Shem Hotep ("I go in peace").
John Brown 1800–1859 was a non-African person. Brown’s goal of liberation for the slaves was sincere and that his actions were based on just principles. John Brown truly embodied the spirit of freedom loving African people around the world.
BLACK IS TRULY BEAUTIFUL.
BLACK is the beginning of human civilization Ethiopia, Somalia, Egypt and our motherland. BLACK is the dark of night. BLACK is the big hole in space. BLACK is the night and sleep that rejuvenates your tired body. BLACK is the color of good rich coffee, coffee with body and taste. BLACK is the color of good rich soil on God’s great earth. BLACK is the color of the sweetest berries in the world. BLACK is the color of sweet ripe bananas. BLACK is the color of money when you are well endowed, your in the BLACK. BLACK is on the tires of cars, bus, planes and trains. BLACK use to be the color of music around the world. BLACK is the color of the sky that will give forth needed rain. BLACK is the color of gold underneath this earth –OIL. BLACK is the color of print on most pages. BLACK is the base of all other colors. BLACK is the color of team intimation. BLACK is the beginning and will be the end. BLACK IS THE COLOR OF BEAUTIFUL WOMAN AND MEN AROUND THIS WORLD. BLACK IS YOU. BLACK IS ME. IS BLACK THE WAY YOU WANT TO BE?
A LETTER TO BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION.
Dear BET, I have waited patiently for your station to serve the needs of our people. I have come to the conclusion that you are not watching the HOUSE. We historically have always had outsiders come in and take precious resources out of our community. I have seen a proliferation of outsiders on your airways under the guise of religion sneaking into the hearts, souls and pockets of the elderly.
I am appalled to see preachers being allowed to basically play on the heartstrings of people who are in need. These people are in need of help because of the detestable, deplorable things done to them by these outsiders. If we had been treated as humans by them, we would have no need for the temporary solutions they offer us. To set a building ablaze and then profit from helping people out of the building is not acceptable.
BET, I as a fellow BLACK person am APPEALING to your sense of moral decency in regards to your programming. A reply to me not to watch is moot because I don’t watch. I observe as a watchman on my post. I am in the tradition of my ancestors in watching the house. We have to care more about who we let in our house and what they take out. To allow this type of immoral robbery of our people by TV preachers may be profitable but should come with a heavy price tag from the black community.
We are tired of the bump and grind videos the lack of real news and the overall lack of concern about people you call your own. Why does the negative programming so out weigh the positive? We are expecting more of you. To serve up your own as bait for the outsiders is something you should lose sleep at night over. Drugs and other vices are profitable also but are a negative influence on us and would never be sold to us by a responsible concerned human being. You’re in the vanguard position and we need to know if you can be trusted to guard the house. Don’t do us any favors by turning away from this contemptible behavior. We are starting to isolate and punish economically the people that don’t have our best interest at heart. For this reason I don’t eat at your establishments whose money help contribute to the moral decline of our culture. Please respond, not with empty WORDS but with some sincere approach to showing real concern. We are in a sad state when we have to beg our own to be responsible. Yes BET, on behalf of all the black folks across this land I beg you to think about affected lives more than your profit margin. To have so much violence and sex thrown at our youth can not be excused away by having preachers try to pray it away for money.
PIMPIN AIN’T EASY: THE NEW FACE OF THE BLACK CHURCH:
“We’re not just a church, we’re an international corporation. We’re not just a bumbling bunch of preachers who can’t talk and all we’re doing is baptizing babies. Ideal with the White House. I deal with Tony Blair. I deal with presidents around this world. I pastor a multimillion-dollar congregation. You’ve got to put me on a different scale than the little Black preacher sitting over there that’s supposed to be just getting by because the people are suffering.” Bishop Eddie Long, New Birth Missionary Church, August 2005.
The sad thing is, he’s right.
Today’s New Black Church is the offspring of the civil rights era but can easily be identified by its debatable and sometimes laughable theology, superficiality, greed, materialism, heavy involvement in politics, tricked-out arena sized church, ten thousand or more member congregation and of course, its superstar pastor. Plainly put, today’s Black church is not your grandma’s church. No longer content with selling baked goods and holding parking lot sales that bring in few dollars, today’s New Black Church hosts revivals that cater to thousands and produce blockbuster movies that bring in millions. From old school nurses boards to new school communications director’s, the New Black Church now employs hundreds of full time professionals each year and looks more like a Fortune 500 company, than the little Black church that’s only “baptizing babies.” Refusing to be courted by politicians during the election season only, the New Black Church has cut out the middleman and has become a force to be reckoned with by dealing directly with the White House.
Having descended from being the visionary voice and leader for millions of Black Christians, the New Black Church has reached out and made new and bold alliances, most notably the newfound love between today’s Black pastors and President Bush. After being cajoled by controversial conservative Lou Sheldon, dozens of superstar Black pastors declared their support for President Bush’s Faith-Based Initiative at a special summit of Black religious leaders in Los Angeles last February. At that meeting, they chose Lou Sheldon, a white religious conservative leader to speak on their behalf, even though they were Black pastors who had assembled at a Black church in Los Angeles to talk about messaging to Black people. Understanding the weakness of today’s superstar pastors, that being greed, President Bush’s Faith Based Initiative has successfully solicited and co-opted Black pastors. He has single handedly paved the way for the wooing of Blacks over to the GOP camp under the guise of protecting marriage, allowing prayer in schools and eliminating abortions for women, creating a moral panic within Black America.
Today’s New Black Church has become a pimp for Bush’s agenda for Blacks.
“…But I do think that the vote is up for grabs in a way that it has not been traditionally. And so, we have often suffered from the Democratic Party, who assumed that they had our vote, and the Republican Party, who assumed that they couldn’t get our vote,” Bishop T.D. Jakes on CNN’s Paula Zahn Now, February 2005.
With an obvious zeal for the Republican Party, Bishop T.D. Jakes’ comments perfectly illustrate the severity of the crisis in the New Black Church. Obviously fearful of losing the support of the New Black Church, Black Democratic officials and civil rights leaders continue to be silent on this issue and have offered no opposition to the New Black Church.
Meanwhile, Bush continues to refuse to meet with Black civil rights leaders, but has met with the superstar pastors on more than one occasion. Having conquered the media, entertainment arena and now the White House, superstar pastors are poising themselves for their greatest challenge yet, running for political office. With the right support, timing and enough money to back a successful campaign, it’s not that far fetched of an idea to see a superstar pastor catapult themselves into public office, on the GOP ticket.
