Color of the Cross Portrays Jesus As Black Messiah

Color of the Cross stars director Jean-Claude LaMarre (left) as Jesus. He has received death threats for creating the first epic movie to depict Jesus as Black.

Make plans now! Save a date, get a date, buy some Milk Duds, and some hot, buttered popcorn. A Black Messiah cometh to the big screen! Color of the Cross, the Nu-Lite Entertainment epic movie opens in theaters October 27th. It is bound to cause at stir as it is the first epic movie to portray Jesus as a Black Messiah. And it's about time! Da Vinci Code and Passion of the Christ, move over. I am sure we're all going to have plenty to say about this one.

From the Color of the Cross website comes this description...

“Color of the Cross,” an independent, biblically charged religious biopic, is based on the last 48 hours of Christ’s life and stands to be the most controversial depiction of Jesus to date. The film is unique in two distinct ways: The first dramatic film in Hollywood history ever to depict Christ as a black man. Secondly, it is the first Christian based film to inject race as a possible factor in the Crucifixion of Christ. This racial perspective to the conventional biblical story is sure to challenge Conservative Christian beliefs. The film places racial issues front and center in this growing religious discourse that is sure to become an additional topic for debate. According to Producer, Kenneth Halsband, “When you see the black man on the cross, you are immediately reminiscent of the 1960’s… Our film hopes to heal those wounds”.

In this gripping, two-hour epic, Jesus is portrayed as a black Jew. This retelling of the biblical story from a black perspective seeks to repair the anti-Semitism that has been associated with the story of Christ. Jean-Claude LaMarre is the screenwriter, director and lead actor of the world’s most controversial religious film, “Color of the Cross.” “The idea of re-imaging is very important to my vision of this story,” says LaMarre “For decades blacks have been the victims of negative imaging, especially in their depiction in Hollywood films. I applaud Fox for taking a step toward rehabilitating this image. Jesus is a great place to start”.

“Color of the Cross,” directed by lead actor Jean Claude LaMarre, stars Debbi Morgan (“Coach Carter,” “Woman Thou Art Loosed”) as Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Ananda Lewis (“The Ananda Lewis Show”, “The Insider” Host). “The idea of re-imaging is very important to my vision of this story, says LaMarre “For decades blacks have been the victims of negative imaging, especially in their depiction in Hollywood films. I applaud Fox for taking a step toward rehabilitating this image. Jesus is a great place to start”.

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, which released “The Passion of the Christ” on domestic home video, has acquired the domestic home video rights for “Color of the Cross” for seven figures including a P & A commitment for theatrical release.Producer/Theologian Dr. Cecil “Chip” Murray, of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church (First AME) in Los Angeles, believes this version of Christ’s story is long overdue. “I think that people will welcome this as a fresh perspective, especially as well-researched as this story is,” said Dr. Murray.

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I would like to thank Manual McMillan, Sr., Asst. Director, Financial Aide Administration,the University of Louisville for sending me this link.
Remember, it is not Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Age that saves. Jesus saves!

A Girl Like Me Tackles Self Hatred

Prepare yourself. You might want to stand and sit for this one. But, then, that would bring too much cognitive dissonance since standing and sitting at the same time is an impossibility. What is impossible to some, but only obvious to many, is that racism still exist in the 21st Century, and that black children and teens are affected by it in how they view themselves.

A Girl Like Me is the much-talked-about, riveting seven-minute film short by 17-year-old New York student Kiri Davis in which black children in a Harlem day care repeatedly picked a white doll over a black doll. What you are about to see is sickening. It is cognitive disonance, self hatred, manifested. Davis got the idea for the documentary from the 1947 Kenneth Clarke (standing left) doll experiment. Clarke's study helped prove the 1954 landmark Supreme Court Brown vs Board of Education case. Davis, who won the Diversity Award for the documentary from Media That Matters, a nonprofit internet and traveling festival that screens film about social issues, told Jet Magazine, "It started out as a school project...I inteviewed black girls and the issue of beauty kept coming up. It's sad in this day and age that people are being put in the position of trying to fit a standard of white beauty."

