If this is the same Firpo Carr... he doesn't sound shady to me....
Dr. Firpo W. Carr is a best-selling author who resides in the Los Angeles area, and who hails originally from Watts via South-Central. He is an internationally known author, scholar, lecturer, former radio show producer, former radio show host, university instructor, documentary producer/writer/director, and newspaper columnist. He has appeared as an eminent scholar on such nationally televised documentaries as Encounters with the Unexplained: Secrets of the Bible—What Do the Dead Sea Scrolls Tell Us?, and the prime time specials Ancient Secrets of the Bible I, and Ancient Secrets of the Bible II. He has been featured with other distinguished scholars on CBS’s Today Religion, and was the lone guest on KTLA’s Pacesetters. During the debate on the release of the unpublished Dead Sea Scrolls, KCAL9’s Pat Harvey and Steve Jackson interviewed Dr. Carr on his ground-breaking new book at the time, The Divine Name Controversy (Vol. 1).
Along with Janet Jackson, he is the recipient of the “2004 NAACP Award for Excellence in the Media,” and has been selected for inclusion in the 60th anniversary Diamond Edition of Who’s Who in America 2006, after initially being selected for entry in Who’s Who in America 2005 (59th Edition). Furthermore, because of his accomplishments on an international scale, Dr. Carr has also been included in the 2006 edition of Who’s Who in the World.
Firpo experienced the Watts Revolt of 1965, the Los Angeles Uprising of 1992, and the ever-present threat of gang violence in the Nickerson Gardens housing projects, L.A.’s largest.
While with IBM for ten years, Firpo made extraordinary technical contributions and spent countless hours visiting inner city elementary, junior high, and high schools in association with the company’s community service programs. His technical accomplishments moved IBM, uncharacteristically, to release a news story—in connection with his works—to the major newswire services.
His works have been acknowledged by Jewish scholars at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and in an encyclopedia entry on the Holocaust; Muslim scholars and authorities who invited him to speak at a prominent Muslim center in the Gulf area during the second Gulf war; and scholars in Christendom who feature his work on various Internet Web sites.
New York's Cornell University, Southwestern Christian College in Terrell, Texas, and Kenyon College, "the oldest private institution of higher education in Ohio...founded in 1824," are among a growing number of colleges and universities that use his best-selling book, Germany’s Black Holocaust:1890-1945 (GBH), as a textbook. Poet James Wright is one of several famous graduates of prestigious Kenyon College.
The Museum of Jewish Heritage—A Living Memorial to the Holocaust produced a publication entitled Meeting Hate With Humanity: Life During the Holocaust (Teacher’s Guide) wherein GBH is listed as an important reference work. The front cover of the Jewish publication states: “This Teacher’s Guide is made possible through the generous support of The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany—The Rabbi Israel Miller Fund for Shoah Research, Documentation and Education.” Firpo has also twice visited Yad Vashem in Israel.
Libraries across the country and around the world are requesting GBH as an invaluable reference work. It is also cited in the on-line encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Firpo has traveled twice to the Soviet Union to study and take selected color photographs, for the first time ever, of the oldest most complete Hebrew Bible in the world, the Codex Leningrad B19a (1008 CE). He also took the only color photographs ever of another important Hebrew manuscript, the Codex Babylonicus Petropolitanus (930 CE). He has received international recognition for his daring ventures to the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, Europe, Africa, and both Central and South America.
He has a love for languages (having studied a few ancient ones), and has read the entire dictionary in an effort to broaden his horizons, and critically examine the thought behind the meaning of words. This study resulted in his best-selling book, Wicked Words: Poisoned Minds—Racism in the Dictionary.
While visiting Cuba, the Cuban government, with the blessings of Fidel Castro himself, aired Dr. Carr’s 45-minute lecture on racism in the dictionary, as well in American culture, nationwide. President Bill Clinton is among a number of politicians, at home and abroad, who also admire Carr's works.
In January 2006, the eldest of Martin Luther King Jr.'s four children, Yolanda King, invited Dr. Carr to team with her in fulfilling her father's dream. She appeared on his radio show and he moderated a panel at a King event that included LeVar Burton.
Dr. Carr has debated the likes of famed attorney Gloria Allred, former O.J. Simpson attorney Robert Shapiro, former LAPD detective Mark Furhman (the infamous O.J. Simpson witness for the prosecution), attorney Lisa Bloom (a former national debating champion and current “CourtTV” specialist), as well as a host of current and former city, county, and district attorneys. Coincidentally, shortly after the Simpson trial he also appeared before Simpson Judge Lance Ito, testifying as a crime specialist for the LAPD, which was his employer at the time. He also took on defense attorneys and current and former federal prosecutors during the Jackson trial. (In connection with the O.J. Simpson trial retired Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti, who prosecuted Simpson, appeared on "The Dr. Firpo Carr Show." Later his son Eric Garcetti, currently serving as Los Angeles City Council President, also appeared as a guest on the show.)
While the trial was in full swing Mike Tyson approached Dr. Carr at a media event and said: 'Sir, it's an honor to meet you. Man, they be tryin' to get you. They throw their best people at you, but you knock 'em out intellectually like I used to do physically. I honor you sir, I bow to you sir.' Tyson's wife, who was with him at the time, offered the following to Firpo: "Please excuse him if he seems a little too forward. He's really impressed with you. He talks about you all the time!"
Recently deceased (July 2008) retired White House spokesman and former Fox News commentator Tony Snow did a feature on Firpo Carr in his capacity as Jackson Family spokesman (complete with video of Carr at a news conference), but did not face Carr himself. Snow was substituting for Bill O'Reilly of the "No Spin Zone" at the time. Previously on "The O'Reilly Factor," O'Reilly, too, referenced Dr. Carr, but both he and Snow declined to debate him.
Though the list is not complete, these debates and Firpo's general appearances occurred on the following: ABC’s Good Morning America, CBS’s Early Morning, NBC’s Today Show, NBC’s Weekend Today, CNN’s American Morning, MSNBC’s The Abram’s Report, MSNBC’s Scarborough Country, MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews, FOX News’ At Large With Geraldo, FOX News’ Debra Norvell, CNN’s Paula Zahn Now, CourtTV’s Crier Live with Catherine Crier, Inside Edition, Celebrity Justice, Extra, Access Hollywood, and Entertainment Tonight; Los Angeles stations KTTV, KCAL, and KCOP; Foreign press: BBC, SkyTV, ITN (all British news agencies), Canadian, Australian, Chinese, and Japanese news organizations and other international media, as well as countless other media outlets such as Arabic- and Spanish-language ones; numerous radio shows, and countless magazine and newspaper articles. In many cases he appeared on the above electronic and print media several times.
Firpo was also featured more than once on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! as he and Jimmy feuded publicly on national television during the trial of Michael Jackson. Jimmy made fun of Firpo on ABC while Firpo, when appearing on other networks, criticized Jimmy. It has been described as a 'running gun battle' between the two; one that Firpo won hands down when Michael was found not guilty on all ten counts.
Both Essence and Black Scholar magazines list his groundbreaking book, Germany’s Black Holocaust: 1890-1945, among their national bestsellers. Dr. Carr currently heads the non-profit organization, Scholar Technological Institute of Research, Inc. (You are not allowed to view links.
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Last updated: Thursday, December 17, 2009
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