Sixx King protesting black on black violence in Center City, Philadelphia. (Photo credit: Victor Florillo/The Philly Post)
A black man dresses in a Ku Klux Klan robe and stands on a corner in Center City, Philadelphia holding a sign? He must have been out of his mind. Actually, the man, Sixx King, was absolutely on point and this black man applauds him. King used a provocative symbolism to draw attention to the tragedy of young black males killing each other.
“We’re bringing awareness to the black hypocrisy, complacency and apathy in the African-American community,” King, 35, told the news media. His sign read that the KKK killed 3,446 blacks in 86 years, but black on black murders eclipses that number every six months. More than 7,000 blacks were killed in 2011, according the FBI.
Reaction to King has been predictable. Many agree, while others have expressed outrage. Someone reportedly suggested that he be jailed. This is the challenge when you provoke people to think differently about the root of the problem – institutional racism and how we respond.
I can hear you crying, “Throwing the race card, again? Take responsibility for your actions!” But here’s an anology to ponder: If you put a loaf of bread inside of a warm, dark moist place, what will happen to it? You’ll get mold. It doesn’t matter if it’s white bread or brown bread. Because they are both wheat, mold will grow.
Black men murdering each other is one of the “molds” of institutional racism. It’s not just a black problem, it’s an American problem. Carter G. Woodson wrote about this in The Mis-Education of the Negro: “If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself.”
Institutional racism has been well documented and analyzed. What’s needed is a 21st century solution. The church has the answer, but it has been hypocritical, complacent and apathic. It’s way past time that the church reawaken and lead the community.
The Bible instructs us “not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Public education, the family, and the church are the institutions in America that deal most with developing the mind. Racism permeates public education, which is why it is failing black and brown children at alarming rates. Without positive family and community support or the individual inner drive to overcome institutional racism, students and their teachers succomb. The direct correlation between low academic achievement and high prison rates is not a mistake.
The church can directly influence individuals, families, and provide a counterbalance that transforms public education. The church is where slaves often learned to read. Churches set up schools for freed blacks after the Civil War. In the basement of churches is where civil rights activists trained. But with a few exceptions, the modern church, for the most part, has chosen to become irrelevant to many of our young brothers in the ‘hood. The “street mentality” (mold created by institutional racism) has filled the void.
Institutional racism, says, in part, that one group of people (particularly white males) is superior to everyone else because of skin color. It says that black people are the opposite of white, so black people are inferior, even subhuman. Native Americans, Hispanics, any non-white group is devalued. Sure, this is no longer legal and blatant, but the mindset remains pervasive throughout every institution in America, including the church. Individually, we either buy into the mindset or spend a lifetime battling to overcome it.
Across the globe, regardless of skin color, self-destructive behavior is a natural reaction to oppression. It’s as natural as mold growing on bread. Institutional racism molds how we all think. How we think triggers the decisions we make and how we act. Behavior is learned. Young black men are NOT born with a “kill each other” gene, and young white men are NOT genetically predestined for healthier and longer lives. But when you are constantly fed that your brother has no value and you digest this mindset as fact, it’s much easier to pull the trigger or turn a blind eye to his death.
In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., who faced the real KKK, eloquently and skillfully analyzed our American problem. He spelled out solutions. Please read the letter carefully and apply it. Like brother King’s message in Philadelphias MLK’s letter challenged the church to BE the church of God. We are the institution with the power to transform minds. The time is now.
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For more information on this topic, visit Another View, a weekly radio program and news roundtable in Hampton Roads, Virginia.
Mary J. Blige and Angela Bassett star as “Betty & Coretta” in Lifetime’s original movie (Photo credit: Richard McLaren/Lifetime.com)
The old saying goes, “Behind every great man, there is a woman.” I have observed, however, that “beside every great man, there is a woman.” Such is the case with Civil Rights advocates, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. While many are familiar with their stories, few know the stories of their devoted wives Coretta Scott King and Dr. Betty Shabazz. More surprisingly the friendship that formed between these two women after the assassinations of their husbands is an untold story.
That is until Lifetime boldly presented this bond of sister and womanhood in the television world premiere of “Betty and Coretta” last weekend. A corporate executive at A&E Network did confirm that the Shabazz and King families were not consulted for the film, noting the temptation for family members to protect their legacies. Given the documented inward fighting between siblings in both families, viewers can understand (at least partially) the network’s decision. Some of the heirs are not happy with the flick.
