Kevin Adell Has Launched The #coloredrevolution In Detroit

Oh my!

We have ourselves the launch of the Detroit #coloredrevolution with the church-ez.

Meet Kevin Adell.

Kevin has many a tales to tell.

I still have popcorn, you know.

Word Network owner Adell says he sent offensive meme to pastor to 'make him aware'

Kevin Adell

Local TV and radio station owner Kevin Adell admitted Sunday to sending a racially charged meme to Bishop George Bloomer, a North Carolina pastor who recently parted ways with his religious TV network over the direction of his show.

But Adell, the owner of WADL TV-38, 910-AM Superstation and The Word Network denied creating the meme and said he sent it to Bloomer to "make him aware" of it.

Bloomer was one of the pastors depicted in the meme, which shows Adell draped in a white fur coat and fur hat, an image reminiscent of 1970s pimp caricatures, with four black pastors from The Word Network and a Lamborghini behind him.

"I'm offended by the picture as well," said Adell. "I had nothing to do with the picture."

Last week, a group identifying itself as Concerned African-American Clergy & Allies kicked off an online boycott of The Word Network. As of 2 p.m. Sunday, more than 3,700 people had signed the petition on change.org.

Although he is mentioned in the petition language 18 times, it is unclear if Bloomer, the senior pastor of Bethel Family Worship Center in Durham, NC., is behind it.

Efforts to reach Bloomer Sunday were not successful. Bloomer has said he plans to pursue a different network for his television show, which aired for eight years.

According to the online petition, Bloomer told Adell that the picture, sent to him in an electronic message, "is not funny" and "not good."

"That pimp talk and hoe talk has racist connotations for Black people," the online petition reads.

The petition adds that, "To ignore Bishop Bloomer’s respectful request to end this line of text and comments is to ignore the dignity of the African-American community. Kevin Adell may own The Word Network but it is the Black community that made the network a success. If the Black community is not respected by The Word Network then we should pull our support from this network. The actions of Kevin Adell prove that we can no longer trust The Word Network to bring the Gospel into our homes."

Adell said Bloomer, the former longtime host of The Word Network's "Rejoice In The Word" Christian show, is using the picture "as a symbol to get attention."

Adell said the controversy stems from a disagreement over Bloomer's show and the station's desire to have him improve his ratings. Both Bloomer and Adell say Bloomer left the show on his own and was not fired.

"He got upset that he needed to change the show," Adell said Sunday. "I asked him not to leave."

Bloomer briefly mentioned the controversy during a live sermon streamed via Twitter Sunday (the comment comes around 1 hour and 26 minutes into the stream).

The organizers of the petition drive against Adell and his companies are asking churchgoers, clergy members and others to boycott Adell's companies and unfollow the Word Network on social media.

Adell said he is aware of the boycott and said, "Time will heal. Time will pass."

BishopBloomer.com

As for the meme itself, Dodie Johnson, Adell's station manager, said Sunday she found it online and shared it with Adell to show him what was out on social media about the station.

"It's bad. It's uncomfortable," said Johnson, who is African-American. "We brought the picture to his attention."

Detroit News columnists Henry Payne and Bankole Thompson host shows on 910 AM Superstation. Nolan Finley, The News' editorial page editor, was fired from the station in August after hosting a morning show for two years.

Below, is the petition.

Black Clergy & Allies Call For Boycott of The Word Network

Concerned African-American Clergy & Allies started this petition to The Word Network
The Word Network is one of the largest Christian television networks targeting the Black community, but sadly in September 2019 incidents of racism have occurred at the network. The Word Network is not Black owned but is owned by Kevin Adell who is White. Recently, his actions have shown that even though he has profited off of the Black community, Mr. Adell does not have regard for Black humanity. Bishop George Bloomer, a pioneer in the Christian faith, has contributed a great deal to the success of the Word network. Recently, Bishop Bloomer has testified to issues of flagrant racism committed by Word Network owner, Kevin Adell. These incidents include:

Texting a photo that was created, depicting Adell who is White, dressed as a pimp and various well-known Black clergy surrounding him as his “hoes”. Although Adell did not create this image, he wasn’t offended by it and even texted it to various staff (many of whom are African-American) including Bishop Bloomer. This created a hostile work environment for Bishop Bloomer and others.


