Alvin Bragg & The Abyssinian Rabbit Hole

[EndtheMadnessNow]

I started digging into Manhattan DA democrite Alvin Bragg, his wife Jamila Ponton (I'm not sure who is worse) and stumbled down a parapolitical abyss. Below is a compilation of cookie crumbs, in which things will get messy.


Alvin and Jamila Bragg are longtime members of this Abyssinian Baptist Church congregation. ABC has a long history of political and activist involvement.  Lots of money. Lots of power. The history and politics of that church spans over 200 years and is incredibly complex! More recently, people like Raphael Warnock, Maxine Waters, Alvin Bragg and his wife, Hillary Clinton, and others have either been members or given guest sermons there. Alvin’s chief of staff also a member of the congregation. In 1989, Calvin O. Butts became senior pastor, serving until his death in 2022.

The Abyssinian Baptist Church is a Baptist megachurch located at 132 West 138th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and Lenox Avenue in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City; it is affiliated with the National Baptist Convention, USA and American Baptist Churches USA.

The Abyssinian Baptist Church congregation traces its history to 1809, when seamen from the Ethiopian Empire (then known as Abyssinia) helped lead a protest against racially segregated church seating. Thomas Paul was an early minister. During the 20th century, prominent ministers of the church included Adam Clayton Powell Sr., Adam Clayton Powell Jr., and Samuel DeWitt Proctor. The church has served as an influential place for African-American spirituality, politics and community.

The congregation began after an incident in 1808, when visiting Ethiopian seamen and allied free African-American parishioners left the First Baptist Church in protest over being restricted to racially segregated seating. They named their new congregation the Abyssinian Baptist Church after the historic name of Ethiopia.

By 1930, the church had 13,000 members, making it the largest African-American church in New York City, and the largest Baptist congregation in the world. Powell handed the reins of the church to his son Adam Clayton Powell Jr. in 1937. Powell became the first black Congressman from New York City, and served 14 terms in the United States House of Representatives. Powell's "charisma, power, and notoriety", as well as his "spellbinding" preaching were the driving force behind the church's significant influence in the African American community at the time.

A fight over segregated seating in 1808 seems like a misplaced timeline.



Alvin and Jamila Bragg are both supporters of THE HARLEM STAGE. Where Alvin’s wife and JamRock founder, Jamila, sits on the board. Funded by Soros and all the other expected orgs. This is recent, because the shown event was on Sat Nov 5, 2022 while Trump was being investigated.

Supporters:
- Ford Foundation
- Open society
- Bloomberg
- Lambent Foundation/Tides Foundation
- Rockefeller Brothers

You may ask, why do all these orgs seem to linger around the Braggs. Are you aware of Jamila’s past? You’ll be also hearing about Atlantic Philanthropies, and the Emma Bowen Foundation and their connections.



Alvin and Jamila Braggs have a progressive org fan club that just wafts around them like stale cigarette smoke. You will find the massive list, including Soros, at the Family of Supporters | Harlem Stage show

This is Harlem Stage where the couple are both supporters and Jamila sits on the board. Jamila started JamRock Productions after nearly 20 years in the nonprofit industry.

Here’s Jamila Braggs employment history beginning with the Emma Bowan Foundation. She worked there from 2015-2018.

Noteworthy funders of the Emma Bowman Foundation are Democracy Fund and the Google News Initiative. The Google News Initiative provided the original seed money for First Draft News and was an original consortium member. First Draft started the “disinfo” checking network and colluded with Integrity Initiative associated orgs.

Democracy Fund is Pierre Omidyar (French-born Iranian-American technology entrepreneur, philanthropist billionaire and was also a funder of First Draft News.

First Draft News falls in this bottom to top hierarchy:

- First Draft
- Narrative Initiative
- Arabella New Venture Fund

Narrative Initiative Funders:
- Atlantic Philanthropies
- Ford Foundation


Emma Bowen Foundation Funders



Public-Private Partnership Operates Shadow Government Undermining Election Integrity (PDF, The Amistad Project, letter to VP Pence, Jan 5, 2020) Chart is on pg 6 that you can zoom-in.



First Draft


And as if this progressive org malodor can't get any worse...Jamila Braggs was a special assistant to the CEO of Atlantic Philanthropies for about a year! (Atlantic Council) The same funder of the Narrative Initiative under Arabella New Venture Fund. The Narrative Initiative is connected to Color Of Change that funded Alvin Bragg. You see, Color of Change works thru narrative change.

Sure this was many years prior to the Narrative Initiative, but do connections ever really disappear? Jamila spent 20 years in the nonprofit industry.


