The success in reducing youth violence in Boston, coupled with Rivers’ outspokenness, has made him quite the media darling in recent years, in part because he says things that White people would be zapped for saying publicly. He landed on the cover of Newsweek in June 1998 and was hailed as a "Savior of the Streets." Rivers said all the attention from the Newsweek "coronation" got him into a lot of hot water with fellow preachers –especially those who were not mentioned in the article. Since then, the phone has been ringing steadily. Al Gore invited him to his annual "Family Reunion" in Tennessee. The Ford Foundation featured him on the cover of its magazine. Italian TV is doing a piece, as is Der Spiegel, a popular German newsmagazine.
Inevitably most local black leaders get bought out by the political machine in Boston and become vote pimps. This guy is smart and different. The fact that he'd have the witch in for the inauguration says alot about him trying to do a good job for his flock. The local pols will be swarming him for seats.