Rev. Pfleger and the Obama Fallout

Looks like Rev. Michael Pfleger pastor of the St,. Sabina Church in Chicago was placed on suspension today for dissin' Hillary Clinton at Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church, Trinity United Church of Christ.

I remember back in the late 90's when I was fighting to get Phat Boy Malt Liquor out of the hood and I found out that they were also selling it in Chicago. I called St. Sabini and spoke with Rev. Pfleger. I told him that Phat Boy was being sold in Chicago. He said that he would call me back. A few hours later my phone rang and he said "It's not beeing sold here any more."

He won my respect from that day forward.

Confessions of Fox's Black Boogeyman

Confessions of Fox's Black Boogeyman

Min. Paul Scott

As the spotlight beamed down on my face, I could hear the producer counting down. Ten seconds to Armageddon; my first encounter with Fox News' epitome of evil, Sean Hannity. As I sat there waiting for the big showdown, I asked myself,

"What's a militant, Afrocentric, radical dude, like me, doing in a place like this?"

It started off on a whim. I had watched Hannity and Colmes a few times and developed a strong dislike (OK, bitter hatred) for Sean Hannity before he even opened his mouth. (Something about that permanent smirk on his face makes me wanna slap him.) So, one morning in 2002, I called ABC radio and asked to speak with the producer of his talk show.

"Hold on," the receptionist said. "Too easy," I thought. "She must be new."

I was expecting to talk to an answering machine but, to my surprise, someone picked up the receiver!

Being a seasoned community activist, I new the drill. You get 10 good seconds to pitch a story idea before a snooty producer, who is up against a deadline, rudely cuts you off midstream and tells you to fax him your info at (212) 555 -"click..." So, before the producer guy could finish saying hello, I had already given him my entire bio.

"Good, no click, yet. Now for the story pitch..."

"I wanna tell Sean Hannity, that Jesus was black !"

After a second of awkward silence, the producer said that he liked the idea and would get back with me soon.

I told myself that I wouldn't hold my breath.

Two weeks later, the phone rang. It was a producer from the Hannity and Colmes tv show who had run across my info. She wanted me on the show that night.

"Let me check my schedule," I said, pausing to shadow box with the giant poster of Sean Hannity with scripto horns drawn on his head that hangs on my living room wall.

"Cool." Ready for prime time.

A few hours later, I was rollin' through the 'hood in an expensive town car with a white chauffeur, courtesy of Rupert Murdock on my way to some secret Fox News bat cave satellite studio.

As I got mic-ed up, the producer made small talk while he adjusted the audio.

"Say, someting in the microphone, please."

"Sure, Sean Hannity is a no good, son-of-a....."

"What?"

"Never mind..."

Then it was show time, just me, Sean, Alan Colmes and 10 million Conservatives who would soon learn hate my guts.

The show is pretty much the same every night. They do their classic good cop/bad cop routine. Alan Colmes asks you a few polite questions to butter you up and then ...BAM!!! Hear comes Hannity, the Hitman.

"You, know Pauuuul, he sneered in that arrogant, northern drawl that only a bigot could love, "it's racists like you...."

The show always goes pretty much according to script. Hannity hits you with a couple of patented conservative one liners. You make a quick rebuttal, then Colmes thanks you for coming on the show. The show generated so much controversy, Colmes wrote about it in his book "Red, White and Liberal."

I wasn't on Fox News again until January of 2006. I baited them with an email about "boycotting Black History Month because it was too white."

That morning, I got calls from most of Fox's shows, all wanting me to discuss the issue. At that point, I became Fox's big black boogeyman, appearing on the network 4 times that year.

It's no secret that Fox News has an agenda. They are there to ease white guilt and make Right Wing white folks feel that their bigotry and heightened sense of ethnic paranoia is justified. So, anytime some racist, Michael Richards/Don Imus type guy says something totally ignorant, they bring on a black "militant" so they can say...

"Look, ma..There are "black" racists, too !!!!

If they are not doing that, they are busy trying to play one black "leader" person against another.

I remember hearing a Fox producer quietly, sobbing in the background, when what he thought was going to be a knock down, drag out fight between an African American lady professor and myself over black history, turned out to be a respectful, enlightening conversation.

