FIRST AME CHURCH CELEBRATES CHANGE, ONE MAN IN THE MIRROR AT A TIME
Driving up from San Diego, Terrence was a tall, lean, young black man with God on his mind. He couldn't have a picked a better morning. It was a beautiful communion Sunday at First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, California.
As the city awakened after joining with the rest of the country celebrating barbeque, family, freedom and fireworks - all the typical things associated with the 4th of July - now was the time for a different type of commemoration.
This day was particularly special to Terrence and others as they began the official mourning, and for throngs of fans a deeper level of grieving, over the still incalculable loss of music icon Michael Jackson.
Before the 10:00 AM service, it was agreed that the controversial political and civil rights social activist Reverend Al Sharpton would say a few words on Michael Jackson’s behalf. Sharpton met with First AME Pastor John Hunter, First Lady Denise Hunter, and a host of recognized community leaders in the criminal justice, legal, political, and ecumenical arenas.
While this was unfolding, a cacophony of mainstream media outlets descended south of Interstate 10 tasked with ferreting out any additional information about the legendary talent who, even in death, has seen renewed appreciation for his extraordinary talent.
Since word spread of Jackson’s death, radio airplay for songs including “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” Pretty Young Thing” and “Remember The Time” has increased by a staggering 1,735%.
Sales of his solo albums “Thriller” and “Off The Wall” are up an unprecedented 4,000-percent, from 10,000 copies sold the week before his death to 422,000 sold for the week that ended June 28, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
And he has caused over 1 million people across the globe to salivate over the improbable chance that they, straight from the pages of Willie Wonka and The Chocolate Factory, will be so lucky as to witness a special memorial tribute at the fortress-like Staples Center, a mere four miles away from the sanctuary that just the week prior LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa chose to be sworn into his second term in office.
The purpose of Al Sharpton’s visit to the oldest black church in the Southland was to announce the commencement of a “Love Vigil” Tuesday July 7.
This would not only take place at Staples, the adjacent Nokia Theatre and First AME, but the goal was that it would spread to countless venues around the world.
In addition, efforts had already begun to have a national day of honor along with a postage stamp to recognize the King of Pop’s significant contributions to the arts.
Not that Terrence was necessary consumed by these things taking place. Wearing a simple t-shirt, black jeans and black tennis shoes, he listened as Pastor Walt “Baby” Love schooled those in attendance about Michael Jackson’s classic “Man in The Mirror” song, played during a three minute video tribute that paid homage to the award winning entertainer’s incredible journey.
Pastor Love revealed how the acclaimed gospel family “The Winans” had actually sung back-up on the track, and that noted gospel singer Pastor Andre Crouch had arranged the song that continues to give special meaning to so many.
But then the conversation at the pulpit quickly turned to more somber news, including the murder of famed former NFL Quarterback Steve McNair, along with the heart-wrenching details of a congregation member who lost four family relatives in a fatal car accident.
Before audience members could completely absorb these tragedies, uplifting news came in the form of the FAME Assistance Program gearing up to host an inaugural, full-day school initiative over the summer for 100 kids in response to the Los Angeles Unified School District’s canceling of a majority of course studies due to massive cuts in education that continue to wreak havoc on California.
Palpable among Angelenos, the frustration over the state’s continued loss of millions of dollars while lawmakers in Sacramento try to resolve a bleak situation did not deter Terrence and others who sat in their pews and received the message being delivered by Al Sharpton.
In fact many shouted Amen as the Harlem-based pastor, never at a loss for words, thanked God for another day before describing how he first met Michael Jackson when he was only thirteen in 1969. He answered critics by detailing the numerous times he had stood by the Jackson Family before chastising the despicable way the media who, according to Sharpton, was attempting to destroy, degrade, denigrate and undermine a man who has broke every record in the history books. Or as he further noted, a genius that had to “deal with a freakish situation” in life.
By not showing the proper deference and respect for a struggling African American working family from Gary, Indiana who saw their dreams materialize, who proved to be a powerful symbol in the face of racism and discrimination, who have given so much to the world, Sharpton warned that this double standard playing out, through comparisons to the passing of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, had clear racial undertones.
Undeterred, he preached about how these global vigils would deal with the message, while the media would be reduced to dealing with the mess.
But it was Reverend Sharpton’s statements about praising God through trials, tribulations and suffering, no matter what a person is going through, that clearly resonated with the congregation and elicited the longest standing ovations among the many.
