Time for the Professionals to speak for Trayvon

Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin are the parents of Trayvon Martin. They have shared their tragic story with humilty and grace. We know that it is natural to be angry, but they have not let their anger spill over into their narrative. They have appeared on all the morning shows and several of the cable news channels. Yesterday while Fulton was sharing her reaction to the Zimmerman arrest she refered to the homicide as an “accident”. The media jumped on it and said this was in direct opposition to what George Zimmerman had been charged with. By afternoon Fulton was issuing a retraction. Retractions are for media people not for a mother who are talking about her dead child. At this point it is time for the parents to put the case in the hands of the prosecutor. Let her do her job. You have done yours. Trayvons’s parents have been tenacious in sharing this story and making the law enforcement community put fresh eyes on this story. They have done their job now it is time for them to step aside. I have linked to an article by Dr. Boyce Watkins.

http://newsone.com/2002143/note-to-trayvons-mother-its-time-for-you-to-step-to-the-side/

Rev. Al Sharpton called “race hustler” by NY Post, but he put the Trayvon Martin case on the national stage

MSNBC Al Sharpton is not a journalist he is an activist, and he has been front and center on the Trayvon Martin case. No he is not the first national news coverage the case received, CBS has that distinction, but he has kept this case in the news. This is not race hustling this is a sincere search for the facts. If this case had not received this kind of coverage we would not be talking about it and George Zimmerman would never have to worry about any legal responses for killing Trayvon Martin.

Rev. Al Sharpton Says Walgreens Chain cutting services to the poor

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 12, 2011 FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Contact 877-626-4651
New York, NY – Reverend Al Sharpton, President and Founder of National Action Network, today condemned recent actions by Walgreens, noting the retailer’s decision to end its relationship with Express Scripts will result in increased prescription costs for “the elderly, union members, Medicaid patients, the working poor and families of color.” In a letter to Walgreens CEO Gregory Wasson, Sharpton writes, “A failure to resolve any issues with Express Scripts, a low-cost prescription program, will have a significant and detrimental impact on New York City residents locally” because Walgreens is preparing a merger with Duane Reade Drugstores. Both Walgreens and Duane Reade have a significant New York presence.
In releasing the letter, Sharpton pointed to “A troubling history with regard to underserved minority community,” noting that over the last five years, Walgreens has been subject to legal actions in a variety of states regarding efforts to abandon or restrict Medicaid program patients from coming to their stores (CA, DE, NY and WA have brought suit against Walgreens for these actions); that the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission brought one of the largest and most flagrant racial discrimination cases against Walgreens for its unequal, unfair, illegal employment practices against 10,000 African American retail management and pharmacy employees; and that Medicaid patients have been subject to unequal treatment and care at Walgreens (in July 2009, a child in Denver died after Walgreens refused to fill a prescriptions over a Medicaid coverage dispute). “National Action Network urges Walgreens, in the strongest possible terms, to reconsider their current path and the signal that sends to our underserved, low-income communities that they are essentially second-class citizens and undesired as Walgreens customers. It is of paramount importance that you settle your problem with Express Scripts, and keep our prescription costs down.”

National Action Network is one of the leading civil rights organizations in the Nation, with chapters throughout the U.S. Founded in 1991 by Reverend Al Sharpton, NAN works within the spirit and tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to promote a modern civil rights agenda that includes the fight for one standard of justice, decency and equal opportunities for all people regardless of race, religion, national origin, and gender.

MSNBC Pat Buchanan calls the President “boy”…was this racist or was this part of an analogy?

While appearing on Al Sharpton’s show last night he refered to the president as “your boy”. Sharpton corrected him and said Barack Obama is the president, and he is nobody’s boy. This morning while appearing on Morning Joe Buchanan apologized for using the word boy in reference to the president. He contends he was using a fighter analogy. Buchanan has a history of racially insensitive statements. Was this another one? Watch the link and tell me what you think.

Rev. Al to be MSNBC Host?

Rev. Al Sharpton will soon be hosting the 6PM show on MSNBC. I saw him last week and he seemed a little uncomfortable. Sharpton replaces Cenk Uygur wh claims he was let go because the “people in Washington” had a problem with his tone. Uygur says he was viewed as “anti-establishment”. That is why the idea of Sharpton replacing Uygur is so ironic. For years Sharpton was viewed as anti-establishment and now Sharpton is viewed as an insider. My how times have changed.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/21/business/media/sharpton-close-to-being-msnbc-anchor.html

Al Sharpton and Cornel West Go at it on MSNBC, A Stronger America: the Black Agenda

