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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (June 10, 2020)
Page 2 The Skanner Portland & Seattle June 10, 2020 ® Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now Wear Your Armor, Spiritually Speaking Bernie Foster Founder/Publisher W Bobbie Dore Foster Executive Editor Jerry Foster Advertising Manager 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 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. ©2020 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 LOCAL EVENTS Updated daily online. n F ebo m me • nts TheSkannerNews o k • learn • co in y o u r c o m m u n d ay ! • L i ke u s o ac it Hear about it first. Sign up for Breaking News and Events at to y • Opinion ith everything going on in our world to- day, my question to you is how does one put on the full armor of God in the midst of pandemic, the continuation of overt racism, state sanctioned discrimina- tion and even murder? The bible says, “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” Ephesians 6:11. This passage may not tell you how to put on the armor, but it certainly lets you know why you need it. That’s kind of why I pose the question. I wish I could say most of this is original but it’s not. I’m paraphrasing most of it, but I think it’s important to understand when people talk about warfare, Satan’s power in the physical world or, just plain battling against sin, this is what they’re talking about. Spiritual warfare, as my bible says (for believers), is fought in the mind, in the emotions and in the will. It is in these areas that we do battle and most times we think we’re struggling with ourselves, our own weak- nesses of flesh and blood, and discipline and integrity, pride and envy. When in actual- James Washington Jr. Dallas Weekly News ity, we’re really struggling against “the devil’s schemes.” Let’s not overlook or be com- placent about where a lot of “ through the mental reality of this in order maintain control and think ourselves into the solutions we so desperately need to navigate what some believers term a temporary existence called ‘life.’ Here is something that sums it up pretty well straight out of my bible: How do we put on spiritual armor? We do so by daily absorbing scripture as truth, living in Spiritual warfare, as my bible says (for believers), is fought in the mind, in the emotions and in the will. this is coming from. At these rather intense times, we sometimes lose sight of the fact that Satan and his forces have already been defeated and to a large extent disarmed. We give him power when we forget this simple little fact. Our emo- tions take over and, in a state of complete exasperation, judgement gets clouded and actions happen in the spur of a moment. I’ve said on many occasions that the fight is fixed in our favor but we do have to go obedience to God, sharing the gospel and trusting Christ. That’s how to put armor on, study the Word, live accord- ing to biblical principles and believe that we live in a place infused with Jesus’ protec- tion. That knowledge will protect us as we come under spiritual attack. It doesn’t protect us from spiritual at- tack. But it does it makes us less vulnerable, less suscep- tible to the ‘devil’s schemes’ i.e. better able to handle what comes at us. You see, in this world Satan is free to tempt, deceive and entice, but he has no author- ity over you. My bible says when we overcome tempta- tion in the spiritual sense; we play out the victory in the physical world. We win emotionally. We win physically. Pure and sim- ple we win. The point here is you’ve got to recognize that a lot of what you’re going through is the direct result of coming under attack and not because of some great flaw within you. Success or better yet victory, necessitates con- trolling the mind game. When you put on the armor of which I speak you know this. It’s like knowing that it’s going to rain and taking an umbrella. But you have to pay attention to the signs of bad weather in order to be prepared. You can’t be pre- pared for the devil properly unless you know Jesus Christ personally. He is your and my umbrella so to speak. And please don’t take my word for it. Just read the bible. The streets are dangerous. Please be safe and aware of who you are and who’s coming at you. Protect yourself. May God bless and keep you always. The Stuff of Dreams — MLK Goes Right on Marching T he citizens of this coun- try are in the midst of a battle that we have been fighting for a very long time. A battle of racial in- equality, systemic abuse, and injustice. It is time to win this battle once and for all. Across the nation over the past weeks, protesters are saying they have had enough. They are weary of the ongo- ing struggle for equality and equity, of the battle against systemic injustice, and the fear of being a person of col- or in America. The horrific, needless death of George Floyd on May 25 at the hands of four police officers in Min- neapolis is tragically all too familiar. And we are seeing our nation cry out in pain. It is the pain of generations of inequality and the pain of a nation divided. It is shocking that in 2020, mothers in African Ameri- can and minority communi- ties still have to worry about the safety of their sons and daughters when simply going off to the store, going out for a jog and or being stopped at a traffic light. This must end. Generations of misery George Floyd is sadly one of many, many African Ameri- cans who have been the vic- tim of racial profiling and brutality. The larger trage- dy of our society is that this criminal activity did not start with Mr. Floyd. Or with Bre- Ray Curry Secretary- Treasurer, UAW ona Taylor or Tony McDade, who also lost their lives in the past month for similar rea- sons. Nor did it start with Eric Garner, killed in 2014 due to a police strangle hold — or “ How many stories like George Floyd’s must we hear? Rodney King’s brutal beating in 1991. The names and sto- ries stretch back generations and are part of the ongoing racial disparity and injustice that permeates our system. A product of 400 years of op- pression, prejudice and fear. How many stories like George Floyd’s must we hear? How many lives cut tragically, brutally short? At the UAW, we have been fighting for generations against systemic racism. Think back to August 28, 1968, when more than 200,000 demonstrators took part in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in the nation’s capital. Two men participating in that march — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and UAW President Walter Reuther — were dedicated to breaking the color lines and fighting for equality in wag- es, opportunities, housing, healthcare and fair societal treatment. A wound that will not heal The 1968 March on Wash- ington succeeded in getting those in power to sit up and take action. It was successful in pressuring the administra- tion to initiate a strong feder- al civil rights bill in Congress. It was a time that gave Amer- icans — especially minorities — hope. But how far have we come since then if we still are marching, if we are still pro- testing? Not nearly far enough. It is time for this country to transform from the ways of the past. To turn our backs on the prejudices, fear and hate of our past. To vote in local and federal elections for lead- ers that will represent men and women of this country and no longer their self-inter- est. I truly worry if we cannot do this, this wound will con- tinue to tear our nation apart. In today’s marches across the country, we are seeing his- tory repeating itself. Again, our community members are joining together, young peo- ple especially, and taking up the cause to demand change. And the UAW, with its long history of supporting and fighting for civil and human rights, is right beside them. It is not just police brutality that affects the African Amer- ican community. Because of socioeconomic and environ- mental factors — many due to continued disparity in oppor- tunities — when COVID-19 struck this country it hit peo- ple of color especially hard. Currently, the UAW is working with Michigan Gov- ernor Gretchen Whitmer’s office serving on the Michi- gan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities. The task force will act in an advi- sory capacity to the Governor and study the causes of racial disparities in the impact of COVID-19 and recommend ac- tions to immediately address such disparities and the his- torical and systemic inequi- ties that underlie them. We need real change But we cannot just talk about it. We must DO some- thing about it. Just like we saw civil rights legislation that came out of the demonstra- tions in the past, this tragedy and these demonstrations and clashes will need to result in legislation and reforms passed. PASSED and EN- FORCED. And while I do not want to vilify all men and wom- en in blue — we cannot not turn away from the horror of George Floyd’s death. An American citizen begging for his life on an American city street for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Read more at TheSkanner.com nt • lo c a l n e w s • eve
