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Page 2 The Skanner March 30, 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 Reporter 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 Opinion History of Black Women in the Peace Movement I n this Women’s History Month, it makes sense to reflect on women and the peace movement, and espe- cially on the African Amer- ican women who have been peace activists and have played a significant role in this movement. The Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom (WILPF) was founded in 1915 in the midst of World War I. Its first chair, Hull House’s Jane Addams, cared deeply about world disarmament. Early on, though, there were criticisms of WILPF and the peace move- ment because African Ameri- can were too often invisible. In a book poignantly title, No Peace Without Freedom, Race and WILPF, Joyce Blackwell writes about tensions within the path breaking peace orga- nization. In a similar book, “A Band of Noble Women: Racial Politics in the Women’s Peace Movement,” Melinda Plastas writes that African American women combined the effects of race, gender and war, and “demanded a place for Black women in the international peace movement. Mary Church Terrell was involved in WILPF almost from its outset, serving on its board for a time. The D.C. doy- enne, who was one of the first African American women to Julianne Malveaux NNPA Columnist earn a college degree, was in- volved in the civil rights and social justice movements. A teacher by profession, she was one of the first women to serve on the Washington, D.C. Board of Education. She played founding roles in many justice organizations, including the NAACP, the In- “ Terrell was not the only woman who worked with WILPF during its early days. Addie Hunton came to ac- tivism early, working as an organizer for NACW in the early twentieth century. She worked with servicemen in France during the war. Those war experiences per- haps influenced her to work as a peace activist during the 1920s. In 1926, she wrote a re- port condemning US occupa- tion of Haiti. Bertha McNeill was another of the African American women involved in WILPF. She led the Wash- ington, D.C. chapter, and also African American women com- bined the effects of race, gender and war, and “demanded a place for Black women in the interna- tional peace movement ternational College of Wom- en, the National Association of Colored Women (NACW), and Delta Sigma Theta Soror- ity, Inc. Some of her dealings with WILPF were not smooth — she was not re-elected to serve a second term on the Board of the organization, to the chagrin of many of the White women who felt that Black women’s voices needed to be heard on peace matters. served as a vice president of the organization for two terms. These women — as do some of our non-African American sisters like Media Benjamin and Arandhati Roy — come to mind in the middle of this raucous political season. Sane, calm voices are missing in these presidential debates. We are also missing a future focus that takes the futility of increasing militarism into consideration. With the im- migration crisis sparked by conflict in Syria, the violence maintained by ISIS, unrest in the Middle East, and ten- sion with Russia, not to men- tion the number of US troops still in Afghanistan and Iraq, wouldn’t it be appropriate for us to hear about alternatives to militarism. That brings me to Califor- nia Congresswoman Barbara Lee — the only person who had the courage to oppose President George W. Bush’s push for military action af- ter September 11, 2001. She appropriately asked whether our country was rushing into war. Subsequent events sug- gest that we did rush. “Weap- ons of mass destruction” were never found. Many of us are quite fa- miliar with Barbara Lee’s peace activism, but far few- er of us know much about Mary Church Terrell and Addie Hunton. While Afri- can American peace activists were few in the WILPF ear- ly days, their contributions were significant and, more importantly, they paved the way for activists like Barbara Lee to advocate a peace agen- da and a peace budget. Read the rest of this editorial at 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 BE A PART OF THE CONVERSATION #SkNews Trump’s Hostile Takeover of the Republican Party I have repeatedly heard many of the talking heads in Washington, D.C. and the Republican establishment accuse Donald Trump and his presidential campaign of en- gaging in a hostile takeover of the Republican Party. I agree with them. According to Investope- dia, “a hostile takeover is the acquisition of one company (called the target company) by another (called the acquirer) that is accomplished not by coming to an agreement with the target company’s manage- ment, but by going directly to the company’s shareholders or fighting to replace manage- “ Raynard Jackson NNPA Columnist the party see no value in the Black community because they don’t think they will ever vote Republican. These are the consultants that go from one losing campaign to anoth- er, doing the same thing, and wonder why they never win an election. In 2016, you still have peo- ple in the party that believe if market share by cultivating substantial relations with the Black and Hispanic communi- ties, not just with words, but also by his actions. Trump’s national spokes- man is a Black woman; his state director in North Car- olina is a Black man. No oth- er presidential campaign or party institution has Black staffers in such a position. Trump has publically stated his goal of getting at least 25 percent of the Black vote. No other presidential campaign or party institution has made such a goal. The Republican Party will continue to be an underval- Many in the party see no value in the Black community because they don’t think they will ever vote Republican ment in order to get the acqui- sition approved.” Investopedia continues, “The key characteristic of a hostile takeover is that the target company’s manage- ment does not want the deal to go through.” Typically a company is tar- geted for a hostile takeover when their assets are con- sidered to be undervalued. Trump sees the Black commu- nity as an undervalued asset within the Republican Party. Unfortunately, many in you seek the Black vote it will alienate White voters, and that therefore they should ig- nore the Black vote. Trump sees the Republican Party and the Black vote as an undervalued asset and its management totally incom- petent. He is right on both counts. The Republican Party, as currently constituted, is the party of old White men. Trump sees a great oppor- tunity to expand the party’s ued asset as long as they hire consultants who go from los- ing campaign to losing cam- paigns. We have a national conven- tion coming up in July, but where are the Black staffers who have decision making powers? Where are the Black delegates? Where are the Black vendors? Will there be any Black entertainment? Yes, Trump does say some incendiary things and can be quite impolitic at times. But like anyone who is thrust from high school to the NBA, there will be some growing pains and many unforced er- rors (LeBron James, Kobe Bry- ant). One way of trying to pre- vent a hostile takeover is by using a poison pill. The pur- pose of the poison pill is to prevent the takeover from ever happening. Marco Rubio said, “Trump can’t win the general elec- tion.” Nebraska’s United States Senator Ben Sasse said, “I will never vote for Trump.” Defeated campaign staffers constantly go on TV and talk about how Trump can’t beat Hillary or he will never get the female vote. They don’t really believe that, but this is the poison pill that the establishment is putting up because they can’t fathom the idea of an outsider like Trump becoming presi- dent and they have little to no access to the inner circle. Republicans have spoken out more on racial issues during the past two weeks than they have in my entire time as a Republican -- not because they are so con- cerned about racism, but be- cause they think it will hurt Trump’s candidacy. Read the rest of this editorial at TheSkanner.com
