Opinion
Nobody Knows the Trouble We’ve Seen
“Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now”
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Photographers
The Skanner Newspaper, established
in October 1975, is a weekly publica-
tion, published each Wednesday by
IMM Publications Inc.,
Nobody knows the trouble I’ve
seen
Nobody knows my sorrow
Nobody knows the trouble I’ve
seen
Glory hallelujah!
T
hose are the opening lyrics
to “Nobody Knows the
Trouble I’ve Seen,” a spiri-
tual with roots as a slave song. It
was originally called, “Nobody
Knows the Trouble I’ve Had.” The
enormously gifted Marian Ander-
son popularized “Nobody knows
the trouble I’ve seen” in 1925.
Different versions were subse-
quently rendered by Lena Horne,
Paul Robeson, Louis Armstrong,
and Sam Cooke.
In the wake of the latest miscar-
riage of justice in the Michael
Brown case in Ferguson, Mo., the
song once again has a relevance to
the continuing reality of racial
injustice for Black Americans.
Sometimes I’m up, sometimes
I’m down
Oh, yes, Lord
Sometimes I’m almost to the
ground
Oh, yes, Lord
Although you see me going ‘long
so
Oh, yes, Lord
I have my trials here below
Oh, yes, Lord
Nobody knows the pain of
Michael Brown’s parents. Nobody
knows the utter disgust of the
Black American community
across the nation after the grand
jury in Ferguson failed to indict
Darren Wilson.
NNPA
C OLUMNIST
Benjamin F.
Chavis Jr.
The writing and singing of spiri-
tuals are an important aspect of the
tradition and long struggle for
freedom and justice in America.
We are a spirit-filled people. Our
poetry, songs and cultural respons-
es to the conditions and
contradictions that we face have
always helped us to not accept
injustice, and to persevere even in
the face of violence.
‘Journey for Justice: Ferguson to
Jefferson City’ march is the first of
many demonstrations to show
both the country and the world
that the NAACP and our allies will
not stand down until systemic
change, accountability and justice
in cases of police misconduct are
served for Michael Brown and the
countless other men and women
who lost their lives to such police
misconduct.”
We hope that the march and the
other protest activities that are
being planned will involve the
growing number of young activists
and leaders who are emerging in St
Louis County and on the national
scene. We need to propose solu-
tions to local, state and federal
If a picture is worth a thousand words,
a fully-functioning video camera
attached to police officers could be
worth millions of words – and save
thousands of lives
Marching for equal justice is
also therapeutic. The NAACP, our
oldest civil rights organization, is
about to conclude a 7-day march
from Ferguson to Jefferson City,
the state capital, to protest the
Michael Brown injustice and to
propose corrective remedies.
NAACP President and CEO Cor-
nell William Brooks stated, “We
stand committed to continue our
fight against racial profiling,
police brutality and the militariza-
tion of local authorities. Our
bodies to take corrective action.
Beyond singing and marching, we
need to get more civil rights laws
enacted to stop police brutality and
racial profiling.
Fifty years ago, in response to
the racially-motivated police vio-
lence to suppress the voting rights
of Black Americans in Selma, Ala.
and throughout the Deep South,
the Civil Rights Movement was
successful in getting the 1965 Vot-
ing Rights Act passed by Congress
and signed into law by President
Lyndon B. Johnson.
There are numerous issues that
arise out of the killing of Michael
Brown. Unjustified propensity by
police officers to use deadly force
against Black Americans and other
persons of color, the improper and
inadequate training of police offi-
cers, racism in the flawed criminal
justice system, prosecutorial mis-
conduct, and the systemic racial
oppression are all issues that need
be addressed more effectively.
We support the efforts of Presi-
dent Barack Obama and some of
his key domestic policy advisers,
such as Roy L. Austin, Jr., who are
proposing the development and
enactment of the “Michael Brown
Law.” If enacted, the new law
would require all state, county,
and local police to wear a body
video camera. Of course this is
just one solution, but it is a much
needed and achievable step in the
right direction to hold police offi-
cers accountable for their actions,
especially when deadly force is
used.
If a picture is worth a thousand
words, a fully-functioning video
camera attached to police officers
could be worth millions of words
– and save thousands of lives in
the process. As we campaign for
passage of the law, we must con-
tinue to be vigilante and never
cease singing our spirituals.
If you get there before I do
Oh, yes, Lord
Tell all-a my friends I’m coming
to Heaven!
