EXCLUSIVE
OBAMA SPEAKS WITH BLACK MINISTERS
By Cash Michaels
In
an effort to galvanize his support base in the black church in the midst of
growing headlines that African-American pastors, angered by his personal
endorsement of same-sex marriage, were telling their communities not to vote in
November, President Barack Obama spoke with many black ministers from across
the nation Monday evening, urging them to stick with him.
Meanwhile
a local pastor says he pulled a controversial radio ad he’s featured in that
blasted Pres. Obama for several weeks. That ad was paid for by a right-wing
group that has made removing Obama from office one of its top priorities.
Last
weekend there were numerous stories about black pastors announcing that they
would tell their congregations not to vote for Pres. Obama in November because
of his May 9th announcement that, after much thought and
consultation with friends and family, he personally supported the right of gay
people to legal join in matrimony.
The
president said then that he realized there would be those who vehemently
disagreed with him and he respected that.
For
the Rev. Dwight McKissic, a black Southern Baptist, the president’s respect was
not enough.
“[On
Election Day], I plan to go fishin’, “ Rev. McKissic told the Associated
Press.
Many of the ministers are telling all who would
listen not to vote for Republican Mitt Romney either, primarily because he is a
Mormon, which is seen by some in the Christian black church as a racist cult
because of it’s long history of discrimination, a history the Mormon church
never apologized for as have the Southern Baptist.
What
is becoming more and more evident is that several of the black pastors most
prominent in telling African-Americans to sit this presidential election out
are being backed by the right-wing lobbying group known as NOM - the National
Organization for Marriage.
Earlier
this year, it was reported that Mitt Romney’s PAC secretly donated $10,000 to
NOM in 2008, and uncovered NOM documents by a federal court in Maine revealed,
“The $20 Million Strategy for Victory”, devised in 2009, which not only focused
on “defeating the pro-gay Obama agenda” during the 2010 mid-term elections, but
declaring that, “a pro-marriage president must be elected in 2012.”
NOM
documents also talked about “Sideswiping Obama” by raising issues like
pornography and social radicalism.
NOM
has been connected to conservative anti-Obama black ministers like Rev. William
Owen, founder and president of the Memphis-based
Coalition of African-American Pastors.
Rev.
Owen launched a petition drive last May to get the president to “change his
views” on same-sex marriage. He openly accused Obama of “taking big money from
the homosexual community,” adding the president “sold out.”
Owens
was later quoted as saying that Pres. Obama “condoned child molestation.”
On
August 27th, NOM issued a press release boasting that it was
launching radio ads in North Carolina “encouraging African-Americans to say ‘no
more’ to President Obama.
“We
urge all North Carolinians to join Dr. Wooden in rejecting the anti-family
policies of President Obama this November,” stated Brian Brown, NOM president.
The
“Dr. Wooden” in question is Dr. Patrick L. Wooden, pastor of Upper Room Church
of God in Christ in Raleigh.
Wooden
has long been known for his conservative political stances, and is credited as
helping to lead the statewide passage of Amendment One, the
Republican-sponsored amendment to North Carolina’s state Constitution,
outlawing same-sex marriage, even though it was already codified in state
statutory law.
According
to the NOM press release, the group spent $34,000 in the Raleigh media market
purchasing airtime for :60 second radio spots featuring Wooden delivering the
following message:
"It was the African American community that
helped [President Obama] win here in North Carolina, But President Obama has
turned his back on the values of our community with his strong endorsement of
the homosexual movement. We worked hard to pass the Marriage Protection Amendment
this past May. With the strong support of the African American community, the
amendment protecting marriage as the union of one man and one woman passed
overwhelmingly. The very next day, President Obama came out for homosexual
marriage. Now his campaign leaders are working to deny North Carolina's ability
to define marriage, and they want to overturn our state marriage amendment
altogether. Join me in saying 'no more' to President Obama."
The ad ran during the weeks of both the Republican
National Convention, and the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.
In
an interview, Dr. Wooden said he pulled the ad after God told him that it had
achieved its purpose.