So, in 2006, any time there was an incident of white racism, anywhere on the planet. I could count on my cell phone ringing.

Now, I know that many of you are asking why, knowing the nature of Fox News, do people like myself even go on the network. After all, its kinda like walking around with a big "kick me" sign, on purpose.

To borrow from the controversial rapper Jadakiss, we do it because " we need air time."

Our hope is that between Cynical Sean's sneering and Wild Bill O'Reilly's "holier than though" finger pointing, maybe, just maybe, we can get one or two good punches in. Also, the appearances lead to other opportunities to clarify our positions that were distorted by the network. In my case, I would go on Alan Colmes' radio program, even interacting with callers, following the show which was a more principled discussion.

Sure, sometimes I felt like kicking myself for even doing the show. (I should have known it was a set up , when they sent a stretch limo with flashing party lights to pick me up for the last encounter.) But hey, they can't all be gems.

As an activist, I always ask myself if my seven and a half minutes of fame helped to raise the consciousness of the country. Did I put an issue before the public that would have otherwise gone unheard ?

Because at the end of the day, that's all that counts.

Min. Paul Scott is an activist, writer and lecturer. His blog is http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com/ He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 info@nowarningshotsfired.com

Prelude to a Race War

Prelude to a Race War

Min. Paul Scott

Durham may have its problems but the one thing that we really don't have to worry about is being shot because of the color of our skin.

The color of our baseball caps, maybe. But not the color of skin.

Not yet anyway...

For the last few weeks, the Durham Herald Sun has been on overdrive promoting the idea that black folks are targeting Latinos for robbery because of race.

While anyone, with any knowledge of Durham's history or a fair amount of plain old common sense, would immediately write this off as hogwash, as it is said, if you tell a lie long enough....

First, it is problematic to insinuate that black people can be "racist."

To quote writer Neely Fuller, author of "The United Independent Compensatory Code/System/Concept,"

"The only form of functional racism that exists anywhere in the known universe is white supremacy."

To suggest that African Americans have the social, economic or political ability to be "racist" is just evidence of those who have the power to define reality though their media organs to spread false propaganda.

In recent weeks, the Durham Herald Sun has published two articles in which members of the Latino community have been quoted as saying that they are being targeted for robbery because of "racism" via "blacks."

In the 1/22 issue under the caption "Hispanics fear rash of crimes is racism: String of robberies committed mostly by black men", it was reported by Dan Way (metro editor of the Herald Sun) that several Hispanic Durham residents were raising the question whether the 30 robberies of against Hispanics during the first two weeks of January were "racist hate crimes."

A few weeks later in an article written, again, by Dan Way, a Mexican woman is quoted as saying,

"The problem in this neighborhood is with the blacks."

Also a "Honduran national" is quoted as saying,

"The "gringo's" don't bother you The Hispanics don't bother you. It's the blacks."

He later says that while his sandwich truck serves black customers, both attempts to break into his vehicle were by black men.

The article ends with the quote,

"How are we going to defend ourselves ? We don't have any help."

http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-922593.cfm

Now, there are several things that are very problematic about these two articles.

The first being that both of these articles were not written by some college intern or some kid fresh out of journalism school. These articles were written by the metro editor of the Herald Sun who should know better than to spread these accusations.

Secondly, the terms being used. As stated earlier "racism" would not be the proper term here nor would "hate crimes." When you use these terms you are alleging that those black men who are robbing Latinos are doing it strictly to deny Latinos of their rights. You also assume that these thieves only rob Latinos and have no prior histories robbing any other race, including other African Americans.

The term "gringo" is also used. In the article there is no attempt to define the Spanish term "gringo." Even, when researching the word via other sources the term is hard to define. Taken out of the context of the story, one can assume that the interviewee is using the the term to differentiate European Americans from African Americans, which is disturbing in and of itself. Since most English speaking people, including African Americans, do not use the term "gringo" it can be rightly stated that the article was only meant for a community that understands the lingo or code word.

Also, one cannot help but notice that no African Americans were interviewed in either article to refute the charges of racism. It must be noted that the way the stories are written, it is not a condemnation of a few black thieves but an indictment of the entire black community.

