I may be setting my eyes on moving away from Birmingham, but today is a new day.
Larry P. Langford, mayor of Birmingham, Ala, was found guilty on all 60 counts in his federal bribery case. It only took 2 hours for the jury to come up with their decision.
This was what he had to say to the news media and his critics. Ouch. Feel pretty sad for NBC 13's Jon Paepcke. Please watch the clips for yourself.
He along with his wife blamed the verdict on race, even though the defense asked if the case be moved to another city than Birmingham; feeling as if the trial would not be fair for the defendant. Both Al LaPierre and Bill Blount, former co-defendants in the case, plead guilty earlier this year and even testified on the witness stand. Langford didn't.
Beginning today, Carole Smitherman, council president, will serve as interim mayor until a special election is help. Valerie Abbott will become acting council president.
A full report and quick bio on the now-former mayor can be read at: Wade on Birmingham.
For the month of October (boo), the eyes of the law remain glued on the state of Alabama for the biggest spook-tacular to ever outshine the perils of goblins and witches. Bloomberg opened an editorial this week on Alabama's status using the headline: Armageddon in Alabama. Whoa, could it be?
Two high-profiled cases, now making national headlines, are already in session, which include Mayor Larry P. Langford (D), the current mayor of Birmingham, Ala., who has been accused by the feds of bribery, and former Alabama Circuit Court Judge Herman Thomas, who is accused of exchanging leniency for sexual acts such as paddling, masturbation and oral sex to convicted felons.
First case: Larry P. Langford.
While never shy from controversy and the media, Langford is heading up an ocean without a paddle. Both Al LaPierre and Bill Blount, who formerly plead not guilty to their crimes and who stood as co-defendants with Langford, worked up a plea agreement with the government. As part of their plea deal, both will be called to testify against the mayor during the trial.
Langford faces 60 charges from a federal indictment returned in June 2008 and unsealed six months later. Among the charges are bribery, money laundering, conspiracy, mail and wire fraud and filing a false tax return. If convicted on all counts, Langford could serve a staggering maximum of 804 years in federal prison.
In closing, take a good listen to the rhetoric delivered at the prayer vigil held last Sunday. Leading the pep rally are Frank Matthews, known as God's Gangster, and SCLC local leader Rev. Calvin Woods. Matthews was recently hired by Langford to serve as the co-director of Birmnigham's Office of Citizen Assistance. Only 55 people attended.
A snippet of the vigil has been posted below:
This quote had me laughing, but it's a golden truth from Birmingham Weekly.
"The vigil was led by the Reverend Calvin Woods of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. That means the same organization that persuaded 3,500 students to come downtown and confront Bull Connor in May 1963 couldn’t get 60 people to come downtown to listen to a guy on a bullhorn in October 2009."
Second case: Herman Thomas
The former Mobile, Ala. judge, known for sporting his bowties and for being a proud cardcarrier of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, is facing major heat due to the bizarre nature of the allegations. Thomas, 48, faces more than 20 felony charges including sodomy, attempted sodomy, sex abuse and assault. Sodomy is the only class A felony, which is punishable by 10 years to life in prison. The case included 11 alleged victims and 52 counts. Closing statements have already been made and the 5-man, 7-woman jury, as of 3:34 p.m on Thursday, begins their deliberations on the case.
Words of advice: Even if you are a man or woman of the law, that doesn't mean you are a man or woman above the law.
To some it comes as a surprise. To others, it's elementary.
The work President Barack Obama put in to "building momentum behind his initiative to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions in the Muslim world and stress diplomacy and cooperation rather than unilateralism" were the grounds of success for the high honor.
Already nine months in his presidential run, many thought it was too early for the popular president (look at the polls and his current approval rating, as of this week) to receive such a nod. Obama, himself, said he was surprised and deeply humbled by the honor. According to the Associated Press, he plans to travel to Oslo to accept the prize, which he said he does not see "as a recognition of my own accomplishments," but rather as a recognition of goals he has set for the United States and the world.
"I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many transformative figures that have been honored by this prize," Obama said.
Still, his work on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are far from over. He is thinking about sending additional troops, led by demands from the military, and may be considering the decision to ask allies to help out.
Other sitting presidents who have received the covetous award include Theodore Roosevelt, in 1906 and President Woodrow Wilson in 1919. Al Gore received the award in 2000 for his work in raising awareness for global warming.