If
getting people upset for two weeks as listeners tuned into their favorite FM
gospel station was the goal, then Wooden certainly achieved that, as Facebook
was flooded with complaints about the ad.
Dr.
Earl Johnson, pastor of Martin Street Baptist Church in Raleigh, and president
of the Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association in Raleigh, held a press conference
just last week, blasting Wooden and any minister who would implore the black
community not to vote this election.
Wooden
said he was not paid any money to voice the ads by NOM, adding that he as not
pushing Republican Mitt Romney’s candidacy.
Only
that, in Wooden’s opinion, President Obama had turned his back on the black
community with his same-sex marriage stance.
NOM
promised on its website that if the Raleigh campaign featuring Dr. Wooden was
successful, it would replicate it across the state since North Carolina was, “a
key presidential swing state.”
Monday
night’s conference call with the president was headed up by African-Americans
for Obama, and People of Faith for Obama - two auxiliary groups associated with
the Obama for America campaign.
Rev.
Curtis E. Gatewood, Second Vice President of the NC NAACP, joined the call, “…to ensure President Obama receives justice and the people
not be misled by any particular ministers and organizations… as we approach the
most important election since 1860.
Rev.
Gatewood had sent a letter to Dr. Patrick Wooden, criticizing him for voicing
the Nom ads.
Indeed
the NCNAACP issued an open letter last week about, “…clergy who are trying to
confuse African-American voters on [the] wedge issue of marriage equality.
Making
it clear that as a nonpartisan civil rights organization, the NAACP doe not
endorse candidates, NCNAACP Pres. Rev. William Barber told The Carolinian that the black community must be wary of those who try
to suppress their vote through their faith.
“When you look at the Scriptures, the
issues that people of faith ought to be concerned about in the public square
are how do we treat the poor; how do we treat children; how do we treat the
sick; and how do we treat those who are on the margins of society - how do we
treat the vulnerable?” Rev. Barber continued.
“To
be the paid puppets of the ultra-right …is s disservice to our community.”
Rev.
Derrick Harkins, Democratic National Committee Faith Outreach director, was on
the call, and says the president talked to black clergy about the continuing
the work that his administration began when he tool office, “…and the
incredible importance of the faith community in all of that.”
The
president also emphasized the importance of registering voters before the early
voting deadlines in some states, and getting out the vote.
“The
worst thing we can do is become complacent,” Rev. Harkin recalls Pres. Obama
saying to the ministers during the conference call.
“How dare anyone say to somebody
that you ought not exercise the franchise that people literally have breathed
their life’s effort and life’s blood into for us to have, and especially now
when we have the opportunity to continue the work that we’ve begun,” Rev.
Harkins said.
“Follow the money; follow the
support,” Harkins added, noting that right-wing like NOM are also part of the
matrix of conservative groups that have successful pushed for voter ID laws in
at least 30 states.
Critics
say these laws are really voter suppression tools to keep a certain percentage
of mainly black and Hispanic voters - part of Pres. Obama’s most loyal
Democratic base - from successfully going to the polls on November 6th.
Harkins
said groups like NOM are using black ministers, even though the majority of
NOM’s agenda is contrary to the interests of the African-American community.
And
the DNC minister added that while some black preachers act as if Pres. Obama
had betrayed their trust with his same-sex opinion, in fact, most of those
preachers never were true supporters of the president to begin with.
“They’ve
been card-carrying Republicans all along,” Rev. Harkin said.
“A
lot of people say that in 2008, we changed the guard. And in 2012, we’ve got to
guard that change.”
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STATE NEWS BRIEFS
WAKE SCHOOLS UNVEIL PROPOSED NEW STUDENT ASSIGNMENT PLAN
[RALEIGH] Less than a year after it adopted a school choice plan that has proven
to be to be problematic, the Wake School Board Tuesday unveiled a proposed new
plan for 2013-14 that would promote diversity, stability and some choice. A key
component is going back to an address-based system so that every student has a
base school, unlike what is in force now that caused three weeks of school bus
problems. Hearings have been delayed until more details on the new proposal can
be ironed out. Yevonne Brannon, chair of Great Schools in Wake Coalition, says,
“This plan is still a neighborhood [schools] plan.
