The Greatest Story Never Told: Black Clergy Sexual Abuse

What does James H. Bell, Tyrone Forbes, Edwin House, Bruce Curtis Leon Dupree, Clarence Garrison and Willie L. Jefferson all have in common? They are pastors that have been arrested for sexual abuses against their parishioners. And in some of the cases, several have been convicted.

It is a fact that sexual abuse goes under-reported in communities of color. Now let's take that fact and apply it when it comes to outing a pastor, deacon, bishop, or other clergymen and women who serve as high power figures in black communities. Not only is it complicated, but in some instances it can be dangerous.

The recent Eddie Long church scandal has magnified an oft-overlooked flaw in the black community. We exempt our "leaders", and more readily, our religious leaders from moral or ethical scrutiny. And when this happens, we participate in our own oppression.

With the past 10 years of sexual abuse cover-ups, lawsuits and scandals becoming a mainstay in the Catholic church and among white clergymen, there is a notion among some black church members that their black pastors are absolved from this sin. It is as if their pastors' erections are somehow different, more divine, thus are stuck in the right orifices.

And in some instances, the victim at the church becomes the predator or the enemy in the eyes of church members---resulting in a collective exile, or one that is self-imposed due to the rejection from people they thought loved them as children of Christ.

It is no wonder why George H. Bush sought out leaders of predominately black mega-churches during election time. Not only do they hold the purse-strings of parishoners, but they control the consciousness of a powerful voting bloc. And just like the teabaggers, these folks vote for someone who is totally against their interest, all in the name of not passing out condoms at schools.

Though some black church-goers refuse to acknowledge that rampant sexual abuse goes on in black churches, it is as alive-and-well as Sunday morning sermons. So much so, that an organization was formed in 2003 to report sexual abuse in the largest black church in the U.S., Church of God in Christ or COGIC.

Sexual abuse doesn't start or stop at COGIC or at Eddie Long's New Birth Missionary Baptist.

Other prominent churches have been hit in the past. In April 2009, Pastor Patrick Jerome Whitehead of the famous Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was arrested for forcing sexual actions such as sodomy on a teen he taught at a local high school.

The list does not stop there. Some of these cases may make those who doubt sexual abuse by black clergy become quiet as a church mouse.

In Jackson, Ms, Rev. Freddie Parker was arrested in 2009 for impregnating a 14-year old parishioner who claims they had sex in the church building and at her home.

Harry Benson of United Methodist Church in Delaware was arrested for numerous counts of molesting a boy he had abused from ages 12 to 18.

In 2005, Pastor Leonard Ray Owens of Prayer House of Faith was arrested for raping a woman he said he was raping the "lesbian demon" out of her. WTF?

In Harlem in 2008, the Catholic Archdiocese suspended, Monsignor Wallace Harris for sexual abusing students in his high school in the 1980s; 10 men and 4 women came out to talk against him.

In 2007, Charles Dickerson out of Fresno, Ca. was arrested for molested two girls in his family, one of them were pregnant.

Since the reports of what is called "Black Collar Crimes" or sexual abuse by clergy members, there have been some clergy who have spoken out. Nevertheless, this is far and few between.

Some people may think that my mission is to destroy the black church; but as a great-grand-niece of a black clergyman from Mississippi who was killed due to his political agitation, I hope the recent expose pushes a needed restructuring of the black church from the top down.



Information regarding COGIC retrieved from: Report COGIC Abuse: http://www.reportcogicabuse.com/about.html ; thank all y'all for being in the struggle.

Thank you Valerie Shaw for giving me another site dedicated to stopping clergy abuse: Stopped Baptist Predators.

9 News Bites in the Ass

1. Obama serves some righteous whoop-ass, but with a disturbing twist. Obama gives a State of the Union address that won in the "Balls of Steel" category. He called out, in his ever so charismatic way, the hypocrisies of the Republicans while laying out a plan to finally deal with the economic woes. Then the two days later, he shuts down the rhetoric, serving, immature and ruthless Republicans LIVE, in a face off, while the cowardice FOX news stopped coverage only to bitch and moan later that evening.

