Faith in Action

Obama and the New World Order
by Rev. C. Solomon

I have been discoursing with purported members of Senator Obama’s political inner-circle. These individuals cannot see any conflict between Tavis Smiley’s outrage given that Senator Obama attended and spoke so gallantly (to defend Israel) at this Jewish conference, when on the other hand he snubbed the State of the Black Union Conference.

Many black Americans do not see a conflict between Obama’s politics as usual and his pledge to continue America’s venal and unbalanced support of Israel in deference to balancing the scales between Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah…! Some Americans have been duped into believing that Obama is simply playing possum, but once he gets elected Superman with his unfurled cape streaming in the wind is going to spring into action.

Folks, in my opinion, the reason that the USA is having so much turmoil and trouble with respect to Middle-Eastern and Near-Eastern nations, among other things, is its unfair and unbalanced support towards Israel against not only Hamas and Hezbollah but against other nations within close proximity like Syria, Iran…, and other nations that are at a greater distance!

America has pledged to destroy itself and its standing in the world right along with its 51st state, Israel. And even though American Christians have biblically inspired and romantic feelings toward the Israel of antiquity, the Israel of today was formulated, created and populated as a result of actions that took place in the UN in 1947/48. Much like it is within American leadership circles, many within Israel’s leadership ranks are nothing more than ungod-like natural born killers.

The Palestinian (Arab and Muslim Semitic people) were summarily evicted from their homelands and their homes, neighborhoods…., their homelands were turned over to the mixed European Jewish Diaspora who returned to Israel from European nations following WWII. When you hear Arabs and Muslims say that Israel does not have a right to exist, they base their opinions on the actions that were decided in the U.N. in 1947/48, having been pushed particularly by Great Britain, the USA and a few other nations. A nearly equal amount of nations abstained from the western backed insouciant injustice that took place in the United Nations in 1947/48.

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Call To Action: We Can’t Let Our Young People Starve
By Lynn Pinder

As I watched the news last night, I was moved by the actions of a group of young people from Baltimore who launched a hunger strike as a last effort to force the City of Baltimore to provide $3 million dollars in support of a youth initiative called Peer to Peer Enterprises that would employ older youth in Baltimore to tutor young children. These young warriors – the epitome of youth development - are dynamic, articulate, and engaged in a righteous fight for justice. Their actions and behavior are in direct contrast to another group of older youth who also made the news last night for their vicious attack against a young barbering student last week.

As I sat watching the two stories, the urgency in the demands of the young people participating in the hunger strike pulled my heart strings as did the response of our City leaders. I heard the following comments from our City leaders: “The money has been allocated. We don’t have $3 million dollars. We’re willing to work with the young people if they will compromise.” And I wondered why should our young people have to compromise? These young people are our leaders today. Why can’t we – the adults – figure out a way to invest in them?

Although the City of Baltimore may not have the funds to support another youth initiative, it has access to wealthy business partners who might contribute financial support if they were asked. Corporations, production companies, developers, and investors - like the Ritz-Carlton, Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse, Inc., the Marriott, Constellation Energy, the producers of the WIRE, and HBO - could easily write-off the expense of another youth initiative in Baltimore without it ever having to be a burden on the City’s “rainy day” budget.

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Yesterday I was on assignment to cover the Pennsylvania Primary for My Urban Report.com. I have to tell you that I am an Obama supporter, but I had our team out getting un-biased coverage of all candidates—we even reached out to the Republicans and interviewed a McCain supporter.

Our reporter, Adrienne Hall asked four questions:
1. Who do you support and why?

2. What issues are important to you in your decision to support the candidate?

3. Do you think the (mainstream)media has been doing a good (fair) job in covering the candidates and the issues?

4. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I thought these questions were fair and gave each side to present their case. The interesting thing that came across is that a majority of Hillary Clinton supporters wanted to know the questions in advance and where was this going to air and why where we there? Of course, you know where I am going—the race card. Yes, our crew was all black and one of our workers had a Barack shirt on at first, but I intentionally asked him to wear another one so people wouldn’t feel the bias. Does every African-America support Obama? No—we have evidence here when we interviewed Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs-Jones of Ohio. (see photo)

The interesting part was that most of the Obama supporters both white and black didn’t ask for the details of questions at all. Is there really a racial divide in our Democratic party and we are just too scared to talk about it—that is another blog post in itself, so I digress.

For those of you who are skeptical, I am looking to partner with a another production company out of Charlotte, North Carolina (who happens to have an all white crew) and they will ask the same questions and represent myurbanreport.com during the May 6 primary in North Carolina.

Chip Dizárd is the Co-Founder and Creative Director of Absolute Presence, a web site development firm that began in 2002. He has worked on many diverse projects and clients which include church and ministry web sites, political campaign, business and most recently in May of 2007 his firm designed and implemented the official web site of the City of Baltimore. Visit Absolute Presence today! (He’s also a blogger.)

Kevin A. Slayton, Sr. is a lobbyist with the Slayton Group, LLC and is pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at Howard University in Washington, DC. He currently resides in Baltimore, MD.

The Gospel and Black Culture: A Past Perspective Still Relevant

The modern concept of the “mega church” in African American faith communities is raising many interesting questions about authentic discipleship today. Urban ministries in Baltimore are developing influential ministries never before introduced into the fabric of church life, while creating a visibility deserving of federal scrutiny. But is the influence being used to change the lives and communities in which these churches exist or are they perpetuating a gospel damaging to the Kingdom of God. What is the cultural phenomenon of the “Mega-church” and the impact it has on the spreading of the Gospel to a community in need?

In most urban cities across the country exist three or more churches that fit the “mega church” model, Baltimore is not different. Most are defined by huge million dollar facilities with extravagant facades, large memberships and multiple worship services. Another staple of the mega-church is cloaked in the persona of its leadership. The mega-church pastor tends to be very theatrical, charismatic, flamboyant and verbose in his/her presentation. Granted those are the characteristics that will initially attract most parishioners in the first place, in addition to amazing music ministries. The rosters of many of these churches exceed five and six thousand active members. Ironically, many of them are located in communities where the average income is far below the median. The visual dichotomy presents a very interesting contrast between the pastor and parishioner, as well as, the temple and the average homes in the community. Despite the stark differences new members continue to flock to these congregations seeking some form of renewal and hope.

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