I’ve been meaning to speak on this for a little while now but, I am just now getting around to it.

You might remember me posting about ColorOfChange.org. Color of Change is a group that brings black activism to the web. One of its campaigns has been to raise money for the legal defense of the Jena 6.

However, despite their best efforts, this did not stop them from being the subject of attack by radio talk-show host Michael Baisden. Baisden had Marcus Jones on his show. Jones is the father of one of the Jena 6, Mychal Bell. On this show, Jones claimed that ColorOfChange.org was collecting money against the wishes of the Jena 6 families. Bell and Baisden went on to claim that Color Of Change had been pocketing the money for themselves, even saying that a $10,000 donation made by David Bowie was kept by Color Of Change.

Unfortunately, this was untrue and this dishonesty was spread across the airwaves.

Where do I begin? First, Bowie never made a $10,000 donation for the Jena 6 defense to Color of Change. That donation was made to the NAACP (see the press release from the NAACP).

To date, Color of Change has raised over $230,000 for the legal fees of the the Jena 6 and their attorneys have acknowledged receipt of the funds.

Now, honestly, I would have cut Baisden some slack, had I not been informed of the background. You see, Baisden’s interview with Jones was on November 5th. But, Baisden’s staffers had contacted Color Of Change in October for information regarding these allegations and Color Of Change provided them with information supporting the fact that they were operating above-board:

James Rucker (Director for Color Of Change) has talked with Baisden directly, and at his direction, with Pamela Exum, his business manager, and Yvonne Gilliam, his publicist. From the start, we have explained our procedures to Baisden and his staff; we had them verify payments were received by lawyers; we had them verify our process with the lawyers and families–it was in response to an inquiry they started, driven by Marcus Jones’ accusations almost two months ago.

In fact, Yvonne Gilliam faxed us Marcus’ Jones authorization to release funds. It makes it clear that Baisden’s staff knew that Marcus knew ColorOfChange.org and that he had asked us to direct funds to his attorney.

In mid-October, Yvonne Gilliam, who works for Baisden indicated by phone that every lawyer she’d contacted had received their checks.

But, despite knowing the truth, they went on ahead with the show.

However, it gets even better.

On his November 6th show, Baisden continues to insult James Rucker saying that he seemed like a “shady brother”. Now, remember, this is after Baisden’s people contacted the attorneys for the Jena 6 to verify that they had received the funds raised for them.

According to Baisden, Marcus Jones had a letter signed by all the Jena 6 families asking Color Of Change to stop raising money for them. However, an email from Caseptla Bailey, mother of another of the Jena 6, Robert Bailey, Jr. to Michael Baisden’s show is eye-opening. She stated that her family never signed such a letter and requested a copy of it. She basically stated that she wanted to know the contents of the letter and if her signature was forged on it.

Even more disturbing is that Marcus Jones had gone to other media outlets with this story and, after checking it out, these other outlets found his claims baseless:

We’ve fielded inquiries from CNN, the Tom Joyner Morning Show, Black America Web, and others, based on Marcus Jones’ allegations–they all concluded the claims were without merit and refused to give him a stage to speak.

But, here’s the icing on the cake: Color of Change even posted the cancelled checks from the Jena 6 attorneys.

Fast-forward to November 9th. After getting hit with calls, emails and more documentation, Baisden knows he’s been caught in a lie. So, what followed, a weak-a$$ apology. Baisden goes on his show and says that he was given some “innacurate information” on Color Of Change and that the funds were distributed to the attorneys for the families as promised.

However, here’s where I get p*ssed. Before they even went to air with these allegations, Baisden’s people knew the truth. He had documentation showing the request for funds to Color of Change from the families of the Jena 6, including Marcus Jones so, for Jones to say he didn’t know about them should have immediately raised red flags. Furthermore, after contacting the attorneys for the Jena 6 and being told that the funds had been received, what else did you need to know to tell you that these allegations were unfounded?

Finally, I say this. Michael Baisden…you need to man up and tell the people that you lied. You knew the real deal and went on ahead with the story. I guess a spectacular lie beats the boring truth any day. The sad part about it is that you have a black organization mobilizing to call attention to and really help some young black men who were being railroaded by the legal system but, instead of focusing on the truth, you accuse the organization of fraud.

A real man would have brought the director of Color of Change on air to publicly apologize to him and his organization. But, had you done that, the truth about your actions leading up to that moment would have come out, right?

So, I say join in with Color Of Change in asking Baisden to really clear the air on these allegations. I would hate to see an organization that is really putting actions behind the words to help black folks have its efforts hampered by lies.

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