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Revision as of 01:30, 15 August 2011 by Goethean (talk | contribs) (→Career: rm uncited matl)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) For other people named Mark Williams, see Mark Williams (disambiguation). Radio show| Genre | Talk |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | USA |
| Starring | Mark Williams |
| Website | The Mark Williams Show |
Mark Williams is an American conservative activist and author based in Sacramento, California. He is the author of It's Not Right Versus Left, It's Right Versus Wrong; Exposing the Socialist Agenda and Taking Back America One Tea Party at a Time.
Williams served as the spokesperson for the Tea Party Express until he was forced to step down amid controversy over a racially charged satirical letter posted on his blog and comments that he made to the media.
Career
Mark Williams is a native of Attleboro, Massachusetts and began his career by starting a radio station in the local high school in 1973.
Williams' first commercial radio job was as a salesman at the now defunct WPEP in Taunton, Massachusetts. From there he advanced to an over night talk show on WSAR (Fall River, Mass.) and then an executive producer position at Boston's WRKO AM. He arrived in Sacramento (KFBK AM) in 2000 after on-air stints in San Diego (XTRA AM), Tampa (WFLA AM), Dayton, OH (WHIO AM) and the Capital District of New York (WGY).
In 2005 he and his wife/producer, Holly Williams, traveled to Iraq and broadcast from various locations around Baghdad, shows for which each were awarded the Mark Twain Award by the Associated Press Radio and Television Association. and a pair of Greater Bay Area Journalism Awards
Also in 2010, Williams was a nominee for Time Person of the Year.
Williams has been an outspoken opponent of the Park51 project to build an Islamic cultural center and mosque two blocks from the World Trade Center site. He has called it a "temple to terrorists" and stirred controversy by adding that the facility would be used for "terrorists to worship their monkey god". Williams' comments elicited strong rebukes from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York State Senators and Muslim leaders. In a subsequent blog posting, Williams wrote, "I owe an apology to millions of Hindus who worship Lord Hanuman, an actual Monkey God. Hanuman is worshiped as a symbol of perseverance, strength, and devotion ... Those are hardly the traits of whatever the Hell (literally) it is that terrorists worship." When questioned by The Washington Post about his comments about Islam and Obama, Williams has claimed the controversy has "been fantastic for the movement".
In June 2010, Williams started a drive to recall the majority of the Sacramento City Council in the wake of their vote to boycott Arizona over that state's tough stance on immigration law enforcement. Calling the vote an "endorsement of and protection for human trafficking." He is also running as a candidate to fill the seat of one of the council members.
References
- Kennedy, Helen (2010-07-18). ""Tea Party Express leader Mark Williams kicked out over 'Colored People' letter". New York Daily News.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work= - http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2006/02/20/city/city4.txt
- http://sfppc.blogspot.com/2006/06/2006-greater-bay-area-journalism-awards.html
- "Big Time predictions". Boston Herald. BostonHerald.com. 2010-12-05. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- Hutchinson, Bill (May 19, 2010). "Tea Party leader Mark Williams says Muslims worship a 'monkey god', blasts Ground Zero mosque". Daily News. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
- Goldsmith, Samuel (May 20, 2010). "Tea Party Express leader Mark Williams says 'sorry' – to Hindus – for slamming Muslim's 'monkey god'". New York: NY Daily News. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
- Smith, Jennifer. "California Latino Legislative Caucus introduces economic boycott of Arizona". Sacramento, California: News10.net.
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