Posts Tagged ‘Sexual Coercion’

The stuff Mo’Kelly gets in his email box…you guys are WRONG!

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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The tweets were likely fleeting in nature, consistent with how the multitude of us use Twitter to socially interact. Momentary thoughts, ephemeral emotions…140 character snapshots of one’s conscience. CNN commentator Roland Martin has come under fire for two tweets during the Super Bowl which GLAAD argued were homophobic and encouraged violence against the LGBT community.

Regardless of whether one finds merit in GLAAD’s complaint or instead supports Martin’s sense of humor, know that the response from the LGBT community was swift, direct and immediate in nature. GLAAD has asked for CNN to fire Martin. As of this writing, CNN had not offered a final decision.

UPDATE: CNN Suspends Roland Martin (2.8.12)

That was Sunday, both the controversial action and the subsequent response.

Monday, parents mostly Latino in nature protested the inaction and lack of communication in the wake of the arrest of two teachers for sexual misconduct at Miramonte Elementary School in Los Angeles. In response to the protests and other public outcry, the whole of the teaching staff was immediately replaced.

Immediately.

Also Monday, the social pariah Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Baptist church in Atlanta offered an apology to the Anti-Defamation League in response to a controversial “coronation” ceremony performed by Rabbi Ralph Messer the previous week. The video of the service went viral, instantly sparking immediate outrage from Jewish community leaders.

The Jewish community outrage and eventual apology were separated by fewer than 48 hours.

That was Monday.

Three separate ethnic and/or social constituencies used their social capital to leverage media and public opinion to force an immediate redress of issues.

Although the outrage in regards to the Eddie Long ceremony in New Birth (an African-American church) was unanimous irrespective of race, nobody within the African-American religious community stepped forward and demanded an apology. In fact, let the record reflect that Eddie Long took fewer than 48 hours to offer a public apology to the Jewish community for an offensive ceremony, yet to this day has said nothing about the foolishness surrounding his behavior leading up to his sexual coercion settlement involving five young males.

There has been no widespread public call within the religious community demanding for him to step down, be sat down or altogether shutdown.

One might wonder why some of the other African-American megachurches haven’t leveraged their power individually and collectively to express their own outrage at Bishop Long. Right now, the ADL seemingly has more power in affecting Eddie Long’s behavior than his own peers. As of this writing, not one Black megachurch preacher has spoken out against Eddie Long.

Not one. Zero. Null set.

UPDATE 12.9.12: Although I knew of Bishop Paul S. Morton’s youtube video and public rebuke of Eddie Long, Mo’Kelly was originally under the impression that St. Stephens was not a megachurch.  Some local readers to the area have emailed Mo’Kelly indicating that St. Stephens is in fact a megachurch.  Thus noted here.

T. D. Jakes of the Potter’s House in Dallas, TX recently offered the following to CNN while discussing Long’s impending divorce and previous sexual coercion charges.

If there was actually misconduct, the young men involved in the case were old enough to make their own decisions. They are not juveniles.”

Jakes conveniently skipped over the fact that Long was married and adamantly against all types of homosexual behavior. Jakes blithely disregarded the inherent moral and ethical contradictions given Long’s position and power. Despite Jakes’ stance, it really is acceptable to assess blame on the married man engaging in sexual behavior with adolescents (they were not 18) in the discussion of said man’s divorce. Jakes, for whatever reason, stopped short of finding ANY fault with Long.

But true to form, Jakes did find time to blast the GOP for supporting Newt Gingrich over his children as janitors remarks and that Gingrich is “a thrice-married, twice-divorced adulterer.”

Evidently multiple marriages, divorces, adultery and disparaging behavior towards young people don’t apply to Long; who is now twice-married/divorced with an 8-figure settlement connected to homosexual acts of adultery.

The hypocrisy is beyond staggering, it is stupefying. The remarks on both Gingrich and Long came THE SAME DAY, December 11, 2011 in two different interviews.  The links don’t lie.

What Jakes doesn’t seem to understand is that when viewing someone head-on, it makes talking out of both sides one’s mouth much more obvious.

Prosperity preacher Creflo Dollar, with ministries in Atlanta, New York and his own private jet to ferry him between the two, told those in his audience who came to his church after leaving Eddie Long they should “go back.”