Jamila Bragg resume | Jamila Ponton Bragg and Cynthia L. Dorsey Named Prince Fellows


Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III had strong ties with Fordham University, a Jesuit university. He taught Black Church history there. Donald Trump attended Fordham for 2 years.



Start with this page: Abyssinian Famous Faces

It's like a who's who bulletin of lefty grifters.


Hillary Clinton shines in Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church (Oct 2007)

Spicy: Hillary Clinton paid Butts $1.5m in earmarks for the church to endorse her for Senator. Since then the Clinton Foundation has been a regular occurrence in the church, along with Charlie Rangel.

Bill and Hillary Clinton speak at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem on October 27, 2007.

Bill Clinton Speaks at Sylvia Woods' Wake at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, July 24, 2012:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1ldQ3qbx6M

Then Gov. George Pataki helped Calvin Butts financially to form the church into a development arm for the community in exchange for Calvin's endorsement in the elections. Despite differing political views.

The Sins of Reverend Calvin Butts (October 27, 1998)


Fidel Castro led a congregation for one Sunday at the church. Back when Warnock was a youth pastor, though he denies ever inviting Castro and that the decision was made by Butts.
HARLEM WARMLY EMBRACES CASTRO (WaPo, October 23, 1995)

Fidel Castro - Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, NY (1995):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxyCPBg35bQ

Democrat Senate Candidate Raphael Warnock Refuses To Answer Questions About Past Child Abuse Investigation (Nov 2020)

“I’m reminded of Senator Loeffler’s opponent, true story, 25 years ago he was a pastor at a church in New York that invited Fidel Castro to speak … they cheered him wildly … think about that, now 25 years later one of the pastors from that church wants to be the U.S. Senator from Georgia,” Rubio said.

“We do have a choice between socialism and the American dream … Marco is exactly right: Raphael Warnock celebrated Fidel Castro in his church. He has a Marxist ideology,” Loeffler continued.

In addition to praising a communist dictator, Warnock also repeatedly criticized and called police officers “gangsters and thugs” during sermons in 2015.

FBI Files


Enough money to make Joel Osteen look like a pauper...

The (Very) Earthly Pursuits of Rev. Calvin O. Butts III - The Abyssinian Baptist Church, spiritual home of Rev. Calvin O. Butts III. Butts is the founder of Abyssinian Development Corporation (ADC), in 1989, the church’s nonprofit development arm.

The ballroom was closed in 1979. It was boarded up and lay fallow until the Abyssinian Development Corporation took over the property in 1991. Founded by the politically powerful Reverend Calvin O. Butts III, the longtime lead pastor of the 205-year-old Abyssinian Baptist Church on West 138th Street, ADC is Abyssinian’s nonprofit community-redevelopment arm. In the early days after ADC took over the Renaissance’s mortgage, Butts talked about restoring the ballroom and bringing back a gleaming entertainment venue to the very heart of Harlem.

The nonprofit development corporation, formed in 1989 with a single employee and a $50,000 grant, has grown into an organization that owns or has developed some $500 million worth of property in Harlem, expanded to 125 employees and played a critical behind-the-scenes role in the transformation of the neighborhood.
Powerful Harlem Church Is Also a Powerful Harlem Developer (NY Times, Aug. 17, 2008)

Resurrected Harlem, Rev. Calvin Butts Seeks Salvation

“We are responsible for big change,” Butts said from his office, a shrine to Harlem history, at Abyssinian Baptist Church on West 138th Street. In the center, a painting by Louis Delsarte depicts Butts in his roles as church leader, community advocate and president of Long Island’s SUNY Old Westbury. The painting was presented to Butts by Bill and Hillary Clinton, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, actress Cicely Tyson and American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault at a white-tie gala in November 2008 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Abyssinian church.

Louis Delsarte, a Muralist of the Black Experience, Dies at 75 (May 15, 2020)

Mr. Delsarte first found fame in the 1960s as a muralist on the bohemian downtown New York art scene. He painted the walls psychedelic inside the Electric Circus, the East Village nightclub frequented by Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground. Mr. Delsarte’s circle of artists included Robert Mapplethorpe, with whom he studied at Pratt Institute, and Mr. Mapplethorpe’s roommate and lover, Patti Smith, who mentioned Mr. Delsarte in her 2010 memoir, “Just Kids.”

Book review for "Just Kids" discusses Patti Smith's ties to Andy Warhol, Salvador Dalí, Allen Ginsberg, and her personal relationships with Mapplethorpe, playwright Sam Shepard and the Blue Oyster Cult keyboardist-guitarist Allen Lanier...
The Night Belongs to Us (NY Times, Jan 29, 2010)

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Continuing down the abyss...



