500 Gather at BET Executive's D.C. Home to Protest Stereotypes

[admin]

http://pic60.picturetrail.com/VOL1671/8249656/15414288/279935056.jpg
Channeling Their Discontent: 500 Gather at Executive's D.C. Home to Protest Stereotypes
By Marissa Newhall

More than 500 people demonstrated peacefully outside the Northwest Washington home of Debra Lee, Black Entertainment Television's chief executive, yesterday afternoon, demanding that the network stop airing what they call demeaning and offensive portrayals of African Americans.

Led by the Rev. Delman L. Coates of Mount Ennon Baptist Church in Clinton, members of the Enough Is Enough Campaign said they will return every weekend until Lee addresses their grievances.

Lee was not home yesterday but said in a telephone interview she was disappointed that several attempts last week to arrange a meeting with the group had failed. Also, in a letter, she said BET plans to launch 16 "balanced" shows by year's end.

The campaign, which Coates began six weeks ago, is calling on corporations to divest from popular culture that portrays black men as "pimps" and "gangsters" and sexually objectifies black women.

Joining protesters from Mount Ennon yesterday were members of the National Organization for Women, the Feminist Majority Foundation, the head of the National Congress of Black Women and Maryland Del. Justin D. Ross (D-Prince George's).

Several security guards blocked three gates around Lee's home in the 2800 block of McGill Terrace NW, while protesters marched and chanted for nearly two hours. Traffic on the otherwise quiet street, tucked into a stately residential area of Woodley Park, seemed largely unaffected. Police watched the protesters, who had been granted a permit, from the sidelines.

In an Aug. 23 letter to Lee, Coates requested a meeting. Lee said yesterday that she did not receive the letter until last week, after she had learned about the protest through a news release. Lee said Coates was told that if he brought the protest to BET's corporate headquarters in Northeast Washington, she would have spoken to him there. "I believe in freedom of speech, but if you really want to have an impact, the best way is to have a conversation -- not to protest in front of someone's house," Lee said. "I'm always willing to talk to our viewers."

Coates, 34, said yesterday, "Her people made a meeting conditional upon canceling the rally at her house."

In describing the campaign last week, he said he was "deeply concerned about the increasing coarseness of American popular culture. At some point, we have to ask ourselves what kind of world we want to leave to our children."

Founded by African American businessman Robert Johnson 27 years ago, BET has an 18-to-34 demographic. It has long been criticized for airing music videos that some believe perpetuate negative stereotypes of blacks. The network, now owned by Viacom, has recently been attacked for such programs as "Hot Ghetto Mess," which had its name changed to "We Got to Do Better" after complaints, and "Read a Book," a satirical animated public-service announcement.


For information about the campaign, go to:

www.enoughisenough.com


Video footage from Enough Is Enough rally:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=cccUgkNQfXA

http://www.todaysdrum.com/?Event=ViewArticle&ArticleId=0EE54EBD-15C5-EA6D-34243D932620FE7E


Video footage from the Press Conference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imKoDHc7u8U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO2sEYfrckQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAHiTprUq5o

[cmac80]

Please read the following blog from former "Top Model" winner/reality TV star turned intellectual Adrienne Curry concerning BET and Black History Month.

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=42771364&blogid=312093999&page=0

[Mahogany Love]

Thank you for sharing this. This is what lots of people believe. I did not hear anyone complain until Black History Month was added. I do agree that there have been so many unjust things that have happened to all nationalities except ONE and all need to be compensated in some manner but the real compensation will not be had until the return of our LORD & SAVIOR. But the key is OUR race of people were openly taken into slavery for many, many, many years and are still being treated openly unfairly. Let us have our month and as for the BET channel this channel is not and never was separate, all nationalities watch this channel. Now lets talk about a WHITE TREE ONLY now that is separation. She seems to be a little twisted but we will let her be that way for she can not possibly understand her skin isn't as dark as mine is....

Always: Love, Peace & Harmony all over the world



Please read the following blog from former "Top Model" winner/reality TV star turned intellectual Adrienne Curry concerning BET and Black History Month.

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=42771364&blogid=312093999&page=0

[MsHotChocolate]

Hello,

The correct website that was mentioned on your show today was
www.enoughisenoughcampaign.com The site that you have listed is incorrect. It does not include the word CAMPAIGN.

Thank you.

[saucywardrobe]

The most frustrating thing about BET is that they are stuck in the 80's. They are not creative nor progressive and people are fed up. Why do we need to see the same videos all day? One or maybe two video shows okay cool. What about news shows. Where is the 6 o'clock news? Where is the evening news? BET should be the first place we go to get informed. The problem with BET is that they want to keep there pockets fat. They fear that the advertisers will not support a news show or a weekly tv series. Instead they offer videos, comedy, and dumb game shows. We are creative passionate people with many skills and talents who are interested in more than music, women, and laughs.

Regarding Adrienne's blog, I am not mad at her as she is making statements without knowing the history behind BET, Black History Month, etc. She does not realize that we were ignored for a long time and still ignored but no longer afraid to speak out. The simple solution to is to love one another. Why is it so hard?

[henry8]

Please read the following blog from former "Top Model" winner/reality TV star turned intellectual Adrienne Curry concerning BET and Black History Month.

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=42771364&blogid=312093999&page=0

That right there says it all...the woman is a moron! She ain't even just "another pretty face" just STU-pid! Ugh!

[Farafina]

I read just a bit of the article but the writer is simply too ignorant (as was evidenced by the context of this poorly researched article) that I decided I had better things to do with my time. She is jumping all over the place without making much sense at the same time. Just another lost and confused black soul!

[henry8]

I read just a bit of the article but the writer is simply too ignorant (as was evidenced by the context of this poorly researched article) that I decided I had better things to do with my time. She is jumping all over the place without making much sense at the same time. Just another lost and confused black soul!

Is she black? What she definitely is is STU-pid...uneducated and very, very unable to communicate a logical thought...WARNING to everyone do not bother to read this idiot babe's blog...she should be using crayons to write her thoughts...as in drawing stick figures...she's really dumb...if you read it despite the warning don't be surprised at how really unintelligent she is!

[Farafina]

Reply to saucywardrobe:

I agree with you. However, concerning BET, is it still ours? It's no longer fubu (i.e., for us by us just like "fubu" which also was sold) and if that is the case, the solution is for us to have a real black tv show. I have access to at least two latino channels and I only have regular cable! I am thinking about getting the african channel although I have to pay extra... It is sad that in a country where there are many black millionaires, we do not even have a major tv channel!!! We should control our means of communications because the reality is that is a big part of the education of our people!!! Let's have more private schools by us for us that also offers opportunities to low-income people (the more you work at school, the less your family has to pay!)... Let's do stuff, this is 2007 and many of our children cannot even express themselves in standard english!!!!!

[Farafina]

Is she black? What she definitely is is STU-pid...uneducated and very, very unable to communicate a logical thought...WARNING to everyone do not bother to read this idiot babe's blog...she should be using crayons to write her thoughts...as in drawing stick figures...she's really dumb...if you read it despite the warning don't be surprised at how really unintelligent she is!

Reply to Henry8
I sincerely hope she is not black because there is nothing else that frustrates me more than an ignorant, confused, and fake black person!!! I can take it from another race but it is a little too much at times when it's my own people

[zion]

It is time for us to address the social and civic injustice and discord that permeates from the 22nd floor of Government Center and embraces unethical values that zero into and destroys the zenith of one's character, while plaguing communities and families...yes, innocent citizens of Toledo.

Upon Carleton Finkbeiner taking leadership of this city as mayor, he listed 34-campaign pledges. He stated that his administration would unite and promote, in every way possible, a clean, green, and safe city with vibrant colors everywhere – a city that inspires our citizens to improve our neighborhoods, educate our children, and create jobs that offer a future in their hometown.


Mayor Finkbeiner stated that job creation comes with an environment that invites new investment in our city. He stated that he would focus on building and maintaining the business base of Toledo, to ensure jobs, and opportunity for all.

He stated that too many Toledoans lack pride and confidence. Pride in our past, pride in our present and confidence in our future. Mayor Finkbeiner stated that he promoted full accountability for all city employees, and that even during the difficult times the citizens of Toledo would receive the best quality services we can deliver to them.

We are here to say that Mayor Finkbeiner has been a golden child in front of the cameras during election time, but he has been a deceptive advocate, a drum major for injustice behind close doors. We recommend that the $9,996 shower on the 22nd floor of Government Center be used to wash away the injustice and the malfeasance that stains this city.

Please allow me to state the facts:

In May 2006 he called Toledo's first African-American Fire Chief...King Kong. He later violated the First Amendment Provisions regarding Freedom of the Press, when his press secretary forcibly kept a WSPD reporter out of a public press conference. He also disregarded and discredited Michael Ashford as being elected city council president. He accused Gary Daugherty, a respectable man with a engineering degree, as being lazy.

He fired the Affirmative Action/Contract Compliance Director Perlean Griffin, and he also stated that those city directors who spoke to Perlean Griffin would also be dealt with. Which brings me to this...

Dwayne Morehead did not heed the strong-armed threats of Mayor Finkbeiner, but rather chose the path of righteousness by standing for what was right. Because Morehead continued to speak with Perlean Griffin, he was demoted from being the co-director of the city's Youth Commission to being an administrative specialist, and was placed on a 30-day probation period and was instructed to report to Juanita Greene who is the executive director of the Board of Community Relations. He knew that he was being set-up to be fired. Dwayne Morehead has become a casualty of the cause of injustice.

On April 18, 2007 Dwayne Morehead received a letter signed by Mayor Finkbeiner congratulating him on being nominated for the 2006 Toledoan of the Year Awards, and expressing his gratitude for for the outstanding work he has done in this city.

Those same qualities that allowed Morehead to be nominated, also gave him the courage and the strength to stand up for what is right. In doing so, On June 29 Dwayne Morehead was suspended for 30 days and recently he was fired.

Mayor Finkbeiner, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! We will no longer be strong-armed. We send a message that we will not lie down on the bed of injustice, but that we will stand up and ensure that everyone is protected equally, fairly, equitably and that everyone has the same opportunity. This issue is one of race and it is about doing what is ethical, what is morally right. We all have a civil right to success. That is not a privilege, it is a civil right!

We charge Mayor Finkbeiner with being out of order and in direct disobedience and violation to the Family Medical Leave Act which states: Employees are entitled to leave from employment due to a serious health condition. The Family Medical Leave Act states that the employee provide a certification from a health care provider.

We send a clarion call that Dwayne Morehead has been fired due to retaliation. We proclaim that Morehead has legitimate disease conditions that are under the care and supervision of Dr. Baldwin, who submitted the proper paperwork stating that Morehead could not report to work, and that he is to be on medical leave. Mayor Finkbeiner and Juanita Greene blatantly ignored and discredited the professional experience of Dr. Baldwin, by rejecting and ignoring her assessment of Dwayne Morehead's condition of illness.

We will not tolerate or ignore Mayor Finkbeiner's tactics in the dismissal of Dwayne Morehead or any other city employee unjustly...regardless of your race. This is an issue of morality that not only affects one, but it affects an entire family. It affects the lives of Morehead's six children and wife at home. It affects the citizens of Toledo, it discredits the phrase “Toledo Pride.” This is not about what party you're part of, this is about right and wrong...the conscience of this city.

Since its inception in 1946, The Board of Community Relations has served the conscience of this city, and as such, has sought to create a heightened sense of awareness that inequality and discrimination still exist. The board exists to promote, empower and support citizens to create social justice, equal opportunity and a harmonious environment. They are to intervene in conflicts and disputes, by providing investigation into unlawful discriminatory practices.

Because Morehead's termination letter was signed by Juanita Greene by the orders of Mayor Carleton Finkbeiner, this creates an unethical conflict of interest for the Board of Community Relations to do there job by investigating this matter. Morehead has a charge with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission against the Executive Director of the Board of Community Relations, Juanita Greene. Therefore, any investigation conducted by the board would surely be bias....as Juanita Greene is the one who does the investigations, and surely it would be unprofessional and unethical for her to investigate herself concerning this matter. In addition, Mayor Finkbeiner can not ignore and he can not minimize the charges for his actions. The facts don't lie. In addition, Brian Schwartz, the mayor's public information officer, someone who gets paid to speak for the Mayor....stated on a local blog website called Swamp Bubbles...that Morehead should be fired! Brian Schwartz also stated that Morehead should be grateful the mayor took him from a blue-collar worker to management, and that Morehead betrayed the mayor. Isn't it a big coincidence...that the suspension letter given to Dwayne Morehead stated that all the problems began on or about March 7, 2007....which happens to be the day after Morehead filed charges against the Finkbeiner administration?