He too absolved Long of guilt and blame.

Eddie Long remains in his pulpit after an alleged 8-figure sexual coercion settlement, impending divorce and the only people in the religious community adamant in their anger towards him were Jews…for reasons wholly unrelated to the more serious ones?

Really?

Seriously?

One of Long’s accusers Anthony Flagg, alleged he accompanied Long on overnight trips to New York, Dallas and other cities; most of which “coincidentally” connected to other Black megachurch preachers in league with Long on the Federal Marriage Amendment.

A coincidence, to be sure (wink, wink).

Flagg in subsequent interviews also indicated he stayed in the W Hotel in Times Square, which happens to also be the place where megachurch pastor Zachery Tims was found dead with a powdery substance on his person.

Just in case you were wondering, Flagg says he also stayed with Long at the W Hotel in Dallas, just 12 miles from T.D. Jakes’ main campus.

Of course this is all coincidental and circumstantial (wink, wink).

How quickly were the late Joe Paterno and the university president removed and fired respectively for their mishandling of the Penn State sexual abuse scandal?

Exactly.

Eddie Long continues to “offend” people specifically because we in the African-American community have abrogated our responsibility to protect our children. We have allowed his ministry to continue with little more than angry editorials and spirited radio commentary.

New Birth is not just “a” cult but seemingly a link in a chain of interconnected, prosperity-preaching cults; guided not by sound Christian tenets but something altogether nefarious and un-Christian in nature.

The common thread between Penn State, Miramonte and New Birth is that somebody did nothing when circumstances required far more; allowing young people to be abused. If there is immediate action in the moment, future misdeeds can be averted. The communities surrounding Penn State and Miramonte took immediate steps to make sure the right actions were taken.

New Birth…nothing.  We as African-Americans did nothing.  This is on us, as are his future transgressions.  We have allowed Long to proceed with impunity. He will embarrass and “abuse” the African-American community again and again, until we put an end to it and his ministry once and for all. We just have to care enough and love our own children enough to stand up for them.

 

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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Mo’Kelly wanted to wait and see if Bishop Eddie was only putting in a New Year’s

appearance or two and then moving back to the background to sort out his familial “issues.”

Well, it’s been confirmed he’s back to business.  He’s evidently worked out his family ‘issues” to enough of a degree where he feels he can manged both the business of the church and his impending divorce.

Great job New Birth, you let him off the hook again.  Haven’t you had enough…yet?!

_____________

From The Washington Post

Eddie Long has returned to public ministry. The senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church returned to preach during a New Year’s Eve service at the suburban Atlanta church. He took a leave of absenceto deal with family issues. In December, the embattled pastor’s wife of 21 years, filed for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences” with “no hope of reconciliation.”

“2012 is here! Shake off the remorse, shake off the depression, shake off the financial burden, start using your hands again and reconstructing! God is more about your future than he was about your past,” Long said during the service, according to Charisma News.

“I’m still your pastor. You’ll still receive my direction,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted Long saying. “You’ve given me some weeks to take care of some family business.”

Long will attend weekly services at the church, said his spokesman Art Franklin, according to an Associated Press story.

Long has denied allegations of sexual misconduct by four men, but in May 2011, the minister reached an out-of-court settlement with the former church members following months of mediation.

On Sunday, the church announced plans to reopen New Birth Academy Thursday, according to a report by Rolling Out.com. The school Long founded closed in December. The church cited the ailing economy and low enrollment as contributing factors for closing the school.

FULL STORY 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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Ephren Taylor, the North Carolina businessman involved in an investment program at Bishop Eddie

Long’s Atlanta-area megachurch where former members claim they lost their retirement savings says he’s taking action to “make things right.”

A group of church members is suing New Birth Missionary Baptist Church and its embattled pastor, saying they conspired with businessman Ephren Taylor Jr. to defraud the members through “wealth-building” seminars and sermons in 2009, reports the Associated Press.

In my case and that of my former company, some of the negative effects of a situation with very complex economics impacted businesses, individuals and families despite our best intentions”

- Ephren Taylor

Attorneys for the church members say in a DeKalb County lawsuit that Taylor urged them to liquidate their retirement accounts, and as a result some lost their life savings.

