Document 11104507

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The URBAN LEAGUE
Spring Edition, 1999
of Portland
A United Way Agency
THE.
EDUCATION
EQUALITY
URBAN PLAZA 10 North Russell Street
Portland, Oregon 97227
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY DINNER TO STRESS
LEVEL PLAYING FIELD FOR ALL
The Urban League of Portland will host its
annual Equal Opportunity Day Dinner in
March and honor two community members
with the agency's Equal Opportunity Award
that evening.
The dinner will be held Wednesday, March
3 at Portland's downtown Hilton, 921 S.W.
Sixth Ave. A reception will be held at 6 p.m.
and the dinner will begin at 6.45 p.m. The
dinner's theme is "Economic Power: Leveling the Playing Field."
The two recipients of the Urban League's
Equal Opportunity Award are Peter Gray,
vice president/director for corporate devel-
west Business Committee for the Arts,
opment for Bank of America, and Kay Toran,
member of Portland State
University School of Fine
director of the Portland Oregon Sports Au-
thority, advisory board
director of the State Office for Services to
Children and Families.
and Performing Arts and
advisory committee member for the Cascade AIDS
Project, Inc.
Gray, in addition to his duties at America's
largest bank, also is chairman of Oregon Business
Council's Education Task
Force-Marketing Subcommittee, director of
The guest speaker will be Lasandra Thomas, general manager/chief operating officer of MSBET, a division of Microsoft Inc.
Grantmakers of Oregon
and Southwest Washington, director of the North
Peter Gray
JOB SEEKERS, EMPLOYERS CONNECT
AT CAREER CONNECTION '99
Kay Toran
Toran, in addition to her duties at the Office
for Services to Children and Families, is
president of the Walker Institute, member of
the board of directors for Linfield College
and a community advisory board member of
the Providence Hospital.
pow- ON PAGE 5)
IN THIS ISSUE
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY DINNER
TO STRESS LEVEL PLAYING FIELD
1
JOB SEEKERS, EMPLOYERS
CONNECT AT CAREER CONNECTION '99
The Urban League of Portland will host its
seventh annual job fair and 1999 Employer
for such employers to interact with hun-
of the Year breakfast on Tuesday, March 30.
dreds of job seekers.
THE HEALTH DIVIDE
2
The "Career Connection '99" job fair is from
9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Memorial Coliseum
Last year, more than 1,000 job seekers
attended the job fair. The job seekers
NIKE EMPLOYEES EXEMPLIFY
VOLUNTEER SPIRIT
3
Exhibit Hall in the lower level of the Rose
represented Portland's diverse community.
TERM LIMIT WON'T LIMIT
OUTGOING CHAIRMAN'S SERVICE
3
FOUNDATION GRANT HELPS LEAGUE
TACKLE HEALTH ISSUES
4
WESTERN REGIONAL CONFERENCE
MARCH 4-7
4
SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICANAMERICAN ACHIEVEMENT
4
LEAGUE OFFICIAL APPOINTED TO
TWO HEALTH BOARDS
5
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
6
DECEMBER EVENTS SUCCESSFUL
6
MEMBERSHIP IS VITAL TO
CONTINUED SUCCESS
7
Quarter, 1 Center Court.
The breakfast, which costs $30 per person,
will be held at the Coliseum Exhibit Hall and
precede the job fair. The job fair is free.
The 1999 Employer of the Year will be
announced at the breakfast. The 1998
Employer of the Year was Fujitsu Microelectronics' Gresham Manufacturing Division.
This award is given each year to a local
employer that goes beyond the call of duty in
pursuing the goals of affirmative action,
community involvement, outreach and employee retention.
our
Career Connection 1999 is an opportunity
For example, 40 percent of the attendees
were people of color and 52 percent were
women. About 40 percent of the people
attending had four-year degrees or more
advanced degrees. However, this is a true
community event in that all job seekers are
eligible and encouraged to attend.