It didn't take long after 8 o'clock on Tuesday evening for the majority of electoral votes to slide in Sen. Barack Obama's favor. The Democratic hopeful received the news that big states including Florida, Ohio, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and even battleground states like Colorado, North Carolina and California were awarded to him. As thousands including Rev.Jesse Jackson and Oprah Winfrey united in Chicago's Grant Park for a big victory celebration, the rest of the country - a projected 71.5 million people - watched and waited to see Obama claim the prize. CBS News announced a big lead of electoral votes (206-135) by 10 p.m. ET and the Associated Press went on to make the big announcement. The long brutal and historical campaign was finally over. Republican challenger Sen. John McCain went on to concede the race to a very gloomy and saddened crowd in Arizona and Sen. Barack Obama was announced to be the 44th president of the United States of America; making history globally for becoming the first black commander in chief of the U.S.
Popular blogger Rod McCullom of Rod 2.0 stated, "Barack Obama's victory crystallizes the American experience. The election of a man of color to the nation's highest office, only 44 years after Selma, is a transformational moment and demonstrates our nation is finally healing its deep racial wounds." To many African-Americans and minorities across the country, Obama's win was expressed with shouts of joy and loud chants of "Yes We Can" at viewing parties and prayer vigils.
On a different note, ChristianityToday.com, one of the leading publications for evangelicals, remain openly nervous about an Obama candidacy. There's no sign of victory or celebration on the conservative online publication. While a moving commentary from Deann Alford recites the emotional wounds of dramatic racism and legalized segregation, most of the posts have been careful and hesitant to celebrate a moment that many media journalists are bold enough to call a defining "historic" moment. Sarah Pulliam cited, "Evangelicals will have to learn to work with Barack Obama's administration, no matter how ecstatic or how disappointed they may be."
For popular black websites, superstar MySpace pages and gospel e-zines including GospelCity.com, Black Voices and our good friend Black Gospel Blog, the party remained vigorous and apparent. R&B crooner John Legend sings about the need for hope and change, provoked by Obama's successful campaign, on "If You're Out There;" found on his newly-released project Evolver. In gospel news surrounding President-Elect Obama, gospel legend Dorothy Norwood has recorded a studio reworking of her classic 1992 hit "Victory Is Mine" in tribute to Obama's inspirational path to the White House. The remake features background vocals from Ricky Dillard's New G."Victory Is Mine (Obama Mix)" has been released and sent to radio and is expected to show up on her upcoming album Fifty Years - It's Been Worth It All; hitting shelves in the beginning of 2009.
With high-rising tensions imploding on the political terrain as the U.S. presidential election nears, GospelCity.com decided to reveal even stronger tensions within the gospel community with their disgust towards the Bush administration. An article written by Christopher Anderson exposes Richard Smallwood's recent run-in with the current Bush administration and being blacklisted from the White House's Black Music Month Celebration earlier this year.
The article mentions how Smallwood, renowned composer of "Total Praise," "I Love the Lord" and "Center of My Joy," was previously invited to the White House festivities, but was later dismissed from the program after Smallwood cited that the Bush administration learned of his involvements at a March retirement celebration for the controversial Chicago preacher Dr. Jeremiah Wright (whom got in trouble earlier this year for what the media called "anti-semetic" statements). Smallwood spoke to the press at the Democratic National Convention in Denver where he was chosen to perform.
Strangely, Black Music Month is celebrated in June, yet the article is issued as a press release closing in on the upcoming November election date; possibly adding octane to the ever-growing tensions within the Republican and Democratic camps. What's very strange about the article is that it mentions for a brief second September's Gospel Heritage Month - a U.S. observance passed by the Senate this summer - and Smallwood "graciously" saying yes to the invite. Thereafter, the White House called his assistant Kelvin Leach and the invitation was later withdrawn.
Not sure if the article meant to focus on both June and September celebrations or if it was only limited to the gospel celebrations in September only, but what is oddly visible is that the timing of the article's posting is another sizzling firecracker hoping to expose the painful relations between both political parties. Smallwood's choice of words are also obviously striking: "So many of us are tired of politics as usual. The crisis that our country is in is because of this [George W. Bush] Administration. The hypocrisy, the untruths have put a blotch on the very principals this country was founded upon.”
Along with the super list of high-profiled celebrities and superstars aiding Obama's campaign, there's also a highly visible and proactive number of black gospel artists joining the team including Beverly Crawford, William Murphy, John P. Kee, Donnie McClurkin and Mary Mary. Add the Maestro to that growing list.
All across the country, the pulpit in American churches has been used to preach theological beliefs, historical information and revelation-conscious opinion for decades. It's no longer the place to just read the Word of God, but it's the place where preachers and pastors exalt their own words to something that resembles an act of God. Their words to its listeners become as the red letters in the Four Gospels - pivotal, crucial and essential. That seems to be the case for the fiery sermons of Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright - the popular and beloved pastor of the 10,000 member Trinity United Church of Christ. He has since retired from pastoring the large congregation after thirty-six years of active ministry, but the retirement has gone under silence in the media due to the emergence of what many call "racially-inflammatory and anti-American" messages preached from his pulpit. What makes all of this most important is that, while in a very crucial presidential election year, Wright happens to be the pastor of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and his messages do not coincide with the "peace-love-and-hope" messages and dialogue of Obama.
