I am encouraged to see the revolutionary spirit alive and well in these young people from Cali who are Young Black Panthers dedicated to projecting the true image of The Panthers. They call themselves “The Riders” and they are all former Bloods and Crips who have evolved in their thinking to a higher, revolutionary consciousness. Their spokeswoman is extremely impressive. My favorite soundbyte from her was: “You can’t be a revolutionary if you don’t read!”
Hat Tip: Washington Post
Gambling Away Our Principles
Sunday, May 18, 2008; B08
It is easy to get caught up in the false promise of slots — of easy money and a quick fix to all that ails Maryland. But the simple truth is that Maryland can’t win and that Marylanders will lose if slots are legalized.
Gambling is becoming an increasingly pervasive element of American society, and legalizing slot machines in the state would be one more example of our society’s eagerness to abandon hard work and ingenuity in favor of a Band-Aid for a gaping wound. Encouraging gambling in our communities would be irresponsible and would result in lasting and irreversible harm.
Proponents of slots contend that their legalization would help finance public education. We ask: What lessons are we teaching our children? That they should throw hard-earned money away in the false hope of a big payday? Those who say slots will create revenue for the state don’t acknowledge the catastrophic ramifications of such a decision. For the state to win, the player must lose. As people of faith, we are called on to speak out to protect Maryland from the insidious vice of gambling.
Revolutionary Freedom Fighter, George Jackson, said:
“The ruling clique approaches its task with a “what to think” program; the vanguard elements have the much more difficult of promoting “how to think.”
And that conceptual statement guides me as I lead the Bible Study at the church where I am blessed to serve as Pastor - Pleasant Hope Baptist Church in Northeast Baltimore.
Bible Study has never been something that I’ve been overwhelming excited about namely because in my many experiences it has been either an opportunity for the Pastor to “preach” a lesson or it has looked like a facilitator standing in front of the audience telling them what they should think with very little meaningful interaction. I always said that if I ever became a Pastor that I would have a Bible Study that folks would want to come to.
So far we’re well on our way to creating that type of study experience. Pleasant Hope Baptist Church is on track to have the most dangerous Bible Study in Baltimore simply because I push the people to THINK. I don’t answer a whole lot of questions. I help folks to re-read the scriptures with “fresh eyes” and question what they read. I dissuade them from taking anything they read in the Bible at face value. EVERYTHING is open to questioning, criticism, challenge.
We read the scripture in its context understanding that it was written at a certain time, in a certain location, by a certain person (or persons) within a certain culture, for a certain reason.
The amazing thing is that as we engage in textual criticism and exegete the text in a way that honors the scripture’s original meaning (or likely meaning), my students then begin to draw parallels between the context and/or meaning of the passage we’re studying and their everyday realities.
Two weeks ago as we were studying the persecution of Jesus a discussion was born about the persecution of so many others who stood up against the status quo power structure and were viewed as a threat capable of organizing the masses thus necessitating their assassination or exile. It was such an invigorating discussion. It eventually led to us analyzing the Roman Empire and the Religious Order of Jesus’ time and looking at Baltimore’s Government and Shadow Government today. (We love dealing with “problem texts” by the way - like when Jesus called the syrophoenician woman a dog.)
In addition, we’ve started our studies off with warm up activities designed to get people’s juices flowing. We started with analyzing a Baltimore Sun article one night, we played a Jill Scott song the following week, and we read a Paul Lawrence Dunbar poem the following week. Who knows I might drop some Kanye West on them next time. They don’t know what to expect from week to week. I keep people on their toes and prayerfully am helping them to realize that critical study of the Holy Writ is just as much an act of worship as singing songs on Sunday morning.
We even have the teens coming out to Bible Study faithfully…and bringing their friends!
As we continue in our time of weekly critical study, it is obvious to me that this group will be a very dangerous sect of Believers. They won’t be walking around talking about “Bless me indeed” and “enlarge my territory” while hiding behind sofas when the Jehovah Witnesses knock on their doors.
They’ll be walking around with a heightened awareness of how the revolutionary message of God’s love toward humanity was understood over the centuries and how it applies to their lives and responsibilities to community today.
This Bible Study is a Bad Mutha - Shut yo’ mouth! What? I’m only talking about the MOST DANGEROUS BIBLE STUDY IN BALTIMORE!
Be there!
Every Tuesday 7:00PM
Pleasant Hope Baptist Church
430 E. Belvedere Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21212
(410) 435-0851
Too tired right now, but my full take on this is forthcoming. Stay tuned.
This will probably go down as one of the top news stories of 2008 that you’ve never heard about. Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) presented articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush on June 9, 2008. (It’s amazing that as Kucinich is presenting the articles of Impeachment in this C-SPAN video, his colleagues are not just ignoring him, they’re carrying on in conversation as if he’s not even speaking!)
Mainstream media gave very little attention to it - if any at all - because as the Fourth Branch of the United States Government their job is to control what you think and what you are exposed to. The Democrats and the Republicans are not interested in initiating impeachment proceedings against Bush though for different reasons.
The Republicans, naturally, wouldn’t want a sitting Republican President to undergo the scrutiny that comes along with the process - doing damage to the party and its future prospects of political leadership.
The Democrats, strangely enough, don’t want to support impeachment of George Bush because with his historically low approval rating, participation in war crimes, inattention to domestic programs, and general malfeasance in office, he has become a political pinata that the Dems can hold up and rally the masses toward the polls with. They wish to use him as a springboard for their return to power and are less interested in being faithful to their constitutional duty. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has even said as far back as two years ago that impeachment was off the table.
