For Immediate Release

July 1, 2018

MEDIA RELEASE!

LOS ANGELES RELIGIOUS LEADERS BAND TOGETHER
TO SUPPORT CONGRESSWOMAN MAXINE WATERS
IN RESPONSE TO HARSH RHETORIC, DEATH THREATS

Pastors Release Statement, Press Conference Scheduled for Monday, July 2nd

LOS ANGELES – A coalition of religious leaders and black pastors in Los Angeles will hold a press conference at 3 p.m. on Monday, July 2, 2018 in front of the office of Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), located at 10124 South Broadway in Los Angeles. The coalition is being organized by Pastor Shane B. Scott, who is a senior pastor at the Macedonia Baptist Church.

At the press conference, the pastors will show support for Congresswoman Waters, who has received criticism from the White House as well as death threats for her call to publically confront White House staffers for the way the Trump Administration is treating and separating immigrant families.

The pastors feel the words and intensions of the congresswoman have been mischaracterized and taken out of context because she is a black woman who is passionately imploring people with a conscience to confront Trump supporters about the administration’s anti-immigrant agenda. The harsh rhetoric from the White House and the double standard of Congresswoman Waters are seen as racist, and a weapon of words used to energize Trump supporters for the mid-term elections.

STATEMENT BY PASTOR SHANE B. SCOTT ON BEHALF OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS:

“As we prepare to celebrate the Fourth of July, our democracy is under attack and we’re on the verge of a constitutional crisis under the Trump Administration. This administration has created an atmosphere of divisiveness to satisfy the base, and not represent all people in the United States of America. Immigrant children have been separated from their families at the borders. Trump’s travel ban is rooted in anti-Muslim prejudices, which discriminates against religious freedoms and lawmakers ignore implementing reasonable gun laws to stop mass shootings in our most sacred public places. This is not who America is suppose to be. We are better than this. Congresswoman Maxine Waters is courageously raising her voice and leading the fight in the Democratic Party to maintain the moral fiber of this country. She is a true patriot, and she should be celebrated as such. She has been an exemplary public servant for all the people, and any attempts to disrespect, discredit or assassinate her character are unwelcomed and unwarranted.” – Pastor Shane B. Scott

This weekend, more than 750 cities across the nation are participating in Families Belong Together marches and rallies in response to the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy, separating migrant families. Approximately 2,300 migrant children have been separated from their parents and secretly shipped to detention centers throughout the country. And making headlines this week, the Supreme Court validates Trump’s travel ban, and a deadly shooting at a Maryland newspaper left five people dead.

“For this reason, Congresswoman Waters is a vocal opponent of Trump and his discriminatory policies against people of color and anyone non-white. In her fight for what’s right, regardless of party lines, Congresswoman Waters has elected to put polite discourse aside to fight for Democracy. Anyone who believes in our democracy must do the same,” added Pastor Scott.

Sharing the podium with Pastor Scott during the press conference will be Pastor Kelvin Sauls of Holman United Methodist Church and Rev. John Cager III of Ward AME Church.

ABOUT PASTOR SHANE B. SCOTT
Pastor Shane B. Scott is the senior pastor of the Macedonia Baptist Church – a 110-year-old historic landmark in Los Angeles. He has been serving the Watts community since his arrival in 2011 from Fresno, Calif. Under his leadership and vision, the church has not only increased its membership, but its become a strong voice for the advancement of social justice in transforming the quality of life for its community.

Plus, Pastor Scott advances the issue of equality and inclusion as the founder and CEO of the Macedonia Community Development Corporation (MCDC). In addition to the MCDC focusing on economic empowerment, health and wellness and the welfare of children, under Pastor Scott’s leadership, the organization is pro-active in grassroots organizing to strengthen the political power of the African American community. Recently, Pastor Scott mobilized a national delegation of pastors and religious leaders to testify in Washington, D.C. against the appointment of then Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) for U.S. Attorney General, giving his deplorable record on civil rights.

He is a sought-after speaker for various political forums, town halls, workshops and conferences. Pastor Scott earned his bachelor’s degree in religion and philosophy from Stillman College, a historically black college and university (HBCU) in Tuscaloosa, Alabama as well as a master’s degree in divinity from the American Baptist Seminary of the West in Berkeley, Calif.

LET’S GET SOCIAL:
Follow me on Twitter and Instagram: @IamShaneBScott

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