In addition, at a press conference on Monday, September 10, 2007 Brian Schwartz passed out the employee file of Dwayne Morehead outside of Government Center to anyone who wanted it. First and foremost, this just shows that the Finkbeiner administration is desperate and will do anything they can to discredit Morehead. In addition, we obtained the files and isn't it interesting that the letter that Mayor Finkbeiner sent Mr. Morehead congratulating him for being nominated for the Toledoan of the Year Award wasn't in his file? Also there are NO violations or disciplinary issues noted in Morehead's file from Finkbeiner's inauguration in January 2005 until March 2007 incidents that began with his demotion ....the day after Morehead filed his charges against Finkbeiner!

Perhaps the Finkbeiner administration should study the law a bit more, before passing out employee files to total strangers at will. The law states: "The public has a right to know certain information about its employees, such as name, work address, salary, job classification and title, job performance. (See R.C. 124.09(C), R.C. 149.43(B)(1)). However, a public employee also has the right to non-disclosure of personal or confidential information contained in his or her personnel file. In applying the Public Records Act to public record requests involving personnel files of governmental employees, the Ohio Supreme Court has balanced the publics interest in accessing public records against the employee’s interest in protecting his or her privacy.

In State ex rel. Fant v. Enright (1993), 66 Ohio St.3d 186, Appellant made a public records request of the Clerk of Courts of Franklin County to inspect the personnel file of the former Franklin County Deputy Clerk. The Clerk of Courts refused to release the requested personnel file for inspection; Appellant filed a complaint for a writ of mandamus to compel release of the personnel file. The lower court denied the writ. On appeal, the Ohio Supreme Court emphasized that an item contained in a personnel file is a public record only when it is kept by a public office and serves to document the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations or other activities of the office.

The Court observed that not all information contained in a personnel file would be considered a public record and that, pursuant to R.C. 1347.01(E), a public office has an affirmative duty to protect from disclosure personal or confidential information contained in a personnel file. Accordingly, the personal or confidential information must be redacted or removed from the personnel file prior to inspection and/or copying. (See, also Sunshine Laws Update (May 2001), Attorney General Betty D. Montgomery; Sunshine Law An Update, Public Practice Continuing Legal Education (November 2001), Attorney General Betty D. Montgomery – advises keeping confidential files in a separate drawer, file cabinet or office to reduce the possibility of someone reviewing an inappropriate file.)"

In addition, apparently in the files were offenses allegedly committed by Morehead under the Ford administration. There is only one problem, Morehead never worked for Mayor Ford, he was a union employee. Furthermore, the city rules state that the information was supposed to be removed 18 months after the document was placed in the file. It’s been four years since the last document was placed in the file. It appears to me that this is such a gross injustice and the only thing the city can do to protect themselves is to slur Morehead. If the Finkbeiner administration is able to reveal Morehead's employee files to the general public ... than perhaps the general public should request to see the employee files of the Finkbeiner administration beginning with Mayor Finkbeiner himself.

Therefore, we are requesting that the NAACP, the Toledo Urban League along with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission fully investigate the wrongful discharge of Dwayne Morehead and report it's finding's back to the citizens of Toledo. The citizens of Toledo have a right to hold Mayor Finkbeiner accountable for his frivolous actions.

Why should the NAACP and the Urban League get involved? According to the NAACP mission statement listed on their website it states, “they are to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination.” According to the Urban League website their mission states they are to “enable African Americans to secure economic self-reliance, parity, power and civil rights. So, the question is...Why? Why don't the Toledo chapters of the NAACP and Urban League get involved?

Where are the religious leaders? Being a religious leader is more than just going to church. It is not about having big billboards, selling chicken dinners, who has the most members or the biggest church … what about being involved and caring about the injustice that often affects the lives of so many people. When will we as leaders stop trying to build mega-churches? When will we learn to stop using hurting people coming to us for help, as a way to get rich off their tithes and offerings? When will we stop expecting the people to serve us? As pastors ... we are to serve the people! It is time for the religious community to wake up and realize that it is not about us, and it has never been about us. It is time for us to take a stand against the injustices that continue to happen within this city ... after all, we should consider Matthew 25:31-46.

In conclusion, we are cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities. We cannot sit idly by and not be concerned about what is happening in this city. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.

Toledo Pride, Toledo Pride … Mayor Finkbeiner, pride comes before a fall. And if this city falls, it is only a direct reflection of its leadership.

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070309/DEVELOPINGNEWS/70309013

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070310/NEWS16/70310015

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=local&id=5073901

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060527/NEWS16/605270338&SearchID=73246028586931

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070906/NEWS16/709060354

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060531/OPINION02/60531030

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070911/NEWS16/709110346

[Lorenzo Steele Jr.]

I am a former New York City Correction Officer who has worked on Rikers Island the most violent prison in America. I have a program that I share my prison experience with at-risk youth in challenging communities I have spoken to over 7000 students in at risk areas. If you need a program like this you can go to my website www.behindtheseprisonwalls.com or call me at 646 529-1764 Thank you

[tmill105]

BET can do a better job with it's programming. ok ok ok ok.

However. (Dont' hold ya breath,)

The images scattered, flashed, & repeated. Are only a reflection of (SOME) of our neigborhoods, & community, & lifestyle. ( They just glamorize the hood lifestyle) Let Bet b bet. Focus on TVone & they've already got good programming & information, lets not change bet or give them the time of day. It's a waste, why not focus that same energy into building TVONE or another station to where we want BET. & maybe they'll follow, BET folks can watch BET, & TVOne folks can watch TVONe. If we start trying to change freedom of viewing then guess what, somebody gon change what we can & can't say on tv then soon public.

[henry8]

it is apparent Black Entertainment Television in its programming practices continues in the established poicy of being a business and not a means for the
race to be uplifted and made a part of the mainstream of American culture.

BET could be doing some wonderful things to promote and provide worldwide positive images of blacks in America; instead it has chosen to continue to humiliate and degrade us on a worldwide stage.

Shame on you Debra Lee, shame on you Robert Johnson..there's a special place in heel for you both!

As Maya Angelou said,"If someone shows you who they are, believe it."

[carlew]

I agree that BET should be held accountable for their demeaning and offensive portrayals of African Americans. However, I don't agree with demonstrating in front of Debra Lee's home. The programs that BET airs do not come from her home, and therefore should not be taken to her home. Everyone deserves to have peace and comfort at their home no matter who you are and what you've done.

I would be willing to demonstrate downtown DC where BET is located and equally important where I think that you would get better results. I just don't think going to someone's home is a cool thing to do.

Why don't we flood calls into BET just like we did the Congress?

[Aneesha]

Well we must remember that BET was sold to a corporation that is money driven not community focused. Remember when they had more discussion group segments, especially on Sunday night? Well when the title of ownership changed hands, the single-minded powers that be felt it necessary to promote what would sell to multitudes of people in various groups rather than focus on providing a service to a people who relied on the one station that kept them informed and promoted self awareness and education. That is why we now appreciate Michael Baisden, Steve Harvey, Tavis Smiley and others. If we take hold of our own destiny and pave the way towards our future, then no one can dictate where we go and where we end up.

[StaceyL]

Black Entertainment Television is just that-Entertainment. Not Enlightenment television. Not Educational television. BET has been socially irresponsible for quite some time now. They are good at keeping our attention focused on the unimportant. We need to keep in mind that because black is involved does not mean it is FOR us. The same goes for so-called black politicians. They are just as quick to throw our black butts under the bus as the red man.

[Cole30]

Anthony Prior has been a listener to your show and he would really like to be on your show. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Anthony Prior is an 11-year veteran of professional football. He is one
of the fastest players to ever grace the rolls of the NFL and the
Canadian Football League. His uncanny speed speaks for itself! He runs
40-yards within an astonishing 4.21 seconds.

As a published author, Anthony's goal is to raise the consciousness of
athletes in terms of their perceptions about the game of football. To
date, Anthony's book titled: The Slave Side of Sunday is required
reading at seven universities.

In addition to enjoying a life of writing, Anthony trains and motivates
youth by employing his trademarked philosophies of Discipline,
Consistency, and Focus (DCF).



The more we run from the past the less we feel connected to it, and its influence on us .Whether on the field or off, we must live our lives as an expanding circle, acknowledging our experiences, and breaking down boundaries that hinder us all .I didn't choose to play football, God put football in my path so I could bring to you a reality about the game that up until now, has been totally ignored."

Ask your self this simple question "why give an award to an athlete participating in a team sport".That should open your eyes right there , 'why build your body up only to tear it down".My greatest day in sports came off my opponents worst day.The fight for a life of freedom is not won in a sports arena, its won outside of it.We have to win the game of life that is being played in the arena of our minds, and reclaim our identity.

The excess training of the human body, only allows, for explotation.The training of the mind is a tool to educate the masses, and inspires to explore a life of your choosing.My motivation is to witness the athlete go beyond what society paints in there minds.What and who they are which leads to depression oppression and chaos.My vision is to inspire the quite one , to bring voice where there is silence, to see every person strive in life, and be able to articulate for themselves , what was , what is , and what shall be our identity.


Find out more about Anthony Prior at www.stoneholdbooks.com

[joy316]

I'm old school and come from a time when we had to petition to get BET carried on our cable system. Every night we watched Bev Smith who communicated our point of view, educated US, and entertained US. The news with Ed Gordon. The Million Man March was launched and promoted heavily on BET!

Now it is the Blacks Are Entertainment Television network in every way possible. We are the brunt of their sexual fantasies, stereotypes, and laughter. The programing is marketed to whites as shown by the commercials it airs.

It is time to change it or get rid of it!

[zion]

UPDATE: FBI SAYS THEY WILL NOT SEEK CHARGES
AGAINST THE PUBLISHERS OF THIS WEBSITE

The Federal Bureau of Investigation told WREG-TV in Memphis today that they will not seek criminal charges or legal action against the American National Socialist Workers Party, LLC, or its Commander, Bill White.

"As I've said from the beginning, this nonsense about an 'FBI investigation' has been nothing but a farce cooked up by the Jew media to intimidate other whites who might be inclined to speak out," ANSWP Commander Bill White stated today, "We have not broken any laws and we have not done anything more extreme than any of the niggers who marched in the street to demand the right to lynch white people did last week."

This is at least the sixth time this year the FBI has chosen not to seek charges against White after he or his supporters have engaged in provocative activism. The first was after an ANSWP supporter, Eric Hunt, kidnapped famed Jewish liar Elie Wiesel. The second was after a group of niggers in Virginia Beach demand White be investigated for insulting them after they filed a false complaint of racial discrimination against their landlord. The third was after Roanoke Times editor Christian Trejbal published the names of Virginia Concealed Carry permit holder on the internet and received bomb threats. The fourth is after ANSWP supporters distributed literature outside the home of Leonard Pitts and allegedly made threatening phone calls to him. The fifth time was when the North Carolina NAACP demanded we be prosecuted for mass mailing 2000 fliers demanding an end to nigger crime in Henderson, North Carolina. Last year, this site's largest controvery occurred when the FBI refused to extradite White to Canada for allegedly plotting the assassination of Canadian anti-white lawyer Richard Warman.

Look at this website here:

http://www.overthrow.com

We need to put Bill White and this website on blast!!!! Come on family, we must get this website shut down!!!!!

This website list the names, addresses and phone numbers of the Jena 6, and is encouraging people to lynch them and their family.

WE MUST STOP THIS!!!!!!!!!!!! Support the Jena 6, No justice, No peace![/COLOR][/B]

[Tonya LaShae]

I am excited about this movement, but we clearly have a long way to go, even on Michael's show. Whenever he plays "Poison" by BBD, I cringe because the woman who is the subject of the song is described as a "low pro ho." In fact, she is called a "ho" twice. We have to stop this nonsense everywhere.

Tonya

[AlmondDoll]

BET can do a better job with it's programming. ok ok ok ok.

However. (Dont' hold ya breath,)

The images scattered, flashed, & repeated. Are only a reflection of (SOME) of our neigborhoods, & community, & lifestyle. ( They just glamorize the hood lifestyle) Let Bet b bet. Focus on TVone & they've already got good programming & information, lets not change bet or give them the time of day. It's a waste, why not focus that same energy into building TVONE or another station to where we want BET. & maybe they'll follow, BET folks can watch BET, & TVOne folks can watch TVONe. If we start trying to change freedom of viewing then guess what, somebody gon change what we can & can't say on tv then soon public.


Every cable network does not carry TVOne. BETJ is doing what BET use to do, but they also are not listed on all cable networks.

What happened to the days when grown ups controlled the television and radio. Remember back in the days when your parents had records or movies we could not watch or listen to. Now the Media controls what our kids watch and listen to. You can find just about anything on TV when our children come home from school. It is time for some of the parents to grow up and take back the control. I say block BET, MTV and any other no good station and stop the kids from watching it after school. There is nothing good on BET at that time of day. SHAME!

BET has got to do better. They can definitely have better programming. They can include after school specials, news, education shows, and real R&B. Their Sunday morning line up is not enough, and why do I have to wait until 1am to see artist like Chante Moore, or Brian McKnight. That is when they can play the raunchy RAP. The executives of BET are getting paid while destroying the image of black people. BET is seen all over the world, and that is how the destruction of our character continues.

