Exclusive: President Obama's Former Minister Headlines Local Series
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) --- Jeremiah Wright—does that name ring a bell?
Reverend Wright is President Obama's former Minister who stirred up a hornet's nest when segments of his sermons were publicized during Obama's presidential campaign five years ago.
At the time, he was minister of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago - and the pastor of then senator Barack Obama.
As excerpts of old sermons showed up on newscasts across the country, Wright became the news.
"They decided to spin, what was 8-years old, one was five-years old, and they took sentences that were completely out of context and they made that the 'boog-a-bear' to scare voters away from Obama," Wright says. "If they played the whole sentence in context, it would have undercut their whole purpose."
Wright spoke at the Bayard Rustin lecture series in Pittsburgh, Thursday night.
Wright is now retired but still retains a relationship with President Obama and spends most of his time talking about civil rights.
"My message is the unsung heroes and the rewriting of history, the rewriting of narratives, the rewriting that takes king out of history and sweeps completely Bayard Rustin under the rug," Wright says.
Reverend Jeremiah Wright was thrust into the national spotlight as a controversial figure but these days he says he's not worried about that image.
In fact, Wright says one day the real story will finally be told.
"Our history, we've got some good points and some bad points but we need to talk about them so our kids know our story."
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