No Sign of Michelle Obama's "Whitey" Tape

The latest update from Bloggers reporting a purported tirade made against whites by Michelle Obama was that the candidate's wife's unleashed the vitriolic remarks during a Women's Session at the 2004 Rainbow/PUSH Conference in held in Chicago, IL which was held between June 26th and July 1st of that year.

A promotional flyer for that year's convocation highlighted the celebrities, political luminaries and subjects slated for the event.

Annual Rainbow/PUSH Conference

John Kerry, Bill Cosby, Howard Dean, Barack Obama Highlight Annual Rainbow/PUSH Conference CHICAGO-Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, entertainer/educator Bill Cosby; former presidential candidate and Vermont Governor Howard Dean; Chicago Stock Exchange Chairman Valerie Jarrett; Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree; Democratic senatorial candidate Barack Obama and Starbucks Chairman and Chief Global Strategist Howard Schultz are among the dozens of newsmakers scheduled to attend the 33rd Annual Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and Citizenship Education Fund Conference, to be held June 26 - July 1, 2004, at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers.

This year’s conference, 2004: A Year of Critical Choices For Inclusion and Growth, has extra significance as this presidential election year marks the 20th anniversary of Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.'s historic run for the presidency of the United States. His 1984 campaign was the first serious bid by an African-American for the nation’s highest office.

The flyer continues with a quote from Reverand Jesse Jackson.

"For all of us, Reunion Day is about tapping the strength of our roots, about looking deep and wide to know who we are. This event is one way of keeping our roots watered." Many of the elected officials and people gathering for Reunion Day will remain in Chicago on Sunday, June 27, for the convention’s Leadership Summit Day. Guests scheduled to attend the summit include former presidential candidate and Vermont governor Howard Dean, Senator John Edwards (D-N.C.) Florida Congresswoman Corrine Brown; Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., Democratic senatorial candidate Barack Obama, and many current and former lawmakers at state and federal levels.

Highlights of the event were listed for the conference attendees.

Saturday, June 26
Reunion Day
Old warriors of the movement return to Dr. King’s Workshop at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition’s headquarters, where Rev. Jackson talks about the past and the future.

Hip Hop workshops: Spoken Word Slam, Graffiti Art and Break Dancing competition and demonstration.

Sunday, June 27
Focus: Leadership Summit
African Diaspora Forum, "Reconnecting, Collaborating, Empowerment, and the Way Forward" 2:30 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. Black leaders from Africa, South America, Europe and North America will be participating.

Concert and Awards Ceremony featuring Cook, Dixon & Young (formerly known as Three Mo’ Tenors) at Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Dr.: 7:00 p.m.– 10:00 p.m. The organization honors Barack Obama and black generals in the military.

Monday, June 28
Focus: The Church and the Marketplace
8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Sessions on finance, health, issues in the religious community and related topics will be held throughout the day. Rev. Major Jemison, president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, gives the keynote address. Rev. Stephen J. Thurston, president of the National Baptist Convention of America, presides.

Women's Luncheon, with keynote speech by Rev. Jackson:
12:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.

Gospel Explosion and Awards Concert
7:00 p.m.- 10:p.m.
featuring Darius Brooks, Vicky Winans, Darryl Cooley and the Rainbow/PUSH Mass Choir:

Tuesday, June 29
Focus: Labor and Sports
Sessions on organized labor issues, labor aspects of athletics and sports, and related topics will be held throughout the day; see daily schedules for specific events and participants. International Labor Breakfast:
7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

"The Wal-Mart Factor: Dumbing Down the American Economy"
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Sports Luncheon
12 noon – 2 p.m.
Motor Sports and the NCAA – George Payne, vice president of marketing for NASCAR, is the keynote speaker.

Employment Exposition job fair
4:00 p.m. –7:00 p.m.

Wednesday, June 30
Focus: Business
Sessions on franchising, venture capital funding, other business opportunities, and related topics will be held throughout the day. Howard Schultz, chairman and chief global strategist of Starbucks, is the keynote speaker.

Access to Capital Luncheon
12 noon -2 p.m.
Valerie Jarrett, chairman of the Chicago Stock Exchange, James Bell, executive vice president and CFO of Boeing, and Attorney Martin King, chairman of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Board, are some of the speakers.

Town Hall Meeting – To Be Counted – In this session, participants debate the People Meters versus the Diary System when counting people for the Television Arbitron Ratings.

Thursday, July 1
Focus: Education
Sessions on issues in education for educators, parents and youth will be held throughout the day; see daily schedules for specific events and participants.

Hip-Hop and youth panels throughout the conference Oratorical competition, DJ demonstrations and competitions, voter registration drive and workshops such as The Criminalization of the Hip Hop Generation, The Political Maturation of the Hip Hop Generation, Inspirational Hip Hop and The Business of Hip Hop.

For the complete conference schedule and press credentials, contact the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition’s media office at...

In a July 26th 2004 article that appeared in BNET the Reverand Jackson noted, "In our quest for civil rights and social justice, the stakes have never been higher and the resistance is more tense. Nevertheless, our ability to affect change has never been greater. We can elect a U.S. Senator, Barack Obama, the first (Black) male since Reconstruction. We can determine the outcome of the presidency. We can open up doors to corporate America. We can expand our gains, but if we do not unite and rally together, we risk losing it all."

By that time Illinois State Senator was a rising star on the distant horizon and would in only four weeks give a stirring televised address before millions at the Democratic National Convention.

The "tape" of Mrs. Obama's furious denunciation of whites is reportedly a DVD that was available up until March of this year on Trinity United Church of Christ's online Bookstore. Trinity's web site has been scrubbed and the DVD is no longer for sale according to reports.

Larry Johnson of No Quarter provides a narrative of the alleged outburst.

Michelle Obama appeared as a panelist alongside Mrs. Khadijah Farrakhan and Mrs. James Meeks.

Bill Clinton spoke during the Conference, as did Bill Cosby and other speakers, but not at the panel Michelle attended.

Michelle Obama spoke at the Women’s Event, but referenced Bill Clinton in her rant — his presence at the conference was the impetus for her raving, it seems.

For about 30 minutes, Michelle Obama launched into a rant about the evils of America, and how America is to blame for the problems of Africa. Michelle personally blamed President Clinton for the deaths of millions of Africans and said America is responsible for the genocide of the Tutsis and other ethnic groups.

She then launched into an attack on “whitey”, and talked about solutions to black on black crime in the realm of diverting those actions onto white America. Her rant was fueled by the crowd: they reacted strongly to what she said, so she got more passionate and enraged, and that’s when she completely loses it and says things that have made the mouths drop of everyone who’s seen this.

Larry Johnson maintains that the DVD exists and that people from the Guilliani campaign got hold of it. From there it would be a short trip to the RNC whom he says are holding onto the DVD for an opportune time like August or October.

I'm thinking that there are enough motivated people from the GOP and Hillary faithfull that are scouring the virtual highways and byways to get hold of and air this DVD if it exists. Something this hot is not going to stay in the cooker very long if it is true.