{{Short description|American activist}} {{Infobox Christian leader | name = Eugene F. Rivers | image = Eugene F. Rivers III (41378745290).jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = April 9, 1950 | birth_place = | death_date = | education = {{indented plainlist| * Murrell Dobbins Vocational High School }} | spouse = Jacqueline Rivers<ref>{{cite web |title=Jacqueline Rivers |url=https://www.newyorkencounter.org/jacqueline-rivers |website=New York Encounter}}</ref> | religion = Pentecostal | occupation =
| profession = [https://www.joinmychurch.org/churches/Azusa-Christian-Community-Center-Dorchester-Massachusetts-United-States/25648#staff Azusa Christian Community] | nationality = American | years_active = | notable_works = | awards = }} '''Eugene "Rib" F. Rivers III''' (born April 9, 1950) is a conservative American activist, and Pentecostal minister based in Boston, Massachusetts.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=http://archive.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/06/21/fiery_dorchester_pastor_undeterred_by_controversy/ |title=Fiery Dorchester pastor undeterred by controversy: Rev. Eugene Rivers, admired and reviled in his home city, expands his role on the national political stage |first=Keith |last=O'Brien |publisher=The Boston Globe |date=2008-06-21}}</ref>
Rivers is known for his work developing programs that reduce urban violence. He has also been both an activist and a thought leader in the areas of Black economic empowerment and urban renewal. {{citation needed|date=January 2025}}
== Biography ==
Eugene Franklin Rivers, III, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 9, 1950. His parents were Eugene F. Rivers II and Mildred Bell Rivers. He grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rivers attended the Murrell Dobbins Vocational High School, where he was on the gymnastics team and studied commercial art. His classmates nicknamed him "Rib." He graduated in 1968.<ref>{{Citation |title=B.VI. Flame photometry |work=Clinical Chemistry |date=1969 |pages=121–124 |url=https://doi.org/10.1159/000390538 |access-date=2025-01-02 |publisher=S. Karger AG |doi=10.1159/000390538 |isbn=978-3-8055-1006-6|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Reverend Eugene Rivers's Biography|url=https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/reverend-eugene-rivers|access-date=2020-06-20|website=The HistoryMakers|language=en}}</ref> He claims he was a gang member in Philadelphia, but left the gang, after being mentored by Reverend Benjamin Smith, the pastor of Deliverance Evangelistic Temple. {{citation needed|date=January 2025}} After high school, Rivers began his involvement in activism in Philadelphia. {{vague|date=January 2025}} He joined Black Church-affiliated movements working on economic empowerment and urban redevelopment. {{citation needed|date=January 2025}} He was connected with the Black Economic Development Conference, and supported James Forman's efforts to obtain reparations from churches and synagogues in the United States.<ref name=":1" />
In 1974, Rivers was ironically the subject of a ''vérité'' styled documentary, ''Black at Yale: A Film Diary.''<ref>{{Citation |last=Hudlin |first=Warrington |title=Black at Yale: A Film Diary |date=1974-01-26 |type=Documentary |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0207343/ |access-date=2024-12-27 |others=Stokely Carmichael, Erroll McDonald, Eugene Rivers}}</ref> The film traces Rivers travails as a classroom crasher, and a dorm squatter, in his attempts to gain admittance to Old Blue. His efforts, unsurprisingly, ended in failure as he was never a student, faculty, or staff at Yale University.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4DuiXMfMgo |title=Black at Yale: A Film Diary (1974) |date=2021-04-05 |last=J. W. Films |access-date=2024-12-27 |via=YouTube}}</ref>
