America's Next Chapter - A discussion about the current state of the nation

"Is There a Brighter Future for the Next Generation?"

Watch/Hear an interesting discussion from earlier this month on the state of America and the outlook for future generations. The event was moderated by Tavis Smiley and was held at George Washington University. I'm not all that crazy about Tavis Smiley, and you could probably pick up a hint of the animus that he still has for Obama... but despite that, the event provides a good alternative "State of the Union".

I prefer this lineup of speakers over panels that Smiley typically has for predominantly Black events. This provides a greater mix of viewpoints.

Watch the event in full here.

Or listen to the full program here.


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Tavis Smiley & Dr. Cornel West Talk Politics on New Show

Tavis Smiley & Dr. Cornel West launched a new radio program this weekend branded as "Smiley & West". I actually enjoyed the commentary. It was interesting to hear Dr. West on the other side of the microphone.

Tavis Smiley fell out of favor with me over the past couple of years. His rantings and attacks against President Obama regarding a "Black agenda" represented the last straw. I thought then, and still believe, that his position was somewhat misguided, especially considering the existing political realities. I think we need a class discussion rather than a discussion that is framed in terms of race. If you always make race the issue....you lose the nations attention. Five decades ago MLK understood that the next battle would be economic justice and that it had to be framed in the context of class. This was why he pushed his poor peoples campaign.... it was not just a "Black peoples campaign" (although Blacks were a main focus)...but a poor peoples campaign. MLK's vision was so great that it allowed him to be far ahead of his time when it came to issues like poverty and economic justice. How Tavis Smiley and Cornel West so easily miss this point is a mystery to me.

But in the radio program, it sounded as if Smiley was reluctantly beginning to recognize his mistake. I still don't care much for his style or his political approach... but he is still an excellent interviewer. I see the new show being useful.... as long as he doesn't allow his personal views to pollute the program.

Listen to the first show: (5 minute interlude...program picks up again @ 6 min. mark).

On The End Of The State Of The Black Union

At about this time each year, I plan for a full day of watching Tavis Smiley's State of the Black Union (SOBU) on CSPAN. I enjoy the panel discussion, the back-and-forth exchanging of critical ideas. I appreciated that people from all walks of life were invited: academics, activists, politicians, and religions leaders. Therefore, I was saddened to hear there would be no more SOBU. To hear why Smiley stopped the SOBU, you should hear it in his own words.

To be honest, many critics took Smiley to task and we should not gloss over those criticisms. Some complained of the strong corporate presence at the SOBU. True, there were corporate entities that only see Black America as dollar bills, but that is what corporate America does. Besides, their support allowed the SOBU to be free to the public.

A criticism I always had was the strong class bias of the SOBU. There were lots of panelists talking about poor people, but rarely did low-income people ever get a chance to air their side of the story.

Read the rest at The Loop.

Microlending Makes its Mark in the U.S.

Tavis Smiley covered the subject of microlending over the past week on his radio program. This form of borrowing, usually more common in the developing World, has now found its way into the U.S. through the organization Kiva.org. Kiva allows lenders to seek out borrowers who want to start businesses that are promising and that lenders want to support.

Could this be used as a way to lift people out of poverty in this Country? Could it be used to help abandoned urban communities? I don't see why it couldn't.

Hear three segments on how microlending works, who it helps and why it is successful.

Segment One

Kiva President Premal Shah
KIVA.org's Premal Shah talks about his group's new push to bring microlending to credit-starved US entrepreneurs.

Listen


Segment Two (discussion with a borrower)

Borrower Amanda Keppert
Kiva.org has been making a difference for years for borrowers in the developing world, by using the internet to hook them up with small scale lenders around the globe. The service is now available to US borrowers, and producer Mia Lobel has this profile of new Kiva borrower Amanda Keppert.

Listen


Segment Three (discussion with a lender)

Lender Roland Allen
Roland Allen sits down with Tavis to talk about how he became a Kiva lender, and what spurred him to lend to Amanda.

Listen

To learn more about Kiva and Microlending, go to Kiva.org

A Discussion With Dr. John Hope Franklin

Hear a special interview with Dr. John Hope Franklin from 2006. The interview was part of an event at the Los Angeles Public Library, and was conducted by Tavis Smiley.

Hear an additional interview from NPR.