PART ONE-Today at noon MSNBC presents the Black Agenda. The first portion of the show discussed the political aspect of the agenda. The guest panelist included Velma Hart, Rev. Al Sharpton, Dr. Cornel West and the DC Bureau chief for Comcast. The discussion highlighted how the president is viewed by different segments of the black community. Sharpton said he did not consider himself a White House insider, but he did admit that he did have access. Dr. West challenged him and said he feared for him. He said he did not Sharpton to become a “black mascot” for the administration. Sharpton said there was no danger of that happening, but he counterpointed by asking West where were these critics during the previous administration, and why were they asking more for this president than they had ever asked from others. Sharpton went further by saying he is on the streets in the trenches when others are in their ivory towers of academia. Was this a shot at Dr. West of Princeton University? You be the judge. Dr. West has a radio show with Tavis Smiley, and Smiley has been a critic of the president since the day he declared his intention to run. The discussion did get heated and they cut to break when they came back the topic of education was being discussed and Sharpton was the only member of the original panel still on camera. This program is not designed to come up with any solutions it is only highlighting the problems we already know exist. It does show us that the president has his work cut out because in 2008 the black community voted as a solid block but as we see in 2011 there are some splinters and these splinter groups are finding an audience.

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Al Sharpton Holds His Own Against Fox News Bill O’Reilly

Tonight while channel surfing I came across Rev. Al Sharpton on the O’Reilly Factor. He was defending statements that he made at the Jackson memorial service. O’Reilly said that he made Jackson sound like some kind of civil rights worker. O’Reilly said he seemingly equated Jackson’s contribution to the that of  Martin Luther King. Sharpton said that Michael Jackson did bring people together like King did and his talent opened doors for others to enter the music industry. Sharpton also took on Rep. Peter King for calling Michael Jackson a child molester. Sharpton said the matter had been adjudicated and Jackson was acquitted on all charges and it was irresponsible for King to make the statement. This did not stop O’Reilly who continued on to another insane tangent when he asked how could the black community view Jackson as an icon since he had white kids? The look on Sharpton’s face said it all. How many white people have adopted black children and no one ever questioned their status as a white person. Madonna and Angelina Jolie come to mind. Sharpton looked at O’Reilly as if the man was crazy, and only a crazy person  would make a statement like this one. Sharpton said that was Jackson’s personal choice and had nothing to do with his iconic status. Then O’Reilly pulled out the OJ card and said OJ won a Heisman does that make him a hero? Sharpton asked what does OJ have to do this? O’Reilly did not immediately respond because OJ has nothing to do with this it just was an opportunity to bring up an infamous black man. Over the past two weeks I have developed new respect for Rev. Sharpton.  He has shown that he has the ability to hold his own no matter who is hurling the accusations, and tonight he more than held his own against Bill O’Reilly.

The Long Goodbye is Over…Michael Jackson Can Now RIP

Today I sat in the Memphis Airport and watched the memorial service for the King of Pop. It was strange to see so many people transfixed as they watched. Seeing Michael Jackson’s casket brought it all home. Our heads knew Michael had died but the finality of seeing the casket brought the truth to our hearts. It has been almost two weeks since his death, and we have watched endless tributes and analysis ad nauseum, but today we witnessed the end of an era. We were electrified by Rev. Al, we shed a tear as Queen Latifah read the poem written by Maya Angelou, and we laughed when Berry Gordy recalled his first meeting with the future superstar, and finally our hearts broke as his daughter Paris told us about the wonderful father she will miss. It was a day we will always remember because the world moved as if the King of Pop had choreographed the steps. We were one on this day. He brought ebony and ivory together for one last time.

MSNBC Second Banana Courtney Hazlett and Willie Geist Dismiss Al Sharpton

Yesterday Rev. Al Sharpton complained about how the media has been covering the death of Michael Jackson. Sharpton said that in the past criticism of fallen stars did not happen until after the celebrity had been buried. Jackson’s death is almost a sidenote in some of the stories as the press salaciously cover the drug angle of the story. On MSNBC Morning Joe second bananas, Courtney Hazlett and Willie Geist, took exception to Sharpton and Hazlett said she felt the media had been handling the Jackson affair with kid gloves. She said they barely covered the sexual molestation charges and she went on to say the media created Al Sharpton. She went a little too far in her characterization of Rev. Al as a media creation. Rev. Al was front an center in defense of Abner Louima who was raped by the NY police and it was Rev. Al who brought the Jena 6 case to the national stage. Hazlett and Geist would have been within their rights to disagree with Sharpton but the fact is before I ever heard of Willie Giest or Courtney Hazlett I knew who Rev. Al was.

Al Sharpton’s Interesting Observation on Michael Jackson’s Death

Al Sharpton said that it was so ironic that some of the same people praising the dead superstar today would not have given him the time of day yesterday. It was a true statemnt because of the complexities of the man. Michael Jackson was an incredible entertainer who provided the soundtrack to my generation.  My children can only remember him as anything other than a wierd looking man, but I still remember him as one of the most talented entertainers that I ever saw.  I have heard people say when talking about someone who has died that when you look at the obituary you see the date that the person was born followed by a hyphen and then the date that person died. What is important is what that person did between the hyphens. How did they live?  What impact did they have on others? Did they make a difference. When you look at Michael Jackson’s life you can say he lived alot between the hyphens.