If we want the children to value the King Holiday; we must not only tell them of the Baptist preacher’s life and legacy, but we must also tell them how hard and long Black people and allies struggled to get the U.S. Government to honor him.

Enjoy the clip below.

November 2, 1983: President Reagan Approves MLK Holiday

State Senator C. Anthony Muse Speaks With Baltimore Clergy

On the same day that Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was being formerly inaugurated into the office of Mayor of Baltimore, State Senator C. Anthony Muse met with Baltimore clergy at First Apostolic Faith Church to share his ideas related to a potential run for U.S. Senate.

The Baltimore-native and and Prince George’s County Pastor currently is serving his second term as State Senator representing Maryland’s 26th Legislative District. 

In a room of nearly two dozen Baltimore-area clergy, Muse shared his concerns related to challenges in the country and specifically in the Black Community. He lamented the lackluster response to Black unemployment by those representing Maryland on Capitol Hill, and pledged that his priority as a U.S. Senator would center on job creation. In familiar clergy cadence, he also spoke about education, housing issues, and his vote against the redistricting plan which, he said, negatively impacts Maryland’s Black community resulting in the potential loss of millions of dollars.

It wasn’t lost on the clergy in attendance that the 42 million African Americans in this country don’t have one Black Senator to point to on Capitol Hill. In fact, as of 2011, only six African Americans have ever served as a U.S. Senator – with the first one, Rev. Hiram Revels, having a Baltimore connection as well. The historic undertones were and are clear.

That notwithstanding, defeating the incumbent in this race, Senator Ben Cardin would be a monumental feat for any challenger. Cardin, who has been in Maryland politics since 1967, has a long political track-record, firm name recognition, and the solidified support of the Jewish community of which he is a member. 

Thanks to his congressional staffer, Jerome Stephens, who is also a Baltimore minister, Cardin has relationships with Baltimore-area Black clergy as well – providing some with material and financial support for their various ministry outreach endeavors.  A reality that may keep some Baltimore clergy in Cardin’s camp.

The hinge on which this election may swing just may center on the question of whether the Black community will get solidly behind Muse as the Jewish community is solidly behind Cardin.  

Muse won’t likely win the fundraising contest, but if Blacks unite behind him, he has a real chance of becoming the next U.S. Senator of the United States – essentially representing not just Maryland’s Black Community, but being a voice at the table for Blacks across the Nation.

Perhaps this is why President Obama offered a very early endorsement of Senator Cardin.

In the 2006 U.S. Senate election, Cardin defeated Lt. Governor Michael Steele in the general election by 10 percentage points, but lost by wide margins in Baltimore City and Prince George’s County – Maryland’s most populous Black districts that are overwhelmingly democrat. Perhaps the more ominous numbers from the 2006 campaign are that Cardin only garnered 257,000 votes in the democratic primary against Kweisi Mfume. Since that time, upwards of 300,000 new Black voters have come on the rolls in Maryland – most in 2008 to support then-candidate Obama for president. These same voters are more likely to return to the polls in the presidential election of 2012 to vote on a ballot that in addition to Obama, may also have C. Anthony Muse’s name on it.

What does all of this mean? Well, it means that a strong Black candidate with solidified and enthusiastic support from the Black community has a real chance of defeating Senator Ben Cardin and making history for the Black community once again on April 3, 2012 – the date of the Primary Election.

The Black Community will not only have the opportunity to send a Black Man back to the White House as president, but to send a Black Man to the Senate too.

This should be quite an interesting race.

Jim Wallis, Founder of Sojourner Magazine

Jim Wallis writes a thought-provoking article about the “end” of the Iraq War entitled, It’s Finally Over – and it was Wrong.”

It made me think about the first time I was arrested for direct action and civil disobedience in protest of the military invasion and occupation of Iraq four years ago. The action was planned and promoted in large measure by the Sojourner’s community. I kept the cuffs that restrained me that cold night so that I can show my sons that sometimes living with convictions will cost you something.

