When I saw what Will Smith did and how it completely shifted the Oscars, I thought of Forrest Gump’s line, “sorry I had to fight in the middle of your Black Panther Party.” In the scene, Forrest Gump found himself in the most unlikely of places defending his toxic love interest, Jenny. I couldn’t help but think that something in Will Smith’s life came to a head on Sunday night. One the cusp of winning his first Academy Award, he did the most unthinkable thing and given the incessant news cycle and pundits available for commentary, this news cycle may last for weeks.
What if Will is finally tired of hiding his true feelings? What if Will Smith wanted to be the bad guy for once in his life? Considering the scene, precedence and potential repercussions, he couldn’t have chosen a bigger stage to turn heel. He’s been the bad guy before, just not in the court of public opinion. Forcing Janet Hubert out on the world famous sitcom? Nah, we still gave him a pass and since they’ve made up, it’s like it never happened. Sunday night was a first for Will Smith and we hope it will be his last. In professional wrestling, when one of the good guys does a bad thing or sides with the bad guys, it’s called turning from “face to heel.” Hulk Hogan did it and in the attitude era of the WWE, it was hard to tell from week to week, which side either of the stars were on.
It’s hard to not love Will Smith, but he forgot a major lesson on Sunday night: Time.Place.(Tact)ic. It was the wrong time to confront Chris Rock, the stage was the wrong place (backstage would have been preferable) and his tactic of slapping him was downright criminal. In the streets, there’s a rule that you handle disrespect when and where it happens. They weren’t in the streets though, they were in the vaunted Dolby Theatre for the biggest night in Hollywood. The assault on Chris Rock was met with incredulity and disproval from many, though it was celebrated by many more as they opined about in online. You know you’ve really messed up when you get some semblance of “The People’s Eyebrow” from Dwayne Johnson.
Thankfully, we’re nearing the end of the news cycle for the Sunday night’s Smackdown. You’re tired of hearing about it and journalists are probably tired of talking about it. Before the cycle ends, I do want to share a final thought in regard to why what happened Sunday can’t happen again. It’s not that Will Smith can’t take a joke, it’s that he couldn’t take control of himself in that moment. Will smith is king of clean and is quite hilarious so it’s safe to say that he acted out of character Sunday night. He delivered many jokes on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” with Carlton and the Banks family as the punchline so we know he can both make and take a joke.
Still, making jokes of illness and physical deformity aren’t funny even though they regularly make it into comic routines. Rap, film and mostly everything Will Smith does is easily digestible by the public but what he did to defend his wife’s honor has many heads scratching and stomachs churning. Don’t get me wrong, he got much high praise for it, but it can’t happen again.
On the biggest night in Hollywood and perhaps the biggest night of his film career (he won his first Academy Award), he sauntered on stage and slapped Chris Rock following an off-color joke about Jada Pinkett’s hair calling her “G.I. Jane”. The joke was in bad taste but what ensued was worse. Will smith slapped Rock and continued with a verbal assault once he returned to his seat. Lupita Nyongo’s facial expressions were the consummate reaction to the out of character moment for Smith. Incredulity abounded while Rock kept rolling and returned to the script as the room and viewers collectively begged the question, “what in the world just happened?” Much unlike professional wrestling, public assaults aren’t taken lightly. Will IS a good dude and one who normally takes it on the chin when jokes are made about him, just keep his wife’s name…by now, you know the rest of that statement!
“It’s the choices that make us what we are… and we can always choose to do what’s right.” -Peter Parker, Spider Man 3
Though Chris Rock could have returned blows and showed he can back up the trash talk, he opted to continue with the night’s production in turn, outclassing America’s favorite nephew. Notwithstanding, the Will Packer produced show was flawless except for Will Smith’s emotional outburst. This leads me to my final point, tactic. Will was up for a major award which rock joked about before the hair joke aimed at Jada.