Louisville writer and Centenniel Olivet Baptist Church member Javacia Harris wrote about A Girl Like Me in Velocity Magazine on October 4th, in the article, The power of beauty myths and teenage insecurities. She interviewed two women, one of whom was 27-year-old dark-skinned Tawanda Lewis who wears dreadlocks, "The people who I thought would judge me, which would be corporate America, white America, were not the people that judged me. It was black America. So what will it take for black women, and all black people to actually believe the '70's slogan 'Black is beautiful'"?

Some of you may have heard me talk about the A Girl Like Me on the WLOU on Friday, October 6th. Well, when I got home, my African dolls, Tosha and Imani, were insulted by it all. They told me to tell my listeners to buy their children black dolls for Christmas (smile)! What I found equally insulting was watching TBN's Jan Crouch hand out white Barbie dolls, and lots of them, to African children in Africa recently one Christmas. Reflecting on the 1947 Clarke experiment myself, all I could say over and over again, as I watched in horror, was why didn't she take black dolls to Africa! Why?! After watching this film, you will come to realize that is it easier said than done to, as Oil Of Olay puts it, love the skin your in.

Remember, it is not Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Age that saves. Jesus saves!

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Pictures from Jet Magazine, September 18, 2006 in article New York Teen 'Doll Test' Film Takes On Race Issues.

Thanks to Rev. Antonio Payne, Corinthian Baptist Church for Javacia Harris' article, and to Javacia Harris for the A Girls Like Me link. Romans 8:28

Meet Your Opponent, The Devil

By: Angela Lee Price

1 Peter 5:8-9 says, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Make no mistake about it, we all have an opponent in this world. His name is Satan. He is a liar and the father of lies. He is the prince of the power of the air. His only mission is to kill, steal, and destroy. There is no good deed in him. Submit to God, meet your opponent, the devil, and prepare for spiritual warfare ahead, for the race is not to the swift, but to those who endure to the end. And the battle is not yours, but the Lord's.

God's Original Intent:

It was God's intention that man would rule over the earth under God's authority (Gen. 1:26, Ps. 8:4-6, and Heb 2:5-8a). However, because of the fall as recorded in Genesis 3, Satan wrestled the rule away from man (Heb. 2:5 & 2:8b). But as promised in Genesis 3:15, the Lamb of God broke Satan's hold by means of His incarnation, sinless life, death, resurrection, ascension (Heb. 2:9-14) and will one day recover that which was lost through the judgments of the seven seals as described in Revelation 6-9. Satan once held a previledged position in heaven, but pride and sin were found in him and he was casted down to earth with a third of the angels.

Satan's (Lucifer's) Original Position:

Lucifer had unparalleled position in the universe. He was highly previledged, the epitome of God's creation (Ezek28:12-17).

1. He had unparalleled wisdom and beauty (v.12).
2. He had unparalleled habitation (vs. 13-14). He was on the holy mountain of God and walked in the midst of the stones of fire.
3. He had unparalleled function (v. 14) He was an anointed cherubim. Anointed cherubims were associated with guarding the holiness of God (Gen. 3:24), with the throne of God (Ezek. 1:15), and with the actual presence of God. Lucifer was the chief guardian of God's holiness and majesty. He was also referred to as God's worship leader.
4. He had unparalleled perfection (Ezek 28:15). He was perfect in the sense of being completedly sound and having total moral integrity.

The Five "I Wills" of Rebellion:

Isaiah points to the five "I Wills" coming from the proud and boastful heart of Satan that describe the nature of his aspiration (Isaiah 14:12-15). He pitted his will against God's will. These five statements reveal not only his intentions, but Satan's program as long as he is free to walk the universe.

1. I will ascend to heaven (v13). There are three different spheres of heaven. The atmospheric heaven around the earth. The stellar heavens, the stars and galaxies. The heaven of heavens, or the Third Heaven which represents God's abode, God's throne or the seat of God's sovereign authority, the place of God's rule. The creature wanted to expell the Creator; the servant wanted to become the served.
   
2. I will raise my throne above the stars of God (v13). Job 38:7 gives us a clue to the meaning of the phrase "stars of God," "When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy." While this could refer to the heavenly bodies that illuminate the night, this mostly likely refers to Satan's desire to exalt himself over the angelic kingdom as God.
   