But Wallis’ article on Iraq also pricked something else in me. It made me think of the ever-expanding U.S. military action now under President Obama. The same convictions that catapulted me to the White House in protest four years ago are the same ones that critique this president. Obama is not above critique and is NOT greater than the foundational spiritual tenets that I embrace as a follower of Jesus. Here is the comment that bubbled up from my soul onto Wallis’ website in response to his article:

Great article, Jim.

I marched with you and others during the Christian Peace Witness for Iraq in March 2007.

Reading how you rightly described the distortions and lies that justified war in Iraq under Bush made me think of the lies spewed to justify military action in Libya, Uganda, and other parts of the world under Obama.

I didn’t march in 2007 against a republican president. I marched because I embrace the ethic of the Prince of Peace and am co-laboring with others to experience the Beloved Community. With the American military empire spreading now under a democratic president; I believe it’s time for another gathering and mobilization of people of Faith.

To march when Bush calls for war and withhold from marching when Obama expands war across the world threatens our credibility as people whose “citizenship is in Heaven.” It’s easy to stand for conviction when it’ll be embraced and applauded (as it was under Bush). It takes a greater level of resolve to act on convictions when it won’t be popular and will cost us something.

The Church is in danger of losing its voice.

Time to Blow the Trumpet,

Pastor Heber Brown, III
Baltimore, MD

And it is there – in the gap between people’s needs and available municipal resources that Mountain Christian Church in Bel Air, Maryland is actively making a difference.

As a subscriber to their church e-newsletter (yes, pastors subscribe to other church newsletters all the time!), I received the note from Pastor Ben before Hurricane Irene hit Maryland. Like most Houses of Prayer in the area; Pastor Ben was sending out an update to the congregation about worship services that weekend. However, after informing readers that worship would be cancelled; he wrote something that excited my spirit. His message read in part:

Often I write an enote urging you to COME to church. That’s what you expect from a preacher, right? “Go to church!” But this weekend, I have a different message for you.
This weekend, DON’T GO TO CHURCH. Instead, BE the church!

Storms like this can bring people together, build community, and create ministry opportunities – a chance for us to rain down big time blessings on others, to help them see the real heart of Jesus’ people. Be thinking how you can build relationships with neighbors through this.

Pastor Ben redirected the attention and energy of his congregation from church service to…well – church service. Calling this initiative Operation Irene; he gave his parishioners ideas on how to serve others before, during, and after the storm like opening their homes to the elderly so they don’t have to ride out the storm alone, anticipating school closures and offering to help parents with childcare arrangements after the storm, and buying extra supplies (water, flashlights, etc.) to share with neighbors.

On top of all of that, the church set up a phone number that people could call to request help with removing debris and cutting trees after the storm. They have a ministry called Bodybuilders – “a construction/repair ministry…made up of teams of people with different skills who are prepared to work on a number of different building projects.”

Sharing their post-Irene storm assistance number on their website and other outlets, people could call on the church to come help clear away damage and secure homes. Word is that even their county government and even the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was giving out the church number for those needing help within the neighborhood of that church!

With all the criticism that the Christian Church receives in the world (a lot of it much deserved!); it’s great to see churches like this extending themselves beyond themselves to make a difference for somebody.

Shout out to Pastor Ben and the Mountain Christian Family!

Click this link to read their full letter of response [link opens pdf file]

Photo by Rich Dennison/The Daily Record

That’s the question I would ask Donald Fry (pictured), head of the influential Greater Baltimore Committee and Governor-appointed Chair of the Video Lottery Facility Location Commission.

The Baltimore Business Journal reported last week that the 7 member commission voted to “ease” [read: ignore] state requirements which would call for 25% of the casino construction project to go to MBE (minority-business enterprise) or WBE (women-business enterprise) certified firms. Likewise, successful licensees won’t have to bother with the Baltimore City requirement that calls for 37% minority-owned or woman-owned business participation either.

