Page 2 The Skanner April 6, 2016
Challenging People to Shape
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Opinion
Bernie Foster
Founder/Publisher
Do Black Organizations Really Have Our Backs?
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Executive Editor
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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.