Reverend Dr. Frederick D. Haynes, III
Lays out new era agenda
With the theme of “For Such a Time As This,” Rainbow PUSH Coalition President Reverend Dr. Frederick D. Haynes, III officially accepted his position during a two-day installation ceremony which began on Thursday, February 1 at 7p.m. at The Black Academy of Arts and Letters in Dallas, TX.
On Friday, February 2, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Haynes will preside over the inaugural Social Justice Conference, at Paul Quinn College, Dallas, TX.
The Chicago Crusader broke national news on Saturday, July 9, 2023, the first publication to report that after 57 years as a civil rights icon, Reverend Jesse Jackson was stepping down as president/CEO of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
He named as his successor Reverend Dr. Haynes, a long time trusted friend and nationally respected minister.
In a Tuesday, January 30 interview with the Chicago Crusader, Haynes explained that though Reverend Jackson made the informal announcement of his retirement and replacement last summer, Thursday’s ceremony would mark his formal installation.
“We are having the installation in Dallas, symbolizing our connection with the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, and it is also symbolic of our honoring the legacy of Reverend Jackson and the organization” while at the same time having a ceremony acknowledging the transition of leadership and the new era, Haynes explained.
Of Friday’s Social Justice Conference Haynes said, “It will reflect the vision of our organization as well as what we’ve have done.” He will have a number of people presenting during the conference, in various fields, reflecting the work of the organization.
During the installation ceremony, Haynes said he will not only be reflecting “with gratitude” on the rich legacy of Jackson and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, but will also look at the “current challenges of this era and the kinds of things he will have to address in the times in which we live.”
When asked if he will be focusing on one particular aspect of the civil rights movement, Haynes said the agenda is multi-tiered, given today’s problems, such as the upcoming presidential primary elections on Tuesday, March 19, and the presidential election on Tuesday, November 5. He said PUSH will be engaged politically.
“This is an election year that will determine the future of this country,” he said. “We are at a crossroads, whether we’re going to be fascist or democratic or to continue to aspire to be a democracy.
“That will require that we engage in a massive voter registration and GOTV campaign and also voter education because we’re in an era where lies are portrayed as the truth and the truth is portrayed as a lie,” explained Haynes.
“We have a responsibility to not only tell the truth but to mobilize voters who can vote in an educated fashion. We will also be continuing the legacy of fighting for economic justice that is on so many levels, from fighting poverty as opposed to declaring war on the poor.”
But the fight for justice will also extend to supporting the Fearless Fund which has been hauled into court by the American Alliance for Equal Rights led by Edward Blum, architect of the affirmative action cases the Supreme Court decided last June by striking down race-based college-admissions programs.
Blum filed a federal lawsuit against the Fearless Fund, its management and its nonprofit arm, the Fearless Foundation. Haynes said the Fearless Fund is being sued “by those forces that are anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion. I will fight for economic justice which includes those who want to participate in those kinds of funds but also those who are poor who are trying to secure procurement opportunities.”
Another huge battle Haynes is revving up for is that of environmental racism which he says “is very real, where rich white people create pollution that poor Black and brown people have to inhale, and as a consequence our life expectancy is not determined by our genetic code but our zip code. That has a lot to do with a sensitive environment that is killing people who are vulnerable.”
Another social justice agenda is education.
“Reverend Jackson was noted in the early days of PUSH for going to schools and encouraging students with ‘I Am Somebody’ but also confronting school districts that were not culturally responsive and, in this day, when there is an attempt to erase history and replace it with mythology, it is very important that we have the kind of education that is just, equitable and culturally responsive.”
Asked about the many Evangelicals who have mega churches and TV programs that continue to preach Trump’s Big Lie, Haynes said, “I think it’s going to be very important that we continue to portray, to convey, to communicate the truth and differentiate between their god, which is not the god of liberation, the god of scripture who shows up on the side of those who are underdogs and oppressed whereas their god is the god of the empire.
“Their god is basically the same god that helped to support the slave trade, and was a model for Jim and Jane Crow segregation,” Haynes reasoned.
“I think it was important that we differentiate between the gods. I often say that white Evangelicals are much whiter than they are Evangelical. That is why they have to create Jesus in their image and likeness. We have to differentiate between the white Jesus and the right Jesus and that is our challenge because they are exposing themselves for being very hypercritical.
“They are the Evangelical expression of family values and yet, who they support has nothing to do with family values. They are basically lining up with a crook, a liar, a criminal, and they have tried to baptize their bigotry.”
Haynes is not surprised because “their roots, their DNA go back to the same ‘Christians’ who made Jesus in their image and likeness and then baptized bigotries, supported slavery, and created a model for colonization, apartheid and Jim and Jane Crow segregation. They are who they’ve been.”