No honorable man would evade the responsibility of the defense of his wife’s honor. The juxtaposition on Sunday night was that of a man in a moment inside a bigger moment. In mere seconds he had to choose which moment was bigger and because he didn’t, his big win will forever be sullied by a momentary lapse in judgement. This moment even overshadowed another brother from Philly Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and his big moment as “Summer of Soul” won the Academy Award for Best Documentary, presented by Chris Rock.
Yes, Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry were there to show grace amid a teachable moment. Yes Chris rock declined to press charges, but why jeopardize your shining moment with this darkness, Mr. Smith? IN hindsight, Sunday night will be a major teachable moment for millions of people in the days to come because a manifestation of the negative perception of our people and culture usurped the memorability of the night. To quote Will from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, “you brought this on yourself…”
Sunday night’s Oscars was a win for the culture and an opportunity to prove that black excellence belongs on the same stage, deserves the same consideration and belongs in the same conversation with white productions and actors. Still, there’s always that one person you’ve got to watch out for ruining your moment and Sunday night for Will Packer, that person was Will Smith. Lessons have been learned and we’re moving forward with wisdom in tow, thanks for reading!
We will never forget his role in leading the nation to the mirror to examine itself. The glance at the ugliness of systemic racism, prejudice and violence was too much and Dr. King was assassinated in 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. His legacy lives on and his movement of nonviolent opposition is the blueprint for change throughout the world.
Nearly 53 years since his demise, the country looks much the same and suffers from the same ills that threatened to bring the country to its knees before his death. Dr. King’s prognosis that “this country is sick” would still probably also be correct. He wouldn’t live to preach this sermon, but had he lived, his message would have explained: “Why America May Go to Hell”. In the sermon, he was to take to task a looming tax bill vote that would undercut and even eliminate provisions for Americans’ “basic necessities of life”. At the time of his demise, Dr. King was not only the dreamer standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial. He was a strategist who’d taken aim at local economies, industries and businesses whose practices had disenfranchised Americans of all demographics.
A rather routine media coverage opportunity proved rather fortuitous for me because I was able to learn more about Dr. King in one evening than I’d spent my life attempting to learn. In a 2018 King commemoration event in Dallas, The Rev. Dr. William Barber II addressed a sold out gala in Dallas admonishing them not to forget ‘the real Dr. King’. In his address, he admonished them not to sanctify the posthumously sanitized presentation of Dr. King. “He was not a perfect man. He was not a human relations specialist, he wasn’t trying to get everybody to sing “Kum-By-Yah”. He never talked about love without talking about justice. He believed in nonviolence, but he didn’t believe in non-action!” The “real” Dr. King, subject Dr. Barber’s message was one America really never got to know. On this day and everyday, Dr. Barber wants the world to remember the prophet.
“That’s why any attempt to simply popularize him, make a commodity of him, throw commemorative platitudes at him without embracing, embodying and engaging the vision and the call to action that he espoused participates in the destruction of his legacy. In other words, we have to be careful how we remember Dr. King or we actually help destroy him…that my brothers and sisters is a form of ever diminishing hypocrisy that renders any claim to really love the prophet, false!The best way to destroy and distort the legacy and message of a prophet is to revision him as being perfect and popular, of which Martin King was neither…and neither are we. This year especially, we need to remember the real Martin Luther King, Jr. because God knows we need that kind of prophetic edge right now!”
America marveled at the dreamer, but assassinated the visionary. It’s not enough to honor Dr. King if that day doesn’t coincide with a calendar replete with days and deeds that walk out the tenets of his “I Have a Dream” speech. Though deferred, we will defiantly pursue the dream. For too long blacks have been mislead en masse, and our citizenship mismanaged and misappropriated, but now is the time to magnify Dr. King’s mission. We have not yet overcome, but we will.
As racist Donald Trump supporters brazenly breached the Capitol building in hopes of harming legislators and inciting a rematch of the civil war, it’s clear that this country has neither learned nor heeded Dr. King’s message. If anything, commemorating his birthday is another empty, guilt laden platitude attempting to wash from it the blood on its hands. The last four years have been demonstrative, if nothing else. The United States is not willing to yield its power and has limited its ability to remunerate those it has for centuries disenfranchised.
