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Page 2 The Skanner February 28, 2018 ® Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now Bernie Foster Founder/Publisher Was Erik Killmonger Right About Wakanda? Bobbie Dore Foster Executive Editor This commentary contains major spoilers. M Jerry Foster Advertising Manager Christen McCurdy News Editor Patricia Irvin Graphic Designer 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 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 G LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS d ay ! • L i ke u s o n F ac it Updated daily. to y • ebo o k • learn • co TheSkannerNews m me • nts arvel’s big screen ad- aptation of “Black Pan- ther” has surpassed all initial expectations of its debut and topped $700 million after its second week- end. “In terms of raw dollars, it is the second-biggest sec- ond weekend gross of all time between Universal/ Comcast Corp.’s Jurassic World ($106.5m) and Lu- casfilm’s The Force Awak- ens ($149m),” Forbes.com reported. “It has now earned $400m in ten days of release, which makes it the third-fast- est grosser of all time (for now) behind only Jurassic World ($404m) and The Force Awakens ($540m).” If anything, the success of “Black Panther” and “Girl’s Trip,” last year, has proven to the world that representation and inclusion is profitable. When I went to see Black Panther during the open- ing weekend, the excitement from the crowd radiated throughout the theater’s lob- by. The joy I inhaled while standing in line to enter the theater took me higher than a preacher’s Sunday sermon. The drums and opening verse to Kendrick Lamar’s “Black Panther” echoed in my head: King of my city, king of my country, king of my homeland King of the filthy, king of the fallen, we livin’ again King of the shooters, looters, boosters, and ghettos poppin’ King of the past, present, future, my ancestors watchin I loved the film, but all of us should remember that Lynette Monroe NNPA Guest Columnist Wakanda is a figment of imagination. More accurate- ly, Wakanda is a creation of White imagination. Killmon- ger is “our” reality. A fictional Wakanda is con- venient for the consciousness of the colonizer. A fictional, technologically advanced, African utopia lightens the weight of oppression by using the singular case of Black ex- cellence, embodied in Wakan- da, as the benchmark instead of a beautiful, aspirational anomaly. It then places the re- sponsibility of reconciliation on the backs of the oppressed. Champions of truth must not only embrace the tri- umphs of our history, but also the painful, complicated facts of our past. Erik Killmonger represents an uncomfortable truth. He is the Black Panther’s kryp- tonite. The pain of Killmon- ger’s conflicted reality dis- rupts T’Challa’s idealistic, progressive world. The ulti- mate victory of Black Panther is only secured through a cinematic miracle. Even then, the Black Panther cannot find it in himself to end the life of Killmonger; it is Killmonger himself who chooses his own end after his final battle with T’Challa. “Bury me in the ocean with my ancestors who jumped from ships, because they knew death was better than bondage,” Killmonger said in his final scene as he watched the sunset on Wakanda. Centuries of resilience isn’t some kind of honor; it is sim- ply survival. Although we would all like for Wakanda to exist, today, it doesn’t. The painful truth is that Black people were force- fully dispersed throughout the globe, isolated from our culture, countries and fam- ilies. The painful truth is that the campaign of carnage that White people have lead “ Centuries of resilience isn’t some kind of hon- or; it is simply survival across the globe cannot be reconciled through broad aid and well-intentioned commu- nity centers. Partnership and collabo- ration, two of the many un- derlying themes of the film, prove elusive for Killmonger. The love between Okoye and W’Kabi ended civil war. The connection between the spir- itual world and technology is the lifeline of the nation. The cooperation of M’Baku and Ramonda brought hope back to life. And, the love between Nakia and the T’Challa is slat- ed to save the world. Killmonger was not be- stowed the privilege of part- nership. My knowledge of comic book adaptations is limited to Superman and the X-Men; in both movie franchises, char- acters faced deep moral de- cisions. These decisions are most often a test of character or weight of priority. These films, set in city centers, of- ten display massive property damaged and presumed loss of innocent life. However, the central internal conflict in Black Panther centered upon killing the radical pursuit of freedom. Killmonger is a villain of White culture, the worst nightmare of the ruling class. Killmonger is the rage of a millions of people who were displaced, disregarded, and discarded. “The Black Pan- ther” is a fictional depiction of the moral consciousness of Black people; the hope for both the oppressed and the oppressor. He is the grace of God to a people undeserving. Mainstream dialogue on race relations in the United States naively suggests that White people simply refuse to acknowledge that the crimes of American slavery and the Trans-Atlantic slave trade continue to fuel significant disparities across the planet. I would argue that they are fully aware of their crimes, but interpret them through a filtered lens of conquest. I would argue that White peo- ple’s conscious relegation of persons of color is reduced to collateral damage necessary to maintain power, wealth, and leadership. As Killmonger fell, I longed for a Black Panther/Killmon- ger partnership. The partner- ship of rage and compassion, of power and responsibility, of justice and reconciliation deserves exploration. Resolv- ing the conflict between the Black Panther and Killmon- ger is the precarious tight rope that Black folks must walk to freedom. Killmonger’s death is also a figment of White people’s imagination; his conflicted fight for freedom lives on in the hearts of Black people across the globe. Oregon House Bill Could Hurt Medical Research SPECIAL ISSUE: BACK TO SCHOOL August 16 in y o u r c o m m u n Opinion reetings I am Pastor E.D. Mondaine, a local Portland Oregon Pas- tor, community leader, small business owner, entre- preneur, and I am in oppo- sition to Oregon House Bill 4005. HB 4005, proposes to man- date biopharmaceutical com- panies to disclose propriety information. The passage of this could severely hurt our community and others. My concern is that HB 4005 could hurt and severely hin- der the hard work for com- panies to do research and development that have the potential of producing medi- cations that could help people in the Communities of Color. Statistics prove that there are higher rates of breast cancer and other forms of cancer that affect African American communities. There is an urgent need for these companies to be em- Pastor E.D. Mondaine Guest Columnist powered to find cures and produce better medications for diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and sickle cell anemia. The measures of HB 4005 disregard the fact that med- icines are not the dominant drivers for healthcare-send- ing growth. Healthcare spending growth is due to other factors and healthcare services such as long-term care, hospitalization and pro- vider services. From my perspective, this bill is not truly “transparent” and doesn’t require other players in the supply chain to the same transparency re- quirements. I can’t identify anywhere in it language, the benefit to patients. There are other measures that would most assuredly help close the gap of disparity where it concerns affordable medication to marginalized and disenfranchised commu- nities which include: • prohibiting insurance plans that switch drug cov- erage in the middle of the year; • requiring that insurance carriers offer a co-pay plan to help patients manage costs; • requiring more transparen- cy in drug coverage so that patients shopping for an insurance plan can under- stand what their medica- tion out-of-pocket exposure will be. All of the above listed policy options were readily available to implement this year, how- ever, we are wasting valuable time on addressing abstract legislation that at best is un- fruitful. that will deliver zero benefit to patients. Simply requiring biopharmaceutical companies to disclose pric- ing, which they are already required to do under federal law, will not help patients. I fail to see where this new measure would neither ben- efit patients nor decrease healthcare costs. I am in opposition HB 4005 and urge you to be as well. My hope is to encourage you to call or email any state leg- islator that you know and tell them to not vote in favor of this bill. You can find your state sena- tors and state representatives at www.oregonlegislature. gov/pages/mobile.aspx Respectfully submitted, Pastor E.D. Mondaine Jr. nt • lo c a l n e w s • eve