From the moment Senator Obama decided to run for President, like most of you I knew they were gonna come after him. I said to myself and many of my friends America is not ready to elect a Black President and once he steps out there, they will attack him with everything they’ve got.

Well for a moment I thought I was wrong. I started to wonder if maybe America had evolved, that White main stream media, and White America in general were really becoming color blind.

But once again I was proven right. Since the media, the Clinton Camp, the McCain Camp or whoever else has not been able to find anything on Barack and since he is gaining more and more momentum day by day they had to try and stop this train any way they could and “By Any Means Necessary.” So they attacked his pastor.

Now it is funny to me, how the conservative right, the Republican Party and the Christian Coalition can say just about anything they want. They can do whatever they want in the name of God, and the Holy Bible and no one says anything. They can bomb a church, synagogue, an abortion clinic. They can attack people based on race, religion, patriotism or for just not agreeing with them and no one denounces them. Pat and Oral Roberts take crazy positions say ungodly things, the Catholic Church is plagued with scandal but no one has ever asked a catholic to leave the church just because of what the priest said or did.

And then the media caught hold of the so-called Jeremiah Wright controversy (which
really is no controversy at all). Now for the record, and for the sake of full disclosure I want to be upfront and honest and say Jeremiah Wright is my friend, he is a friend to my family,

I am friends with his family. His daughter Jerri and I share a very common bond of being the next generation of very powerful and very positive African American Men. But, after I say all of that, I also want to say that what has been said about him and how he has been
portrayed in the media is just WRONG!

Now, lets jump back to OUR candidate Senator Obama. His press conference on Tuesday was incredible. He handled it with style and finesse. And he delivered to us exactly what we would ask and/or expect from our President. He did not denounce Reverend Wright, in fact he made it clear this man was and still is his friend. But, he turned the tables on the media and on America and made them take a hard look at themselves. He acknowledged racism in America, he admitted openly and honestly that some of the things that his pastor said he did not agree with. Like most of you, I too occasionally don’t agree with everything my pastor has to say... (Sorry, Pastor Chuck), but that does not mean that I want to leave the church. It does not mean that I should walk out when the pastor starts preaching and it certainly does not mean that I should denounce my friends or my faith. Trinity Church in Chicago like many of the Black Churches in Los Angeles and throughout this country are more than a spiritual resting place, they deal with more than our souls, they deal with our realities. They help us feed our hungry, clothe our naked, find work for our unemployed, seek medical treatment for our sick, and resolve our wars (or our gang violence) and make all this happen when the rest of the world does not understand our pain.

Well to Barack Obama, I am proud to see you have not forsaken your base, you have not denied your rock, and you did not denounce the messenger, even when you did not always agree with the message. Because that is what a real leader does. He marches on in the face of the trauma or the drama. He does not lose site of the goal. And for America just as it is in our community the goals are the same. We need to feed the hungry, clothe our naked, find work for our unemployed, seek medical treatment for our sick, and resolve our wars and make all this happen when the rest of the world does not understand our pain.

Today more than ever, we must remain vigilant, we must remain committed and we must remain supportive. We must believe. Because doubt is the very thing that others will seize upon.

So, whether you agree or disagree, now more than ever I really need your input. I need to hear from you. I need to know what is going on in our community. I also need to know what other stories we need to tell, and what is on your mind. I really do want to hear from you, I want you to “Talk to Danny.”

Sincerely,
Danny J. Bakewell, Jr.
President & Executive Editor

Published in : Executive Editor Blog, Talk To Danny