Page 2 The Skanner October 5, 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 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 Blackonomics: What the Kaepernick Protest Tells Us about Black Power and Money T urnabout is fair play. Why can’t more of us see that economics is the key to our freedom and the answer to the problems we talk about all the time? This political year has and continues to bring this fact to light, but the Colin Kaeper- nick protest illuminates the issue of economics even more. Here is a guy who chose to exercise his right not to stand at the playing/singing of the National Anthem, and as a result folks have called him everything, but a child of God. Folks who have burned the lag have not received the kind of treatment Kaepernick has garnered. Now, as other football players have joined in to do similar acts of protest, the real deal — economics — comes to the forefront. Sponsors are exercising their rights to revoke their endorsements of these ath- letes. In other words, they are taking away their money in an efort to punish these players, the same thing they always do when a player says or does something they don’t like or agree with. It has hap- pened to Black and White players alike. Opinions abound on what the players should do now, 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 James Clingman NNPA Columnist and it’s amazing that some of us tell them to keep it up no matter how much money they lose, but we are unwilling to “ address those issues by pun- ishing those athletes in some form or another. The league saw dollar signs lying out of the window and acted accord- ingly. Remember the state of In- diana law that gay people said was discriminatory to- ward them? Corporations threatened to move their irms out of the state if the law was not changed. Gover- accusing the owners and op- erators of the NBA as co-con- spirators in ‘’blackballing’’ him from the league because of his “outspoken political na- ture as an African American man.” When the Bulls champion- ship team went to the White House ater an invitation from President George H.W. Bush, Hodges wore a dashiki and handed the President a letter that a s k e d him to do more to end injustice toward the African American com- munity. Ironically and unfairly, during that same period, stars like Dennis Rodman and Charles Barkley, both known for doing outrageous things, were tolerated and even cel- ebrated. Craig Hodges stood on his beliefs as did Denver Nuggets star, Mahmoud Ab- dul-Rauf, formerly known as Chris Jackson, who was prob- ably second only to Michael Jordan on the ofensive end of the basketball court. It’s amazing that some of us tell them to keep it up no matter how much money they lose, but we are unwilling to do the same thing at our jobs do the same thing at our jobs. Yes, they make a whole lot more money than most of us do, but it’s all relative. Knowing that economics runs everything in this coun- try and the world for that mat- ter, Black folks in general and Black athletes in particular must exercise another basic right: Use money for leverage and punishment, the same way other entities do. What do I mean by that? Remember the incidents with Michael Vick, Adrian Peterson and Ray Rice? Several NFL spon- sors notiied the league that they would withdraw their support if the NFL did not nor Mike Pence took care of that problem right away by changing the law. How about the latest issue in North Car- olina with the transgender bathroom thing? The NCAA is sanctioning the state by pulling its tournaments, in all sports, out of North Carolina. The NBA has also refused to hold the All-Star game there. That’s money talking and Black folks better take notice and start using our economic clout to get what we want. Do you remember Craig Hodges, who played for the Chicago Bulls? He iled a fed- eral lawsuit, against the NBA Read the rest of this commentary at TheSkanner.com Managing Pain and Opioid Addiction in the Black Community As America grapples with prescription opioid addic- tion, an epidemic shattering communities across our na- tion, healthcare providers face a challenging question: How can we help patients treat and manage their pain while reducing the risk of ad- diction? Pain management is a serious health issue, as chronic cases of pain now afect more Americans than diabetes, heart disease and cancer combined. Not only does persistent pain alict the emotional and inancial well-being of people and their families, it also exacts a sig- niicant strain on our country — in the form of healthcare costs, long-term disability and lost worker productivity. Pain does not discrimi- nate based on background or health status, yet research points to substantial dispar- ities in the prevalence, treat- ment and outcomes of pain. For many African Americans and other minorities, under- standing why these dispar- ities exist is paramount to achieving pain care equity and improving quality of life. Minorities are not at a higher risk for pain-related conditions than their White counterparts, but African Americans consistently re- ceive less adequate treatment Patricia A. Maryland, Dr.PH NNPA Columnist for acute and chronic pain — even ater controlling for age, gender and pain inten- sity. What’s more, research also shows that minorities are “ bias is perhaps the biggest factor. While most physi- cians are strong advocates for health equity, negative pre- conceptions can creep into how pain is addressed in the clinical setting. Eliminating these biases is one key way we can achieve better outcomes for African Americans expe- riencing pain, and that starts by understanding a patient’s heritage and belief system. Access is another instru- prevented. We know some African Americans continue to be skeptical of the health- care system, and that lack of trust can lead African Amer- ican patients to underreport their pain levels, only fur- thering inadequate pain man- agement. African American patients must take charge of their health and feel empow- ered to honestly communi- cate and set expectations with healthcare providers in order African-Americans continue to be skeptical of the healthcare system, and that lack of trust can lead Afri- can American patients to underreport their pain levels. more likely to be prescribed less efective, non-opioid medications — or opioids at a lower prescription dosage — than Whites, even when pain severity levels are compara- ble. That is not to say opioids are always the preferred tool for treating pain. However, the prescription of less efective medications or lower dosages does signal a troubling gap in instances when opioids can be an efective, pragmatic solution for African Ameri- can patients. Many factors are at play in understanding why African American patients are more likely to receive inadequate pain treatment, but physician mental lever in erasing the pain care gap. The Aford- able Care Act (ACA) helped to increase access to health- care considerably for Afri- can Americans, but too many individuals remain unin- sured or unable to access basic medical services, in- cluding pain relief. Encour- aging loved ones to take ad- vantage of the opportunities provided by the ACA can help them access the care and treatment they need to live comfortably. But access alone is not enough. Equally important is building trust with the healthcare community — so that pain-related conditions can be treated, managed and to receive the right care at the right time. At Ascension, we’re work- ing to achieve equitable pain management across all mi- nority groups. We know our ield is at a tipping point, and a failure to treat pain is not only poor medicine, it’s deny- ing our brothers and sisters a basic human right. That’s why we are working in concert with our patients to devel- op national, comprehensive guidelines to pain manage- ment — standards that embed healthcare equity with our understanding of patient his- tory and cultural sensitivity. Read the rest of this commentary at TheSkanner.com