The African American Healthy Marriage Initiative held a "Strengthening the Family Summit" Tuesday to talk about what makes a healthy marriage, how to be a good father, and how to raise happy, confident children. These are not exactly the simple little problems of life, so what lay behind the event?
"We wanted to start to have a national public conversation about healthy relationships and marriage within the Black community," said Diann Dawson, Director of Regional Operations for U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services.
"We felt a need to have an initiative where we could begin to have conversations about the sensitive issues that we need to deal with and that we wanted to make sure that marriage education, as it was beginning to unveil on the federal level ... would be culturally competent,"...

A hip hop concert in Tacoma was canceled March 14 after police raised concerns about gang activity. Organizers say neither they nor their artists are gang members, but were profiled because of their race and involvement in hip hop culture. 
Tacoma's Pantages Theater, located on the edge of the city's most African American neighborhood, has a strong record of diversity – in its board and its activities.
"We are very committed to the African American community as our core community," said David Fischer, the theater's executive director. The theater's performers and events have included: T.S. Monk; slam poet Saul Williams; the Sierra Leone Refugee Allstars; and Brian Copeland's play "Not a Genuine Black Man, Fischer said.
"And that's just this season."

What's happening for me in Portland this week? For a full calendar of free events please click on "Read the complete article" below.

Department  AssistantSpringfield, Oregon. Under the general supervision of the Public Works…

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned Wednesday. New York Lt. Gov. David Paterson will succeed him as the first African American governor of New York. Here both men are pictured on the campaign trail in May 2006: Spitzer is at left, Paterson, who is legally blind, stands behind him at right.

David Paterson takes job after Spitzer broke laws he helped enforce

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who built his career fighting corruption, resigned Wednesday, saying he was "deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me." ...

Last month, Legacy Emanuel hospital treated more children than in any February since the hospital opened.  Hospital staff expect to see children with respiratory infections in the winter and spring, just as they look for sports related injuries in the summer. Yet the sheer number of children seeking help was alarming, says Carla Harris, chief administrative officer of the Legacy Emanuel Children's Hospital.
"The volume of (patients) has increased steadily … all year long," she said. There has been a general uptick in disease groups in children …"
The increase is partly due to a rise in rates of illness such as asthma, and partly because the hospital is aiming to reach more children who need specialist care. But because the hospital has been operating at about 90 percent capacity for some time, some services are stretched,  said April Whitworth, chief administrative officer for Legacy Emanuel.
"It means longer waits in the emergency room, and it makes it difficult to place patients," she said....

Officer Denise "Cookie" Bouldin takes her job in the community very seriously. She's a community liaison officer for the Seattle Police Department, the Seattle School District and the parks department.
Bouldin, a 28-year veteran of the Seattle Police Department, started Officer Cookie's Urban Youth Chess Club last February. The club meets every Saturday from noon-2 p.m. at the Rainier Beach Library, 9125 Rainier Ave. S. ...

After several decades, the dream for an African American museum has finally been realized.
Hundreds of people showed up for the grand opening of the Northwest African American Museum on March 8 in the former Coleman School, 2300 S. Massachusetts St., in Seattle's Central District.
The grand opening celebration kicked off with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, live music, children's art activities and concluded with free public tours. Some of the dignitaries included

One out of every 30 men between the ages of 20 and 34 is behind bars, but when it comes to Black men that figure rises to one in nine. This fact, from the U.S. Department of Justice's most recent statistics (2006) is just one reason why the NAACP last fall declared a State of Emergency.
In a report that cited "overly aggressive handling" of Black youth and unequal treatment throughout the criminal justice system, Interim NAACP President Dennis Courtland Hayes called for the justice system to  "live up to its Constitutional obligations to serve and protect all Americans with dignity and fairness irrespective of race, ethnicity, gender, religious faith and other differences....

What's happening for me in Portland this week? Read here a day-by-day diary of free community events to fill your week. For a full calendar please click on "Read the complete article" below.