Thabiti Anyabwile Shows, by the Grace of God, an Amazing Display of the Christ-like Spirit When in Fact, He, a Black Man, Took on the Sins of Many White Men and Apologized to a White Woman for the Hurt They Caused Her. Doggone It! We Might Have Revival Around Here in a Minute!
Thabiti Anyabwile
Sister Beth Moore needs to publicly hear from some prominent white brothersâand not Ed Stetzer and Russell Moore. The truth of the matter is, we doubt if Thabiti Anyabwile is guilty of what Beth Moore is dealing with in her âLetter to My Brothers.â And we know Russell Moore and Ed Stetzer are not. She needs to hear this from others. We do not know Thabiti Anyabwile personally, and he will not say this, but one of the reasons he was one of the first to respond to Beth Mooreâs letter is because what she is saying in the letter sounds so familiar to a black, believing Christian who tries to fellowship with white evangelical Christians as a servant leader. Nobody likes feeling marginalized and dismissed, and thatâs how many black Christian servant leaders feel among conservative evangelical Christiansâjust like Beth Moore. So maybe even Thabiti Anyabwile, Dwight McKissic Sr., and Tony Evans ought to receive an apology from somebody.
Anyway, here is Thabiti Anyabwileâs Christ-like response to Sister Beth Moore:
An Apology to Beth Moore and My Sisters
Today Beth Moore penned a poignant letter to her brothers in Christ in which she points out the sinful root at the bottom of a lot of male attitudes toward women in general and women in ministry specifically. It deserves a wide and genuinely prayerful reading.
I read it with a broken heart. Not merely because I was moved by what she described of her treatment and because I recognize some of what she described among some Christian brothers and leaders. I am broken-hearted because I recognize something of the attitude in me, and I recognize that I have had that attitude in years past toward Beth, though I didnât know her and hadnât spent any time reading her materials.
Dear Beth, if you read this, I need to confess and ask your forgiveness.
I first became aware of your ministry when I was a young Christian in the late-1990s. Christian women around me were often expressing how blessed they were by your ministry, how much they learned from you, and how they felt seen as a consequence of your ministry. I was happy for them but not at all aware of how much they were really telling me about what it meant to be a Christian womanâhow invisible and underfed that experience could be.
Some years later, I thought I had learned a few things. By then, I had become a âcomplementarian,â though my understanding of that view wasnât deep. I had picked up the attitudeâthe patronizing and chauvinistic attitudeâof some professing âcomplementarians.â My heart met nearly every mention of a woman in ministry with a scoff and the suspicion that that woman did not understand or accept the Bibleâs teaching on gender roles.
That scoffing attitude and that instinctive suspicion grew stronger in me. Hereâs where I need to ask your forgiveness most. Not knowing you personally and having not read or watched you teach, I passed along that suspicion and doubt to others in my pastoral care. I didnât say much about you with words. I canât recall saying anything about you as a person. But with a raised eye brow, a shrugged shoulder, a âhmmmâ before a redirecting sentence, I passed along what was in my heart, the sinful attitude rooted in the very misogyny and chauvinism you describe in your post. If we communicate most in non-verbal ways, then Iâm afraid Iâve âsaidâ a lot about you, and I have slandered you.
And I have let others slander you. Iâve been in rooms where your name was mentioned with disparaging tone. And rather than ask a few basic questions (how do you know this about her, do you have any evidence you can point us to, and so on), I said and did nothing. I wasnât any different from Saul standing by holding clothes while Stephen was stoned.
I know your open letter isnât about you alone. Itâs about you along with the scores of women who have suffered the same with less notoriety and resources than you have. And while I know your post doesnât pretend to describe the universal experience of women, I also know that my attitudes and actions (or lack thereof) have affected more women than I know.
Over the last 18 months, my heart has grown even sicker with grief as Iâve watched you valiantly stand with African Americans in our complaints and concern about treatment in the world and sometimes in the church. Iâve been astounded at how the Lord has used you and how much you have courageously risked to stand with us and to join the conversation. You did it all with no promise of an âup sideâ or reward but because convinced by Scripture you thought it was right. As weâve interacted online, youâve been used of the Lord to heal a good number of things in my heart that youâre not even aware of. Iâm still set free by an interaction between you and Ray Ortlund, an interaction thatâs allowed me to return to blogging and lean into some things I was pretty hopeless about. For that, youâve earned my deepest respect and admiration and profound gratitude. You have been far kinder to me than I deserve. Your kindness has heaped coals on this poor sinnerâs head.
So, I want very much to ask your forgiveness.
I want to admit my sin publicly, because my sins have affected a wider public than I know. I donât want to pass under the radar hoping others might afford me the benefit of the doubt or because they might appreciate something else about me might put me in the category of men you so graciously say youâre not addressing.
I want to accept responsibility for my action and inaction without qualification. There are no âif,â âand,â or âbutâ statements to justify or excuse my wrong. I only wish I could describe my wrongs more fully and forcefully, because it is displeasing before the Lord. I do not wish to be the Pharisee thanking God that I am not like some brothers I imagine to be worse than I am. Thereâs no relativizing my sin; I accept responsibility for my wrong here.
I want to acknowledge the hurt Iâve caused. I cannot imagine what itâs like to share an elevator or a car with men who would not even acknowledge you. I didnât do that to you, but Iâve certainly contributed to that kind of treatment by failing to advocate for my sisters and to challenge such things among men. I am grieved that I have damaged your reputation among others.
If this means we cannot have a relationship, I accept the consequences. I will have been the one who broke trust and failed to love and protect my sisters and you specifically.
I do now commit to being a more outspoken champion for my sisters and for you personally. Not that you need me to be but because it is right. I hope, with Godâs help, to grow in sanctification, especially with regards to any sexism, misogyny, chauvinism, and the like that has used biblical teaching as a cover for its growth.
Dear Beth, and all my sisters, I hope you will forgive me.
