A Brief for Whitey - HumanEvents.com   By Patrick Buchanan Posted: 03/21/2008   How would he pull it off? I wondered. How would Barack explain to his press groupies why he sat silent in a pew for 20 years as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright delivered racist rants against white America for our maligning of Fidel and Gadhafi, and inventing AIDS to infect and kill black people? How would he justify not walking out as Wright spewed his venom about "the U.S. of K.K.K. America," and howled, "God damn America!" My hunch was right. Barack would turn the tables. Yes, Barack agreed, Wright's statements were "controversial," and "divisive," and "racially charged," reflecting a "distorted view of America." But we must understand the man in full and the black experience out of which the Rev. Wright came: 350 years of slavery and segregation. Barack then listed black grievances and informed us what white America must do to close the racial divide and heal the country. The "white community," said Barack, must start "acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination -- and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past -- are real and must be ...

I guess it's because I have seen Dr. Jeremiah Wright preach so eloquently for so long, I just don't totally see the need for the media circus that took place today. As a member of Friendship-West Baptist Church the last ten years, I've heard my fair share of what some may deem as "socially charged" messages from my own pastor. But I am willing to take a step back and try to understand why others may have views that differ from my own regarding Dr. Wright's preaching. Dr. Wright closed out a month long celebration of the 25th Pastoral Anniversary of Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III by preaching at both the 8:30 and 10:45 a.m. services. At the first service Dr. Wright preached from John 5:1-13 with the subject When the Lord Stars in Your Story. In the second service Dr. Wright chose as his text Judges 19:22-30 and used as a subject "When the Church Fails its Women." It was a timely sermon regarding domestic abuse of African-American women. Sam Hodges, Bud Gillett, The Associated Press, Debbie Denmon, and I'm sure many other media types came out on Sunday to see what Dr. Wright would ...

Land Development, Homeownership, Juvenile Justice System, Substance Abuse and the Return of New Orleanians on Summit Platform Dallas, TX – April 18, 2008 – Faith Formula Human Services is poised to keep the focus on poverty conditions in America. To this end, United States Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Dr. Frederick Douglas Haynes III, Senior Pastor of the Friendship West Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas will join forces again to host the 3rd Annual Faith Summit on Poverty, April 25th and 26th , 2008 at the Friendship-West Worship and Conference Center, 2020 W. Wheatland Road; Dallas. The central theme and goal is to engage, enlighten and equip citizens to mobilize their city, state, county and federal elected officials, and community stakeholders to promote positive public policies geared to fight the War on Poverty! Opening political forum and workshops set a three fold agenda: (1) to take a microscopic look at America’s “Cradle to Prison Pipeline”; (2) to discuss openly and directly the causes of substance abuse and lack of treatment and recovery centers in the southern sector; and (3) to investigate the realities of land development in distressed communities. On Friday, a community job fair with over thirty-five employers ...

The Metro section seemed like an odd place or Jeffrey Weiss' article regarding Dr. Jeremiah Wright's sermons, but I'm guessing he was moved by his experience at the Black Church Summit a couple of weeks ago. See Weiss' article Obama pastor's sermons highlight racial divide. There's not much new here, but the print version has an interesting breakdown of some of the points Dr. Wright made in the sermons in question.  I'd advise those who can pick up today's DMN to do so just for that table.  He also talks about surveys of African-Americans where many believe that HIV and AIDS are man made. If you check out the News' Religion Blog,  you'll see Jeffrey has done extensive work on the Wright topic.  He's even unpacked (theology term) so called God Damn America speech. It's all a mixed bag to me.  Like Father Pfleger says in the video below, it's impossible to come in from outside an try to interpret the sermon without any context of the person who delivers it. In the 10 years I've heard Jeremiah Wright speak, I've never once thought once that this was a hateful man.  As a matter of fact, in the times I've gone up to ...

