Hi bloggers, I hope all is well with you!
On Tuesday, I had the honor and pleasure to sit in the studio with the Reverend Al Sharpton and talk with him for an hour about Michael Jackson, the media witch hunt, and the new book I've written. The call boards were so full from people wanting to comment, that Rev Sharpton has asked me to come back next week to talk about the book again (we didn't have enough time to cover all the main points because of so many callers!)
Anyway, I will tell you a few highlights from my experience about being on KEEPING IT REAL, Rev. Sharpton's nationally syndicated radio show.
1) First of all, he is a humble spirit in person -- very down to earth and cool. I met his daughter, Dominique, and she is a testament to his great spirit, as were the rest of Rev. Sharpton's staff at his show. I was happy to be there and was made to feel at home.
2) Some of the callers thought I was black (African-American) and I loved that! I loved being called "Sister Jones" and the REV was cool with it too! (A lot of people who don't meet me in person think I'm African American because of my name -- it's a kind of cool little secret I've lived with all of my life.)
3) The whole business of Michael making a comeback is something that Rev. Sharpton wants to see. He told me that, at the funeral of James Brown, he, Rev. Sharpton, reminded Michael that James Brown was attacked by media and imprisoned for no reason and still went on with his career! The Reverend counseled Michael to do the same thing -- to forget all the media bias and just get out there and do his "thing." No one doubts that Michael is a musical genius. He can come back stronger than ever, and Rev. Sharpton wants to help make that happen, as do I, as do many, many of his fans who called in to express that same sentiment.
4) The idea of "taking down" African American celebs came up -- and we talked about that trend that started 100 years ago. I talked about the fact that DA Sneddon has had it "in" for MJ for years -- and said that I think Sneddon is a racist and brought up the fact that MJ was the only person of color living in the "rich folk" section of Santa Barbara County when Sneddon started with him in 1993 -- and I think that had something to do with Sneddon's alleged vendetta against MJ. In my opinion, he didn't just want to take down a superstar, he wanted to take down the world's greatest black superstar -- so there -- I said it! Of course, now Oprah lives in that "tony" county as well -- and Rev. Sharpton said: "Oprah better watch out!" -- but he was just kidding.(or maybe not!)
5) I pointed out that during the trial, the last witness called was actor/movie star Chris Tucker. When Mr. Tucker was shown a photo of himself with his family at Neverland, Tucker looked at the photo and confirmed that it was his likeness and asked Sneddon, kind of joking, if he could get a copy of the picture. DA Tom Sneddon replied: "If you're a good boy." WELL – Rev. Sharpton and I talked about that and I told him that MEZ later talked to the jury about "the comment to Chris Tucker" and jurors said they were not pleased with that comment. I also recalled that Sneddon's comment to Tucker infuriated the jury, and made the courtroom go dead silent -- though I think I forgot to mention this incident in my book -- YIKES!
6) I told the audience listening in that the jury had NOT ONE African American on the panel and that Sneddon and his team struck out 2 African American women who could have been jurors. MEZ objected on constitutional grounds, but in a U.S. court of law, each side has the right to strike 10 people for "no particular reason." Sharpton was not surprised.
7) But Rev. Al Sharpton was surprised that the jury panel was seated without any African American person at all. Sharpton didn't realize that Michael Jackson was found not guilty by a jury that had NOT ONE African American on the panel. He also thought it was odd, and unfair, that the media still went running after Michael all the way to the other side of the world -- to continue their accusations -- even after the man was found not guilty!!! We both agreed that this was clearly somewhat "racist" and biased, and we talked about other African American superstars who have been media targets. At the top are the BIG THREE : Michael Jackson, Michael Tyson, and Michael Jordan. Of course, these days, all superstars seem to have become targets (Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Paris Hilton, etc) but that doesn't change the fact, in my opinion, there was a racist overtone in the prosecution of Michael Jackson.
More to follow...
For now, I'm sending positive vibes to everyone who cares about the issues being raised in this blog. May God Bless you and keep you in prayer and in harmony.
With love, peace, and appreciation to those who have reached out to help us spread this word,
Aphrodite
