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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 3, 2018)
Page 2 The Skanner October 3, 2018 ® 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 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 Opinion President Laughingstock Makes Fool of US O ur 45th President rushed back from his United Nations meeting in New York to watch the hearing of his Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, and his accuser Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Reportedly, he was impressed by Dr. Ford, but excited by Kavanaugh’s belligerently offensive ses- sion with the senators. From my perspective, Kava- naugh was disgraceful. He at- tacked Democratic senators, at one point asking Minneso- ta Senator Amy Klobuchar if she had a drinking problem. His angry, entitled tempera- ment was inconsistent with Supreme Court service. But by the time this is published he is likely to have been voted onto the court. While the Supreme Court deliberations have dominat- ed the news, it is essential to consider the way that 45 appeared on the world stage. First, he was inexplicably and rudely late to the UN, signal- ing his own contempt for the organization and its mem- bers. Indeed, according to New Yorker reporter Robin Wright, the UN had to scram- ble to find another speaker Julianne Malveaux NNPA Columnist to fill in 45’s assigned time. Then, just minutes after 45 began talking, the assembled group started laughing at him. Undoubtedly, they were amused about his assertions of having done more than any other Administration in US history. 45 was speaking to more than one hundred and thirty heads of state and doz- ens of other delegations. They laughed because 45 is truly funny. As he ran for President, 45 constantly scolded that our country was the “laughing- stock” of the world. Then he stood in front of other world leaders and proved them cor- rect. Our nation is not a laughing- stock, but President Trump surely is. He is out of touch with the rest of the world, out of order in his dealings with others, and out of con- trol with his myopic “America First” philosophy. We may still be the most powerful nation in the world, but we are holding onto that perch only tentatively. We’re not the largest country in the world. The population of In- dia, at 1.35 billion, or the pop- ulation of China, the world’s most populous nation, at 1.41 billion people, dwarfs our “ He stood in front of other world leaders and proved them correct population of roughly 326 million people. We are a scant 4.3 percent of the world pop- ulation. India is 17.7 percent of the world population, and China is a whopping 18.5 per- cent of the world population. Population size is not nec- essarily an indicator of pow- er, and most concede that the United States remains an in- fluential world leader. But we are a world leader now led by a clown, the laughingstock of the world. And in embracing an “America First” doctrine, we isolate ourselves from others and diminish our own world power. Our power has come from our ability to play well in the world. It has come from our embrace of globalism. Indeed, our economic growth has often been a function of our global role. People want to come to the United States, to study the United States, to vacation in the United States and to en- joy the products and brands of the United States (McDon- ald’s and Nike are but two ex- amples). Our President’s be- havior repels people from the United States instead of at- tracting people to us. His jin- goistic “America First” speech belied decades of internation- al cooperation. His notion that nations are better off go- ing it alone than working in collaboration is isolationist nonsense. His speech would have been better delivered to his sycophants who drink his Fool-Aid than to a thoughtful international audience of his peer world leaders. Read the rest of this commentary at TheSkanner.com 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 Local News Briefs Updated Daily The Significance of ‘Sorry to Bother You’ I was excited about the pros- pect of seeing Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You from the moment that I saw the advertisements. Yet I was not prepared for the totality of the film because the ads em- phasized only one piece: the white voice. Without giving away the plot, the “White voice” refers to how workers in a myth- ical telemarking firm are supposed to speak—over the phone—with potential cli- ents. In order to win the favor of white clients, they are to speak with a “White voice.” Every African American, and for that matter, every person of color in the USA, is familiar with the basic no- tion of a “White voice.” We are hit with that on a regular basis whereby our language, accents, etc., are viewed as somehow outside of the main- stream and, in many cases, Bill Fletcher Jr. The Global African perceived as threatening. Riley took this to another level as a way of critiquing US society. He does it in an out- standing manner. The film, however, is much more than about the White voice. It is about class strug- gle, racial justice struggle, gender justice struggle; in fact, it is about the very no- tion of collective struggle. And the setting is a near-fu- ture USA with a telemarket- ing firm whose workers look just like the working class of today. These workers strug- gle to band together to build a labor union and fight for their rights but also to chal- lenge a mega-company that has dangerous plans afoot. “ Global cap- italism is grinding us all down and destroying our humanity “Sorry to Bother You” mix- es satire, near-future science fiction, an appreciation of collective struggle, and a dire warning of the manner in which contemporary global capitalism is grinding us all down and destroying our hu- manity. It is the destruction of our humanity that Riley han- dles in such a superb manner. When the film ended I re- mained seated as I processed what I had just seen. But I also wanted to overhear oth- er viewers and get a sense of their comments. Many were as excited and moved as me. But there were a few people that exited the theatre who were clearly baffled by the film. I suspect that they were not expecting a film that was anything but linear. It did not just focus on race; it did not just focus on class; it did not focus only on gender. It was truly multi-dimen- sional and was at the same time pushing the audience out of their comfort zones so that they were not just view- ing a film; they were forced to view the USA, only through very different glasses. If you have not seen the film, you must put the time aside to do it. My concern with films as great as this one is that they will disappear before they have fully gained traction. A career you can be proud of. Being a carpenter isn’t just a job. It’s a way of life. We’re devoted to strengthening the lives of our members with steady work, wealth and personal growth. We take a stand for our members and all workers. We work together to lead the building industry in safety, training and compensation. We create rich lives for our members and partners. To learn more about becoming a union carpenter, go to NWCarpenters.org. 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