The U.S. Secret Service and the Internal Revenue Service are also investigating issues surrounding the seminars, which were hosted at the Lithonia-based church which claims 25,000 members, federal officials said.

“Don’t assume that I am just another greedy businessman,” Taylor said in the statement. “I am taking action to make things right.”

Taylor is also named as a defendant in a federal lawsuit filed this month in U.S. District Court in North Carolina.

Full Story HERE.

 

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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The last conversation between Mo’Kelly and Mr.  Jheri Lacefront was so popular

with readers, we knew that we’d eventually have to talk to him again.  Last week, New Birth ministries gave Mr. Lacefront his walking papers and thus provided the impetus for Mo’Kelly to reach out to Jheri and get an update on the Bishop and New Birth.

Another exclusive in The Mo’Kelly Report.

_______________________

Mo’K: When we last sat down, you were happily employed, reluctant to talk about the specifics of the case against Bishop Eddie Long and generally supportive of him and his ministry. What has changed?

JL: Well, first and foremost…I got laid off. Even before the settlement was reached, folks were getting laid off. It wasn’t too much of a surprise that my number might be called after the settlement.

Mo’K: But he’s still preaching, he still has public appearances…doesn’t he still need you, so folks won’t see his glistening head?”

JL: Nobody said he didn’t have “someone” to do the job, I’m just saying that it’s not me anymore. I don’t know the new hairpiece personally. I know of him…young guy. We obviously are members of the same union. He’s probably getting half of what I made.

Mo’K: So how did you find out, when did you find out and did you have any final conversation with the Bishop before you left?

JL: It was last Friday, I had just finished work. Bishop Long had gone to work out…you know, he wears his Kangols while working out. He left me on a stand in the bathroom. You know, where he takes all of his pictures he sends to his “male friends.” THAT bathroom. Well, HR called me and said to come by. I knew what was up. They gave me a severance relative to years served, made me sign a non-disclosure agreement and had security escort me out the building inside of 30 minutes.

Mo’K: Non-disclosure agreement…but you’re talking to The Mo’Kelly Report?

JL: Yes, I’ll let you know when I can or can’t answer. Do yo’ thang.

Mo’K: Well alrighty then. What did you make of Jamal Parris and Spencer LeGrande saying publicly they’re writing a book, in return risking their settlement money?

JL: I was confused at first, not sure why . They could’ve written the book in the first place and not gone through all of this. But then I realized, there’s probably more weighing on their decisions than just money. (Sigh – Pause) Let me put it like this. Some pain can’t be erased by money alone. Sometimes you don’t figure that out until after you actually get some money and emotionally you are no better off than before the money.

Mo’K: I hear you. True dat.

JL: There are things I’ve seen and experienced that I’ll never forget. I’m not calling anyone guilty, but I am glad that I’m free. Virtually everything Bishop Long saw…I saw. I’ll put it like that. Everything he did…I witnessed. I was his hairpiece. Every trip, every hotel room, everything. If he was to be seen by people other than his wife, I most definitely was there if he wasn’t wearing a hat. I say that to say…there’s just some stuff that you can’t “un-see”…you can’t un-ring those bells. I’ll leave it at that.

Mo’K: Jheri Lacefont…did Bishop Eddie Long engage in sexual relationships with those young men?

JL: You know I can’t answer that.

Mo’K: Will you admit whether you know the answer?

JL: Yes, I can say I do know the answer…(chuckles)

Mo’K: Mr. Jheri Lacefront, I HAVE to ask you this. Having nothing to do with the case; is Bishop Long gay?

JL: (Pauses)…Define “gay.”

Mo’K: WOW! I think you just answered Mo’Kelly’s question. Were you ever deposed as a witness during mediation?

JL: Yes I was, I submitted a statement.

Mo’K: This is just Mo’Kelly talking. You submitted a statement during the deposition. Either you backed the Bishop’s story and he sold you out now by firing you or you told a story other than the Bishop’s and now he’s getting back at you. Either way, seems to Mo’Kelly you got the short end of the stick.

JL: I guess you could look at it that way, but honestly I wasn’t interested in fighting for my own deck chair on the Titanic. There’s nothing wrong with being escorted to your life raft when you see the iceberg on the horizon. It’s all about perspective. Just because you lose a job, it doesn’t mean it’s a negative.