[EnoughReallyIsEnough]

OPEN LETTER TO REVEREND DELMAN COATES REGARDING THE ENOUGH IS ENOUGH MEDIA CAMPAIGN

Rev. Delman Coates
4215 Steeds Grant Way
Fort Washington, MD 20744
pastorcoates@mtennon.org

Pastor Coates,

In light of the dual position you have assumed as Pastor and Activist, I am compelled to write and share a few things from the perspective of someone who sits in your congregation weekly. I agree with you and believe that we certainly should hold fast to our morals and stand for what is right at all times, but your stance on having zero tolerance is not scriptural and is really a self-righteous perspective. You may say you are proclaiming zero tolerance for a depiction, belief or even an action - but your rallying is directed at a person. If God had zero tolerance for anything, you, I and many others would have been wiped off this planet long ago. Some of us have been so deep in foolishness until we would have been wiped off TWICE! God has ordered us to love and have compassion towards one another and win the lost - not have zero tolerance. You cannot flip the scriptures to accommodate and/or justify your vendetta, goals or desire to be the 'kill Hip Hop' poster child.

The cancerous fanatical obsession that you now have for media conglomerates and leaders is beyond reason - and it is obvious that this matter exceeds a Pastoral concern or point of view. As a member of your church, we are uneasy of your leadership from the pulpit. It is sad that lately on Sundays you rattle off about RadioOne, the FCC and BET more than you do about G-O-D! What has happened??!! Anytime you can get caught up and start whooping in the pulpit as you talk about your meeting with the FCC, something has gone haywire and the wires need to be checked. Why not fuel this campaign with those that are like-minded - why prostitute the church? It should be obvious that you are mixing oil with water when each Sunday you are preaching at a church that gathers 2,000 members a week - and then only 9 people show up to support your rally outside of BET's Congressional Black Caucus Reception. Our church is (or was) a spring of living water before you came, and now we are being used as fuel. I am hurt and just really ticked off at who we have become as a church. Before you joined us a few years ago, a legacy was put into building Mt Ennon. Now, all that we haveworked for years to build up is being prostituted and we are in the public's eye being hypocritic fools - and we are WRONG.

I am not a Radio One, BET, Universal or Warner Music fan at all and I certainly am not a fan of Hip Hop or videos. I don't support that, and if something is on that I don't want to see, I turn the doggone channel! You don't protest a restaurant that sells bad food to our society, or stores that sell suggestive clothing for our young girls to wear-no, all you have to do is simply choose not to go there. So in this instance, why publicly attempt to stab your own people? You are basically trying to convince to help you say 'crucify her!' Furthermore, we are so out of order and you have crossed boundaries beyond measure by taking this matter to Debra Lee's home!

As a Christian African American Woman, I find this such a violation on the part of the Church. We have not been labeled successful or even effective in this matter - we have only been labeled a professional and embarrasing annoyance! Poor judgment went into the planning and the execution and method of these rallies. As a church member, too many of us are NOT going to sacrifice Saturday after Saturday to march at someone's residence. That time should be used to tutor children, enjoy quality family time, study God's word, or even come up with a proposal to better our society. Instead resources are wasted on buses, money going to signs and T-shirts, and precious time being killed by going to a residence where probably no one is even home to hear the played out ineffective repetitive chants. Why drag an innocent congregation through this foolishness? We are trying to tell you Enough REALLY IS Enough! You should either work the pulpit or give it up - and based on what we are seeing, you have given it up.

Pastor, people come to church on Sunday because the Word is supposed to preach good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, set the captives free and release prisoners from darkness. You have about 45 minutes to deliver someone from despair and make someone's life easier by giving them Jesus. You have about 45 minutes to keep someone from committing suicide, to help them make the right choices, to keep someone from getting a divorce, to keep someone from holding hate in their heart, to keep someone from giving up because they don't know if God is really there. Instead, the 45 minutes you are allowed is abused and being used to try and religiously support and fuel a campaign. At the end of service, most Pastors ask their members to stand to receive blessings in the benediction; but you have actually sent us out with your final words being "Go to enoughisenoughcampaign.com and watch the 'Read A Book' video." Surely, the church, OUR church is in trouble.

It is apparent that your focus is off from directing the sheep and it is obvious that there is a vendetta. What else would have you leave your family at night and parade for hours in front of a restaurant (that you are not invited into) with 9 faithful foolish people to picket a constructive and successful African American gathering celebrating the Congressional Black Caucus? It is becoming embarrassing and I believe in God's eyes for some, even dangerous. I sure hope the rapture does not come while you and your few are outside hollering "Enough is Enough"

Pastor, I know you are enjoying the press (hence you have a page on your site dedicated to nothing but you in the press), but maybe maybe you should include the story from the Washington Post that shed light on your involvement with the sketchy mismanagement and spending of funds from the National Harbor (P.G. County's biggest project). Why isn't that on your press release and media page on your website.


Enough Really Is Enough!

Sincerely,

"Ms. L"

Maryland
A Mt. Ennon Congregant

[filmoredollar]

Good. Enough is really ENOUGH. The first show to go should be HOT GHETTO MESS. Is that show still on, I wouldn't know cause I gave up on BET months ago.

[filmoredollar]

Nonsense. This lady is talking pure nonsense right now on Micheal's show. Debre Lee is defending the content talking about oh well watch the gospel shows. You mean to tell me that BET is so weak and so non creative that our choice as black folks who want to see black programming is to either watch videos like "Read a f***ing book" or watch T.D. Jakes or some MTV reality show knock off. I am disgusted.

[EnoughReallyIsEnough]

Rev. Delman Coates
4215 Steeds Grant Way
Fort Washington, MD 20744
pastorcoates@mtennon.org

Pastor Coates,

In light of the dual position you have assumed as Pastor and Activist, I am compelled to write and share a few things from the perspective of someone who sits in your congregation weekly. I agree with you and believe that we certainly should hold fast to our morals and stand for what is right at all times, but your stance on having zero tolerance is not scriptural and is really a self-righteous perspective. You may say you are proclaiming zero tolerance for a depiction, belief or even an action - but your rallying is directed at a person. If God had zero tolerance for anything, you, I and many others would have been wiped off this planet long ago. Some of us have been so deep in foolishness until we would have been wiped off TWICE! God has ordered us to love and have compassion towards one another and win the lost - not have zero tolerance. You cannot flip the scriptures to accommodate and/or justify your vendetta, goals or desire to be the 'kill Hip Hop' poster child.

The cancerous fanatical obsession that you now have for media conglomerates and leaders is beyond reason - and it is obvious that this matter exceeds a Pastoral concern or point of view. As a member of your church, we are uneasy of your leadership from the pulpit. It is sad that lately on Sundays you rattle off about RadioOne, the FCC and BET more than you do about G-O-D! What has happened??!! Anytime you can get caught up and start whooping in the pulpit as you talk about your meeting with the FCC, something has gone haywire and the wires need to be checked. Why not fuel this campaign with those that are like-minded - why prostitute the church? It should be obvious that you are mixing oil with water when each Sunday you are preaching at a church that gathers 2,000 members a week - and then only 9 people show up to support your rally outside of BET's Congressional Black Caucus Reception. Our church is (or was) a spring of living water before you came, and now we are being used as fuel. I am hurt and just really ticked off at who we have become as a church. Before you joined us a few years ago, a legacy was put into building Mt Ennon. Now, all that we haveworked for years to build up is being prostituted and we are in the public's eye being hypocritic fools - and we are WRONG.

I am not a Radio One, BET, Universal or Warner Music fan at all and I certainly am not a fan of Hip Hop or videos. I don't support that, and if something is on that I don't want to see, I turn the doggone channel! You don't protest a restaurant that sells bad food to our society, or stores that sell suggestive clothing for our young girls to wear-no, all you have to do is simply choose not to go there. So in this instance, why publicly attempt to stab your own people? You are basically trying to convince to help you say 'crucify her!' Furthermore, we are so out of order and you have crossed boundaries beyond measure by taking this matter to Debra Lee's home!

As a Christian African American Woman, I find this such a violation on the part of the Church. We have not been labeled successful or even effective in this matter - we have only been labeled a professional and embarrasing annoyance! Poor judgment went into the planning and the execution and method of these rallies. As a church member, too many of us are NOT going to sacrifice Saturday after Saturday to march at someone's residence. That time should be used to tutor children, enjoy quality family time, study God's word, or even come up with a proposal to better our society. Instead resources are wasted on buses, money going to signs and T-shirts, and precious time being killed by going to a residence where probably no one is even home to hear the played out ineffective repetitive chants. Why drag an innocent congregation through this foolishness? We are trying to tell you Enough REALLY IS Enough! You should either work the pulpit or give it up - and based on what we are seeing, you have given it up.

Pastor, people come to church on Sunday because the Word is supposed to preach good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, set the captives free and release prisoners from darkness. You have about 45 minutes to deliver someone from despair and make someone's life easier by giving them Jesus. You have about 45 minutes to keep someone from committing suicide, to help them make the right choices, to keep someone from getting a divorce, to keep someone from holding hate in their heart, to keep someone from giving up because they don't know if God is really there. Instead, the 45 minutes you are allowed is abused and being used to try and religiously support and fuel a campaign. At the end of service, most Pastors ask their members to stand to receive blessings in the benediction; but you have actually sent us out with your final words being "Go to enoughisenoughcampaign.com and watch the 'Read A Book' video." Surely, the church, OUR church is in trouble.

It is apparent that your focus is off from directing the sheep and it is obvious that there is a vendetta. What else would have you leave your family at night and parade for hours in front of a restaurant (that you are not invited into) with 9 faithful foolish people to picket a constructive and successful African American gathering celebrating the Congressional Black Caucus? It is becoming embarrassing and I believe in God's eyes for some, even dangerous. I sure hope the rapture does not come while you and your few are outside hollering "Enough is Enough"

Pastor, I know you are enjoying the press (hence you have a page on your site dedicated to nothing but you in the press), but maybe maybe you should include the story from the Washington Post that shed light on your involvement with the sketchy mismanagement and spending of funds from the National Harbor (P.G. County's biggest project). Why isn't that on your press release and media page on your website.


Enough Really Is Enough!

Sincerely,

"Ms. L"

Maryland
A Mt. Ennon Congregant[/QUOTE]

[beautifulone]

The interview with Debra Lee was empty - there is a problem with BET and it's programming and being the Black MTV that is their mission well in the midst of their mission they are molding the minds of our young people with the wrong energy. They can produce better programming with pressure from the community - ask for what we want - list them. Go to any of our neighborhoods and look at the conditions our people are living in they are dressing, acting and behaving like the shows they see on tv - our children are the ones that consume the most television. We need more afterschool programming, we need more parents to be responsible and be active in the school process, we need parents to really care about their children, we need better schools, better housing, better jobs and most of all we need a community that acts like a village and care for our people.

If parents come to school and demand better for their children as in suburban schools we would not have to see the cycle continue year after year.

TAKE ACTION PEOPLE AND WAKE UP.
http://www.posttraumaticslavesyndrome.com/store.html
Purchase and listen to How are the children and get a clue of what our children are facing - The reality is I have some students wearing the same clothes each week because they are hungry, homeless, parentless, they are the adults taking care of themselves - WAKE UP PEOPLE

UNDERSTAND THERE IS MONEY IN THE PROBLEM

[beautifulone]

You should be disgusted it's about money and ratings
http://www.posttraumaticslavesyndrome.com/store.html
This is what our kids are living with

Nonsense. This lady is talking pure nonsense right now on Micheal's show. Debre Lee is defending the content talking about oh well watch the gospel shows. You mean to tell me that BET is so weak and so non creative that our choice as black folks who want to see black programming is to either watch videos like "Read a f***ing book" or watch T.D. Jakes or some MTV reality show knock off. I am disgusted.

[ltko]

B-E-T?
embarrassing! has been and will always be. if thats what they consider entertainment for black folks well... i guess i'm not black. these new shows that are coming soon better be on point. more news coverage - more real music - more positivity!
like prince said a long time ago... " don't let your children watch television before they learn how to read... or else all they'll know how to do is cuss - fight and breed!"
switch it off and read a book!!

[ChillSince85]

Nonsense. This lady is talking pure nonsense right now on Micheal's show. Debre Lee is defending the content talking about oh well watch the gospel shows. You mean to tell me that BET is so weak and so non creative that our choice as black folks who want to see black programming is to either watch videos like "Read a f***ing book" or watch T.D. Jakes or some MTV reality show knock off. I am disgusted.

I agree. I'm 22 and in her suppsed target audience...I don't watch it. It has nothing to offer me in my opinion.

