More from ColorofChange.org

I love this email I got yesterday from ColorofChange.org about their protest at Fox:

Nas and 150 ColorOfChange members deliver Fox petitions! 

Dear Ash,

On Wednesday, Fox got a taste of what can happen when folks who care about racial justice come together and push back. The seconds you took to sign the Fox petition helped create a major story in the mainstream media. Here’s how it unfolded on Wednesday:

1:00 p.m. Your signature was printed off at a New York City Kinko’s along with 620,126 others–filling 19 big boxes.

2:00 p.m. The signatures were piled in front of Fox’s national headquarters at 6th Avenue and 48th Street.

3:15 p.m. Hip hop star Nas (whose new album had just risen to #1 on the Billboard charts hours earlier) joined over 100 ColorOfChange.org members and delivered the petitions to Fox on behalf of ColorOfChange, MoveOn, and Brave New Films.

3:30 p.m. Fox refused to accept the petitions. (Sometimes, the truth hurts.)

4:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. News of Fox’s racism and the star-studded petition delivery made its way around the world–with stories in Vibe, Rolling Stone, Billboard, USA Today, Associated Press, Reuters, Bossip, Huffington Post, MTV, OpenLeft, and over 200 other places.

11:30 p.m. Stephen Colbert welcomed Nas as his guest on the Colbert Report and dedicated over half of his show to Fox’s racism. The boxes containing our signatures were stacked prominently on Colbert’s set in place of his normal interview table and chairs–and he conducted the entire interview surrounded by petitions! Then, Nas performed his new song “Sly Fox,” which is all about Fox’s racism.

Since then, our poweful message to Fox keeps spreading, and they’re sounding desperate. True to form, Fox responded with a racially insensitive statement comparing our partner MoveOn to the Klan — yes, the KKK! It’s outrageous — comparing an organization that works everyday to engage citizens in politcs to a hate group that hunted and murdered Black people in a reign of terror. It’s another example of how far Fox will go, but it also shows that they can’t address the real issue — their racist attacks — because they have no defense.

But the fight’s not over. This week, we changed the conversation about Fox and we’ll keep bringing the heat — watch for a message for us in about a week for next steps. But for now, enjoy the video of Wednesday’s petition delivery and the video of Colbert. Both videos are at this link:
https://secure.colorofchange.org/fox_delivery/?id=2330-599619

Thanks and Peace,
— James, Gabriel, Clarissa, Andre, Kai, and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
   July 26th, 2008

P.S. You can listen to Nas’s new single “Sly Fox” on the Colbert video at the link above. If you like it and want to buy the full album, it’s available here:
http://colorofchange.org/nas/?id=2330-599619

Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU–your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or corporations and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way. You can contribute here:
https://secure.colorofchange.org/contribute/?id=2330-599619

More Props to Nas

A bit ago, I gave Props to Nas for a song on his new album.  The song, “Black President,” is aimed at Obama and features lyrics like, “Yes we can, Change the World.”  Seems like Nas is doing his part to do just that.  He has joined with ColorofChange.org in their campaign against Fox News and Fox’s habit of spewing racist propaganda on air (witness terrorist fist jab, the baby mama incident, etc.).  For the full details, check out Fox News On-Air Racism Challenged by Huge Petition Drive and Hot Rapper Nas.

UPDATE:  For video of the event and some coverage on The Colbert Report, check out this great coverage at The Super Spade.

Props to Nas

 

Props to Nas for a song on his new untitled album.  The song, “Black President,” is another in a line of non-campaign related pro-Obama songs created by and for the youth movement.  If DefJam or Nas or iTunes, even, loved me, just a little, I could put the song or an as-yet-to-be-created video here for you.  But, alas, they do not and I cannot.  So run over to iTunes and check it out for yourself.  I’d love to know what you think.