"Career Connection is one of our most fruitful recruiting events," said Mark Johnson of
Tektronix corporate staffing.
Call Connee Devers at 503-280-2647 for
more information about the job fair and/or
the breakfast.
e
1
our
s
The MigmM1 Divide
By Hugh B. Price, President, National Urban League
Does America's medical establishment
peculiarly susceptible to common ill-
think African Americans deserve topflight medical care?
nesses as some physicians still think.
That is the question that resounds
throughout the dramatic, worrisome and
vitally important series Newsday, the
Long Island, N.Y.-based newspaper, ran
over eight days in November and early
Decemberon the "health divide" between
white Americans and African Americans.
The paper'sseemingly exhaustive yearlong investigation drew upon numerous
studies from the federal government,
hospitals, think tanks and medical
schools. It included the views of medi-
cal researchers and practicing doctors
across the country. And it examined the
practices of doctors and the experiences
of patients in its own backyard Nassau
and Suffolk counties on Long Island, and
the borough of Queens in NewYork City.
That work provided the evidence for the
stark declaration that began the series'
first story: "Decades after segregation
ended, blacks and whites are largely
treated undertwo medical systems-- not
separate, but still unequal."
That unequal treatment means that
blacks (American Indians and Hispanic
Americans also have significant health-
care problems), "are significantly less
likely than whites to get the advanced
medical care that can mean the difference between life and death."
This racial inequality can be found over
many, many areas of medicine: In the
treatment of heart disease, diabetes, and
circulatory problems; in the wait for kidney transplants; in access to the most
experienced surgeons; for black women,
in being subjected to the more invasive
type of hysterectomy operations than
white women are; and so on.
The inequality is not merely a result of
blacks being poorer and living in impoverished neighborhoods, although these
do have an effect. Nor does being African American in and of itself make blacks
Rare 2
The health divide persists even for blacks
at middle-income levels and when their
type of insurance is the same as whites,
Newsday found.
For example, black residents of Queens
and Long Island with incomes of $50,000
to $75,000 were only half as likely astheir
white peers to get angioplasty or bypass
surgery after they had been admitted to
the hospital for a heart attack or clogged
arteries.
Such differences in treatment help explain why the health of African Americans
compared to whites is uniformly worse
throughout the country and why the life
expectancy of African Americans is six
years less than that of whites.
America's black-white health gap is
rooted in the country's past of pervasive
discrimination, when the medical establishment subjected African Americansto
rigidly segregated medical care and such
secret, unethical medical experiments as
the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.
The consequence has been a
deep persistent mistrust of
organized medicine and
white doctors among
most African Americans.
Nonetheless, Newsday made clearthat,
although overt racial prejudice remains,
today's health divide is more significantly
due to institutional biases and practices
that cling to shopworn and wrong assumptionsabout the interaction of illness
and age, gender and race; and of an institutional inertia that allows some doctorsto proclaim they can do little or nothing about closing the health divide.
Fortunately, others think there's a great
deal that can be done.
At the local level, groups of health-care
professionals, such as the Coalition for
Community Well-Being of Queens, NY
stage health fairs in churches and other
community organizations to offer screening fora variety of common illnesses and
make medical information more accessible to underserved populations.
They also counsel those they see to seek
regular medical care and to not be afraid
to question their doctors about the diag-
noses and treatment of their medical
problems.
At the federal level, the task force President Clinton set up in early 1998, to
promote preventative health
measures and provide early
treatment for chronic conditions is beginning to make it-
self felt.
Headed by Dr. David
Satcher, the U.S. Sur(continued on pg 5)
See related article on
page 4, Foundation
Grant....
Nike Employees Exemplify Volunteer Spirit
When Nike employees Dexter Reed and
Patrice Moore volunteer at the Whitney M.
Young Jr.'s Saturday School to help children
learn, they also are helping the League itself.
Under Nike's "Matching Gift Program," fulltime employees can volunteer for area non-
profit organizations and Nike will pay that
organization $10 an hourfortheir employees'
time. Nikewill pay up to $2,500 per employee.
