Thirteen/WNET » Bill Moyers Gets Rev. Wright

Bill Moyers Gets Rev. Wright

April 25th, 2008 at 2:50 pm

While the national press speculates over Barack Obama’s relationship with his former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Bill Moyers goes beyond the national brouhaha and will engage Reverend Wright in conversation, on Friday, April 25 at 9 p.m.; at 10 p.m. you can watch the interview online here.

Wright, who retired in early 2008 as pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where Senator Obama is a member, has been at the center of controversy for comments he made during sermons and his criticisms of the United States government, which surfaced in the press in March.

The Bill Moyers Journal appearance will be Rev. Wright’s first broadcast interview since he became embroiled in a controversy for his remarks and his relationship with Obama.

photo credit: Robin Holland

Tags: 2008 election, Barack Obama, Bill Moyers Journal, Reverend Jeremiah Wright

COMMENTS

21 comments

4/24/08 :: 4:52 pm
Richard Says:

I’m looking forward to this. I’m a huge fan of Reverend Wright and happen to agree with pretty much everything he’s said, including the controversial things. I applaud you Bill Moyers for inviting him on your show.

4/24/08 :: 10:18 pm
Jeff Says:

It’s on April 25th, tomorrow, right? You have April 15th on the site in several places.

4/25/08 :: 9:47 pm
Barbara Sullivan-Parry Says:

I’m a pale skinned Irish-American 70 year old lawyer and grandmother. I find myself cheering at every word out of Rev Jeremiah”s mouth…when not taken out of context. He is absolutely correct that policies pursued by certain elements in our society are amoral and their awful consequences are detrimental to all of us. (How’s that for circumspect language?!)

4/25/08 :: 10:05 pm
Kim Says:

Bravo, Thirteen, you have turned fear on its ear. I tuned in this evening to see what I would hear, and what I heard, should shouted from the rooftops. Rev. Wright is no man to be in fear of nor ashamed of, but a man to be admired. I need to say I am a 45 year old white republican woman, who has listened and heard the whole story and am proud to say I now know better a man named Rev. Wright and a man named Barack Obama, God bless you both and God bless America, and thank you Thirteen, you did the right thing.

4/25/08 :: 10:06 pm
Elena Kondracki Says:

Thank you Bill Moyers for presenting Rev. Wright to the public. I find him to be an honest, courageous, compassionate, admirable gentleman. As are you.

4/25/08 :: 10:07 pm
Andrietta Sims Says:

The media pundits had already begun to criticize Rev. Wright for giving this interview even though they did not know what he was going to say. Unfortunately, even now on CNN they are still playing the same sound bite. We need a media revolution.

4/25/08 :: 10:15 pm
Susan Says:

Thank you for setting the record straight with this program.

4/25/08 :: 10:41 pm
Bonnie Cox Says:

Terrific, Bill and Thirteen. Thank you for the time and wisdom to hear the prophetic voice.

4/25/08 :: 10:56 pm
Joan Says:

What a joy to hear from a prophetic voice - in his own words, without interruptions and commentary. As a teacher and daughter of a Reformed theologian it made me proud to see Rev. Wright’s courage to speak the truth to power during a time when we have been fed only lies and fear in America. It made me proud and hopeful. As always, thank you Bill Moyers.

#10

4/25/08 :: 11:00 pm
Graham Kenny Says:

I echo # 7 and #5 ; )

#11

4/26/08 :: 12:53 am
Lucius Says:

Bill Moyers has done us a great service by having Rev. Wright on and showing clips from previous PBS telecasts that featured him. Who knew?

This ought to be seized on by the Obama campaign as the antidote to the YouTube based campaign against him. He is John McCain’s antithesis. Wright, it turns out, is a reasonable man whose devotion to his beliefs is expressed as a social good. His church has been doing good in that community for decades. From what I saw, he clearly is in the footsteps of Rev. King. And he has taken King’s dream into the present. Watching this guy for even an hour and you see why Barack Obama would have gone to him to learn about Chicago 20 years ago. You can see why the Barack and Michelle would have had this man marry them. He is a wise religious man.

Moyers extended excerpts of a number of Wright’s sermons put things in perscpetive. Wright is a powerful speaker and he can get worked up - as the 30 second YouTube based campaign against him demonstrates. But, out of a lifetime of being pastor, and the son and grandson of preachers, he knows how to convey some truths.

