My presence on local radio for the last five years has been more
deliberate. While serving as a guest on the local urban affairs talk radio
program for the mid-Michigan area, the host and I struck up a friendship
that has since occasioned me the opportunity to serve as his regular
guest-host. When not pre-empted by the local college football
presentation, I normally do between 12-15 shows per year. That then, is
12-15 opportunities to showcase Catholic interests, persons and programs
that might otherwise go unnoticed. I have been privileged to have both our
current Bishop and former Bishop, Catholic Charities and numerous other
representatives of the Church as my guests. Such presence is of undeniable
value-it is our responsibility to use the media in such fashion.
Perhaps in a nutshell then what Bishop Povish is getting at generically ,
is that one of our largest failures in the arena of Black and
African-American ministry specifically (my italics) is our failure to
seize and utilize the media to tell our stories. We must publish, we must
write, we must script, we must direct. To be sure, there are some
fantastic works out there. The Society of the Divine Word, Enduring Faith,
African-American Spirituality by Fr. Bede Abram are great works, and
sources thereof, but where is our presence in our local media markets?
Where is our presence in our national media? Most markets have public or
local community affairs broadcast of some kind-are we present there?
As Black and African-American Catholics, we must become our own
storytellers of our own faith experiences. We must use existing works as
well as developing new inroads and opportunities for the media exploration
of our stories. If we have indeed, "Come this far by faith", then we must
be willing to tell any and everyone who will listen, in as many mediums as
possible.
Ronald is the Director of Black Catholic Ministry and Multi-Cultural
Initiative Projects for the Diocese of Lansing. He has worked extensively
in the fields of radio, television and print, and is a national and
international speaker and presenter on various subjects. He is currently
at work on a book called "Ministry, Media and Marketing in the New
Millennium". Ron is the creator of the national event:" Blood of the
Martyrs-MLK Jr. Blood Drive".
Page [
1 ], [
2 ], [
3 ]