Mo’K: Centino Kemp, the fifth man linked to Eddie Long has all but said Long’s name in regards to an alleged rape upon meeting him. Did you hear any of his interviews and if so what did you make of them.

JL: All I can say is this. I met Centino a number of times prior to his name popping up in the media. I’ve seen him and I’ve talked to him…often. I didn’t hear the interviews and really didn’t need to hear them. There are some things like I said, you just can’t “un-see.”

Mo’K: What does that mean, you’ve seen him? How did you know him?

JL: I’m just saying…I know who Centino is. I can’t say how I met him. But I can say we do know people in common. One in particular.

Mo’K: Understood. So what does a former jheri curl lacefront hairpiece do now that he no longer works for Bishop Eddie Long.

JL: You act as if Brothas have stopped going bald! And I’m not a former anything. I’m still a FLY jheri curl lacefront toupee! My ends haven’t completely dried out yet! I’m just a hairpiece who no longer works for Bishop Eddie Long. In fact, I just got signed to work as Samel L. Jackson’s hairpiece in the upcoming remake of The Last Dragon.

Mo’K: That’s right! He’s playing “Sho’Nuff!”

JL: Yessiree…and I sho’ nuff have a job! (Laughs)  I originally interviewed with him when he was filming Pulp Fiction.  He needed a Jheri Curl for the part but I  didn’t get the job then.  It all worked out it seems, just years later.

Mo’K: How’s your sister doing, is she still a weave in the business?

JL: Absolutely. She’s on tour with Beyoncé, doing the sandy blond weave thing in promotion of the new CD.

Mo’K: A hair weave’s work never ends…

JL: You got that right!

Mo’K: Back to Bishop Long for a moment. When you left New Birth, what was the mood like, what were the services like?

JL: The service…singular, was empty mostly. We stopped filming the balcony because nobody was there and Bishop didn’t want the empty seats viewable to the online audience. Those who are still there are the true believers. If they haven’t left now, they’re never going to leave. But they’re not enough in number to keep New Birth in business. They have to turn it around or they’ll have to pack it in.

Mo’K: How long are we talking about?

JL: A year, maybe less, depending on how much more bad publicity comes their way between now and then. They were talking about downsizing Bishop Long to just a TV show, no congregation. Just minister to the masses via television and ask for donations. It cuts the overhead and keeps his name out there. I don’t wish ill on the man but it doesn’t look good for him.

Mo’K: Let me backtrack. What do you think his “five rocks” were, if this case didn’t go to mediation?

JL: Hmm…I would say that Bishop never really thought it would get this far or last as long as it did in the media. I think that was a surprise to us all. The “five rocks”…just preacher rhetoric for a desired response from that audience on that day. It did its job in that respect. It was a soundbite, never meant to be a full-blown strategy. To this day it still is the most-played soundbite from all of this.

Mo’K: Are you and the Bishop still friends?

JL: He was my employer. He fired me without so much as a “thank you.” You can’t really be “friends” with your boss…he’s your boss. Now he is my former boss. I thank him for the opportunity given me but we knew this was a good time for both of us to move on. He has other boys to do…I mean he has other business to do and I have other foreheads to stick to…that’s how it works.

Mo’K: If you could tell Bishop Long anything in private right now, what would it be?

JL: I would…I would suggest to him that the sooner he humbles himself publicly, the sooner he will see a change in how the media and people in general treat him; the sooner people will become sympathetic. His haughty spirit to me is blocking his blessing and delaying the rebirth of his ministry.

Mo’K: You’d say that…to his face?

JL: Yes I would. I don’t work for him now. It’s different. I’d give him what he needs to know, not what an employee thinks his boss wants to hear.

Mo’K: And there you have it. Another exclusive in The Mo’Kelly Report.  Not once, but TWICE…Mo’Kelly was able to sit and talk with the long-time Jheri Curl Lacefront Toupeé; Mr. Jheri Lacefront. Jheri, always a pleasure to talk to you and we wish you well.

JL: Thank you Mo’Kelly.

Click HERE for Mo’Kelly’s first conversation with Mr. Jheri Lacefront.