While living in New Haven from 1973 to 1976, Rivers sustained himself by "hustling welfare checks in three states" and "selling reefer." According to him:<blockquote>"Oh, I had a bunch of little hustles. I would sell nickel bags for thirty-five dollars, make up stupid names, hustle welfare checks, and run back and forth between Philly and New York and New Haven and collect checks; you know, street hustler."<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 13, 2007 |title=Interview with Reverend Eugene Rivers |url=https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/reverend-eugene-rivers |access-date=January 2, 2025 |website=History Makers}}</ref></blockquote>Rivers moved to Boston in 1978, intent on attending Harvard University as an older/non-traditional student (he was twenty-eight years old at the time). He was encouraged to apply, but as with Yale, he also never graduated from Harvard University.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Niebuhr |first=Gustav |date=2001-04-07 |title=PUBLIC LIVES; A Point Man for the Bush Church-State Collaboration |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/07/us/public-lives-a-point-man-for-the-bush-church-state-collaboration.html |access-date=2025-01-05 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 1984, he founded the [http://www.joinmychurch.org/churches/Azusa-Christian-Community-Center-Dorchester-Massachusetts-United-States/25648 Azusa Christian Community in Dorchester], serving as pastor. He also founded the Ella J. Baker House, in Dorchester, as a community youth center. Concerned about gang violence, and the number of youth being killed by gun violence, he joined with other Black clergy to found the Boston TenPoint Coalition in 1992. The Coalition's efforts worked on reducing violence in Boston's neighborhoods. This time period became known at the "Boston Miracle." Rivers became co-chair of the National TenPoint Leadership Foundation, and was widely seen as an expert on strategies for reducing urban violence that impacts African Americans. {{citation needed|date=January 2025}}
Rivers met with George H.W. Bush in a gathering discussing urban issues.<ref>{{Cite web|title=President Bush Discusses Faith-Based Initiative with Urban Leaders|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/07/images/20030716-2_d0715-515h.html|access-date=2020-06-20|website=georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov}}</ref> He has appeared on national television shows, including Hardball with Chris Matthews with Michael Rogers defending Rick Warren.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/23/gay-rights-activist-on-ha_n_153026.html |title=Gay Rights Activist On Hardball, Repeatedly Frustrates Warren Defender |publisher=Huffington Post |date=2008-12-23}}</ref> He was featured on the cover of Newsweek magazine in 1998,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Leland|first=John|date=1 June 1998|title=God vs. Gangs|journal=Newsweek|volume=1 June 1998|via=Print edition.}}</ref> and he was written about in Commonwealth Magazine 1999.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Jonas|first=Michael|date=1999|title=The Street Ministers|journal=CommonWealth|volume=Fall 1999|pages=36–45|via=Print edition.}}</ref>
Rivers' essay ''The Responsibility of Black Intellectuals in the Age of Crack'' published under the new editorship of Joshua Cohen in the Boston Review led to debate in circles in New England.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Slothuus |first=Lukas |date=2022-03-31 |title=Eugene Rivers and the responsibility of intellectuals |journal=Constellations |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=244–258 |doi=10.1111/1467-8675.12616 |issn=1351-0487|doi-access=free }}</ref> thumb|The "shakedown" invoice sent by Rev Eugene Rivers to Keolis demanding $105,000.