[BRWNEYEZSMIL'N]

YOU KNOW MY DAD ALWAYS CALLED tv THE IDIOT BOX. ONE DAY I ASKED HIM WHY. THE EXPLAINED TO ME THE TELEVISION WAS A METHOD TO ENMASSE BRIAN WASH THE PUBLIC. MOST PEOPLE BELIEVE WHAT THEY HEAR AND SEE. AND THE TV WAS A PERFECT MEDIUM IN WHICH TO DO SO. HE TOLD ME ABOUT THE FILMS THAT WERE MADE DURING WWII THAT PROMOTED THE WAR. HE TALKED ABOUT THE LACK OF AFRICAN AMERICAN REPRESENTATION ON TV UNLESS THEY WERE DISPLAYED NEGATIVELY.

WELL AS WE OFTEN FIND WHEN WE GROW UP!! DADDY WAS RIGHT. THE MEDIA PORTRAYS AND PLAYS FOR IDIOTS. WHEN BET WAS BOUGHT OUT DID YOU REALLY THINK IT WAS GONNA BE DIFFERENT?

[tlisa19]

I'm so glad that finally someone has called out BET, for it's programming structure, I love biography and am constantly disappointed that they only show us ever so often, and have often asked myself why doesn't BET have a black biography channel, I sometimes wonder what has happened to some of the old groups of the 70's ,why carry the BET (Black entertainment television slogan) if all your going to do is portray us in a negative light. BET needs to step up and give the people what they want. I'm still mad at them for selling out in the first place, All they do is show Jaimie foxx and the wayans brothers all darn day, they don't even do the news anymore which is lame, BET is stuck in the past, and are putting up a united front to keep the black viewers interested, I don't even watch it anymore because the shows are so ridiculous, except for the gospel celebration and the awards shows, but that is what happens when you sell out to the man.

[Lesking]

I think the rhetoric that Ms. Lee spewed out on national radio was just that. I was raised in the hood much like many of my African American counterparts - went to school and me and my husband have been able to work to provide a better life for our family. We live in a middle class community where our neighbors are predominantly white. My husband and I remember where we came from and the people who worked hard and made it possible for us to walk up to the front doors of establishments to get hired. I do the kind of work that helps people get jobs that is probably why I have the kind of job that I do. I remember my mom and dad couldn’t get jobs so they started their own businesses and told me to take care of the people in my community - Even the ones that didn’t know any better. The people I help everyday come from all walks of life and have all kinds of issues. I especially take care of my black sister and brothers. I was taught that I must represent black people like a queen and that means dressing correctly, speaking correctly and always standing up for my people no matter what. It is the core of who I am because people see black first. It seems that her attitude was more of having people watch to see the changes. (Won’t this keep her ratings up?) I say boycott to show the power of our voices. I understand she has a family to provide for but at what expense. No doubt Ms. Lee lives in an affluent community far removed from the people who watch BET and who she claims - to know what they want to watch. Does she remember what our forefathers before her had to endure so she could even be in charge? To settle or make sad excuses is ridiculous. All these black folks with money listen up the lower class black folks are not your ignorant meal tickets to success. Shame on BET and the people who have the power to take a stand and settle for getting rich on the backs of other black folks. SHAME – SHAME – SHAME!!!!

[tlisa19]

The interview with Debra Lee was empty - there is a problem with BET and it's programming and being the Black MTV that is their mission well in the midst of their mission they are molding the minds of our young people with the wrong energy. They can produce better programming with pressure from the community - ask for what we want - list them. Go to any of our neighborhoods and look at the conditions our people are living in they are dressing, acting and behaving like the shows they see on tv - our children are the ones that consume the most television. We need more afterschool programming, we need more parents to be responsible and be active in the school process, we need parents to really care about their children, we need better schools, better housing, better jobs and most of all we need a community that acts like a village and care for our people.

If parents come to school and demand better for their children as in suburban schools we would not have to see the cycle continue year after year.

TAKE ACTION PEOPLE AND WAKE UP.
http://www.posttraumaticslavesyndrome.com/store.html
Purchase and listen to How are the children and get a clue of what our children are facing - The reality is I have some students wearing the same clothes each week because they are hungry, homeless, parentless, they are the adults taking care of themselves - WAKE UP PEOPLE

UNDERSTAND THERE IS MONEY IN THE PROBLEM
CNN is really stepping up to the plate, where is BET when we need them?

[filmoredollar]

I think that BRWNEYEZSMIL'N is right. TV is an idiot box and apparently BET think thats black are too stupid to appriciate a black family portrayed in a positive way. Debra Lee gave the lame excuse that she is targeting the 18-34 year old crowd. The only people I know my age and am 24 who still watch BET faithfully are unemployed, broke and lazy which is probably why they are unemployed. I don't know too many right minded people for lack of better words who still watch BET. And too those of you who do I want you to know that I think that your support of BET is a part of the problem. Because if people aren't watching HOT GHETTO MESS than trust me BET would not air it because at the end of the day it is all about money. And can anyone tell me why all of BET's shows look so bootleg (Although the BET awards have gotten better and classier.

[filmoredollar]

CNN is really stepping up to the plate, where is BET when we need them?

Good question: People should know that BET no longer has a real news division and has been without one for about a year or so. They get thery're news mostly from other sources and they just stamp their name on it and retell the story to us. As for they're main network. They are viacom owned and at last check CBS news has had nothing to say about the Jena 6 or anything else for that matter.

[filmoredollar]

BET is a lost cause. Ever since Viacom took over BET everything went down hill. The programs they show now are, in my opinion, “Ghetto.”

People need to approach Viacom with their concerns since they are the owners. Debra Lee and others also need to be held accountable.

In the meantime, I’m pushing for a new Black Cable News network-similar to CNN and MSNBC-that will cover news and information pertaining to African Americans nationwide.

I’m in the media industry and I am looking for organizations, community members in others who are interested in making this happen. I’ve already done one radio show speaking on this issue.

Every other ethnic group has their own news program except for African Americans. BET once had one, but it’s been reduce to pure entertainment.

I’ve talked with a few folks about this and I receive tremendous support. This can happen if we all pull together.

This is 2007. We need to stop begging and start producing.

Gina Yarbrough
Publisher/Editor
San Diego County News

What do you need. A new direction sounds good to me.

[blueaura33]

BET needs to be taken off of the air with all that crap they are pushing into people's heads......when they got rid of Tavist Smiley and sold out to viacom it was all downhill from there. BET does NOT represent the image of the black community maybe that's where Bill O'Reiley gets his information about black people. I'm happy to see a station like TV1 surface..... BET -black exploitation television....that channel is nothing but a huge blackface network...people have been bamboozled, hoodwinked and led astray.....i wonder what would happen if people stopped accepting these negative images that are being fed and just simply switch the channel........

[Blackman7]

Personally, I love watching uncut music videos. One of my favorite artists was 2Live Crew.

If you take away the uncut videos, we'll have to watch Hugh Hefner and The Girls Next Door.

I don't see nothin' wrong with beautiful black women.

Let those sistas do what they do! :D

[Blackman7]

Nowadays, there are MANY types of images of black people.

There is no one stereotype.

We have the domineering, emasculating Oprah, and many black family shows, such as "Cosby". We have shows with blacks playing cops, lawyers, doctors, and even astronauts.

I believe that with the many positive images of blacks today, we can afford to represent those sistas that strip or use ways we don't all agree with to make money.

Just because we don't AGREE with those sistas, doesn't mean that we should try to ban them.

Strippers and exotic dancers need to eat too.

[alluevadreamed]

READ THIS NEW ARTICLE

The Jena Six are African-American teenage boys in Louisiana who were charged with attempted murder for what amounted to a schoolyard smackdown. It is, indeed, as black folks have been saying for weeks, a case of the justice system meting out unequal justice.
Mychal Bell, one of the Jena Six, is the only one who’s been tried so far. His charges were reduced to aggravated battery, and he was found guilty in June. But what else happened in June?
At a predominantly black housing project called Dunbar Village in West Palm Beach, Florida, 10 black teens repeatedly raped a Haitian immigrant woman before forcing her to perform oral sex on her 12-year-old son. Why doesn’t what happened to the West Palm Beach Two outrage the good reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton just as much as what happened in Jena, Louisiana?
Jesse and Al have been to Jena, railing about injustice. If either has made an appearance in West Palm Beach, Fla., to rail about the injustice of what happened to the West Palm Beach Two, someone please kindly correct me.
You know which body count I’m talking about. In Baltimore, as of the time I’m writing this, that body count has reached 215. It might top 300 by year’s end. Last year, Philadelphia’s body count was over 400.
Over 400 murdered in Philadelphia in 2006 and 215 in Baltimore this year. And let’s not forget who most of the victims are: Young black men, just like the Jena Six.
The case of the Jena Six has inspired some black folks to let out a war whoop as they sally forth to slay yet another dragon of white racism. But those black folks who think that white racism is the only problem we face in 2007, or even the main one, are deluding themselves.
In fact, our obsession with white racism, and with a criminal justice system that we insist is rife with white racism and institutional racism, may contribute to that body count. Here’s how.
I can’t speak for other cities, but in Baltimore our body count gets so high because jurors in this town repeatedly cut loose young black men accused of violent crimes. In Baltimore -- Bodymore, Murderland, the criminals call it -- the typical homicide victim is a young black man with a criminal record. Homicide suspects have the same profile.
I’ve had people in a position to know tell me that, more frequently than is ever reported, Baltimore jurors have cut loose young black men with lengthy criminal records who have been accused of either murder or another violent crime. It is our insistence that white racism is pervasive and that the criminal justice system is rife with racism that may inspire some jurors to send these young black men back out on the streets, where they commit more murders.
So, yes, we should protest -- and protest vigorously -- whenever cases like that of the Jena Six come along. But our lips should not be sealed shut when a black woman is raped and forced to perform oral sex on her 12-year-old son.
That body count of young black men murdered should outrage us every bit as much as what’s happened to the Jena Six. A young black man murdering another young black man and then walking out of court scot-free is just as much an injustice as six young black men being railroaded by the Louisiana criminal justice system.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” Martin Luther King Jr. once said.
And he might have added that injustice doesn’t come only in the color of white.

[Nightwatcher]

In the 70's Roberta Flack record a song entitled "Trade Winds" in the song she says young people are searching for the truth and if they don't find it God help tomorrow's youth. Clearly we as a society have not found "the truth." I agree, there shouldn't be a need for ethnic recognigition, however the History of the United States has made it necessary. But my question is this: What are we (Black folks) going to do with it? Up to now my opinion is that Black History Month has been overshadowed with rhetoric and ceramony. When will we put forth an effort as a community to use that time to renew focus on our young people, do something for those unable to do for themselves, focus on what is important TODAY. I'm not concerned with Quanza. I'm more concerned with our people identifying with high levels of self-esteem, fighting for a cause and discontinuing the nurturing of those entities that exploit who we are as a people. Yea, this chick is un-educated and clearly unable to positively express herself regarding anything as serious as ethnic issues in america. Judging from the picture alone she comes across as a dumb-blond with dark hair.

[Mahogany Love]

I thought something should have been done when they had that TERRIBLE cartoon, muppet, clay looking black lady that use to run one of the daily countdowns. This is when I stopped watching BET. I really and truly think these networks are being paid some sort of compensation that was probably written in their lengthy contracts to continue to make Black People look bad in America including Bill O'Reilly. Why on earth else would they continue, after the public the people that continue to keep their networks alive has asked, begged, demanded that they change the image of Black America, to do, say, show the negative side of Black America and continue to hide their dirt.

(I work in Real Estate and knew about this situation before it even hit the papers) There was a case in the Nashville news about a Real Estate Broker who belonged the #2 Real Estate Company in Middle Tennessee last year who was white that made an showing appointment at one his own Million Dollar listings and was stealing to support a drug habit he had. Do you know this news was in the news 1 time? Know you already know where I'm going with this RIGHT. WHITES, BLACKS, ASIANS, AFRICANS etc all have bad, dishonest people YOU can't escape this but we have to be the race to get all the negative news. IT NEEDS TO STOP!!!!!

