We received the following statement from a representative of Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. :
"As a responsible citizen and elected official, Congressman Jackson has in the past provided information to federal authorities regarding his personal knowledge of perceived corruption and governmental misconduct.This was completely unrelated to the current federal investigation regarding the U.S. Senate appointment. And it is absolutely inaccurate to describe the Congressman as an informant."
Kenneth Edmonds, spokesman for Congressman Jackson.
Anywhoo. Seriously JJJ call me. Mama needs to 'splain some thangs 'bout media relations. IF the news cycle is turning in your favor, let it marinate before you start "parsing words." Sheesh!
To comment go to our ealirer post :Public Sacrifice of Jesse Jackson, Jr- More Proof that Journalism is DEAD!
The Rev. Jesse Jackson apologized Wednesday for saying Barack Obama is “talking down to black people” during what Jackson thought was a private conversation before a FOX News interview Sunday.
Jackson was speaking to a guest at the time about Obama’s speeches in black churches and his support for faith-based charities. Jackson added before going live, “I want to cut his nuts off.”
What in the hot crispy heck? Come on Rev. Jackson Come on! Now I interviewed Jesse Jackson for ESSENCE.com. He AIN'T stupid. I don't care how many of y'all think he is. The man is intelligent, don't let that Green Eggs and Ham fool ya! But let's see, you're on the set at FOX and you're whispering? With a mic on? And that was an accident? I'm sorry Rev. you need more people.
Jackson apologized:
"Any hurt or harm I caused his campaign, I apologize, because I have such high regard for him," he said. "I cherish his role -- the role he's played in making the nation better and making the world rejoice."
Jackson Had a Point
And for the record. I TOO am not happy with Barack Obama's penchant for pulling out cousin Pookie and Popeyes in front of Black audiences. This post Obama's "Tough Love" For the Black Community" basically chronicles what Obama says anytime he gets in front of a Black audience:
The black audiences at which he directs his “tough love” almost always respond with approval or applause, and his support among black voters has been rock-solid, regularly racking up 80 to 90 percent of the black vote during the Democratic primaries. Meanwhile, Obama is partaking in what’s basically tantamount to a long-running Sista Souljah campaign, demonstrating to white voters that he’s not beholden to the black community nor scapegoating whites for its ailments. So it’s ultimately a win-win. New York Magazine.
A win win for whom? So Black people get a good speech that they agree with, but what else do we get? What's behind door number 2 or 3? When he takes some other groups to task, in thier faces, then he can issue lectures to us. Its not the lecture I disagree with, its who gets a lecture vs who gets political pandering and campaign promises. He's running for President for all of America. There are plenty of lectures to go around.
So Yes, I have to agree he is talking "down" to Blacks. Sorry Obama acolytes. I'm calling it. Not because we don't need a-talking-to, but because he is running for President of the United States and I suspect his concern has more to do with using us to appeal to White voters than correcting our shortcomings. In other words, don't make me your "Sister Souljah" moment. He was not talking to US in that Father's Day speech. Sorry. He wasn't. His goal between now and November is to collect votes and appeal to "swing" voters. Black folks aren't swing voters... we've already swung to the tune of 90%
If you want to use that bully pulpit, use it for some other purpose than reinforcing stereotypes in the White community. For example, on Father's Day Obama could have easily used that opportunity to talk about the love of Black fathers. For example, Lavena Johnson's Father. His daughter went off to serve this nation in the US Army and her body was shipped back with signs of having been tortured and the Army appearing to have concocted a "suicide" to cover up her rape and murder. Talk about her father fighting the US government for answers three years after she is gone.
To be clear, some Black folks need a talking-to, but in the context of a political campaign where he has 90% of the Black vote, Barack Obama ain't talking to US. I don't have a problem with a lecture, but I have a problem with Black folks serving as his Sistah Souljah moment. If he really wants to "challenge" the Black community how about giving a speech on sexism and misogyny. I mean he has chastened us about homophobia, Popeyes Chicken, littering, and anti-intellectuallism... WHY NOT SEXISM??? I sure wish he would use one of those speeches to throw in a couple of lines about BLACK WOMEN AND GIRLS being exploited, ignored and abused, but we all know those Black audiences would probably stop clapping if he started speaking out about violence against Black women and girls. Obama is from Chicago, what's his thoughts on R. Kelly being found "not guilty"to the cheers of Black women?
That being said.... Why Jesse Why? Cut his ^%#$ off? You're smarter than that. I hope. I mean you could have given us a better soundbyte than that. I hope this was not a cry for attention because this is not the kind of attention you need. And Jesse had been doing so well. Al Sharpton has been running around acting a fool, but Jesse has been a trooper in stoic silence. Oh but my cynic-o-meter is going off. I just don't think this was an accident, but if it was intentional, why not give a better soundbyte.