Apparently, it’s just that easy to make a state and city requirement – “optional.”

The interim-Mayor of Baltimore, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, didn’t seem to know that the Video Lottery Facility Location Commission “eased” the MBE/WBE requirement on the city slots construction project when she was asked about it on the Marc Steiner Show on the evening of Thursday, August 18th – the day after the controversial vote. However, she did say that she takes the MBE/WBE goals very seriously and that many bidding firms are disqualified if their proposals don’t meet them.

Despite her proclaimed convictions related to including minorities and women in state contracts, it’s doubtful that she’ll challenge the ruling of the slots commission given that she’s in the midst of a contentious election and the head of the commission was chosen by her political ally, Governor Martin O’Malley.

She’ll take one for the team on this one.

However, The Baltimore City branch of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) isn’t laying down so quietly. In the following open letter, Rev. C.D. Witherspoon, President of the Baltimore Branch of the SCLC, challenged Mr. Fry to explain why the state MBE/WBE requirements were removed from the city casino construction project:

Rev. Cortly “C.D.” Witherspoon, Sr.
President,
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
Baltimore City Chapter

The recent political endorsement of current Mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, by the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance has caused quite a stir and rightly so. Mayoral candidate, Senator Cathy Pugh in disrupting the endorsement forum last week at Friendship Baptist Church did more than reveal an egregious departure from tradition and fair process that would have allowed all candidates to vie for the IMA’s endorsement; her action pulled back the covers on an organization that has lost its way.

Like many civil rights-era organizations; the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance is struggling to find its footing in a world that is vastly different from the one which it knew in its heyday. In its prime, the Alliance was a force to deal with particularly between the ’50′s – ’70′s especially – addressing pressing matters over the years like employment for African Americans and social justice for the most vulnerable in Baltimore. The Alliance demanded respect from political leaders and helped to secure much needed legislation and programs for those who otherwise had no voice with the powerbrokers. Its strength was, in part, found within the strong personalities that served as magnetic forces attracting other pastors and concerned residents to, as James Brown would say, “get up, get into it, and get involved.”

However, the IMA is now far past its prime and struggling to regain its vigor.

The endorsement forum last week caused a tremendous blow to the credibility of the organization and its debatable as to whether or not the Alliance can fully recover if things remain the same. The endorsement of Stephanie Rawlings-Blake by the Alliance should be thrown out and summarily disregarded by the public. It did not represent the input of the full membership and many clergy members did not even know that it was scheduled to take place. Furthermore, the endorsement is deficient because it was not predicated upon alignment with any clear IMA agenda.

The truth is that the endorsement was just the first public example of the Alliance’s struggles. For at least the past 4 years, the Alliance has been faltering. It’s leadership process is questionable and its public action is largely symbolic and absent of substance or follow up. It has no agenda to hold anyone accountable to and its past-strength was wrapped around larger-than-life clergy personalities and through the example of Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. and others we’ve seen that that model is not sustainable for the longterm. The membership has shriveled from 250 active members at one point to now just about 10-15 pastors (a good number of them retired) who regularly come to the monthly meetings.

Despite the current troubles of the IMA; as a past Vice President of the group, I believe that there is still hope for the organization. Not only do I believe that, but I pray for a revival of the group. The legacy of the IMA is too rich and too important to the history of Baltimore to discard now just because it has made a very public mistake. Should the Alliance be held accountable? Most definitely and it deserves every bit of criticism that it has received because of the endorsement “process.”  However, there’s an old saying: “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.” Anybody who wonders about the irrevocable importance of the IMA should read books like Harold McDougall’s Black Baltimore: A New Theory of Community or pay a visit to the Reginald F. Lewis Museum or the African American Department at the Enoch Pratt Central Library and review the burgeoning vertical files which detail the commendable actions of this group over the years.

No people of sound mind would throw away such a magnificent aspect of their story on the timeline of history.

