Jesse declares war on 'Barbershop'

While Hollywood producers are reportedly stunned at the more than $30 million raked in during the first weeks of "Barbershop," the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. has declared war against the writers of the film who he says deceived him.

Jackson, who doesn't care that rapper/actor Ice Cube and other Blacks are starring in the controversial movie that curses the name of civil rights leaders Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and even himself, said: "leave the movie in, take the insults out."

He was furious after the producers brought the script by his house asking if his picture could be used to promote the film "but, that was not in that script," Jackson said referring to the insults describing his mentors. "They changed the script at the studio."

"They got us laughing to our own degradation and disgrace just like Tarzan. Dignity is worth fighting for. I've lived too long and fought to much to turn around now," he said. "They can keep the movie, remove the insults."

"Art, as a whole, reflects, projects, infects and affects the culture from which it springs," said Jackson. "At its best, art directs present and future generations much like a cultural compass."

"Many of you now have the downtown jobs, the degrees and we're glad you've got them because we helped to fight for you to get them, but you should not throw rocks on the tombstones of your parents and those who paved the way," said Jackson.

Bristling at the derogatory words describing his mentors, Jackson, with tears in his eyes, bellowed: "No. We're going to fight that. That is not right. We deserve better than that."

"Dignity is not negotiable, has no dollar value." He said Rosa Parks is to be commended because her "dignity was non-negotiable" when in 1955 she refused to give up her seat to a white man aboard a Montgomery bus.

Jackson said "Barbershop" attacking two of his mentors is not only a bitter pill to swallow but that they are "sacred symbols" that are not to be used as jokes.

He and his wife, Jacqueline, are inviting all of Chicago to attend their movie they made in 1972, a film, dubbed "Save the Children Project," which will be aired Friday, Oct. 18 at the DuSable Museum, which includes the original Jackson 5 and many other Black performers.

The Jackson's urged people to call the MGM Studio at: 310-449-3000, or write the producers of "Barbershop" at: MGM Studios, 2500 Broadway St., Los Angeles, CA 90404.