I am so pleased that a good friend of mine, Ali Akbar, has been garnering a lot of new media attention for inviting actor Morgan Freeman to attend a Tea Party event. Morgan, the oscar-winning star of "Driving Miss Daisy," "Shawshank Redemption," and several other fine films, recently created headlines when he told CNN's Piers Morgan that he believes the Tea Party is racist in its opposition to President Obama.
Ali is an African American business owner, blogger, political strategist, and publisher of the new website Tea Party Brew. I first met Ali in 2006 when he moved from Texas to Georgia to work on a congressional race. In 2010, Ali and I worked together for the Ray McKinney for Congress campaign, and I've written for several of Ali's websites. Below is a photo from the 2011 state GOP convention in Macon, GA:
Quoting now from his invitation:
I’ve attended dozens of tea party events. I’ve helped organize them, and I’ve even spoken at a few. The tea party is not what is often depicted in the news. It is people of all colors who are terribly concerned about the direction that America is heading. We don’t trust big government to make decisions for us. And we fear that the present administration’s spending is going to lead our country down a path to insolvency, much like what Greece is currently facing.
Your comments about the tea party have caused me physical pain. You’ve rekindled the old painful paradigm of Uncle Tom – that any black man who votes Republican is some kind of sellout. It’s not true. I work hard, pay my taxes, love Jesus, and I’m good to my family and community. In effect, your comments have stereotyped an entire group of people. And I know in my soul that you must regret that on some level.
Ali ended his article by inviting Freeman to attend a Tea Party event in Tennessee, the state where the actor was born.
As blogger Stacy McCain points out, Ali's invitation has gone viral on the web:
Ali Akbar’s open letter to Morgan Freeman is now a Memeorandum thread, linked by Big Hollywood, Pundette, Ed Driscoll, Underground Conservative and Kat McKinley at the Houston Chronicle.
Way to go, Ali. I wouldn't at all be surprized if Fox News also picks up on this...
Cutty
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