Thabiti Anyabwile Shows, by the Grace of God, an Amazing Display of the Christ-like Spirit When in Fact, He, a Black Man, Took on the Sins of Many White Men and Apologized to a White Woman for the Hurt They Caused Her. Doggone It! We Might Have Revival Around Here in a Minute! was originally published on BCNN1 - Black Christian News Network
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With "A Letter to My Brothers," Prophetess Beth Moore Will be Remembered in Church History With the Likes of Martin Luther King Jr., Billy Graham, Anne Graham-Lotz, and Other Church Leaders
I think I can speak for many of us when I say we are neither interested in reducing or seducing our brothers. âBeth Moore
Beth Moore came out of her prayer closet one day and wrote a document akin to Martin Luther King Jr.âs âLetter From A Birmingham Jail.â By the grace of God, she showed the courage of Billy Graham, the eloquence of Martin Luther King Jr., and the authority and fierceness of Anne Graham-Lotz.
I long for the dayâhave asked for the dayâwhen we can sit in round table discussions to consider ways we might best serve and glorify Christ as the family of God, deeply committed to the authority of the Word of God and to the imitation of Christ. âBeth Moore
One of the reasons the letter is so great is because she was extremely careful not to do the whiny, pity-party thing that unfortunately is so common in some women. No, she stood flat-footed, if you will, and delivered with authority what the church needed to hear. Beth Moore, all of the pain you have endured has brought you âto such a time as this.â
Here is the document that will be read in church history books long after Beth Moore has left her death bed.
A Letter to My Brothers
Dear Brothers in Christ,
A few years ago I told my friend, Ed Stetzer, that, whenever he hears the news that Iâm on my deathbed, heâs to elbow his way through my family members to interview me about what itâs been like to be a female leader in the conservative Evangelical world. He responded, âWhy canât we do it before then?â
âBecause you know good and well what will happen,â I answered. âIâll get fried like a chicken.â After recent events following on the heels of a harrowing eighteen months, Iâve decided fried chicken doesnât sound so bad.
I have been a professing Evangelical for decades and, at least in my sliver of that world, a conservative one. I was a cradle role Southern Baptist by denomination with an interdenominational ministry. I walked the aisle to receive Christ as my Savior at 9 years old in an SBC church and exactly nine years later walked the aisle in another SBC church to surrender to a vocational calling. Being a woman called to leadership within and simultaneously beyond those walls was complicated to say the least but I worked within the system. After all, I had no personal aspirations to preach nor was it my aim to teach men. If men showed up in my class, I did not throw them out. I taught. But my unwavering passion was to teach and to serve women.
I lack adequate words for my gratitude to God for the pastors and male staff members in my local churches for six decades who have shown me such love, support, grace, respect, opportunity and often out right favor. They alongside key leaders at LifeWay and numerous brothers elsewhere have no place in a larger picture Iâm about to paint for you. They have brought me joy and kept me from derailing into cynicism and chronic discouragement amid the more challenging dynamics.
As a woman leader in the conservative Evangelical world, I learned early to show constant pronounced deference â not just proper respect which I was glad to show â to male leaders and, when placed in situations to serve alongside them, to do so apologetically. I issued disclaimers ad nauseam. I wore flats instead of heels when I knew Iâd be serving alongside a man of shorter stature so I wouldnât be taller than he. Iâve ridden elevators in hotels packed with fellow leaders who were serving at the same event and not been spoken to and, even more awkwardly, in the same vehicles where I was never acknowledged. Iâve been in team meetings where I was either ignored or made fun of, the latter of which I was expected to understand was all in good fun. I am a laugher. I can take jokes and make jokes. I know good fun when Iâm having it and I also know when Iâm being dismissed and ridiculed. I was the elephant in the room with a skirt on. Iâve been talked down to by male seminary students and held my tongue when I wanted to say, âBrother, I was getting up before dawn to pray and to pore over the Scriptures when you were still in your pull ups.â
Some will inevitably argue that the disrespect was not over gender but over my lack of formal education but that, too, largely goes back to issues of gender. Where was a woman in my generation and denomination to get seminary training to actually teach the Scriptures? I hoped it would be an avenue for me and applied and was accepted to Southwestern Seminary in 1988. After a short time of making the trek across Houston while my kids were in school, of reading the environment and coming to the realization of what my opportunities would and would not be, I took a different route. I turned to doctrine classes and tutors, read stacks of books and did my best to learn how to use commentaries and other Bible research tools. My road was messy but it was the only reasonable avenue open to me.
Anyone out in the public eye gets pelted with criticism. Itâs to be expected, especially in our social media culture, and those who canât stand the heat need to get out of the kitchen. What is relevant to this discussion is that, several years ago when I got publically maligned for being a false teacher by a segment of hyper-fundamentalists based on snippets taken out of context and tied together, I inquired whether or not theyâd researched any of my Bible studies to reach those conclusions over my doctrine, especially the studies in recent years. The answer was no. Why? They refused to study what a woman had taught. Meanwhile no few emails circulated calling pastors to disallow their women to do my âhereticalâ studies. Exhausting. God was and is and will always be faithful. He is sovereign and all is grace. He can put us out there and pull us back as He pleases. Ours is to keep our heads down and seek Him earnestly and serve Him humbly
I have accepted these kinds of challenges for all of these years because they were simply part of it and because opposition and difficulties are norms for servants of Christ. Iâve accepted them because I love Jesus with my whole heart and will serve Him to the death. God has worked all the challenges for good as He promises us He will and, even amid the frustrations and turmoil, I would not trade lives with a soul on earth. Even criticism, as much as we all hate it, is used by God to bring correction, endurance and humility and to curb our deadly addictions to the approval of man.
I accepted the peculiarities accompanying female leadership in a conservative Christian world because I chose to believe that, whether or not some of the actions and attitudes seemed godly to me, they were rooted in deep convictions based on passages from 1 Timothy 2 and 1 Corinthians 14.
Then early October 2016 surfaced attitudes among some key Christian leaders that smacked of misogyny, objectification and astonishing disesteem of women and it spread like wildfire. It was just the beginning. I came face to face with one of the most demoralizing realizations of my adult life: Scripture was not the reason for the colossal disregard and disrespect of women among many of these men. It was only the excuse. Sin was the reason. Ungodliness.
