| The Elders |
| Experienced Leaders Directing Efforts To Regain Sanity. |
| CBPM Index: |
| For Mama King By Mahmoud T Baptiste Watch Video Here |
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CBPM Index:
| Contact: Mahmoud T Baptiste Stone Mountain, Georgia CBPM's 681st Member Phone: 443-744-4724 Email Address: theophilusbaptise1@gmail.com Web: www.cbpm.org/elders |
| Subject: Mama King In June of 1974, when Alberta Williams King, the mother of Martin Luther King Jr., was murdered by a black gunman in the Ebenezer Baptist Church, in Atlanta Ga, it inspired poet Adesanya Alakoye to pen "For Mama King". Adesanya, a sensitive and talented writer, was devastated by this senseless act of violence against a grandmother in her place of worship. He shared that poem with his friend, Theophilus A. Baptiste, on the day he completed it. Mr Baptiste decided to use the poem to speak about the sad fact that few people knew or remembered how Mrs. King died. So, in 2006, he went into a studio and recorded the poem. He read the poem to "Fools Die" by reggae star Peter Tosh and sent it to family and friends as a gift. His intent was to keep in memory her legacy and the tragic circumstances of her passing. The recording received "respectful" praise, but limited airplay. When his son, Daoud Baptiste, put a photo story to the poem and placed it on YouTube, it developed a wider audience. Satisfied that he had accomplished his goal of spreading that message, he put it behind him, until he realized a series of coincidences surrounding the issue of black on black gun violence. When one considers that Mrs. King was killed by a black man with a gun and Peter Tosh was also killed by black men with guns, coupled with the fact that the poet, Adesanya Alakoye, took his own life with a gun, the piece took on a larger meaning. While much is made about the social inequities that black people continue to endure as the result of the vestiges of racism and the historical consequences of slavery, our slaughter of our selves, through the ever escalating phenomena of black on black gun violence, continue without the needed hue and cry from our community. We seem to accept the fact that we kill ourselves more than any racist policeman or kkk members as so much business as usual. Mama Kings murder, in church, is surely one of the glaring examples of the insanity of our brutality against ourselves. We plan to use her as the centerpiece for a national campaign against black on black gun violence. Daoud Baptiste @dbap70 @baptiste_music volitionsound.com "Music is the weapon... How it ends is up to you" |
| Since returning to the Washington, D.C. area, I was pleased to join a group of Muslim Elders in a recurring luncheon. |
| The luncheon brings Brothers together who have known each other for over 40 years, but for many reasons had not been in regular contact. |
| Beyond social contact, the lunch provides an opportunity to discuss, analyze and offer appropriate approaches to the many social problems facing us daily. I was honored to be among such a learned group. |
| After Jumah at Howard University |