Falsely labeling the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong

Whether through ignorance or purposefully calculated, many individuals have labeled the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong as a “political organization.” The latest incident occurred during the Martin Luther King march that was held in Raleigh on Monday, January 18, 2010. While marching with our large 4’ by 10’ Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong banner, I asked a media photographer to snap a picture of it. He refused, saying that he couldn’t because we represented a political organization. First of all, I doubt that a media photographer is restricted from photographing anything political. However, most significantly, our organization is far from political. No member of our group is running for political office. Mr. Nifong, to my knowledge, is not running for political office. Our group is not associated with a political party. And we do not promote political issues.

The Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong is an organization, not unlike the Four H Club, however, instead of raising corn, we raise cane when individuals are savagely mistreated by the criminal justice system. The primary focus of our advocacy, though, is the grave injustice meted out to former Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong. I was told by another Committee member who was carrying the other end of the banner, that he was approached by a person who told him that because ours was a “political” organization that we could not participate in the MLK march. Talk about a bunch of nonsense. First of all, this was a blantant attempt by a Nifong antagonist to get us to drop out of the march by, again, falsely labeling us as a political group. The irony of it all is that our group, which is dedicated to the issue of social justice, is the very group that Reverend Martin Luther King would champion and encourage. There is no doubt in my mind, that had Dr. King survived today, he would be a member of the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong, and would be a leading advocate for the cause.

At the end of the march, we were fortunate enough to get a little live coverage during a report by ABC-11 News reporter Ed Crump. The coverage can be viewed by going to www.abc11.com, and going to video. Then, select the video that covers the MLK march in Raleigh. We are shown near the end of the clip, which lasts less than three minutes.
The link is (copy and paste): http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/video?id=7224991

Anyway, for all future reference, it should be noted that the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong is a social justice organization, and not a political one. Anyone attempting to adhere such a label to our organization is doing so due to ignorance or to comply with some sinister agenda.