Ilyasah Shabazz, third daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz and author of Growing Up X, called the film “inaccurate.” There are a few grievances raised: Contrary to Ilyasah’s statement, there are several pictures available online portraying Dr. Shabazz’s head covered with a scarf. Whether or not Dr. Shabazz spoke on her death bed is somewhat irrelevant. The point is Mrs. King did come to be at her friend, Betty’s side in the days leading up to her death. According to the children, moreover, there was a house visit portrayed in the movie which never really took place. Whenever a person’s life is brought to a film there is a certain level of embellishment that goes with the territory because producers are attempting to share a big story in a finite amount of time; smooth transitions are needed to move the story line forward and still capture the big picture. With the aforementioned reasons in mind, one can hardly call Lifetime’s portrayal a work of fiction.
Lifetime took great care adding credibility to the film by featuring actress, Ruby Dee, as narrator of the movie and dear friend of the Shabazz family. The movie picks up right before the assassinations of Malcolm (February 21, 1965) and Martin (April 4, 1968), and opened with Ruby Dee (who recently turned 90 years old) setting the stage for the times of racism, war, and poverty in America. Throughout the film she continues sharing facts about the deaths of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, the Black National Political Convention (of 10,000 attendees where Coretta and Betty first met), the lobbying and six million signatures Mrs. King gathered to make Martin Luther King, Jr. a National Holiday, and she narrates all the way to the deaths of both phenomenal women.
The movie is not about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Malik Yoba), Malcolm X (Lindsay Owen Pierre), or their legacies per se. The movie is also not about the King and Shabazz children. The movie focuses on two women who were powerful, strong, faithful, and devoted leaders in their own rights. The film spans three decades and weaves the lives of these two civil rights activists and shares how they stood for justice.
The Women
A pregnant, Betty Shabazz (Mary J. Blige) and her four daughters watched her husband being gunned down as he took the stage to deliver what became his last message. After Malcolm X’s assassination, Betty delivered twin girls, which made her a single mother with six small children. With the help of friends and those in her community, Betty cared for her family and earned a doctorate degree in high-education administration from the University of Massachusetts. She became an associate professor of health sciences at New York’s Medgar Evers College. She spent the rest of her life working as an university administrator and fundraiser, before she died on June 23, 1997 as a result of injuries sustained by a fire her 10-year-old grandson, Malcolm set in her home.
As a widow, Coretta Scott King (Angela Bassett) raised four children while remaining a leading participant in the Civil Rights Movement. She went from being her husband’s motivator and partner in the movement to being a justice advocate to the world. In addition to lobbying for the national King Holiday (first celebrated in January 1986), she became president, chair, and Chief Executive Officer of The King Center in Atlanta, GA. At the end of the movie, Ruby Dee notes that Mrs. King died in 2006, nine years after Dr. Shabazz, from ovarian cancer.
The movie goes beyond their advocacy works and humanizes these valiant women. It is difficult to know for sure the intimate conversations that took place between the two. There is one living legend, however, who is knowledgeable of at least some of those conversations, and that woman is Myrlie Evers-Williams, wife and widow of the first NAACP field officer, Medgar Evers. As widows of the Civil Rights Movement, Myrlie Evers-Williams shared a special bond with King and Shabazz. In the book, Betty Shabazz: A Sisterfriends Tribute in Words and Pictures, she wrote about a healing spa retreat the three of them took together. During the retreat, they committed not to talk about the assassinations of their husbands or the movement; they simply bonded as sisters and friends. She also wrote that “the three stayed in contact and tried to get together whenever they could.”
Lifetime briefly mentioned the retreat at the end of the movie (hence the purpose of the Betty Shabazz hospital bed scene). However, Myrlie Evers-Williams’ character only makes a brief appearance in the film when Dr. Shabazz took the position to teach at Medgar Evers College. Maybe one day, Myrlie Evers-Williams will tell her side of this story.
What Their Stories Mean for Us
All things considered, I believe we have a reason to rejoice with the production of this film. Mrs. King and Dr. Shabazz came together to shepherd the legacies of their husbands, but that is only part of their stories. The bigger story is these women stood together and turned their tragedies into triumphs. Even more important, both women used their faith, family, and friendships to advocate justice on behalf of women, children, the poor, and oppressed. They stood together and changed the world.
A twitter reflection by @lativida sums it up well: Take note all you dumb reality shows! This is how REAL BLACK WIVES act! These women knew real pain and persevered! #BettyandCoretta.