See post on the passing of Dr. Franklin (Thanks to Rikyrah).

Stimulus Plan Likely To Do Little For Small Businesses

Lloyd Chapman, head of American Small Business League, was critical of the stimulus package in an interview with Tavis Smiley over the weekend. Chapman echoes some of the problems with the stimulus Bill that I mentioned back in January.

Listen Here (you may need to disable firewall temporarily if audio does not load)

Tavis Smiley Discusses Miscegenation Laws

Hear discussion with Dr. Peggy Pascoe. Discussion from last week.

See Reviews
________________________

Related Post

Interracial Relationships still threatening to some (esp. Blacks).

Guess Who's Back? - Tavis Smiley

Guess who's back?

Yes, Tavis is back.

From HuffingtonPost.com:

Tavis Smiley Tackles Obama And Race
KINNEY LITTLEFIELD | July 21, 2008 04:14 PM EST

LOS ANGELES — Tavis Smiley is all wound up. His voice is rough from too much vocalizing, but the host of public television's "Tavis Smiley" talk show and public radio's "The Tavis Smiley Show" is on an oratorical roll about race, politics, and his fellow African-American, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

"There is no such thing in America as race transcendence, and Obama's going to find that out real soon," says Smiley, leaning into his words. As he sermonizes, he sheds suit jacket, tie and belt in succession, getting comfy in his spacious suite at KCET in Los Angeles after taping two installments of "Tavis Smiley" (Monday-Friday in various time-slots on PBS stations).

Despite the peaceful vibe inside his sanctuary, with its African masks and scented candle, Smiley frowns. "There's no such thing as 'post-racial' in America, because if you push the envelope too far, you're going to hear about it."

Smiley should know. For months he has been the object of an Internet firestorm for his perceived negative comments about Obama on commercial radio's syndicated "The Tom Joyner Morning Show."

Smiley found himself between race and a hard place when he criticized Obama on-air for choosing not to appear on Smiley's annual State of the Black Union cablecast on C-SPAN in February. Smiley's remarks sparked a blaze of invective by African-American bloggers, who questioned Smiley's loyalty, motives and ego.

Rest of article at link above.


We're going to take it point by point.

"There is no such thing in America as race transcendence, and Obama's going to find that out real soon,"

Uh huh.

I didn't know precisely why this bothered me until taritac wrote this:
Tavis sounds like a broken record. What in the hell does he mean about Obama finding out about "race transcendence?" Obama is no fool. I am sure he recognizes the racism that has come his way during this campaign, but he sure as hell understands that crying "racism," even when it's true, only shuts white people's ears off.

Tavis is uttering his same nonsense. Obama will find out that there's no ' race transcendence'.

WILL FIND OUT?

Color me clueless, but I would have already bet that Barack Obama already KNOWS about that.

And, he didn't find out through anything that the GOP has done.

No, we stopped the race transcendance train due to the Dogwhistle Racial PoliTRICKS of Camp Clinton.

Tavis is trying to perpetrate, everyone.

He's trying to perpetrate that the Dogwhistle Racial PoliTRICKS of Camp Clinton didn't happen.

That the incidents at the ClintonAttacksObama Wiki Page, were all our 'imagination'.

Because, if they DID happen, and he was a MUTE during this time, then what does that say about his ' Race Man' credentials?

Ah yes....

Uh huh.

GOTCHA, Tavis.

And, you have to love folks trying to do the shorthand version of what happened between Tavis and the TJMS audience.

Black folk have never had a problem with 'constructive criticism' of Obama.

But, Tavis ran into the following:
1. It began to be perceived that it went PERSONAL for him and Obama.
2. Then, it began to be perceived that it wasn't even personal for TAVIS, but that he was doing it for Camp Clinton.
3. Then, he disrespected the offer to send Michelle Obama to the SOTBU, and LIED about it. And no one remotely believes that if it had been reversed - if BILL Clinton had been offered, HE would have been turned down.
4. When Hillpatine gets to the SOTBU, he was MUTE and didn't 'challenge' her on #($*. Nada.
5. You wanna talk about someone who was talking down to Black folks...rerun those TJMS commentaries for the last 6 months. He acted like Black folks had no sense.

THAT is why the TJMS audience told Tavis to go somewhere and sit down and take a chill pill.