Nevertheless things do need to change with the Alliance if it wants to be around in a meaningful way for the next generation and for this city. If the bulk of your accomplishments can only be found in museums and libraries, then that should be a sign that the health of the organization is suspect. Here are a few of my recommendations related to how the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance can be revived and revitalized.

1. The IMA should shelve its practice of endorsing candidates for office at this time.

An endorsement is based on the strength of the endorsers connection with a constituency. Many would argue that these clergy-activist have become disconnected from those whom they ultimately purport to represent so the endorsement doesn’t mean much in the end.

2. The IMA should go on a Listening Tour to decipher a clear agenda that is connected to the community

Preachers are used to talking. We’re celebrated and compensated for our oratorical ability. However, there comes a time when listening is preferred and needed. The IMA says it speaks for the “voiceless,” but if it sits and listens, it just might find out that the “voiceless” do have a voice worth paying attention to. Go listen and from what you hear, craft an agenda for this time.

3. The IMA should re-introduce itself to Baltimore

Most people 45 and under have little clue about who the IMA is and what it has been about. It can’t just rely on the seniors to remember their heyday. They must educate those who weren’t around during its prime. It’s hard to appreciate a history that you know nothing about. In partnership with the Great Black in Wax Museum, the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, Universities, and others; the IMA should travel to various churches and other sites around the city presenting on its history and having its past members/leadership talk about the triumphs and challenges of the group.

4. The IMA should reconsider the makeup of its membership

There was a time when preachers were more likely to be the most respected and educated members of the Black community. However, that has changed. There are so many lay people (non-clergy) who have degrees, experiences, insight, and education that need to be involved with partnering with the clergy to address pressing concerns. Currently, the IMA is made up of just clergy. Perhaps it’s time to change that.

5. The IMA should dedicate resources to an aggressive recruitment campaign to attract younger members

Many organizations are struggling to attract younger professionals to its ranks. Sometimes this is because the organization really doesn’t want young people involved and other times they just want young people to be tokens for their group photo. Young professionals will not tolerate either. They’ll much rather go and start their own organization with their peers than to partner with elders who patronize them. IMA is overwhelmingly made up of clergy 55 and older. If nothing changes and you add 15 years to the current active members; the IMA will be in an even worse state of decline if it exists at all! Young professionals (clergy and otherwise) need to be engaged, invited, and welcomed into meaningful leadership roles within the group. They need to help cast vision for today and tomorrow and be empowered to provide the tools needed to be effective in todays world. The fact that the IMA doesn’t have a website, facebook page, or twitter account should be sign enough that it needs the expertise and energy of youth.

I love the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance. It has been an invaluable resource to the development of this preacher and I’m a better pastor today because of the group. However, it has lost its way and now the question is will the leadership do what’s necessary to revive this spectacular association of social justice-minded clergy.

I pray so, but only time will tell.

For the past maybe 15 years, those of us in the Black Church tradition have jointly witnessed the rise of ecclesial bodies and newly ordained bishops in denominations that theretofore did not engage in such practice. I still remember being a host of a Baltimore-based, two-way talk radio show some years ago and engaging in passionate dialogue with listeners around the question of where all these bishops are coming from.

I must admit that initially I was rather critical of what I was seeing. It seemed like everyone was jumping to be a bishop of something and many times that something was a group that they created. Even the word “bishop” was losing currency with me and many others even as some scrambled for even “higher” titles like “Apostle”. It seemed like people where grabbing these titles to prop themselves up instead of in the spirit of serving others.

And while some of that is still around; with the advent of the Joint College of African American Pentecostal Bishops and other similar groups; this movement has matured and gained some structure. While you still have people jumping up claiming that they’re bishops or “bishop-elects” – now there is stronger credentialing infrastructure and “quality controls.”