Betty and Coretta were strong in their own rights. They were single mothers who became grandmothers and they took care of their families. They took the mantles that were passed to them and used them as a foundation to build their communities and our nation. They remind us, each of us (the single mother, wife, or young person of any gender), of what we can do with faith, friendship, and forgiveness, for this, yes this is how real black wives behave! Thank God for their tenacity, legacies, and friendship.
The Scroll Movie, airing each February Sunday evening on the ASPiRE network at 8 p.m. (Photo courtesy of TheScrollmovie.com)
Like many children, film director Parrish Smith, the son of a Baptist pastor, often fell asleep in church. Still his father would manage to awaken his son from time to time. “When my father used parables and stories in his sermons they somehow woke me up,” says Smith. In a good story, you can extract jewels of information and knowledge.” And thus seeds were planted for the future visual storyteller.
A desire to highlight the gifted storytelling of pastors and ministers inspired Smith to interview some of the 21st century’s highest-profile ministers, evangelists, and church leaders, examining the journeys of faith, hope, and perseverance that led these individuals to the positions of positive influence they now today in the documentary “THE SCROLL: Evidence of Life Unseen.” The four-part documentary will premiere this Sunday, Feb. 3 at 8 p.m. on the ASPiRE network, a television network launched June 27, 2012 by Magic Johnson Enterprises. The remaining parts of the documentary will be air at 8 p.m. on the following Sundays: February 10th, February 17th, and February24th.
“In THE SCROLL, I wanted to uplift and pay homage to pastors and to ministers and to my father who is deceased,” says Smith, who directed the documentary and served as its executive producer along with Leona D. Willis. “People often see the negative side of ministers – the buffoonery, money, cars. In THE SCROLL, the ministers share stories from their life and the common link is faith.”
Smith spent three years conducting extensive interviews with more than 50 of the country’s most respected pastors and ministers, and many share parts of their lives that they have never shared so publicly before.
“My interview with Rev. Bernice King was a hard interview because of who she is, and she is very guarded,” says Smith. “She talks about how her faith wavered when her mother and her sister passed away. She was mad at God. How can you be a minister and be angry with God? Just her being candid about being mad with God is not something you hear a minister or pastor saying. And just to hear a minister say that gives you hope when you go through the same situation.”
His interview with Rev. Dr. Jamal Bryant was very revealing as well. “Everyone or most everyone knows that Jamal Bryant committed adultery and lost a good chunk of his congregation,” says Smith. “Many people shunned him, and he felt isolated. At the same time, God said to him I can bring you through this if you don’t lose sight of me. Adultery affects a lot of people. About 50 percent of marriages end in divorce, and adultery is one of the number one reasons for divorce. These pastors are sharing a lot of candid stories and show that we are all flawed.”
Some faith leaders even shared what some may believe is unthinkable. “Bishop Noel Jones revealed that he sometimes questions the existence of God. People think if you’re a bishop, your faith should be so strong all of the time.”
Smith admits it wasn’t easy to get these pastors and ministers to share personal stories from their lives. “That’s why it took three years when I was hoping it would take one year to make,” says Smith with a laugh. “I had to go through executive assistants and publicists. When I was growing up, the ministers were touchable. I got a lot of “Who are yous?” I had to call three and four times and sometimes 10 and 15 times, but little by little, they started to say yes. The more we did, the more we were able to do.”
Also, Smith enabled the pastors and ministers to feel comfortable by establishing some parameters around the interviews. “I limited the amount of people in the room to three people when I interviewed them,” says Smith. “When you had more than three people in the room, you got a sermon, but under three people, you got a conversation. Each interview was about one hour or so and they loosened up after an hour.”
And now the faith leaders are helping to promote the documentary. Bishop T.D. Jakes of The Potter’s House in Dallas, another of the church leaders profiled, says the program represents “an opportunity to know, intimately, the persons behind the message. It’s like the distinction between reading the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old Testament we learn what the Apostles said, but we don’t learn much about who they were. Sometimes our greatest messages are not in our lips, but in our struggles.”
Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr., pastor emeritus of the Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago’s South Side, says THE SCROLL “captures a slice of African-American faith life that probably nobody else has captured, from a wide variety of clergypersons…conservative, liberal, young, old, pastors, teachers, and persons who have labored long and below the radar.”
Bishop Paul S. Morton of Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church in New Orleans, adds: “I think people need to hear from people of influence in the body of Christ that they really look up to: Have they really been through anything? Has anything happened in their lives? What are they dealing with in their lives?”
