Posted on Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Leonard Pitts’ Novel ‘Grant Park’ Provides a Framework to Say Goodbye to President Obama

A Book Review...

Hello World,

Earlier this month, I delivered a speech as a part of my church’s annual Racial Reconciliation Service. I was asked to speak on the theme “Things We Have in Common” based on Ephesians 4:1-6. About the time that I was asked to be the featured speaker in October, I was aware that a creeping sadness was starting to make itself known in my consciousness. Maybe it’s just me, but ever since President Obama was elected in November 2008, the air has felt different, like a new optimistic oxygen had been injected into the atmosphere overnight from the moment Senator Obama was named the victor in the presidential election to the morning we woke up living in a country where a black man was named president-elect. This new air had me feeling high like I was a party balloon floating and preening…

So as the days ticked by last October while a new crop of presidential candidates began vying for our votes (when I finally started paying attention to them anyway), it occurred to me that we were on the cusp of President Obama’s last full year in office. And since I had that realization, I feel like I’m breathing a little less of that new oxygen, like I’m a party balloon just past its prime hovering closer to the ground each day…

So what does all of this have to do with Grant Park, the latest novel from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Leonard Pitts, Jr.? Like the youth pastor of my church is fond of saying in his sermons, I’m so glad you asked that question. Below is the official description of the book…

Grant Park is a page-turning and provocative look at black and white relations in contemporary America, blending the absurd and the poignant in a powerfully well-crafted narrative that showcases Pitts’s gift for telling emotionally wrenching stories.

Grant Park begins in 1968, with Martin Luther King’s final days in Memphis. The story then moves to the eve of the 2008 election, and cuts between the two eras. Disillusioned columnist Malcolm Toussaint, fueled by yet another report of unarmed black men killed by police, hacks into his newspaper’s server to post an incendiary column that had been rejected by his editors. Toussaint then disappears, and his longtime editor, Bob Carson, is summarily fired within hours of the column’s publication.

While a furious Carson tries to find Toussaint—while simultaneously dealing with the reappearance of a lost love from his days as a 60s activist—Toussaint is abducted by two white supremacists plotting to explode a bomb at Barack Obama’s planned rally in Chicago’s Grant Park. Toussaint and Carson are forced to remember the choices they made as young men, when both their lives were changed profoundly by their work in the civil rights movement.

Racial Reconciliation…

As I began to prepare my speech, I realized that the two-term presidency of President Obama has been the proverbial “best of times” and “worst of times.” Below are the exact words from my speech…

In reflecting on President Obama’s historic presidency, the anniversaries of so many pivotal historic events have coincided with his two terms in the White House. Last year, we recognized the 50^th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the 50^th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama. In 2013, we recognized the 50^th anniversary of the 16^th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama. And less than 50 years after his death, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in D.C. debuted in 2011. All of these pivotal events happened during the Civil Rights Movement when there were seemingly two Americas – one for White America and one for Black America.

And yet during this time, over the last eight years, the nation has grappled with the deaths of black boys from Trayvon Martin to Tamir Race, the Confederate flag debate and the shooting massacre at Emanuel AME Church and more.

Time seems to be moving forward and standing still.

While I was preparing my speech over the last few months, I read Leonard Pitts’ Grant Park. And while it is a work of fiction, it made me feel like I was in 1968 watching the sowing of seeds of civil unrest that came to a glorious fruition when President Obama was elected in 2008. Pitts does an excellent job of capturing a conversational President-elect Obama just hours after he wins the election. And as we know now, eight years later, racial reconciliation in this country, despite President Obama’s election, still has a ways to go. Pitts’ novel provided a framework to examine where we were in 1968, how far we came in 2008 and the journey we still have to tread post Obama…

A Love Story…

My favorite character in the book was Bob Carson. In 1967, he was an 18 year old eager to join the Civil Rights Movement so much so that he elected to attend small Christian college in Mississippi to the alarm of his white parents. He welcomed ” protest and snarling dogs and Freedom Riders and marches and injustice and voter registration and ferment…change.” After arriving on campus, he joined Students Organized in Unarmed Love (SOUL), which included black and white students, and met Janeka Lattimore at one of the organization’s meetings. They quickly begin an interracial romance which obviously was particularly challenging then. So I love a coming-of-age, against-the-odds love story. It reminded of the real-life interracial love story of novelist Alice Walker and Mel Leventhal which also began at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. (I read about it in a book about her life. ) So even while I was thinking deeply about the nuanced racial issues that were examined in the novel, I was also racing through the pages to see what happened to Bob and Janeka. When Bob first sees Janeka at a meeting, he is immediately drawn to her beauty and curvy body but then scolds himself for his lustful thoughts. “This was his sister in the body of Christ. She was his colleague in the struggle for human rights. More than that, she was a human being with a mind, and emotions and a soul and inherent, intrinsic worth. Yet, her he was cataloging her, the pieces of her, as though she were side of beef. What kind of loathsome male chauvinist pig had he suddenly become?”