This speaks for itself. 1961, a young African-American man, after hearing President John F. Kennedy’s challenge to, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,” gave up his student deferment, left college in Virginia and voluntarily joined the Marines. In 1963, this man, having completed his two years of service in the Marines, volunteered again to become a Navy corpsman. (They provide medical assistance to the Marines as well as to Navy personnel.) The man did so well in corpsman school that he was the valedictorian and became a cardiopulmonary technician. Not surprisingly, he was assigned to the Navy’s premier medical facility, Bethesda Naval Hospital, as a member of the commander in chief’s medical team, and helped care for President Lyndon B. Johnson after his 1966 surgery. For his service on the team, which he left in 1967, the White House awarded him three letters of commendation. What is even more remarkable is that this man entered the Marines and Navy not many years after the two branches began to become integrated. While this young man was serving six years on active duty, Vice President Dick Cheney, who was born the same year as the Marine/ sailor, ...

From the office of Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson. Dear Friend, I firmly believe that the burden of peacemaking and peace building cannot be left to one institution, gender or political party. It must be a shared responsibility that encompasses all, regardless of race, class, gender and religion. I began A World of Women for World Peace to bring greater visibility to the women who are victims of war and aggression and the women who lead peacemaking, peacekeeping and peace-building activities in their communities. Please join me and expert speakers to discuss the increasingly vital issue of "Conflict resolution, nuclear and ...

Forty years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his "I've been to the Mountaintop" speech. The speech was delivered at the Bishop Charles Mason Temple Church of God in Memphis, Tennessee. It would turn out to be his last, as Dr. King was assassinated at the Lorraine Hotel the next morning. Don't forget to watch the CNN special Witness to Murder detailing the events of the assassination tonight at 8 PM Central.

Most of us realize, as his grave site would attest, that Dr. Martin Luther King died 40 years ago at the hands of an assassin's bullet.  Yet a review of historical accounts may lead one to believe that Dr. King died in 1963. Rare do we see much about the life Dr. King lead between the March on Washington and his work on the sanitation strike in Memphis.  Even less do we hear about his planned Poor Peoples' Campaign and his opposition to the Vietnam War. John Blake writes an article for CNN.com titled King's final crusade: The radical push for a new America.   Here are some thoughts from Blake's article: Most Americans think of King as the "I Have a Dream" preacher at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. But the man who made his final trip to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968 had become radical, scholars and activists say. King was gambling his legacy on a final crusade that was so revolutionary, it alarmed many of his closest advisers. King called his crusade the Poor People's Campaign. He planned to march on Washington with a multiracial army of poor people who would build shantytowns at the Lincoln Memorial -- and paralyze the nation's ...

This past Sunday was a busy one for Friendship-West Baptist Church. I'm still trying to figure out how we fit so much into each service yesterday. First Dr. Haynes acknowledged some guests from the Brite Divinity School Black Church Summit. There was a banquet held during the summit to honor Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. Dr. Wright did not attend due in part to security concerns. The Dallas Morning News' Jeffrey Weiss gives a summary of some of the weekend's events here. Married couples in the congregation participated in a vow renewal ceremony in conjunction with Black Marriage Day. Sister Nisa Muhammad , founder of Black Marriage Day, was also in attendance. Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and his wife were also present, and the mayor presented Friendship-West with a proclamation from the city commending the church's support of Black Marriage Day and commitment to family. (I hope the mayor doesn't plan to run for President anytime soon). Following service, Dr. Haynes lead those present in a groundbreaking ceremony for Phase II of the Friendship-West development. The ceremony was held around a monument that will be placed in the Village Prayer Garden on the site. ...

On Sunday April 6, Rev. Al Sharpton will be minister of the hour to kick off the celebration of the 25th Pastoral Anniversary of Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III. Dr. Haynes is commemorating his silver anniversary as Senior Pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church. The visit by Rev. Sharpton is part of a month long celebration.  As more information becomes available, I will place it on the site. Who:    Rev. Al Sharpton What: 25th Pastoral Anniversary of Dr. Frederick D. Haynes, III Where: Friendship-West Baptist Church 2020 Wheatland RD Dallas, TX 75236 When: April 6, 2008 - 8 am and 10:45 am