3. I will sit on the mount of the assembly of the recesses of the north (v13). Often in Scripture, mountains and hills refer to authority or right to rule. This describes Satan's desire to rule over the affairs of the entire created universe.
   
4. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds (v14). Clouds are often associated with God's glory and presence, "And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud" (Ex. 16:10). Satan express the desire to to usurp the glory that belonged to God.
   
5. I will make myself like the Most High (v14). Satan wanted to be responsible to no one but himself. He wanted to take the very place of God.

In Isaiah 12, we find the beginning or origin of sin. Iniquity was found in the heart of Satan. Iniquity came by what might be termed a "spontaneous generation" in the heart of this being in whom such magnificence of power and beauty had been combined and to whom such authority and priviledge had been given.

Satan Judged:

First, because of Satan's sin, he was thrust out of his exalted place and position, "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How are thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!" (v12), and further we read, "Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit (v15). Satan is described as the one who fell from heaven and was cut down to earth. One third of the angelic host chose to follow Satan, "And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth...." (Rev. 12:3-4).

Secondly, the loss of Satan's standing as the anointed cherub is followed by the sentence pronounced against him in the garden of Eden after the temptation, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruse him on the heel" (Gen. 3:14-15).

Finally, Jesus Christ defeats Satan at the cross. The cross is the strategic place and basis for Satan's defeat and judgment.

1. Christ's death provided complete victory over Satan and his evil forces, "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;" (Heb. 2:14).
   
2. Christ's death provided the perfect sacrifice for sin, "And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight" (Col. 1:-21-22).
   
3. Today, Christ's death on the cross provides redemption from sin for those who would believe that Jesus died on the cross and that God raised him from the dead, "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it" (Col. 2:14-15).

"...if thou shalt confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Romans 10:9).

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This is the first in a series of articles on spiritual warfare, The Full Armour of God: How to Get Dressed for the Battle. Based on the Bible, and books, Spiritual Warfare: The Battle for Life, by Ray C. Stedman, and Spiritual Warfare in a Believer's Life by Charles H. Spurgeon.

Remember, it is not Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Age that saves. Jesus saves!

Keep Your Eyes On the Prize, Hold On!

By: Angela Lee Price

The heralded Civil Rights Movement documentary Eyes On the Prize is back in a major way. It began airing on public television last night and continues this month on KET. Don't miss it!

Be sure to visit the PBS Eyes On the Prize website! In the words of Dr. Freddie Haynes, "It's on like neckbones!" The PBS website chronicles the story of the Civil Rights Movement from 1954-1985 with articles, pictures, and video clips. The "Profiles" section is "off the chain!" The people and events of the movement are listed with background information. Within the "Video and More" section is a "Music" subcategory that displays all the Civil Rights songs' profiles with audio clips including We Shall Overcome and Eyes On the Prize.

From the website,

"The landmark Eyes on the Prize television series spans 14 hours, over three decades of history, and dozens of events across the country. This feature presents 25 of the major events, from Emmett Till's murder in 1955 to the election of Harold Washington as Chicago's first black mayor in 1983. A final section provides an update on civil rights in America today. Screen historic footage of these events, listen to freedom songs, read newspaper headlines, see photo galleries, and more as you follow the story of America's Civil Rights Movement."

Be sure to enter "Jesus" in the search engine and read the transcript that includes Heavyweight Boxing Champion Louisville native Muhammad Ali's comments at an April 1967 event at Howard University:

"See, we have been brainwashed. Everything good and of authority was made white. We look at Jesus, we see a white with blond hair and blue eyes. We look at all the angels, we see white with blond hair and blue eyes. Now, I'm sure if there's a heaven in the sky and the colored folks die and go to heaven, where are the colored angels? They must be in the kitchen preparing the milk and honey. We look at Miss America, we see white. We look at Miss World, we see white. We look at Miss Universe, we see white. Even Tarzan, the king of the jungle in black Africa, he's white!"

