Reverend Wright

Guide Note

The Reverend Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. was the pastor of the Trinity United Church Of Christ from 1972 until his retirement in 2008. The church is a black-oriented, liberal church in Chicago, Illinois, and is the one to which Barack Obama belongs.

Rev. Wright became pastor of the church on March 1, 1972, and under his tenure, the congregation grew from 87 members to a current membership of between 6,000 and 10,000.

Reverend Wright and the Trinity Unity Church came into the spotlight in March, 2008, because of their association with Obama. Video segments of Reverend Wright voicing controversial opinions on topics such as patriotism and the 9/11 attacks have been circulated extensively by opponents of the Obama campaign, in order to suggest that Obama secretly holds views at odds with those he publicly professes. Obama's response to the controversy was the "race speech" of March 18, 2008.

On April 24, 2008, Rev. Wright appeared on Bill Moyers Journal and said that the controversial videos of his sermons were cherry-picked to make him appear fanatical. He claimed that the statements shown were taken out of context with the intention of harming his reputation and Obama's.

Fast Facts

1. Born: September 22, 1941
2. Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
3. Wife: Reverend Ramah Reed Wright
4. Has 5 children
5. Former U.S. Marine
6. Became Pastor on March 1, 1972
7. Motto of church "Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian" was adopted after Wright became pastor