 

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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On one hand, it makes sense.  If you believed Eddie Long after the first four, a fifth isn’t going to make any difference.  You simply are uninterested in any search for truth.  Another 75 could emerge and these sycophants would still allege some plot to “bring down” Long.  Best of luck to them.  Mo’Kelly doesn’t have the heart to tell them that Eddie Long is not worth “bringing down.”

Eddie Long is not important in the grand scheme of things.

He’s just gay.  No more, no less.  The news story is how it plays out with males under the age of 18 in his care.

 

Members of Bishop Long’s Church React to Report: MyFoxATLANTA.com

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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From The Root:

Bernice King, the youngest daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., is expected to resign her post as an elder minister at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church on Tuesday in the wake of a sexual coercion scandal involving Bishop Eddie Long, according to news reports. Last Friday, it was announced that Long had reached an out-of-court settlement with the four young men who alleged in a civil case that he had manipulated them with gifts, travel and other forms of patronage to coax them into sexual acts.

The news stories have differed on whether the resignation is connected to the settlement.

King, 48,  is expected to make a formal announcement about her resignation from New Birth Tuesday afternoon on the Atlanta gospel radio station Praise 102.5-FM. Given her reputation as a recluse who reveals very little about her personal life, all ears will be tuned to whatever she  has to say.

Full story HERE

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

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It is not uncommon in the Black church tradition these days to take an originally secular song and then reshape it with a sacred message. Songs written wholly unrelated to the Word of God are sometimes given a “church remix” if you will. Miki Howard, Musiq Soulchild…even Snoop Dogg; it doesn’t matter the artist.

Today Mo’Kelly is going to do his own church remix, just for the remaining members of New Birth Ministries. Mo’Kelly won’t bother with all the verses and even much of the chorus, just one simple phrase, once sung by Whitney Houston.

“How will I know?” Keep Whitney’s melody in mind as Mo’Kelly speaks on behalf of those of New Birth who will be in service this Sunday and each one after as Eddie Long preaches from the pulpit.

Hit the music…

Here are some questions every remaining New Birth member could, should and must ask their “pastor” and not settle for “pray on it.”  The Lord made you the members the head and not the tail (Deut 28:13).  Eddie Long may not be able to discuss the specifics of the settlement, but he surely can be forced to discuss members’ general uncertainty going forward.

Bishop Long, how will I know?

Bishop Long…how will I know given this settlement you are not one of the “workers of iniquity” as mentioned in Psalms 6:8, Matthew 7:23 or Luke 13:27?

How will I know?

How will I know that my faith in God isn’t telling me the truth about you, given this “secret” agreement? Since faith is the substance of things hope for and the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1), this secret settlement could be the very “evidence” of what you truly are.

How will I know?

How will I know ignoring my spiritual discernment makes good sense by remaining in your congregation? (Colossians 1:9)

How will I know if you remember Titus 1:7 does apply to you Bishop? “For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre”

How will I know that as a steward of God’s church that we shouldn’t throw you out as Jesus once did the moneychangers?

How will I know?

How will I know there aren’t other boys/men who may come forward in the future with similar allegations? How will I know you won’t also settle secretly with them? How will I know if  we will ever get the truth as to whether you are a sexual predator?

More expressly, how will I know that my own son doesn’t secretly have a similar story about you?

How will I know?

How will I know when to stop mentally sub-titling all of your sermons as “Do as God Says…Not as I Do and Have Done?”

How will I know?

How will I know when to heed any of your marital advice, given I don’t have 15 million dollars available (allegedly) to deal with issues of infidelity?

How will I know?

How will I know what to say to other believers who will tell me that Bishop Eddie Long is one of the “grievous wolves” who has entered the church and not spared the flock (Acts 20:29)?

How will I know?

How will I know whether this settlement means you broke more than 5 or fewer than five of the Ten Commandments?  What is your over/under?

Before you seek to offer “wise counsel” to my family, how will I know if your own family at least learned the truth of these matters, for their sake?

How will I know?

Most importantly, how will I know my spiritual livelihood is safe in the hands of Bishop Eddie Long, when his own is in tremendous jeopardy?

How will I know Bishop…how will I know? Because right now, the Lord seems to have already answered all of those questions the moment the settlement was finalized.

(Readers: What other “Whitney Houston” questions would you have for your “pastor” if you were still a member of New Birth?)

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

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