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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 2016)
Page 2 The Skanner August 31, 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 Oice Coordinator Susan Fried Photographer 2016 MERIT AWARD WINNER 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 Paciic NW News World News Opinions Jobs, Bids Entertainment Community Calendar RSS feeds BE A PART OF THE CONVERSATION #SkNews Opinion We Must Carry On the Freedom-Fighting Legacy of George Curry in the Black Press T he freedom struggle and Civil Rights Move- ment of Black people in America and throughout the world have lost another courageous, iconic, freedom ighter, journalist and lead- er. The National Newspa- per Publishers Association (NNPA) salutes, respects, and supports the freedom-ight- ing legacy of George Edward Curry. NNPA publishers, editors, journalists, and photogra- phers from across the nation attended the “Celebration of Life” home-going service for George Curry in Tuscaloosa, Alabama at Weeping Mary Baptist Church on Saturday, Aug. 27, 2016. George at the age of 69 died from heart fail- ure on Aug. 20, 2016 in Tako- ma Park, Maryland. George Curry was our be- loved Editor-In-Chief of the NNPA News Wire Service and ater decades of outstand- ing contributions and service to the Black Press in America, George evolved to be admired by fellow journalists as the “Dean of Black Press Colum- nists.” As a foot soldier in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, I personally have been blessed to have known and worked with George Curry as a fearlessly efective freedom Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. NNPA President and CEO ighter. If I could ind one word in the English language to de- scribe the professional and brotherly tenacity of George Curry, it would be “coura- “ caloosa and lifelong friend of George paid tribute to Cur- ry’s leadership and activism as a “freedom movement” journalist. In the eulogy rendered last Saturday, Rev. Sharpton said that, “George never knew he was much more of a minister to me than I ever was to him… George Curry not only helped to mentor and bring along students and the next genera- tion, but he also did it to many of us that you see out there on moment they wake up to the moment they go to sleep.” The passing of George Cur- ry now raises the question of “Who will take his pen?” Who will step forward to keep the freedom-ighting legacy of George Curry alive today and into the future? Before George died, he had estab- lished EmergeNewsOnline. com. The NNPA supports George’s legacy and we en- courage everyone to support Emerge News Online to en- sure that what George envisioned and worked hard to establish will continue to grow and be successful in the market- place. In my remarks on behalf of the NNPA at the “Celebration of the Life of George Curry,” I shared that, “I have been in the presence of Malcolm X. I have been in the presence of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I have been in the presence of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. I’ve been in the presence of some of our giants, male and female, but I want to say on this public record, in my life, I’ve never met a brother that’s had more courage than George Curry.” George had the courage to both write and speak truth to power without compromise of principle or ethics geous.” He used his pen and his wit to openly challenge injustice in the face and pres- ence of oppression. George had the courage to both write and speak truth to power without compromise of prin- ciple or ethics. Reverend Jesse Jackson and Reverend Al Sharpton both travelled to Tuscaloosa to pay tribute and to eulogize the memory and legacy of George Curry. Rev. Jackson airmed, “George was a freedom ight- er.” Dr. Charles Steele Jr, Pres- ident of the Southern Chris- tian Leadership Conference (SCLC), also a native of Tus- the front line.” Sharpton con- cluded that Curry was “part of a long tradition, but he was one of a kind.” Roland Martin, accom- plished news anchor for TV One and former editor of the Chicago Defender, as well as a lifelong colleague of George Curry, passionately stated, “There was no newspaper, no magazine George Curry could not have worked for, but he chose to work in Black media…He chose to do that, because he said there has to be an independent voice that is unapologetic, that thinks about Black people from the Read the rest of this commentary at TheSkanner.com What’s Next for COAB and the DOJ Settlement? R epeated calls by pastors anchored in the African American community led to Federal investiga- tion of Portland Police Bureau (PPB) in 2010. Four years pri- or to Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, unjustiiable police homicides here had become untenable to ignore, politically. It became appar- ent that the City of Portland wraps local policing with the means to exonerate them- selves of any wrongdoing. The US Department of Justice called ours a “self-defeating accountability system” when, in 2011, it found PPB engages in unconstitutional patterns of excessive force against peo- ple. The resultant 77-page plea deal, in U.S.A. v. City of Port- land, kept the inefectual accountability apparatus in- tact. It pledged to “retain and strengthen the citizen and ci- vilian employee input mech- anisms that already exist in the PPB’s misconduct investi- gations by retaining and en- hancing” them. (Italics mine.) The parties in the case now prepare for annual review by the 9th Circuit Court in October. They share substan- tial consternation that Fed- eral Judge Michael H. Simon will ind them non-compliant with an intricate agreement Roger David Hardesty Consult Hardesty to achieve constitutionally sound law enforcement. The City, with DoJ backing, now launches into a pair of ini- tiatives designed to unravel citizen participation, both in “ shut COAB down. All support staf are withdrawn; the oice promptly vacated. It transpires that, months ago, Portland City Council asked PPB and the Auditor’s Oice to drat plans for a “consolidated model” of our convoluted accountabili- ty structure. At least seven meetings were held behind closed doors in the Mayor’s oice, on a need-to-know ba- sis. COAB, responsible for oversight of a PPB Communi- countability, and community engagement, to allow the pub- lic an opportunity for notice and comment, prior to inaliz- ing such policies.” Checks and balances, with- in a greater efort of check- ing PPB’s self-exoneration scheme, are subverted. Per- petrators of civil rights vio- lations, devoid of reasoned public input and on a short timeline, scramble to drat paper policy, which cannot be assessed for eicacy: it’s just been cobbled together. Other cities are adopting police ac- countability mecha- nisms derived from national initiative, and best practices advocated by academics and professional policing associations. African American Mayor Ras J. Bara- ka exercised his authority to establish the Newark (NJ) Civilian Complaint Review Board. He granted subpoena power to that body; to com- pel police oicer testimony, and give sanction for doing so falsely. His Police Director can only change any disci- pline that citizens hands out, if he or she establishes the board’s decision was “clearly in error.” The resultant, 77-page plea deal, in U.S.A. v. City of Portland, kept the inef- fectual accountability apparatus intact oversight of cops’ self-exon- eration scheme and simulta- neously subvert civilian over- sight of the plea deal itself. It’s a tremendous pivot, for the DoJ’s Civil Rights Division. It will be a challenge for Judge Simon to ascertain compli- ance, as the very fabric of the plea deal is torn up, and spe- ciic provisions thrown out. The judge won’t have report from a Community Oversight Advisory Board, established under the deal to “inde- pendently assess the imple- mentation of this Agreement.” In a surprising move, the City and the Feds conspired to ty Engagement and Outreach Plan, was positioned to de- mand adherence to processes outlined in the plea deal. “PPB shall collect and maintain all data and records necessary to facilitate and ensure trans- parency and wide public ac- cess to information related to PPB decision making and ac- tivities, and compliance with this Agreement.” Judge Simon (who excludes public testi- mony from annual review), would potentially be alerted to another abrogation: “The Chief shall post on PPB’s web- site inal drats of all new or revised policies that are pro- posed, speciic to … oicer ac- Read the rest of this commentary at TheSkanner.com