In addition, the employees are paid for the
time spent volunteering.
Reed, who is a senior accounts logistics
representative, said teaching and mentoring
youth at the Urban League's Saturday School
is a great way for him to give back to the
community. He has volunteered atthe school
for a year.
Saturday School is a series of project-oriented
academic classes that stimulate children and
stretch their imagination. The school is for
children in second through fifth grades.
Among other things, the students have held
a mock trial, made place mats for senior
citizens, adopted a family at Christmas and
helped clean and repair a home for homeless
teen-agers in Northeast Portland.
Patrice Moore With Saturday School Students
"It makes me want to give back to the community more and more," Reed said. "It's kind
of contagious."Last year, Reed spread the
contagious spirit of volunteerism to Patrice
Moore, a retail resources manager for Nike's
equipment division.
Reed spoke to Moore about Saturday School
afterthey both attended a Martin Luther King
Jr. celebration at Nike last year.
Reed invited Moore to visit Saturday School
and Moore immediately became involved in
the program.
"I feel it's the best way for me to give back,"
Moore said. "It's important to have a sense
of kinship with the community."
TERM LIMIT WON'T LIMIT OUTGOING CHAIRMAN'S SERVICE
Although his term as the Urban League chairman of the board is ending, Duane Bosworth
said he will continue to serve the League
wholeheartedly.
"The Urban
League has
Bosworth, a partnerwith the lawfirm of Davis,
Wright and Tremaine, said he has enjoyed
working with the Urban League because of
the strong staff and volunteers that
comprise the community-based
agency.
"I think it's (the Urban League) one
of the most important strands in
become a
the fabric of our community,"
part of tny
lifi . . . ."
place for diverse people and I
Duane Bosworth
"The Urban League has become part of my
life and I would really hate to leave it," said
Bosworth, who has served on the Urban
League board forseven years theterm limit.
"I'll become a volunteer in some way, including perhaps raising money," Bosworth said.
Bosworth said. "It's a meeting
believe it can be a mechanism for
creating an environment in which
we all can succeed."
In addition to the organization's
staff and volunteers, Bosworth
said the leadership of Lawrence J. Dark,
president/CEO of the Urban League of Portland, has made serving on theagency's board
a great experience.
"Lawrence has been extraordinary in the
made," Bosworth said. "He's respected by
everyone and they don't know the half of all
the management skills he has."
But Dark said it is also Bosworth's leadership
that has propelled the agency forward. "During his administration, Bosworth has emphasized fund-raising for agency, race relations
and leadership development forthe community," Dark said.
Bosworth is married to Deborah and has six
children.
OUR MISSION
The mission of the Urban
League of Portland is to
strengthen African Americans
and all who strive for economic
self-reliance and social equality.
depth of the changes and improvements he's
Page 3
FOUNDATION GRANT TO HELP
LEAGUE TACKLE HEALTH ISSUES
The Urban League's effortsto raise community awareness about lead poisoning,
tobacco use and HIV-AIDS will intensify
this yearas a result of a $60,000 grant the
agency received from the Northwest
Health Foundation.
The Northwest Health Foundation is a
newly created organization committed to
helping impact health and health educe-
REGIONAL
CONFERENCE
MARCH 4-7
The National Urban League's Western
Regional Assembly will be held in Portland March 4-7.
The theme of the assembly is effective
leadership, Education, Employment,
Economic Development, and Equality
(the four E's).
More than 200 people are expected to
attend the conference, said Michael Trot-
ter, assistant to the president on research, policy and special projects.
Three of the key speakers at the conference will be business leaders from Portland.
State Treasurer Jim Hill will be the
speaker forthe opening plenary session.
Ray Leary, executive assistant to the
president forAdidasAmerica, will be the
luncheon speaker on Friday, March 5.