Mostly based on proximity. If you are poor or live in low
performing node...you can only get out by choosing out...the Board of Education
has not put into the plan yet assigning some children out...the gutsy moral and
right thing to do.”
Meanwhile,
Don Haydon, who was in charge of Wake Schools’ busing system, has resigned and
been put on paid leave until Dec. 31. Haydon had been with the system since
2002.
STATE HBCU’S GET $29 MILLION IN FEDERAL GRANTS
[WASHINGTON,
DC] Thanks to a $228 million federal grant from the US Dept. of Education,
historically black colleges and universities across the nation are able to
improve key areas of academic and staff development. The ten HBCU’s in North
Carolina shared in over $29 million of the grant, with Bennett College and
Livingstone College each getting over $1.4 million; St. Augustine’s University
and Johnson c. Smith University getting over $1.6 and $1.8 million
respectively; Shaw University receiving over $2.4 million; Elizabeth City State
University and Fayetteville State University getting over $3.4 and $3.8 million
respectively; and North Carolina Central University, Winston-Salem State
University and NC A&T State University receiving over $4.0 million, $4.3
million and $5.2 million.
VICTIM OF RACIAL PROFILING? NC-ACLU WANT TO KNOW
[GREENSBORO]
If you feel that you have been the victim of racial profiling by law
enforcement in North Carolina, the state chapter of the American Civil
Liberties Union wants to hear from you. The nonprofit legal group has posted
two complaint forms on its website for citizens to file their bad experiences.
In turn NC ACLU attorneys will file suit on behalf of victims. A Feb. 2012
report by a UNC professor indicated that Hispanic drives 96 percent more likely
to have their cars stopped and searched than white drivers. Blacks were 77
percent more likely than whites. The forms can be found at http://www.acluofnorthcarolina.org/.
ALAMANCE SHERIFF’S DEPT TARGETED LATINOS, SAY FEDS
[BURLINGTON]
The Alamance Sheriff’s Dept. “routinely” targeted Latinos for discrimination,
according to a two-year investigation by the US Justice Dept. The feds charge
that Hispanics were the subjects of unwarranted arrests, with the goal being to
“maximize deportations.” The 11-page report charged Sheriff Terry S. Johnson
and his deputies with violating the constitutional rights of US citizens and
legal residents without probable cause. The sheriff says the report is
political. Recommendations include negotiating a settlement, or else the feds
could sue.
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DEREK HODGE II AND HIS FATHER, DEREK SR.
NC A&T STUDENT REMEMBERED IN SCHOLARSHIP
By Cash Michaels
Editor
In
2013, there will be a graduate at Southeast Raleigh High School who will choose
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro as the
historically black institution of higher learning to attend.
And
there will a $1000.00 scholarship waiting for that student, thanks to another
Southeast Raleigh High graduate who went on to NC A&T.
His
name was Derek E. Hodge II.
In
April 2008, Derek Hodge of Wendell, a junior at NC A&T, was fatally shot
during a robbery at his off-campus apartment.
He was killed on his mother’s
birthday.
His murderer was captured, tried
and convicted of second-degree murder in May 2011 after pleading guilty, and is
currently serving 21 years in prison.
For
Derek Sr. and Eva Hodge, it changed their world. The last time they saw Derek alive is when he came to spend that Easter with them shortly before his death.
“[Our
son’s murder] …it really took something from us,” Derek’s mother told The
Carolinian. “When you send your child off
to school, this is the last thing you expect to happen.”
Derek was a charming and
“…incredible young man,” the proud couple fondly remembers, with dreams of
making the world his oyster. Derek majored in business and marketing, with a
side interest in real estate.
“He
was a very smart young man,” his father said. “There wasn’t anything Derek
couldn’t do. He had a great future ahead of him, and we were very proud of
him.”
His
mother says there was always one school he wanted to attend, and that was
Derek’s first choice, NC A&T.
The
Hodges say even though his dream was cut short, but that didn’t mean Derek’s
promise couldn’t be fulfilled by other worthy students who shared the same
vision and drive.
