Portland Advocate_1981-08

•• The Black Educational Center Needs Community Support by Mary Avery The Black Educational Center (BEC) founded in May of 1970, has an educational program de– signed to meet the basic needs of -Black Children; a Black book– store, providing literature about Black people throughout the world; and a monthly news– letter, reporting world events that impact upon the lives of Black people. The BEC located in the heart of the Black community, at 4919 N.E. 17th, is dedicated to the task of preparing young Black minds for the challenges in todays technological society, yet always reinforcing the student's role and responsibil– ity to the community. Students are taught not to view the~selves in a vacuum, within the confines of ' this society, but rather from a world perspective, recognizing the commonalities of all Black people whether they are from Afrika, the Caribbean, or the U.S. The BEC, funded primarily through community support, has been successful in educating an estimated 600 Black students since its conception. The school was, however, in jeo– pardy of not opening this year, because of rising costs, which curtailed student enrollment. Because of a summer recruit– ment and fund raising campaign the school will be able to stay open for another year. The BEC, the only Black owned, controlled, and operated educational institution in Portland, needs your financial support. Your contribution is tax deductible. The BEC exist solely for the educational and cultural needs of our children. For more information, please contact Ms. Joyce Harris, School Administrator at 284-9552 or drop by the Talking Drum Bookstore,at NE 17th and Alberta. HAJR1JES!fjN CENTER.. 24.9~3.!65 249-3866 lONNIE JENKINS MANGER B..L!\ JOHNSON JANICE W\RT OPERAK:RS __.,.,) l~-Broadous Auto Service STEAM CLEANING, UNDERCOATING, WASH, POUSH, WAX, SIMONIZED, BLUE CORRAL, PORCELIZED _:]HAc_ 4612 N. WIWAMS AT GOING l 282--9424 PORTABlE SERVICE 209NE killingsworth Samuel J. Brown, Jr. D.D.S. Carlos L.Weekly, D.M.D. An Overview Of Portland's BUF Activities:1979 -81 July 11, 1979 - BUF became pub– licly known by announcing a boy– cott of Portland Public Schools because, Black Children carried the heaviest burden for inte– grating schools by being bussed; curriculum and teacher training called for vast improvements ; discipline policies were ques– tioned; there was little or no meaningful parental involvement; more Black teachers and admini– strators needed to be hired; Black children needed greater access to neighborhood schools; and a new middle school in the Black community was needed. Rev. John H. Jackson and Mr. Ron Herndon were selected as the organizations spokesmen, reflecting the views of the Blac.k community. July 12, 1979 -A community sur– vey showed 97% of Portland's Black community was willing to boycott schools. August 10, 1979 - Widespread Black community and organiza– tional support gained momentum. August 25, 1979 - BUF sponsored its first community-wide event, called "Children's Saturday" at Fernhill Park. September 4, 1979 - The boycott was deferred because School Board agreed to all of the Front's de– mands. September 5, 1979 -Black stu– dents were able to attend neigh– borhood schools for the first time since Portland's "voluntary bussing scheme" was implemented. September 10,1979- BUF announ– ced the school district's per– formance was poor during the first month of school. November 6,1979 - Portland's Black community was urged by the BUF to struggle against incxeas– ed incidences of police harass– ment and brutality. A "hot line" was launched to handle com– plaints regarding charges of police harassment or brutality. November 9,1979- BUF began an in-depth look into claims of police brutality. November 27,1979- BUF called for Portland School Superinten– dent to resign, believing Super– intendent helped maintain racist practices in the public school system. November 30, 1979 - BUF critized School Board's proposals, dis– trusting its voluntary desegre– gation plan. Again, the Super– intendent was called on to re– sign due to inaction related to BUF demands. December 5,1979 - Dismay was expressed by BUF when House re·– jected a bill to have Martin Luther King Jr. an official state holiday. January ~6,1980 - BUF made it clear any plan that created sys– tematic forced bussing of Black Children would not be accepted. February 5,1980- School Board desegregation plan rejected by BUF, which led to community wide meetings for preparing an alternative plan . February 8,1980- BUF plan call– ed for Eliot School to become a new middle school. February 15,1980 - School Board discussed four plans, one of which was the BUF plan. March 4, 1980 - BUF obtained support from both Black and white parents , who claimed integration was not necessary for quality education. March 5, 1980 - BUF announced Portland's School Board new de– segregation plan illustrated the mentality of white racists among its members. March 10,1980- The Front pre– sented its plan for improving the education of Black Child– ren, with support coming from Attorney .Derrick A. Bell, Jr. who came before the Board, At the time, a Harvard Law Pro– fessor, Attorney Bell cited the educational dilemma as an academic one based on quality education, rather than school desegregation. April 20 , 1980- BUF member . life threatened on several occas1ons by an anonymous caller. (Continued on Page 12) page 11