I won’t tell what happens to them, but I will say this. Young Bob is an enthusiastic Christian ready to take on his pastor about racial reconciliation as it is espoused in the Bible even quoting Malachi 2:10, a Bible verse that I used in my speech. (Thanks Mr. Pitts 🙂 !) But Old Bob had evolved into “an Easter Christian, a Christmas Christian, when he bothered to be any kind of Christian at all.” I speak from experience: One of the things that will make you lose your religion is lost love…And that’s all I have to say about that…

The Future of Journalism…

As a journalist, I also appreciated the examination of the journalism industry. At the start of the book, Malcolm Toussaint is disillusioned with his career although it has been good to him, taking him “from a hovel on the south side of Memphis to this palace in Chicago, two Pulitzer Prizes, countless lesser awards lining the walls of his office.” He also writes a “twice-weekly nationally syndicated column,” and “New York Times bestsellers blurbed by Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton.” Despite Toussaint’s “storied career” in journalism, my field has been undergoing a seismic shift with the advent of the Net…It’s scary and exhilarating at the time…Sadly, newspapers and magazines continue to die, but I have hope that true storytelling will survive…somehow and some way…

So here are a few of the lines that ring true for journalism going forward. “Suddenly, it was no longer enough to be the best journalist you could be, to do the work and put it out there and let it speak for itself. Suddenly, you were supposed to keep a Facebook page and answer emails and moderate discussion on your message board.” Here is a description of a young journalist in the novel who actually wanted to work at a newspaper: “The old heads in the newsroom called people like her ‘true believers,’ meaning Gen Y kids who somehow missed the memo that a thing was not worth doing unless it was done digitally.”

While there are more elements I can highlight in this excellent book, I hope I’ve given you enough to get this book! And if you’re looking for a way to come to grips with the pending last days of President’s Obama’s presidency and be entertained at the same time, Leonard Pitts’ Grant Park is a must read…

Any thoughts?

Posted on Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Donald Trump is Twice as Duplicitous For Saying Two Corinthians Instead of 2nd Corinthians at a Christian University

This Post is Brought To You By the Number 2...

Hello World,

It was already insulting that presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has already proven to have very little respect for black pastors, (see Why Black Pastors Cozying Up to the Donald (Trump) Is the Wrong Thing for the Black Church…), was invited to speak to a Christian school, Liberty University, on the federal holiday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., one of the greatest black pastors to have ever lived. But I’m doubly insulted that he is trying to pass himself as protector of Christianity and incorrectly quoting the Bible while doing so. In his attempt to quote the school’s verse, he says, “Two Corinthians 3:17″ rather than “2nd Corinthians.” To be fair, the Bible is not known for having easy-to-pronounce words, and people get things wrong all of the time when it comes to quoting the Bible. During my speech on racial reconciliation at my church on Sunday (it went well by the way 🙂 ), I made a note to pronounce Philemon correctly because it is one of those obscure books in the Bible that few people talk about so I’m not as familiar with it. And people are always saying “Revelations” when the book is actually “Revelation.” Mistakes like that when you are not a Biblical scholar are to be expected, but if you are quoting a school’s Bible verse in front of the school while trying to present yourself as a champion of Christianity, you come off like a duplicitous dullard…

His disastrous attempt to dupe Liberty University comes a day after his revealing interview with Jake Tapper was aired on CNN. Tapper asks him about a crazy statement he made last year when he said he has never asked God for forgiveness! Instead of cleaning up his statement, he claims he is above forgiveness again by stating, “I like to be good. I don’t like to have to ask for forgiveness, and I am good. I don’t do a lot of things that are bad. I try to do nothing that’s bad. I live a very different life than probably a lot of people would think. I have a very great relationship with God, and I have a very great relationship with evangelicals.”

Christianity is all about forgiveness! Jesus’ death was in vain if we didn’t need forgiveness! His couplet of statements back to back should show that he doesn’t deserve to come up on Christians which is what he is trying to do. In fact, comeuppance should be in order. And this post better be a warning to Christians who have been supporting his supposed Christian coup d’état.

Any thoughts?

Posted on Saturday, December 12, 2015

Interdenominational Theological Center Triumphant After Accreditation Scare, Honors Civil Rights Icons at Global Transformers Gala (PHOTOS included)

Hello World,

When an invitation to cover the Interdenominational Theological Center’s (ITC) inaugural Global Transformers Gala 2015 showed up in my inbox last week, I knew I had to attend for two reasons. First of all, my father received his doctorate from the school and secondly, it was an opportunity to be among civil rights icons who changed the trajectory of humankind through their contributions! Check out these honorees: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former President Jimmy Carter, Ambassador Andrew Young, Congressman John Lewis, Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery, Dr. C.T. Vivian; Rabbi Alvin Sugarman, Dr. Barbara Lewis King, Dr. Cameron Madison Alexander, Dr. Lonnie C. King Jr. and Rev. Dr. R.L. White Jr. (Close your mouth! I know you’re impressed.)