The years of the Trump presidency were haunting and reminiscent of years in ‘the struggle’. With it, many blacks reverted to militant stances against racist whites and even the government and in succession of President Obama’s two terms, many whites and non-blacks seem poised to never yield back any level of leadership, which has boiled over into the church world. In July 1963, months before their meeting in passing on Capitol Hill, Malcolm X sent a letter to Dr. King saying, “The present racial crisis in this country carries within it powerful destructive ingredients that may soon erupt into an uncontrollable explosion,” Malcolm X wrote. “The seriousness of this situation demands that immediate steps must be taken to solve this crucial problem, by those who have genuine concern before the racial powder keg explodes. A United Front involving all Negro factions, elements and their leaders is absolutely necessary.”
As the United States celebrates yet another commemoration of Dr. King’s legacy, we have yet another opportunity to not only learn, but to apply the message Dr. King sought to deliver to the world, starting in the United States. We must never forget, charity begins at home!
If you need to get caught up on where this piece takes off from, read my article about non-blacks feeling the weight of blackness in America. Yes, this is another article about the death of George Floyd and other black men and women brutalized and killed by law enforcement officers. When women were fed up with rape culture in Hollywood, they spoke up with the mantra, “time’s up.” I don’t want to hijack their movement which after many years has righted many wrongs, but I do need to borrow that energy! After watching yet another black man die at the hands of police brutality, we’re here to say the same.
The movement has been co-opted and hijacked by white people seeking fame and seeking to discredit the valiant cause. We will not be silenced! And to those wishing to deflect the conversation and responsibility of the movement by bringing up black on black crime, I have this question: Since officers can solve black on black crime so well, where’s the disconnect when one of theirs is in video committing a crime? What about the super sleuths on the force which can break up a criminal enterprise but feel so comfortable existing as part of one? Does your goodwill and integrity clock out when you clock in on the force?
To those good cops out there who are tired of getting the blame, I’m not sorry. As a law-abiding black man, this is the weight I feel when an officer speeds up behind me, hoping I have a warrant (because I can visibly see him searching on the laptop in his cruiser). I’m a good guy, I pay my taxes, give in church, love my family, and even vote in each election, why am I living under presumed guilt when An officer sees me? I don’t just want officers to see me as a just man; I actually want simply be alive after they see me.
How did we get here?
This past decade rivals one of the bloodiest in our country’s history. If not a return to the lawless days of the 60’s when black people, men in particular were hunted down by white men who never faced prosecution, it is a dangerous reprisal.
With the death of George Floyd, the world saw just how bad it is on the street for a black man. The world has again seen that the greatest terrorist in the world is a uniformed police officer. The people’s response to this? We’ve taken it to the streets! The President wants to arm the military against citizens but where in the world are my friends who took up arms and marched to the Capitol, City Hall and Governor’s mansions for a haircut?!? Where are y’all? These people don’t love the constitution, they love themselves and use loopholes in the constitution for the sole purpose of self-aggrandizement.
With all this marching and protesting going on, what will it take for cities, counties and states to take action and actually change? The remaining three officers are yet to be arrested, and cities with the same police brutality problem have made no sweeping changes. In fact, they’re committing the same crimes during the protests (we see you, Louisville). What if anything are municipalities doing? It feels like they’re just waiting for it all to just “blow over” and get back to business as usual.
Come on, man, what else does this country need to see before people in power are moved to do something? What needs to happen to spur immediate action? It’s obviously not the death of an unarmed citizen. But is it the death of an official? Officers? What is it? Obviously the death of an unarmed citizen at the hands of FOUR police officers isn’t enough? Making matters worse, George Floyd was a black man like hundreds of others before him!
What will it take?
We thought Freddie Gray would move the needle (his death was so heinous), Philando Castile? He couldn’t even get support from the NRA and adding insult to injury, the officer was acquitted! What is it all for when nothing is happening? In a letter condemning the killing of George Floyd, the major Cities Chiefs Association has juxtaposed itself against this moment in history. Law enforcement leaders have the audacity to rise to the podium and chide protesters (looters, be damned) but won’t say a word to officers or how they plan to flatten the curve of citizen deaths at the hands of their departments.
It’s laughable that police chiefs have spoken up to decry the actions of the officers in Minnesota but on that list I noticed that Fort Worth’s Chief Krause (Atatiana Jefferson) and Dallas’ Chief Hall (Botham Jean) lent their support. Oh really? Is that how it works?!? Hypocrites!! How can you condemn in the heat of the moment when you won’t rise to the moment when it’s in your house?
It’s time to start making changes. I’m tired of law enforcement brutalizing citizens of all races so I’m speaking up. Am I hated for it? Sometimes. Do I feel misunderstood by my friends? Sometimes. Do I have a higher calling to answer to? All the time! So, time is up on the tolerance bad police behavior. We are here, wherever that is for you because we are tired! The United States has erupted in protests and in solidarity with sensible citizens who will no longer sit idly by, nations all over the world have joined in. Dr. King joined others in Montgomery, Alabama yesterday (nearly 65 years ago), and we are here today; but if we are still here tomorrow, the fires of injustice will finally consume this nation! We refuse to tolerate systemic racism in law enforcement, time is up!
We’re Here Because We’re Tired
And you know, my friends, there comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression. There comes a time, my friends, when people get tired of being plunged across the abyss of humiliation, where they experience the bleakness of nagging despair. There comes a time when people get tired of being pushed out of the glittering sunlight of life’s July and left standing amid the piercing chill of an alpine November. There comes a time.
We are here, we are here this evening because we’re tired now. And I want to say that we are not here advocating violence. We have never done that. I want it to be known throughout Montgomery and throughout this nation that we are Christian people. We believe in the Christian religion. We believe in the teachings of Jesus. The only weapon that we have in our hands this evening is the weapon of protest. That’s all.
And certainly, certainly, this is the glory of America, with all of its faults. This is the glory of our democracy. If we were incarcerated behind the iron curtains of a Communistic nation we couldn’t do this. If we were dropped in the dungeon of a totalitarian regime we couldn’t do this. But the great glory of American democracy is the right to protest for right.
The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Montgomery, Alabama, 1955
The last moments of George Floyd’s life were spent on a Minneapolis street with an officer’s knee in his neck. I’m conflicted by the large outpouring of support for George Floyd who was murdered by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Floyd’s death was wrong, uncalled for, and unjust, but, wasn’t Amaud Arbery‘s death was the same? With coverage of the Coronavirus crisis eclipsing most other national news stories, many Americans remain unaware of the wrongful death of Louisville EMT, Breyonna Taylor.
It’s unsettling to think that even in a global pandemic, black Americans still face the threat of police brutality and murder. It’s chic for non-blacks to be outraged and so easy to jump on this bandwagon because everyone saw the injustice! The police serve to hold citizens accountable when they break the law, even unintentionally. But, who will hold law enforcement accountable when they do wrong, even unintentionally?
This problem doesn’t end with George Floyd’s death. It didn’t end with Philando Castile who was also murdered by a Minneapolis police officer. Philando Castile was a law-abiding, card-carrying member of the NRA who was shot, seconds after lawfully mentioning that he carried a weapon. Atatiana Jefferson was killed in her home, but her death was only the first of many in her family. Following her death, her father Marquis, and her mother (whom she cared for at the time she was killed) Yolanda Carr also passed away shortly thereafter. The toll on families is perhaps even a greater tragedy than the actual injustice.
Americans all over the country are outraged, and rightfully so. For many, this is the first time police brutality has grabbed their attention. They’re faced with the reality they have denied for so long but now, they get it. Cynical non-black Americans may finally be ready to harmoniously join what they have reviled as cacophony, the cries of black Americans who just want a chance to be seen. Black Americans want to be seen not as a threat or perpetrator, but as citizens deserving of the inalienable rights provided in the Constitution. For those whose anger will subside with the onset of a new news cycle, this is a great time for you to have a long look at the person staring back at you in the mirror.
That feeling in the pit of your gut? That’s the inconvenience of going forward with this same outrage. Black Americans live with it, every day! The trauma of chattel slavery, segregation, redlining, Black Wall Street, Jim Crow era violence perpetrated against our forefathers, and the murders of agents of change like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Medgar Evers is in the DNA of black Americans and is passed down to each generation. We don’t get to stop making noise nor can we afford to take days off from being vigilant about where we go, how we maneuver through stores, restaurants, and other places of business. We just want to live, but we’re tired.
It seems to always happen with our non-black friends who start to weigh and second-guess their posts on social media and never even stop to think how safe their non-black sons and adult men are during traffic stops and other police interaction. Because non-blackness is seen as an asset and not a liability, soon, you too may feel it irrational to keep this conversation alive in your circle of influence. You’ll feel silly for thinking about it, and you may even feel threatened for speaking up. Either way and if but for only a moment, you have felt the weight of blackness this week.
Thank you for carrying it this week, but do you intend to carry it once this news cycle ends? The weight of blackness is not ultimately carried by black Americans, alone. It’s carried by those that see the problem and are willing to say, “he ain’t heavy…” you know the rest. This challenge is to all our brother’s keepers currently and conveniently riding today’s wave of outrage.
The fact that we carry the weight of blackness well doesn’t negate the fact that it’s heavy. Say the names of these martyrs to people that refuse to hear them. Speak their names and tell their stories with empathy and not disdain. As we again find ourselves at this impasse, we must choose to cross over together. This means that non-black Americans must help lift black-American perception and possibility across the bridge to a better tomorrow in hopes of finally making this country as great as it purports itself to be.
This weekend, lots of churchgoers are displaced. With the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, many large gatherings are forbidden citing public safety concerns. Many mega ministries have made the wise decision to comply with public health officials and their directives, and Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church in Houston was the first to announce this weekend’s closure.
It’s a wise decision and many ministries are suited to handle not only online viewership, but digital giving. But, what about the people who aren’t comfortable with watching service and just need to go somewhere? What about those who feel like they must be in service somewhere? There are even those who have quoted Hebrews 10:25 admonishing other believers to press to beyond their fears (and even health officials) to gather in the name of the Lord.
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Hebrews 10:25
New Look Friends and Family Day
The safe number has toggled between 250 and 500 leading to many cancellations this weekend and beyond. What about churches with membership and weekly attendance well beyond 250? This is a great opportunity to welcome new visitors this weekend! Not necessarily to try and gain new members, but to simply make new friends and make room for those who normally don’t or can’t come because of their obligations at their own church. While many churches have struggled to decide whether or not to remain open this weekend, they have missed out on a great opportunity for outreach in the community and even within their social networks.
As the pandemic rages on, large gatherings will continue to be affected. Smaller congregations have a unique opportunity to welcome guest and still not risk swelling beyond the safe number provisioned by local health officials.
As a precautionary measure, we do advise each ministry that remains open to become proactive in the prevention of the spread of the Coronavirus. Please be sure to have ample soap, warm water and hand sanitizer in the restrooms. Also, disinfect hard and soft surfaces which can spread the virus when touched. Next week, we will share information about how to disinfect your sanctuary’s carpet, chairs and vents.
Got Room for New Friends and Faces?
If you would like to be included in our directory of small congregations willing to welcome new faces, email us at: info@soulprospermedia.com.
By Dick DeMarsico, World Telegram staff photographer – This image is available from the United States Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID cph.3c26559. Public Domain,
With
each new year comes another chance to celebrate the civil rights icon, the Rev.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King is known for his leadership during the
civil rights movement that moved this nation beyond the quagmire of
segregation, whose progress would have been otherwise stymied by the unabated
undercurrent of unapologetic racism.
The Lorraine Motel, in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. King was shot by James Earl Ray on a balcony at the hotel in 1968.
The most humanizing elements of the civil rights movement proved that blacks deserved equality because quite simply, they were people equal to their white counterparts. This was a point of contention for whites and even some black people who could not see humanity under their brown skin. Dr. King was a young scholar who entered college at the age of 15 and earned his doctorate degree at the age of 26, but not even that made a difference to white people who couldn’t hear the drum major’s appeal over the deafening drumbeats of dissention.
We
remember Dr. King not only for what he accomplished individually, but as a force
that spurred this nation to consider how to become its best self. Blacks in
America experienced new levels of freedom and the many manifestations of racism
were finally being called into account. He was a man of inspiration and a man
of determination, this he passed on to the generations born before him
(comprised of former slaves and their direct descendants) and even to
generations after him, the world over.
During a 1967 speech at a junior high school in Philadelphia, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr asked the young people in attendance “What Is Your Life’s Blueprint?” admonishing them, “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.” Before researching it, I erroneously attributed the quote to the Memphis sanitation worker strike. The quote fit perfectly because during the strike the workers held up signs saying: “I Am A Man” and decried debasing wages and deplorable work conditions.
It
has been said that at that time, one of the easiest ways to insult a child was
to refer to his father as a sanitation worker. The job of a sanitation worker
in Memphis was one that robbed black men of their inherent dignity and though
fitting, was not part of Dr. King’s encouragement to the men whose cause he
took up in his last days. However, this quote was issued to junior high
schoolers who had yet to face the cruel reality of the world as adults at that
time. Still, the quote holds true today and as we pause to honor Dr. King this
year, here is a truth to consider.
Whatever you are called to do with your life, do it with all the grace and strength you have. This speech forever altered the trajectory of the lives of those children at the Barratt Junior High School. But what about us today, what is your life’s blueprint? That’s what Dr. King asked those young Philadelphians a mere six months before his life ended in Memphis, Tennessee.
Dr. King told the young people to “set out to do well” the jobs they would assume later in life. Can the same be said of us? Are we pursuing greatness with all our might? So many are aware of their life’s blueprint (purpose) but sell it short by not doing all they can to achieve it. This year, honor the legacy of Dr. King by making the decision to pursue your life’s work with all your might.
Dr. King was beaten, spat upon and challenged
by even those he gave his life trying to help, still he pressed on. This level
of determination is what he is remembered for. To quote one of the songs of the
movement, don’t you let anyone turn you around, keep on walking, keep on
talking, keep on pursuing until your life’s purpose is well within your grasp!
“Tell ‘em about the dream, Martin!” -Mahalia Jackson
It’s a good thing Dr. King had already been to the mountaintop, there are moments in the United States even today that make his dream seem more of an implausible hallucination. With every instance of police brutality and murder, voter suppression, low wages in impoverished neighborhoods, the uncovering of the depth of red lining that still affects black homeowners, privatized prisons and imbalanced criminal sentences, the uphill climb grows steeper.
In 2020, we are still climbing and striving in many areas to overcome what Dr. King along with other generals in the civil rights movement sought to lead this nation through and away from. Though “the marathon continues”, perhaps the key to finally overcoming is discovered in the collective lift contributed by each of us living our lives according to its blueprint.
About Fred Willis, The Dreamer…
Preaching
for Fred Willis doesn’t
always emanate from behind a podium, he also speaks from his platform as a
journalist and broadcaster. He got busy building the SoulProsper Music & Media Group in 2012 and
has since created a digital media enterprise consisting of an internet radio station, independent music label, and news
outlet. In 2019, he released “The Journey to
Genesis: A Discovery of Your Created Purpose” to share his journey of discovering
his life’s purpose. In addition to reporting for his company, Fred has written
for numerous digital and print outlets sharing his gift of thought-provoking
writings.