Jesse's own SON had to issue a statement repudiating his own father:
"I'm deeply outraged and disappointed in Reverend Jackson's reckless statements about Senator Barack Obama. His divisive and demeaning comments about the presumptive Democratic nominee -- and I believe the next president of the United States -- contradict his inspiring and courageous career.
"Instead of tearing others down, Barack Obama wants to build the country up and bring people together so that we can move forward, together -- as one nation. The remarks like those uttered on Fox by Revered [sic] Jackson do not advance the campaign's cause of building a more perfect Union.
"Revered [sic] Jackson is my dad and I'll always love him. He should know how hard that I've worked for the last year and a half as a national co-chair of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. So, I thoroughly reject and repudiate his ugly rhetoric. He should keep hope alive and any personal attacks and insults to himself."
WHOA. Um can I come to Thanksgiving dinner? Cause they ought to sell tickets. Pass that cornbread dressing!!
You Chicago people are off the chain. Rev. Wright. Father Pfleger. Jesse Jackson. Who else representing Chi-town wants next?
What does Jesse Jackson think of former President Bill Clinton's controversial recent attempt to paint BarackObama as the Jackson of 2008? A black blogger, our own warrior princess Gina, was the first to get the scoop from Jackson himself.
Gina, on assignment for Essence magazine, recently spoke with Jackson, who is in India as the country marks the 60th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination. In addition to getting the former presidential candidate's thoughts on Clinton's remarks, Gina also spoke to him about many of the issues raised here on What About Our Daughters and on the Black Women's Roundtable. Can a black candidate transcend race? Will African Americans automatically be better off under a black president? Will we see a black woman candidate win multiple primaries and caucuses in our life times? Why is the civil rights industrial complex so lukewarm about BarackObama?
The core of her message in South Carolina is her argument that Obama, more than Clinton, former North Carolina senator John Edwards or any other presidential candidate, will do more for blacks because he understands them better.SOURCE
This most recent article about Michelle Obama's speech in SC, is the latest in a string of articles by mainstream media that is basically savaging Black women voters. This blog is after all about the negative portrayal of African American women in popular culture. The slander doesn't get any deeper than the ruse that Black women are going to be singlehandedly responsible to keeping a brother out of the White House.
Michelle Obama, 43, is especially challenging other black women, who'll be pivotal in the South Carolina primary. SOURCE
You see mainstream media is setting Black women up to be the villains in the event Barack Obama doesn't win the nomination. Go back and type in Obama and “Black Women” in a Google news search. Don't bother, I did it for y'all!
You see this is the “Political Apprentice” and Barack Obama has been cast as the superbly qualified Kwame and we, “De Ebil Blak Wimmen” are apparently going to reprise the role of Omarosa Manigault-Stalworth-Bently-Louis Vitton.
Except this time, the job that is on the line isn't some raggedy stint as Donald Trump's intern, but the position of the leader of the free world. The ultimate career move, and the “Sistas” are standing in Barack Obamas way.
This ain't no coinky dink. This is yet another version of “Black women are the enemy of Black men.” We hear this garbage from the Hip Hop Industrial Complex all the time. A sista' tryin' to stick a brother for his paper!
THIS “Black women are the enemy” talk is dangerous. I have said it once, I will say it a thousand times. You will mistreat something you view as less than human and you might feel bad about it, but if you view something or someone as your enemy, you will destroy it and not feel bad at all, in fact you will feel good about it.
Now imagine those weren't water balloons and imagine that that was not Omarosa.
I knew I was committing heresy when I wrote what I wrote. You see because I am a Black woman, I am supposed to give my vote away for free. I am not supposed to examine whether a candidate's policy positions are in MY best interest. I am supposed to be appeased by a compelling life story or how awesome I think the candidate's wife or HUSBAND is. I am supposed to be swayed and intoxicated by the melodic sounds coming from the gospel concert the candidate threw and amazed by the candidate's saxophone playing. I am supposed to be hypnotized by the candidate's phony southern accent:
You see, Christian conservatives have the power to veto Supreme court nominations. Immigration advocates get to help draft legislation sitting side by side with congressional leaders. Labor Unions get to basically draft treaties (second in supremacy only to the Constitution), but Black women, we can't ask for too much. We most certainly can't ask that a candidate make the case for why we should vote for them other than the superficial, a gospel concert is enough.
