Black Leader Slams Puff Daddy Voter Drive
Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2004 7:38 a.m. EDT
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, founder and president of BOND, the Brotherhood Organization of A New Destiny, and organizer of The ‘Black’ List Campaign, Wednesday accused rap mogul Sean "P. Diddy” Combs and his nonprofit organization Citizen Change of using a scare campaign to get blacks to vote against President George W. Bush on November 2nd.
Citizen Change, with its "Vote or Die” slogan, is conducting a three-day "get-out-the-vote” initiative geared towards minority voters in swing states. The tour began Tuesday, and will cover Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Miami.
NewMax reported that Combs' interest in politics came shortly after Democratic billionaire Ron Burkle invested $100 million in Sean John, the urban-sportswear company founded by Combs.
Burkle, as one of the biggest billionaire backers of the Democratic Party, has been working hard to elect John Kerry.
Combs has said the purpose of his group is non-partisan – but Republican pundits say that such voter efforts are thinly veiled efforts to register and encourage Democratic voters.
Evidence of Combs’ political leanings is Burkle’s involvement in backing Combs’ Citizen Change.
"We were thinking we should do something on the political side with Puffy," a Burkle insider told Fox News’ Roger Friedman, explaining the hip-hop star’s abrupt interest in politics.
Rev. Peterson derided Combs stab at political activity.
"P. Diddy Combs and his Citizen Change group are a disgrace," Peterson said. "Their ‘Vote or Die’ campaign is an effort to scare and manipulate blacks into voting for John Kerry. Most of these so-called ‘disenfranchised’ people don’t care about the issues. All they know is what they’ve been told: Bush is evil. Bush hates blacks. He’s [Bush] going to bring back the draft—and you [blacks] have to vote or you’ll die!”
Combs started Citizen Change earlier this year saying he wanted to register thousands of minority voters who aren’t being heard by politicians. The group claims to be nonpartisan, but in February of 2004, AllHipHop.com reported that P. Diddy wants American voters to turn out in full force this year and remove president George W. Bush from the oval office.
According to the report, Diddy said: "[We gotta] get Bush's a** up out that office . . . "
Rev. Peterson added: "If all Combs wants to do is register voters, then why the emphasis on the swing states? This is why I started The ‘Black’ List Campaign—to expose the lies of Hollywood’s most anti-American black entertainers; and P. Diddy is on that list. This election is very important, please don’t let P. Diddy or Jesse Jackson tell you how to vote.” |