This is where I cry foul and not for my own sake. Most of my life is behind me. I do so for sake of my gender, for the sake of our sisters in Christ and for the sake of other female leaders who will be faced with similar challenges. I do so for the sake of my brothers because Christlikeness is at stake and many of you are in positions to foster Christlikeness in your sons and in the men under your influence. The dignity with which Christ treated women in the Gospels is fiercely beautiful and it was not conditional upon their understanding their place.
About a year ago I had an opportunity to meet a theologian Iâd long respected. Iâd read virtually every book heâd written. Iâd looked so forward to getting to share a meal with him and talk theology. The instant I met him, he looked me up and down, smiled approvingly and said, âYou are better looking than _________________________________.â He didnât leave it blank. He filled it in with the name of another woman Bible teacher.
These examples may seem fairly benign in light of recent scandals of sexual abuse and assault coming to light but the attitudes are growing from the same dangerously malignant root. Many women have experienced horrific abuses within the power structures of our Christian world. Being any part of shaping misogynistic attitudes, whether or not they result in criminal behaviors, is sinful and harmful and produces terrible fruit. It also paints us continually as weak-willed women and seductresses. I think I can speak for many of us when I say we are neither interested in reducing or seducing our brothers.
The irony is that many of the men who will give consideration to my concerns do not possess a whit of the misogyny coming under the spotlight. For all the times youâve spoken up on our behalf and for the compassion youâve shown in response to âMe too,â please know you have won our love and gratitude and respect.
John Bisagno, my pastor for almost thirty years, regularly said these words: âI have most often seen that, when the people of God are presented with the facts, they do the right thing.â I was raised in ministry under his optimism and, despite many challenges, have not yet recovered from it. For this reason I write this letter with hope.
Iâm asking for your increased awareness of some of the skewed attitudes many of your sisters encounter. Many churches quick to teach submission are often slow to point out that women were also among the followers of Christ (Luke 8), that the first recorded word out of His resurrected mouth was âwomanâ (John 20:15) and that same woman was the first evangelist. Many churches wholly devoted to teaching the household codes are slow to also point out the numerous women with whom the Apostle Paul served and for whom he possessed obvious esteem. We are fully capable of grappling with the tension the two spectrums create and we must if weâre truly devoted to the whole counsel of Godâs Word.
Finally, Iâm asking that you would simply have no tolerance for misogyny and dismissiveness toward women in your spheres of influence. Iâm asking for your deliberate and clearly conveyed influence toward the imitation of Christ in His attitude and actions toward women. Iâm also asking for forgiveness both from my sisters and my brothers. My acquiescence and silence made me complicit in perpetuating an atmosphere in which a damaging relational dynamic has flourished. I want to be a good sister to both genders. Every paragraph in this letter is toward that goal.
I am grateful for the privilege to be heard. I long for the day â have asked for the day â when we can sit in roundtable discussions to consider ways we might best serve and glorify Christ as the family of God, deeply committed to the authority of the Word of God and to the imitation of Christ. I am honored to call many of you friends and deeply thankful to you for your devotion to Christ. I see Him so often in many of you.
In His great name,
Beth
Because of some of the things Beth Moore brought out in her âA Letter to My Brothers,â the president and owner of the parent company of BCNN1, Daniel Whyte III, led by God, took the liberty to change the Apostleâs Creed and the Nicene Creed.
Baptist Preacher and Gospel Light Society President, Daniel Whyte III, Updates the Apostlesâ Creed to Better Reflect Important Details of Jesusâ Resurrection
Daniel Whyte III, who happens to be a Baptist preacher, but who, for nearly thirty years, has read the Apostlesâ Creed in family devotions with his wife and seven children, has taken the liberty to update it for the first time in hundreds of years.
According to the Lexham Bible Dictionary, âThe Apostlesâ Creed seems to represent some form of what the early church called the ârule of faith.â The early Christians were guided by the ârule of faith,â the Holy Spirit working in community and individuals, and the authoritative Scriptures. Before the ârule of faithâ was called such, there were general references to the teachings and traditions of the apostles. It is these core teachings that make up the Apostlesâ Creed. Signs of these âcore teachingsâ are seen as early as the New Testament book of Hebrews, which speaks of a need for Christians to grasp and embrace the basic concepts of faith so that they can move into deeper parts of their Christian faith, while at the same time realizing how essential it is that they never depart from a core belief in the real and living Christ. The Apostlesâ Creed represents a set of uncompromisable core beliefs for Christians. The Apostlesâ Creed, like all creeds, functions like a filter for orthodoxy; it indicates what is and what is not âChristian.â It is a public profession of belief in historic Christianity.â
Whyte made the change in the Apostlesâ Creed because he believes the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ should be included in the historic Christian affirmation. He states, âPerhaps the most important aspect of the post-Passion record are Jesusâ appearances to His followers. Obviously, Satan and the enemies of Christ did not want news to get out that Jesus had risen from the dead. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:14, âIf Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and our faith is also vain.â
âThus, all of Jesusâ appearances after His resurrection are important, including His appearances to Mary Magdalene and the other women, His appearances to the disciples, and His appearance to over 500 brethren over the course of the 40 days following His resurrection. The record of these appearances in the Gospels and as recounted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 are important because they are eyewitness proof that Jesus was indeed alive in bodily form after His crucifixion.â
Whyte goes on to say, âThe resurrection is a vital part of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the one thing that universally sets Christianity apart from all other religions. We follow a Savior, Master, and Teacher who is alive. We, and the world, need to be reminded of that. A statement describing Jesusâ post-resurrection appearances should be included in the Apostlesâ Creed because it is a part of the Gospel message. If weâre going to name Pilate, letâs name Mary Magdalene, the other women, the disciples, and the over 500 brethren.â
He recommends that all parents have family devotions (which used to be called âfamily altarâ) each day. For those who have little children, Whyte urges parents to teach their young ones about the faith using this ancient statement of Christian belief.
