Memphis And Mecca

A locaI newspaper journalist contacted Pastor Whalum on Monday, January 09, 2012 to garner his opinion on issues affecting the city of Memphis, TN. Below is an excerpt from that exchange. Here is how the interview began:

"I want to include your voice in this week's cover story on Dr. King.

Yours is a fresh voice that rings relevant in the 21st century..."

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QUESTION: If the civil rights movement is not dead, what is the next phase of the civil rights movement?

RESPONSE: The "next phase of the civil rights movement" is still what it was on the night MLK spoke it at Mason Temple. He said, "We do have an agenda that we must follow, and that is if you (the governmental and corporate establishment) won't support us, we'll have to withdraw economic support from you "by"

strengthening Black institutions". We have fewer Black-owned businesses today, per capita, than we did

the night King was killed, and our percentage of business revenue is less than the one percent it was April 4, 1968.

QUESTION: Ex-felons often times struggle with unemployment. Should ex-felons be kept bound by their record, even if

the offenses are several years old?

RESPONSE: The responsibility to restore a felon's reputation falls on two sets of shoulders: (1) The felons themselves; and (2) The elected officials who are supposed to represent ALL the people. Elected officials could do more to educate the public, including felons, as to their rights.

QUESTION: What would Dr. King think to see what Memphis has evolved into?

RESPONSE: I think Dr. King would be supremely disgusted with one group of people in particular: Black preachers. At Mason Temple the night before his life was snuffed out, he rejoiced at seeing the number of preachers gathered. "So often", he said, "preachers aren't concerned with anything but themselves." The sad

state of affairs in Memphis can be traced directly to the feet of preachers who couldn't care less about

what happens to the children of Memphis.

QUESTION: How can we pass the legacy of advocacy for the voice-less to our children? How can we make sure they

do not forget their history?

RESPONSE: Many of our children have already forgotten "our" history. I don't know that anything can be done, as it

may already be too late. A people who vote at a rate of less than twenty percent to elect a Mayor don't

give a collective damn about the future.