== Keolis Contract ==
In the early spring of 2014, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) awarded a contract to Keolis, a transportation company, to operate commuter rail services in the commonwealth. This decision sparked significant scrutiny and concern from various community leaders, including Eugene Rivers and Jeffrey Wall, who raised alarms about the potential impacts of the contract, particularly regarding issues of equity, access, and service quality.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-04 |title=Keolis gets troubling demand in a push for diversity |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/04/08/what-they-call-act-frustration-boston-activists-send-six-figure-bill-commuter-rail-giant-keolis/STUepOULr4vlg3xm40fIVK/story.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250104232231/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/04/08/what-they-call-act-frustration-boston-activists-send-six-figure-bill-commuter-rail-giant-keolis/STUepOULr4vlg3xm40fIVK/story.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2025-01-04 |access-date=2025-01-06 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-12-29 |title=Rivers, Wall err badly in seeking funds from rail firm - The Boston G… |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2014/04/10/rivers-wall-err-badly-seeking-funds-from-rail-firm/y13h0AZS2PoTKin72VG78J/story.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241229080803/https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2014/04/10/rivers-wall-err-badly-seeking-funds-from-rail-firm/y13h0AZS2PoTKin72VG78J/story.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2024-12-29 |access-date=2025-01-06 }}</ref>
As part of their advocacy efforts, Rivers and Wall were the leaders of the newly created DRM Group (the letters standing for Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan). The DRM Group, purported to play a role in advocating for accountability from Keolis.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rev. Wall defends rail company invoice {{!}} Dorchester Reporter |url=https://www.dotnews.com/2014/rev-wall-defends-rail-company-invoice |access-date=2025-01-06 |website=www.dotnews.com |language=en}}</ref>
Rivers and Wall then issued an invoice demanding $105,000 from Keolis. WGBH journalist, Callie Crossley said of the incident at the time: <blockquote>All of this craziness surrounding them [Wall and Rivers] makes it looks like this was just some greed/quid pro quo thing. And not this is a serious issue. You know to look at who's going to be hired and, you know, how ... what positions they're going to hold in a city that is majority minority.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=shared&v=2a7PuS792gk |title=Keolisgate: When Is An Invoice More Than Just An Invoice? |date=2014-04-09 |last=GBH News |access-date=2025-01-06 |via=YouTube}}</ref></blockquote>In its reporting on the incident, WGBH dubbed the incident "Keolisgate".
Amid the controversy surrounding the financial demands made by the group, Wall resigned from the short-lived DRM Group.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rev. Wall defends rail company invoice {{!}} Dorchester Reporter |url=https://www.dotnews.com/2014/rev-wall-defends-rail-company-invoice |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=www.dotnews.com |language=en}}</ref>
== Apology to the Cape Verdean Community ==
Rivers angered many Cape Verdeans last month when he partially blamed violence involving Cape Verdeans on a lack of male leadership. Appearing on the WGBH television show "Greater Boston," on May 13, 2003 Rivers said:<blockquote>"You got a bunch of young dudes who are out of control because the community is largely... leaderless in terms of male leadership."
"The women are doing what every good mom does, trying to keep Pedro or Julio or whatever the hell his name is out of trouble..."
"Where are the men? You got all these guys up-and-down Dudley street (in the Roxbury Neighborhood of Boston) where these guys hanging out sipping beer. Ya know? Telling lies. Ya know. Talking about the women they run around with. Right? These guys need to be challenged."<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=shared&t=122&v=lsoRT6tElmc |title=Beat the Press Video: Miscast Mouthpiece? |date=2013-10-04 |last=GBH News |access-date=2025-01-16 |via=YouTube}}</ref></blockquote>Rivers later issued something of an apology to the Cape Verdean community stating, that his comments "on the very delicate subjects of race, crime, and nationality were, I understand, a source of pain, anger and misunderstanding."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Moore |first=Stefany |date=June 7, 2003 |title=RIVERS APOLOGIZES TO CAPE VERDEANS |work=The Boston Globe |pages=E.14}}</ref>
== The Ella Baker House Allegations ==
Rivers founded and lead the Ella J. Baker House, a nonprofit organization that works with at-risk youth and former offenders. In this role he and the organization have faced numerous allegations of using intimidation and even violence against communities of color.
