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Page 2 The Skanner January 3, 2018 ® Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now Opinion In Defense of Black Women and Girls Bernie Foster Founder/Publisher Black Women and Girls Deserve More Respect, Visibility in the #MeToo Movement Bobbie Dore Foster Executive Editor T Jerry Foster Advertising Manager Christen McCurdy News Editor Patricia Irvin Graphic Designer Melanie Sevcenko Reporter Monica J. Foster Seattle Office Coordinator Susan Fried Photographer 2017 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 his has been a monumen- tal year for the reaffirma- tion of women’s rights in the workplace and the ballot booth. This is long overdue. The battle for the rights of women, and specifi- cally Black women and girls, has gone on for centuries. In America, the spotlight on this fight for women’s rights shines brightly on White women, while Black women, who have often fought more vigorously for equality and justice, are largely consigned to the shadows of the move- ment. TIME magazine placed “The Silence Breakers” on their cover, noting that the tenacity and courage of the women’s voices could be heard over the walls of systemic oppression. Still, in the stories of Dajer- ria Becton, a teenager who was violently handcuffed and thrown to the ground by an overzealous McKinney, Tex- as police officer and Sandra Bland, who was arrested and died in police custody in Prai- rie View, Texas, that oppres- sion seems unsurmountable. Most acts of extrajudicial violence and aggression to- wards Black women never be- come national headlines and many Black women suffer in quiet silence as their com- Ed Gray North Dallas Gazette/ NNPA Member plaints of sexual harassment are ignored and discounted, regardless of their socioeco- nomic status. Mainstream America labels “ You leave your kids with your mama ‘cuz your headin’ for the club In a skin-tight miniskirt lookin’ for some love Got them legs wide open while you’re sittin’ at the bar Talkin’ to some n**ga ‘bout his car I guess he said he had a Lexus, what’s next? You headin’ to his car for some sex We must elevate Black women from social media hashtags to highly-valued and respected mem- bers of the global community Black women as angry Jezeb- els unfit for normal, social interactions. Black American pop culture hypersexualizes our young girls while con- demning them for being too fast. There is a deafening si- lence in the Black community that is complicit in the degra- dation of our Black women. When we do speak, in- stead of a healing, sometimes our words just cause more wounds. One of the most influential hip-hop artists of all time, Tupac Shakur spoke directly to Black women in “Wonda Why They Call U Bytch”: Today, some people would criticize Shakur for slut-shaming, while others would applaud him for telling it like it is. White women have been ap- plauded for coming forward to tell their stories of sexu- al assault and harassment under the #MeToo flag. The movement would be much stronger and more credible, if its leaders forced mainstream media to also carry the sto- ries of Black women on their morning shows and popular websites. Black men must bear some of the blame for mainstream media’s ignorance and apathy towards the plight of Black women. We band together, as brothers, ignoring the an- guished cries of our sisters. We must stop, look and listen. We must reject R. Kelly for his alleged abuse of Black women and girls with the same unanimity that Black voters in Alabama rejected the alleged sexual predator Roy Moore. We must step in the name of love and in the name of jus- tice with respect for our Black mothers, wives, sisters and daughters. This respect must begin in the Black commu- nity; we must clean our own house, first. We must elevate our women from social me- dia hashtags to highly-valued and respected members of the global community. In “Keep Ya Head Up,” Shak- ur offers a critique on the exploitation of women in the Black community: And since we all came from a woman Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman I wonder why we take from our women Read the rest of this commentary at 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. ©2018 The Skanner. All rights re served. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission prohibited. Local News Pacific NW News World News Opinions Jobs, Bids Entertainment Community Calendar LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS d ay ! • L i ke u s o n F ebo m me • nts TheSkannerNews o k • learn • co in y o u r c o m m u n to y • ac it Updated daily. Add Civil Rights Voices to Housing Policy Discussions W herever you live, or household size, home is a special place where children are raised, and memories are made. Owning a home is also the largest, single investment that most families make in a lifetime. Since the nationwide hous- ing crash, family outcomes have varied. While some households have witnessed full recovery, others – often people of color – wonder when or how they too can turn the proverbial financial corner. Now, nine national civil rights organizations are de- manding to know why related deliberations of a key policy is- sue now underway with both the U.S. Senate Banking Com- mittee and its counterpart, the House Financial Services Committee are being conduct- ed in private: the future of af- fordable homeownership. “Our constituents repre- sent the majority of future homebuyers, and any system that is not structured so as to ensure that they have fair ac- cess to safe and sustainable mortgages will not serve the country well,” wrote the co- alition to leadership of both committees on December 15. Signing the letter were: The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the National Coalition for Asian Pacific Community Develop- Charlene Crowell NNPA Columnist ment, the Center for Respon- sible Lending, National Fair Housing Alliance, NAACP, UNIDOSUS (formerly known as the National Conference of La Raza, National Urban “ than 25 years.” Central to these discussions is the future of two Govern- ment Sponsored Enterpris- es (GSEs) – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. During the housing crisis, The Feder- al Home Loan Corporation, more commonly known as Freddie Mac, and the Federal National Mortgage Corpora- tion – Fannie Mae – went into federal conservatorship. As a result, the entities created decades ago by Congress to Low-and-moderate-income con- sumers, as well as consumers of color could easily question wheth- er fair access to mortgage credit will be possible for them League, National Community Reinvestment Coalition and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “At a time when the nation- al homeownership rate is declining, and local rents are skyrocketing, every effort should be made to increase sustainable homeownership opportunity and make rent- al housing more affordable,” the coalition continued. “Al- ternative facts and false math should not be used to undo the access and affordability provisions that have helped secure opportunity for hard- working families for more reduce the cost of credit for low and moderate-income households has remained in government control. Now, as much of the hous- ing market has recovered, questions are being posed as to when or how the two GSEs will return to private oper- ations. Secondly, as housing costs continue to soar for renters and homeowners alike, affordable housing is a growing concern nationwide. Without an affirmative policy in place, many low-and-mod- erate-income consumers, as well as consumers of color could easily question whether fair access to mortgage credit will be possible for them. For their part, the civil rights organizations’ letter gave committee chairs a list of 10 items that if left unad- dressed will trigger orga- nized opposition: 1. Align with and support longstanding federal an- ti-discrimination laws and enforcement; 2. Provide adequate capital to protect taxpayers and housing system; 3. Serve all credit-worthy borrowers; 4. Eliminate and ban exces- sive risk-based pricing; 5. Serve all markets across the country throughout the business cycle; 6. Require utility regulation and expand restrictions that prevent risky behav- iors; 7. Ensure equal treatment for small lenders; 8. Promote cost-effective loan modifications; 9. Strengthen FHA and pre- serve low down payment mortgage loans; and 10. Address the federal gov- ernment’s history in fos- tering racially discrimi- natory mortgage lending policies. Read the rest of this commentary at TheSkanner.com nt • lo c a l n e w s • eve