I’ve come to appreciate this development as a move to bring about higher levels of order and accountability. I don’t make such a big fuss anymore about bishops and ecclesial bodies, but my main concern is to ensure that even bishops are in accountable relationships. And while it’s rare to see bishops publicly held accountable, it should be appreciated – even by the critics – when it does happen.

And this month it happened.

For nearly a year, Bishop Eddie Long has been embroiled in legal proceedings related to allegations of sexual abuse by four young men whom he claimed as mentees and spiritual sons. It has been an ugly mess – a mess that Long has only stirred up more by first pledging to fight the allegations in court and then reaching an out-of-court settlement last month. Understandably, many are confused by the turnaround and seeking an explanation.

While some pastors are attempting to quickly jump to the message of forgiveness; the one who ordained Long as a bishop has a special message for his spiritual son: REPENT!

Claiming that Long doesn’t take his calls anymore, Bishop Paul S. Morton, founder of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship, made his feelings on the matter public in a recent message at his Atlanta church. Urging Long not to ignore the situation hoping that it will go away, Bishop Morton stressed that Long’s church, his supporters, and the Body of Christ at Large deserve to hear something that will make way for repentance, forgiveness, and ultimately edification.

Click here for Bishop Paul Morton’s full message:

The Honorable Marcus Garvey

Tributes, websites, songs, poems, and scholarships dedicated to The Honorable Marcus Garvey can be found all over the internet – and deservedly so. Marcus Mosiah Garvey, (August 18, 1887 – June 10, 1940) the Jamaican-born, Pan Africanist organizer made tremendous impact in this world – the reverbs of which many of us are still feeling to this day.

Even as many are currently marveling at the populist uprising and revolution in Egypt which saw an overwhelming number of Egyptians descend on Tahrir Square and other sites demanding the right to determine their own destiny; it should be noted that under the banner of the United Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League, Garvey organized hundreds of thousands of Africans all over the world in the 1920′s and had upwards of 700 chapters situated in cities throughout the U.S., the West Indies, Canada, and Europe….all this without facebook, twitter, a website, or the reach of a 24/7 news cycle!

As a Pan Africanist, Garvey traveled the world casting the vision of a unified African nation that could pull up to the table of nations as an equal with the European, the Asian, and the Arab nations. He said, “What we want is an independent African nationality, and if America is to help the Negro peoples of the world establish such a nationality, then we welcome the assistance. It is hoped that when the time comes for American and West Indian Negroes to settle in Africa, they will realize their responsibility and their duty. It will not be to go to Africa for the purpose of exercising an over-lordship over the natives, but it shall be the purpose of the Universal Negro Improvement Association to have established in Africa that brotherly cooperation which will make the interests of the African native and the American and West Indian Negro one and the same, that is to say, we shall enter into a common partnership to build up Africa in the interest of our race.”

Being more than just a man of great oratory; Garvey made good on his words by incorporating The Black Star Line, a shipping line intended to be used for the transport of goods and eventually American Africans to our Ancestral Homeland. This along with his other business ventures including the Negro World newspaper and the Negro Factories Corporation underscored the need for African people not just to be rhetorical revolutionaries, but to be actively engaged in building institutions that will aid in the practical liberation of African people.

His example has extreme significance for Africans today – where ever we are found – who profess a commitment to advocating within the African community. We must honestly face the question every day of how are we organizing amongst our people and what are we actively building (in an institutional sense) to the benefit of our people. It’s not good enough to have charismatic personalities and a “way with words” that stir audiences with glee and feigned courage. We must come to grips with the reality of our mortality and understand that per Dr. Carter G. Woodson, our people don’t need any more leaders. They need servants. They also don’t need any more speeches. We need brick and mortar! We need to establish institutions that will long outlive us.

