Page 2 The Skanner November 30, 2016
Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
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The Skanner Foundation
31st Annual
Martin Luther
King, Jr.
BREAKFAST
Jan. 16, 2017
#SkBreakfast
Opinion
We Must Be At Our Best When Things Get Bad
I
desperately called on my
dear mother. Across the
chasm of her death nearly
20 years ago, she reminded
me of what she said to me and
to her many children nearly
sixty years ago. I felt her spir-
it moving within me. I was
strengthened. Now, I can go
on.
I will share with you why
I called upon my mother on
this occasion. However, be-
fore I share the why, I want
to share with you what she
said so many years ago. At the
time, we were nine children, a
mother and a father living in a
three-room house. Mind you,
not a three-bedroom house,
but a three-room house – a
kitchen, a middle room and a
front room.
When things got real bad,
our mother would call us to-
gether in the front room. We
had only one chair in the whole
house. She would sit in the
chair and make us children sit
on the floor in front of her. She
would go quiet until she had
our full attention. Then she
would say: “Children, things
are always kind of bad with
this big po’ family and all. But
they are real bad now.” She
would go quiet for a long mo-
ment, causing us to focus even
more intently. Then she would
continue: “But don’t y’all wor-
ry. I am at my best when things
get bad.” It was powerful. It
Hank
Sanders
Alabama
State
Senator
forged our strength. It pre-
pared us to engage struggle. It
lifted our spirits. It gave us
hope. Even today, this memory
brings tears to my eyes, trem-
bling to my being, and hope to
my heart.
I called upon my mother
“
millions of actions and/or
reactions. His every refusal
or failure to act stimulates
numerous actions and/or
reactions. And every action
or failure to act is viewed
through the prism of every-
thing that was said by the
candidate during the elec-
tion. Businessman Trump
said and did many disturbing
things as a presidential can-
didate. That’s why I see hard
times coming. We must be at
our best when things get bad.
The negative germinates,
takes root, grows and pro-
duces bad fruit without cul-
Businessman Trump said and did
many disturbing things as a presi-
dential candidate. That’s why I see
hard times coming
on the Wednesday morning
when I heard that business-
man Donald Trump was now
President-Elect Trump. I
went really deep inside my-
self. I could sense the hard
times coming. I had to call on
my dear deceased mother to
help me through the moment.
I hope and pray that I am
wrong, but I feel hard times
coming. Let me tell you why.
The most critical thing a pres-
ident does is to set the tone
for the entire country. His or
her every action stimulates
tivation. It is like weeds. The
positive requires continuous
cultivation to produce good
fruit. It is like the crop we
plant. Because Businessman
Trump planted such negative
seeds as a candidate, a Presi-
dent Trump’s mere presence
in the most powerful posi-
tion in the world causes those
seeds to germinate, grow and
bear bad fruit. We must be at
our best when things get bad.
I fear that the seeds planted
during the campaign will tell
us how women and girls can
be mistreated. We already
have too much mistreatment
of women and girls. Too
many are abused verbally,
physically and psychological-
ly. To be fair, these seeds of
abuse were planted eons ago.
But Businessman Trump has
cultivated these seeds with
the fertilizer of example, the
waters of acceptance, and the
warmth of election success.
These seeds will grow and
bear many and varied poi-
sonous fruit. The challenges
will be even greater and more
widespread. We must be at
our best when things get bad.
I am afraid that the seeds
planted in the immigration
fields will bear poisonous
fruits for millions of immi-
grants, and not just undoc-
umented immigrants. Sus-
tained fear does terrible
things to us, especially to our
children. When we blame
complex economic and socie-
tal woes on those who appear
different and are less pow-
erful, it becomes extremely
destructive. Already we see
more children bullying other
children of foreign descent.
Some children passed out
“deportation notices” to oth-
er children just days after the
election. We must be at our
best when things get bad.
Read the rest of this commentary at
TheSkanner.com
What Will You Lose If Consumer Financial Protection Goes Away?
A
s Americans adjust to
the realities wrought
by the recent elections,
one of the most import-
ant consequences has yet to
be fully explored: the future
of consumer financial protec-
tion.
Many successful candidates
in the recent election repeat-
edly claimed that over-regu-
lation, too much bureaucra-
cy or both were harming the
economy. In their view, the na-
tion needed to let businesses
operate unhindered and free
from regulatory constraints.
Additionally, many of the
same forces that years ago op-
posed Wall Street regulation
and the creation of a consum-
er watchdog never gave up
their quest to weaken or dis-
mantle the only governmen-
tal agency whose sole purpose
was to protect consumers.
The problem with both of
these views is that as Wall
Street made billions, Ameri-
ca’s people suffered and lost:
jobs, homes, credit standing
and financial assets. The only
thing that seemed to grow
during the Great Recession
was the amount of debt con-
sumers faced and reckoned
with at kitchen tables across
the country.
This column has previously
shared how millions of Amer-
icans suffered their worst
Charlene
Crowell
NNPA
Columnist
losses from 2004 through
2015. Others who may have
held on to their homes, lost
so much value that they con-
tinue to owe more than their
homes are now worth.
“
the past five years.
Case in point: CFPB’s Di-
rector Richard Cordray has
a term of service set to con-
clude in July of 2018. Howev-
er, an October 2016 ruling by
a panel of three judges with
the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the D.C. Circuit said the Pres-
ident could remove CFPB’s di-
rector for cause.
The nation’s President-elect
might want his own director
— particularly if the court
decision is upheld on appeal.
ation process, the Bureau
could be denied the necessary
funding to do its legally man-
dated work. More important-
ly, special interest lobbyists
could exert their influence
on lawmakers to attach lim-
itations on the Bureau’s work,
blocking CFPB from its ability
to rein in abusive practices.
These kinds of DC insider
maneuvers have repeatedly
and unfortunately affect-
ed other federal agencies.
Consumer financial justice
In the coming months, we must remain watchful for
legislation and executive actions that would reverse the
financial justice accomplished over the past five years
There are also still others
who thought they were en-
rolling in higher education
to better their lives and earn-
ings sadly discovered that
heavy student loan debt was
the only thing they incurred
at for-profit colleges — many
whose doors are now closed.
For all of these reasons and
more, our nation still needs
the Consumer Financial Pro-
tection Bureau (CFPB), its
consumer cop on the block. In
the coming months we must
remain watchful for legisla-
tion and executive actions
that would reverse the finan-
cial justice accomplished over
Similarly, legislation that
sought to end both CFPB’s
governance by a single direc-
tor and funding independent
of Congress may be revived as
an early priority for the next
Congress.
It was legislative wisdom
that avoided both approaches
in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street
Reform Act. Commission
forms of governance work
by majority and can lead to
gridlock instead of timely
actions. Secondly, as commis-
sion members are nominated,
lawmakers may refuse to act.
If CFPB were to become a
part of the annual appropri-
should never be subject to the
rise and fall of deep-pocket
lobbyists motivated by profits
instead of fairness.
Then there are CFPB’s pend-
ing regulations like debt col-
lection, overdraft, payday
lending and other small dol-
lar loans. An unprecedented
number of consumer and civ-
il rights advocates have clear-
ly and consistently weighed
in on these issues. Although
public comment may have
concluded, final regulations
have yet to be announced.
Read the rest of this commentary at
TheSkanner.com