Matt Hennessee, director of the global
supply chain for the equipment division
Washington.
stead of focusing on specific groups
within a family such as youths and
Thomas Aschenbrener, executive direc-
women. Serena Stoudamire, director of
adult and senior services for the Urban
tion for all of Oregon and Southwest
tor of the foundation, said the Urban
League's grant application was impressive, especially because of the agency's
proposed approach to HIV-AIDS education.
Unlike
many
other
programs,
Aschenbrener said, the Urban League's
approach is that HIV and AIDS are family issues rather than an individual's is-
sues. The Urban League will educate
entire families about the diseases in-
able to help. "We are pleased to have the
chance to work with the Urban League,
who in the past has been so creative,"
Aschenbrener said. "The Urban League
is successful in impacting the lives of
people in the community."
Love,
Shaquoya burns
Conference attendees are expected to
come from 13 Urban League affiliates
in states such as Arizona, Washington,
California and Colorado, Trotter said.
The Urban League of Portland will host
three social activities for attendees,
sponsored by several corporations and
Page 4
Aschenbrener is glad his foundation is
I started attending the Portland Street
Academy (PSA) last January. To tell you
the truth, I was scared. You as why?
Portland Street Academy is not a place
where you come and play. (i)hen we walk
through those doors, we are talking
business. All work and no play. Here at
PSA, you learn salrespect and
responsibility. l would say that if l had a
chance to do anything over, l would change
nothing from last January.
speaker on Sunday, March 7.
Call Michael Trotter at 503-280-2649 for
more information.
people.
Spotlight on fifrican flmerican -achievement
of Nike Inc., will be the inspirational
businesses.
League, said the grant will assist the
Urban League in helping hundreds of
PSA student body president
OUR CHILDREN
OUR DESTINY
ARAMARK JOINS URBAN
LEAGUE
OF
ARAMARK, a world leader in providing
managed services, has shown its commitment to the Portland community by becoming a gold level member of the Urban League
of Portland.
"We are so happyto welcome ARAMARK into
the Urban Leagueof Portland," said Lawrence
J. Dark, president/CEO of the Urban League
of Portland. "We look forward to welcoming
them to our city because we admire how this
company shows its commitment to each
community in which it works."
ARAMARK currently provides services in
February is Black
History Month....
ci
our history is to be
celebrated and
shared every day.
PORTLAND
its annual "People of Service" program during which time ARAMARK employees volunteer their own time within the community.
"Joining the Urban League of Portland was
a natural move for us," said Gary Wattie of
ARAMARK. "We want to become even more
of a presence in Portland and this organization allows us to dedicate ourselves to the
people of the city in a valuable way."
ARAMARK, headquartered in Philadelphia,
LEAGUE OFFICIAL
APPOINTED TO
TWO STATEWIDE
HEALTH BOARDS
is a $6.4 billion world leader in providing
managed services food and support services, uniform and career apparel, and child
Lawrence J. Dark, president/CEO
ARAMARK has over 150,000 employees
of the Urban League of Portland
was appointed to two health-re-
and Atwater's Restaurant, among others.
The company prides itself on its volunteer
work in each city in which it works through
serving 15 million people at 500,000 locations
lated committees in January.
The Health Divide
Equal Opportunity Dinner
Portland to Portland State University, Legacy
Emanuel Hospital, Oregon Episcopal School,
care and early education programs.
in 11 countries every day.
Gov. John A. Kitzhaber appointed
Darkto the Oregon Health Council.
(cont. from pg. 2)
(cont. from pg.1)
geon General, and backed by $232 million in federal funds, its purpose isto start
orassist a variety of health education and
medical programs nationwide in six prob-
The Equal Opportunity Award isgiven to
lem areas: infant mortality, improvements of childhood immunizations, HIV/
AIDS, cardiovascular disease, cancer
screening and management, diabetes
control and prevention of its complications.
