Pfleger, Acree and Other Ministers to Skip Mayor’s King Breakfast
Elder Tyson will be there
By Chinta Strausberg
Father Michael L. Pfleger and other African American ministers Wednesday announced he would not be attending Mayor Emanuel’s annual Dr. King breakfast because it has nothing to do with his mentor’s agenda.
Explaining why he is not attending Dr. King’s Friday breakfast, Father Pfleger said, I” am neither pro nor con the proposed boycott. I think people have a right to boycott or not, and I don’t believe you are a sellout nor activist because you do or don’t go.
“I am not going because I decided over a year ago I will no longer participate in any events named after Dr. King that have nothing to do with his agenda. King was my mentor and I’m tired of having him pimped.
On Friday, January 15th at 7 p.m., Dr. Kings birthdate, we will have a “Peace Walk” from St. Sabina to express our outrage at the V=violence in Chicago. We will carry blue candles and condemn the violence, call for peace in our city and demand resources to help our communities.”
Pastor Ira J. Acree, Greater St. John Bible Church, is honoring the boycott. “I will not be attending Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Dr. King breakfast. If Dr. King were alive, he wouldn’t be welcome nor would he attend this event with a mayor who dishonors his legacy and message. I urge all clergy and African American elected officials to join the boycott. Stand up before it’s too late,” said Acree.
“Dr. King is being celebrated all over the nation this weekend because of the human rights leader that he was. He was an advocate for the poor, not an agent of the elite,” said Acree. Many of us are not going. We’re protesting Rahm Emanuel who has become a distraction to the city.”
Acree said, “Rev. Cory Brooks is not coming nor re James Meeks, Bishop Larry Trotter, Rev. Dr. Marshall Hatch, Rev. Leslie Sanders, Rev. Jedidiah Brown. Bishop James Dukes, Rev. Roosevelt Watkins are not going either.”
Rev. Paul Jakes, pastor New Tabernacle of Faith M.B.C., said he will not be there. I have not been going to those breakfasts for years, and I don’t plan to change it. Mayor Daley and I didn’t hit it off and Mayor Emanuel and I don’t have any relationship.
“I am going to use my time working on something that I’m doing for the King celebration,” said Jakes. “I do support the young people request to have the U.S. Justice Department investigate the murder of Laquan McDonald.”
However, Presiding Elder Albert Tyson, North District of the Chicago Conference of the A.M.E., said, “ I will be at the city’s breakfast in honor of the labor, efforts and success of King. I would not boycott that would honor the life and labor of this man.”
But, Pastor Brooks, who is pastor of New Beginnings Church of Chicago, explained why ho is not going. “I was asked by other pastors not to go. I also do not believe that the mayor is being transparent especially with two of the city’s lawyers resigning from their positions. I just can’t support it. I am not going to and don’t have to support it,” Brooks said.
Rev. Dr. Walter B. Johnson, head of the Greater Institutional A.M.E. Church, said he will not be going. “I had other things going on instead. I will not be table to attend.”
Chinta Strausberg is a Journalist of more than 33-years, a former political reporter and a current PCC Network talk show host. You can e-mail Strausberg at: Chintabernie@aol.com.