The updates to the creed are in red and underlined below:
The Apostlesâ Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Maker of Heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead;
He was seen alive by Mary Magdalene and the other women,
the disciples, and over 500 other brethren;
He ascended into Heaven,
and sitteth on the Right Hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy church;
the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.
Amen.
â BCNN1 Editors
With âA Letter to My Brothers,â Prophetess Beth Moore Will be Remembered in Church History With the Likes of Martin Luther King Jr., Billy Graham, Anne Graham-Lotz, and Other Church Leaders was originally published on BCNN1 - Black Christian News Network
Black Jacksonville, FL, Father Outraged Over Reference to Revenge Sex and 'Baby Daddies' in Daughter's Homework
A Florida father is demanding answers after he found an inappropriate question in his daughter's homework assignment for her anatomy class. The question was asking about a baby's blood type, but used the words "baby daddy" and dealt with a woman who slept with her ex-boyfriend and his best friend. Omar Austin's daughter is in 11th grade at Westside High School in Jacksonville. He says he was appalled by the question in the assignment. The question reads in part, "Ursula was devastated when her boyfriend broke up with her after having sex. To get revenge, she had sex with his best friend the next day." The question is about blood types, and continues if her baby daddy is her ex-boyfriend, what could her baby's possible blood types not be? Austin says the questions should be left for reality TV and soap operas. "The words 'baby daddy' and 'baby mama' being used, that's foresight. The fact that she's having sex with one guy and to get revenge on this guy she has sex with his best friend the next day? I mean, that's just not something that I want to teach any student," said Austin. Duval County Schools released a statement:
"The question was highly inappropriate and was not part of a district assessment. We are thankful to the parent who contacted the school directly to share his concerns. Immediately upon being made aware of this matter, school and district leaders began conducting a review of the situation. Appropriate and corrective action will be taken."
Family Sues American Airlines for Wrongful Death After 25-Year-Old Bride Returning From Honeymoon Has Medical Emergency on Flight but Pilot Refuses to Make Emergency Landing
//fave.api.cnn.io/v1/fav/?video=us/2018/04/28/american-airlines-sued-bride-dies-medical-emergency-sandoval-pkg-newday.cnn&customer=cnn&edition=domestic&env=prod A family is filing a wrongful death lawsuit against American Airlines after 25-year-old newlywed Brittany Oswell died in 2016. CNN's Polo Sandoval reports. Source: CNN
WATCH: "Jesus-loving Free Black Man" Dr. Cornel West Unloads On 'Black Leaders and Black Elites' Who Are 'Moral Midgets and Spiritual Dwarfs'
In response to the Starbucks incident in Philadelphia earlier this month, Dr. Cornel West said that Americans must fight white supremacy âin all of its forms.â An employee called the police on two African-Americans in a Starbucks store for sitting inside and not making a purchase. The police arrived and arrested the men, who stated that they were waiting for someone to arrive for a business meeting. Starbucks announced that it plans to close all of its stores on the afternoon of May 29 for âracial bias education.â West was asked for his preferred outcome of the Starbucks incident. âWeâve got to fight white supremacy is all of its forms,â West replied after a âSave Our Sons: Stop the Killingâ and "Condemn Donald Trump" National Black Menâs Convention march and rally organized by former New Black Panther Party Chairman Malik Shabazz, president of Black Lawyers for Justice, on Saturday outside the White House. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQq8K-1n4Pg
During his speech at the protest, West urged civil rights activists not to âisolateâ white supremacy from capitalism.
âI have the love of God and it empowers me in the midst of all of this nightmare, all of the lies and mendacity, all of the cold-heartedness and mean spiritedness of Donald Trump and his cronies and Wall Street and the military industrial complex and the State Department and the Pentagon. They all go together,â he said. âNever isolate white supremacy from capitalism. Never isolate capitalism from colonialism and imperialism and let us bring our critiques to bear on patriarchy.â
West condemned police shootings of African-Americans, telling the crowd to remember that black police officers can be âtrigger happy, too.â
âAs vicious as white supremacy is, itâs so deep on the inside of black peopleâs souls sometimes â thatâs not just a matter of skin pigmentation,â West said. âThatâs why sometimes we can have some of our black policemen trigger happy, too, because they are part of the same culture of the police departments that think that somehow they can do anything to our young people and get away with it with no accountability, no responsibility, no answerability, knowing they are going to jail. Well, we are simply here to say we know whatâs going on.â
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWA6Gf3xjMk
West argued that modern âdumbed-down musicâ is harming the youth in America.
âOne of the ways in which white supremacy is able to reproduce itself is to divide us in such a way that we canât tell the truth to one another and still love one another. We donât have to agree on everything in order to be in solidarity with one another, especially when weâre focusing on black youth who have been the subject of so much war over and over and over again. Not just an economic war in terms of decrepit schools and indecent housing and unbelievable ways in which they are taught to hate themselves, but itâs also a spiritual war,â he said at the rally.
âLook at the dumbed-down music. Look at the music about titillation and stimulation rather than caring and nurturing. Look at the music that doesnât allow them to have a sweetness and a gentleness so that they are able to hold each other together,â he added. âAnd not only that but what Otis Redding talked about, try a little tenderness rather than say my name, say my name, say my name, say my name. Black people have taught the world, after 400 years of being hated, so much about love.â
West named Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and others as examples of musicians who created music with a positive message.
âYouâre looking at a Jesus-loving free black man who comes out of the revolutionary wing of the black church, but I can embrace a Muslim like Malcolm X. I can love a Muslim like Silis Muhammad. I can love the honorable Elijah Muhammad. I can love Minister Louis Farrakhan. Why? Because Iâve got enough love in my heart to break my fear. Iâm not afraid of anybody. Iâm not afraid of any movement. Why? Because I know what Iâm about,â he said. âI know what my calling is and that is to tell the truth, and when youâre in love with black people youâve got to tell the truth about white supremacy.â
West said white supremacy tries to tell African-Americans that black freedom is a âpipe dream, that black history is a curse, that black hope is a joke and that black love is a crime.â
âSo when you love black people you ought to get ready to be criminalized. You ought to get ready to be demonized and you can tell the truth about gangsters in the White House like Donald Trump â and I call him a gangster in the name of Jesus because I was a gangster before I met Jesus. Iâm just a redeemed sinner with gangster proclivities,â he said.
