by
NARR: Reverend Jesse Jackson spoke at the Ascension Day services at Trinity Church in lower Manhattan on Thursday. Notably absent from his speech was any mention of Reverend Jeremiah Wright and his incindieray speech at the National Press Club on Monday and it's effect on Senator Barack Obama's campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination. Reverend Petero Sabune, who works at Sing Sing correctional facility and attended the service, says Wright should speak his mind, comparing him to a Biblical prophet.
ACT: Sabune: 5 seconds: Prophets have their own time; they're not bound by politics, or political correctness.
NARR: Sabune first heard Wright preach in 1983. He says it's a religious leader's job to spark discussions about society's problems, and Wright has succeeded.
ACT Sabune: 9 seconds: If it wasn't for his comments, Barack Obama wouldn't have made his speech in Philly, we wouldn't be talking here today. So prophets actually do that. Prophets rock the boat all the time and force the rest of us to talk about things we don't like to talk about.
NARR: Sabune recalls another black religious leader who wasn't well loved in his day.
ACT: Sabune: 6 seconds: Martin Luther King! People forget when he was around people couldn't stand him. Now everybody loves him.
NARR: Sabune echoes the sentiments of many African-American religious leaders who have spoken out. Wright said Obama distanced himself from his comments because, "he's a politician." And Reverend Byron Williams form Oakland told the Associated Press that after disowning his former partor, Obama "is going to have to account for what is perceived as this air of disingenuousness." Other prominent leaders have said little. Reverend Calvin Butts of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem didn't comment on this weeks speech and Reverend Floyd Flake said only he felt there were "elements of truth" in what Wright said. But parishioners seem to feel differently. Ralph Lowry, who attended the services at Trinity, questioned the timing of Wright's speech.
ACT: Lowry: 7 seconds: The timing of it, it's just self-serving. You can do this just as easily after the primary, after the presidential election.
NARR: Lowry says he agrees with much of what Reverend Wright said, but by being "self-serving," he is distracting Obama from the real work he should be doing as a presidential candidate.
ACT: Lowry: 9 seconds: Now Barack Obama has to defend against this, against him, instead of dealing with the issues that are important to all of us.
NARR: He's worried Wright's statements could cost Obama the Democratic nomination.
ACT: Lowry:10 seconds: White americans, you know, they see this. And thre's already a lot of fear of black men. It's just a fear, a suspicion, and this isn't helping.
NARR: Lowry echoes concerns from African Amercan parishioners. The New York Times today described the way many black voters in North Carolina are disappointed with Wright's disregard for the Obama campaign. Royce Jacobs, a young man sitting with Lowry, offers the Reverend some advice.
ACT: Jacobs: 2 seconds: Dom't make it be about you.
NARR: He questions Wright's motives for speaking out when so much attention is focused on his relationship with Obama.
ACT: Jacobs: 13 seconds: What I've got from many reports is that he was basically…. He spoke from an ego. You know, that's where things tend to, you know, ball up into a problem.
NARR: Religious leaders and their parishioners do seem to agree that an undue amount of attention has been paid to Obama's relationship with Wright. They see a double standard with the lack of attention given to the religious beliefs of the other candidates pastors. Rafael Cohen, Columbia Radio News.