“There was just no way we could go
on [allowing] our son’s legacy and the memory of him die,” Eva Hodge said.
“That’s why we wanted to be able to help other young people that had those
dreams and aspirations to do more.”
So last December, the Hodges setup
the Derek E. Hodge II Memorial Scholarship Foundation to annually award $1,000
scholarships specifically to graduates of Southeast Raleigh High School who
have been accepted to attend NC A&T University.
Next
Saturday, Sept. 29th, the foundation will present the Inaugural
Black Tie Sponsorship Banquet, the first official fundraiser for the cause, at
the Crabtree Valley Marriott in Raleigh at 6 p.m. NFL legend Lin Dawson is the
keynote speaker.
“This
will be Derek’s voice…by creating the foundation,” Eva Hodge says.
Derek’s
father says thus far, the support has been “outstanding” since the young man’s
death, though the family says they’d hoped to see more from the Aggie
community. They not suggesting that Aggies don’t care, but rather that many
don’t know about the foundation, and what it’s doing in Derek’s name.
“This
is the inaugural event, and I know it’s going to grow with the help of the
Aggies,” Derek’s mother assured.
All donations for tickets and
sponsorships are tax deductible.
For
more information about the foundation and the gala benefit, email at info@
derekhodgefoundation.org, or visit the website at www.derekhodgefoundation.org.
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NNPA STORY -
http://www.nnpa.org/news/lead/romney-calls-obama-supporters-freeloaders-by-george-e-curry/
MEDIA
CASH IN THE APPLE
By Cash Michaels
JAKE TAPPER DOESN’T VOTE
- A couple of years ago when he was still occupying the eight o’clock hour on
MSNBC terrorizing conservatives, Republicans and Bill O’Reilly, Keith
Olbermann went on ABC-TV’s “The View”
and told the audience that while its no secret that he is a liberal, and
certainly leans Democrat (though Keith was always willing to give President
Obama a piece of his mind when he felt
it warranted), that surprisingly, he doesn’t vote in elections.
"It’s the only thing
I can do that suggests even that I don’t have a horse in the race,” Keith told
a befuddled Barbara Walters and Whoopi Goldberg in 2008.
In a statement to a
publication called “Portfolio,” Keith continued, “I know it’s very
idiosyncratic, but I would feel just a little hesitation, just a little drag on
the airflow, if I went to criticize somebody, especially a president, for whom
I had voted. It is driven by the same thing that used to make me keep my
distance from the athletes I covered. I don’t want anything, even that tiny bit
of symbolic connection, to stand in between me and my responsibility to be
analytical and critical."
Now it’s no secret that I
love Keith Olbermann, and I am so, so sorry he’s not on television now (and
won’t be for the foreseeable future), weighing in with his incisive
commentaries and insights during this most important election year (you’ll
recall he got fired from Current TV last year).
But Keith is wrong, DEAD
wrong, just as ABC News White House correspondent Jake Tapper was dead wrong last Sunday when he told viewers of ABC’s
“This Week” that he doesn’t vote either.
To make sure I wasn’t
wrong, I sought to confirm that nonsense, and there it was, in a 2009 interview
with the conservative publication National Review, “He says he doesn’t vote in presidential elections to
help preserve his objectivity.”
Malarky!
And this isn’t limited to
just Keith and Jake.
Apparently if you make it
to Washington, DC as a journalist, and get hired by some major corporation to
harass the White House (regardless of which party is in control of it), then
you are expected to protect that corporation (NBC, ABC, CNN, etc) by swearing
off of voting.
Mind you, it’s not a
“requirement,” but it sure helps your editors back at the shop sleep easier at
night knowing that your name won’t be showing up as being registered to do
anything but drive a car.
Listen to the point of
view of Washington Post Executive
Editor Leonard Downie Jr. from a 2004
response to the question being posed to him.
“I decided to stop voting
when I became the ultimate gatekeeper for what is published in the newspaper. I
wanted to keep a completely open mind about everything we covered and not make
a decision, even in my own mind or the privacy of the voting booth, about who should
be president or mayor, for example.”
