GLAA statement on prominent minister's anti-gay remarks
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GLAA statement on prominent minister's anti-gay remarks


From:Rick Rosendall
To:Lou Chibbaro
Sent:Wednesday, July 13, 2005 4:20 PM
Subject:Fw: URGENT--comment needed


Lou,

Willie Wilson is one of the most influential ministers in town politically. When Marion Barry got out of prison and had his rebirth or whatever he called it, it was Rev. Wilson who gave him his new Afrocentric name, Anwar Amahl. When Eleanor Holmes Norton came under attack for her involvement in compromises associated with the Revitalization Act in 1997, she went to Willie Wilson's church to explain herself; I was there. On the other hand, Wilson was soundly defeated by Mayor Williams in the last mayoral election, when the Democratic primary suddenly appeared up for grabs due to the Mayor having to do a write-in campaign. So it appears that Wilson alienates more people than he attracts with his over-the-top, sensational, divisive speeches and sermons. It is certainly appalling, if not surprising, to hear a self-professed minister of God spewing such hatred from the pulpit of a church.

Years ago, Rev. Wilson notoriously talked about rolling the heads of Korean shop owners down the street. In the summer of 1997, after the tragic death of Dr. Betty Shabazz (the widow of Malcolm X), a memorial service was held in an auditorium at Howard University, which I attended along with other members of the NAACP DC Police Task Force. Rev. Wilson was one of the speakers at that service, and he attacked the school desegregation that followed Brown v. Board of Education as having left black people worse off than before. Yes, he attacked one of the landmark racial justice decisions in our nation's history. Justice Marshall would roll in his grave.

You would think that such a divisive figure would be treated as persona non grata by the city's leaders, but this has not been the case. In 2000, Mayor Williams appointed Rev. Wilson to the UDC Board of Trustees, and the D.C. Council confirmed him. As long as the man is rewarded for his behavior, he will have little reason to stop -- even if the rewards are accompanied by cheap "let's be nice" rhetoric.

Rick Rosendall
Vice President for Political Affairs