The internet is in a tizzy over a recent Feb 6 ruling against white supremacist group and Trump supporters, “The Proud Boys,” awarding their trademark to Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, a historic Black church in Washington, DC for failure to pay a $2.8 million judgment for vandalizing the church during pro-Trump rallies in December of 2020.
According to NPR, “D.C. Superior Court Judge Tanya Jones Bosier ordered that all interests in Proud Boys International’s trademarked name, “Proud Boys,” be given to Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church. And no one can sell, transfer, license or dispose of the Proud Boys’ trademarked name without permission from the church or the court, according to the judgment.”
The church, which traces its origins to 1838, is on the National Register of Historic Places. It has hosted many prominent leaders, including activists Ida B. Wells and Booker T. Washington and abolitionist Frederick Douglass worshiped there.
Rev. William H. Lamar IV has called for an end to hate.
Read this entire story at NPR.
This post was curated by Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D., founder & editor-in-chief of The Burton Wire. Follow Nsenga on IG @Ntellectual.