Page 2 The Skanner Portland & Seattle April 29, 2020
®
Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
Bobbie Dore Foster
Executive Editor
Jerry Foster
Advertising Manager
U.S. Census Bureau
www.ceusus.gov
Patricia Irvin
Graphic Designer
Monica J. Foster
Seattle Office Coordinator
Susan Fried
Photographer
2019
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
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National Newspaper Pub lishers
Association and West Coast Black
Pub lishers Association.
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the property of The Skanner. We
are not re spon sible for lost or
damaged photos either solicited
or unsolicited.
©2020 The Skanner. All rights re served. Reproduction in
whole or in part without permission prohibited.
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nts
“
Federal nu-
trition pro-
grams are
among the
many rea-
sons it is so
important to
respond
School Lunch Program are
just two nutrition programs
that use census results to
inform
planning.
Other
programs include the Na-
tional School Breakfast Pro-
The Census Bureau works with state and tribal governments to ensure recipients
of SNAP don’t lose their benefits if they come to work for the 2020 Census.
gram (NSBP), lunch programs
for people age 65 years and
older and meal delivery to
disabled and homebound in-
dividuals.
The Census Bureau works
with state and tribal govern-
ments to ensure recipients of
SNAP don’t lose their benefits
if they come to work for the
2020 Census.
They are working to get
census income excluded so
recipients who receive bene-
fits can work as census takers
(enumerators) without losing
their benefits or eligibility
status.
The Census Bureau has
partnered with the U.S. De-
partment of Agriculture
(which administers SNAP) to
exclude income from tempo-
rary employment for 2020
Census. While it is ultimate-
ly a state decision whether to
exempt 2020 Census income
earned, a great majority of
states have already agreed to
this waiver.
Black-Owned Newspapers Are Small Businesses Too!
www.TheSkanner.com
d ay ! • L i ke u s o
A
ccording to the Census
Bureau, of the 13.8 mil-
lion households that
receive SNAP, 6.7 mil-
lion have children under the
age of 18 and 6.4 million have
someone living with a disabil-
ity.
Of all the homes with chil-
dren under 18, some 18% re-
ceive assistance from SNAP,
according to the Census Bu-
reau’s 2018 American Com-
munity Survey.
Students who qualify for
SNAP also get free or re-
duced-cost school lunches.
Federal nutrition programs
are among the many reasons
it is so important to respond
(and report all children, in-
cluding newborns, living
in your home) to the 2020
Census.
Knowing how many chil-
dren are in an area helps fed-
eral, state and local officials
evaluate funding for nutri-
tion programs.
SNAP and the National
PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO / NNPA
Food Assistance Programs
Critical for Low-Income
Children and Families
Bernie Foster
Founder/Publisher
to
y •
Opinion
P
ublishers
of
Black-
owned
community
newspapers, including
Janis Ware of the Atlanta
Voice, Cheryl Smith of Texas
Metro News, Chris Bennett of
the Seattle Medium, Denise
Rolark Barnes of the Wash-
ington Informer, and Brenda
Andrews of the New Journal
& Guide in Virginia, are des-
perately trying to avoid shut-
tering operations.
In a heartfelt and straight-
to-the-point op-ed published
recently, Ware explained to
her tens of thousands of read-
ers that The Atlanta Voice has
boldly covered the issues that
affect the African American
community.
“Our founders, Mr. J. Low-
ell Ware and Mr. Ed Clayton,
were committed to the mis-
sion of being a voice to the
voiceless with the motto of,
‘honesty, integrity and truth,’”
Ware wrote in an article that
underscores the urgency and
importance of African Amer-
ican-owned
newspapers
during the coronavirus pan-
demic.
To remain afloat, Ware and
her fellow publishers know
that financial backing and
support will be necessary.
Following the spread of the
pandemic, many advertisers
have either paused their ad
spending or halted it alto-
gether. And other streams of
revenue have also dried up,
forcing Black-owned publica-
tions to find ways to reduce
spending and restructure
what were already historical-
ly tight budgets.
With major companies like
Ruth Chris Steakhouse and
Pot Belly Sandwiches swoop-
ing in and hijacking stimulus
money aimed at small busi-
nesses, the Black Press — and
Stacy M.
Brown
NNPA
Columnist
community-based publishing
in general — has been large-
ly left out of the $350 billion
stimulus and Paycheck Pro-
tection Program packages.
To make matters worse,
there are no guarantees that
a second package, specifical-
“
We have a re-
sponsibility,
a moral obli-
gation to use
this status to
be a source of
information,
support, and
inspiration
ly focused on small business,
will benefit Black publishers
or other businesses owned by
people of color.
Publications like the New
Journal and Guide, Washing-
ton Informer (which recently
celebrated its 55th anniver-
sary) and the Atlanta Voice
have been essential to the
communities they serve —
and the world at large for 193
years.
Unfortunately for some
publishers, the impact of
COVID-19 has brought busi-
ness operations to a near
halt. While none are thriving,
some publishers have devel-
oped ingenious and innova-
tive ways to continue opera-
tions.
“Dear World, the entire
planet is feeling the devas-
tation of the coronavirus
pandemic,” Cheryl Smith of
Texas Metro News wrote to
her readers. “We must be
concerned about ourselves,
as well as others. You may be
aware that the media is con-
sidered ‘essential.’ So, guess
what? We have a responsibil-
ity, a moral obligation to use
this status to be a source of
information, support, and in-
spiration, just as we are at all
other times,” Smith wrote.
Smith’s statements echo the
more than 200 African Amer-
ican-owned newspapers in
the NNPA family. The ma-
jority of the publications are
owned and operated by wom-
en, and virtually all are fami-
ly dynasties so rarely seen in
the black community.
The contributions of the
Black Press remain indelibly
associated with the fearless-
ness, determination, and suc-
cess of Black America.
Those contributions in-
clude the works of Freder-
ick Douglass, WEB DuBois,
Patrice Lumumba, Kwame
Nkrumah, and former NNPA
Chairman Dr. Carlton Good-
lett.
Douglas, who helped slaves
escape to the North while
working with the Under-
ground Railroad, established
the abolitionist paper, “The
North Star,” in Rochester, New
York.
He developed it into the most
influential black anti-slavery
newspaper published during
the Antebellum era.
The North Star denounced
slavery and fought for the
emancipation of women and
other oppressed groups with
a motto of “Right is of no Sex
– Truth is of no Color; God is
the Father of us all, and we are
all brethren.”
DuBois, known as the father
of modern Pan Africanism,
demanded civil rights for
Blacks but freedom for Afri-
ca and an end to capitalism,
which he called the cause of
racism and all human misery.
Many large news organiza-
tions have begun targeting
African Americans and other
audiences of color by either
acquiring Black-owned news
startups or adding the moni-
ker “Black” to the end of their
brand. However, it was Black-
owned and operated news or-
ganizations that were on the
front lines for voting rights,
civil rights, ending apartheid,
fair pay for all, unionization,
education equity, healthcare
disparities and many other
issues that disproportionate-
ly negatively impact African
Americans.
Today, the Black Press con-
tinues to reach across the
ocean where possible to forge
coalitions with the growing
number of websites and spe-
cial publications that cover
Africa daily from on the con-
tinent, Tennessee Tribune
Publisher Rosetta Perry not-
ed.
The evolution of the Black
Press, the oldest Black busi-
ness in America, had pro-
prietors take on issues of
chattel slavery in the 19th
century, Jim Crow segrega-
tion and lynching, the great
northern migration, the Civil
Rights Movement, the trans-
formation from the printing
press to the digital age and
computerized communica-
tion.
Read the rest of this commentary at
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eve