After the church erupted in a crescendo of praise and Sharpton turned to take his seat on the pulpit, Pastor John made a call to anyone in the sanctuary who was ready to surrender their life to a Higher Power.
From nowhere, Terrence emerged. The toothy young man from San Diego rose from where he had been stationed, made his way to the altar, and accepted God in his life.
Of course for many, this was all overshadowed by the press conference that immediately followed. Here is where a long row of cameras rolled, shutters flickered, and questions were lobbed with ferocity about the details surrounding the actual funeral for Michael Jackson, the current status of his three small children, and musings over whether if more diversity was seen in the mainstream media, would that cause the tone to be less jarring and astringent.
Those questions would linger. But for one person who decided to follow Michael Jackson’s call to take a look at them self, it was a service like no other.
I’m starting with the man in the mirror I’m asking him to change his ways. And no message would have been any clearer If you want to make the world a better place, Take a look at yourself and make that… CHANGE!
Federal prosecutors have dropped their criminal probe of fiscal irregularities and tax fraud by the Rev. Al Sharpton and his National Action Network.
Lawyers for the civil rights activist said that means Sharpton's tax tangle won't result in an indictment or jail time, or even an appearance before a grand jury, though he's agreed to pay millions in back taxes.
For more on this story, check out New York Daily News' Errol Louis.
Despite Tiger's insistence — speaking through his agent — that Tilghman's inappropriate comments were a non-issue, the Golf Channel did the right thing suspending her for two weeks.
Al Sharpton compared Tilghman's on-air remarks to Don Imus's "nappy-headed ho" controversy. Sharpton, as is normally the case, is wrong.
What Tilghman did, despite her 12-year friendship with Woods, was much worse ...
... than what Imus did. Imus, a radio shock jock known for crude attempts at humor, cracked a bad joke on a morning radio show. Tilghman is an anchor on the Golf Channel. No one expects her to be racy, controversial or stupid.
Also, Tilghman can't argue that she picked up the notion of "lynching Tiger in a back alley" from black popular culture. She came up with that nonsense all on her own. JASON WHITLOCK at FOX Sports has got more of this story.
Civil rights activist Al Sharpton says Congress should expand hate crime laws to deal more forcefully with noose-hanging incidents like the one in the Jena Six case in order to squelch what he called a sharp rise in racism.
If Sharpton sees nooses as a symbol of racism, others obviously don't agree. Why else would we see nooses; hanging from trees, hanging around the necks of entertainers, in gym bags, and as jewelry? Has America now come to accept nooses just like tattoos, ipods and leather leggings (see article below), as a "throw back", "in vogue" and a part of the American landscape.
(Katt Williams: Purple suit and a noose???)
Today, Tuesday,the Reverend Al Sharpton, will testify before the House Judiciary Committee about the case of six black teenagers in the small Louisiana town of Jena charged with the beating of a white student. The incident happened after nooses were hung from a tree on a high school campus there — a symbol of the violence of the segregation era. But for sure today's pow-pow with Congress, will center on the "fashion must-have" of the year ... nooses.
Since the Jena case began attracting national attention, there have been a number of other nooses found in high-profile incidents around the country — in a black Coast Guard cadet's bag, on a Maryland college campus, and, last week, on the office door of a black professor at Columbia University in New York. "Nooses, the 'n' word, a Klansman's hood, and the burning cross are the clearest symbols of hate for black America," Sharpton said in remarks prepared for delivery to the committee.
Normally Sharptons testimony would be pin pointed at the unbalanced of justice received by defendants of the Jena Six case, but all the defendants are out of jail except for Mychal Bell, who last week was sentenced to 18 months in jail after a judge determined he violated the terms of his probation for a previous conviction.
Racial tensions began rising in Jena in August 2006 after a black student sat under a tree known as a gathering spot for white students. Three white students later hung nooses from the tree. They were suspended but not prosecuted. More than 20,000 demonstrators gathered recently in Jena to protest what they perceive as differences in how black and white suspects are treated.
But today on capital hill they will be separating the emotions and hyperbola and focus on the symbol that started this whole barn a blaze ... nooses.
Obviously the message, how Black people feel about nooses, is not getting out. Perhaps they are not teaching in school the significance of the noose in history.
