Yet another series of anti-abortion billboards targeting minorities was unveiled recently — this time in Oakland, Calif.
The billboards, which read “Black & Beautiful,” with a link to TooManyAborted.com/ca, are a product of the Radiance Foundation and the California-based Issues4Life Foundation and are part of a campaign to “expose Planned Parenthood’s racist and eugenics-based history,” according to a press release. The campaign includes 60 billboards placed throughout Oakland.
The Radiance campaign bears striking similarities to a campaign launched by Heroic Media and its sister organization, Life Always. Both have unveiled several controversial billboards across the country as part of its “Planned Parenthood aborts African Americans” campaign. Billboards, including one in Jacksonville and one in New York’s Soho (which was taken down after just one day), proclaimed that “the most dangerous place for an African American is the womb,” alongside images of young African American children.
Though the group’s efforts are controversial, that hasn’t lessened support from big-name politicians. Both Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee have endorsed the group, and each has spoken at more than one Heroic-sponsored fundraiser.
Heroic also attempted to run television ads on MTV earlier this year. The ads were pulled by the network, due to controversy surrounding the group. Heroic eventually accused MTV of being “pro-abortion” for choosing to pull the ads, and alleged that the network was siding with Planned Parenthood. (Network reps disputed the claims.)
“The impact of abortion in the African-American community is the Darfur of America,” said Walter B. Hoye II, president of the Issues4Life Foundation, in a release touting the Oakland billboards. Brian Follett, head of Heroic Media, made similar remarks in December 2010, comparing Planned Parenthood’s efforts to “genocide.”
According to its website, The Radiance Foundation is a “nonprofit organization that seeks to inspire people to live a life of meaning.” The group recently tweeted: “Death is the violent conclusion of racial hatred. #Abortion = death. #Prochoice desperate calling #prolife billboards racist. #epic #fail”
A 2010 campaign cosponsored by the Radiance Foundation was similarly controversial. The campaign included Georgia billboards claiming “Black Children are an Endangered Species.”
The Issues4life Foundation is a California-based nonprofit that “works directly with African-American leaders, nationwide, to strengthen their stand against abortion.”
A press conference on the billboards is scheduled for Sat., June 18, in Oakland.
