Rep. Michelle Bachmann Right on the Facts, Wrong Messenger for Black America

July 14, 2011 - PRLog -- (Washington, DC – July 14)  Best-selling Author, Women’s Advocate & Political Pundit Sophia A. Nelson, a longtime moderate Republican weighed in on the Michelle Bachmann controversy that has been the focus of media attention, The View (http://www.businessinsider.com/michele-bachmann-petition-the-view-video-2011-7), and the 2012 Presidential Race.

Nelson’s reaction comes at a time when The Family Leader, an Iowa-based Christian conservative organization, asked the GOP presidential candidates to sign a pledge, “The Marriage Vow – A Declaration of Dependence Upon Marriage and Family”, which originally stated the following: “sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA’s first African-American President.” The organization later retracted this statement from the original pledge, but Nelson agrees with the factual context of the pledge, and devotes Chapter 2 in her new book, which is titled, “Our Context from Slavery to the White House: Why It Still Matters,” to addressing some of the very issues raised in the pledge and about the current economic plight of black Americans.

Here’s an excerpt from Nelson’s statement responding to Rep. Bachmann and this “marriage’ pledge, which can be read in full via her blog at http://www.iaskinc.org/blog/sophiaanelson/?p=660. Ms. Bachmann and her GOP cohorts were no doubt misguided with how they expressed this marriage pledge and their tacit referral to blacks being better off in 1860 was ridiculous at best taken out of context. But put into its proper context, the black family unit (defining that unit is a discussion in and of itself) ironically (and sadly) was in many ways more intact during the horrific and ugly institution of slavery and post-reconstruction than it is today. That is a very different discussion for us to have than the one that is being bandied about now about whether or not blacks were better off during slavery or in 1860.

Last month, Nelson’s 1st non-fiction book release, "Black Woman Redefined: Dispelling the Myths and Discovering Fulfillment in the Age of Michelle Obama” became an instant Amazon & Barnes and Noble best-seller.  In her groundbreaking book she uses proprietary national research and real-life stories to reveal what drives and perpetuates common myths and misconceptions of black women, and how the current economy is playing havoc on the black family emotionally, relationally and otherwise.

Nelson, recognized for the past decade for her passionate, but “common sense approach” to politics and issues as an On-Air analyst for MSNBC, CNN, FOX, BET and other cable networks is available for interviews and commentary to set the record straight on this very important issue to the longevity of the black family. Nelson who was a GOP Congressional candidate in 1996 at the age of 29, is founder and currently serves as Chairman of the Board of “I Am My Sister’s Keeper, Inc.”, a 7-year-old professional black women’s advocacy organization that provides life skills support to more than 3,000-women around the world (see www.iaskinc.org ). Nelson is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc. sorority, the oldest Greek lettered organization for African-American women in America.

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