Always: Love, Peace & Harmony all over the world

[Blackman7]

READ THIS NEW ARTICLE

The Jena Six are African-American teenage boys in Louisiana who were charged with attempted murder for what amounted to a schoolyard smackdown. It is, indeed, as black folks have been saying for weeks, a case of the justice system meting out unequal justice.
Mychal Bell, one of the Jena Six, is the only one who’s been tried so far. His charges were reduced to aggravated battery, and he was found guilty in June. But what else happened in June?
At a predominantly black housing project called Dunbar Village in West Palm Beach, Florida, 10 black teens repeatedly raped a Haitian immigrant woman before forcing her to perform oral sex on her 12-year-old son. Why doesn’t what happened to the West Palm Beach Two outrage the good reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton just as much as what happened in Jena, Louisiana?
Jesse and Al have been to Jena, railing about injustice. If either has made an appearance in West Palm Beach, Fla., to rail about the injustice of what happened to the West Palm Beach Two, someone please kindly correct me.
You know which body count I’m talking about. In Baltimore, as of the time I’m writing this, that body count has reached 215. It might top 300 by year’s end. Last year, Philadelphia’s body count was over 400.
Over 400 murdered in Philadelphia in 2006 and 215 in Baltimore this year. And let’s not forget who most of the victims are: Young black men, just like the Jena Six.
The case of the Jena Six has inspired some black folks to let out a war whoop as they sally forth to slay yet another dragon of white racism. But those black folks who think that white racism is the only problem we face in 2007, or even the main one, are deluding themselves.
In fact, our obsession with white racism, and with a criminal justice system that we insist is rife with white racism and institutional racism, may contribute to that body count. Here’s how.
I can’t speak for other cities, but in Baltimore our body count gets so high because jurors in this town repeatedly cut loose young black men accused of violent crimes. In Baltimore -- Bodymore, Murderland, the criminals call it -- the typical homicide victim is a young black man with a criminal record. Homicide suspects have the same profile.
I’ve had people in a position to know tell me that, more frequently than is ever reported, Baltimore jurors have cut loose young black men with lengthy criminal records who have been accused of either murder or another violent crime. It is our insistence that white racism is pervasive and that the criminal justice system is rife with racism that may inspire some jurors to send these young black men back out on the streets, where they commit more murders.
So, yes, we should protest -- and protest vigorously -- whenever cases like that of the Jena Six come along. But our lips should not be sealed shut when a black woman is raped and forced to perform oral sex on her 12-year-old son.
That body count of young black men murdered should outrage us every bit as much as what’s happened to the Jena Six. A young black man murdering another young black man and then walking out of court scot-free is just as much an injustice as six young black men being railroaded by the Louisiana criminal justice system.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” Martin Luther King Jr. once said.
And he might have added that injustice doesn’t come only in the color of white.

According to statistics, the majority of young black males convicted of violent crimes were raised in homes WITHOUT FATHERS.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

African american women have a 63% divorce rate and 70% of all black american kids are raised in homes without fathers.

We can solve the black on black crime problem when we finally come to terms and face that!

[Blackman7]

You can show the CLEANEST, ALL AMERICAN images of african americans on TV 24 HOURS A DAY, but that won't help black kids at all, if most of them don't have two parent families. That's like trying to wash a baby while it's sitting in dirty bath water. It's USELESS to have a MORAL FANTASY, while LIVING in an IMMORAL REALITY.

[filmoredollar]

I thought something should have been done when they had that TERRIBLE cartoon, muppet, clay looking black lady that use to run one of the daily countdowns. This is when I stopped watching BET. I really and truly think these networks are being paid some sort of compensation that was probably written in their lengthy contracts to continue to make Black People look bad in America including Bill O'Reilly. Why on earth else would they continue, after the public the people that continue to keep their networks alive has asked, begged, demanded that they change the image of Black America, to do, say, show the negative side of Black America and continue to hide their dirt.

(I work in Real Estate and knew about this situation before it even hit the papers) There was a case in the Nashville news about a Real Estate Broker who belonged the #2 Real Estate Company in Middle Tennessee last year who was white that made an showing appointment at one his own Million Dollar listings and was stealing to support a drug habit he had. Do you know this news was in the news 1 time? Know you already know where I'm going with this RIGHT. WHITES, BLACKS, ASIANS, AFRICANS etc all have bad, dishonest people YOU can't escape this but we have to be the race to get all the negative news. IT NEEDS TO STOP!!!!!

Always: Love, Peace & Harmony all over the world

Yeah I was embarrassed everyday that cita lady was on BET. I don't care what white folks think about me as much as I care about how black people us see ourselves and if cita is whats appealing to our youth than we are lost.

[filmoredollar]

By the way I am disappointed in the fact that something like 200 posts so far have been made regarding Bill o'reilly talking about how racist he is because he keeps using our fake T.V. created stereotypes against us but there are so few post here regarding the network that helped reenforce some of these stereotypes in the first place.

[Blackman7]

I didn't know that many black people watched Bill O'Reilly. Doesn't anybody watch HBO? :confused:

[filmoredollar]

According to statistics, the majority of young black males convicted of violent crimes were raised in homes WITHOUT FATHERS.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

African american women have a 63% divorce rate and 70% of all black american kids are raised in homes without fathers.

We can solve the black on black crime problem when we finally come to terms and face that!

Am sorry BLACKMAN but I have to challenge you on this stat about the number of black males being raised without fathers. Is the stat that you spent the last few days pushing as fact really worded as such (households with abscent fathers ) or is the stat really the number of (single parent households). I ask because just because the household is a single parent household does not mean that the father is not in the home or is abscent from the home. It could simply mean that the couple is not married. Stats are often held up as gospel but they are very flimsy and very easy to manipulate and in the cases of those such as Bill O'reilly they are often used to marginalize and put down black men and make black wemen look like whore. I don't like the idea of bias data being used to belittle in entire race of people. I mean if you let some people quote crime stats you'd think that the majority of crime was committed by black and brown but the fact is that whites comit the majority of all crime in this nation. But you don't see Tavis Smiley beating they're race over the head with it everyday.

[Blackman7]

Yes, "raised without fathers in the homes" is just what it means...homes without fathers. You can see such homes headed by single mothers, all over the USA.

[Blackman7]

Stats are often held up as gospel but they are very flimsy and very easy to manipulate and in the cases of those such as Bill O'reilly they are often used to marginalize and put down black men and make black wemen look like whore. I don't like the idea of bias data being used to belittle in entire race of people.

White people are the LAST ones qualified to call black women whores. Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S Secretary of the Treasury, was the illegitimate son of a prostitute.

Nevertheless, some men say that a woman is either a virgin, a wife, a widow, or a whore.

There are no "in-betweens".

I mean if you let some people quote crime stats you'd think that the majority of crime was committed by black and brown but the fact is that whites comit the majority of all crime in this nation. But you don't see Tavis Smiley beating they're race over the head with it everyday.

Black and brown kids don't commit the majority of the crime.

The TRUTH HURTS, but RUNNING from the truth won't help our black kids!

[filmoredollar]

First of all as i've said before households headed by single mothers do not necessarily make it a home without the father present. Which is why I asked you what the stat actually said. There are alot of black homes were the man and women are not married but still manage to raise there families under one roof. But, that family will still be veiwed by the U.S. government as two single parents as they are not married and most of these supposedly scientific surveys and stats such as the ones you keep quoting (but won't name the source) do not account for this. Hell I do even believe the U.S. census data based on this one fact. Of all the years i've been on this earth and in all the neighborhoods and cities that i've lived in I have never once see a census taker or had one come to my house to get any of my information as they are suppose to.

And the reason I brought up the crime statistic is because I feel having two young kids that our youth are too often charactorized and vilified in the media and stereotyped on television as criminals although the fact is that whites are just the same and there yet white children are not veiwed as such as well they shouldn't be based on numbers in a book. Especially if you are going to cherry pick your data to do so. This type of thing where we feed are kids and ourselves this mess about how oh well you can't do this or think that or hold someone or a system accountable because look stats show that little black boys all grow up to be thugs, whores, criminals and the like is wrong.

And no I do not think that any women is as easily about to charactorize as you do. So no I don't subscribe to your virgin,wife, widow, whore theory.

So I wish that you and would stop pointing these facts out everytime anybody takes up a cause that is not directly related to those stats. There are about 30 Million of us here in the U.S. and surely we are capable of multi-tasking. Al Sharpton regardless of what I think of him and his politics is his own man with his own passions as is Bill Cosby which is why Al Sharpton fights for civil rights and Bill Cosby is fighting to encourage blacks to go to school and take some personal responsibility for their lives and that of there families. I personally feel that both are needed components of the black power machine and when you just respond to every comment with a stat you are over simplifying a very complex set of issues and you are marginalizing all those who refuse to be paralyzed and deterred from pursuing what they feel passionate about as African Americans simply because they don't end every sentence by adding that by the way blacks aren't married and because they aren't married our kids will be criminals.

[filmoredollar]

Black and brown kids don't commit the majority of the crime.

The TRUTH HURTS, but RUNNING from the truth won't help our black kids!

I don't even have any idea what you mean by this. Maybe you can enlighten me. And what even if everything stat you present is 100% true (which I don't) are you saying that because of "THE TRUTH" we should just ignore this issue of blackploitation which is what BET is doing when they are making millions of shows like "HOT GHETTO MESS". Do we just let this go blackman? Am interested in knowing if thats what you are trying to say. A simple yes or no will do. .

[Blackman7]

First of all as i've said before households headed by single mothers do not necessarily make it a home without the father present.

In the case of most young black males convicted of violent crimes, it does. Take Nathaniel Abraham, for example. At age 13, he became the youngest person ever to be tried for first degree murder in this country. He was only 11 years old when he shot and killed 18 year old Ronnie Green(another young black man). During a television interview on 60 Minutes, I remember him saying that he was angry because growing up, he rarely saw his dad.

There are alot of black homes were the man and women are not married but still manage to raise there families under one roof. But, that family will still be veiwed by the U.S. government as two single parents as they are not married and most of these supposedly scientific surveys and stats such as the ones you keep quoting (but won't name the source) do not account for this.

The majority of young black males convicted of violent crimes, didn't come from such homes. Take Lionel Tate, for example. At age 12, he killed his neighbor, 6 year old Tiffany Eunick, while imitating some professional wrestling moves. Like Nathaniel Abraham, he was raised without his father in the home.

My source was CNN, by the way.

And the reason I brought up the crime statistic is because I feel having two young kids that our youth are too often charactorized and vilified in the media and stereotyped on television as criminals although the fact is that whites are just the same and there yet white children are not veiwed as such as well they shouldn't be based on numbers in a book. Especially if you are going to cherry pick your data to do so. This type of thing where we feed are kids and ourselves this mess about how oh well you can't do this or think that or hold someone or a system accountable because look stats show that little black boys all grow up to be thugs, whores, criminals and the like is wrong.

It's not about how you "feel"...it's about TRUTH! Black on black crime has reached epidemic proportions in our communities!

And no I do not think that any women is as easily about to charactorize as you do. So no I don't subscribe to your virgin,wife, widow, whore theory.

The word "whore" is written 148 times in the bible. It also talks about the VIRGIN Mary, so it's MORE than just a "theory".

So I wish that you and would stop pointing these facts out everytime anybody takes up a cause that is not directly related to those stats. There are about 30 Million of us here in the U.S. and surely we are capable of multi-tasking.

One thing's for certain. We sure are "capable" of making ILLEGITIMATE, FATHERLESS CHILDREN, and filling up the PRISONS with them.


Al Sharpton regardless of what I think of him and his politics is his own man with his own passions as is Bill Cosby which is why Al Sharpton fights for civil rights and Bill Cosby is fighting to encourage blacks to go to school and take some personal responsibility for their lives and that of there families. I personally feel that both are needed components of the black power machine and when you just respond to every comment with a stat you are over simplifying a very complex set of issues and you are marginalizing all those who refuse to be paralyzed and deterred from pursuing what they feel passionate about as African Americans simply because they don't end every sentence by adding that by the way blacks aren't married and because they aren't married our kids will be criminals.

The bottom line is that the TRUTH is the LIGHT. The FACTS speak for themselves:


EFFECTS OF FATHERLESSNESS (US DATA)


1) BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS/ RUNAWAYS/ HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS/CHEMICAL ABUSERS/ SUICIDES

* 85% of all children that exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes (Source: Center for Disease Control)
* 90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes (Source: U.S. D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census)
* 71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes (Source: National Principals Association Report on the State of High Schools.)
* 75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes (Source: Rainbows for all God's Children.)
* 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes (Source: U.S. D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census)

2) JUVENILE DELINQUENCY/ CRIME/ GANGS

* 80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes (Source: Criminal Justice & Behavior, Vol 14, p. 403-26, 1978)
* 70% of juveniles in state-operated institutions come from fatherless homes (Source: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Special Report, Sept 1988)
* 85% of all youths sitting in prisons grew up in a fatherless home (Source: Fulton Co. Georgia jail populations, Texas Dept. of Corrections 1992)
* California has the nation's highest juvenile incarceration rate and the nation's highest juvenile unemployment rate. Vincent Schiraldi, Executive Director, Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, "What Hallinan's Victory Means," San Francisco Chronicle (12/28/95).

These statistics translate to mean that children from a fatherless home are:

* 5 times more likely to commit suicide.
* 32 times more likely to run away.
* 20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders.
* 14 times more likely to commit rape
* 9 times more likely to drop out of high school.
* 10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances.
* 9 times more likely to end up in a state-operated institution.
* 20 times more likely to end up in prison.

* Juveniles have become the driving force behind the nation's alarming increases in violent crime, with juvenile arrests for murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault growing sharply in the past decade as pistols and drugs became more available, and expected to continue at the same alarming rate during the next decade. "Justice Dept. Issues Scary Report on Juvenile Crime," San Francisco Chronicle (9/8/95). "Crime Wave Forecast With Teenager Boom," San Francisco Chronicle (2/15/95).
* Criminal behavior experts and social scientists are finding intriguing evidence that the epidemic of youth violence and gangs is related to the breakdown of the two-parent family. "New Evidence That Quayle Was Right: Young Offenders Tell What Went Wrong at Home," San Francisco Chronicle (12/9/94).

