think he has the consistent record of championing causes that black people have. Quarterly: Let’s turn in another direction. What’s the current status of the Black United Front? Where do you think you’ll be looking next? Herndon: I think you have to consolidate whatever gains that we have made. Pull together people who have worked hard. Develop a structure that will allow you to address different issues and do this in the same way as was done with the area of education. Decide what moves you want to make to accomplish the goals: assess your strength, and assess the strength of those that you’re going to have to come up against. I think those are steps we have to take. One. solidify the organization; two, restructure it so we can move in different directions; three, keep people involved. Quarterly: After what I think would politically be seen as a solid victory, which happened without you even having to show your cards, really, it seems to me that it’s going to take a lot of organizing to prepare a black BISHOP COCHRAN Horseshoe Music Co. 2 419 SE 39th (at Division) -guitors-omps-drums- •sound systems- major brands authorized music m o n dealer horseshoe music,co. 2419se 39th pordand. Oregon (503) 235-7095 ZAE COOKIE SAKABE 15
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