Unfortunately, Mr.
Downie, as a colleague and fellow practitioner, I respectfully disagree.
Being a journalist is my
job, but it cannot, and should not, define my citizenship, or the obligations
thereof.
Nothing else in life
that’s worthwhile commands any of us NOT to take part in the very fabric of our
civic responsibilities.
If, as a reporter, I
cover stories of police brutality, does that mean I should never dial 911 if
I’m in trouble?
If, as a reporter, I do a
story about racism in our local fire department, does that mean I should never
call them if my house is in flames?
If, as a reporter, I do a
story about corruption in government, does that mean I should stop paying my
taxes?
Gee, this opens up all
kinds of questions. Was it a mistake on my part to ever get married and have
children because I didn’t properly warn my family that I will never vote for or
against anything that would effect our quality of life as members of the
community?
To me it makes absolutely
no sense for a journalist to get on television, supposedly as a trained and
experienced professional, report and advise the community about the world
around them as people whose judgment and experience we should trust and
respect, and then cop out and tell folks, in order to make sure you trust, I
give up my rights as a citizen.
I find myself more likely
to trust someone who I know is doing their job, regardless of what their
personal beliefs or political leanings are. THAT, to me takes great strength and
character.
Now does that mean I
don’t have my own rules as a journalist? Not at all, because I certainly do.
I learned a long time ago
that I can’t have membership in virtually any community organization. When I
joined certain community groups, I soon found that some of their members were
up to no good, and that put me in the precarious position of having to weigh
the loyalty of membership, with the responsibility of my job to the community.
It also didn’t help when
members of that group, knowing I was a reporter, expected me to be quiet
because I was a member. That situation was untenable, so I learned never to
allow that to happen again.
And I haven’t. What I’ve
done instead is work WITH groups, not as a member, but as a separate entity,
this way I can maintain safe distance in those events in which I have no choice
but to report on that group.
I had that happen a
couple of years ago when a top official of an organization I certainly support
and work with, was undeniably doing something he had no business doing. Since I
wasn’t a member, it was nothing for me to pick up the phone and do my job to
hold him accountable.
That’s the way I want it,
and need it to be.
The only group I’m a
“member” of is the Wilmington Ten Pardons of Innocence Project. My job is to coordinate the effort to bring about
pardons of innocence from Gov. Beverly Perdue for the ten civil rights activists who were falsely
convicted 40 years ago.
Why can I be a member of
that, and nothing else? Doesn’t
such a controversial effort conflict with my role as a journalist?
First of all, the effort
is sponsored by the press - the National Newspaper Publishers Association, of which The Carolinian and Wilmington Journal are members.
As the Black Press, we
all agreed that the plight of the Wilmington Ten has gone on too long. The
facts of their innocence, and their frame-up by the state, are very clear. A
federal court has ruled accordingly, but for political, and perhaps racial
reasons, the state of North Carolina had not for the past forty years.
Knowing these facts, it
was incumbent on the Black Press to speak up and demand justice when no one
else would.
That’s what the Black
Press has always done, and will continue to do.
Thus the Pardon Project,
and my involvement with it.
As a black journalist, my
role is a bit different from the standard journalist. Yes, I report the facts
as I find them, and make sure that they are reported in the appropriate context
relevant for accurate understanding.
My bias is built into the
job upfront - I support my community.
But that does not mean,
and never will mean, I won’t hold leadership in my community accountable when
they screw up, even if I’ve voted for them.
Being a black reporter
also means I never tell you whom to vote for. Oh, I run my mouth about what the
politicians are up to, and whether they should be trusted or not. I may even
reflect the general feeling in the community, pro or con, about certain
candidates.
But I’ll never say, “I’m
voting for X, and you should too!”
Not my place. I expect
you to consider all arguments and facts from all sides (you should be consuming
more than one news source a day) to make up your own mind.
Finally, as you can
imagine, even in the Black Press, there is a variety of thought about all of
this.
Years ago, many black
newspaper publishers were also members of various civic and community
organizations, or openly backed certain political candidates. They didn’t have
a choice. The community needed the leadership, and newspaper people were in the
business of shaping minds and hearts to confront the oppression their readers
faced every day, especially in a segregated society.
