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Page 2 The Skanner January 20, 2016 Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now Bernie Foster Founder/Publisher Bobbie Dore Foster Executive Editor 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. ©2016 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 Opinion Blackonomics: Unrepresented by Our Representatives D oes it really matter who wins the Presidency? How can it matter to Black folks, considering the way we “play” politics? We have no power, no leverage, and little or no influence in the political arena -- and even worse it seems we are reluc- tant to do what it takes to gain any political clout. So why do we care so much about the up- coming election? Is our political strategy to say, “I got plenty of nothing, and nothing is plenty for me”? Or, “You got to give the peo- ple, give the people what they want”? Do we even have a strategy other than listening to flowery words from politi- cians and watching them give speeches and participate in debates? We have empowered an aristocratic class of pompous, self-righteous, lying, con- descending, affluent, aloof, money-grubbing, narcissis- tic, insincere, unconcerned, yet powerful individuals that many of us hold in high esteem, for reasons unbe- knownst to me. All the incumbents and can- didates need are a few nice sounding phrases to make us think we are in high cotton. To make matters worse, Black “leaders” once again are tell- ing us to vote, but they are not in specific discussions about James Clingman NNPA Columnist who to vote for and why. Oh yeah, I forgot; the NAACP is “nonpartisan” (yeah, right) and cannot endorse or sup- port any candidate. How con- venient — and what a joke that is. The vast majority of Black folks are already in the tank for Hillary. Anyone can see that. Black organizations will “ We are merely props for a circus act. Where does all of this polit- ical high drama leave us? Our unemployment rate is still double that of Whites, and we are not creating jobs. Our health is the poorest in the na- tion, especially with illnesses like diabetes, and we don’t own a dialysis center. Our ed- ucation is substandard, and we are not establishing our own schools. We are dispro- portionately incarcerated, but we are not selling any- thing to the prisons. Many economic solutions are in our hands. And here’s a political solu- tion courtesy Rep. William If you want equity, justice, and equality, you must…become irri- tants, become abrasive —Rep. William “Bill” Clay feature her at their conven- tions, and preachers will in- vite her to their pulpits. On the other hand, Bernie is courting Blacks via his “Black lives matter” rhetoric, and Trump is saying how much Black people love him, while the other Republican candi- dates are reluctant to serious- ly lobby the Black vote — in- cluding Uncle Ben. “Bill” Clay (D-Mo.): “If you want equity, justice, and equality, you must…become irritants, become abrasive. Your political philosophy must be selfish and pragmat- ic. You must start with the premise that you have no per- manent friends, no perma- nent enemies, just permanent interests.” We have set politicians up as kings and queens, the price for which can be found in 1st Samuel, Chapter Eight: “This is the way the kind of king [you want] operates. He’ll take your sons and make sol- diers of them… regimented in battalions and squadrons. He’ll put some to forced labor on his farms, plowing and har- vesting, and others to making either weapons of war or char- iots in which he can ride in luxury. He’ll put your daugh- ters to work as beauticians and waitresses and cooks. He’ll conscript your best fields, vine- yards, and orchards and hand them over to his special friends. He’ll tax your harvests and vin- tage to support his extensive bureaucracy. Your prize work- ers and best animals he’ll take for his own use. He’ll lay a tax on your flocks and you’ll end up no better than slaves. The day will come when you will cry in desperation because of this king you so much want for yourselves. But don’t expect God to answer.” – The Message Bible Unnerving, isn’t it? 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 web- site, Blackonomics.com. Gov. Rick Snyder Poisons Poor to Save a Few Bucks F lint, Mich., is impover- ished. The auto plants have closed. Forty per- cent of the city’s 100,000 residents live below the pov- erty level. It is majority mi- nority. It’s been in fiscal crisis since 2011, with the state tak- ing over budgetary control and a state-appointed “emer- gency manager” driving pol- icy focused on cutting spend- ing. Flint residents are Ameri- cans, but — like many impov- erished Americans — they are forgotten. And state officials led by Gov. Rick Snyder have shown that they consider the residents disposable. In Flint, the water supply has been poisoned by lead. Police are now delivering bot- tled water from door to door. But it may be too late for hun- dreds of kids who are already suffering from elevated lev- els of lead in their blood. The damage done is irreversible with lifelong consequences, including lowered intelli- gence and long-term mental and emotional damage. How did this happen? The emergency manager — ac- countable only to the gov- ernor and state officials — decided to save money by switching Flint’s water supply from Lake Huron to Rev. Jesse Jackson NNPA Columnist a cheaper source, the Flint River. Only the river had been poisoned by waste from nearby factories for gener- ations. The toxic wastes not “ emergency. Finally, a Flint pe- diatrician tested the blood of children and discovered lead levels double and even triple the prior amounts. State offi- cials denounced her work be- fore realizing the truth could no longer be hidden. Finally, Gov. Snyder ended the denial. He declared an offi- cial emergency, and four days later called for delivering bot- tled water. The head of his en- vironmental agency resigned. Snyder apologized for the ca- Flint residents are Americans, but — like many impoverished Americans — they are forgotten only turned the water brown, it corroded the aged pipes of Flint’s water system, unleash- ing lead into the water. Feder- al law required that the water be treated, but that would have cost $100 a day, so it was not done. Parents began to complain of rashes and hair loss. The state’s environmental quali- ty agency denied there was a problem. High-level state offi- cials knew that the water sup- ply was lead poisoned for six months before declaring an tastrophe, but calls for him to resign continue to build. Flint is not alone. Across America, in ghettos and bar- rios, reservations and rural valleys, the poor are isolat- ed and too often forgotten. Systems basic to civilization — plumbing, water systems, school houses, garbage col- lection and treatment, roads and public transport — are in squalor, lacking even the in- vestment to keep them up to minimum standards. Impov- erished neighborhoods often lack hospitals, grocery stores, and decent public spaces. The poor are left to fend for them- selves, rising to attention only when violence breaks out, when innocents are shot, when tragedies like Flint be- come public. The cost of this callousness — in lives lost, disease, men- tal damage, crime, drugs, hopelessness — are immense. This isn’t about money. We pay more on the back end — in prisons and emergency rooms, cops and guards, pris- ons and addiction centers — than we would have to spend on the front-end investments that would give every child a chance. Conservatives continue to call for dismantling envi- ronmental regulations. They slash budgets for policing vi- olations by corporations or cities. They want to slash sup- port for poverty programs and block-grant them to the states and localities. The next time you hear that rap, think of Flint, its poorest children betrayed by state officials. Think of Flint, deprived even of safe water in order to save a few bucks. Think of Flint and investi- gate your own community. The horrors of Flint are not exclusive to that city.