It was almost believable. BUT YOU, Bami, you said you will freeze federal spending in 2011 WITH the exception of military and the federal reserves. Uh oh, I smell a rat in a banker's suit and I smell more war. What will happen to those who still will not have a job by then? Oh, that is right, you said it will be better by 2011. Hmpf. I'm not holding my breath on that one.

Bami, I gotta give it to you on that speech. You kind of got with that Republican ass. NOW if your spine can parallel your balls and you move forward on key things and progressive issues, maybe just listen to the people, just maybe I will say something decent.

Also, I think Bami, you learned a good lesson, give them what they want before you give them what they need. If he would've laid out a better plan to get jobs, healthcare would've been an easier road to travel. We all learn Bami, this is your first year in White-now-Black House.

2. Christian kindness or Haitian booty? American "missionaries" were stopped at the Haitian-Dominican border for abducting 33 Haitian children they claimed they were transporting to the other side of the island to set up an orphanage. They lied and said that they got the okay from Haitian officials who reported their claims were false. Another news tidbit reported that Haitian families were giving their orphaned relatives to people they thought could provide a better home.

Okay, where do I start with this one. The reports of child-sex trafficking in Haiti are similar to the ones that began to surface after the Indonesian Tsumani in 2004. The trafficking and selling of Haitian orphans as sex toys and for their body parts has BEEN going on long before the quake. And it has been mostly in the name of Jesus. I was not shocked when that report came in.

Also, the DR is known for treating orphaned Haitian children like slaves. I hope they caught the real deal because with that one "arrest" there have already been thousands of children who have been "adopted". On the other hand, I am saddened and quite sickened by the idea of people giving away their family to strangers because they are white and think that they are the cousins of Jesus who will purify the children. That says a lot about Christianity in Haiti. Hell, if you still got that white Jesus hanging in your church, I think you need to stick to Voodoo. At the very least, your Gods are black.

Oh yeah, and I see that Angelina and Madonna made quite a trend with white folk adopting black children in developing countries. However, I found out one of the reasons why adopting internationally is better for the adopting parents, it would be hard for the biological parents or relatives to find the adopted child.

3. Patronizing America does it again. Haitians are still too corrupt and stupid to handle their money. So we will give them military as aid. The US government reported that less than 1 cent of every dollar donated to the Haitian fund established by the government will go to Haiti. Most of it will be in military aid and helping Haitians build as infrastructure with various US programs and personel because according to the US spokesperson, the level of corruption in Haiti is so bad, that giving cash to Haitian officials will not guarantee needed rebuilding efforts.

Ahh, classic case of white man destroys a country, only to tell the country what is good for them in rebuilding it.

4. Who Dat? Who Dere? Who Gives a Damn? NOLA. The NFL put the smack down on a local tee-shirt vendor who used "Who Dat" to sell Superbowl shirts in honor of the New Orleans Saints. The NFL claims they have the rights to the phrase "Who Dat" and anyone using it without their permission is in clear violation.

WTF, since when did a corporation take a local phrase? Oh, I forgot that's not new. If corporations have the rights to own DNA and seeds, the cultural phrase of "Who Dat" is small beans.

5. Joseph Kennedy says "Oops, maybe I should've ran for my uncle's seat." The nephew of the late Ted Kennedy told a reporter in Boston that he "regretted" not running for his deceased uncle's seat. The seat is now occupied by Republican Scott Brown who plans to change the Democratic sway in Congress.

Not shit Joseph it was a bad decision. But isn't there like a gazillion Kennedys in Massachusetts. The onus is not just on you, people get amnesia really quick. Ask Martha Coakly. They forget that they have to run a campaign and not assume things are handed to them.

6. Chavez says, Kiss my Latino ass, I'm coming to the party. The Dominican Republic will host a summit on how to rebuild Haiti in April. And the long-time critic of American policies, Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez is invited. The summit will be very interesting considering that Chavez has been very vocal about the cause of the quake, America! Chavez pointed out that science now has the capacity to create natural disasters such as quakes, tornadoes, and tsunamis (which they do), and this one was used by America to finally get access to the oil that Haiti has off its shores.