Today, many black
publishers till maintain memberships in civic organizations, mostly out of
tradition and deep commitment to the cause. I have no beef with any of them, as
long as if the fork in the road comes, and there’s an unforeseen conflict, that
the community we serve, and vowed we will always serve, gets the benefit.
So to Keith (who
essentially wore out his welcome at MSNBC because - GASP - he gave money to two
candidates), Jake and anyone else to holds to this high-minded ideal that in
order to properly serve society, you have divorce yourself from it, good luck.
I try, in my career, to
never tell folks they should be doing something that I’m not doing, or have no
intention of doing. That is blasphemous and hypocritical, and quite frankly too
easy to do.
If I have any credibility
at all as a journalist, it’s because, by and large, I stand on what I say, and
make sure that the community which I serve sees that. They don’t have to know
whom I vote for, because that is my business as a citizen.
Just as long as they see
me taking my citizenship seriously, then they know it’s up to them to do the
same.
Make sure you tune in
every Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. for my talk radio show, ''Make It Happen''
on Power 750 WAUG-AM, or online at www.myWAUG.com. And read more about my thoughts and opinions
exclusively at my new blog, ‘The Cash Roc” (http://thecashroc.blogspot.com/2011/01/cash-roc-begins.html). I promise it will be interesting.
Cash in the Apple -
honored as the Best Column Writing of 2006 by the National Newspaper Publishers
Association. Columnist Cash Michaels was also honored by the NNPA for Best
Feature Story Journalist of 2009, and was the recipient of the Raleigh-Apex
NAACP’s President’s Award for Media Excellence in Sept. 2011.
Until next week, keep
a smile on your face, GOD in your heart, and The Carolinian in your life. Bye,
bye.
-30-
TRIANGLE NEWS BRIEFS
CANDIDATE FORUMS BEGIN THIS EVENING
Beginning
tonight, the League of Women voters and WakeUP Wake County are sponsoring a
series of candidate forum focusing on the race for Wake County commissioner and
state superintendent of Public Instruction.
All
forums are at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6 p.m.
The
first four forums are for seats on the Wake County Board of Commissioners.
Wake County is governed by a seven-member Board
of Commissioners, elected at
large to serve four-year terms. Terms are staggered so that, every two years,
three or four Commissioners are up for election. The Commissioners enact
policies such as establishment of the property tax rate, regulation of land use
and zoning outside municipal jurisdictions, and adoption of the annual budget.
Commissioners meet on the first and third Mondays of each month.
Tonight,
the first forum will be held at the Garner Performing Arts Center, 742 W.
Garner Rd in Garner.
On
Thursday, Sept. 27th, the second forum will be held at Martin Street
Baptist Church, 1001 East Martin Street in Raleigh.
On
Thursday, Oct. 4th, the third forum will be held at Kirk of Kildaire
Church, 200 High Meadow Drive in Cary.
On
Thursday, Oct. 11th, the fourth forum will be held at Temple Beth
Or, 5315 Creedmoor Road in North Raleigh.
Candidates
for the Wake Board of Commissioners include Caroline Sullivan and Dale Cooke in
District 4; incumbent James West (running unopposed) in District 5; incumbent
Betty Lou Ward and Paul Fitts in District 6.
And
on Monday, Oct. 15th, the forum for NC Superintendent of Public
Instruction will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh,
3313 Wade Avenue in Raleigh.
The North
Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction is the elected
head of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
, serving a four-year term, and oversees the public school systems of the state. The
Superintendent is currently an elected member of the North Carolina Council of State, and
also serves as a member of the North Carolina State Board of Education,
the body which holds most of the authority over elementary and secondary
education in the state.
Candidates for that race include
incumbent state Supt. of Public Instruction June Atkinson, a Democrat; and
Republican challenger John Tedesco, currently serving on the Wake School Board.
For more information, contact
Tappan Vickery at tappan@wakeupwakecounty.org
or 919-859-2177. See video of the forums you missed at www.wakeupwakecounty.org.
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