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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (April 6, 2016)
Page 2 The Skanner April 6, 2016 Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now Opinion Bernie Foster Founder/Publisher Do Black Organizations Really Have Our Backs? Bobbie Dore Foster Executive Editor W 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 ev- ery Wednesday by IMM Publica- tions 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 BE A PART OF THE CONVERSATION #SkNews hile Black people are bogged down in shal- low and meaningless political discourse, our vaunted Black organiza- tions continue to be M.I.A. ex- cept for their time in front of the cameras with Hillary Clin- ton and Bernie Sanders. They say they cannot endorse can- didates, but we all know that’s a sham. In an article written by Freddie Allen of the National Newspaper Publishers Asso- ciation, Marc Morial said the nine Black organizations that met with the candidates want- ed to “provide to every candi- date who is running for presi- dent of the United States, be they Republican or Democrat, the opportunity to hear from us on issues of civil rights, so- cial justice, and economic jus- tice in America, today.” Any real demands made on our behalf? Al Sharpton said, “For the first time in American histo- ry, we will watch a Black fami- ly leave the White House and we do not want to see the con- cerns of Blacks leave with them.” So, that’s where our con- cerns have been hibernating for the past seven years -- and all this time I thought Sharp- ton and the POTUS were tak- ing care of them. And, I suppose to give com- fort to Clinton and Sanders, Morial said the nine historic civil rights organizations rep- resent tens of millions of James Clingman NNPA Columnist Americans and that all of their organizations were “multicultural and multi-eth- nic.” Multi-cultural and multi-ethnic? That’s strange. I thought they were Black or at “ ing those corrupt practices within their own ranks. More specifically, this is the group that has wreaked havoc in Ohio by conducting four elec- tions for State President, two of which were legitimately won by Jocelyn Travis over Sybil McNabb, and two of which were do-overs by the national office via its hench- man, Gill Ford, to keep their chosen candidate, McNabb, in office. In the first corrupt election Only a relative few members, among those who have actually seen these shenanigans take place, are willing to stand up against the NAACP’s corruption least “colored.” Speaking of colored, let’s look at one of these “Black” multi-cultural/ethnic organi- zations. The NAACP, known for “Nonstop Aiding and Abet- ting in Corrupt Practices,” in my opinion, answered the Ferguson issue by walking 130 miles to the Missouri Gov- ernor’s office, followed up by a 1,000 mile stroll from Selma to the steps of the U.S. Capitol in search of justice. Guess they didn’t find it when they got there. This is the group that prac- tices outright hypocrisy by railing against voter suppres- sion and voter ID laws while accepting and even promot- over which the national office presided, children were al- lowed to vote for McNabb — yes, children! In the second corrupt election, which just took place on March 12, again under national supervision, the same corrupt practice used in Cincinnati was used by Gill Ford in Columbus. The NAACP’s “Nonstop Aid- ing and Abetting in Corrupt Practices” is shameful, espe- cially in light of holding them- selves up as the national champion for fairness in the voting process. Even more shameful is the fact that only a relative few members, among those who have actual- ly seen these shenanigans take place, are willing to stand up against the NAACP’s cor- ruption. The good news is that a group of members through- out Ohio have followed the lead of the Crittenden County (Arkansas) and Cincinnati branches by seeking and win- ning a temporary restraining order against the national of- fice of the NAACP, due to its continued interference in lo- cal elections. Aside from the obvious hy- pocrisy displayed by the na- tional leadership of the NAACP, not only in this case, but also in several other branches across the country, their corrupt practices also point to a larger problem. So- called Black organizations like the NAACP, despite their implied social contract with Black folks, can be swayed, bought, rented, or leased with nothing expected in return except a few dollars under the table, a political photo-op, or a nice hotel suite. As for nine Black organiza- tions suggesting they are the repository of Black power, here’s a question: If they have power, why after nearly eight years of a Black President are we, as cited in Morial’s State of Black America Report, worse off now and in “crisis?” As leaders now intercede on our behalf, by meeting with presidential candidates, what would make us believe Blacks will get anything specific from the next administra- tion? Black Voices Missing in Discussion on Western Sahara I was thrilled to hear that there would be a hearing on Capitol Hill regarding the human rights situation in the Western Sahara. The “Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission,” co-chaired by Congressman Joseph Pitts and Congressman James Mc- Govern, along with Commis- sion member Congressman John Conyers, hosted the dis- cussion March 23. This was quite important in light of the pathetic media coverage of the on-going and illegal Mo- roccan occupation of the Western Sahara and the hu- man rights abuses carried out by the occupying forces. Mo- rocco has occupied most of the Western Sahara, since it invaded the territory shortly after the Spanish withdrew in 1975. There were two things quite noticeable about the hearing, despite its many strengths. There were four presenters, each of who gave compelling testimony emphasizing the il- legality of the occupation and the abuse of the indigenous— Sahrawi — population by the Moroccans. Yet the present- ers — Kerry Kennedy, the president of the Robert F. Bill Fletcher Jr. The Global African Kennedy Human Rights group, Francesco Bastagli, the former Special representa- tive of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara of the United Nations, Eric Gold- “ cans making the case in addi- tion to these white specialists. The second noticeable fea- ture of the meeting was that the meeting itself, with cer- tain noticeable exceptions, e.g., Congressman John Co- nyers some representatives and supporters of the Sahra- wi liberation movement (Polisario), were very White. Perhaps I should put it anoth- er way. There were very few African Americans present in the room. I kept looking for other members of the Con- I kept looking for other members of the Congressional Black Caucus to stick their heads into the room as an expression of solidarity, but that did not happen stein, the deputy director MENA Division of Human Rights Watch, and Erik Ha- gen, the chair of the Western Sahara Resource Watch— were all White. Don’t get me wrong. The presentations were all compelling and war- ranted. Yet, I found myself wondering why there were no Africans or African Ameri- gressional Black Caucus to stick their heads into the room as an expression of soli- darity, but that did not hap- pen. Perhaps they sent their staff? Perhaps there was something else transpiring? In either case, the lack of an African American presence was more than noticeable, at least to me. Throughout the history of people of African descent in North America, there has al- ways been a constituency that has concerned itself with de- velopments in Africa. Some- times such individuals (and groups) have been inspired by religion, while at other times by politics and econom- ics. In the more recent past TransAfrica emerged in the late 1970s as an institution launched through the work of the Congressional Black Cau- cus as a means of bringing na- tional attention to matters facing Africa and the African Diaspora. Similar organiza- tions, such as those that would in the early 2000s constitute Africa Action, followed a sim- ilar path. Today, the weakness and/or non-existence of such organi- zations is evident in the void found in hearings such as the March 23 examination of the situation in the Western Sa- hara. This is a void that needs to be filled and it needs to be filled by progressive Black or- ganizations and individuals lest it is filled by those who— even in wearing a black skin— have nefarious objectives on the Continent.