3) TEENAGE PREGNANCY

* "Daughters of single parents are 53% more likely to marry as teenagers, 164% more likely to have a premarital birth, and 92% more likely to dissolve their own marriages. All these intergenerational consequences of single motherhood increase the likelihood of chronic welfare dependency." Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, Atlantic Monthly (April 1993).
* Daughters of single parents are 2.1 times more likely to have children during their teenage years than are daughters from intact families. The Good Family Man, David Blankenhorn.
* 71% of teenage pregnancies are to children of single parents. U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services.

4) CHILD ABUSE

* The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states that there were more than 1,000,000 documented child abuse cases in 1990. In 1983, it found that 60% of perpetrators were women with sole custody. Shared parenting can significantly reduce the stress associated with sole custody, and reduce the isolation of children in abusive situations by allowing both parents' to monitor the children's health and welfare and to protect them.

5) POVERTY

* "The National Fatherhood Institute reports that 18 million children live in single-parent homes. Nearly 75% of American children living in single-parent families will experience poverty before they turn 11. Only 20% in two-parent families will experience poverty." Melinda Sacks, "Fatherhood in the 90's: Kids of absent fathers more "at risk"," San Jose Mercury News (10/29/95).
* "The feminization of poverty is linked to the feminization of custody, as well as linked to lower earnings for women. Greater opportunity for education and jobs through shared parenting can help break the cycle." David Levy, Ed., The Best Parent is Both Parents (1993).

6) KIDNAPPING

* Family abductions were 163,200 compared to non-family abductions of 200-300. The parental abductions were attributed to the parents' disenchantment with the legal system. David Levy, Ed., The Best Parent is Both Parents (1993), citing a report from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice (May 1990).

This information was taken from an email message from the Coalition of Parent Support, Inc. in the US. Any errors in describing paraphrasing as quotes are mine.

Stuart Birks

24 January, 1996

I don't even have any idea what you mean by this. Maybe you can enlighten me. And what even if everything stat you present is 100% true (which I don't) are you saying that because of "THE TRUTH" we should just ignore this issue of blackploitation which is what BET is doing when they are making millions of shows like "HOT GHETTO MESS". Do we just let this go blackman? Am interested in knowing if thats what you are trying to say. A simple yes or no will do.

I've never watched "HOT GHETTO MESS".

When they stopped showing uncut videos, I started watching less BET.

If you don't like something on the television, just change the channel;

All this picketing over programs is much ado about nothing to me.

[Blackman7]

At a predominantly black housing project called Dunbar Village in West Palm Beach, Florida, 10 black teens repeatedly raped a Haitian immigrant woman before forcing her to perform oral sex on her 12-year-old son. Why doesn’t what happened to the West Palm Beach Two outrage the good reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton just as much as what happened in Jena, Louisiana?

I believe that because Reverends Jackson and Sharpton were successful in spite of being raised in homes without fathers, they believe that having black fathers in the home is NOT NECESSARY.

Apparently, they judge the ENTIRE BLACK RACE by their own LIMITED EXPERIENCE.

You can't judge millions of people, by how you grew up yourself.

Both of them being REVERENDS, they should KNOW what the bible says about FORNICATION, ILLEGITAMACY, and ADULTERY.

They should KNOW that God doesn't appreciate that;

They need to FORGET about THEIR OWN experiences and focus on the Word of God in the BIBLE.

If you're gonna be a "preacher", then PREACH THE FACTS!!!!!

[Blackman7]

It's likely that the RINGLEADER, if not ALL 10 of those assailants were raised without a FATHER in the home. With the majority of black violent juvenile offenders having been raised in homes without fathers, it wouldn't be the first time.

[Blackman7]

...and unfortunately, because black america refuses to acknowledge the importance of children having their FATHER in the home, it won't be the last.

[filmoredollar]

What do you mean you stopped watching BET when they stopped showing uncut videos. You talking about the uncut videos that would come on at like three in the mourning. But, aren't you the same talking bout the word of the bible. can you say....HYPOCRITE

[Ms. Estherhadas]

I am hoping that this story gets out to the minglecity post boards and Michael himself (I have e-mailed it to him). This is a new post and not related to the previous posting.

Subject: BLACK WOMAN RAPED AND TORTURED IN THE STATES BY WHITES--FOR BEING BLACK
Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2007 22:47:39 +0000
This happened in West Virginia, USA very recently and yesterday, wendsday 9/12th 2007 Megan Williams was still being treated for this in the hospital.


She was Tortured and Raped for a whole week, by Six White individuals, Three males and Three Females Between the ages of 20 and 49.


CNN normally does not reveal sexual assault victims' names. But Williams, who is hospitalized, and her mother, Carmen Williams, wanted her identity revealed.

Police said Bobby Brewster raped Williams, forced her to lick blood and drink from a toilet, and told his mother to kill Williams if she tried to escape.
Authorities previously said Williams was also forced to eat rat and dog feces.

According to criminal complaints filed in the county, Williams was assaulted, stabbed in the left leg, choked with cords and beaten for at least a week. When she was found, big parts of her hair had also been torn off of her scalp.
Williams says that Alisha Burton 22 cut her ankle with a knife while saying, "That's what we do to Niggers around here," police records show.

"I don't understand a human being doing another human being the way they did my daughter," Carmen Williams told The Associated Press on Tuesday from her daughter's hospital room. "I didn't know there were people like that out here."

Deputies received a tip and Saturday visited a home owned by Frankie Brewster in Big Creek, West Virginia.
As the deputies spoke with a woman on the front porch, "a female inside the residence limped toward the door with her arms held out, saying 'Help me,' " according to a news release from the sheriff's department.
"It's something you'd expect to see in a horror movie, not in Logan County," Abraham said. "She was subjected to unendurable torture down there."

The six are charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and battery. If convicted of kidnapping, a suspect could face a sentence of up to life in prison. The penalty for first-degree sexual assault is 15 to 35 years.
Abraham said he is seeking the maximum sentence on the kidnapping charges. In addition to the Brewsters, the suspects are Danny J. Combs, 20, of Harts, West Virginia; and George A. Messer, 27, Karen Burton, 46, and her daughter, Alisha Burton, 23, all of Chapmanville, West Virginia.
"They all have previous records and have been arrested numerous times," Sheriff W.E. Hunter said Tuesday. "They are familiar to law enforcement."
Frankie Brewster was charged with first-degree murder in 1994, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter in the death of an 84-year-old woman. She was released in 2000 after serving five years in prison, according to court records cited by the AP.
All of the six individuals that are involved in this case are accused of 108 different cases of crimes all combined.
All six were being held in lieu of $100,000 bail, and all requested court-appointed attorneys, the AP reported.
Investigators are still looking for two other people suspected of driving Williams to the home, according to the AP.

Carmen Williams had not reported her daughter missing, saying Megan Williams often disappeared for weeks at a time.

Carmen Williams said she is "horrified" by her daughter's injuries.
"She wakes up crying, and the first thing she hollers is 'Mommy,' " she said .

[paula ward]

I am happy to respond to one issue of BET - and that is - I am glad I no longer purchase Cable, Dish, Direct or any of the other media attempts to keep us from reading! We have become to complacent in this world and our children are the ones suffering as well as the adults. As a teacher, I have found that my students have a hard time developing writing, reading and listening skills because they are not developed at home. Self control is a thing of the past. Manners and the right way to do things is unheard of. Parents would rather come to the school and fight you, or call the board on you rather than admit their own neglegence as parents. BET has served no purpose. For a BLACK 'ENTERTAINMENT' TELEVISION shoW, THIS ONE needs to grow and move forward into the new century. Enough booty shakin' and mind-bendin' ....we need our people to be educated and aware of the world. The Word of God says that 'our people perish for lack of knowledge.'. This is true.

I would not have protested on the lawn of an executive - however, I also believe that you do what is necessary to get the attention - She got the attention - now perhaps someone in POWER and with AUTHORITY will do something to change the format of BET.

[filmoredollar]

(gives blackman a golf clap). That was a very extensive set of stats and news sources and everything. Hears the problem with your SF chronicle article forecasting higher crimes rates with "Teen Boom" (ohhh sounds scary). The fact is that this BOOM in crime never occured.

1. U.S. Murders in 1995 was 21,610 in 2006 it was 17,034

2. Forecible rape in 1995 was 97,470 in 2006 it was 92,455

(Sources Crime stats U.S. 1972 to 2006 as collected by the U.S. Department of Justice and The Federal Bureau of Investigation)

I can keep going because the fact is that crime (in almost all it's forms) in the ten years since this forecast are DOWN all over the country with only slight year to year upticks and down ticks. But, no crime wave as this article might have suggested. In fact the crime was worse in 1995 than it is today. This dispite both a rise in the overall U.S. populuation from 262,755,000 in 1995 to 299,398,484 in 2006 which in it of itself should have raised the crime rates all across the board. Not to mention the increase in single parent households which jumped from 55% in 1995 according to the U.S. census (your budddies) and the North Carolina state center of health statistics to 70% today just in the minority community. And according to the department of justice the percentage of incarceration amount blacks has increased at a slower pace than that of Whites bettween 1996 and 2006. (Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics Correctional Surveys (The Annual Survey of Jails and Census of Jail Inmates) as presented in Correctional Populations in the United States, 1997, and Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear series, 1998-2006.).

My point: There has been no up tick in the incarceration rates in the black community to go along with the increase in single parent households in the black community. And while there is a double digit rate of Poverty (24% as of 2006), Incarceration (10% as of 06) and both are higher per capital than whites you would think that both of those rates would be much higher do to the nearly 70% (if you believe that) of all black households have only one parent present. Though again I don't believe the hype.

This tells me that a. we as a community can stand to work on our family structure and b. Whats effecting our community is obviously more complicated than that of FATHERLESSNESS and I would say that a black child image of what he is and should be is one of those things that matters. And because there is a disperportionate amount of negative black image of black presented on so called BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION and no current shows that show blacks in a positive light are CURRENTLY IN PRODUCTION (doesn't count reruns) on basic cable or T.V. I would say that forcing the hand of BET is important.

As for Nathaniel Abraham I'll say this. How many 12 year olds out of the 23.8 million of us that fall into this single parent household stat (If you believe it) actually end up killing people. Don't be so dramatic. I read about this kid, he had mental problems that became clear years before he killed anybody as do one out of 4 children (white, black and otherwise) who are now medicated for some behavioral problem (Mainly ADD) in the U.S. today Yet one out of 4 don't blow peoples heads off, do they. If his dad were in the home he probably would have blown his head off because afterall statistics show that most people who are killed get killed by someone that they know. And am sure that there is a stat that says that you BLACKMAN are more likely to die sooner as a result of sitting on this computer reading this post in between your trips to sexygirl.com you know since BET doesn't show uncut videos anymore (yeah I caught that).

Now if you excuse me blackman i need to get outta here. Am going to be camping out in front of Debra Lee's house tonight.

P.S. You and I are not in disagreement about this household issue. But, beyond having both parents in the household we as parents need to also be active parents. Our kids spend to much time in front of television and computers and not enough time with us. It is not the T.V.'s job to raise our children but when you look at the billion dollar child product industry. I would say that the facts show that T.V. not us are the parents of the 21st century. And, that is a shame.

[filmoredollar]

I am hoping that this story gets out to the minglecity post boards and Michael himself (I have e-mailed it to him). This is a new post and not related to the previous posting.

Subject: BLACK WOMAN RAPED AND TORTURED IN THE STATES BY WHITES--FOR BEING BLACK
Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2007 22:47:39 +0000
This happened in West Virginia, USA very recently and yesterday, wendsday 9/12th 2007 Megan Williams was still being treated for this in the hospital.


She was Tortured and Raped for a whole week, by Six White individuals, Three males and Three Females Between the ages of 20 and 49.



Don't let blackman see this. You'll get him started on the fact that the black girl probably didn't have a dad and therefore she deserved what she got.

[filmoredollar]

READ THIS NEW ARTICLE

At a predominantly black housing project called Dunbar Village in West Palm Beach, Florida, 10 black teens repeatedly raped a Haitian immigrant woman before forcing her to perform oral sex on her 12-year-old son. Why doesn’t what happened to the West Palm Beach Two outrage the good reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton just as much as what happened in Jena, Louisiana?

Simple. Because Jesse and Al are hypocrites who like to point out the faults of white america while at the same time actively covering up and denying there own.

[Blackman7]

Don't let blackman see this. You'll get him started on the fact that the black girl probably didn't have a dad and therefore she deserved what she got.

Don't be RIDICULOUS! I would never say that! However, it was reported that she was in a relationship with one of her attackers.

I'm sure that wasn't the FIRST time she heard them use the word "nigger".

Black women nowadays want to be INDEPENDENT and make THEIR OWN decisions.

Black women should have the right to date violent white supremists if that's what they want.

