Bob Woodson, whom I respect greatly, says of the program: (my underlining)
At 9 p.m. EST, Thursday evening, October 21, 2010, CNN will air a most important show in its series of specials hosted by Soledad O’Brien. The show, “Almighty Debt, A Black in America Special,” examines economic challenges facing black Americans. But the very fact of its airing could also help to end the virtual gag rule that has stifled exploration of the self-imposed barriers that hinder the progress of blacks in America.
The show’s principal guest is the Reverend DeForest “Buster” Soaries, Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens, in Somerset, New Jersey, and former New Jersey Secretary of State. His thesis: “Debt is more harmful to Black America today than racism.” With cameras following two members of his congregation, Pastor Soaries makes the case that they are about to lose to foreclosure the luxury 3,500 square-foot home they built, in part because of the downturn in the economy, but also because of their own excessive accumulation of debt.
A former civil rights worker for Jesse Jackson, Soaries leads his large black church on a quest to help right the wrongs of the past, not by grieving about the evils inflicted on it by racism but through an array of self-help social and community development programs that have become innovative agents of transformation, not only for members of his congregation but as examples for the nation.
“In the Bible Jesus counseled his disciples to feed and serve the sheep, not for the sheep to enrich the shepherd,” Reverend Soaries said. His column followed the news that Bishop Eddie Long, one of the nation’s most influential Black megachurch pastors, was accused of using his position to sexually exploit young men who sought him out as a father figure. Thus far except for a courageous few, there has been a wall of silence from black political pundits, the media, and other pastors. Soaries is a lonely voice challenging the self-imposed Sharia law as he criticizes the lavish lifestyle of some of these megachurch pastors.
It is my hope that as more Americans hear his prophetic words and witness the solutions crafted by him and his church, that Pastor Soaries will be the catalyst, not for post racialism, but for a post grievance black America. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said “self criticism is the highest form of maturity.”
My hope is that his words will animate a national dialogue on questions that have yet to be adequately answered, such as “Why do we as a people spend so much of our time trying to confront racism over which we have no control and so little time correcting our own behavior over which we have total control?” And “Why are black children failing in educational and social service systems run by our own people?”
With the airing of the CNN show, perhaps for the first time we will begin to have some answers.