Not only does the Herald Sun's coverage defy logic, the assertion of black racism against Latinos goes against studies such as the one started a few years ago by Duke professor Paula McClain.

In her study "Racial Distancing in a Southern City: Latino Immigrants Views of African Americans" it is said that Latinos have a more negative view of blacks than blacks have of Latinos. According to news reports her study said that 59% of Latino immigrants felt that few or almost no blacks are hard working, one third said that blacks are hard to get along with and 57% said that few or no blacks could be trusted."

http://www.diversityinc.com/public/2967.cfm

Yet, this local study by a local professor was not used in either Herald Sun story.

One must, of course, question the motives for promoting brown on black violence.

A strong argument could be made that Durham is experiencing a strong surge in gentrification. What better way to rid the community of "undesirables" than to have them kill each other off. The out of town business developers could then come in and buy what is left of the neighborhoods dirt cheap and put up high dollar developments. Also, there has been a lot of attention in the national media lately over the political divide between African Americans and Latinos.

This is not the first time that a local newspaper has been accused of inciting violence against African Americans. Josephus Daniels, former owner of the News and Observer has been accused of using the paper to encourage violence against African Americans and he was, also, accused of helping to incite the Wilmington Race Riots of 1898.

http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/1898-wrrc/report/report.htm

It could also be argued that the Herald Sun played a major role in the popularization of local street gangs because of the extensive coverage which it has given the issue over the last decade.

http://www.heraldsun.com/hottopics/topicpage.cfm?topicID=21

Durham does not have a major brown on black race problem yet, that is still a problem that plagues West Coast cities such as Los Angeles. One cannot help but wonder what role the LA media played in promoting the tensions and if the same could happen in Durham, NC.

Columnists like the LA Time's Gregory Rodriguez bemoaned the media's exploitation on the black vs brown conflict. His 10/7 column, "The Fantasy of LA's Race War " ends with the chilling words:

"I can't help thinking that there is some sort of wish fulfillment in the black-versus-brown fixation."

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-rodriguez1oct01,0,1767378.column

The Durham community must rise up and stop the spread of this false propaganda before it escalates into a conflict that will neither benefit the black nor Latino community.

We must heed the words of the late great Malcolm X when he said :

"The press is so powerful in its image-making role, it can make a criminal look like he’s the victim and make the victim look like he’s the criminal…. If you aren’t careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”

Min. Paul Scott's blog is http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com/ He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 info@nowarningshotsfired.com

Is a Black President Ready For America ?

Is a Black President Ready for America?

Obama and the Revelation of Racism

Min. Paul Scott

The date is November 5th 2008 and Barack Obama, who has just been elected president of the United States, heads to the jewelry store to buy his wife a trinket of appreciation for her support. He enters the store and the sales person doesn't acknowledge him. "Well, she must be preoccupied," he thinks as he leaves. He tries to hail a cab but the driver speeds away, splashing mud on his new suit. "Poor guy must be in a hurry," Obama rationalizes as he heads into Denny's to grab a quick bite. After waiting 45 minutes to get a seat, he heads for the exit, accidentally bumping into an elderly man who mumbles a barely audible racial epithet. "Hm, I wonder why that nice gentleman thought that I was "Nigerian" he ponders as a white family who just arrived at the restaurant is immediately seated...

While many have posed the question over the last year whether or not America is ready for Obama, the real question is whether Obama, with his colorblind message of Peace, Love and Happiness is ready to face the reality of institutionalized racism still present in America in the upcoming months.

As the possibility of America's first black president goes from being a pipe dream to a probability, it is sure to open up the Pandora's Box of racism that is padlocked in the hearts of even the most liberal minded white folks. Kinda like the cool white dude who, even though he donates money every year to the United Negro College Fund, goes ballistic when his daughter brings her black boyfriend home to dinner for the first time.

(Personally, I'm just waiting for Hillary to drop the N word, accidentally during the heat of battle.)

Let's face it. A white president is one of the two things that America holds sacred, with a white Jesus running a close second.

Just because young white kids buy the majority of Snoop Dog CD's does not mean that their parents are gonna welcome a black resident into the White House.

A black mayor, maybe or even a black senator but the head of the free world? Don't be ridiculous!