I wasn't just talking about Barack Obama. I was talking about people voting for Hillary because they have a crush on Bill Clinton . Or people Voting for John Edwards because he ran down to New Orleans to do a photo op in front of some hurricane carnage ( UM did he bring some heavy equipment and dump trucks with him? How many blocks of debris did he clear out).
The point I was trying to make was that Black women have entirely too much political power, particularly in SC to not have candidates address their needs and concerns with specificity. Not broad generalizations, but specificity. In making that point I merely asked whether African American women would be better off under an Obama administration as opposed to a Billary, Edwards, Richardson, Kucinich, Dodd, Biden or Mike Gravel Administration.
For asking such a question, we've basically been called Black man hating bitter harpies who are picking on Barack Obama. We have been cast as Barack Obama's Omarosas (BOO!). Treacherous, conniving, underhanded, difficult, angry Black women and out to keep a brother down.
Oh I'm sorry I just thought we were electing the leader of the free world. So sorry that his stances on the issues that at the moment are most important to me are irrelevant to my evaluation of him. Gosh how silly of me. There I go being a feather brained female. There I went thinking I was supposed to be making my decisions based on a candidate's stance on the issues that are important to ME and all along I was supposed to forget what might be in my best interest and substitute my judgment for that of complete and total strangers because of course... They know what best for little ole feather brained me. Fiddle dee dee. *Starts looking for a straw fan and a mint julep*
Well for those of you who have been trying to cast Black women as the Barack Obama's Omarosa Society. BOOS ( yes I am clever. I know), we are about to induct a new member. None other that the the Honorable Rev. Dr. Jesse Jackon, Sr. the Fourth.
Democratic candidates are talking about health care and raising the minimum wage, but they aren't talking about the separate and stark realities facing African Americans. SOURCE
Oh my lord Reverend, you mean to tell me that African Americans have unique concerns that a candidate running for high office might want to address specifically? It just can't be so? What about their compelling biographies, impressive spouses, and precocious children? You mean to tell me black folks are supposed to be concerned about specific issues that are of interest to them? Perish the thought.*takes another sip of the mint julep and waves straw fan furiously*
African Americans have, on average, about half of the good things that whites have, and double the bad things. We have about half the average household income and less than half the household wealth. On the other hand, we're suffering twice the level of unemployment and twice the level of infant mortality (widely accepted as a measure of general health). SOURCE
Perish the thought Rev. We ain't supposed to ask the candidates to address these specific issues, they're too busy mapping out policy and position papers for all those other IMPORTANT democratic constituencies. Never mind this big ole block of Black votes that they need to win in both the primary AND the general election ( anybody ever heard of Ohio?)
African Americans are brutalized by a system of criminal injustice. Young African Americans are more likely to be stopped, more likely to be searched if stopped, more likely to be arrested if searched, more likely to be charged if arrested, more likely to be sentenced to prison if charged, less likely to get early parole if imprisoned. Every study confirms that the discrimination is systemic and ruinous. And yet no candidate speaks to this central reality.
African Americans are more likely to go to overcrowded and underfunded schools, more likely to go without health care, more likely to drop out, less likely to find employment. Those who do work have less access to banks and are more likely to be ripped off by payday lenders, more likely to be stuck with high-interest auto and business loans, and far more likely to be steered to risky mortgages -- even when adjusting for income. And yet, no candidate speaks to this central reality. SOURCE
Hmmm, the temperature in Hell just dropped 30 degrees. It might just freeze on over.
Now, 40 years later, it is no longer acceptable for candidates to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to entrenched discrimination and still expect to reap our votes. SOURCE
So, is the Rev. Jackson a Black man hating feminazi shrew? Are you going to revoke his “Black card” too. Is he going to be blamed for singlehandedly bringing down all of the Democratic candidates for merely suggesting that with as much political power that Black people have the candidates ought to be addressing our issues SPECIFICALLY with more than lip service but actual POLICY? Now black women make up the majority of Black registered voters in this country, tell me again why we shouldn't have our issues addressed by candidates?
Now when the GLBT community was up in arms about Donnie McClurkin, Obama couldn't issue statements and have conference calls soon enough, but Black women apparently are not as important as everybody else. We can't be too demanding. We can't ask for too much in exchange for our votes. We don't deserve to be pandered to like every other group of people and demand tangible results in exchange for our votes. We're second class voters. When they count up the vote totals, our votes apparently only count 2/3 as much as Christian conservatives, members of labor unions, members of the GLBT community, environmentalists, immigration activists or opponents, and any other special interest groups that candidates ROUTINELY pander to and guess what, these folks actually get actual LEGISLATION and BILLIONS of my TAX DOLLARS out of these candidates instead of a $20 gospel concert.