NOT for simple-simon ' Obama didn't go to the SOTBU' nonsense.

Tavis Smiley, SOTBU, and Barack Obama - some final thoughts

I got around to watching the SOTBU.

I've grown tired of Tavis in the past few months because of his repeated condescending commentaries on Tom Joyner insulting Black folk about their support of Barack Obama.

Unlike a lot of Black folk, I've been supporting Obama from early on.

Just recently became an Obamaholic, but I supported him with my money, time, effort, and feet months ago.

I'm tired of Tavis insulting Black folks, intimating that they can't read and choose for themsleves who they want to support.

Quite honestly, he continued that same line of bull at the SOTBU, where he was constantly condescending and questioning the ' emotionalism' of the Black Community's support of Obama.

And, isn't it interesting that Tavis sounds like a milder version of the mocking Billary that has shown up this weekend, insulting Obama AND his supporters. Interesting indeed.

My question, if I had been at the SOTBU, would have been..

I'll have to doubt the RATIONAL thought process of folks supporting someone, Hillary, who the polls have told us, a YEAR OUT

HALF OF THE COUNTRY HAS SAID THEY WILL NEVER EVER VOTE FOR HER.

Now, explain to me the RATIONAL thought process behind supporting someone with THOSE kinds of negatives.

Folks have to make up their damn minds about Obama.

You've got those who perpetrate that him voting record is akin to Sam Brownback...which is why we can't vote for him.

Then, there are those who say he is ' too liberal'...and, to be honest, I never thought LIBERAL could be used as a bad word IN BLACK CIRCLES.

Then, there are those who bitch and whine about him not 'talking about Black issues'.

Just exactly what the hell is a Black issue?

I'll give you one that I believe IS a Black issue - retroactivity with regards to those hideous drug sentences....relates to criminal justice, and ' just-us', and the feeding of young Black men and now women to the Prison Industrial Complex.

Well, guess what? Hillary's already told you that she intends to get elected on the back of sending ANOTHER generation of young Black men and women to the Prison Industrial complex - she's AGAINST retroactivity, which puts her to the right of Scalia, and ON PAR WITH UNCLE CLARENCE.

She's ready to get elected on the backs of young Black men and women and tell me again why MY support of Obama is ' emotional'.

Obama is more progressive. Obama is the only chance of ridding ourselves of the Imperial Presidency. If Obama implements HALF of his transparency in government policies, it will transform how government is scene by the average citizen.

Obama was against this war.

Not only did she vote FOR the war, she refuses to apologize for her actions that have cost 4,000 lives, mutli-thousand permanent casualties, nearly 1 TRILLION DOLLARS that could have been used elsewhere.

She refuses to apologize for her vote, and would have had us in IRAN.

Once they race-baited Obama, it wasn't even about Obama anymore.

It was about ANY future Black politician with political aspirations higher than a safe, gerrymandered Congressional seat.

If she is allowed to racebait her way into the nomination, then this will be the future blueprint as to how to take out ANY Black politician, which is why I will NEVER vote for her. I will NEVER be complicit in setting into cement the ceiling for future Black politicians.

Tavis is SUSPECT, because, he didn't just fall off a turnip truck. Stevie Wonder could see the race-baiting being done on Obama, and he didn't say JACK about it.

A LOT of the ' usual suspects' are SUSPECT because of their silence.

If a Republican had done to Barack Obama what the Clintons did, the ' usual suspects' would have been up in arms.

As it is, they were doing Marcel Marceau impersonations.

I fully expect the GOP to go after Obama with race-baiting full throttle.

But, here's the rub...

The GOP has never pretended to be THE FRIEND of the Black community.

And, the Clintons did..but, when push came to shove, and this Uppity Negro began to beat them...

They pulled out Lee Atwater's manual and used it without abandon.

And, anyone who stands with that race-baiter AFTER she's done that to Obama is SUSPECT, A TOOL, AND NOT TO BE TRUSTED.

If the shoe fits, then Tavis should wear it, no matter how many Black Covenant books he writes.

My Take On Tavis Smiley & The State of the Black Union

I believe Tavis Smiley started out with good intentions when he began hosting these events. However, they have now turned into irrelevant talkathons for the Black elite. It's more like an orgy of Black foolishness.... simply providing a showcase for self appointed and self anointed "Black Leaders" to blame Mr. White Man for all of the problems in so-called "Black America", when in fact, the source of many of the problems facing Black communities comes from within.