I love it. Dammit, I wish I could be there and see the exchange on that day. And Chavez, and make sure you bring a gas mask and holy water so if you smell sulphur or see the devil you can admonish it back to hell.

7. Black buying power up, black power down. In November 2009, the Selig Center at the University of Georgia estimated that black buying power would be about $1.1 trillion by 2014, with current spending power for blacks at about $910 billion. This shows an increase of consumerism by blacks who are also increasing in population due to the steady birth rate (though infant mortality is still atrocious in poor and urban communities) and black immigration numbers that are climbing.

Ironically, we have a black president who is in office while blacks hold the highest percentages of unemployment during this recession. And have been the first ones fired.

8. America Robbed in Broad Daylight and Getting off Scott-Free. If you missed the Congressional testimonies from various bankers during the coverage of the Haitian earthquake, it was really and dog-and-pony show that still excused inexcusable theivery of billions of dollars.

9. Free Land in Africa for Haitians and Black Americans. You've probably already heard that Senegal extended its hand and is allowing Haitians to relocate back to Africa for a new life. There has been another movement that has been going on in Ghana that many do not talk about. Not only can Africans in the Americas (that is South, Central and North) get dual citizenship in Ghana, but they can own land. There is movement called Fihankra International. It started in the mid 90s and is still offering land to folk who can build a house in 3 years there. I did a story on them in the late 90s and thought nothing of it until the other day I ran across their website.

I'm counting my pennies. If WEB DuBois thought Ghana was good enough for his bones to rest, dammit, maybe I need to rethink this American shit. Ho hum.

Blog on, Eco Soul

Married Priest in the Catholic Church? MAKING the rules then BREAKING the rules

Raise your hand if you were traumatized by going to Catholic school. Do you see my hand? It is reaching about a mile high. Not only did I go to Catholic school, most of my formative years, but I was reared in the Catholic Church.

I bore witness to the Catholic Church’s hypocrisies firsthand. One of the “religious principles” that I always did not understand was the rule in which priests and nuns could not get married. It magnified as I got older and would look at these shriveled up white nuns, and agitated priests attempt to tell me about the Lord, with orgasms backed up from three decades ago.

I am sorry, that shit is not normal. It is not the oath of celibacy that is abnormal, but an order that imposes a law on a group of people that have notoriously defied it since the formation of Popes and Bishops who have historically been known to have lovers and children.

Now, after all these years of children being raped by priests and nuns; and scandalous love affairs that went on the rectory (or should I say rectal-ry) and convents, the Washington Post reports that Pope Benedict XVI makes an official announcement that they will allow Anglican priests to join the church as liturgical leaders, even if they are married.

Now come on people! This should be an outrage to Catholics who have banged their children over the head for many years out the piety of celibacy among priests and nuns. But like Marx says, “Religion is opium for the masses.”

If I was a priest or nun, I would run naked down the aisle on Sunday masturbating to a porn magazine asking, “After all these years I had to suppress my sexuality, these Anglicans can get their fuck on!?”

Overall, this shows just how political religion and religious organizations really are. At the drop of the dime, a centuries old ordinance can be changed to increase the numbers of Catholic membership due to the huge economic loss and political sway the Catholic Church has.

This loss of membership has also made the Vatican re-strategize converts and recruitment to the Dark Continent of Africa. There, Catholicism has not only become a religious order, but one that denotes a certain class.

Consequently, the savages have become the biggest promoters of a religion that once upon time held a liturgical edict known as the Papal that gave the Pope the authority to tell European explorers it was a divine right to enslave Africans and dissemble the present-day Americas for the purpose of “religious expansion.”

This critique does not excuse Christianity period, because it has been integral in backing many historical brutalities in the name of Jesus, God and the Trinity (and we are talking about the Matrix).

Not only past Christians, but current ones turn the other cheek as pastors, deacons, and ministers turn pulpits into pimp houses. And let me not forget the witch hunts in the “Name of God” that go on in Africa killing elder women and men for traditional practices.

Anyway, here is another case that proves rules are carved out with the idea of control and a social order where someone will always be on the bottom, thus relegating the rule makers as the top.

What the Vatican really needs to do is allow same sex marriages in the church, starting with the priests and nuns themselves.