Wright's relationship with Obama extends beyond the last few months of the 2008 presidential race. Obama joined Trinity, under Wright's watch, in the 1980s and was later joined in marriage by the pastor. Wright is also accredited by Obama for the title of his best-selling book, "The Audacity of Hope." Once the sermons hit news reports last week focusing on Wright's big endorsements on Obama and even bigger controversial views, Obama denounced them in a press conference and later removed him from his appointment over Obama's African American Religious Leadership Committee. Whether one wants to fully believe or support Wright is one thing, but hearing it in the open is sometimes very tough to digest. To some critics, his statements on racism often point towards black separatism. ABC News aired sermons showing Wright, in the traditional gospel preacher role, accusing the federal government of crimes against people of color, including selling drugs to blacks, creating the HIV virus to infect blacks, and perpetuating racism that led to disproportionate imprisonment of blacks. The media also ran circles around a particular message that Wright preached claiming that "the United States was responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and urged black Americans to ask God to "damn America."
Obama didn't derail his pastor when questioned by the media about Wright's statements. Instead he said Rev. Wright "is like an old uncle who says things I don't always agree with," telling a Jewish group that everyone has someone like that in their family."
On the Tuesday episode of ABC's popular daytime talk-dish The View, things got nasty when co-host Elizabeth Hasselbeck confronted the issue - stating that there is an evident contradiction for Obama to announce Don Imus' resignation for racially-graphic tones but quickly defended his pastor in the media.
On the other hand, African Americans are remaining supportive of Obama and Trinity's former pastor. During a Sunday evening service, Pastor Otis Moss III addressed the matter by stating that "it is an indictment on Dr. Wright's ministerial legacy to present his global ministry within a 15- or 30-second sound bite."
In truth, Obama shouldn't be judge because of his pastor's actions and opinions. But it is scary to separate the fact that birds of a feather flock together. In this case, if you want to know your presidential candidate, do your homework. While he is a great speaker, intelligent and highly beloved by many supporters for his "hopeful" agenda, it might be fair to say - after the recent investigation of his pastor - that we probably don't have a clue as to who the real Obama is.
The exit polls earlier last week sighted that Democratic challenger Sen. BarackObama had a slight edge over Clinton; pushing fear into the air and into her campaign. But as she has proven before, exit polls have no power over the end result. And the final numbers proved that polls aren't always what they are hyped up to be. Clinton comfortably took Ohio on Tuesday night with 55% of the vote going to her, 43% for Obama. She also won the favor of Rhode Island. She even picked up the win in the delegate-rich Texas with 51% going to her. Earlier that day, it was too close to call for either Democrat nominee, but towards the end with 95% of the precincts being counted up Clinton surged ahead as the victor. Obama's only win of the night was in Vermont; surging ahead with 60% of the voters.
It was mandatory that Clinton needed to win two of the key states in Tuesday's primary to stay in the game. These victories for her keeps her in the race for the Democratic nomination and brings more tension in weeks to come as the Pennsylvania's primary nears.
The Associated Press praised Clinton on her courage and her ability to stand against the storm saying that "Clinton is a realist and most observers — even those sympathetic to her quest — said she would be loath to wage a fruitless battle if the results are anything less than a decisive game-changer that stops Obama's momentum."
Obama still leads in the delegate count, and has even convinced some of the "super-delegates" to cross over to Obama-mania, including longtime Clinton friend and civil rights icon Georgia Rep. John Lewis. Lewis' decision to switch to Obama made serious attention, especially after his decision was mostly accredited to what he considers to be the "people's candidate." During this time period, mega superstars got into Obama's corner to fuel his campaign with dollars, support and impressive endorsements. But Clinton shows no signs of stopping as she declared in Columbus, Ohio as if the walls of Jericho had fell in this heated race for the White House. "The nation is coming back and so is this campaign," she uttered with great joy. "For everyone here in Ohio and across America who's been ever been counted out but refused to be knocked out, for everyone who has stumbled but stood right back up, and for everyone who works hard and never gives up -- this one is for you," Clinton said before an excited and enthusiastic audience.
As for the Republican contest, let's call it a done deal. John McCain sealed the deal with his GOP nomination; reaching beyond the 1,100 mark. Mike Hucakbee, his only challenger, dropped out of the Republican race after the results came in. "It's now important that we turn our attention not to what could have been or what we wanted to have been, but now what must be -- and that is a united party," Huckabee told a crowd in Dallas.