Oh, yes, Lord
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ation and West Coast Black Pub lishers
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Justified Rage in Ferguson Shooting
A
t this moment I don’t need
my president to tell me to
respect the decision of a
tainted grand jury. And the call for
calm from civil rights leaders,
politicians and suspect clergy fall
upon deaf ears. This isn’t about
calm or order. It’s about justice.
I am not trying to be analytical,
politic, proper or courteous about
this madness.
By the way, if our civic leader-
ship was as concerned with the
killing of Black people as they are
with the destruction of property, we
wouldn’t be at this moment. Busi-
nesses can be rebuilt, insurance can
cover property damage. Michael
Brown ain’t coming back. The vio-
lence we witness in the streets is a
reaction to the violence and degra-
dation Black people endure on a
daily basis. If the National Guard
can be called up to defend the pur-
veyors of hate and injustice, why
not call them up to protect the peo-
ple against institutional forces of
evil – the police? No, we don’t
have to respect the decision of a
corrupt institution. Our only
recourse is to dismantle the infra-
structure that breeds racism.
For every Tamir Rice, Emmett
Till, Rodney King, Phillip Pannell,
Cheyanne Bond, Trayvon Martin,
Hadiya
Pendleton,
Malik
Williams, Michael Brown, Gene-
sis Rincon, John Crawford, Oscar
Grant, Sean Bell and Eric Garner –
I choose to be angry and indig-
nant. I reserve the right to simmer
with rage, and to use all my God
given strength and talent to com-
Page 2 The Portland and Seattle Skanner December 3, 2014
NNPA
C OLUMNIST
Walter
Fields
bat the sins of this nation. I refuse
to submit, to be docile; to accept
the slaughter of innocent children
as a cost of being a Black Ameri-
can. It is a cost that I refuse to
afford and a penalty that I refuse to
accept. My rights were already
me Walter, but you can call me Mr.
Fields. And if you try ‘boy,’ ‘nig-
ger’’ or ‘you people,’ or any other
pejorative label know that I didn’t
make it to 55 by accident.
“I will not be silent nor will I
waver in the face of ignorance and
hate. There is no bending of the
back here, no casting eyes away
and no lowering of the head. The
back you thought you broke is
straight, and buttressed by a spine
of steel. That sound you hear is not
feet shuffling, but steps ordered
and determined.”
America needs to know that it
crossed the line in Ferguson. Real-
The violence we witness in the streets
is a reaction to the violence and
degradation Black people endure on
a daily basis
paid down by the enslaved labor
of my ancestors and the blood of
the strange fruit that you hung on
southern trees. I now demand pay-
ment in full for the terror imposed
on my people and the dignity you
trampled to gain advantage.
I will not be silent nor will I
waver in the face of ignorance and
hate. There is no bending of the
back here, no casting eyes away
and no lowering of the head. The
back you thought you broke is
straight, and buttressed by a spine
of steel. That sound you hear is not
feet shuffling, but steps ordered
and determined. My friends call
ly, it obliterated the line of
decency and humanity with the
farce of a judicial process that
occurred. The line was crossed a
long time ago and Black people
have been incredibly patient. No
other group of oppressed people
on this planet would have been
this tolerant for this long as its
children were murdered in cold
blood. In some corners of the
world children are hurling rocks at
tanks and teenagers are standing in
the path of tanks, and mothers are
bearing arms. In America we have
simply seethed, cried, prayed and
hoped. And our oppressors have
gone about their business, dining
at the table of ill-gotten gains. It’s
time we put justice on the menu
and force fed it down the mouths
of those who will never acknowl-
edge our humanity.
And let me set the record
straight. Black people kill Black
people, just as Whites murder
Whites. White cops kill Black
people. Black cops kill Black peo-
ple. Corporations kill with their
products. Americans kill. Violence
is an equal opportunity offender.
Just ask the families in
Columbine, Sandy Hook or Okla-
homa City. The attempt to
racialize inner-group conflict is a
pathetic denial of the reality of the
society in which we live. Violence
is part of the American fabric, is
glorified, glamorized and claimed
as a unique aspect of our culture.
There is nothing Black about vio-
lence but there is everything
American about killing.
We get it America. We get it
loud and clear. The ball is now in
our court. We have votes. We have
money. We have our youth. We
have our voices. We have our feet.
We have our bodies. Let’s just be
clear about one thing. We have
tried it the way you prescribed in
the Constitution and you betrayed
the very words etched on parch-
ment. It’s now time for payment in
full on that promissory note Dr.
King spoke of on August 28, 1963
with Lincoln in the background.
It’s time for Black Americans to
be about the business of bill col-
lecting.