Leveraging Trust to Advance Science, Engineering and Medicine



Duke Announces 2023 Commencement Speaker, Honorary Degree Recipients

Ford Foundation - Darren Walker


I guess they don’t have much trust or faith in God if they require up to date Covid vax, temperature checks and masking on the premise? Must be the science that they trust.



LOL, but of course...



They were audited by the IRS for failing to report their taxes for 3 years. Butts went on to call out de Blasio:

The new revelations come only weeks after Butts issued a stinging public rebuke of de Blasio. "I'm not going to call him a racist just yet," Butts told Vanity Fair magazine. "I just think that his posture shows great disrespect for the black and brown communities. Great disrespect."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS (Sep 30, 2015)

About a dozen articles on tax evasion from the church, all centered around their minister and two politicians in the late 50s to 60s using the church as a tax shelter.

Deacon at Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church accused of defrauding over $200K from church members (Feb 2020)

A lawsuit has been filed against Deacon Jerome Yeiser, who allegedly absconded with more than $200,000 dollars from several active church members in multiple alleged acts of fraud dating back at least six years. Yeiser allegedly used these funds to pay for a personal trip, his daughter’s law school tuition, and an IRS tax lien.

In the Graves’ case, Yeiser allegedly told them that he used the money to pay for a church trip, and for his daughter’s school tuition, while in the Porters’ case, he allegedly said that he used their money to pay a tax lien to the IRS. When the Graves couple originally reported alleged malfeasance to Rev. Calvin Butts in 2014, they were shocked to learn they were not the first family to come forward. In 2019, when the Porters went to Rev. Butts, he initially informed them that they were the third family to come forward, but later admitted they were actually the fifth to come forward.

Coaching Corps is thrilled to welcome our new Chief Operating Officer, Harris Bostic II. Harris will lead our efforts to continue the national expansion of our proven model and impact throughout the country. He brings to this position his vast experience with working with high impact and well branded organizations such as the American Red Cross, the Peace Corps, the Olympic Games, and the Clinton Foundation where he has successfully taken key strategies and programs to scale, often from scratch.

Prior to joining Coaching Corps, Harris served as the Vice President of External Affairs at the Abyssinian Development Corporation (ADC) where he advised the CEO on developing strategies to implement ADC’s stated priorities to strengthen the infrastructure, diversify fundraising and revenue generation opportunities and streamline expenses.

Harris Bostic II


Story from Jul 12, 2012:

Reggie Van Lee, the high-powered executive from Washington, D.C.-area consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, has donated more than a million dollars to Harlem businesses and community institutions in a span of 30 years.

He made his foray into local politics at a party for Williams at Red Rooster Harlem. Williams had recently moved back to New York from Washington, where his wife, Mona Sutphen, served as deputy chief of staff to President Obama.

Williams, who worked with Van Lee on the Clinton Foundation's Harlem Small Business Initiative...

Recently, he donated $1 million to the Abyssinian Development Corp.

Oh FFS...

Reggie Van Lee Partner and Chief Transformation Officer, The Carlyle Group

Reginald (Reggie) Van Lee is a philanthropist, an arts advocate, and retired Executive Vice President of the global management and technology consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. He was appointed by President Obama to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and was formerly appointed by President Obama to the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. He is the co-author of the book, “Mega communities – How Leaders of Government, Business and Non-Profits Can Tackle Today’s Global Challenges Together.”

Born in the late 1950’s in Houston, Texas, Mr. Van Lee was raised in the segregated south as a little black boy, who happened to be gay, and didn’t dwell on the negative aspects of being different – he used his “differentness” to thrive. He had a dream to be somebody and through his drive, and support from his family, and his community, he was able to make those dreams come true. Mr. Van Lee fulfilled a childhood dream from watching “Star Trek” to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received his Bachelors and Masters of Science degrees. After a brief stint working for Exxon, in Houston, he went back to school to complete his MBA from the Harvard Business School. He then joined Booz Allen Hamilton.

Booz Allen Hamilton is that spooky military contractor with ALOT of Gov contracts that was plastered all over the news during Trump's term for shady dealings and the last place Edward Snowden worked before fleeing to Russia. I could do a thread on that outfit alone.

Reggie Van Lee: US State Dept: 2010 Conference on Program Evaluation - Democracy and Governance

Deutsche Bank Americas grants to Abyssinian Development Corporation: Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2009 Building community (PDF)

For more just punch the terms into the machine: "abyssinian development" "clinton foundation"



Schumer: ‘I Was Honored to Join the Evangelical Crusade Christian Church

It's more like a leftist recruitment centre pretending to be a church.