Portland; Oregon; though widely regarded as a liberal bastion; also has struggled historically with ethnic diversity; indeed; the 2010 census found it to be "America's whitest major city." In early recognition of such disparate realities; a group of African American activists in the 1960s formed a local branch of the Black Panther Party in the city's Albina District to rally their community and be heard by city leaders. And as Lucas Burke and Judson Jeffries reveal; the Portland branch was quite different from the more famous―and infamous―Oakland headquarters. Instead of parading through the streets wearing black berets and ammunition belts; Portland's Panthers were more concerned with opening a health clinic and starting free breakfast programs for neighborhood kids. Though the group had been squeezed out of local politics by the early 1980s; its legacy lives on through the various activist groups in Portland that are still fighting many of the same battles.Combining histories of the city and its African American community with interviews with former Portland Panthers and other key players; this long-overdue account adds complexity to our understanding of the protracted civil rights movement throughout the Pacific Northwest.
#2481687 in Books 2007-03-23Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 10.17 x 1.14 x 7.29l; 2.65 #File Name: 0295986492336 pages
Review
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful. history; varieties; and meanings of the wheel symbol in BuddhismBy Henry BerryTeiser--D. T. Sukuki professor in Buddhist Studies at Princeton--puts the classical source of the wheel as the preferred and eventually conventional symbol for the Buddhist spiritual concept of a series of lifetimes for nearly every person with the Mulasarvastivada school of Indian Buddhism. Although this school is only one of many schools of Buddhism which have grown up throughout Asia over centuries; the location of the Mulasarvastivada school in north-central India where Buddhism originated and the time of its formation in the early though not the initial development of Indian Buddhism gave its teachings and practices an exceptional canonical authority. "[A]s the canonical story of the wheel of rebirth shows; the vinaya [the 'voluminous canon of monastic discipline'] provided the narrative authority for a collective enterprise that drew lay people to Buddhist temples and sent monks and nuns out into the lay community."The circular shape of the wheel is the basic configuration uniting this central symbol of Buddhism as it spread throughout Asia in the following centuries. Like the cross of Christianity; the wheel of Buddhism has become identified with this world religion. But different features of the wheel symbolizing different concepts and tenets of Buddhism have been emphasized in different regions and different times. The wheel's hub; spokes; and rim are three "compositional elements" highlighted by Teiser; with the hub; for instance; signifying both a focus and "what drives the wheel; what makes it go around." The fourth "property of the wheel is that it marks off an inside from an outside." This most complex compositional element of a wheel represents the closed system involving endless cycles of death and rebirth; but also indicates transcendence beyond this since the Buddhist wheel is always in the context of a square frame putting the wheel into perspective and suggesting that there is a realm of spirituality outside of it. "The point of the wheel; so to speak; is to move outside of it."With keen aesthetic discernment; extensive historical scholarship; and sensitivity to Buddhist spirituality; this work seamlessly studies all significant aspects of the Buddhist wheel found in old Buddhist temples while bringing in relevant dimensions of Buddhist spirituality. Art; symbology; history; culture; and spirituality are interwoven in an engrossing; enlightening manner.
