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Week of May 29 - June6, 2002

Since we firmly believe that there are going to be some very difficult days ahead for African-Americans, please don’t expect an inspiring, positive article designed to keep hope alive. Instead, as always, we will tell it like it is from an underemployed or unemployed Black person’s perspective. So what’s new? We’re sure somebody is asking that question as we speak. And it is a good question that we’re glad you asked. If you recall, we hinted in last week’s editorial (“Black media’s pawns checkmate our industry”), that we would rededicate ourselves to exposing our industry’s pawns.

As we’ve tried to explain-- as candidly and sincerely as we could-- our criticism of Black faces in high places, or any other African-America organization or business is never personal. We Must Understand, it makes no difference whether a white snake or black snake bites you. That was true when the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, said it in 1991 and it’s still true today. We weren’t just blowing smoke when we gave a warning to the wise, because when it comes to reporting all news without fear or favor, we ain’t playing.

Sadly, before the ink was dry on last week’s editorial (warning the Black media that we no longer will allow them to checkmate our industry), we heard our only supposedly Black-owned and operated radio station commit what’s considered a cardinal sin in a nation that holds freedom of press an inalienable right above all others. A caller to “Person-to-Person” (Houston’s most popular and controversial daily talk show) and attempted to hold Bush’s administration accountable for not handling pre-9/11 terrorist threats properly.

The host, an avowed conservative, quickly countered the well-spoken lady’s summation that the buck stops with the sitting president. He suggested that terrorism was a problem when Clinton was president and he did nothing about it. We turned up the radio’s volume, hoping that one of our readers would call-in and call him a bald-faced lie, because AAN&I’s readers were privy to several very well researched articles on that topic. We’ve heard the talk show host say in the past that he doesn’t read or even acknowledge Black newspapers.

So I guess we should overlook his ignorance. However, since we publish over 350,000 free copies (distributed in over 5,000 locations weekly throughout the Gulf Coast area), we just can’t believe that nobody read our Oct. 3-10, 2001 front-page feature (“Terrorism starts at home”), among others. That article went into great detail about Clinton’s Senate Bill 390, as well as his House Bill 896, the far-reaching counter terrorism proposals that he drafted on Feb. 10, 1995.

The exasperated caller was too dignified to argue the point with host Michael Harris, but we recognized her as an avid AAN&I reader. In fact, we’ve heard her quote from articles that appeared exclusively in our publication. We’re sure thousands of readers recall another article that revealed: “Clinton, perhaps, could shed some light on the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on America, insofar as he was convinced that terrorism is a serious problem, and calls for a serious response founded on clear and accurate assessment of the facts.”

According to the FBI and CIA, “The eight pages of ‘findings,’ produced by the Clinton Administration, were criticized. Clinton’s research was ‘somewhat invalid,’ insofar as it omitted key facts. Data that failed to reflect that terrorism in the U.S., especially terrorism of international origin, is rare.”

Remember? Nevertheless, mentioning our publication’s name, or quoting from it isn’t welcomed on Person-to-Person. Then again, although the information was gleamed from the Center For National Security Studies web site, Harris likely wouldn’t have considered it creditable any way. Especially if it’s published in a newspaper that propagates a Black perspective.

Incidentally, at no time during the 9/11 frenzy did we find a single jot written about Clinton’s counter terrorism efforts in Houston’s leading source of information. The major information source that the same Black talk host starts his morning shows off almost daily reading from.

Perhaps, the reason a Black talk show host was so uninformed about Clinton, was because he doesn’t read AAN&I, which we certainly readily make available to him?

Not to mention we have a very popular Web site. Therefore, it’s not our fault his regular listeners ponder for lack of knowledge. We Must Understand, when the Black media distort or deny available information from the people whom they’re obligated to serve, they hurt our community.

Then again, if intelligent people, who call themselves Black leaders, stand idly by and allow a “Black”, radio station to checkmate the efforts of Black newspapers, they also become pawns in this political chess game we’re playing.