âIf we canât fall in love with Jamal and Latisha on the corner, on the block, in the nightclub, in the prison, in the alley, then our love is just sounding brass and tidily simple,â he added.
West said Martin Luther King Jr. was the âreal thingâ and he slammed âblack elites.â
âI notice, oh Lord, 50 years later I look at so many of our black elites and black leaders and I say, âWhere did all these moral midgets and spiritual dwarfs come from?â What happened to their courage? What happened to their love? Where were they when they had the mass incarceration regime? Where were they when you had the drone strikes dropped in Yemen and Afghanistan?â he said.
West told the protesters that there are not enough people like Curtis Mayfield and Nina Simone today.
âThey gave all that they had. They emptied themselves. They gave of themselves to enable us, to empower us in the same way. We donât have enough folk like that today,â he said. âWeâve got folks so obsessed with image and spectacle and money and status that they end up indifferent to and callous to the folk who are catching hell.â
Click here to continue reading... SOURCE:Â NICHOLAS BALLASYÂ PJ Media
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'Cosby Show' Reruns Pulled From Bounce TV Following Comedian's Guilty Verdict
[caption id="attachment_427949" align="aligncenter" width="550"] Courtesy of Everett Collection
'The Cosby Show'[/caption] In the wake of Bill Cosby's guilty verdict in the retrial of his sexual assault case, reruns of the comedian's The Cosby Show are being pulled from the air by the Bounce TV network. "Effective immediately, Bounce is removing The Cosby Show from our schedule," the network said Thursday in a statement. Cosby on Thursday was found guilty of sexual assault on all three counts by a Pennsylvania jury. After the guilty verdict was read and jurors left the courtroom, Cosby called Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele an "asshole." As Steele argued to revoke bail, Cosby stood up and shouted, "I'm sick of him!" Bounce bills itself as "the first 24/7 digital multicast broadcast network created to target African-Americans." The channel was founded in April 2011 by equal rights activists Martin Luther King III and Andrew Young and launched in September 2011. Bounce first acquired sitcoms for broadcast in January 2015 through a series of deals that brought The WB's mid-1990s show The Parent 'Hood, Fox's Roc, D.L. Hughley's The Hughleys and Cosby Show spinoff A Different World to the network. The latter show, created by Cosby, remains on Bounce's current broadcast schedule. In addition to The Cosby Show, the network also ran episodes of the comedian's 1990s CBS series Cosby, which it pulled in July 2015 when allegations of sexual assault against Cosby were publicized. SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter - Patrick Shanley
Chance the Rapper Apologizes For His 'Poorly Timed Comments' on Twitter, Tells Donald Trump 'I Don't Want Your Thanks' For Defending Kanye
[caption id="attachment_427889" align="aligncenter" width="586"] (Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for EIF)
Chance the Rapper performs during XQ Super School Live, presented by EIF, at Barker Hangar on September 8, 2017.[/caption] Earlier this week, Chance the Rapper found himself in a heap of trouble after attempting to defend Kanye West's actions on Twitter. After being lambasted by fans and critics on social media for his "poorly timed comments," Chano took time on Friday morning to apologize on Twitter. "Anyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about my city and my loved ones," began Chance. "Kanye West is just a mentor or big brother to me. He's my family. No matter how much I may disagree with him, it's hard to watch people talk about someone I love-- even if they were justified in doing so. I didn't speak up because I agreed with what Kanye had to say or cause I **** with Trump, I did it because I wanted to help my friend and cause I felt like I was being used to attack him." He continued by saying: "Unfortunately, my attempt to support Kanye is being used to discredit my brothers and sisters in the movement and I can't sit by and let that happen either." Then, Chance unabashedly took aim at President Trump and skewered him for making a career "out of hatred, racism, and discrimination." "I'd never support someone who'd talk about Chicago as if it's hell on earth and then take steps to make life harder for the disenfranchised among us." https://twitter.com/chancetherapper/status/989260195598688257 He also highlighted his thoughts on black people and Democrats and doubled down on his initial statement, but with a caveat. "My statement about black folk not having to be democrats (though true) was a deflection from the real conversation and stemmed from a personal issue with the fact that Chicago has had generations of democratic officials with no investment or regard for black schools, neighborhoods, or black lives." On Wednesday (April 25), Chance received a ton of backlash when he tweeted out that not all black people needed to be democrats. Donald Trump and his son, Donald Trump Jr, applauded Chano on his tweet, after assuming that he was aligning himself with their conservative beliefs. "Thank you also to Chance and Dr. Darrell Scott, they really get it (lowest Black & Hispanic unemployment in history)," tweeted out Trump early Friday morning. Chance ended off his hearty message by saying the following: "We have to talk honestly about what is happening and has been happening in this country and we have to challenge those who are responsible, as well as those who are giving them a pass. If that happens to include someone I love, someone who is my brother-in-Christ and someone who I believe does really want to do what is right, it's not my job to defend or protect him. It's my job [to] pick up the phone and talk to him about it." Take a look at Chance's thoughts in full below. https://twitter.com/chancetherapper/status/989877973078691841 SOURCE: Billboard - Carl Lamarre