When Bishop Bloomer stated: “This is not funny. This is not good. That pimp talk and hoe talk has racist connotations for Black people.” Adell texted Bishop Bloomer a second time and said that “it’s funny and he should get over it.”


When Bishop Bloomer went to Kevin Adell and his assistant Ralph in person at The Word Network: and told them: “Don’t ever tweet that. You should get rid of it. This is not funny. Don’t play with this and don’t play with it with me.” Instead of apologizing for his offensive candidness concerning the matter, Adell went further by photoshopping a picture of Bishop Bloomer in a white tuxedo, and underneath the photo was typed text that said, “The show last night was good, Tattoo (the dwarf from Fantasy Island who ran around calling Mr. Roarke “Boss”). Kevin Adell was alluding to Bishop Bloomer being HIS Tattoo, and him being “Boss.” Although Mr. Roarke on Fantasy Island was a good character, the term “boss” in the Black community carries the connotation of “massa,” and that is precisely what Kevin Adell was suggesting. The article that accompanied the photo-shopped image of Kevin as a pimp and his hoes even refers to him as the “massa” of The Word Network.
The final straw came when: Bishop Bloomer texted Adell again, “This is not good. I don’t know what you’re doing, but stop playing.” Adell replied, “Oh, you’re too sensitive.”  Bishop Bloomer explained that what he was doing was the equivalent of a white man wearing black face. Bishop Bloomer told Adell again, “Get rid of this. Stop playing with this.” Kevin then texted Bishop Bloomer a photo of himself in a white tuxedo standing next to a friend of his also wearing a white tuxedo and, as if with a sharpie, he blacked out the face of the friend, thus producing black face and texting it to an African-American man.


As a result of the above actions, Bishop Bloomer made the decision to leave The Word Network.


During these times of increased incidents of hate across our country, we as African-American clergy and allies of the African-American community cannot remain silent in the face of this blatant racism. Black-face, pimp and hoe imagery, boss aka “massa” comments, all are connected to the historical trauma African-Americans have endured for 400 years in this country. To ignore Bishop Bloomer’s respectful request to end this line of text and comments is to ignore the dignity of the African-American community. Kevin Adell may own The Word Network but it is the Black community that made the network a success. If the Black community is not respected by The Word Network then we should pull our support from this network. The actions of Kevin Adell prove that we can no longer trust The Word Network to bring the Gospel into our homes. We, as Black clergy, demand Kevin Adell publicly apologize to Bishop Bloomer and the African-American community. We also demand that cable companies drop The Word Network from their packages.

We are asking Black Clergy, allies and Black people of faith to do the following:

1) Clergy add your name to this letter and announce from your pulpits during service that we are boycotting The Word Network as a community. When signing the petition please add your full ministry title and first name where it states first name. Email us at boycottwordnet@gmail.com.

2) Boycott The Word Network by not watching the network and canceling The Word Network on your cable plans.


3) Unfollow The Word Network on all social media platforms and encourage your followers on social media to do the same.


4) Members of faith communities send this letter to your clergy person for him or her to sign.

Watch this exclusive interview between Larry Reid and Paul Crouch, Jr. about the racial insensitivity in Christian TV

When it comes to injustice scripture tells us in Isaiah 58:1 to “cry aloud and spare not”. We cannot remain silent in the face of racism, disrespect and ultimately the exploitation of our community and our faith. Don’t delay let us act in unity today!

In Faith & Justice,

Concerned African-American Clergy & Allies

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Cocktails & Popcorn: Was Jack Lessenberry Butina-ed?

