Black Jesus .com

Is Obama Black Enough?

A few years ago, I had a gracious white woman tell me in quiet honesty,  as we attempted to talk openingly about race relations between blacks and whites, and why Sunday was still the most segregated day of the week, she said, "What most whites fear and especially white males is that if we allow you to have any kind of power in making decisions over us, you will do to us what we have done to you." I believe that when most white Obama supporters see pictures of him with his maternal white grand parents, and they found out his mother was white, this,unfounded fear of retaliation, gives way to a willingness to listen to him as a highly intelligent presidential candidate, who is worth all of our consideration. And since he's not to dark, many believe he is less threatening. By the way, my grand mother was half white, but it still doesn't make me or most African American's less black. But I think,  if we did a DNA check on many whites, the reverse would also be true. No one in America is 100% anything. Ask Vice President Cheney who has recently been found through DNA testing, to be a distant cousin of  Senator Barack Obama.

Black Nazarene Celebration January 9, 2008

Tens of thousands barefoot Filipino Catholic devotees jostled for a chance to touch a black statue of Jesus in an annual procession Wednesday, seeking blessings or forgiveness for their sins.

About 700 police secured the square outside a church in the downtown Quiapo district, where plainclothes officers pulled a cart carrying a replica of the 401-year-old statue of the Black Nazarene amid a sea of devotees. Again, I find it interesting that despite other cultures embracing the truth, the European image of Christ still prevails. There is conflict even among Filipinos.

Black Men Must Take Better Care Of Our Health

Unintentional? Negative Black Male Images.

When you see negative images do you say and do nothing?  Sometimes these pictures are unintentional. In order to change this, we must be willing to call attention to this disparity. Here's an email I sent to the Executive Director of Businessweek.

Dear Mr. Byrne, Thanks for taking my call this morning. I have been a long time subscriber of Businessweek. As I stated on the call, as a African American male, I take issue with the negative African American male image on the January 21, 2008 cover of Businessweek. As you know people take in information on two levels. The visual image can serve to reinforce the written word or it can send a separate message. Businessweeks cover of the African American male sends a sinister message. It feeds the sterotype of the angry, thugish black male. If you put sunglasses, baggy cloths and a frown on the white female you would immediately understand what I'm talking about. I suggest that in the future, when deciding what images to put on the cover, you do a focus group among women and minorities who are apart of that group to help you in your selection process.

Sincerely,

Charles Johnson

As Obama Rises, Old Civil Right Leaders Scowl

Here a very insightful article that appeared in the January 18, Washington post. I believe its time for the old guard to step aside...what do you think:

As Obama Rises, Old Guard Civil Rights Leaders Scowl

By William Jelani Cobb
Sunday, January 13, 2008; B01

There was a time in the not-too-distant past when "black president" was synonymous with "president of black America." That was the office to which Jesse Jackson appointed himself in the 1970s -- resigned to the fact that the actual presidency was out of reach. In 2003, Chris Rock wrote and directed "Head of State," a film about the first black man to win the presidency. (It was a comedy.) And in the ultimate concession, some African Americans have attempted to bestow the title of black president upon Bill Clinton -- a white man.

In the wake of his strong showing in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, Sen. Barack Obama has already permanently changed the meaning of that term. It is no longer an oxymoron or a quixotic in-joke. And this, perhaps more than anything else, explains his tortured relationship with black civil rights leaders.

The most amazing thing about the 2008 presidential race is not that a black man is a bona fide contender, but the lukewarm response he has received from the luminaries whose sacrifices made this run possible. With the notable exception of Joseph Lowry, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference veteran who gave a stirring invocation at Obama's Atlanta campaign rally in June and subsequently endorsed him, Obama has been running without much support from many of the most recognizable black figures in the political landscape.