Tavis, his bogus Covenant Movement, and his efforts to use the event as some sort of validation for "real blackness", has become a tired affair. I have yet to see the event turn the mirror around and focus on problems that come from within the so called "Black community" and "Black culture", and to create relevant solutions. Because after all... it's the White Man doing all of this..... he's the boogey man that causes all things bad.

They just talk, showboat, have their Black themed celebration, and not a damn thing gets done in any real sense. The State of the Black Union has turned into a business, much like what the wider Civil Rights establishment has become. It's a forum for Tavis to sell his books. I think most of the annoying Negroes on the program simply enjoy seeing themselves on television.

And Tavis's antics regarding Obama have been extremely annoying. Tavis has quickly dropped down on the list of Black folk who I actually appreciate. I'm tired of this "you have to be validated by us to prove that you are really Black" bullsh@t. I'm glad Obama skipped the "Black Party". Tavis would have put Obama in a position where he would have been branded the "Black Candidate" at a crucial time when he is trying (for good reason) to avoid it. And this is exactly why Clinton decided to show up this time...it was a tactical maneuver to try to put pressure on Obama to show up... so that Billary could put him into that Box of being "The Black Candidate". Obama was smart to stay away...especially considering the fact that you don't know what kind of stupid comment one of these "Black Leaders" might make...which could sink Obama....just for being associated with the nonsensical event.

The bottom line is, Obama is running for the Presidency of the whole United States... and not for the office of Black President or Negro-in-Chief. And the man is in the middle of running a historic campaign. I think that takes precedence over Tavis's Black Elite House Party. Author Chris Chambers put it beautifully in his take on the subject.

Clinton is going to the event simply as an attempt to win a few Black votes, and to create a "gotcha" situation for Obama. I guarantee you that during the next debate...she will bring up the issue of Obama not showing up to participate in the Tavis Smiley event. But I am hoping that this tactic doesn't work...just like her other attempts to trip up Obama. But why is Tavis facilitating Clinton's tactical moves? It's no coincidence that Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, an ardent Clinton supporter, is part of the "State of the Black Union" panel. The Black Elite has come out strongly in favor of Hillary Clinton (all the more reason why I want her to lose).

Tavis Smiley knowingly put Obama in a bad position on this issue. By showing up... Obama would be tagged as "The Black Candidate", which helps Clinton...and it's exactly what she has been wanting to do. On the other hand, by not showing up, Obama somehow wouldn't be "Black enough", because he isn't bowing down to "Black Leaders"- and of course, this helps Clinton as well, because she can then use the absence against him. See how this works? See the kind of Catch 22 they tried to put him in?

I watched several of these programs in recent years, but I will skip this one. I was flipping through the channels and caught a 5 minute snippet on C-Span (i'm a C-span addict), but I had to change the channel after Dick Gregory made a joke about Black men raping women. Just the kind of imagery we need Mr. Gregory. Just what I need as a man with Brown skin. More negative bullsh@t imagery and stereotypes to deal with.

Yeah... it's a bitch being Black, but I believe today, the source of most of the grief comes from within, particularly from the Black elite.... and not from "The Man", Jim Crow, or the KKK.

I'm sure they talked about Hurricane Katrina.... but I wonder when they will talk about Hurricane Negro.

Charlie Rose Interviews Dr. Cornel West & Tavis Smiley

Interview took place a few weeks ago.



They devote much of the segment to "The Covenent" - The so-called list of the top issues facing African Americans. I never bought into "The Covenent" because for the most part it ignores the issues of Personal responsibility, family, parenting, values, education, and the Cancerous & self-cannibalistic Black Popular Culture, particularly Hip Hop culture & the issue of Black on Black crime.