To all the Obama-maniacs that have been frothing in the comments section over merely asking a question, you do your candidate a disservice by saying that we must vote for him because he is Black. A prudent action MIGHT have been to answer Shecode's questions and say. “The senator has spelled out his position on this issue. You can read more about it here.” But no, you weren't concerned about answering her question, only in making sure you noted her disloyalty for merely asking them. You were obsessed with telling a group of Black women that being concerned about violence against women and children, our health, and our personal finances are too trivial for the President of the United States to be bothered with. You were too busy trying to label us with the 'Scarlett “O”' - Not Oprah, Not Obama, Omarosa.
Maybe if Obama started addressing SUBSTANTIVE issues of specific concern to Black women in SC folks wouldn't be wringing their hands over Hillary. Whether you like it or not, a whole lot of black folks remember the Bill Clinton years as a Golden Age of Black America. The country experienced some economic prosperity, everybody owned some dot com stock. Black folks were all up over and through the Clinton administration. Quite frankly, you can say what you want to say about Bill Clinton and his policies, but he has never appear uncomfortable standing in front of Black people and having a conversation. Maybe what people tune in to is Bill Clinton's comfort level with Black folks. What's Obama's? Black folks know Bill Clinton. They don't know Obama... yet.
If he wants their votes then make the case. He's a lawyer! Make the case! Build the case on something other than biography. We aren't trying to hurt him. We're actually trying to help him by pointing out that he ain't gon' win SC on bio. You got to overcome CLINTON, BILL CLINTON and you ain't going to do that with bio, an impressive wife and precocious children.
Hillary has given him more than enough to beat her, but Obama's people think so little of Black women that they would rather focus on style than substance. Fine! Be that way, but PLEASE don't blame Black women and their “animus” towards Black men as one comment stated. If he loses, he loses because he didn't make the case for why Black women would be better off under an Obama candidacy. If he loses, he loses because he ran a crappy campaign. Tell me why he didn't beat back "I Got A Crush on Obama" and say "RESPECT MY WIFE!" Tell me why I know more about his stinky socks and leaving out the butter than I do about his policy positions? Tell me why Michelle, who spent all summer reminding us that her husband was not all that, now wants Black women to entrust our futures to the same man that apparently won't clean up after himself. Don't blame Black women for the polling in SC, blame his campaign strategists.
I didn't say I wouldn't vote for Obama. I just said if I do, I am not going to engage in the FICTION that just because he is a Black man that I am going to be better off under his administration than I would under any other administration.
If I would be better off, then by all means SHOW ME! Show me some policy. Show me some legislation. Show me some concrete acts he's taken in the past other than you like his biography. Show me the list of Black women taking a prominent role on his staff. I am not picking on the man. I was merely responding to yet another news article, setting Black women up as electoral spoilers, that popped up in my news feed.
The truth is that if Obama is in any kind of decent position come mid January, I predict that he is gong to get a HUGE chunk of the Black vote in South Carolina. I don't care WHAT folks are telling reporters in barbershops and beauty shops.It IS going to be hard to walk away from the possibility of having an African American living in the White House.
However, I am SOOOOO sorry that my impertinent questions are arising at an inopportune time, but I didn't bring up the Obama Black woman conundrum, Michelle Obama did!
Who wants next?
To all of those who can't stand the idea of questioning candidate's on their attention to the needs of the African American community, you are going to be VERY DISTRESSED to find out that there is an ENTIRE blog dedicated to Black Accountability. GASP. Oh Yeah, we aren't the only ones who think Black folks need to start holding all politicians accountable. Hat Tip to Francis Holland and the Afrospear Google Group for the heads up on the article.
Well this looks promising. Perhaps he won't follow the path of the Jena 6 and start wilding out now that he is free:
Wilson offered a word of caution to young people. “A few minutes of fun can be a lifetime,” he said. “There’s not going to be anymore parties for me for a while.” SOURCE
Well said. David Banner did you hear that? He doesn't sound like he is blaming anybody... yet.
Jesse Jackson, Baby Daddy Delux, is already serving the Koolaid and engaging in hyperbole comparing Genarlow Wilson to Jesus Christ:
“We thank You for his parents, who would not surrender in the face of tyranny,” Jackson said. “Now its morning time, and we feel a sense of joy that it’s morning time. We’ve endured the crucifixion, and now we see the stone is rolling away.” SOURCE
Really Jesse Really? Overkill? Well one poster over at the AJC pointed out the lunacy of this comparison:
A 17 year old gets a 15 year old drunk and high. With a pack of buddies (one of whom has impregnated a 12 year old) he participates in an orgy while being videotaped. This is your Jesus figure?SOURCE
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 at 9:59PM 