That's because, positioned as he is between the black boomers and the hip-hop generation, Obama is indebted, but not beholden, to the civil rights gerontocracy. A successful Obama candidacy would simultaneously represent a huge leap forward for black America and the death knell for the reign of the civil rights-era leadership -- or at least the illusion of their influence.

The most recent example of the old guard's apparent aversion to Obama was Andrew Young's febrile YouTube ramblings about Bill Clinton being "every bit as black as Barack Obama" and his armchair speculation that Clinton had probably bedded more black women during his lifetime than the senator from Illinois -- as if racial identity could be transmitted like an STD. This could be dismissed as a random instance of a politician speaking out of turn were it not part of an ongoing pattern.

Last spring, Al Sharpton cautioned Obama "not to take the black vote for granted." Presumably he meant that the senator had not won over the supposed gatekeepers of the black electorate. Asked why he had not endorsed Obama, Sharpton replied that he would "not be cajoled or intimidated by any candidate." More recently Sharpton claimed on his radio show that the candidates' recent attention to issues of civil rights was a product of pressure from him.

Although Jackson is not entirely unfamiliar with the kind of thing that's happening to Obama -- Coretta Scott King endorsed Walter Mondale over him in 1984 -- he also got into the act. He criticized Obama for not championing the "Jena Six" cause -- the case of six young black men in Louisiana charged with beating a white classmate -- vigorously enough. After Obama's Iowa victory, Jackson demanded that the senator bolster "hope with substance."

Taken as a conglomerate, Jackson, Young, Sharpton and Georgia Rep. John Lewis represent a sort of civil rights old boy network -- a black boy network -- that has parlayed its dated activist credentials into cash and jobs. Jackson, a two-time presidential candidate, has become a CNN host; Young was mayor of Atlanta and sits on numerous corporate boards; and Lewis is essentially representative-for-life of the 5th Congressional District in Georgia. Sharpton is younger than the others but a peer in spirit.

To the extent that the term "leader" is applicable, these four men likely represent the interests of Democratic Party insiders more than those of the black community. Both Young and Lewis have endorsed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton; Sharpton and Jackson have acted ambivalent, alternately mouthing niceties about Obama and criticizing his stances on black issues.

It may be that, because they doubt that he can actually win, the civil rights leaders are holding Obama at arm's length in an attempt to build their houses on what looks to be the firmer ground. And there are certainly patronage benefits should Clinton win. She owes black pols, starting with Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.), who first suggested that the party endorse her for a New York Senate seat. Rangel has also lined up behind Clinton.

There is far more to politics -- even racial politics -- than skin color. Still it is counterintuitive to think that Lewis, whose political career began when he was bludgeoned in Selma, Ala., fighting for black voting rights, is witnessing the rise of the first viable black presidential candidate and yet opts to support a white machine politician.

One of the most telling aspects of Young's YouTube commentary was his statement that he'd called his political connections in Chicago about Obama and been told "they don't know him." There are certainly reasons not to support Obama, but not having friends in common isn't one of them. Young went on to announce that Obama was too young and should wait until 2016 -- a curious statement considering that Young was apprenticed to Martin Luther King Jr., who was 26 when he launched the Montgomery bus boycotts that eventually toppled segregation.

The cynical braying about Obama's prospects has not been confined to the liberal civil rights quarters of black America. The conservative commentator Shelby Steele argued in his book "A Bound Man" that Obama isn't perceived as "black" enough to win over African American voters.

In fact, Obama strategists have been struggling to convince black voters that Obama can actually win over white voters and be a viable candidate. Many blacks want to support a winner and hope that Obama will become more attractive to white voters, not less.

Part of this disconnect is a generational divide, one that is apparent in Jackson's own household. Following Jackson's criticism of Obama in the Chicago Sun-Times, his son, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., wrote a passionate defense of Obama's activist credentials.