I have always felt that there was no point in trying to deal with the issues of the Covenent without first dealing with the intra-racial issues listed above. This is especially the case if there is going to be a comprehensive approach to dealing with the biggest issues impacting most Black Americans. The Covenant, as is, offers only a band-aid to the problems in so-called "Black America". Without dealing with Black on Black violence, the degredation of the image of Black people which is usually perpetrated by Black people, the lack of family values... & lack of even the concept of family itself, the lack of Fathers, the lack of value and emphasis on education (and a general plague of anti-intellectualism)... the other Covenant issues won't mean much. In fact, the Black elite establishment has been raising the Covenant issues for years and have made little progress on the whole, because the core issues that I mentioned have never been tackled head on. The "Black Establishment" continues to ignore the negative impact of degenerate Hip Hop music and culture on young Blacks. In fact, the establishment often embraces the poisonous values that are celebrated in the Rap culture. Can this go on for much longer?

I agree with Dr. West on several of his general ideas, but I also disagree with West, Tavis Smiley and others from the old traditional Civil Rights school of thought on many issues. Many of these figures believe that somehow the Government can come in with a program and money to fix the problems that I have mentioned. That is not the case. These are problems that cannot be fixed by the Government. I am sure that Tavis Smiley and Dr. West are not oblivious to this fact. But at the same time, they may be reluctant to air dirty laundry for fear of losing Black support. This situation leads to more pandering by Tavis Smiley & others, rather than any push towards real solutions... because the parties in so-called "Black America" cannot agree on what the problems are. Unfortunately Black folks (not all, but many) don't want to hear about the dirty laundry. And they certainly don't want to clean it. Instead, they would rather continue to ignore that these problems even exist. And in fact, the so-called "Black Community" has moved to new standards, or a new normal in terms of what is acceptable behavior, an acceptable lifestyle, acceptable parenting, etc. This has had devestating consequences, because it has had the effect of speeding up the Black Race to the bottom instead of slowing it down.

Tavis Smiley's "Covenant" approach puts the cart before the horse. I tend to support the side of Bill Cosby, Alvin Poussaint, John McWhorter, Juan Williams and others, regarding the need for so-called "Black America" to deal with important intra-racial issues.

This was still a great interview from Charlie Rose... they spoke about other issues as well. I don't agree with the Black litmus test nonsense either. I think Black folks have to get away from this kind of thinking.

On Clarence Thomas - I Wonder What His Grandfather Would Say Now

Clarence Thomas gave an interesting interview on 60 Minutes this week...and he covered everything from his upbringing to his thoughts on race. I learned some interesting things that I had not known about the man. He is definitely an interesting character and he remains as controversial as ever.

Since I have gotten older I find myself falling somewhere in the middle on Thomas. On one hand I find his vehement opposition to all forms of affirmative action as being a little hypocritical. I myself don't like the idea of affirmative action in certain forms, such as quotas for example. However, affirmative action in its most healthy form reaches out to more minority workers, provides better access to interviews and knocks down barriers so that minorities can compete on a more even playing field. That kind of affirmative action (outreach, etc) is healthy. Quotas are not. And when it comes to affirmative action in education, I am more open to providing minorities with a shot. Although, again... I don't support such decisions being made simply on the basis of filling a quota. The student should show the ability to perform. But Thomas seems to reject all affirmative action and sees all of it as something negative, even though he benefited from it. In other words, it was as if he was saying that he regretted his success...or that he regretted the path that he took to become successful.

I am also more sympathetic to his views on being pigeonholed or put in a box and being expected to act, and think a certain way (by all, but especially by other Black Americans), simply based on having brown skin. Personally, I have always hated that.

On the other hand, he seems to understand the place that African Americans hold in history and understands the Black struggle and the struggle of the poor, and claims to help the poor & disadvantaged, yet his actions on the Court don't seem to correspond with his own understanding of (and experiences with) that struggle.

I also never believed that he was the best qualified person for the job of Supreme Court Justice, nor the best qualified African American. He was a candidate of convenience. As the 60 Minutes interview points out, there did not seem to be a serious competitive process for the position. George H. W. Bush (much more intelligent, and savvy than his dreadful Son), seems to have made a strategic choice of sorts by picking Thomas. Bush needed to put a Black face on his Conservative agenda. But then again, I wonder if Thomas was even the best qualified Black Conservative at the time.

As you can see, (as I mentioned) I fall somewhere in the middle on this man. After seeing the 60 minutes piece I should have been left with a clearer picture about him, but he is even more of a puzzle to me now than he was before.

One positive thing that Thomas (and others like Condoleeza Rice) shows to the American public...is that Black people in this Country are not a monolith...that we don't think alike.