Some will argue that a black president will upset what they call the "natural balance of nature," whites on top, blacks on the bottom. Also, known as the "master/slave" relationship.

The aesthetic beauty, alone, of a black president will create a sense of empowerment in African Americans, cutting across economic and social boundaries. How will CEO Bob Whitman react on November 5th if Tyrone Jackson, who has been vice president for 20 years loudly announces that, "It's time to make some changes 'round here !" Or when Shawanda who usually brings him his coffee every morning with a smile tells him that it ain't in her job description and he should fix it his darn self !

The possibilities boggle the mind.

Even without using race as a platform can the Obama campaign avoid inspiring a heightened sense of black awareness as an unattended by- product such as the '84 and '88 Rev. Jesse Jackson campaign which, arguably, gave energy to a black cultural renaissance courtesy of Spike Lee movies and Public Enemy rap records?

Also, will black Hip Hop artists be able to again use slogans like "Vote or Die" if Obama gets the Democratic nod without being charged with promoting "reverse racism" by the talking heads on Fox News?

One would hope that the Democratic Party would take the Obama candidacy more seriously than Jackson's, who was dissed at the '88 Democratic Convention. However, even with Obama in the lead, people are still saying that he would make a good "vice" president. And I am sure, even though they are trailing, Clinton and Edward's handlers are giving them the encouraging words, "come on, John, he's black!"

And we have heard, by now, the whole "Republicans are secretly backing Obama because they know they can beat him" conspiracy theory.

You can best believe that racism will rear it's ugly head in places in which you would least expect it in the upcoming months.

I wonder how many well meaning liberal white folks who are asking if America is ready for a black president realize how racist that question is in and of itself?

Min. Paul Scott's blog is nowarningshotsfired.com He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 info@nowarningshotsfired.com

Hangin' With the Homeboys

Hangin' With the Homeboys:
Courtin' the Black Vote '08
Min. Paul Scott


You can set your clock by it. Every election year they show up in front of a bunch of well dressed, college educated, middle class black folks who are supposed to "rep" the entire African American community. The moderator asks the same polite questions that he posed last election and he gets the same, well rehearsed answers that he got last election.

Just once, I'd like to see Tyrone "T-Boogie" Johnson grab the mic and yell,

"What ya gonna do for the hood, homie!"

as the stunned presidential candidates duck for cover under the dais.

Tis the season for political strategists to find new and imagin....

OK... they’re the same old, unimaginative strategies that they've always used; warmed over. It's the same technique year in and year out. Go to a few black mega churches, shake a couple of hands, attend the NAACP/Urban League Conventions and make a lot of grandiose speeches containing promises that you have no intention of keeping.

Simple isn't it?

Conventional wisdom says that if you invoke the name of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. enough times, most well off black folks will follow you through hell wearing gasoline underwear.

But that doesn't apply to "tha hood" where Dr. King, himself, found his harshest critics.

While you may be able to finagle a couple of votes from the black middle class by a nice speech, the hood wants action.

See, the people in the hood have "issues". Middle class blacks have "concerns" but poor folks have "issues."

While the biggest concern of Dr. Horatio Farnsworth Jackson may be the rising taxes on his summer cottage on the lake, Lakesha Johnson is more concerned about how she is going to pay the rent next month.

The irony of a presidential candidate being able to raise more money in an hour at a thousand dollar-a -plate fundraiser than all the folks in the kitchen washing the dishes will make all year does not escape the hood.

This is why many of us choose to spend time relaxing at the crib eating Oodles of Noodles and watching videos on BET instead of going to the polls on election day.

While many of the middle class will start hyperventilating at the thought of black folks not voting and start yelling,

"Your...(huff).. ancestors died.. (huff, huff.)..so that you...(gasp)...could have the right to vote!"

That piece of revisionist rhetoric does not quite match historical facts nor common sense.
Our ancestors died for Freedom and Equality, not to pull a lever behind a shower curtain. Voting was always meant to be a means to an end, not vice versa.

Someone once said that voting is a democracy's alternative to rioting in the streets. So, in that case, it can be said that one brotha with a Molotov cocktail did more for "Civil Rights" then all of Dr. King’s marches put together. I am sure that most historians will agree that if it wasn't for the fiery "militant" threats of Malcolm X, as an alternative to "King's Dream", we wouldn't have a day off work the third Monday of every January to celebrate his birthday.