Verdict in Cosby Case Met With Conflicting Emotions by Some Blacks
It is difficult to overstate the pride, admiration and sense of ownership many black Americans felt watching Bill Cosby at the height of his career in the 1980s and â90s. As Dr. Cliff Huxtable, Cosby starred in a top-rated network sitcom about a loving, successful black couple and their wholesome children. âThe Cosby Showâ shifted the paradigm for millions of viewers for what a black family could look like. And it made Cosby an idol to many African-Americans in an era long before the country would see a black family living in the White House. All of which explains why the comedianâs downfall Thursday was met with particular pain, disappointment and conflicted feelings in the black community. For many black people, news of Cosbyâs sexual-assault conviction was hard to hear, even for fans who believed his accusers. âWe have been split from Day One about his innocence because of our need to have a hero that looks like us,â said Tarana Burke, the black woman who created the #MeToo hashtag in 2006 and recalled growing up listening to albums of Cosbyâs comedy routines and later watching him as âAmericaâs Dad.â She warned against confusing Cosby with the roles he played. âCliff Huxtable was a good person, but that character doesnât reflect the character of (Cosbyâs) life,â Burke said. âFat Albert is not a serial rapist. Bill Cosby is.â Cosby carefully crafted his persona over half a century in public life and on the big and small screen. In the 1960s, he became the first black actor to star in a network show, âI Spy.â He later created the childrenâs cartoon program âFat Albert,â based on childhood friends, and then âThe Cosby Show.â He would go on to win the 2002 Presidential Medal of Freedom and made it his role to admonish blacks to take personal responsibility, his stinging commentary hitting home because of the man, husband and father many believed Cosby to be. When word of some of the allegations against Cosby broke in 2014, in part because of a stand-up routine by black comedian Hannibal Buress, many African-Americans who had long admired the TV star were hurt. All told, more than 60 women would accuse Cosby of sexual assault. Some black people who grew up watching shows like âThe Cosby Showâ and the Cosby-created spinoff âA Different Worldâ were conflicted about continuing to watch. Rutgers University womenâs studies professor Brittney Cooper said itâs time for black people to drop their support for the entertainer and his work. âThereâs an ongoing conversation about can we love the art and dismiss or disavow the artist,â said Cooper, author of the recent book âEloquent Rage,â which explores the Cosby allegations. But âwe have to stop deciding that art is a reasonable spoil of war, that we will ignore all the casualties. We canât separate Cosby from his art.â For some, this is easier said than done. In a rare front-page essay, New York Times critic-at-large Wesley Morris laid bare his emotional strife over having to divorce himself from Cosbyâs work in the wake of the verdict, and told of how the comedian was a formative influence in his life. âMr. Cosby made blackness palatable to a country historically conditioned to think the worst of black people,â wrote Morris, who is black and was born in Philadelphia, where Cosby is from. âMr. Cosby told lots of jokes. This was his sickest one,â Morris continued. âHow do I, at least, cleave this man from the man he seduced me into becoming?â Cosby was prosecuted after rumors of sexual assaults swirled for years. He was protected, his detractors say, by power, money and racial loyalty. Supermodel Beverly Johnson said her reluctance to come forward as an accuser was tied to her allegiance to African-Americans and a disinclination to hurt a member of her community. Since then, #MeToo has become a global phenomenon that has brought down powerful men in politics, entertainment and the media, including Hollywood studio boss Harvey Weinstein. Some observers have said the movement contributed to Cosbyâs conviction. It may also have given some African-Americans permission to finally hold their hero accountable. âIt took away the heft of the narrative, in black communities in particular, that this was some kind of grand conspiracy to take down a powerful black man,â Cooper said. âIt placed Cosby in conversation with folks like Weinstein, to say this is about the kinds of things that powerful men do when they feel like they can get away with it.â Cosby, at 80, is now looking at the possibility of dying behind bars. âHe is now part of a broader narrative about Hollywood, mainstream men doing this kind of thing,â Cooper said. âHeâs not the singular, black, male monster.â ___ Whack is The Associated Pressâ national reporter on race and ethnicity. Follow her work on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/emarvelous. Source: Associated Press
Two Black Men Who Had Cops Called on Them at LA Fitness Gym Break Silence on How They Were Racially Profiled
Two black men who had the police called on them when they tried to use a gym have spoken out about the 'humiliating' experience.
Long-time LA Fitness member Rachid Maiga, 27, had been visiting the Secaucus, New Jersey location, with friend Tshyrad Oates, 25, who was using a guest pass, when they were ordered to leave by a manager.
When the pair refused, the white LA Fitness employee called the cops.
'She's telling me I'm not a member. She's not asking me. She's telling me I'm not a member,' Maiga told NBC. 'I'm telling her that I AM a member, and she's like, 'If you guys don't get out of here, we're going to call the police.'
'It was humiliating,' said Maiga. 'We're sitting there and everyone in the gym is looking at us like, 'What's going on?''
