I heard a first hand account from a WAOD reader who went to the rally yesterday that nearly brought me to tears. If you want to see pictures of the rally., go here. Folks, this battle with Viacom is my generation's Montgomery. Did you know BET is Viacom's most profitable property? The reader who attended said Debra Lee lives in a compound surrounded by high steel walls and that they had so many marchers that they ended up wrapping all the way around the block that her home consumes. They said it was like walking around Jericho.
This Video is AMAZING! "What Do We Want? CHANGE! When Do We Want it? NOW!" Have we EVER seen something like this aimed at Viacom before? And this was the FIRST WEEK!
More video of the Enough is Enough protest.
"I believe in freedom of speech, but if you really want to have an impact, the best way is to have a conversation - not to protest in front of someone's house," Lee said. "I'm always willing to talk to our viewers."OH REALLY? Yes she really does like to talk to viewers to tell them that she is going to do absolutely nothing because "BET is better than ever because BET is making more money than ever" the way that she talked to the Spelman students? No, the best way to have an impact is to impose economic sanctions on foolishness. If making money is all that matters to Debra Lee, according to her statements to Spelman students, then conversations are not what are needed. Folks tried talking to Debra Lee and BET, they wouldn't listen.
The AP has picked up the story.
The WAOD reader also said that Pastor Coates is the real deal and unlike some "preachers," this man is passionate about this and he and other church leaders are serious about this. There will be no back room brokered deal to hush them up. In fact, BET tried to halt the march by "agreeing" to meet with Pastor Coates on the condition that he cancel the march! NEWS FLASH DEBRA LEE AND BET- When all this is over, you are going to be begging to meet with the pastor. You aren't doing the pastor a favor by agreeing to meet with him. You better hope he's willing to meet with YOU without any crazy preconditions. I'm loving it. Keep dismissing your critics as CRAZY and detached from reality. That is why I didn't even talk to BET during the whole brou ha ha over that show. They would have brushed me off the way they brushed off the students at Spelman and their letter writing campaign. In the end, BET was the one sending back channel communications to ME, not the other way around. I'm the one that told them how to get out of the MESS over that SHOW. They didn't come up with the name change on their own.
There will be no "corporate" donation that is going to make these Pastors shut up or go away and that has to scare the HELL out of Viacom.
The reader said (I'm cloudy on this so somebody correct me if I am wrong) that a group came down form New York and in a few weeks, the group in DC is going to go to New York to march there so all of you whining about focusing on Viacom instead of BET, A) BET is just the beginning B) if BET is Viacom's most profitable network, when you focus on BET, you ARE focusing on Viacom! They said that pastors and churches that we have never heard about are beginning to organize and they are preaching about this from the pulpit. JUST LIKE THEY DID IN MONTGOMERY!
This thing is growing not shrinking. So you can expect the attacks on this blog to increase. Our little Bull Connors have been very busy, but what they don't understand is that all WAOD did was show that Goliath was not invincible. This thing is so much bigger than me. So they can take me out, but it is already too late. People have been awakened and no amount of donations or meetings with the League of the Immorally Indifferent are going to put folks back to sleep again.
Here is an early scoop from the Washington Post, one of BET's favorite papers.
I got this message from Pastor Coates yesterday from Enough is Enough. As soon as we get footage, I'll get it for y'all. To all my readers who went to the rally, GIVE US THE 411!!!
Today's rally was a tremendous success!!! We had about 500 people participate in the rally. We were joined by representatives from the National Congress of Black Women, the National Organization of Women, the Feminist Majority, local activists, and readers of the What About Our Daughters Blog. There is supposed to be an article in the Washington Post tomorrow (Sunday) about the campaign and the rally. CNN was there, and I believe they are going to air some footage as well (Paul would know more about this.)
We will have video footage of the rally on our website (hopefully) by close of business on Thursday (that's the best we can do). We will be back there next Saturday, same time. We need people to spread the word, let our voices be heard, so that we can be taken seriously. It's time for change. Enough Is Enough.
Thanks Pastor Coates! To my fellow congregants at Bedside Baptist, if you are in his area, you should take a Sunday field trip to see what he is about.
Y'all enjoy this hysterical post from over at Average Bro called Enough is Enough Better Stay Off Debra Lee's Petunias.
Read a Letter from Debra Lee to Pastor Coates prior to the Enough is Enough rally.
UPDATE: Stanley Crouch has noted a change in the "Mood" in his editorial "IT's Getting Hard Out Here For a Chump"