"I don't think there's any way we can tol-
Dark also was appointed to the
state Turning Point Steering Committee.
community members who have done
exemplary work in the area of equal
The Oregon Health Council is
the state's primary health care
advisory body. The mission of
opportunity.
the Council is to address public
The dinner co- chairs are Ralph Gillespie,
director of materialsfor Intel Corp.; Larry
Miller, president of Brand Jordan for
Nike Inc.; and Noel Webb, president of
Webb and Associates, a temporary staffing company.
policy
matters
and
to
make
recommendations for improving
health care of Oregonians. The
primary objective of the Council
is to increase the availability of
quality, affordable health
coverage through consensusbased development of effective
and equitable health care policy.
erate an environment in which a lot of
The event is $175 per person or $1,750
people who are minorities are not receiv-
ing quality care," Dr. Satcher told
for a table for 10. Corporate sponsorships are available at $2,750, $5,000
The Urban League is currently in-
Newsday. "If you just look at it from a
and $10,000.
volved in the following health
humanitarian point of view, you say, 'As
a nation we cannot tolerate the disparities.'
"While the dinner is the major fund-
programs: HIV/AIDS education and
"A government study offers reason to
close the health divide now: Those
groups that suffer most from poor access
to health care, African Americans and
HispanicAmericans, will become a larger
proportion of the country's population
and workforce in the 21st century.
That's why it's incumbent upon the medical profession to consider all Americans
worthy of the best medical care
available.
raiser for the Urban League, it is also a
time for us to focus and emphasize a
critical issue in the community. The
whole issue of economic justice is vital
forthe black community to become selfreliant," said Lawrence J. Dark, president/CEO of the Urban League of Portland. "Economic justice deals with the
creation of wealth, ongoing businesses,
partnering with organizations such as
Microsoft and Black Entertainment Tele-
vision and its looking at heroines and
heroes such as our co-chairs who have
outreach, childhood lead poisoning education and outreach, breast
and cervical cancer outreach and
education and tobacco use outreach and education.
navigated corporate America successfully or run small businesses that pro-
duce results for our community, our
state, our region and our nation."
Contact Kathy Kendrix of K and K Consultants for more information about the
dinner. The number is 503-282-0193.
Page 5
BLACK HISTORY MONTH: LET'S CONTINUE THE LEGACY
Excerpts from an article written by Melissa Ewey for Ebony Man and Working With Carter G. Woodson the Father of Black History, by Lorenzo J. Greene
The month of February is nationally recognized as Black History Month, butthere
most restrictions against African-Ameri-
are more historical events and people
that influence our lives every day than
there are hours in the year.
Charles Branham, historian at the
The legacy of our ancestors starts with
the golden age of Africa. It includes the
civil rights and Black Power movement
of the 1960s and continues to be written
today.
Despite our rich culture and resplendent
history, more youths are unaware of the
sacrifices and successes that took place
before they were born.
For example, many people are unaware
that an unwavering Carter G. Woodson
created Negro History Week in 1926 as
a way to point to the accomplishments
black people made to the nation and the
world. At a time when many thought
blacks had contributed nothing to this
society, Woodson selected a week in
February and pushed to prove them
wrong.
cans have been struck down," states
DuSable Museum of African-American
History in Chicago, and professor at Indiana University.
"Many of them (youths) have a profound
sense of alienation," Dr. Branham says
of today's youths. "They're in the process
of defining themselves, and some of
them feel Black history is irrelevant."
The way Black history is presented to
youths contributes to their lack of interest. "History is usually taught in a boring
way," says Howard Fuller, a professor
and director of the Institute forthe Transformation of Learning at Marquette Uni-
versity in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The formersuperintendent of Milwaukee
Public Schools, Dr. Fuller believes that
memorizing dates and facts does little to
instill genuine interest in the past. "We
need to make a connection to their reality."
change firsthand," says Dr. Branham,
who believes his college students have
no sense of the Civil Rights Movement
and the resulting improvements for African Americans.
"They need to realize that we have a core
of genuine heroes and heroines, people
like Rosa Parks who had the courage to
sit in the front section of the bus, and the
legacy of Dr. King," Dr. Branham says.
