Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Dear Alveda King, your lie about Bayard Rustin will NOT go unanswered!

Now Alveda King is lying about Bayard Rustin.
Dear Ms. Alveda King,

Bayard Rustin
I have watched your "career" as an "activist" and a "leader" over the years with a mixture of amusement and annoyance. I was amused as to how you were suddenly anointed as a voice for the black community simply because you are Martin Luther King, Jr's niece.

And I was a bit annoyed at your nasty attack on Coretta Scott King two years ago when you implied that you knew MLK's heart better than her because you "had his DNA and she didn't."

However, your recent comments have led me to a state that goes beyond annoyance. Comments you made about the late Bayard Rustin make it necessary that I call you out for your blatant dishonesty.

You said:

"The 21st century homosexual lobby likes to point to the professional relationship between my uncle Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bayard Rustin, his openly homosexual staffer who left the movement at the height of the campaign. Rustin attempted to convince Uncle M. L. that homosexual rights were equal with civil rights. Uncle M. L. did not agree, and would not attach the homosexual agenda to the 20th century civil rights struggles. So Mr. Rustin resigned.

I would like to know where you received your information concerning this claim and until you show this information, I feel safe in calling you out as a boldfaced liar.

According to several sources, most specifically the excellent book Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin by John D'Emilio, Rustin resigned because prominent black leaders, specifically the late Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, had gotten jealous of King's influence and were going to accuse him and the openly gay Rustin of being lovers.

It was some of these same leaders who did not want Rustin to have anything to do with the 1963 March on Washington, but labor leader A. Philip Randolph insisted that Rustin be involved. And as you SHOULD know, this was a good move because Rustin was the architect of that successful march.

Furthermore Rustin began speaking about gay issues in the 1980s at the behest of his partner, Walter Naegle. This was over two decades after MLK's death.

Ms. King, you like to talk about the so-called sin of homosexuality, but let me remind you that the Bible also says something against bearing false witness.

And between me and you, from one African-American to another, I would personally like to know just what constitutes you as a genuine leader in the black community?

To my knowledge, no one has taken the initiative to ask you that question, so I would like to. Do you really think that your relationship to one of the greatest American leaders of the 20th century makes you a leader?

I don't think so. On my father's side of my family, I am a distant cousin to the rapper Lil Bow Wow, but at no time have I rushed to a record company demanding a contract.

Ms. King, it takes more than familial connections to make one a leader. Allow me to school you on the qualities.

A leader sacrifices for others.

A leader does not seek the spotlight.

A leader works his or her fingers to the bone for a cause.

A leader inspires others.

A leader puts him or herself on the line more than once even though success of the cause may not be assured.

Bayard Rustin had all of these qualities. You have none of them. Ever since you have shown your face in the public arena, the only person you seemed to have cared about is yourself. You inspire no one. You do the least amount of work. And worst of all, none of your fame comes from anything you have done, but only due to the fact that you had the good fortune to be related to Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you didn't have this familial relation, no one would care about anything you say.

So please stop lying to yourself as to your status and your impact. You have neither.

And while I detest how you are reaping the benefits of your uncle's hard work, I have nothing to do with it.

BUT I will be damned if I say nothing while you besmirch the name of a man whose hard work put you in your pseudo-prominent situation.

Bayard Rustin was a leader in every sense of the word.

You aren't. And while you may have King's DNA, you are sorely lacking in his integrity or love.

You go and make your money, now.

Consider yourself checked and dismissed.



Bookmark and Share

'40 Faces of Homophobia' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

40 Faces Of Homophobia Around The World - This is a disgusting but necessary photo essay.  People need to see this to get an understanding of what our community has to deal with. If this gets you angry, good. Do something positive with your anger. And the following two examples from the photo essay should give you incentive:


In other news  

Pastor "Beat Gay Kids" Denounces Pastor "Put Them In Concentration Camps" - One bigot denounces another. Would spontaneous combustion be something to wish for here?

 POLL: African American Support For Marriage Equality Is Higher Than General Population - Well that's one myth (black folks are more homophobic than the general population) shot to pieces.

Miranda Salman: Transgender Soccer Player Defies Prejudice Against LGBT Community (VIDEO) - Good for her! 

 American Family Association, Family Research Council Attack Target for Selling 'Pride' T-Shirts - Come on guys! Surely there is a school with a gay/straight alliance you can demonize. This is just ridiculous. 

Gay community - pay attention to Fox News

I've mentioned this slightly and now I am making a full post about it because I feel that it is an important issue.

The gay community needs to keep an eye out for Fox News.

The claim that Fox News is "fair and balanced" is the biggest joke out there, period. The network pushes conservative propaganda even to the point that reporters show their bias by arguing with guests they don't agree with and conducting one-sided interviews with folks whose issues they do agree with.

How Fox News has tried to consistently undermine President Obama will be a widely discussed issue in classrooms for years to come

But the gay community should be forewarned that Fox News also has a negative eye cast upon us.

The blog Equality Matters casts a spotlight on Fox News by how its resident "doctor," Keith Ablow, has demonized the gay community:

Ablow is notorious for peddling the false idea that children might decide to identify as transgender if they see a happy transgender person – like Dancing with the Stars’ Chaz Bono – on television. He’s also suggested that using pink nail polish and having same-sex parents might similarly cause children to abandon their gender identity. He’s been open about his belief that transgender people are suffering from "psychotic delusions" and should be encouraged, through therapy, to identify as their biological sex.
Ablow has also voiced his support for the claim that homosexuality is a product of environmental factors and, as a result, can be changed or reversed. In the past year alone, Ablow has argued that:
And last week, Ablow condemned the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for declassifying Ego-Dystonic Homosexuality (EDH) as a mental illness in 1987. EDH, which was the diagnosis given to people who were distressed by their same-sex attractions, continues to play an important role in the pseudoscientific research produced by modern “ex-gay” groups today.

Ablow has also attacked same-sex parenting by falsely claiming that there is no data to determine the psychological effects to children. Equality Matters points out just how wrong he is.

I might point out that Ablow was a member of Truth4Time, the secret anti-gay Facebook group whose plans to disrupt the gay community was made public earlier this year.

But Ablow is just one problem that the gay community could potentially see with Fox News. As I said before, reporters on the network sometimes conduct extremely soft interviews with media figures.

Imagine Maggie Gallagher of the National Organization for Marriage or Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council being allowed to spout lies about the gay community, not only unchallenged but also helped along by a person who is supposed to ask them questions designed to get to the bottom of the issue, but instead elects to aid and abet their propaganda.

It's a scary thought indeed. And we need to ask ourselves how close it is to becoming a reality.


Bookmark and Share