Gerald Jones alleged that he had been assaulted and claimed the attack was ordered by Rivers as retaliation for a discrimination complaint Jones had filed against the Ella Baker House. Jones, a formerly incarcerated person who was living in a halfway house run by the organization, alleged in his complaint that Rivers had kicked him out of the program because he was a Muslim. While Rivers denied any official connection to the halfway house, Jones believed the assault was "for Eugene" as a form of revenge.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McPhee |first=Michele |date=2006-12-15 |title=Divine Wrath |url=https://www.bostonmagazine.com/2006/12/15/divine-wrath/ |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=Boston Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
Rivers has also been accused of orchestrating an assault on a 15-year-old child named Kuron Cox. Kuron's stepfather said the teen was "assaulted so badly, he spent four days in the Boston Medical Center intensive care unit." Kuron now accuses Rivers of "doing evil in the name of God."<ref>{{Cite web |last=McPhee |first=Michele |date=2006-12-15 |title=Divine Wrath |url=https://www.bostonmagazine.com/2006/12/15/divine-wrath/ |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=Boston Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
Beyond physical violence, Rivers has been accused of using intimidation tactics against other clergy members. A former gang member who worked at the Baker House confronted Reverend Jeffery Brown and told him not to "fuck with the women at the Baker House."<ref>{{Cite web |last=McPhee |first=Michele |date=2006-12-15 |title=Divine Wrath |url=https://www.bostonmagazine.com/2006/12/15/divine-wrath/ |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=Boston Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
The most serious allegations against Rivers involve a 2017 incident in which a 17-year-old client of the Baker House was allegedly raped by a staff member on the premises. According to reports, Rivers tried to dissuade the victim from reporting the assault to the Boston Police. While the alleged rapist was charged, a grand jury investigation considered whether Rivers had broken the law by attempting to cover up the incident.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McPhee |first=Michele |date=2006-12-15 |title=Divine Wrath |url=https://www.bostonmagazine.com/2006/12/15/divine-wrath/ |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=Boston Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
The fallout from the rape allegation has been significant for Rivers and the Baker House. Funding sources, including the state government and the Boston Police Department, have cut ties with the organization. Rivers is now reportedly planning to step down from his leadership role.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McPhee |first=Michele |date=2006-12-15 |title=Divine Wrath |url=https://www.bostonmagazine.com/2006/12/15/divine-wrath/ |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=Boston Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
Despite his controversial reputation, Rivers has maintained significant political influence over the years, with politicians "lining up Rivers's support" and "showering the Pentecostal minister and his causes with faith-based partnership grants." However, his alleged misconduct has increasingly led some of his powerful supporters to distance themselves from him.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McPhee |first=Michele |date=2006-12-15 |title=Divine Wrath |url=https://www.bostonmagazine.com/2006/12/15/divine-wrath/ |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=Boston Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> == Views ==
Rivers is a political conservative. He is pro-life; and against gay, lesbian, and trans marriage.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-06-18 |title=Abortion Rights Supporters, Opponents Turn Out For State House Debate Over ROE Act |url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2019/06/17/roe-act-emotional-debate-massachusetts |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=www.wbur.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=shared&v=2RduHZEFECQ |title=Reverend Eugene F Rivers III Marriage March 2014 |date=2014-06-23 |last=NationForMarriage |access-date=2025-01-02 |via=YouTube}}</ref> Rivers spoke at the National Organization for Marriage's Marriage March in 2014 to oppose marriage equality in advance of the United States Supreme Court hearing arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=shared&v=2RduHZEFECQ |title=Reverend Eugene F Rivers III Marriage March 2014 |date=2014-06-23 |last=NationForMarriage |access-date=2025-01-02 |via=YouTube}}</ref>
Rivers has long described himself as a "secret ops" player in Boston-area politics.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rev. Eugene Rivers courts controversy, stays in media spotlight – The Bay State Banner |url=https://www.baystatebanner.com/2014/04/16/rev-eugene-rivers-courts-controversy-stays-in-media-spotlight/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=www.baystatebanner.com}}</ref>
