As we observe MLK birthday I am reminded, as we all are, of his memorable I have a dream speech. Who would have ever thought 40 years later it would have turned out to be a nightmare? I say this because when I was riding home to the Bronx on the number #2 a man came on displaying a sign that read ‘Mr. Obama show Us Your Birth Certificate, Please’ and the name displayed on the bottom was no other than Obama hater Dr. James David Manning. Manning appeared on my radar during the 2008 campaigns, he put his full support behind then Sen. Hillary Clinton and after Clinton didn’t get the nomination his full on assault of President Obama started and it seems it has continued a year later.
This gentleman seems to be one of Pastor Mannings followers and it hurts me not only on MLK day, but every day, that a pastor of a church with a substantial following is preaching such hateful things and has followers who spew his rhetoric on a daily basis, it just goes to show how the power of words can alter the scope of a person’s mind. Dr. King had that power, but he used it to achieve his goals through non-violence and unity, his ideas were about positivity and hope. Using words to uplift and not bring down, words that changed the world for the better, words that were used to help a generation progress and not regress. Words spoken by Pastor Manning aren’t those words. This is not the dream of which Dr.King spoke of; in fact this is his nightmare. I thought pastors where supposed to give hope and enlighten those who are lost, inspire others, bring out the best in people and speak the truth. Now to Pastor Mannings followers it’s the truth to them because he has told them so many times that it is so. That truth, however, is damaging and it leads to more hatred of the president, it fuels the fire of hate that the president already has and because it is a black pastor makes it even worse. This truly is Dr.Kings nightmare.
The fact of the matter is that Manning and many of these TV Pastors are calling themselves Doctors; receiving Doctorates by their own made-up Universities and preaching to their millions of followers not Dr.Kings message, but often times untruths about many social issues that we face today hindering important policies that can change the world. The truth is Manning is not a real Doctor; he received his Doctor of Philosophy from his own ATLAH Theological Seminary, an un-accredited educational institution and continues to make disrespectful sermons on behalf of President Obama which leads to his followers doing things like this in public. I do not understand why we as a people continue to bring each other down in such ways, I don’t mind if
