One of my favorite pastors and a dear colleague of mine, Dr. Delman Coates, had a very interesting Saturday night. He, along with hundreds of supporters from the Enough is Enough Campaign spent the evening marching in protest out front the Warner Theater – the location of the taping of the 2008 BET Honors Awards show.
If you’ve fell victim to the media blackout on this, Coates, pastor of the Ennon Baptist Church in Clinton, MD, and the Enough is Enough Campaign have been protesting out front the home of BET CEO, Debra Lee, for the past many months. A New York Chapter of Enough is Enough has also been initiated and that branch of the campaign protests out front the Manhattan residence of Philippe Dauman, President & CEO of Viacom.
I must say that I am impressed with the perseverance of Enough is Enough. I knew that when things got started late summer of last year that there would be great momentum. However, I wasn’t sure how things would go once the winter weather rolled into the area. So far – they’ve marched on undaunted.
Time will tell if they have the stamina to continue this noble fight – and it will be a marathon for justice… not a 40 yard dash. Remember that the Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted 381 days! People sacrificed for more than a year in order to get justice in Alabama. I pray that the Enough is Enough Family has that same type of appetite for righteousness. I will continue to support them in a myriad of ways and I hope you are led to find a way to support as well.
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Wow….I’m glad to see this brother’s still doing it. Somebody’s gotta take a stand.
What am I not getting? I’m not sure that I understand why these
individuals are protesting?
Well so far, I have discovered that some black groups and organizations apparently feel that BET has disparaged their images, and discriminated against them. Is this what this is all about? Is that what W.E. DuBois predicted a century ago, when he talked about the problem of the ‘color line’ in the 20th Century?.
If so, I am certain that he was referring more to the black and white color-line issue, as opposed to a black on black color stalemate. Black folks this is the 21st Century, we have to be even more erudite than we were before!
The timing could not be worse given the apparent mud-slinging that has been going back and forth in the media between the Obama Camp and the Hillary Camp. And,I understand that Bob Johnson, former founder of BET’s name is involved in that fray.
I agree with Prof. Clayborne Carson who was the headliner at a Dr. King celebration, held at Stanford University last night that I attended. We must accept the fact that we are not a monolithic community. However, we don’t need this kind of thing right now, particularly in an election year. We need to allow the focus of the real problems that face our nation to remain on everybody’s minds, so that we can come up with some viable solutions.
From a political perspective, does anyone recall last year when instead of the nation’s attention remaining squarely on scandalous Republicans like Liddy, or let’s say a Tom Delay, that Cynthia McKinney and Congressman Jefferson from Louisians, unwisely, assisted in the media spotling being taken off of scandalous individuals who helped to ruin this nation, over the past 7 years?
I wrote to Representative Cynthia McKinney, and asked her to tone done the rhetoric, get off the front pages – and to allow the spotlight to be placed back where it belonged.
And I would ask the protestors to consider whether or not it is the most prudent time, during an election year, to help fracture rather than to bring together the voting community.
If Hip Hop is an issue, and based on what I’ve read it might be at the center of all this, simply consider that about 3 centuries ago many blacks were afraid of Malik El Shabazz, but later when the same individuals came to understand his message they came to embrace the man. The Hip Hop community shouldn’t be so unrealistic, for frankly, we all know that there are some problems with the X-Rated and salacious portions of Hip Hop, that indivuals who are raising children are rightly concerned about. And those individuals would be concerned whether the precipitators were white, light-skinned or dark-skinned black!
And don’t taze me bro!
On second thought Dr. Delman Coates,
Perhaps I should have studied the protest issue more in-depth. In light of Dr. Martin Luther’s speech from the Birmingham jail, and after giving more thought to what you have said and are trying to accomplish, perhaps I was too harsh in my original assessment.
Letter From The Birmingham Jail
Written April 16, 1963 From Birmingham, Al.
MY DEAR FELLOW CLERGYMEN:
While confined here in the Birmingham City Jail, I came across your recent statement calling our present activities “unwise and untimely…”
Keep fighting the good fight Reverend Coates!
Glad you wrestled with yourself and came back Rev.! I gotta little worried after reading your previous post on this issue…lol.