Who am I?

Dear Editor:
I cannot help but respond to the comments made by one of your reporters, Brian Jarvis. When I stood up to address the Summerton town council, Mayor Phillips proclaimed that I had no right to do so and made damaging remarks toward my character. What’s worse is that she refuses to name the individual who gave her this information.

Because I chose to speak out against unjust practices, it appears to have been turned around to look like a black versus white issue. How wrong can one be? The only concern I have about black and white is the print in the newspaper.

The question must be asked, “Who am I?”

I am a Livingston, Ragin, Oliver, Richardson, Lawson, Palmer, Stukes, Canty, Bethune, Brunson and Diggs. All of these names are my family members and make up who I am today. I am the same Livingston boy who wore #33 on his jersey playing basketball for Scott’s Branch, the same boy who was baptized by his granduncle, the late Rev. Abe Ragin, associate minister of Liberty Hill AME church.

At 17, I answered the nation’s call and fought in Vietnam. I am the father of seven children, 10 grandchildren and have two sons fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan as of this writing.

I am the CEO of DM Financial Resource Group, an organization that helps churches, faith-based organizations and outreach ministries receive tax exemptions and write grants. I am the president of a non-denominational Bible college and I am the presiding prelate of Deliverance Ministries. I am the overseer of 75 churches in New Orleans, Savannah, Gainesville, Baltimore, Allendale, Lake City, Vance, Newburg and Manning. I have earned five degrees: Th.D, CE.D, Litt.D, M.Div and an MBA.

Over the last 35 years, I have convened with the likes of Bishop G.E. Patterson, presiding prelate of the C.O.G.I.C.; Bishop Paul Morton, presiding prelate of Full Gospel Baptist Fellowship Church; Bishop Thomas D. Jakes, presiding prelate of Potters House; and Bishop John Morgan, presiding prelate of Bahamian Ministries.

Please note: I am not the founder of the Clarendon County Concerned Citizens, and am not capable of filling the shoes of my honorable brother, the late Elder Roosevelt Boyd, who formed and ran this organization until his health began to fail.

My ecclesiastical position prohibits me from attacking another minister in public, as Malachi Duncan has done on numerous occasions, but an appointment with the presiding prelate of this AME district, Bishop W. Williams, has been requested and is forthcoming.

As for Brother Adger, president of the NAACP, where was he when senior citizens of this town were verbally attacked by town officials? Where was he when police intimidated voters in the 2006 election? Where was he when the mayor disrupted the voting process by presenting herself at the election polls?

My question to both Duncan and Adger: Who are you and what do you stand for?

In closing, ask yourself: Are you a true Christian with the love of Jesus or just when it’s convenient?

Sincerely,
Bishop Arnold A. Diggs Jr.
Summerton, S.C.