Greetings to the YourBlackWorld family,
I felt the need to give you the latest on Bill O’Reilly’s outrage over our protest and Keith Olbermann’s (MSNBC) reaction. I will also give you the inside scoop on the rather interesting week I’ve had.
[http://www.youtube.com] As I mentioned in the video response to all of this, I consider the peculiar events of this week to be a direct product of our working together to hold the corporate sponsors of Fox
News accountable for the behavior on that network.
Bottom line: IT IS WORKING.
First, Bill O’Reilly has worked tirelessly all week long, to defame what we are trying to do. If you watch The O’Reilly Factor (which I hope you do not), you will notice that he has been in a consistent, angry campaign to come after me for our challenge to him. He did the same thing last fall to myself and last month to Dr. Jeremiah Wright. I do not consider myself to be the most critical piece of this movement, for we can only be strong when we stick together. But since my name is the one he knows, he somehow feels that by undermining me in public, he can squash our movement.
Apparently, he doesn’t know shit about black people. We made it through the Middle Passage, so Bill O’Reilly is a piece of cake. I could care less what he does to my “academic reputation”, for I do not hang my self-esteem on what he or his disciples think about me.
Secondly, Keith Olbermann, host of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann”on MSNBC,://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24633980] apparently took notice of what we are doing. He also took notice of O’Reilly’s reaction to our challenge to him.
He thus named BillO’Reilly “The Worst Person in the world” for his attempts to come to Syracuse University and attack my chancellor, using typical O’Reilly lies and ignorance to discredit our protest.
He stated the following:
1) O’Reilly’s flunky claimed that I lied by stating that Bill wants to lynch Michelle Obama. Olbermann came back with a quote from O’Reilly’s radio show, when he made reference to having a “lynching party” on Michelle Obama for controversial comments. So yes, O’Reilly did say that he was considering having a “lynching party” on the woman who might be the First Lady of The United States. How patriotic.
2) Olbermann mentioned our protest as the cause of O’Reilly’s frustrations and speculates that this is the reason he has attempted to defame me. I appreciate Keith’s support, but honestly, I wasn’t worried about what anyone thought of me or our actions. We must validate our own
commitment to truth without worrying about what anyone else has to say. But thanks to Keith all the same, it makes things easier.
Other FYIs:
1) The police chief on my campus called to offer police protection because of the number of death threats coming into the chancellor’s office. This says something about the type of viewers Bill O’Reilly has on his show. Death threats don’t scare me, I’ve been a black man for quite a while now.
2) My email box has been full of nasty messages, probably over 1,000 per day. No worries though, I know where the “delete” button is on my computer. Simultaneously, your emails of love and support from the Your Black World family have been wonderful. Thank you so much.
Even someone named “Hillary” at the HillaryClinton.com website is on our list. This reminds us that this movement is not about picking Obama, Clinton or McCain, it’s about doing whats right and recognizing our power in the process. I welcome anyone who stands for truth and fairness.
As Bill O’Reilly himself said “This thing is all over the internet”, so he is clearly intimidated by the fact that thousands of you are forwarding these messages to others who are concerned about Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and
Rush Limbaugh. O’Reilly chickens are apparently coming home to roost.
3) My university was forced to issue a statement to the media in response to Bill O’Reilly’s attacks. I give Chancellor Nancy Cantor tremendous credit for standing up for my academic freedoms in spite of the pressure she is getting from some Syracuse Alumni. Many wealthy alumni have threatened to take away their donations to the campus because some feel the school is harboring a “racist”
(translation: any black person who stands up for black people). Unfortunately, many universities don’t recognize racial contributions until 30 years after they are made. I understand that. I don’t get into campus politics, but
I’m sure there are some stressed out administrators out there. I wish there were an easier way to do this, but my role model Muhammad Ali showed me that standing up for racial equality in America is not a comfortable task.
One of the more interesting emails I received was from a woman in New Zealand. She told me that it is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL that we continue our work because she said that O’Reilly is impacting the election of the United States President, and that, in turn, impacts the world.
This underscores the significance of the contribution we can make to our country and to the globe. Therefore, our work is fundamentally patriotic and necessary to the advancement of our great nation. Social terrorists like
Bill O’Reilly will not be tolerated.
WE CANNOT STOP. When we work together, we are as powerful as we choose to be. The world is depending on us, so I pray that we find the courage to remain committed.
O’Reilly has hurt us for far too long, and we can’t
take this anymore. In case you’re not up to speed on everything, the fundamentals of the protest are at YourBlackWorld.com.
Keep hope alive and kicking,
Sincerely,
Boyce Watkins
[http://www.boycewatkins.com/] http://www.BoyceWatkins.com
[http://www.yourblackworld.com/] http://www.YourBlackWorld.com