He has unique views on the state of the Black community in the US compared to their enslaved ancestors. In an essay penned in 1992 has stated: <blockquote>"Unlike many of our ancestors, who came out of slavery and entered this century with strong backs, discipline, a thirst for literacy, deep religious faith, and hope in the face of monumental adversity, we have produced 'a generation who [do] not know the ways of the Lord'—a 'new jack' generation, ill-equipped to secure gainful employment even as productive slaves."<ref>{{Cite news |last=III |first=Eugene F. Rivers |date=1992-09-01 |title=On the Responsibility of Intellectuals in the Age of Crack |url=https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/reverend-eugene-rivers-on-the-responsiblity-of-intellectuals-in-the-age-of-crack/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |work=Boston Review |language=en-US}}</ref></blockquote>Rivers is a strong advocate for the Black community being civilly responsible and is quick to chastise the community for not being politically engaged. However, Rivers himself spent the eighties, nineties, aughts, and beyond not voting. This even applied to candidates he endorsed and campaigned for.<ref>{{Cite web |title=City's media enable Rivers's hustle {{!}} Dorchester Reporter |url=https://www.dotnews.com/columns/2013/media-enable-rivers-s-hustle |access-date=2025-01-04 |website=www.dotnews.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Nanos |first=Janelle |date=2013-10-03 |title=Reverend Eugene Rivers In Hot Water Over Voting Record |url=https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2013/10/03/rev-eugene-rivers-gets-hot-water/ |access-date=2025-01-04 |website=Boston Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> Linda Dorcena Forry, a Haitian-American woman who ran for mayor of Boston in 2013, said of Rivers:<blockquote>“The hypocrisy is disgraceful, particularly when we consider the blood, sweat, and tears that have gone into securing the right to vote for all, especially for African-Americans and women.”<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-04 |title=He says vote, but doesn't - The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/09/29/rev-eugene-rivers-lectures-about-black-political-power-too-bad-doesn-vote/12gLvDkBO7SNh0Twl0AmsI/story.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250104030040/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/09/29/rev-eugene-rivers-lectures-about-black-political-power-too-bad-doesn-vote/12gLvDkBO7SNh0Twl0AmsI/story.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2025-01-04 |access-date=2025-01-04 }}</ref></blockquote>
==Family==
Rivers is married to Jacqueline Olga Cooke-Rivers, who earned her PhD at Harvard University under the tutelage of Orlando Patterson.<ref>{{cite web |title=Biography Jacqueline Olga Cooke-Rivers |url=https://sociology.fas.harvard.edu/people/jacqueline-cooke-rivers |website=Harvard Sociology Department |access-date=September 24, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Jacqueline Rivers |url=https://www.newyorkencounter.org/jacqueline-rivers |website=New York Encounter |access-date=September 24, 2023}}</ref>
Rivers' parents, Mildred Bell Rivers and Eugene F. Rivers, Jr., were members of the Nation of Islam.<ref name=history>{{cite web |title=Reverend Eugene Rivers |url=https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/reverend-eugene-rivers |website=The History Makers |access-date=September 28, 2023}}</ref> They met as students at the Colored Normal Industrial Agricultural and Mechanical College of South Carolina.<ref name=oral/> Both of his parents served in the U.S. military during World War II.<ref name=oral/>
Mose Rivers, the paternal great-grandfather of Eugene, was born a slave.<ref name="oral">{{cite web |title=Oral History Eugene Rivers |url=https://www.thehistorymakers.org/sites/default/files/A2007_063_EAD.pdf |website=The History Makers |access-date=September 28, 2023}}</ref>
== See also ==
* GTA Faith Alliance * ''The Toronto Rap Project''
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fAWRr4ynro Ryan Sorba and Dinesh D'Souza Discuss the Side-Effects of Social Programs...and expand on River's words] *[http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2001/augustweb-only/8-6-24.0.html Christianity Today. Feb. 5, 1996, CT Classic: Separate and Equal - Martin Luther King dreamed of an integrated society. Boston minister Eugene Rivers thinks it was the wrong dream, by Wendy Murray Zoba] *[http://www.ntlf.org/Rivers_articles/REVEREND_EUGENE_RIVERS.htm The Boston Phoenix, July 17 - 24, 1997 - The Future of Boston - The Reverend Eugene Rivers]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivers, Eugene}} Category:American Pentecostals Category:Living people Category:African-American activists Category:African-American Christian clergy Category:American Christian clergy Category:1950 births