Kenyon Farrow

After Color of Change published the cancelled checks to lawyers, emails to Jena 6 family members and what not, Michael Baisden was forced to issue an apology on his website (albeit begrudgingly).

He writes:

Response to Color of Change

The Michael Baisden show and staff were given inaccurate information regarding donations made by the public and David Bowie. We apologize to our listeners and to ColorofChange for not seeking more reliable sources. According to documentation provided by the organization through their web site, all the funds collected by ColorofChange have been distributed to the families as promised.

We do, however, respect the right of four of the Jena 6 families who have insisted that ColorofChange discontinue collection of any monies on their behalf. But this should not reflect on the integrity of this organization which has collected and distributed over $200,000 to their legal defense.

Any insinuations that were made about me wanting to be the sole fundraiser for legal defense is ridiculous. I am too tired after my radio gig to take on that responsibility, and furthermore, it is impossible. No one man or organization can fund the movement of an entire nation.

I am relieved to have put this behind us so that both our organizations can get back to the business of helping people. There is nothing wrong with having disagreements, as long as you love the people enough to work it out, sooner rather than later.

Thanks again for your support of the many organizations that are doing an outstanding job of raising money to help those who desperately need it. We’ve got a long way to go family and we won’t get there unless we work together. Divided we fall!

Michael Baisden

That’s something I guess. But given the fact that the entire premise of his criticisms was false, it should have been an unqualified apology. Other bloggers have written about this as well, namely Write What I Like and my new favorite What About Our Daughters both have very interesting things to say about this. The Chicago Tribune also published a story about this whole fiasco.

But I think this entire Jena 6 situation needs to be a major lesson to the Black community in many ways:

1. Black activism is now online and it’s here to stay! For all the talk about the digital divide, the Jena story happened largely because of Black bloggers. There have been several other cases of things happening in the last several years due to the power of Black online communities. People like Baisden (or whomever else) cant just say some shit and get away with it without impunity anymore because people are listening, and have their own means to respond, and don’t have to have a radio show, a newspaper or a television station to do so.
2. Stop making issues about individuals! You’ll come up short! The boys involved in Jena aren’t saints. What happened to them was fucked up without a doubt, and didn’t deserve the racism they received in that school, that town, or in the (in) justice system there in Louisiana. I think it was important to mobilize and get them out of that situation, but to also use this as a jumpoff point to begin to put pressure on our public school systems to de-militarize them, and address the ways in which black youth are criminalized in schools. Believing in heroes or infallable human beings will get you blaming organizations against the word of a sole family member without any proof. Organizer and labor scholar Bill Fletcher has some interesting things to say about this on Znet.
3. Black entertainment is not Black journalism! We need to be clear that what Baisden does is not news. It is entertainment. Therefore you should take it as such. Be skeptical. But hell, be skeptical of the news, too!
4. What about Megan Williams? What about the woman in Dunbar Village? The Newark 4? We will come running anytime a young black man is in trouble. We will sometimes come running if a Black woman has been attacked by white men. But we will do absolutely nothing when Black men attack black women. When will we put this much energy to support black women who are subject to violence, or by the criminal justice system?

There are more things to be learned. More things to look over about this situation. I hope that all the hurt feelings and accusations and whack-ass apologies don’t sour us as bloggers from doing what we’re best at. If media is the watchdog of power, to me, the blogosphere is the watchdog of the media.

Color of Change, the online progressive activism and advocacy site for issues concerning Black folks, has won the battle against black radio talk show host Michael Baisden and Mychal Bell’s father Marcus Jones, who spent the last several days accusing Color of Change of pocketing over $200,000 the group raised for the legal defense of the Jena 6. They published a statement refuting the accusations, and published copies of the cancelled checks they cut to the Jena 6 lawyers. They write in some of their core points (go HERE to read in its entirety, and listen to the radio segments from the Baisden show):

• ColorOfChange.org has disbursed $210,809.90 of the $212,039.90 collected as of the last reporting period (October 4th). These distributions cover all invoices we’ve received from the young men’s legal teams to date. $33,150.00 was sent to Louis Scott, Marcus Jones’ son’s lawyer on October 7th (Scott was able to request $35,339.98 but only provided an invoice for $33,150).Here are images of the deposited checks to the defense teams, proving they received the funds.
• The Jena 6 families are all aware of how we raise money and how we distribute it. We make payments to their attorneys at the families’ sole direction. Within 24 hours of receiving written authorization from the family, along with an invoice from an attorney, we send checks for up to 1/6 of the total amount donated. Here are the authorizations signed by the families, starting with Marcus Jones’.
• Michael Baisden has shown a reckless disregard for the truth. Marcus Jones has been making false allegations about us for months. However, responsible journalists check facts and then report accordingly. We’ve fielded inquiries from CNN, the Tom Joyner Morning Show, Black America Web, and others, based on Marcus Jones’ allegations-they all concluded the claims were without merit and refused to give him a stage to speak. Despite knowing the reality of how ColorOfChange has managed the fundraising and distribution process, Baisden has joined with Jones in launching baseless attacks.
• ColorOfChange.org exists for one reason: to organize and amplify the political voice of Black America and our allies. Michael Baisden claims to share this goal but he is using his show to recklessly attack an organization that has a clear record of doing the real work he claims is important, in Jena and beyond.(their emphasis)

If you didn’t know Baisden before the Jena 6 event, I could have told you: The man is a damn fool using his radio show to position himself as an authority-usually on love and relationships mostly. I usually hear his show when I’m in South Carolina driving around, as I usually don’t listen to shitty corporate radio. I have heard him make several gross inaccuracies on his show, usually about HIV/AIDS (especially about men on the down low), or talking about what “men are like” or what “women are like” with nothing but his two cents to back it up. Unfortunately he has misused a moment the black community was mobilized around to spread misinformation. At this point, Baisden has about as much journalistic integrity as Bill O’Reilly and people with sense should take anything that comes out of his mouth with a grain of salt.

I don’t know what Marcus Jones stands to gain by appearing on the radio and defaming an organization that gave money so that he or his son or Ms. Bell or any of the defendants’ families would not be sunk in a debt they may never recover from. Maybe he really and truly thought they had done something wrong. Maybe he was cajolled into it. Maybe he was expecting checks to be cut to the families. Whatever the case, I blame Baisden and his producers who should have better vetted the story before decided to go on the air with it. Are your ratings (0r your need to be seen as the sole hero of Jena, Louisiana) really worth destroying the black community’s trust in a new black organization actually doing innovative work beyond what some of our dinosaur organizations have done in decades?

Read what my friend Andre had to say at Write What I Like.