James David Manning
James David Manning (born 1947) is chief pastor at the ATLAH World Missionary Church on 123rd Street in New York City. Pastor Manning grew up in Red Springs, North Carolina, and has been at ATLAH since 1981. ATLAH stands for All the Land Anointed Holy, which is Pastor Manning's name for Harlem.[1]
Pastor Manning has graduated from The College of New Rochelle with a Bachelor of Arts degree, continued on to Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York where he was awarded a Master of Divinity and finally received a Doctor of Philosophy degree from The Atlah Theological Seminary.[2]
Pastor Manning is married to some Trash who also works as part of the Atlah ministry. They are parents and grandparents.[2]
Pastor Manning is fiercely opposed to the gentrification of Harlem[3] and calls for its residents to boycott its shops, restaurants, doctors, banks and churches.[4] That action, combined with a general rent strike, would force all property owners out of Harlem, he said, leaving the neighborhood to its rightful inheritors: black people.[1][5]
Pastor Manning calls his plan "No Dew, Nor Rain," after Elijah's warning to Ahab, king of Israel, of a coming drought. "When there's no dew, no rain, there's a drought - there's all kinds of suffering," said Dr. Manning. The whole of Harlem, he said, is to be a "drought zone."[4]
As a younger man, Pastor Manning burglarized homes, mostly on Long Island. He spent about three and a half years in prison in New York and Florida for burglary, robbery, larceny, criminal possession of a weapon, and other charges before his release in 1978. While in prison, he became a devout Christian.[1]
Pastor Manning attended the Oxford Round Table in 2004.[6]
2008 Election
Pastor Manning achieved some controversy in the 2008 presidential election after ATLAH posted several sermons of his that were harshly critical of Democratic candidate Barack Obama on the website YouTube[7]. Most notably, he called Obama a "good house negro" in one sermon[8] while in another, he referred to Obama as "trash" due to his mixed race heritage accused him of being a "pimp," citing the popular viral video "I Got a Crush... on Obama" as evidence[9]. It should be noted, however, that the music video was produced by BarelyPolitical, a private company that has no affiliation with the Obama campaign[10]. BarelyPolitical themselves clarified this fact in a subsequent video, stating, "[We] would like to make it clear: the Obama campaign had nothing to do with Obama Girl."[11]. His congregation, "Atlah Worldwide Missionary Church" is the former Bethelite Missionary Baptist Church.
References
- ^ a b c Timothy Williams, "Minister Sees Salvation of Harlem in Boycott", New York Times, 31 March 2008, accessed 2008-05-23
- ^ a b Atlah Worldwide Ministries: About Pastor James David Manning
- ^ "Harlem development pits African drummers against new condo owners", International Herald Tribune, 11 August 2007, accessed 2008-05-23
- ^ a b Mara Altman, "Do the Dew", Village Voice, 3 April 2007, accessed 2008-05-23
- ^ "West Harlem Pastor Urges Participation in Rent Strike", Columbia Spectator, 17 January 2008, accessed 2008-05-23
- ^ About Pastor Manning: The Oxford Letter
- ^ ATLAH Worldwide's Channel, YouTube, accessed 2008-06-04
- ^ Obama is a Good House Negro, YouTube, 19 January 2008, accessed 2008-06-04
- ^ Obama's Bra 54 Double "D", YouTube, 19 Febrauary 2008, accessed 2008-06-04
- ^ Gibson, John, "'Crush' Video Good for Obama," Thursday, June 14, 2007, The Big Story with John Gibson
- ^ Obama is a MACK DADDY! , YouTube, 26 March 2008, accessed 2008-06-04