"People who look like them made a profound change forAfrican Americansand
this country. They need to be reminded
how recent the civil rights movement was
and the sacrifices our people had to over-
come."
Dr. Branham hopes that by teaching our
youths about history they will develop a
sense of themselves as part of an ongoing struggle.
"History gives us a foundation to look at
the future," Dr. Fuller adds. "Any people
who better understand their history feel
more positive about themselves. ... "
Now, more than 70 years later, educators
Reality for Drs. Branham and Fuller in-
"If you don't think you come from any-
and social commentators say their concern is not the lack of knowledge but the
lack of interest in black history.
cluded participating in the civil rights
movement and experiencing the shift
from blatant racial injustice to a more
thing, you won'twant to be anything," Dr.
Branham says. "We need to correct a lot,
and rememberthatwe come from greatness."
"We're living essentially in a time when
equal society. "I saw real concrete
December Events Prove Successful
The Urban League of Portland sponsored
two events in December to help parents
and children take an active role in planning for their future.
president/CEO of the Urban League of
Portland. "I was very happy with how
things turned out." The Urban League
presented the event in partnership with
In addition to a career fairfeaturing a wide
array of employers, the event also included several motivational speakers
and presentations from leaders in the
Entrepreneurs' Cascade Plaza conference center. The event featured information from a variety of school and social service organizations geared toward
"Achievement Matters" is a National
Urban League drive to inspire young
people of colorto take pride in academic
success.
Portland area. Speakers such as Assistant U.S. Attorney OkianerChristian Dark
who impressed several studentswith her
presentation aboutthe field of law. "They
were so great," said 11-year-old Rumiya
Amme. "I want to be a lawyer and I want
to be a judge."
helping parents guide their children
The Urban League also hosted Career
Rumiya, whose family is from South
Parent Involvement Night was held Dec.
11 at the Oregon Association of Minority
through their transition to adulthood.
"It was a very good crowd, especially for
a Friday night," said Lawrence J. Dark,
Pape 6
State Farm Insurance as part of the
"Achievement Matters" campaign.
Awareness Day at Portland State Africa, said she plans to study law as a
University's Hoffman Hall on Dec. 12.
result of hearing the motivational speakers.
Membership is Vital to League's Continued Success
Your membership, contributions and donations make you a partner with the Urban League of Portland for resources to
build strong and healthy families.
The Urban League of Portland is a human
and economic justice agency that works
to fulfill its mission "to strengthen African
Americans and all who strive for economic self-reliance and social equality."
Yourcontribution helps us fulfill that mission.
of places where everyone, from toddlers
to the elderly, has basic needs met and
At a time when human demand is growing at an incredible rate, demands for our
services are not keeping pace with our
customers' needs.
are cared forsim ply because they are hu-
With your help, the Urban League of
It is up to each of us to make our neighborhood and communities into the kind
Portland can continue to build and sustain strong and healthy families.
man. They are connected to each of us
in a spiritual way.
1
Become an Urban League Member!
The Urban League newsletter is mailed four times a year to members of the Urban
League of Portland. Have you renewed your membership in the past year? If not,
please complete this form and mail it to us with your membership dues. If you are
not sure when you last renewed or would like information about membership benefits,
please call Connee Devers at (503) 280-2647. We appreciate your support!
Business/Organization Memberships
Individual Memberships
Angel Member $1,500 plus
Champion Member $500 - $1,499
Patron Member $150 - $499
Family Member $50 - $149
Individual Member $25
Senior/Student (circle one) $10
Guild $10 (All members are invited to join the Urban League Guild)
Platinum Member $10,000 plus
Gold Member $5,000 - $9,999
Sponsor Member $1,500 - $4,999
Corporate Member $500 $1,499
Small Business $100 - $499
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Make your tax-deductible donation payable to The Urban League of Portland
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Mail to URBAN LEAGUE of PORTLAND, MEMBERSHIP, 10 North Russell Street, Portland, OR 97227
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Page 7
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