#12

4/26/08 :: 1:37 am
Perman Wilson Says:

Dear Bill Moyer,

Thank you for giving Jerimiah Wright a chance to explain the sound bites of his text that were viciously taken out of context and used to discredit Barak Obama by association. I thank God for you and PBS. If it weren’t for PBS (channels 13 and 21), News 12 New Jersey, and sports I would have little or no use for television. And, if I can ever get those broadcasts on the internet, I will literally throw away my television sets and watch my computer monitor. The news today is so commercialized that the appeal of the other stations is to the ignorance and irrational animal nature of their viewers rather than to their intelligence and rational humanity. May God continue to bless you and all of the others who are responsible for keeping people like myself (who only want the truth) informed by your excellent, objective, informative programming. PBS stations (Channels: 13 and 21) are the antidotes to stations like Fox News and other commercialized television so-called news, which are not quite as biased and deceptive as Fox but certainly not nearly as informative and objective as PBS.

I sincerely thank you,
Perman Wilson (a retired school teacher)

#13

4/26/08 :: 1:56 am
Perman Wilson Says:

Dear Bill Moyer,

I neglected to mention in my first comment: After carefully viewing your program, it is my most objective opinion that the only thing that Barak Obama should feel sorry about in regards to his minister, Jerimiah Wright, is that he opologized for the things that Mr. Wright said. Listening to those sound bites give a distorted view of what the man appears to me to believes and preaches. Now, I am well aware of what is meant by taking one’s words out of context. I am sorry that Barak Obama had to disagree with Mr. Wright’s sermon’s because from what I heard on your program, they were filled with truth–the kind of truth that is quite unpopular, but also the kind of truth that must prevail if this country is going to change in the way that I feel Barak Obama wants to lead it. Contrary to what most people think, I think that (to me) the worst mistake that I have witnessed (and been aware of) Obama making is his apologizing for his minister’s statements, which (in my most honest opinion) were true amd could even be enlightening to the majority of US citizens who would rather live with myths that sustain their self-serving injustices rather than accept the truths that will change this country and simultaneously make the world a better place to live for all human beings.

Sincerely,
Perman Wilson

#14

4/26/08 :: 5:51 am
Richard Says:

How can any reasonable person not agree with every single thing Wright said, both on your show and in his sermons?

Did the arrogance of American foreign policy cause 9/11? Absolutely.

Has American domestic policy wiped out Native Americans and systematically given black people a raw deal? Absolutely.

Couple that with the fact that Wright has done more good for both his community and his country than all of his detractors combined and you have yet another failure of American media to get it right.

I only wish Obama had not been so fast to distance himself from this man (and from Samantha Power, another good person injured in a rough campaign).

Thank you Bill Moyers for having him on your show and helping him frame his story in a positive way.

#15

4/26/08 :: 10:59 am
Johb Landvater Says:

I agree that a reasonable person could not help but to agree with every thing Wright said, both on your show and in his sermons. The interview was conducted in the best manner, and we came from it with a great admiration of Rev. Wright. I urge you yo rerun the interview frequently throughout the present campaign season. We all have short memories and need to be reminded of the excellence of Rev Wright.
Now I can see how candidate Obama was attracted to and positively influenced by his church.

#16

4/26/08 :: 10:49 pm
Elaine M. Says:

Thank you, Bill Moyers, for conducting a very in-depth, professional interview with Rev. Wright. It was so important to hear from the man himself in an effort to find the truth amidst the media storm of criticism. I was so enraptured by the Reverend; he is scholarly, intelligent, and fair-minded. I can see why Barack Obama would never disavow him. I think Rev. Wright is right about America, and I wish all Americans would judge him by your interview, not by the terribly misleading soundbites that have inundated the airways. Thank you for this excellent reporting! Please rebroadcast this show again soon.

#17

4/27/08 :: 9:03 am
Ruth Marchese Says:

Dear Mr. Moyer,
Thank you for the interview with Rev. Wright. Please, broadcast it again and again and again! People need to know what the Reverend REALLY said, in what context and what he stands for.
Thank you again
Ruth Marchese

#18

4/27/08 :: 11:40 am
Jaclyn Durant Says:

Please air the interview with Jeramiah Wright again and offer a CD. America needs to hear more from him

#19

4/27/08 :: 11:45 am
Tom Keane Says:

Reverend Wright uses inflammatory language and ethnic isolation to obtain credibility with his people. It is an “ends justifies the means” way of thinking, short sighted and demeaning to the vision of a one culture America. Instaed of harmony his church teaches ethnicity - the kind of self identification that separates and invites oppression. Most “real” Americans black white and yellow have ong forgotten this roots obsession made famous in another era of black militancy.

#20

4/27/08 :: 8:25 pm
Vernice Hicks Says:

Thank You for this broadcast.I t confirms that commerical T.V is not willing to be honest with the public.Which is why PBS is necessary.

#21

4/28/08 :: 10:04 am
Walter Lipman Says:

Thank you, Bill, from the bottom of my heart. If ever a good and great man has been maligned by the travelling circus masquerading as the 4th Estate, it is Jeremiah Wright.

My only question is how can we hope to get the message out to the rabble that believe what the carnival barkers have told them to believe?