In reality, voting is a compromise; a peace treaty between the "haves" and the "have nots" that says:

"Despite all of that mumbo jumbo that they taught me in history class about what the "Founding Father" dudes said about fighting against tyranny, I believe that all of my aspirations for Life, Liberty with a can of happiness on the side can be realized by getting up on Election Day, entering a booth and drawing a line with a pen that they will so thoughtfully supply..."

So all that gloom and doom "signifyin'" about the evils of abstaining from the political process may play in Peoria but not in Compton.

Politicians must realize that the suit and ties that they court every election year do not represent all of black America. That room of BMW drivin’ , expensive cuff link wearin' folks at the NAACP function is no more representative of all African Americans than the group of cookie bakin' , soccer moms at the Harper Valley PTA is representative of all white Americans.

If the presidential candidates really want to get down, get funky, get loose and get a real taste of African Americana then they need to come down to the weekly political convention that we have every Saturday morning at Byron's Barber Shop and Beauty Salon.

We'll save a seat for ya....

Min. Paul Scott is a writer and activist in Durham NC. His blog is http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 info@nowarningshotsfired.com

Is Clinton "Blacker than Obama?"
Min. Paul Scott


If someone asks who is blacker, Bill Clinton or Barak Obama, hands down, most people would roll with Slick Willie.

Bill Clinton reminds me of "Rappin' Rod" from high school the cool white dude who sat in the back of the class and traded Run DMC lyrics with the best of us. You never knew if he was legit or if those old K-Tel "Do You Want to Learn How to Rap" albums really worked.

The myth of racial equality is not squashed until years after graduation when Rappin Rod is now Roderick Winstead the third, CEO of his family business while you're slaving away at some entry level position at a company you despise....

But this is 2007 and we're not talking about Bill, we're talking about "Hill"
Let me be honest...Aretha Franklin she ain't ...(Although the issues with her hubby would make a cool Mary J Blige song)

Although Bill, became "official" with the black community when he played that mean sax on the Arsenio Hall Show, unfortunately, the show was cancelled years ago so that avenue is not open to Hillary. And since Black Entertainment Television's news programs have largely been replaced with videos featuring scantily clad women, unless Hillary is willing to put on a thong bikini and drop it like it's hot, well....

Clinton has already made inroads into the Black community as Rev. Al Sharpton has made it perfectly clear that he will "chill with tha 'Hill" and Barak Obama is basically,
well...Wack

Obama comes preaching self responsibility and one American-ess while Hillary grabs the mic and starts "sticking it to tha man." So I guess in Hop Hop terms, Barak Obama is Will Smith and Hillary Clinton is more like Chuck D of Public Enemy...

This was evident at June 28th Democratic Candidate's forum. Although the debate took place at Howard University and John Edwards had the foresight to give a shout out to the North Carolina historically black universities (What up, homie!!!!) It was plain to see that Hill tore the roof off tha mutha...

While Obama's opening statements about racism dealt with pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps, tha "Hill" kept it real by making it clear that race is still a factor in this country and recruiting "foot soldiers in the revolution."

On the issue of education, while Barak spoke about how people accept the under achievement of black kids as normal, Hillary reached back and jacked that old African proverb that white folks save for just such occasions about it taking a village to raise a child, which went over real big...
Hillary also rocked the crowd when she talked about her 10 Point Black Panther..., excuse me...I mean her 10 Point Katrina plan. And when she talked about protecting Africa by shooting down some planes...

Word Up!!!!!

The show stopper was her response to the AIDS question when she said that America would be outraged if it was mostly WHITE women being effected instead of tha Sista'a!!!!!

The question facing Clinton is can she kick it with tha hood and at the same time woo the conservative Democrat's?

Will she have to have a Bill Clinton/Sister Souljah moment and diss Kanye West at a National Action Network meeting ?

Will she sell Black folks out or in 2008, will she have even Grandma singin'

"I found my thrill, by votin' for 'Hill?"

Min. Paul Scott is a "gangsta writer" and activist. His blog is http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com