Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 24, 2015)
Page 2 The Skanner November 24, 2015 Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now Opinion Bernie Foster Founder/Publisher Don’t Let Your Limitations Limit You Bobbie Dore Foster Executive Editor A Jerry Foster Advertising Manager Christen McCurdy News Editor Patricia Irvin Graphic Designer Arashi Young Donovan M. Smith Reporters Monica J. Foster Seattle Office Coordinator Susan Fried Photographer 2015 MERIT AWARDS WINNER The Skanner has received 20 NNPA awards since 1998 The Skanner Newspaper, es- tablished in October 1975, is a weekly publication, published every Wednesday by IMM Publi- cations Inc. 415 N. Killingsworth St. P.O. Box 5455 Portland, OR 97228 Telephone (503) 285-5555 Fax: (503) 285-2900 info@theskanner.com www.TheSkanner.com The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Association and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. ©2015 The Skanner. All rights re served. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission prohibited. Local News Pacific NW News World News Opinions Jobs, Bids Entertainment Community Calendar RSS feeds SIGN UP FOR BREAKING NEWS Go to TheSkanner.com s a young college foot- ball star and Olympic Weightlifting Cham- pion, Jim Stovall was focused on athletics and not his education. But all of that changed after a routine med- ical examination discovered that Jim was losing his sight and would be blind in a short time! He had no marketable skills and was flat broke. The shock of this forced Jim to change his mindset. He be- gan to search out coaches and mentors who could direct him towards his goal of becoming wealthy. He sought out people who helped him work on his mind- set. And he took courses and studied material that helped him grow himself. This is how Jim Stovall began his personal journey of self-development and growth that would lead him to become a multi-mil- lionaire businessman. Jim Stovall is now the found- er and president of the Emmy Award-winning Narrative Television Network that ca- ters to blind viewers. He was selected as the International Humanitarian of the Year, joining former President Jim- my Carter and Mother Teresa. He’s a recipient of the U.S. Willie Jolley NNPA Columnist Chamber of Commerce Na- tional Blue Chip Enterprise Award, a world-renowned speaker and the author of the best-selling book, The Ulti- mate Gift, now a 20th Century Fox major motion picture. In the book, Forbes Great Success Stories: Twelve Tales “ graduate of Oral Roberts Uni- versity. On May 3, 2008, he received an Honorary Doctor- ate of Law from ORU for his work with the disabled. During my SuriusXM inter- view, Jim shared these power- ful principles: • Life is really not about what happens to you, but what you do about it! • Money must be seen as a tool to allow you to do what you love to do. Money mag- nifies everything. “If you love doing good, then mon- ey allows you to do more good. But if you love doing He sought out people who helped him work on his mindset. And he took courses and studied material that helped him grow himself of Victory Wrested from De- feat by Alan Farnham, Steve Forbes, Jr. the president and CEO of Forbes magazine said, “Jim Stovall is one of the most extraordinary men of our era.” His accomplishments are remarkable, in and of them- selves, yet he found time to go back to college. He is a stupid stuff, it will allow you to do more of that as well.” • Money gives you options and allows you to live on your own terms. • Never buy a map from someone who has never been where you want to go! Be willing to ask for help • • • • • • from those who have been where you want to go. The quickest way to get to wealthy is to make up your mind to do whatever it takes (that is moral and legal) to achieve it! Then go to work on that goal. Starting is half the battle of success! And a good plan poorly executed is better than a perfect plan that is never executed. Change your mind and you can change your life. You have the right to choose your path. You are one qual- ity decision away from any- thing you want. Don’t let small challenges become big obstacles. To have no sight is not a big deal, but to have no vision is tragic! Sight is to only see where you are; but vision is to see where you want to go and what you want to be. Make the decision to invest in yourself by reading great books. Poor people have big TVs and small libraries. Millionaires have big TVs as well, but bigger libraries! You cannot expand your bank account until you ex- pand your mind! Mizzou Students Teach a Lesson in Blackonomics R ecollections of my 1995 article on the business of college athletics danced in my head when I heard the news about the University of Missouri football team’s refusal to play until the Pres- ident of that University, Tim Wolfe, resigns or is dismissed. The players said, “due to his negligence toward margin- alized students’ experience” and his lax attitude regarding racial issues on campus, they would no longer participate in football activities. (Prior to the publishing date for this article, Tim Wolfe resigned.) When it comes to college athletics, money is the name of the game. When coaches of college teams earn several million dollars per year and half-billion dollar stadiums are being built, the actual la- borers — the players -- get lost in the shuffle. Well, the players on the Uni- versity of Missouri football team are far from being invis- ible as they made a statement that has divulged an econom- ic vulnerability. Everything boils down to dollars, if you look deeply enough, and the young men on Missouri’s team illumi- nated that reality by their actions. Instead of wearing shirts with a nice-sounding slogan on them, or hoodies that connote illegal killings of Black folks, black armbands, or writing something on James Clingman NNPA Columnist their shoes, Missouri football players chose the “nuclear option,” as some in Congress would call it. They put their prospective livelihoods on the line, and they put their scholarships on the line by actually doing “ of individual scholarships and their chances to make it to the professional ranks sim- ply because they took a prin- cipled stand against racism. Other athletes have already fought that battle and some are still paying the price de- cades later. Tommie Smith, John Carlos, Muhammad Ali, Curt Flood, and Craig Hodges — just to name a few — took their stands against the system and took the blows that their peers were unwilling to take. They paid a hefty price for When coaches of college teams earn several million dollars per year and half-billion dollar stadi- ums are being built, the actual la- borers -- the players -- get lost in the shuffle something substantive rath- er than symbolic in response to their legitimate concerns about the conditions on their campus. The sacrifice these young people are making cannot be overstated, and I commend them for being strong and committed enough to put core values before fame. While they deserve our support and accolades, they should not have to suffer a loss having the temerity to stand up and speak out. The Missouri football play- ers now find themselves in a crucible of consciousness, and we should stand with them and assure that they do not suffer the same fate as their forerunners. If they are “blacklisted” by the NFL, Black people and other sym- pathizers should boycott NFL games. The economic lesson from the players’ threatened “work stoppage,” juxtaposed against Jonathan Butler’s life-threat- ening hunger strike, is quite revealing. Butler’s life was virtually ignored, but when the dollars came into play, things changed right away. The message: A Black life does not matter, but Black dol- lars do matter. Considering all the critical issues facing Black people in this country, we would do well to use eco- nomic power instead of rely- ing on political influence to make appropriate changes to our overall condition. We should celebrate the Missouri players for taking the “road less traveled” as they fight for their rights on their campus; they chose substance over symbolism, action over passivity. Rather than merely wearing their complaints on their chests or their shoes, they chose to wear their con- cerns on their hearts by let- ting the world know they are quite serious; they took their protest to the only level that gets results—the economic level. Much respect to those young men and their support- ers at the university. James Clingman is the na- tion’s most prolific writer on economic empowerment for Black people. His latest book, Black Dollars Matter! Teach your dollars how to make more sense, is available on his website, Blackonomics.com.