Obtaining the television schedule for the Louisville area was a bit tricky. Here are what appears to be the times the Eyes On the Prize documentary will air on KET this month in Louisville. It may air at others times, too, so check your local listing:

Eyes on the Prize: Awakenings - 1954-56/Fighting Back - 1957-1962:
KET 1: 10/03 @ 8:00 p.m.
KET 2: 10/04 @ 1:00 a.m.
KET 2: 10/04 @ 4:00 a.m.
KET 3: 10/08 @ 1:00 a.m.

Eyes On the Prize: Ain't Scared of Your Jails - 1960-61/No Easy Walk - 1961-63:
KET 2: 10/09 @ 9:00 p.m.
KET 1: 10/10 @ 8:00 p.m.
KET 2: 10/11 @ 1:00 a.m.
KET 2: 10/11 @ 4:00 a.m.

Eyes On the Prize: Mississippi: Is This America? 1963-64/Bridge to Freedom 1965:
KET 2: 10/16 @ 9:00 p.m.
KET 1: 10/17 @ 9:00 p.m.
KET 2: 10/18 @ 1:00 a.m.
KET 2: 10/18 @ 4:00 a.m.

Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on!

Remember, it is not Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Age that saves. Jesus saves!

Exploring the Black Presence In the Bible

By: Angela Lee Price

Quick, can you name three black people in the Bible? Exploring the Black presence in the Bible is important today like never before. Many African Americans don’t know the truth of their heritage. They think the Bible is a “white man’s book” due primarily to erroneous all-white depictions of our favorite Bible stories on television, and our failure to counter those errors with the truth of Scripture.

The Bible says my people perish for lack of knowledge. Far too many African Americans are perishing because they do not know who they are and from whence they came. They don’t know that the origins of civilization began in Africa, that Egypt is in Africa, and that science, geometry, and astronomy originated in Africa. Many people believe Jesus was a white man with blue eyes and long, blonde hair. A pervasive lack of knowledge about self, heritage and history, is having an extremely damaging psychological impact upon the psyche of our people.

While the goal should not to romanticize the black presence in the Bible, I believe exploring the Black presence in the Word of God to be of paramount importance to the spiritual well being of people of color. It helps us in our quest to grow in spiritual maturity and learn about Jesus. It helps us to better relate to Africans from the Motherland and become more sensitive to the plight of people of African descent. It helps us explain with dignity our heritage to other cultures of the world. Finally, it gives us life more abundantly.

Joel Osteen On Larry King Live

Do you know what you believe and why you believe it? If so, praise God! Apparently, an overwhelming majority of professing Christians believe all roads lead to heaven. In a September 5, 2005 Newsweek Spirituality in America Special Report, Christians and non-Christians were asked a number of questions pertaining to their spiritual beliefs including "Can a good person who doesn't share your religious beliefs attain salvation or go to heaven?" Approximately 79% of those polled answered "yes."

Respondents by category:
Evangelical Protestants, 68%;
Non-evangelical Protestants, 83%;
Roman Catholics, 91%;
Non-Christians,73%.

It is no wonder then that popular mega church televangelist Joel Osteen can answer "I don't know" when asked this question on Larry King Live, Joel Osteen on Larry King Live, and still continue to pack the Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas with congregants, and command a large television audience each week.

Postscript to this story: After getting considerable negative feedback from this interview, Joel Osteen apologized on his website for not defending the faith more strongly. How many people actually saw the apology? No many.

To read my first post on this subject, click on the January archives and read Ease On Down the Roads...to Heaven?

Remember, it is not Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Age that saves. Jesus saves!

The Original Gangsta: Marjoe, the Atheist

Speaking of speaking in tongues, slaying people in the spirit, and prophesying, Marjoe Gortner says in this video,

"If you're going to get into big-time religion, these are the games you gotta play."

This Marjoe Gortner video is must-see material for all who are concerned with protecting the sheep.

Abbreviated Video Description from YouTube.com:

In the 1950's he was known as the youngest ordained minister in the world (officially ordained at just 4 years old). As he grew to manhood, he traveled doing tent revivals, preaching, prophecying and working miracles... but the amazing truth was - Marjoe was a fraud! In fact, he claimed to be an atheist! His general view of "the ministry" was that it was no different than the entertainment business.

