A rally outside Fox News headquarters led by Color of Change delivers 620,000 signatures.By Don Hazen, AlterNetAt a rally of a couple hundred people in front of Fox News headquarters on Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, Andre Banks told the crowd: "We're here to call out Fox News on their pattern of on-air racism that is trying to make the Obama's outsiders in their own country. But it won't work. Many people think Fox is a joke. But putting racism on national TV and calling it news isn't funny."Banks, who is Deputy Director of The Color of Change, a grassroots organization dedicated to advocating for progressive issues on the web, stood next to 19 stacked cardboard boxes. The number 620,127 was taped to the side of each box, representing the number of petition signatures gathered. The petition demanded that network president Roger Ailes "find a solution to address racial stereotyping and hate-mongering before it hits the airwaves."Soon after Banks spoke, he was joined by popular performer Nas, who pulled up in his black SUV, and jumped out to address the crowd. Everyone with a camera flocked around the veteran rapper to get a shot of him.Nas offered his own critique of Fox in what he sees as their long-term racist smear campaign against the Obama family. He mentioned Bill O'Reilly casually using the phrase "lynching party" to refer to attacks on the Senator's wife, and another Fox host's reference to the Obama couple's fist thump as a "terrorist fist jab." Said Nas, "Fox poisons this country every time they air racist propaganda and try to call it news. This should outrage every American that Fox uses hateful language to talk about the person that may be the first black president."(You can watch a video of Nas and the protest on the right side of the screen.)Banks explained that Nas's new album has a song called "Sly Fox," which offers a stinging critique of Fox News. (see rap lyrics below) When the Color of Change's Organizers realized they and Nas were saying the same things, they reached ou...

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Rolling Stone reports on the Color Of Change/MoveOn petition that rapper Nas brought to the offices of Fox News today: About four hours after the announcement that his controversial, politically charged ninth album was number one in the country, Nas was on a small podium in front of Fox News headquarters in New York City protesting what he sees as racist attacks against Black Americans and presidential candidate Barack Obama. In a brief prepared statement, the multi-platinum rapper pointed out examples of what he and ColorOfChange see as a long racist smear campaign against the Obama family: The onscreen graphic that referred to Michelle Obama as the Senator's "baby mama"; Bill O'Reilly casually using the phrase "lynching party" to refer to attacks on the Senator's wife; referencing to the couple's infamous fist thump as a "terrorist fist jab." Said Nas, "Fox poisons this country every time they air racist propaganda and try to call it news. This should outrage every American that Fox uses hateful language to talk about the person that may be the first black president." The rapper stood next to 19 neatly stacked cardboard boxes, with the number 620,127 taped to the side of each one -- over 600,000 signatures gathered by ColorOfChange demanding that network president Roger Ailes "find a solution to address racial stereotyping and hate-mongering before it hits the airwaves." Fox rejected the petitions, but Brave New Films says that Comedy Central's The Colbert Report will accept them instead. Watch video of the scene from Color of Change: