Posts Tagged ‘Al Sharpton’

Rick Ross

1991, Rev. Jesse Jackson asked the question “is hip hop music educating or eroding young minds.”

1992, the Parents Music Resource Center was instrumental in applying public pressure and forcing rapper Ice-T to recall his album and remove the song “Cop Killer” from it. Various law enforcement organizations pledged to also boycott Time Warner the parent company and distributor for its role in releasing the music.

1995, the Anti-Defamation League applied pressure on Michael Jackson regarding the anti-semitic lyrics originally contained in the song “They Don’t Care About Us.” Jackson publicly apologized and then re-recorded/reissued the song sans the lyrics which contained the k-word.

The National Congress for Black Women received great coverage and acclaim in many arenas for the fight of C. Delores Tucker against misogyny in hip hop. In fact, their website claims the following:

“We lead the assault against Gangsta Rap and misogynistic lyrics that are directed towards African American youth and women and threaten the moral foundation of the family.”

2003, Minister Louis Farrakhan challenged the hip hop community to be responsible in their lyrical imagery.

2007, Rev. Al Sharpton led a rally/march in front of the record label offices decrying the worst lyrical offerings of hip hop.

2011, Tavis Smiley argued on Real Time with Bill Maher that “If you think that the way we treat women in this country, with patriarchy still alive and well, sexism still alive and well, is determinative or demonstrative of how well our democracy runs, I think you don’t understand how maltreated women are still in this society.” In 2012, Smiley convened another one of his many and varied townhall forums, one particularly focused around women and poverty, arguing this country has rendered both invisible.

I use all of that as a precursor in the controversy over the date rape lyrics of rapper Rick Ross in his latest song.

“Put Molly all in her champagne, she ain’t even know it. I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain’t even know it.”

The term ‘molly’ refers to a pure form of the drug MDMA.

Although the drug culture, misogyny and violence have long been featured in hip hop, date rape signals uncharted territory.

I’ve given you the history, now it’s time for roll call in 2013.

Sadly, The National Congress for Black Women which fancies itself as leading “the assault against Gangsta Rap and misogynistic lyrics that are directed towards African American youth and women and threaten the moral foundation of the family” ISN’T leading this fight and as of yet have not joined in the battle.  I’m not saying I’m in the lead.  I am saying though as I look left and right, the NCBW isn’t anywhere to be found…yet.

NCBW, where are you now?

Parents Music Resource Center, where are you now?

Rev. Jesse Jackson…where are you and the Rainbow Push Coalition right about now?

Rev. Al Sharpton, you have a larger platform and audience than ever before, thanks to MSNBC. It begs the question…where are you now?

Minister Louis Farrakhan also in 2011 said Rihanna was “filthy” but as of yet has had nothing to say in 2013 about Rick Ross and date rape. Minister Louis Farrakhan, where are you and the Nation of Islam now, or should I make the leap that violence against women is of lesser importance than the nature of stage performances BY women?

Tavis Smiley, where are you or have you moved on to the next pet issue now?

The National Organization for Women has long implored all of America to take rape seriously. Where are you NOW…now?

Students are leading the way, boycotting his performances and that’s the first order of business. Rick Ross’ major concert date on April 12 at the Nassau Coliseum should be the next focal point in demonstrating that date rape has no place in our music or in our society. Supporting Rick Ross, Maybach Music Group, and its partners for Rick Ross projects (Warner Bros. and Def Jam) is supporting date rape and there’s no way to circumvent this fact.

Every radio station which plays this song is supporting date rape and must be held accountable.

For all those who are quick to suggest that this is a First Amendment issue, let me head you off at the pass. This is not about whether Ross has a right to rap about date rape. This is about whether we as a community will support it through purchase of concert tickets, radio airplay or iTunes downloads. Rick Ross has the right to be an idiot and express himself as such in his music. Conversely, we also have the right to not allow it in our homes, or in our lives.

I’m beginning to think Steubenville, OH taught America absolutely nothing at all. Speak up, speak out. Silence is complicity. Date rape has no place in our music or our society.

The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal. Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly. Tune into The Mo’Kelly Show Saturdays from 6-8pm PDT on KFI AM640 and XM 166 Saturdays and Sundays from 8pm-9pm PST. Contact Mo’Kelly at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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Special Guest Dion Evans of RMG Radio

The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal. Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly. Tune into The Mo’Kelly Show Saturdays from 6-8pm PDT on KFI AM640 and XM 166 Saturdays and Sundays from 8pm-9pm PDT. Contact Mo’Kelly at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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Tony Wafford

In an exclusive heard here in The Mo’Kelly Report, former plaintiff Sharon Song Byrd detailed her allegations of sexual harassment and battery against former employer and Al Sharpton confidante, Tony Wafford.

Originally Song Byrd was awarded $60,000 in compensatory damages for her troubles, but recently the court handed down a second judgment against Wafford in the amount of $235,972 in court and legal fees.

Oh my damn!

And you know how we do it here…only the facts and documentation.

Click HERE.

The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal. Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly. Contact him at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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Another EXCLUSIVE from The Mo’Kelly Report.

Tony Wafford

Tony Wafford of the National Action Network (NAN) will have to pony up $60,000 for his part in the sexual harassment of former employee Sharon Song Byrd while they worked together as part of the NAN sister organization, Palms Residential Care Facility.

The judgment was handed down Tuesday! (Damn Mo’Kelly is fast!)

Pursuant to the original verdict, NAN announced that Wafford would be taking a leave of absence and Sharpton questioned the motives of Song Byrd, intimating that the plaintiff was trying to shakedown NAN.

Mo’Kelly spoke with Song Byrd’s attorney Jeffrey Cowan earlier today and he offered the following:

Although we were hoping the judgment would have been more substantial, we are pleased that the judge recognized the real abuse my client suffered. The most important thing is that the judge sends a message that can’t be ignored. If you commit a civil rights violation, you can be held responsible for your actions.”

Cowan also indicated that he will be filing a motion for Wafford to pay for all of Song Byrd’s legal fees, which will be both extensive and expensive given the 2.5 years the case has been in existence.  The $60,000 will likely grow exponentially in nature with a solid judgment to undergird it.

No word from NAN on this latest announcement, but the information has been forwarded to NAN spokeswoman Rachel Noerdlinger for comment.

See the court documents HERE.

Related: 

Mo’Kelly Interviews Plaintiff Sharon Song Byrd (Part I)

Mo’Kelly Interviews Song Byrd (Part II)

The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal.  Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly and contact him at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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New York Times…where the hell have YOU been?

Personally, Mo’Kelly thinks this article was unnecessary.  It alleges the silence of Sharpton in the debate over the alleged sexual assault of a Black housekeeper by Dominique Strauss-Kahn is both noticeable very “new” in nature.

Only if you haven’t been following Sharpton since Barack Obama became president would you see this as anything “new.”  Ever since the inauguration, it’s been obvious Sharpton has taken a very conciliatory tone in regards to the federal government specifically and issues of race more broadly.

Publicly, Sharpton would say he has “grown” but professionally it’s obvious that his access to mainstream acceptance (read: MSNBC) and political relevance (read: presidential confidante) are tied to softening the rigidity of his outward demeanor.

Some in African-American circles would allege that Sharpton has sold out.  No, he just made a business decision which best suits his longevity.  There is a difference.  You can’t be an MSNBC host and protesting “the man” on a corner in Harlem whenever it suits you.  Can’t have it both ways and Sharpton understands that.  You can’t go on a poverty concert tour by way of a bus, simultaneously complaining about not being invited to the White House and expect to be taken seriously by the White House.

Let Mo’Kelly know your thoughts about this piece…

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In the three months that the city and a good portion of the world buzzed about the hotel housekeeper and the French man of power, voices big and small spoke up for one side or the other, or simply urged that justice be found in a courtroom. There were news conferences, rallies, protests, cable-TV exhortations.

But one New York staple has been silent throughout the debate over the housekeeper, Nafissatou Diallo, and the French man of power,Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a voice many would have expected to be among the loudest: the Rev. Al Sharpton, the provocative civil rights activist.

He has apparently said nothing publicly, issued no position statement. He has not shown up at rallies centered on the case.

Why?

“It’s a good question that I’d like to know the answer to,” said Assemblyman Eric A. Stevenson, a Bronx Democrat who has been outspokenabout seeing the case go to trial. “I’ve wondered, ‘Where is Al Sharpton?’ ”

On the face of it, it seems precisely like the sort of sensational and polarizing case that Mr. Sharpton, a master of sound bites, has habitually inserted himself into, at megaphone volume: Ms. Diallo, a housekeeper at the Sofitel New York, accusing Mr. Strauss-Kahn, then the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, of raping her when she arrived to clean his room. And then the case collapsing after her credibility came into question, with the charges being dismissed.

FULL STORY HERE.

The Mo’Kelly Report is an entertainment journal with a political slant; published at The Huffington Post and EURWEB.com. For the most recent posts of Mr. Mo’Kelly, visit http://mrmokelly.com.  Mr. Mo’Kelly can be reached at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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Listen HERE!

Here in part two of my two-part conversation with Sharon Song Byrd, we go in-

Sharon Song Byrd

depth as to the professional relationship between Tony Wafford and Rev. Al Sharpton and his recent public response penned by Sharpton in response to Song Byrd.

Publicly, Rev. Sharpton has alleged and intimated that Song Byrd’s motivations are connected to money in the form of a threat of a future lawsuit of the National Action Network. Song Byrd responds clearly and resoundingly in this part of our conversation and also gives further insight to back-channel communications between her, the National Action Network and community activist Najee Ali.

There are a number of oddities and irregularities in the public responses from the National Action Network. In emails sent by Rachel Noerdlinger of NAN and published here in The Mo’Kelly Report , Noerdlinger offered privileged information from the case and argumentation verbatim presented by Tony Wafford’s attorney during the proceedings. Seemingly this was done in an attempt to discredit Song Byrd.

It struck Mo’Kelly as highly odd how the National Action Network could on one hand claim ignorance of the proceedings, yet take an active stance in siding with Wafford by using information provided to them via his lawyer. It’s a one-foot-in, one-foot-out approach. If NAN was truly unaware of the case, and the affairs of Wayford relative to the case are completely unrelated to NAN, then the emails and posturing are contradictory at best, sinister at worst.

Today in  The Mo’Kelly Report we present Part Two of Sharon Song Byrd…in Her Own Words. Listen and decide for yourself.

Listen HERE!

The Mo’Kelly Report is an entertainment journal with a political slant; published at The Huffington Post and EURWEB.com. For the most recent posts of Mr. Mo’Kelly, visit http://mrmokelly.com.  Mr. Mo’Kelly can be reached at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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Sharon Song Byrd

Sharon Song Byrd is still very much uncomfortable discussing the details behind what led up to her successful lawsuit against Tony Wafford of the National Action Network. In close to three hours of conversation, Song Byrd recounted at length and great detail her fear of Wafford showing up at her house at all hours of the night, throwing rocks at her window and an overall inability to accept the fact that his advances were unwanted.

In fact, Song Byrd is still skittish about letting any man know where she lives and requested our conversation be on neutral ground.

I obliged.

So please excuse the sounds of the passing traffic and cooling fans. This was not a typical studio conversation and Song Byrd’s story is anything but typical. Although a similar request was made to Tony Wafford to hear his side on these issues, the request went unanswered.

From evidence concerning questionable accounting and employment practices designed to avoid paying payroll taxes, to extensive police reports and a book’s worth of instant messages printed as proof of a rapport…Song Byrd’s record keeping is exceptional. It would take the average person weeks to effectively comb through and digest all of her material, despite its neat and orderly presentation.

It is voluminous, precise and formidable.

Today in The Mo’Kelly Report, I am pleased to present Part One of a two-part conversation with Song Byrd. In Part One, Song Byrd details the nature of her employment relationship with Tony Wafford, the abuse she endured and the .357 magnum that Wafford illegally carried with him daily as an unstated reminder.

Friday in Part Two, Song Byrd in her own words responds to Reverend Al Sharpton’s recent open letter, offering behind the scenes information which may shed a different light on these issues; whether she ever intended to sue the National Action Network, and in closing offer advice to other women who may find themselves in similar straits.

The story thus far has centered around Song Byrd, Wafford and Sharpton, but it is also worthy of mention that it should also include Wafford friend and confidante Democratic California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who went so far as taking then Senator and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to Wafford’s home, even though Wafford was in the midst of a sexual harassment and battery lawsuit.

Let’s not be naïve, Waters would likely claim ignorance (as does Sharpton) concerning these issues as they were transpiring, but unlike Sharpton she has had offered nothing publicly on these issues since the story broke.

Let’s not be naïve but let’s also be clear.

Congresswoman Waters having nothing to say in the wake of the mistreatment and abuse of an African-American woman in her own backyard says volumes. For all the talk of Sharpton, there should be some concerning Waters too.  Mo’Kelly will hit more on that in the coming days.

But I digress…

With no further ado…Sharon Song Byrd, in her own words Part One…another exclusive from The Mo’Kelly Report.

Listen HERE!

WARNING: This conversation contains objectionable language and imagery; wholly unsuitable for children. Please use discretion when listening in the presence of young people.

The Mo’Kelly Report is an entertainment journal with a political slant; published at The Huffington Post and EURWEB.com. For the most recent posts of Mr. Mo’Kelly, visit http://mrmokelly.com.  Mr. Mo’Kelly can be reached at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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Mo’Kelly sits for more than 3 hours with Sharon Song Byrd who has been in an open letter battle of late with Rev. Al Sharpton over Tony Wafford.  In an exclusive for The Mo’Kelly Report, Sharon details her side of the issues leading up to her successful lawsuit against Wafford, her intentions relative to Sharpton in the wake of the verdict and her advice for women who may find themselves in similar situations.

Sharon Song Byrd…in her own words…

The Mo’Kelly Report is an entertainment journal with a political slant; published at The Huffington Post and EURWEB.com. For the most recent posts of Mr. Mo’Kelly, visit http://mrmokelly.com.  Mr. Mo’Kelly can be reached at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

Free Subscription to The Mo’Kelly Report HERE

Follow The Mo’Kelly Report on Facebook  HERE

Twitter – @mrmokelly