In 1972 Marjoe decided to get out of the "ministry" but took one last ride on the tent revival trail... this time with a band of camera men and he exposed his own charade! His self-created documentary ( titled "Marjoe") was made into a feature film and shown all over. Below is a 9 minute clip of him in action, both as a child and as an adult (the file is in Windows Media format).

Today Marjoe is an actor and also a public speaker for social causes he cares about. Foremost among those causes is informing the public about some of the rhetorical techniques that are being used to manipulate their thoughts and emotions. He is still not a Christian, but he visits about 20 colleges a year teaching them how "faith-healers" do their "tricks". People actually still "fall down under the power" in his lectures as he demonstrates how the masters of religion work their "magic."

Remember, it is not Mohmmad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Ages that saves. Jesus saves!

Post your comments to this video below.

UnityFest 2006 Makes BIG Impact

By: Angela Lee Price


Above: Donald Lawrence and the UnityFest Choir; Below: Tye Tribbett & G.A. perform.

Thousands clapped, sang and praised the Lord mightly for hours Saturday, August 26th at UnityFest 2006. The much-anticipated UnityFest 2006, held at Louisville Slugger Field, featured national gospel artists Donald Lawrence, Israel & New Breed and 500-voice UniftyFest choir. Lawrence ministered beautifully between songs, Healed, You Covered Me, Giants, and Blessings of Abraham. Israel & New Breed traveled from South Africa for the event. Many enjoyed their unique style of praise and worship in songs, Not Forgotten, You Are Good, and Again I Say Rejoice.

VOP, VIPs with Tribbett, fest-goers. The young adult choir backed Tribbett on S.O.S. finale, Victory.

Approximately 75 local churches participated in Big Impact Day, a two-day event that included a PrayerFest, Love Louisville outreach, Do the Right Thing youth expo, UnityFest Gospel concert, and official Save Our Kids from the Streets, S.O.S., after party, sponsored by St. Stephen Church, featuring national gospel artists Tye Tribbett and G.A. Tribbett performed gospel favorites, No Way, Everything, and Victory. Local gospel groups Thee Ensemble and Voices of Praiz, both featuring Jason Clayborn, performed contemporary gospel music.

Fest-goers remained on their feet throughout the concert and weathered early-evening showers to participate in the event.

Angela's Labor Day Comments on WLOU on UnityFest

Remember, it is not Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Age that saves. Jesus saves!

Looters and Finders - In Review

As the nation looked back this week to August 29, 2005 and Hurricane Katrina, many were reminded of just how sickened they were by the events that unfolded before our eyes on national television that terrible week. I don't know about you, but I felt I was personally violated -- so much so that I was moved to send the following e-mail to several Louisville-area media outlets a few days after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast region. It was picked up by The American Baptist Newspaper and published in their Editorials section on September 12, 2005.

I want to thank The American Baptist Newspaper for allowing a sistah to vent her rage. I also want to thank Rev. Lesa Dae for having me as a guest on her radio talk show, A New Dawning on Saturday, September 3, 2005 to discuss the Katrina tragedy and the federal government's disgustingly slow response to our Gulf Coast citizens.

WLOU listener dedication to Katrina Survivors
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Photo right from the the September 1, 2005 BlackNews.com article by Dante Lee entitled, Black Looters, White Finders- Is the Media Racially Biased About Hurrican Katrina?

There is considerable tension today between the races due primarily to lack of serious dialogue and understanding about race. This is very evident as African Americans express outrage about coverage of the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe in mainstream media as the e-mail below demonstrates. Many African Americans, including myself, are very upset about the following:

1. African Americans being referred to as “looters” while white Americans are referred to as “finders.”
2. The citizens of New Orleans being referred to as “refugees.”
3. The continual replaying of old footage of “looting” African Americans as though they were the only ones with sense enough to find food and survival necessities.
4. President Bush’s hostile and inflammatory “shoot-to-kill” rhetoric as victims of the tragedy die in the streets from lack of attention.
5. The military’s pre-General Honore, guns-pointed entrance into New Orleans as though all victims were criminals.
6. The Red Cross’ answer to their late arrival – “It was unsafe to enter the city.”
7. The defensive reply of at least one cable television news host to Congressional Black Caucus and NAACP concerns that race was a factor in the government’s slow response to evacuate the citizens of New Orleans – something to the effect that “New Orleans Major Nagin is African American, and I don’t hear you accusing him of incompetence.”
8. Rita Cosby referring to the five African Americans killed yesterday in the gun battle with the military as “thugs” without presenting proof of their background with arrest records.
9. The continual insistence that poverty and class are issues being uncovered with this disaster and that race has nothing to do with it.
   

