August 2, 2017 The Skanner Page 9
News
NAACP Focuses on Millennials for
Solar Eclipse Told
Through Animal Myths Future Growth
By Lauren Poteat, NNPA Newswire
FLICKR: WAIFERX
A
This dog’s owner put solar eclipse glasses on him for safety
By Jasmine Streeter, DVM
Special to The Skanner
News
I
n less than 30 days
– Aug. 21 to be exact
-- many of you will wit-
ness a once in a life-
time opportunity: the to-
tal solar eclipse. The last
solar eclipse visible in
Oregon occurred in 1979,
and the next is expected
to occur in 2169.
According to NASA,
a solar eclipse occurs
when the moon lines
up directly between the
sun and the earth. This
eclipse of the sun causes
the moon to cast a shadow
onto the earth. The Greek
root of the word eclipse
is “ekleipsis,” meaning
“failing to appear.” To ex-
plain the sun’s disappear-
ance, many cultures have
“
Dr. Jasmine Streeter
again to attack the sun
god Ra, who traveled by
boat during the day. Oc-
casionally Apep was suc-
cessful in swallowing the
boat and Ra, leading to a
solar eclipse.
Vietnamese
mythol-
ogy told of an evil spir-
it in the form of a toad
that swallowed the sun,
while the Vikings spoke
of a Sky Wolf named
Skoll capturing the sun
The Vikings spoke of a Sky
Wolf named Skoll capturing
the sun for a golden meal
passed stories of this cos-
mic wonder from gener-
ation to generation. My
focus for this month is on
eclipse mythology that
portrays animals at the
heart of the story.
Since the beginning
of time, animals have
played an integral part
in our lives. They have
woven themselves into
stories, both real and
mythical, as gods, de-
mons, friends, heroes
and guides. Many an-
cient people described
the solar eclipse through
animals. Korean eclipse
mythology spoke of Fire
Dogs tasked with steal-
ing the sun or moon for
an unhappy king. They
never succeeded, but as
they bit down on the glo-
rious orbs, an eclipse oc-
curred.
Swallowing of the sun
by demons or gods in
the form of various ani-
mals was also popular in
eclipse mythology. Egyp-
tian mythology speaks of
Apep, an ancient spirit
of evil and destruction,
who appears in the form
of a giant serpent inhab-
iting the Nile River. Apep
attempted time and time
for a golden meal. The
indigenous people of Si-
beria told of a giant bear,
Mayan artifacts depict
what is believed to be a
giant serpent, and Hun-
garian eclipse mytholo-
gy points to a giant bird
that devoured the sun.
The eclipse is projected
to begin at 9:06 a. m, PST,
with the total eclipse visi-
ble at 10:16 a. m. PST. This
striking natural wonder
will last less than two
minutes, so you defi nite-
ly don’t want to miss it.
If you plan on holding
your fur babies up to the
sun and recreating the
Lion King birth scene,
make sure you purchase
specialized solar eclipse
glasses for them as well
as yourself. Protecting
their eyes and yours
should be of the utmost
importance. To experi-
ence the universe work-
ing right before your
eyes will be an astonish-
ing sight.
Personally, I can’t think
of a better way to spend
that special day than
with your pet. Happy So-
lar Eclipsing!
Reach Dr. Jasmine at
drjasmine@theskanner.
com.
s Derrick Johnson assumes
the role of interim president
of the National Association
for the Advancement of Col-
ored People (NAACP), leaders of
the nation’s oldest Black civil rights
organization say that young people
must come fi rst.
Youth-led civil rights groups like
Color of Change, Black Youth Project
100 and Dream Defenders have ef-
fectively used technology and social
media to advance their causes online
and around the world, while critics
of the NAACP question the group’s
relevancy, as it struggles to connect
to a younger generation that doesn’t
always relate to the battles of Civil
Rights Movement of the 1960s.
During a press conference held on
July 21, kicking off the group’s na-
tional convention in Baltimore, Md.,
many NAACP offi cials and affi liates
gathered to address a critical need to
keep millennials active and engaged
within the organization.
“We have a responsibility to lift up
the least of us, but most importantly
to put our hands on the young peo-
ple,” said Baltimore’s Mayor Cather-
ine Pugh. “We can change the tra-
jectory of our lives. Let’s have some
real conversations around guns in
the community killing our children,
because we need [our children] to
grow up and be a part of the future
of our nation.”
In order to ensure that such goals
come into fruition, NAACP D.C.
branch President Akosua Ali, for-
mally announced the launch of a
national Next Generation Young
Professional Leadership Program to
train eligible millennials for leader-
ship roles in the NAACP.
The initiative is in line with the
NAACP’s National Youth and Col-
lege Division that cultivates young,
civil rights leaders.
“This national convention will be
critical in transforming the associ-
ation,” Ali said. “The Youth and Col-
lege Division continues to train and
cultivate young leaders that are ac-
tivists within their own community
and, because of that, the NAACP will
launch a Next Generation Young
Professional Leadership Program
“
We have a respon-
sibility to lift up
the least of us
geared toward training young adults
between the ages of 21 and 35,” for
positions in the NAACP.
Ali continued: “These positions
include, but are not limited to: politi-
cal action chairs, health chairs, envi-
ronmental justice chairs and branch
leaders. We have been very fortu-
nate to have the support of national
and youth board members, who have
all given input into what is needed
for young people to remain active
to remain engaged and to be strong
leaders within this organization and
we are immensely excited about the
future of the NAACP through this
program.”
Eager to see the organization grow
and move forward, Hiruy Hadgu,
an NAACP member from Howard
County, Md., shared his views on the
organization’s plan to ramp up ef-
forts to actively engage and recruit
younger members.
“I joined the NAACP aft er the 2016
election and was responsible for
helping my chapter revamp mem-
bership eff orts, which proved diffi -
cult, as we had a hard time keeping
up with who was a member or not...a
lot of the processes seemed old and
outdated and overall didn’t really
seem to engage people,” said Hadgu.
“I’m only 31, but with these challeng-
ing times, I think it’s very important
to really re-engage with the commu-
nity...especially our youth.”
Film
cont’d from pg 7
Brigsby Bear, a sci-fi se-
ries revolving around a
crime-fi ghting superhe-
ro full of energy and op-
timism.
James has a good ex-
cuse for his stunted
growth. Truth be told,
his supposed parents,
Ted (Mark Hamill) and
April (Jane Adams), are
actually kidnappers who
abducted him in infancy.
And they secretly pro-
duce Brigsby, the only
program that ever comes
on their TV.
Everything
changes
the day James is rescued
by the police and re-
turned to his birth par-
ents (Matt Walsh and Mi-
chaela Watkins) in Cedar
Hills, Utah. Understand-
ably, the adjustment to
real-life proves problem-
atic, since he remains
obsessed with Brigsby
to the point that he talks
about it incessantly to
anyone who’ll listen.
He’s lucky to fi nd a cou-
ple of sympathetic souls
in an actor-turned-de-
tective (Greg Kinnear)
and Spencer (Jorge Lend-
eborg, Jr.), one of his teen-
age sister’s (Ryan Simp-
kins) friends. They agree
to help make a Brigsby
Bear movie which just
might enable James to
fi nd some closure on the
sordid opening chapter
of his life.
A poignant character
portrait capable of cat-
apulting Kyle Mooney
from SNL support player
to bona fi de matinee idol!
Excellent
Rated PG-13
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