Page 2 The Skanner August 31, 2016
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2016
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#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