C L Bryant's "Content of Character" tour kicks off in Tampa

Last Thursday, Reverend C L Bryant kicked off his "Content of Character" tour right here in Tampa.  The Eye was there to video the event and to hear what Bryant and a panel of some  active in our local community had to say.  Reverend Bryant is a Baptist minister who was a former president of the NAACP's Garland, TX chapter. He created OneNationBacktoGod.com and is the creator of the highly acclaimed and successful independent documentary Runaway Slave which is about freeing the Black community from the slavery of tyranny and progressive policies.

Here's the entire video that you can watch to hear all that was said and hopefully share with others.

Bryant stated the Black community historically has had great strength in the face of horrific adversity.  But is the Black community really free at last?
It's been 50 years since Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech on August 28, 1963 and Bryant decided to celebrate the 50th anniversary by taking his Content of Character event on tour.

Martin Luther Kings's Birmingham jail letter was mentioned by EJ Otero who was on the panel.  I suggest everyone read it or read it again and think about what we are experiencing today.  

Some general themes and take aways from the Eye:  

• The Black pastor on the panel believes in leadership from the pulpit - he said "if one is ignorant about God, one is ignorant about a lot of things"
• General concern with young people (the millennials)  who seem to be taking our freedoms for granted, yet are disillusioned with their future, thus the YOLO (you only live once) theme of having fun and "me-ism".
• Our kids are a mess because parents are a mess - caused largely by the breakdown of the family
• Fair but no favors - Frederick Douglass
• Inverse relationship between power-rights
• Those who care enough to vote but not care enough about how to vote
• Bryant asked why are Blacks still angry?
• Black professor - we got educated but still feel forgotten and still  do not get opportunities
• Anger is glamorized by pop culture - anger from missing family, faith, fathers
• Bryant mentioned that the black community is familiar with abuse but afraid of the unknown
• Panelist Willie Lawson defined character as doing the right thing when no one is looking
• Black pastor stated we "Cannot teach character without teaching God"
• Hispanic EJ Otero: Don't let "victimization" define us- look where we have come from.
• Question asked:  Is there anything - color of skin, sex, economic, etc. that keeps you back?
• We have a need to rebuid the family - rebuild the male "man"
• Teach responsibility, good moral values and standards because today there is 72% illegitimacy in black community
• Tribalism encourages those to give back to the community not back to the family
• Slaves seek comfort while tribal chiefs serve a master
• We need to start judging by what we bring to the table - not judge by what one takes from the table
• Judged not by dependency but by contribution
• Young have lost self-sufficiency but there is still a place today for self-sufficiency and content of character

Reverend Bryant is taking his Content of Character on the road across the country. There will be a panel discussion in every city. We applaud Bryant for driving the conversation and for an open and honest discussion that all Americans need to discuss. You can get Runaway Slave on Amazon. His new movie will be coming out at the end of the year - Red, White and Black.   We'll let you know when it's available.

The Eye also attended the Black on Black Crime Townhall that Tampa city councilman Frank Reddick organized last  month.  We were glad that Reddick took this issue on. Here is the video of that event.

One of the main issues questioned was how to reach the black male youth population. This event was the first of more to come.  We are encouraged that our local black community is engaging in an open dialogue for how to address this and the black on black crime issue.

An Opening - Did the Tribune bury it?

Here at the Eye when we launched earlier this year, we asked the question who does the media work for? We pointed out that the media spends most of their time with the powerbroker newsmakers who feed them the message they want channeled. The powerbrokers decide the news and its importance or relevance to them. Then the media simply regurgitates the talking points with no investigation, no follow up or challenging questions and often shuts out any opposing or confrontational view points. And when the print media decides to cover an important, but perhaps controversial issue, they may relegate it to an obscure part of the paper that ensures a large segment of their reading population does not get it or read it.

The Tribune has published front page news articles regarding the tragedy of the Trayvon Martin case. They have published front page news of a group of protestors, that includes both locals and others bussed in, who are protesting the Florida “stand your ground” law by camping out in our state capitol.  Those are certainly news worthy as they have been pushed out for maximum readership. However, buried on page 4 of today's Carrollwood News section of the Tribune is a revealing article by Tribune columnist Joe O'Neill. O'Neill reports on comments made by Tampa City Council member Frank Reddick on the issue of black on black crime.  According to O'Neill, at the end of a recent City Council meeting, Reddick explores the reactions in the black community of the Martin case with the shooting of the black Family Dollar store manager, Horsley Shorter. A 23 year old black man with a very lengthy arrest record has been charged with the murder of Shorter. 

According to the article, Reddick states:

"I want to say today I'm equally outraged," stated Reddick. "Where is the outrage in this community about this black-on-black crime? This (Shorter) family deserves justice, just as the Trayvon Martin family deserves justice. We must be prepared to explore this issue. 

"No one is marching for black-on-black crime," Reddick added passionately. "That is the problem in our community. No one is speaking about black-on-black crime, and that's the problem. ... We need to make some changes, and I hope we start soon."

Tampa City Councilman, District 5, Frank Reddick

Tampa City Council Districts

We appreciate Reddick's public candidness on this issue because as the Tribune goes on to report:

What Reddick said in public at a city council meeting is the sort of thing that usually stays within the black community

We believe many in Tampa agree this is an important issue. It's time to have an open and honest discussion.  O'Neill goes on to quote Michael Nutter, the black Democrat mayor of Philadelphia:

"Black men across the country are killing one another, yet that epidemic is rarely part of any national conversation."

Like any other issue, one must acknowledge there is a problem first. We hope the local black community, like Reddick, recognizes this violence because as O'Neill states:

Some things need to be said. And some things only a black person can say in order for the remarks to have maximum impact.

We appreciate and applaud Reddick's candidness as he contrasted the lack of local outrage over the Shorter shooting with the vocal black community's outrage over the Zimmerman acquittal. City Councilman Reddick's District 5 is East Tampa, east of 275 from Busch Boulevard southward. We do not know if the print version reached the readership within Councilman Reddick's district since it was inside a local community news section. Is the issue of black on black crime and violence as important as the Zimmerman case or the continuing coverage of the “stand your ground” protestors in Tallahassee?  Why didn't O'Neill ask some followup questions of Reddick, who is a leader in the black community? Would Reddick help lead a local effort to address the escalation of black on black crime?  What would he do next to move forward with finding solutions to the problem? 

There appears today to be more questions than answers. It will take leadership, like Reddick and hopefully others, to raise the issue of black on black crime for public discussion in the black community.  We hope Councilman Reddick continues to speak out on the issue and hope he will take a leadership role in addressing it.  

O'Neill concludes the Tribune article with this:

Shame on us if we, as a society, ignore the candid acknowledgements and urgent calls for change from credible, credentialed insiders such as Frank Reddick and Michael Nutter.

And shame on the Tribune for burying this story.  While the Tribune continues to cover the protestors in Tallahassee, let's hope the Tribune begins giving the broader issue of black on black crime the coverage it deserves.