Perhaps African Americans should roll back the clock like our Jewish and Armenian family members consistently do each year, and pick a time to remind the world of our atrocities and reflect.
Perhaps Sharpton and others are making too much of this, making it too complicated to understand. Perhaps we need to justify and clarify as we simplify. Simple enough, here are some pictures.
LOS ANGELES - The Rev. Al Sharpton has weighed in on the Knight High School scuffle in Palmdale, California, saying that the rough handling of three students by school security and their subsequent criminal charges is "a miscarriage of justice" akin to the racially charged controversy in Jena, La. "We have said all the time that Jena is happening all over the country," Sharpton said.
"You have a young ... lady with a broken arm here, with a video of the man assaulting her, and she's charged with battery. In some cases, that may be even more egregious than Jena." Sharpton was referring to 15-year-old Pleajhai Mervin of Palmdale, who was arrested along with her mother, Latrisha Majors. Majors and Mervin stood with Sharpton at Friday's press conference and met privately with him beforehand. "Our goal is to seek justice and to make sure this never happens to another child again," Majors said. "My daughter didn't deserve this."
On Sept. 18, Mervin dropped a cake in the Knight High lunch area and was detained - roughly, by her account - by security guard Chris Niemeyer. Another student, 14-year-old Joshua Lockett, was detained by security guards after videotaping part of Mervin's arrest. His sister, Kenngela Lockett, was then detained after trying to pull guards off her brother. Majors was arrested as well, and all four were arrested for investigation of battery. While the others were released the same day, Joshua Lockett remained in custody because of an earlier incident. He was released Friday, said Najee Ali, a Los Angeles-based activist who has been in close contact with Majors and the three students.
Talking to a reporter after the incident, Mervin said Niemeyer "grabbed me and put my hands behind my back and pushed up on my arms until it hurt" then "slammed me on the table." The reverend said the incident has clear racial overtones - Majors and the three students are black, Niemeyer is white - and that the students are "really charged with (being) black and going to school."
"It would be inconceivable in the state of California for black guards to break limbs and bones of young whites and then walk away with no punishment, and then the whites be charged with assaulting them," Sharpton said. "Therefore the reverse should not be tolerated. ... Nowhere in America should young blacks be treated any differently than young whites."
Niemeyer is on paid administrative leave from the Antelope Valley Union High School District. School officials said the incident is being investigated to determine if excessive force was used against the students. Mervin and Kenngela Lockett have reported that they have broken wrists.
Sharpton indicated that a rally will be held in Palmdale on Nov. 19. "Just as we took a stand in Jena, we will take that here," he said. Along with the rally planned for Nov. 19, Ali, executive director of Project Islamic Hope, said there will be a protest Thursday at the Antelope Valley courthouse. Protestors will be demanding that the district attorney's office drop all charges against Majors and the three students, Ali said.
Sharpton said he is attending a House Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington this week. The hearing will focus on the situation in Jena, but Sharpton said he plans to discuss the Knight High case with committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich.
JENA, La. -- Rev. Al Sharpton will speak in support of six black students, some of whom are still facing attempted murder charges in connection with the beating of a white school mate. Sharpton is scheduled to speak at the Trout Creek Baptist Church in Jena Sunday.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, calling the charges against the six black teens known as the "Jena Six" "disgraceful" said he was coming to Jena to spread a message of "reconciliation rather than retaliation." A date for Jackson's visit has not been set.
Robert Bailey Jr., Mychal Bell, Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis, Theo Shaw and an unnamed juvenile were charged in December with attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit the same after a Dec. 4 attack that left white student Justin Barker unconscious and in need of medical attention.
Alexandria defense attorney Mike Small said the widespread attention generated by the cases should have a positive affect. "That's not to say that the sentence should be driven by publicity, but only that the extensive interest in the cases underscores the need for a sentence which reasonable people can view as just and fair."
Jackson, who said he still isn't sure when he will visit Jena, said he has talked to members of the U.S. Congress about having a congressional hearing about the cases.
"There must be some admission by the leaders of the system that these charges against these boys are onerous and exaggerated. (The defendants) face being in jail for the rest of their natural lives.
In order to have healing, there must be a basic commitment to fairness and justice to man. This is so un-American the charges and the punishment," he said. ___
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Jackson, who said he still isn't sure when he will visit Jena, said he has talked to members of the U.S. Congress about having a congressional hearing about the cases.
