If you agree with the following assessment of Rev. Al from Byron Allen, please leave a simple yes or not answer in the comments section regarding the first part of this post. :)
"Byron Allen, the CEO of Entertainment Studios, continued his attacks on Al Sharpton in light of a discrimination lawsuit Allen and other African-American media owners filed against Comcast and Time Warner Cable. The suit alleges that despite calling itself a diverse company, Comcast and TWC only carry one black-owned channel, and that Sharpton is “a sham, undertaken to whitewash Comcast’s discriminatory business practices.”
More specifically, Allen contends that Comcast gave Sharpton a primetime TV show on MSNBC — “despite notoriously low ratings” — in exchange for Sharpton’s public support for Comcast on issues of diversity, an area where Allen says the company severely lacks.
Appearing on Reliable Sources Sunday morning, Allen told Brian Stelter that Sharpton does not speak for him or any black people, saying it is racist to even think that Sharpton is the “go-to person” for African-Americans. He also went after Sony for supposedly believing sitting down with Sharpton “negates” its employees’ racist emails uncovered last December about President Barack Obama.
Allen also alleged that AT&T spent more money on Sharpton’s 60th birthday party than they spent on Ebony Magazine. Companies like Walmart, Chrysler, and McDonalds do not do business with Allen and other African-Americans, he said, because Sharpton is the “least expensive negro” — a claim that Stelter immediately pounced on. But Allen went even further.
According to Allen, companies like Comcast have the following mentality (an assertion that Stelter did not challenge): “don’t do business with real African-American-owned companies, just give him 50,000 and a bucket of chicken and we’re good. We won’t have any problems with real African-American-owned media.” Allen went on to call Sharpton the “shakedown,” while he is the “legitimate entrepreneur” and a victim of Comcast’s “financial genocide.” His criticism, though, was not just reserved for Sharpton.
“President Obama has been bought and paid for. He has taken donations from Comcast. Comcast is his biggest contributor. AT&T is one of his biggest contributors. Listen, Obama, your own FTC is investigating AT&T for throttling. How can you even consider them to buy DirecTV when you’re suing them? Is it because you took donations? Yes, Obama. Don’t even think about letting them merge until they settle this lawsuit and that lawsuit … Obama has to do more.”Allen’s final thought: “Obama, do the right thing.” [Source]
Thanks for your participation and for helping our white friends to understand that Al. Sharpton does not speak for ALL black people.
Finally, I recently received an intriguing e-mail from my friend, Francis Holland. Francis has one of the truly great and curious minds of all the folks in the diaspora.---- He is the person who first coined the phase, color arousal syndrome.
Francis has some ideas about America righting past wrongs and holding folks accountable, which I believe that I should share with you.
Here goes:
"Hi, Wayne,
That got me wondering: Where is OUR statutory proposal that, if passed, would successfully redress our unequal justice complaints?
I'm in Haiti, reading a book on the Haitian revolution and it has inspired me. In the run-up to the revolution, Haitian Creoles were furiously writing proposals and arguments to colonist (slave drivers) and the French government for equal rights for Creoles and even emancipation of slaves. Many of the proposals went nowhere, but they clarified issues and solidified Blacks'determination for fight for what they would not be otherwise given.
It amazes me that one can read these letters and proposals over 200 years later and see how they led to revolution and abolition in Haiti.
Haiiti's no bowl of cherries now, but it was the America's first and only (?) successful revolution against slavery that resulted in Black rule.
Our complaints about the justice system are many, but I think I drafted a proposal that, if passed, would provide a remedy for almost all of our complaints, from police brutality to the Black prison population to biased sentencing and even suspension of Blacks from school.
The act would create a right not to be prosecuted or punished more harshly than a white man would be under similar circumstances, with remedies including habeus, reformation and vacation of sentences, monetary damages...
As drafted, it would even create a plaintiff descendants' right to compensation from the federal and state governments for prosecution and persecution that occurred under slavery and Jim Crow (reparations LOL), although it doesn't say so explicitly.
It might not get passed soon, but there's something to be said for clearly stating what you want.
Francis"
Thank you Francis. Keep working on that proposal. You have my attention.
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