Cosbyâs Alma Mater, Temple University, to Reconsider Honorary Degree Bestowed Upon Disgraced Comedian
Bill Cosbyâs alma mater says it will reconsider an honorary degree awarded to the comedian more than two decades ago. Temple University in Philadelphia made the announcement Thursday after a jury found Cosby guilty of drugging and molesting a Temple employee in 2004. A school spokesman says the verdict âprovides additional facts for the university to considerâ with respect to the honorary degree. Cosby received his bachelorâs from Temple and served on its board of trustees for decades before resigning in 2014. He received the honorary degree in 1991. Board of Trustees Chairman Patrick OâConnor says he will recuse himself from discussions on the honorary degree. OâConnor represented Cosby in 2005 when he first faced allegations of sexual assault. Dozens of other colleges have already revoked honors given to Cosby. Click here for more coverage. SOURCE: AP
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Lynching Memorial and Museum in Alabama Draws Crowds
Tears and expressions of grief met the opening of the nationâs first memorial to the victims of lynching Thursday in Alabama. Hundreds lined up in the rain to get a first look at the memorial and museum in Montgomery. The National Memorial for Peace and Justice commemorates 4,400 black people who were slain in lynchings and other racial killings between 1877 and 1950. Their names, where known, are engraved on 800 dark, rectangular steel columns, one for each U.S. county where lynchings occurred. A related museum, called The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration, is opening in Montgomery. Many visitors shed tears and stared intently at the commemorative columns, many of which are suspended in the air from above. Toni Battle drove from San Francisco to attend. âIâm a descendant of three lynching victims,â Battle said, her face wet with tears. âI wanted to come and honor them and also those in my family that couldnât be here.â Angel Smith Dixon, who is biracial, came from Lawrenceville, Georgia, to see the memorial. âWeâre publicly grieving this atrocity for the first time as a nation. ... You canât grieve something you canât see, something you donât acknowledge. Part of the healing process, the first step is to acknowledge it.âThe Rev. Jesse Jackson, a longtime civil rights activist, told reporters after visiting the memorial that it would help to dispel Americaâs silence on lynching. âWhites wouldnât talk about it because of shame. Blacks wouldnât talk about it because of fear,â he said. The crowd included white and black visitors. Mary Ann Braubach, who is white, came from Los Angeles to attend. âAs an American, I feel this is a past we have to confront,â she said as she choked back tears. Launch events include a âPeace and Justice Summitâ featuring celebrities and activists like Ava DuVernay, Marian Wright Edelman and Gloria Steinem. The summit, museum and memorial are projects of the Equal Justice Initiative, a Montgomery-based legal advocacy group founded by attorney Bryan Stevenson. Stevenson won a MacArthur âgeniusâ award for his human rights work. The group bills the project as âthe nationâs first memorial dedicated to the legacy of enslaved black people, people terrorized by lynching, African Americans humiliated by racial segregation and Jim Crow, and people of color burdened with contemporary presumptions of guilt and police violence.â Several thousand people gave Stevenson a two-minute standing ovation at a morning session of the Peace and Justice Summit. Later in the day, Edelman, founder of the Childrenâs Defense Fund, urged the audience to continue their activism beyond the dayâs events on issues like ending child poverty and gun violence: âDonât come here and celebrate the museum ... when weâre letting things happen on an even greater scale.â Source: Associated Press
The Daily Beast Suspends Joy Reid's Column Over âSeriousâ Accusations About Past Anti-Homosexual Blog Posts
[caption id="attachment_427639" align="aligncenter" width="568"] Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images[/caption] The Daily Beast will suspend future columns from Joy Reid due to the fallout over comments she made on an old blog a decade ago, the websiteâs executive editor Noah Shachtman told staff in an internal memo on Wednesday. âWeâre going to hit pause on Reidâs columns,â said Shachtman in an email reviewed by TheWrap. âAs youâre well aware, support for LGBTQ rights and respect for human dignity are core to Daily Beast. So weâre taking seriously the new allegations that one of our columnists, Joy Reid, previously wrote homophobic blog posts during her stint as a radio host.â âObviously, this is a difficult situation,â Shachtman added. âWeâve all said and done things in our lives that we wish we hadnât done. We deserve the room to grow beyond our past. But these allegations are serious enough that they deserve a full examination.â The email was first reported on Twitter by CNNâs Oliver Darcy. https://twitter.com/oliverdarcy/status/989258221629116418 Though she apologized for content on her old blog âThe Reid Reportâ back in December, the MSNBC host has denied the latest revelations reported by Mediaite, saying that her now long defunct website was hacked. Shachtman told Beast employees that the company was investigating and would produce their own story on the issue. Reid has been a longtime opinion columnist at the Daily Beast. Her last column for the website was published just days before her latest scandal. Things continued to spiral for Reid â and MSNBC â over the story, which has now moved beyond the revelations reported by Mediaite to whether Reid was being honest about claims of hacking. On Wednesday evening, Reidâs lawyer John H. Reichman told TheWrap that the FBI has opened an investigation into the issue. Click here for more. SOURCE: The Wrap - Jon Levine
Pennsylvania Golf Course Apologizes for Calling the Cops on a Group of Black Women for 'Playing Too Slow'
[caption id="attachment_427581" align="aligncenter" width="550"] Police were called on these five woman for golfing too slow at Grandview Golf Course in Pennsylvania.[/caption]
Five African American women say a golf course in Pennsylvania called the cops on them because they were golfing too slow.
The incident, they say, is another example from just the past few days of the indignity African Americans face while going about everyday business, such as waiting at Starbucks or working out with a friend.
"I felt we were discriminated against both as women and minorities," one of the golfers, Myneca Ojo, told CNN. "It was a horrific experience."
What prompted the call
It was the women's first game as members at the Grandview Golf course in York County, Pennsylvania.
Ojo told police the women were golfing slow because they were "rusty." But she didn't think they were holding up other golfers.
One man in the group of golfers behind Ojo's backed up the assertion.
The man, Jerry Higgens, told police he thought it was unusual the women's group had five golfers instead of the standard four. But, he said, their speed "did not slow his group down in any way."
Ojo feels there's only one explanation for the club's action.
"They knew exactly what they were doing," she said. "It was five African American women playing golf and it was a problem for them."
Grandview Golf Course in York County, Pennsylvania.
The club's version
CNN reached out to the course but didn't hear back.
But Steve Chronister, who co-owns the course, told police the women weren't meeting the time guidelines, and delaying tee times for other golfers.
He called 911 twice.
When Northern York County Police arrived the first time, Chronister told them the women had picked up their speed and there was no need to talk to them.
A few holes later, the golfers held up the course again, Chronister said.
When he approached them, the women started yelling at him -- prompting him to ask police to remove them, he told officers.
"We skipped a hole for them to speed things up even though there was no one close behind us," Ojo said.
Officers at the scene determined it wasn't a police matter and left, Northern County Regional Police Chief Mark Bentzel told CNN.
Eventually the woman left on their own and no charges were filed.
The day after the incident, the club's co-owner, JJ Chronister, called the women and apologized.
She also released a statement to the York Daily Record:
"Players who have not followed the rules, specifically pace of play, have voluntarily left at our request as our scorecard states. In this instance, the members refused to leave so we called police to ensure an amicable result. . . . During the second conversation we asked members to leave as per our policy noted on the scorecard, voices escalated, and the police were called to ensure an amicable resolution."
CNN has reached out to JJ Chronister, but has not heard back.
As for the women, they don't plan on going back to the course.
"Luckily there are many other golf courses in the area," Ojo said. "We are just glad this story has gotten out ... People are fed up with racism and bigotry."