[Blackman7]

(gives blackman a golf clap). That was a very extensive set of stats and news sources and everything. Hears the problem with your SF chronicle article forecasting higher crimes rates with "Teen Boom" (ohhh sounds scary). The fact is that this BOOM in crime never occured.

1. U.S. Murders in 1995 was 21,610 in 2006 it was 17,034

2. Forecible rape in 1995 was 97,470 in 2006 it was 92,455

(Sources Crime stats U.S. 1972 to 2006 as collected by the U.S. Department of Justice and The Federal Bureau of Investigation)

I can keep going because the fact is that crime (in almost all it's forms) in the ten years since this forecast are DOWN all over the country with only slight year to year upticks and down ticks. But, no crime wave as this article might have suggested. In fact the crime was worse in 1995 than it is today. This dispite both a rise in the overall U.S. populuation from 262,755,000 in 1995 to 299,398,484 in 2006 which in it of itself should have raised the crime rates all across the board. Not to mention the increase in single parent households which jumped from 55% in 1995 according to the U.S. census (your budddies) and the North Carolina state center of health statistics to 70% today just in the minority community. And according to the department of justice the percentage of incarceration amount blacks has increased at a slower pace than that of Whites bettween 1996 and 2006. (Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics Correctional Surveys (The Annual Survey of Jails and Census of Jail Inmates) as presented in Correctional Populations in the United States, 1997, and Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear series, 1998-2006.).

My point: There has been no up tick in the incarceration rates in the black community to go along with the increase in single parent households in the black community. And while there is a double digit rate of Poverty (24% as of 2006), Incarceration (10% as of 06) and both are higher per capital than whites you would think that both of those rates would be much higher do to the nearly 70% (if you believe that) of all black households have only one parent present. Though again I don't believe the hype.

This tells me that a. we as a community can stand to work on our family structure and b. Whats effecting our community is obviously more complicated than that of FATHERLESSNESS and I would say that a black child image of what he is and should be is one of those things that matters. And because there is a disperportionate amount of negative black image of black presented on so called BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION and no current shows that show blacks in a positive light are CURRENTLY IN PRODUCTION (doesn't count reruns) on basic cable or T.V. I would say that forcing the hand of BET is important.

As for Nathaniel Abraham I'll say this. How many 12 year olds out of the 23.8 million of us that fall into this single parent household stat (If you believe it) actually end up killing people. Don't be so dramatic. I read about this kid, he had mental problems that became clear years before he killed anybody as do one out of 4 children (white, black and otherwise) who are now medicated for some behavioral problem (Mainly ADD) in the U.S. today Yet one out of 4 don't blow peoples heads off, do they. If his dad were in the home he probably would have blown his head off because afterall statistics show that most people who are killed get killed by someone that they know. And am sure that there is a stat that says that you BLACKMAN are more likely to die sooner as a result of sitting on this computer reading this post in between your trips to sexygirl.com you know since BET doesn't show uncut videos anymore (yeah I caught that).

Now if you excuse me blackman i need to get outta here. Am going to be camping out in front of Debra Lee's house tonight.

P.S. You and I are not in disagreement about this household issue. But, beyond having both parents in the household we as parents need to also be active parents. Our kids spend to much time in front of television and computers and not enough time with us. It is not the T.V.'s job to raise our children but when you look at the billion dollar child product industry. I would say that the facts show that T.V. not us are the parents of the 21st century. And, that is a shame.

I'm not gonna debate with you on every issue, as I see that you're the type of person who likes to "split hairs".

The bottom line is that children from two parent homes generally do better than kids from single parent families.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Asian families stay together

Scripps Howard News Service

WASHINGTON -- The "Ozzie and Harriet" style family is not dead in
America, but is now often found in those with names such as Wu
or Lee.

More than eight out of 10 Asian-American children in the United States
live with both parents, a rate of two-parent families significantly
higher than for any other racial or ethnic group, according to a new
Census Bureau study.

"This is just a tradition. Divorce is something quite new to the Asian
countries, really only in the last 50 years," said Juju Lien, executive
director of the Asian-American Institute in Chicago.

The Census Bureau reported Wednesday that 84 percent of all
Asian-American children in 1997 were living with both parents,
significantly above the national average.

Seventy-seven percent of non-Hispanic white children live in two-parent
homes, the second highest rate for any major ethnic or racial
group.

"We are more group- and family-oriented, perhaps not so individualistic,"
said Yoko Baba, associate professor of sociology at San Jose
State University. "Asians expect the parents to stay together. That may
come from the Buddhist religion and other traditions in which the
children are taught to respect their parents and ancestors."

The Census report estimated that Asians and Pacific Islanders numbered
10.1 million last year, representing 4 percent of the total U.S.
population. It is the nation's fastest growing racial group.

The study found that 78.5 percent of the 2.2 million Asian families are
headed by married couples, more than the 76.3 percent for
non-Hispanic whites or any other major group.

"Socially, Asian immigrants have focused on the survival issues of trying
to establish themselves and to build a family," Lien said.

"They don't have nightclubs or other social alternatives in which they
can run into affair-type situations. The family is central."

Asian-Americans also enjoy the highest educational and economic levels of
any major ethnic group.

About 80 percent have graduated from high school and 40 percent have
earned a bachelor's degree.

Asian-American families had a median income of $49,105 in 1996, well
above the national average of $42,300.

All of these factors help bring stability to Asian family structure, Lien
and Baba said.

[Blackman7]

Having No Dad Affects Black Boys' Self-Esteem
Domestic assault & urban "community disinvestment", nonmarriage/divorce

Today the number of children born into a black marriage averages less than 0.9 children per marriage. "The birthrates of black married women have fallen so sharply that absent out-of-wedlock childbearing, the African American population would not only fail to reproduce itself, but would rapidly die off."
The Abolition of Marriage, by Maggie Gallagher p. 120, citing Reynolds Forley, "After the Starting Line: Blacks and Women in an Uphill Pace," Demography 25, no. 4 (November 1988): 487, Figure 6.

During the days of slavery a black child was more likely to grow up living with both parents than he or she is today.
Andrew J. Cherlin, Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage, rev. and enl. ed., (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992), 110 . See also Herbert G. Gutman, The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom, 1750-1925 (New York: Pantheon, 1976). For a review of this and similar studies see Stanley L. Engerman, "Black Fertility and Family Structure in the U.S. 1880-1940," Journal of Family History 2 (Summer 1977): 177ff. Cited in The Abolition of Marriage, by Maggie Gallagher page 117

As recently as 1960, three-quarters of African Americans were born into a family of a married couple.
Christopher Jencks, "Is the American Underclass Growing," 86, Table 14. In Jencks and Peterson, eds., Urban Underclass, (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1991). Cited in The Abolition of Marriage, by Maggie Gallagher page 117

"Today only [one-third] of black children have two parents in the home."
Dennis A. Ahlburg and Carol J. DeVita, "New Realities of the American Family," Population Bulletin 47, no.2 (August 1992) 8. Cited in The Abolition of Marriage, by Maggie Gallagher page 117

"Black children are only half as likely as white children to be living in a two-parent household, and are eight times more likely than white children to live with an unwed mother. For black children under six, 'the most common arrangement -- applying to 42 percent of them -- was to live with a never-married mother.'"
The Abolition of Marriage, by Maggie Gallagher p. 117, citing Andrew J. Cherlin, Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage, rev. and enl. ed., (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992), 98-99.

An African American women averages less than one child during marriage.
The Abolition of Marriage, by Maggie Gallagher p. 120, citing Jencks, "American Underclass," 86. In Jencks and Peterson, eds., Urban Underclass, (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1991).

"Only 18 percent of black women who married in the 1940s eventually divorced, a rate only slightly higher than that for white women of that era. But, of that far smaller number of black women who married in the late sixties and early seventies, 60 percent have already divorced."
The Abolition of Marriage, by Maggie Gallagher page 117, Dennis A. Ahlburg and Carol J. DeVita, "New Realities of the American Family," Population Bulletin 47, no.2 (August 1992): 15.

"In 1960, 23 percent of black children were born to unwed mothers. Today the proportion is nearly the same for whites, and the rate is rising rapidly."
Jencks, "American Underclass," Table 14, 86. In Jencks and Peterson, eds., Urban Underclass, (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1991). Cited in The Abolition of Marriage, by Maggie Gallagher page 126

"In 1960, only 60 percent of black women ages twenty-five to twenty-nine were married. In 1990, only 62 percent of white women in this age group were married. Today the average white woman will spend only 43 percent of her life married, very close to the 40 percent a black woman spent in marriage in 1950."
Robert D. More and Christopher Winship, "Socioeconomic Change and the Decline of Marriage for Blacks and Whites," 175. In Jencks and Peterson, eds., Urban Underclass, (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1991). page 120
Andrew J. Cherlin, Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage, rev. and enl. ed., (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992), 95. Cited in The Abolition of Marriage, by Maggie Gallagher page 120

"'Exposure to single motherhood at some point during adolescence increases the risk [of a daughter's later becoming a single mother] by nearly [150 percent] for whites and.....by about 100 percent for blacks.'"
Sara S. McLanahan, "Family Structure and Dependency: Reality Transitions to Female Household Headship," Demography 25, Feb., 1988, 1-16. Cited in Amneus, The Garbage Generation, page 240


A recent study for the journal Criminology has revealed that "neighborhoods with larger portions of adults who are less 'invested' in marriage and residential stability are more likely to see higher rates of assault by African-American males." Analysis of the data reveals that "the proportion of residents without married couples...maintains the strongest relationship with intimate assault rates for African-Americans..." This leads to the conclusion that "lower levels of marital commitments and stable residents constitute...significant barriers to the development of social capital [an important determinant of healthy community life] among minorities."
Woodredge, J. and Thistlethwaite, A. (2003) Neighborhood structure and race-specific rates of intimate assault. Criminology, v41. Retrieved from The Family in America, April 2004.

[Blackman7]

The rate of violent crime and burglary is related to the number of single parent households with children aged twelve to twenty.
"No-Fault Divorce: Proposed Solutions to a National Tragedy," 1993 Journal of Legal Studies 2, 19, citing Douglas A. Smith, G. and Roger Jarjoura, Social Structure and Criminal Victimiazation, 25 Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 27-52 (1988).

A study showed that over half (53 percent) of the inmates of state correctional facilities had grown up without the benefits of a two parent household.
"No-Fault Divorce: Proposed Solutions to a National Tragedy," 1993 Journal of Legal Studies 2, 19, citing B. Chapman, Fairness For Families: An Organing Theme for the Administration's Social Policies, 2 The Journal of Family and Culture 23 (1986).

Delinquency rates are 10 to 15 percent higher in broken homes than in intact ones.
Brian Willats, Breaking Up is Easy To Do, available from Michigan Family Forum, citing Edward L. Wells and Joseph H. Rankin, "Families and Delinquency: A Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Broken Homes," Social Problems, 38:1, p. 87.

"The greater the proportion of single-mother families in a neighborhood, the higher the delinquency rate."
Don Terry, "Killed by Her Friends, Sons of the Heartland," New York Times, 18 May 1994, A1. Cited on page48 ofThe Abolition of Marriage, by Maggie Gallagher

A study conducted by two sociologists, Robert J. Sampson and W. Byron Groves, who analyzed data from hundreds of British communities found that in neighborhoods with a high percentage of single-parent homes the amount of crime was significantly higher. ... In a study by "So powerful was the connection between disrupted families and crime that, once family status was controlled for, neither race nor income had any effect on the crime rate." Nor did dropout rates in a Latino neighborhood studied by Josefina Figueroa-McDonough, "Residence, Dropping Out, and Delinquency Rates, Deviant Behavior 14, (1993): 109ff. The Abolition of Marriage, by Maggie Gallagher pp. 48-49

Among all possible contributing factors, "only divorce rates were consistently associated with suicide and with homicide rates."
David Lester, "Time-Series Versus Regional Correlates of Rates of Personal Violence," Death Studies (1993): 529-534. Cited on page36 ofThe Abolition of Marriage, by Maggie Gallagher

"[Eric Anderson, a Yakima, Wash., anthropologist] described the skinheads as ranging from 14 to 27, from largely middle-class neighborhoods and broken, unstable families."
Tamara Jones, Los Angeles Times, 19 December, 1988. Cited in Amneus, The Garbage Generation, Page 224

"A recent study of 25,000 incarcerated juveniles made by the Bureau of Justice Statistics indicates that 72 percent of them came from broken homes. Seventy-four percent of the nation's children live with two parents, 26 percent with one parent. A child growing up in a single-parent home (usually female-headed) is seven times as likely to be a delinquent.
Statistics from the Los Angeles Times, 19 September, 1988. Cited in Amneus, The Garbage Generation, page 179

"The loss of a father increases the risk that a child, and particularly boys, will become a delinquent by a factor of approximately two."
Margaret Wynn, Fatherless Families: A Study of Families Deprived of a father by Death, Divorce, Separation of Desertion Before or After Marriage (New York: London and Maxwell, 1964), p. 147. Cited in Amneus, The Garbage Generation, page 215