Even though I am not a fan of the Lessenberry, because he has enjoyed being mean to my Sweetie, I am just going to throw it out there that this sounds more along the lines of one of those psychoptics, as I so much like to call them.

This looks like one of those....oh, how shall I say this...porno ops, where someone recorded lots of personal stuff and was very clear as to their intentions of using the HUMINT to their personal benefit.

In the legal world they call it blackmail, but hey, what do I know?

I know Jack's loss of his show may have something to do with a preservation of the station's financial sustainability through image rebuilding.

I also know Jack better jump hard and tell his story before they tell it for him.

 Violet Ikonomova

The allegations were made in an in-depth report published last week by Deadline Detroit. The online outlet quoted both former students and colleagues of Lessenberry, who recounted multiple alleged instances of verbal sexual harassment, and on one occasion, physical sexual harassment, between the years of 1990 and 2009. Lessenberry has denied any wrongdoing.  Violet Ikonomova

I talked to M.L. Elrick, who I'd met when he taught at WSU. At his suggestion, I contacted Ben Burns, then head of the journalism faculty. In a phone conversation, I explained what had happened between Lessenberry and me, and my concerns with having Lessenberry run the internship program at Wayne State.  I also spoke about my concern about his treatment of other women. It was not a comfortable conversation for me, though Burns was receptive. It was such an awkward subject. Evelyn Aschenbrenner

Embattled Detroit Journalist Jack Lessenberry Loses Radio Show

This post was updated on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 10 a.m. with the proper spelling of Kevin Adell's last name, after Jack Lessenberry pointed out the error in the comments section. We've also included a portion of Lessenberry's response.

Jack Lessenberry

Detroit radio station 910-AM is known for giving some of the city's most notorious characters a platform when no one else will. But the partnerships rarely last — as was the case, for example, with Monica Conyers, who was fired.

The latest to fall is veteran journalist Jack Lessenberry, who joined the station last year after resigning from his roles at Metro Times, Michigan Radio and Wayne State University over allegations of inappropriate behavior towards women brought to light by Deadline Detroit.

Lessenberry lasted seven months to the day at 910amSuperstation before his "Primary Source" show was "suddenly canceled" on Thursday, he said in a Facebook post. The show aired weekdays from 9-11 a.m.

While Lessenberry said he was let go because station owner Kevin Adell "wanted to go in a different direction," Adell provided a little more detail for Deadline Detroit. The show, Adell said, "wasn't fitting with the station."

"There was nothing wrong with Jack, but he wasn't really taking calls," said Adell. "And, you know, radio is engaging. I need calls, I need guests. I think what Jack went through before, I think he was a little bit timid on taking calls."

In a comment on this post, Lessenberry claimed he had "multiple guests and many regular callers from all walks of life" on his program.

"Perhaps Mr. Adell was too busy to listen," Lessenberry said.

He also again dismissed Deadline Detroit's report on the harrassment allegations as "totally one-sided and dishonest." Deadline Detroit quoted parts of Lessenberry's response to the allegations in last May's in-depth main article and presented his full statement in a separate post that day.

In his comment, Lessenberry added that had the writer of this piece, "Ms. Ikonomova," been his student, he would have "flunked" her for mispelling Adell's name.

Lessenberry's radio show came on the air last July, two months after Deadline Detroit published the in-depth report that revealed behavior considered offensive by female colleagues at a Memphis newspaper and, more recently, by students he taught at Wayne State University.

After the report, the university launched an investigation by outside attorney Tara E. Mahoney. Mahoney concluded that she would have recommended Lessenberry be terminated if he had not resigned as head of the journalism program in late June.

At 910, Adell said Lessenberry will be replaced by someone named "Omar," whose last name he could not remember. Adell said "Omar" has filled in at the station before and appeared on CNN "a few times."

Omar's show — which, along with his last name, is to be announced — will cover politics and community issues in Detroit. 

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