Cosby Lashes Out in Court After Guilty Verdict as Prosecutor Seeks to Revoke his Bail
After the guilty verdict was announced Thursday against Bill Cosby, the TV icon shouted at the prosecutor in the courtroom.
The 80-year-old comedian's outburst, which happened after the jury was dismissed, came in response to Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, District Attorney Kevin Steele's argument that Cosby's $1 million bail should be revoked, because, Steele said, Cosby might flee anywhere in the world.
Steele said Cosby had a private plane and that no dollar amount would be able to ensure his appearance.
Cosby stood up at one point and yelled at Steele: "He doesn't have a private plane, you asshole."
Judge Steven O'Neill did not revoke the bail, and cited Cosby's age and his appearance at every hearing for the past 2½ years as reasons.
"I'm not simply going to lock him up right now," O'Neill said.
"You are making a very big deal of something where there is a very high bail and he has appeared at every appearance," O'Neill told Steele.
The judge said Cosby should not leave his Pennsylvania home or the state. O'Neill also ordered that arrangements be made for a GPS tracking device for Cosby.
The case against Cosby centered on testimony from accuser Andrea Constand, a former employee with Temple University women's basketball team. She testified that Cosby, a powerful trustee at Temple, drugged her and sexually assaulted her during a January 2004 visit to his home in a Philadelphia suburb, where she went to ask for career advice.
A jury found Cosby guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting Constand.
Cosby faces up to 10 years in prison on each count, but would likely serve them concurrently. A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.
Click here for more.
SOURCE: CNN - Darran Simon, Jean Casarez, Aaron Cooper and Eric Levenson
WATCH: Teen's Promposal Containing Joke About Blacks 'Picking Cotton' Sparks Racial Tension in Florida High School Community
//fave.api.cnn.io/v1/fav/?video=us/2018/04/24/fl-racist-prom-proposal-sign-orig-vstop-bdk.cnn&customer=cnn&edition=domestic&env=prod Some students and school officials were outraged after a Florida high school student's prom proposal sign referenced "picking cotton." Source: CNN
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Chance the Rapper Defends Kanye West's Tweets Supporting Trump; Says, 'Black People Don't Have to be Democrats'
[caption id="attachment_427387" align="aligncenter" width="568"] Kanye West and Chance the Rapper | Getty Images[/caption] Kanye West collaborator Chance the Rapper chimed in on the brouhaha surrounding the âYeezusâ rapperâs support for President Trump. âBlack people donât have to be democrats,â Chance tweeted on Wednesday, after West was barraged with criticism for his MAGA tweets. Chanceâs missive immediately received more than 11,000 retweets â with support from Trump fans and outrage from some of the artistâs followers. The Chance tweet came after multiple messages from Kanye that showed support for Trump. Kanye and Chance collaborated on the 2016 album âThe Life of Pabloâ and both are from the Chicago area. Meanwhile musician John Legend, who has also worked with Kanye, had a different take on the matter. âI love that great, brilliant artists have the power to imagine a better future. But artists canât be blind to the truth,â Legend tweeted. SOURCE: Page Six - Joe Tacopino
WATCH: Meek Mill, who Had Support in Sports World, Has Been Released From Prison, Makes First Post-Prison Public Appearance at Sixers-Heat Playoff Game
http://www.espn.com/core/video/iframe?id=23307785&endcard=false Hours after his release from prison on Tuesday, rapper Meek Mill arrived at the Philadelphia 76ers' playoff game. Mill entered the arena about 45 minutes before tipoff and greeted some Sixers players in the home locker room, ESPN's Sal Paolantonio reported. Wearing a Joel Embiid jersey, Mill rang the ceremonial Liberty Bell before tipoff of Game 5 against the Miami Heat. He received a thunderous ovation from the Wells Fargo Center crowd upon introduction and was seated courtside, next to comedian Kevin Hart and Sixers co-owner Michael Rubin. The Philadelphia-born rapper, whose real name is Robert Rihmeek Williams, had been fighting for his release while appealing a two- to four-year sentence for a probation violation. His controversial incarceration has drawn response from the sports community. Rubin has been one of Mill's biggest supporters. He tweeted Tuesday that he was on his way to pick up the rapper from prison, a commute that also involved a helicopter. https://instagram.com/p/Bh-HTidDntV/?utm_source=ig_embed Said Mill on Twitter: "I'd like to thank God, my family, and all my public advocates for their love, support and encouragement during this difficult time. While the past five months have been a nightmare, the prayers, visits, calls, letters and rallies have helped me stay positive. "To the Philly District Attorney's office, I'm grateful for your commitment to justice. I understand that many people of color across the country don't have that luxury and I plan to use my platform to shine a light on those issues. "In the meantime, I plan to work closely with my legal team to overturn this unwarranted conviction and look forward to reuniting with my family and resuming my music career." Rubin had organized visits to Mill's prison with Embiid, Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz. "I'm glad he's out," Simmons said prior to Game 5, while noting how much Mill means to the 76ers team as well as the city of Philadelphia. Members of the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles also championed Mill's cause. Some players declared Mill's song "Dreams and Nightmares" as the club's unofficial anthem during their run to the Super Bowl. Mill, a South Philadelphia native, had attended Sixers games regularly before going to prison. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft visited Mill at a state prison in Pennsylvania earlier this month and later called for criminal justice reform. "It's really bad. I know some of our players in the NFL have talked about this. I see it firsthand. It's just wrong," Kraft said then. "We have to find a way to correct it and also help the community help themselves. It's just sad. This guy is a great guy. Shouldn't be here. And then think of all the taxpayers here paying for people like this to be in jail and not out being productive." The Patriots tweeted reaction to the news. https://instagram.com/p/Bh9xXjujyoT/?utm_source=ig_embed Mill was jailed in November 2017 for violating his probation by failing a drug test, traveling out of the region and getting arrested for fighting and other related offenses. A team of lawyers and public relations consultants had waged a battle to get Mill freed on bail ever since. Prosecutors say they believe Mill should get a new trial because of questions raised about the credibility of the officer in his 2007 arrest. SOURCE: ESPN