"A study of Stanford University's Center for the Study of Youth Development in 1985 indicated that children in single-parent families headed by a mother have higher arrest rates, more disciplinary problems in school, and a greater tendency to smoke and run away from home than do their peers who live with both natural parents - no matter what their income, race, or ethnicity."
Education Reporter, December, 1986 Cited in Amneus, The Garbage Generation, page 215

"Broken homes do relate to the frequency of delinquency. Further, if a home is broken, a child living with the mother is more likely to be a delinquent than one for whom other arrangements are made. In the case of girls, even living with neither parent is less related to higher delinquency than is living with the mother."
Starke Hathaway and Elio Monachesi, Adolescent Personality and Behavior (Minneapolis Press, 1963, p. 81. Cited in Amneus, The Garbage Generation, page 216

"In a new study of 72 adolescent murders and 35 adolescent thieves, researches for Michigan State University demonstrated that the overwhelming majority of t teenage criminals live with only one parent. Fully 75 percent of those charged with homicide had parents who were either divorced or had never been married at all; that number rises to 82 percent of those charged with nonviolent larceny offenses.
Dewey G. Cornell, et al., "Characteristics of Adolescents Charged With Homicide: Review of 72 Cases," Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 5, No. 1 [1987], 11-23; epitomized in The Family in America: New Research, March, 1988. Cited in Amneus, The Garbage Generation, page 216

"Criminologists have long used race and poverty as key variables for explaining crime rates. However, researchers at the Univ. of Maryland find that when differences in family structures are taken into account, crime rates run much the same in rich and poor neighborhoods and among black, white, and Hispanic populations."
Douglas A. Smith and G. Roger Jarjoura, "Social Structure and Criminal Victimization," Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 25 [Feb., 1988], 27-52; epitomizing in The Family in America: New Research, June 1988 Cited in Amneus, The Garbage Generation, page 220

["Some Effects of Paternal Absence on Male Children," Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1962, 64, 361-369] found that the lower -class father-absent boys in their study committed more felonies that did the father-present groups, although the rates of gang delinquency were not different. Cited in Amneus, The Garbage Generation, page 222

"Who are the women in prison?......More than half are single mothers living on welfare."
Phyllis Chesler, Mother on Trial: Battle for Children and Custody (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1986), p. 291. Cited in Amneus, The Garbage Generation, page 224

"In a 1987 study at the University of Toronto, sociologists noted particularly high rates of delinquency among female teens in two kind of households: 1) single-parent households; 2)households in which the mother is employed in a career or management position.
Ibid., p.3. Cited in Amneus, The Garbage Generation, page 230

Joan R. Kahn and Kathryn A. London, "Premarital Sex and the Risk of Divorce," Journal of Marriage and the Family 53 (1991): 845-855.

Cf. Ingrid Waldron, Christopher C. Weiss, and Mary Elizabeth Hughes, "marital Status Effects on Health: Are There Differences Between Never-Married Women and Divorced and Separated Women?" Social Science & Medicine 45 (1997): 1387-1397

I.M.A. Joung et al., "Health Behaviors Explain Part of the Difference in Self-Reported Health Associated with Partner/Marital States in the Netherlands," Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 49 (1995): 482-488

Peggy A. Thoits, "Gender and Marital Status Difference in Control and Distress: Common Stress versus Unique Stress Explanations," Journal of Health and Social Behavior 28 (1987): 7-22

Janet Wilmoth and Gregor Koso, "does Marital History Matter? Marital Status and Wealth Outcomes Among Preretirement Adults," Journal of Marriage and Family 64 (2002): 254-268

Karen F. Parker and Tracy Johns, "Urban Disadvantage and Types of Race-Specific Homicide: Assessing the Diversity in Family Structures in the Urban Context," Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 39 (2002): 277-303.

[Blackman7]

Simple. Because Jesse and Al are hypocrites who like to point out the faults of white america while at the same time actively covering up and denying there own.

Everything that blacks do wrong in this country, they learned from the WHITE MAN.

The MASTER influences the SLAVE.

What's the use in going after the "branches" if the tree is suffering from ROOT DISEASE?

Blacks are just the "branches". You must work on the ROOTS, to heal the TREE.

[Blackman7]

Now if you excuse me blackman i need to get outta here. Am going to be camping out in front of Debra Lee's house tonight.

Are YOU one of those people responsible for getting my Late Night videos taken off BET???

I gotta have a LONG talk with YOU!!! ;) :D :)

[filmoredollar]

Don't be RIDICULOUS! I would never say that! However, it was reported that she was in a relationship with one of her attackers..

See you just said she deserved it without saying it.

[filmoredollar]

Are YOU one of those people responsible for getting my Late Night videos taken off BET???

I gotta have a LONG talk with YOU!!! ;) :D :)

You know your not half bad blackman. Yes today is a cease fire day as i don't have enough time to find something to disagree with you about.

Except this. You know who has the highest rate of single family homes outside of blacks. American indians are at something like 49%. Thought that was interesting. Also yes Asians stay together but they also have a higher suicide rate than we do which surely suggest that they are not the ones to envy.

[EnoughReallyIsEnough]

OPEN LETTER TO REVEREND DELMAN COATES REGARDING THE ENOUGH IS ENOUGH MEDIA CAMPAIGN


Rev. Delman Coates
4215 Steeds Grant Way
Fort Washington, MD 20744
------------------------------------
Mt. Ennon Baptist Church
9832 Piscataway Road
Clinton, MD 20735
pastorcoates@mtennon.org
Pastor Coates,

In light of the dual position you have assumed as Pastor and Activist, I am compelled to write and share a few things from the perspective of someone who sits in your congregation weekly. I agree with you and believe that we certainly should hold fast to our morals and stand for what is right at all times, but your stance on having zero tolerance is not scriptural and is really a self-righteous perspective. You may say you are proclaiming zero tolerance for a depiction, belief or even an action – but your rallying is directed at a person. If God had zero tolerance for anything, you, I and many others would have been wiped off this planet long ago. Some of us have been so deep in foolishness until we would have been wiped off TWICE! God has ordered us to love and have compassion towards one another and win the lost - not have zero tolerance. You cannot manipulate and flip the scriptures to accommodate and/or justify your vendetta, goals or desire to be the ‘kill hip hop and BET’ poster child.

The cancerous fanatical obsession that you now have for media conglomerates and leaders is beyond reason – and it is obvious that this matter exceeds a Pastoral concern or point of view. As a member of your church, we are uneasy of your leadership from the pulpit. It is sad that lately on Sundays you preach more about RadioOne, the FCC and BET more than you do about G-O-D! What has happened??!! Anytime you can get caught up and start whooping in the pulpit as you talk about your meeting with the FCC, something has gone haywire and the wires need to be checked (listen to the attached file). Why not fuel this campaign with those individuals and organizations that are like-minded? Why prostitute the church? It should be obvious that you are mixing oil with water when each Sunday you are preaching at a church that gathers 2,000 members a week – and then only 9 people follow the leader and show up to support your rally outside of BET’s Congressional Black Caucus Reception.

Our church is (or was) a spring of living water, and now we are being used as fuel. I am hurt and just really ticked off at who we have become. Pastor, before you joined us a few years ago, a legacy was put into building Mt Ennon. Now, all that we have worked for years to build up is being prostituted and we are in the public’s eye as being hypocritic fools.

I am not a fan of Radio One, BET, Universal or Warner Music, nor am I a fan of violent Hip Hop or videos that include profanity or too much skin. It is simply not my preference; but there is no need to provoke a moment on the cameras and in the papers because it is deemed offensive and not my preference. I can easily turn the station - radio or tv. We don’t call a protest if a restaurant sells bad food or if a store sells suggestive clothing for young girls to wear. What would make sense is that you simply choose not to patronize or engage in business there. In other words, turn the 'channel.' It's not that deep. So in this instance, why is there such a passion to publicly attempt to stab your own people and lead a revolt against one of America's most successful African American women? Two words - Media Coverage. We are so out of order and have crossed boundaries beyond measure by taking this matter to Debra Lee's home. It is wrong. Who are we as a church to hold signs and raise voices in HER neighborhood that basically translate into ‘Crucify Her!?" As a Christian African American Woman, I find this such a violation on the part of the Church. We're not successful or even effective in this whole rally process; we have only been labeled a professional and embarrasing annoyance! No prayer and extremely poor judgment went into planning these rallies.

As a church, too many of us at Mt. Ennon are NOT going to sacrifice Saturday after Saturday to ridiculously march at someone’s residence. The ones that actually attend are doing so because of the fascination with it being "BET" related and then others are just loyal to you - not to the cause. Especially since everyone is gathering at the church to assemble for these rallies, that time should be used to tutor children, enjoy quality family time, study God’s word, or even come up with a proposal to better our society. That money can be used to feed the homeless on Saturday or visit nursing homes. Instead, we are wasting resources on buses, and money going to signs and T-shirts. We are wasting precious time that we cannot recover by going to a residence where probably no one is even home to hear our played out weak repetitive chants. Why drag an innocent congregation through this foolishness? We are kicking and screaming trying to tell you Enough Really Is Enough! You should either work the pulpit or give it up - and based on what we are seeing, you have given it up.

Pastor, people come to church on Sunday because the Word is supposed to preach good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, set the captives free and release prisoners from darkness. You have about 45 minutes to deliver someone from despair and make someone's life easier by giving them Jesus. You have no more than 45 minutes to keep someone from committing suicide, to help them make the right choices, to keep someone from getting a divorce, to keep someone from holding hate in their heart, to keep someone from giving up because they don't know if God is really there. Instead, the 45 minutes you are allowed is abused and being used to try and religiously support and fuel a campaign. At the end of service, most Pastors ask their members to stand to receive blessings in the benediction; but you have had the audacity to send us out with your final words being “Go to www.enoughisenoughcampaign.com and watch the ‘Read A Book’ video.’ Surely, the church, OUR church is in trouble.

It is apparent that your focus is off from directing the sheep and it is obvious that there is a vendetta. What else would have you leave your family at night and parade for hours in front of a restaurant (that you are not invite into) with only 9 faithful foolish people to picket BET's constructive and very successful reception for the Congressional Black Caucus? It is embarrassing and I believe in God’s eyes for some, even dangerous. I sure hope the rapture does not come while you and your few are outside hollering “Enough is Enough”

Pastor, we know you are enjoying the press (hence you have a page on your site dedicated solely to nothing but you in the press), but somehow you failed to include the story from the Washington Post that blew the whistle and shed light on your involvement with the sketchy mismanagement and spending of funds from the National Harbor (Prince George's County's biggest project).

At this point I believe Mt. Ennon owes Debra Lee, the woman, a big apology for the self righteousness displayed and the mockery we have made as alleged Christians.

Selah

Enough Really Is Enough!

Sincerely,

"Ms. L"
Maryland

A Mt. Ennon Congregant

[ssjup81]

Except this. You know who has the highest rate of single family homes outside of blacks. American indians are at something like 49%. Thought that was interesting. Also yes Asians stay together but they also have a higher suicide rate than we do which surely suggest that they are not the ones to envy.Interesting. Also thought that I'd add on, in places like Japan, women are becoming more so "free thinkers" and aren't marrying much anymore since for them, getting married also means becoming a stay-at-home mother (traditionally). Some women aren't getting married at all now-a-days. There was an article about it earlier this year, and seems that the numbers aren't changing in this regard. They seem to be more into women's rights lately as well.

[ssjup81]

Don't be RIDICULOUS! I would never say that! However, it was reported that she was in a relationship with one of her attackers.What does that have to do with anything? You sound like you're saying she deserved it. IMO, OJ had something to do with Nicole's death, even if he didn't physically do it himself. Are you going to say Nicole 'deserved it' just because she was married to the guy at one point?Black women nowadays want to be INDEPENDENT and make THEIR OWN decisions.Yeah, because we have brains and common sense, and should have the right to be allowed to use them and this goes for all women, not just black women. I believe in equal rights between both men and women. A woman should be able to do as she pleases just as a man is allowed to. If not, it's nothing but a load of hypocrisyBlack women should have the right to date violent white supremists if that's what they want.You can't help who you fall for. For all we know, the guy might have been extremely nice to her before it got to that point (although, I honestly couldn't see hiding something like that, personally).

It's like when a woman dates a guy, he's the sweetest person ever and seemed to worship the ground she walked on and vice-versa for her towards him. They then decide to get married, and afterwards, he turns out to be physically abusive or controlling, not allowing her to make any decisions what-so-ever, or not allowing her to go out [or associate with family], unless he says so, etc. Seems that most of those types of stories start out the same..."He wasn't like that before I married him."

She wants to get away from this man, as he's not only an endangerment to her, but their child (children) as well, and it's not healthy for any child to grow up with violence, as the child may (not all) turn out to become violent. The woman gets threatened with her life if she does threaten to leave the man, who needs to better himself.

Sometimes women in these situations get out of it with their children, and sometimes, the man, who can't handle not being in control, kills the wife.

Is this fair to you?