As polls show increasing black support for Obama, Jackson, Sharpton and Young begin to look like a once-wealthy family that has lost its fortune but has to keep spending to maintain appearances. Obama's tepid early showing among blacks in the polls had more to do with name recognition and concerns about his viability as a candidate than with Jackson or Sharpton withholding their endorsement.

Ignoring Sharpton or Jackson is not the same thing as taking the black vote for granted. It is a reasonable calculation that neither of them can deliver many votes and certainly not enough to offset the number of white votes that their approval could lose Obama. Jackson and Sharpton might be holding out for a better deal in exchange for their support, but with Oprah Winfrey and Chris Rock among Obama's list of supporters, they have little to bargain with.

If Obama makes a strong showing in the South Carolina primary -- the first with a substantial number of black voters -- it will become apparent that the black boy network has begun bouncing checks.

The irony is that for generations of black "firsts," the prerequisite for entering an institution was proving that you were just like the establishment that ran it. (Think of Jackie Robinson's approach to the major leagues, or the host of "articulate Negro" roles in Sidney Poitier's body of work.)

Obama has been vastly successful by doing just the opposite: masterfully positioning himself as an outsider. In the process, he's opened the door even wider for black outsiders. Too bad his predecessors refuse to help push him the rest of the way inside.

[email protected]

William Jelani Cobb is an associate professor of history at Spelman College and the author of "The Devil & Dave Chappelle and Other Essays."

Thank You Martin Luther King For The Ultimate Sacrifice!

Could The Roman's Have Persecuted And Killed Jesus For The Color Of His Skin? What Do You Think?

God Works In Mysterious Ways For All Gods People: Black, Brown, White....

Black Madonna Statues Are Hidden To Hide the Truth

The most sacred icons of the Catholic Church are the Black Madonna and Christ child, which are found in Europe's most venerated shrines and cathedrals. Each year, millions of European pilgrims ritually humble themselves before the image of Black Mary and her child Jesus at Black Madonna sites throughout France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Portugal and other Catholic countries. Many Black Madonna statues have the black paint literally kissed off of their hands and feet. In Poland, the Church encourages believers to pray to the Black Madonna of Czestochowa every morning before rising. It is reported that Pope John Paul follows this ritual. Time Magazine (June 11, 1979) reported on Pope Paul II's visit to Czestochowa's holiest shrine, which prominently displays "The Lady" known for centuries as the Black Madonna. At Our Lady of Koden (Poland), there are statues of white saints carrying pictures of Black Madonnas. Pilgrims throughout the ages have visited Black Madonna sites and left inspired, confident, relieved, or healed of their afflictions. Today, there are over 300 documented Black Madonna sites in France alone! Sometimes they are hidden away in vaults, while the public is shown Madonnas and child with European features instead but these two recent Popes know the truth.

Pope Praying To The Black Madonna

Prince Among Slaves

PRINCE AMONG SLAVES: The Amazing True Story of an African Prince Enslaved in the American South- A Documentary Film by Unity Productions Foundation Narrated by Mos Def Michael Wolfe and Alex Kronemer, Executive Producers Prince Among Slaves follows the true life story of Abdul-Rahman Ibrahima Sori, the Prince of a large African Kingdom and Captain of his father's armies who was captured in a battle in 1788 and sold into the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. After enduring the brutal Middle Passage, he eventually ended up in Mississippi at the birth of the U.S., where he remained enslaved for almost 40 years. Amazing circumstances finally led to his release, but not his freedom, nor the freedom of his large family. Defying the command that he return immediately to Africa and still technically a slave, Abdul-Rahman set out on a quest to raise enough money to purchase his family's freedom. Widely written about and sought after for public events, he became the most famous African in America, meeting with President John Quincy Adams and other leaders of the day. Prince Among Slaves paints a vivid picture of the extraordinary times in which this remarkable man lived, interweaving the universal themes of bondage and deliverance, privation and perseverance, to tell a story of survival of the human spirit about a person who endured the humiliation of slavery without ever losing his dignity or his hope for freedom.