Which reminded me of a conversation that Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance clergy had with a popular Maryland Congressman last summer. When one of the clergy mentioned the prospect of impeachment against Bush, the Congressman laughed in our faces. Therefore, they are culpable in this mess as well.
I caught up with Troy Johnson from 105.7FM (Baltimore) this past Saturday at the African American Men’s Health Conference and he let me know that Congressman Kucinich may be joining him on his radio show on Monday, June 23, 2008 10AM - 12NOON on 105.7FM to discuss his plans to impeach Bush. I will be tuning in and I hope you will as well.
A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by a reporter for The Dallas Observer Newspaper. He wanted my take on the then recent news regarding the new president of the NAACP. He had read the piece I did about this issue and wanted me to elaborate and provide some quotes for his article.
Unfortunately, he called me on a late Friday afternoon and needed my input before a Monday afternoon deadline. Well, I’m extremely suspicious of mainstream press these days because of recent mischaracterizations so I wouldn’t be rushed into an interview on the spot. Also, I’m quickly learning that weekends are extremely busy for Pastors so long story short we weren’t able to conduct a full interview before his deadline, however, he did pull some quotes from my blog.
His focus was on Dr. Freddy Haynes - one of the frontrunners for the position of President of the NAACP. The piece is entitled, “The Man Who Would be King” with the byline: “Freddy Haynes seemed a shoo-in to lead the NAACP. Then Obama’s Ex-Pastor came to town.”
Here is the reporter’s reference to me and the Faith in Action blog:
Not long after [the election of Benjamin Jealous as President], on blogs across the country, supporters of Haynes expressed their disappointment with the decision. Some wondered if NAACP chairman Julian Bond’s alleged support of Hillary Clinton had been a factor. Others wondered if Haynes was too polarizing a figure for the organization at a time in which it seemed a great possibility the United States would elect its first black president. Heber Brown III, a black liberation preacher in Baltimore, wondered on his blog, Faith in Action, if Haynes’ ties with Wright had been a problem for the board.
“It’s no secret that Haynes is a protégé of Wright and is doing a fantastic job continuing in the Black Liberation Theology tradition,” Brown wrote.
Click here to read the full Dallas Observer article with Faith in Action quote included. (Who knew that eventually this blog would bubble up to “mainstream” press?)
Speak your mind people. Let it out. This is your platform - your chance to say what I ain’t been saying…the stories that I missed…or just something that is really on your mind that you want to share with a boatload of folk. Have at it.
HAPPY OPEN THREAD FRIDAY!
According to the Baltimore City NAACP’s report card on the city delegation, Del. Jill P. Carter received a 95 out of 100 - the highest grade of all of her colleagues!
Without a doubt she is the principled freedom fighter that society usually celebrates only after they leave the scene.
However, I opt to give her her flowers while she can yet smell them so HAPPY BIRTHDAY Del. Carter and please continue to honor the legacy of your father and so many others who fought for positive social change for those on the margins of society.
With support from Africa Action, I sent Sen. Ben Cardin (MD) a note about Senate Bill 2166, a bill concerned with canceling Africa’s odious and crippling debt. Here’s his response:
Dear Mr. Brown:
Thank you for contacting me regarding your support for providing debt relief to poor, developing nations that have borrowed from the United States , other creditor governments, and international financial institutions.
I share your concern for highly indebted countries that are in desperate economic straits and unable to repay loans and honor other financial obligations. These nations must often commit large portions of their national budgets to servicing debt at the expense of human development and social programs. Senator Robert Casey, Jr. (D-PA) introduced S. 2166, the Jubilee Act, on October 16, 2007. The bill would cancel debt of eligible developing countries and would establish a framework for creditor transparency and responsible lending. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, of which I am a member.
While many countries have already paid off the principle debt , they continue to pay heavy interest. I share your belief that debt relief for impoverished nations will provide resources for desperately needed development initiatives and human services. Without the burden of debt, countries can better focus their efforts toward economic develo pment and poverty reduction .
Again, thank you for sharing your views. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance to you on this or any other matter.
An excerpt from a 1963 speech by Bro. Malcolm X entitled “God’s Judgement of White America.”
In this deceitful American game of power politics, the Negroes (i.e., the race problem, the integration and civil rights issues) are nothing but tools, used by one group of whites called Liberals against another group of whites called Conservatives, either to get into power or to remain in power.
Among whites here in America, the political teams are no longer divided into Democrats and Republicans. The whites who are now struggling for control of the American political throne are divided into “liberal” and “conservative” camps. The white liberals from both parties cross party lines to work together toward the same goal, and white conservatives from both parties do likewise.
The white liberal differs from the white conservative only in one way: the liberal is more deceitful than the conservative. The liberal is more hypocritical than the conservative.
Both want power, but the white liberal is the one who has perfected the art of posing as the Negro’s friend and benefactor; and by winning the friendship, allegiance, and support of the Negro, the white liberal is able to use the Negro as a pawn or tool in this political “football game” that is constantly raging between the white liberals and white conservatives.
Politically the American Negro is nothing but a football and the white liberals control this mentally dead ball through tricks of tokenism: false promises of integration and civil rights. In this profitable game of deceiving and exploiting the politics of the American Negro, those white liberals have the willing cooperation of the Negro civil rights leaders. These “leaders” sell out our people for just a few crumbs of token recognition and token gains. These “leaders” are satisfied with token victories and token progress because they themselves are nothing but token leaders….
