Call for ‘Black Lives Matter’ to Apologize



 

Pastors and community leaders came together at Mount Moriah Baptist Church to call for an apology from the Black Lives Matter movement. The actions of members of the local chapter upset leaders last week after a meeting with Mayor Eric Garcetti took an ugly turn.

“We say today to Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, do the right thing,” Rev. Xavier E. Thompson said. “We are not against you. But certainly, you have offended not only a house of worship but you have offended the entire faith based communtiy.”

At Monday night’s forum, protesters turned their backs to the mayor as he spoke, and then surrounded his car as he tried to leave.

The mayor released a statement the next day saying “[I] will continue to be there to hear those concerns and find solutions to our most pressing problems. We must move forward and I remain committed to our shared concerns.”

Rev. Kelvin Sauls, the pastor of Holman United Methodist Church, revealed that he was threatened by members of the Black Lives Matter movement that night.

“I was there,” Najee Ali said. “I saw with my own eyes Pastor Sauls be physically threatened with violence in his own church. That’s unacceptable for Black Lives Matter activists to threaten anyone with violence.”

Although many people think this could cause division within the Black Lives Matter movement, Rev. Paulette Gipson, the president of Compton NAACP, believes they are together though their methods are different.

 

Content originally posted by Annenberg TV News.

 

NAACP trains Black church leaders about health equity



1.1 million people in the US are diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.

1.1 million people in the US are diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.

African-Americans comprise about half of all HIV-positive people in the United States. The NAACP is promoting education that might help halt the trend. It held a forum on Thursday in Manhattan Beach on HIV, health equity, and the black church.

The event, part of NAACP’s California Hawaii State Conference, drew an array of people, including Black pastors from South L.A. “We’ve been in this losing streak for a long time,” one said.

A long-time health care worker from Inglewood also attended. “Everyone thought this was a gay, white disease,” she said. “And I said no, that’s not true.”

Hear more voices from the event in a story from Annenberg Radio News:

 

HIV Statistics among Black women

HIV Statistics among Black women

 

Claims of a “racist” Hallmark greeting card may be a mistake



A coalition of civil rights groups will ask greeting-card giant Hallmark for a public apology today, after discovering an apparently “racist” card being sold in major pharmacies in Los Angeles. The card, which plays audio when opened, calls its receiver a “Black ho” according to the Los Angeles NAACP. The cards were found at a Los Angeles Walgreen’s and a local CVS, and the NAACP has been informed that the cards are also being sold in the Chicago area. Requests were made to Hallmark, CVS and Walgreen to pull the cards from store shelves, with the Walgreen store complying.

This morning, the RESPECT ME coalition, which includes the NAACP, Mothers In Action, Brotherhood Crusade and the National Council of Negro Women, will demand that Hallmark publicly apologizes to Black women for the greeting card.

However, could the allegations be a case of simple misunderstanding? View the card and listen to its contents here:

Author’s note: In my personal opinion, it would seem that the card says “black hole” rather than “Black ho.” After all, this would make much more sense in context. Here’s my rendition of what the card says:

Voice 1: This graduate is going to run the world, run the universe, and run everything after that, whatever that is.
Voice 2: Yeah, you black hole.
Voice 1: You’re so ominous!
Voice 1 and 2: Congratulations!
Voice 1: …. taking over the world.
Voice 2: Any planets? Watch your back.

What’s your interpretation? Leave your thoughts in the comments box below.