However, there is an angle on Marcus Garvey that is largely overlooked by the “conscious” community and unfortunately ignored by the Faith community. It is that Marcus Garvey was a Christian. Not just a “church goer”, but a passionate disciple of The Christ. His Christmas and Easter sermons recorded in The Philosophy & Opinions of Marcus Garvey by Amy Jacques Garvey make clear the convictions of his Christian Faith. And the way he made sense of his persecution toward the end of his public service, sheds light on how he didn’t just worship The Christ as caricature or a kind of blessed bobble-head, but he sought to emulate the public ministry of Jesus as well – which he realized included crucifixion. But it is not just his convictions that are clear, but it is the way that he viewed God that is of particular interest.

The theology of Marcus Garvey built upon the Faith perspectives of other Black Nationalist and Pan African Christians like Rev. Edward W. Blyden, Pastor Henry Highland Garnet, Bishop Henry McNeal Turner, David Walker, and many others. Garvey advocated the position that African people should view God through “their own spectacles” giving credence to the position that our overstanding and interpretation of The Divine would either injure or empower us.

With this in mind, it is the position of this writer that by and large, too many Christian ministries today don’t embrace a theology grounded in a Pan African or Black Nationalist construct – opting instead to champion an understanding of God that is promulgated by those outside of our community who don’t have the best interest of African people at heart nor should they be expected to!

It is not the responsibility of Joyce Meyers, John Hagee, or Joel Osteen to produce a practical Pan Africanist theology for Black Christians today. The academics of the African community have already provided much in the way of scholarship around this and the task for African Christians today is to study both historical and contemporary expressions of a Pan Africanist Christian Theology and going on from there then to contextualize what we observe to our local setting. The preponderance of blighted, poverty-stricken, crime-ridden, exploited Black communities bereft of political, economic, and educational vitality across this nation speaks, in part, to the negligence of Christian leaders to craft an understanding of God in light of ourselves that will help lift and strengthen us to stand in the storm of global, institutionalized racism.

Listen as Garvey outlines a Pan Africanist theological framework in this excerpt and note its differences from the popular Black sermonic positions of today:

“I repeat that God created you masters of your own destiny, masters of your own fate, and you can pay no higher tribute to your Divine Master than function as man, as [God] created you. The highest compliment we can pay to our Creator; the highest respect we can pay to our risen Lord and Savior, is that of feeling that [God] as created us as His masterpiece; His perfect instruments of His own existence, because in us is reflected the very being of God…and when we allow ourselves to be subjected and create others as our superior, we hurl an insult at our Creator who made us in the fullness of ourselves.” [SOURCE]

The Honorable Marcus Garvey presents a model of Christianity that Christian pastors and ministries would do well to study, reflect upon, and employ today. To fully appreciate the broad spectrum of ways that African people have embraced and utilized this great Faith; we need to make more room in our ministries, in our Sunday Schools, and in our sermons to highlight alternative examples of Christian practice that are no less meaningful than the profiles and personalities that we regularly feature. I am of the belief that the more Marcus Garvey and others become staples in the ethos of Black Churches; the more we will be prepared to experience transformative ministries springing from behind the walls of our sacred sanctuaries and reaching out to the children of Africa both on the Continent and in the Diaspora.

Contact:
Rev. Heber Brown, III
Vice President
Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance
pastor@pleasanthope.org

IMA Condemns Attack On African American Youth By Group of Jewish Men

Baltimore, MD, December 2, 2010 — The Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance condemns the attack of the 15-year-old youth by a group of Jewish men on November 19th in the Upper Park Heights Community. Wanton violence is unacceptable. We welcome the opportunity to meet with youth and all responsibly-actioned citizens of decency, dignity, and goodwill. We will not stand by and allow our children to be victimized by over zealous violent fringe groups such as Shomrim.

We also are concerned that the incident is only now coming to public attention. We look forward to receiving the full investigative report, which we expect to be immediately forthcoming from the Baltimore City Police Department. We wish to see all of the offenders prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. There is no place for vigilantism in a civil society lest we all perish.

The Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance is an historic federation of clergy-activist across the Baltimore Metro area, which advocates in solidarity with marginalized communities both locally and globally.
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