{popin}BlackMoneyMaters.com wishes to extend its best wishes to President-Elect Barack Obama.  Many of us watched this hard-fought campaign with great interest (has it really been almost two years!?)  We watched a somewhat obscure, young senator come through the ranks as a person who refused to sink to low levels in name calling, and mud slinging.  We watched as he navigated through false accusations of being a friend to terrorists. We watched as the media played the loops of his former pastor over and over again. 

We watched as he was criticized for not being patriotic because he was not wearing a flag pin, or because his wife claimed that she was "now really proud to be American".  But we also watched his class, composure and resolve to sustain the atacks, accusations, and death threats.  And on November 4th, we all watched as the final delegates were counted and Barack Obama was named the next president of the United States of America. 

Yes, We Can, and Yes, We Did!

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Senator Grassley's most recent actions have compelled me to make a confession as a mega church member. He is exposing what an increasing amount of us have known for years. These "CEO-Pastor- Reverend-Doctor's" have been fleecing the flock for years.  For them, money does matter, in fact it is the only thing that matters.

Some may ask why this piece was not coined 'Confessions of a Former Mega Church Member". My response is simple, I choose to remain there in order to continue my efforts to expose them and reveal the truth to others, whether they can handle the truth or not.

Now, there are those in the flock that follow these "ÇEO-Pastor- Reverend-Doctor's" blindly. They are fully committed to upholding their spiritual shepherds, inspite of. I recently viewed a broadcast in which a mega church member was asked her opinion regarding the fact that her "CEO-Pastor-Reverend-Doctor" was being investigated by Senator Grassley's committee. Her response was that her leader was an anointed and blessed man. She went on to say that he has done nothing but good for her and the others within the mega church. She vowed to give him her last dime if asked to. After making these cultish comments, she drove off in her broke down automobile, which had duct tape on the windows and a license plate hanging from the fender, yelling, "Praise God for him!".

Recently I had the opportunity to watch a movie starring Denzel Washington by the name of American Gangster. While the name suggests that this movie would glorify shooting and killing and all the other staples of American media, this movie encompassed so much more. Perhaps it was the different perspective that this movie took on because it highlighted the main character as essentially a CEO of a very successful distribution company during an era in American history when blacks controlled very little.

The movie centers around Frank Lucas who started out as a henchman for a highly-influencial gangster in Harlem who recently dies.  What Frank realizes very quickly though is that in order to be profitable in a world controlled by other groups, he must own the distribution channels.  A part of me feels guilty for even liking the character.  I mean after all he's a heroine dealer who has no problems with killing people who get in the way of profit.  I suppose that the trait that I most admire in Frank is his ability to focus on the goals at hand.