Once the event began at the Georgia International Convention Center in College Park began last night, I learned that ITC faced losing its accreditation in 2011; however, in the four years since, ITC has worked to address “areas of institutional effectiveness, financial aid, and financial sustainability” according to a press release in the program. As a result, “full, unconditional, reaffirmation concludes a four-year effort by ITC to secure that status.” In fact, ITC’s reaffirmation was just announced at the Southern Association of College and Schools Commission on Colleges on December 8! So in addition to celebrating civil rights icons, ITC was also celebrating its reaffirmation!

The first person I spoke with was Dr. C.T. Vivian, who was just as gracious in person as he seems to be when I’ve seen him interviewed on television and heard interviews with him on the radio. “I’m thankful to be with these 12 people who did the Civil Rights Movement together,” Vivian said to me in the VIP reception prior to the gala. “I remember all of these people throughout the years and it makes it more like a homecoming than a meeting.”

I also met Dr. Edward L. Wheeler, who became the president of ITC in January of this year. Below he is pictured with Rev. Dr. R.L. White Jr., one of the honorees and president of ITC’s National Alumni Association.

Below is Dr. Wheeler and Rev. A. Denise Bell, regional minister Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

After the VIP reception ended, I made my way to the banquet hall where the gala was held. Below are a few photographs of what I saw along the way. (Keep in mind that I’m a writer not a photographer, please : ). )

The Mistress of Ceremony for the evening was one of Atlanta’s finest journalists Mrs. Monica Pearson, who looked gorge in this marigold, green and black African print dress. My picture doesn’t do it or her justice, but you get the idea…She said of the honorees: “We want to honor you while you can still smell the roses.” Agreed…

I roamed around the gala and wound up with a few decent shots of the honorees…Take a look…I’m sure you recognize Congressman John Lewis and Ambassador Andrew Young…

Below is some new information that I learned last night that impressed me:

Monica Pearson said without Dr. Lonnie King Jr., there would be no Monica Pearson. Apparently, King (no relation to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King), as president of Atlanta’s NAACP in 1969, formed a Community Coalition on Broadcasting to convince television and radio stations to hire black people on and off of the air. According to the April 30, 1970 issue of JET magazine, after a “10-month power struggle” which included the coalition’s persuasion of the FCC to delay the “license renewals of every one of Atlanta’s radio and television stations” for 30 days, 20 of the stations “agreed across the board to coalition demands.” Monica Pearson, who is retired, started her career at Channel 2 Action News in 1975 as Atlanta’s first minority and woman to anchor the 6 p.m. news. And although I’m not television or radio journalist, I’m reasonably sure that Dr. King’s work influenced the hiring of black print journalists in the city as well. Salute!
Rev. Dr. R.L. White Jr., who also was president of the NAACP Atlanta branch, spearheaded a gun buyback campaign which led to almost 1,00o guns being taken off the streets in 2014. Salute!
Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, who was once pastor of Cascade United Methodist Church, was instrumental in securing 10 acres of land for the church and $1 million that was used for the construction of the church’s cathedral. Salute!

I also spoke with a few of the gala attendees. Below is Timi Simpson, executive assistant to ITC’s vice president of financial services and CFO, and her husband Kenneth Simpson. Simpson was excited about ITC gala as well as its new president. “This is a kickoff of a new birth for ITC. We are introducing our self back into the community and fostering new relationships.”

Below is Carmen Holman, a consultant with the Andrew Young Foundation. “When I saw the honorees, I was immediately impressed with those selected. They are deserving of the recognition. At this day and time, we need this level of inspiration.”

Rev. Felice Betaudier, who is an associate minister at Redemptive Life Christian Fellowship in Conyers, says she hopes to enroll at ITC and earn a master of divinity degree.

Below are the honorees who were in attendance last night as well as those who accepted awards on behalf of the honorees who weren’t able to attend. Professional photographer Calvin Evans was gracious enough to allow me to use his photograph of them.

Global Tansformers Gala "ITC" Presidents "Light of the World Award ITC Global Tansformers Award photography by Calvin Evans www.calvinevansphotoshoot.com © 2016 All rights reserved

And below is a photo of the actual awards…

Finally, I asked President Wheeler what the gala meant to him and his reply was, “It means a couple of things. First, it is a celebration of excellence for the honorees and what they displayed because of their faith. It is inspiring. It is also a celebration of ITC coming out again as a voice of justice, a voice of equity and voice of transformation for the betterment of humanity.”

Any thoughts?