Many African Americans believe that had the residents of New Orleans been 70% white and poor they would not be depicted on television and in newspapers this way nor addressed and handled in this manner by President Bush and government agencies.

Mainstream media is oftentimes too quick to emphasize stereotypical images of African Americans as savages, beasts, prostitutes, and happy-go-lucky entertainer types, while de-emphasizing efforts to educate and uplift the race. Case in point. On the front page of the August 28th edition of the Courier Journal Newspaper in the article, City Pays Price for Gun Violence, statistics were presented relating to the numbers of gunshot-wounded victims handled at Louisville’s University Hospital between 2003-2004. The article stated that 88% of the gunshot suicides were white males, however, I have yet to see detailed articles, such as the August 28th article, on white male suicide. I have seen more than enough articles about the horrible violence in west Louisville.

My suggestion is that you consider an in-depth story on the issue of race, an issue that is being brought to the national forefront as a result of the Katrina catastrophe. I believe that at the root of the race issue is lack of understanding about African civilization, African American culture, and significant African American contributions for some 400 years to this nation.

Article published in The American Baptist Newspaper, Editorial section, pages 2 & 12, September 12, 2005.

Remember, it is not Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Age that saves. Jesus saves!

Sharpton Speaks Sharply In Louisville

By: Angela Lee Price

Pictures courtesy of George Williams

The Lord certainly knew what He was doing when he gave civil rights activist and 2004 presidential candidate Rev. Al Sharpton the last name “Sharpton.” On Thursday, August 3rd, he was sharper than a two-edged sword...again! Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the keynote address, Believing An Evil Report on Simmons' Night at the General Association of Baptist in Kentucky’s 138 Joint Session. The event, held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Louisville, Kentucky drew an audience estimated at 400.

Preaching from Numbers Chapter 14:36, Sharpton said too many people in the church are believing an evil report. “We’ve built mega churches with miniature missions….We’ve built a generation of people with titles and no function, ministers that don’t minister to nobody, and trustees that can’t be trusted."


Left to Right: Rev. K. L. Moore, Barnetta Cosby, Rev. Dr. Kevin Cosby, Rev. Al Sharpton, and Rev. Dr. A. Russell Awkard

The church is believing an evil report, he chimed repeatedly. He told the audience of mostly pastors, preachers, and church leaders that many of our people don’t work, but run from church to church looking for the next fix. “When you don’t work, you become Holy thrill freaks, he said.” We’ve got bigger houses, but we are not speaking to each other; new cars and nowhere to go,” Sharpton said.

Speaking on the final night of the four-day convention, the 52-year-old Sharpton sharply criticized African Americans for believing false stereotypes and not trying hard enough to advance themselves. “Even if you are not responsible for being down, you are responsible for getting up,” he said. Black men who abuse their women believe an evil report. “Ain’t nothing hip about degrading your mama, calling your sister and girlfriend out of her name,” said Sharpton.

Simmons College of Kentucky President and St. Stephen Church Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. Kevin Cosby gave a glowing report on the state of Simmons, Kentucky’s oldest historically black college, just one and a half years into his presidency.

Cosby told conferees his role as president is to acquire “bucks, buildings, bodies, and brains.” Cosby helped raise $2 million dollars for the school since becoming the 13th president in January 2005; helped Simmons re-acquired its former campus at Eighth and Kentucky; completed major renovations at the Seventh Street campus; hired new staff and professors; and established ties with Campbellsville and Kentucky State Universities. The school expects to enroll more than 200 students this school year, and is in the process of becoming accredited.

Cosby introduced head coach Stan Hughes and unveiled the school’s new basketball team, the Simmons Panthers. The St. Stephen Voices of Praiz performed contemporary and hip hop gospel music. Simmons raised an additional $75,000 for scholarships.

Remember, it is not Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Age that saves. Jesus saves!