One problem with the program was that the host did not challenge Thomas on his record on the court.

Below is the 60 minutes piece with Justice Thomas (with 2 additional parts). And below that I have included an interesting Roundtable discussion hosted by Tavis Smiley. His guests are Marc Morial, Farah Jasmine Griffin, and Dr. Cornel West.

Part 1




View Part 2

View Part 3

Now for the response from Tavis Smiley and his special PBS Roundtable on Clarence Thomas

LISTEN TO PROGRAM

Black Republican Response and Tavis' Debate

In a previous post, GOP Leading Candidates Snub Tavis' Forum at Morgan State, I pointed out that Rudy, Flipping Mitt and Straight Talk Express had all bagged on attending Tavis Smiley's All American Presidential Forum in Baltimore at Morgan State University. Since then Law & Order Man has dropped out too.

I wondered where were the responses from the Black Republicans and Black Conservative Bloggers?

Until then, only Michael Steele and Shay from Booker Rising had responded.

Found this article at HuffingtonPost.Com on the Black GOP response:

Some key sections:

"Reaction among black conservatives is divided over news this week that Republican presidential frontrunners had pulled out of a long-scheduled debate at a historically black college.

"Many people think that Republicans don't care about the black community," Don Scoggins, President of Republicans for Black Empowerment, told the Huffington Post. "I know that's not true, but it's hard to dispel when have we major candidates who say they have scheduling conflicts."

Tavis Smiley, a PBS TV host who is moderating the debate, earlier expressed doubts that Republican front runners had scheduling conflicts that prevented them from attending. His skepticism was shared by Scoggins of Republicans for Black Empowerment.

This wasn't something that just came up, this has been planned for months," Scoggins said, noting that the Morgan State debate was announced at the same time Democrats debated at Howard University in Washington DC in June.

True. They've known about it for at least six months, and couldn't find time to go?

Uh huh.

Other black conservatives were far more forgiving.

"I truly believe that Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, and John McCain can't make it because of scheduling conflicts," said black conservative pundit La Shawn Barber on her blog Wednesday. "I'm hopelessly naïve, I guess."

I guess naive is a word for it.

But the leader of another black Republican organization said Scoggins' disappointment was misplaced.

"The message the Democrats are sending to black children is that they should celebrate their victimhood rather than get a good education, become prosperous, and god forbid vote for a Republican," said Frances Rice, the chairwoman of the National Black Republican Association. "If you do that, they will castigate you as an Uncle Tom, an Aunt Jemima, or as a House N-word, when it's the Democrats who are devastating our communities. That is what we should be talking about."

She argued that the debate has been stacked against Republican candidates.

"I have no idea what Tavis Smiley will do, but I know his behavior and conduct in the past has been highly supportive of Democrats, and highly critical of Republicans," Rice added. "There are people who just want an opportunity to beat up on Republicans."

HUH?

Um, ok. Tavis didn't even take questions for this one, which, for me, made it already suspect, and attempting to bend over backwards for the GOP. But, it's not like they would be surprised by the questions. He made it clear that it would be based on The Covenant. And, is Ms. Rice trying to say that the GOP has no solutions of its own for the problems outlined in The Covenant? Why should the Black community give the GOP a chance if they're not willing to present their own ideas to problems that have been presented to them?

This is a GOP -centered event. A time where the GOP candidates can present THEIR ideas and solutions to a captive Black audience.


I told you that some Black GOPers would become creative in their explanations as to why it's ok that their candidates don't show up.

I have been proposing my own idea for a debate though: since the GOPers only seem to want to debate when the 'Fix Is In', why don't THEY take the CBC/Fox News Debate Slot? Can't fix it anymore than that.

GOP Leading Candidates Snub Tavis' Forum at Morgan State

Was listening to Tavis Smiley this morning on the Tom Joyner show, and his commentary was about how:
1. Rudy Giuliani
2. Mitt Romney
3. John McCain

have ALL sent their ' regrets' about Tavis' All-American Presidential Forum. I wrote a post on Sunday about the GOP snubbing Univision, and McCain was still in. Now, he's dropped out too.



This is not an isolated incident. In forum upon forum, the GOP has come up missing when it comes to speaking and presenting in front of Black audiences. ONLY TOM TANCREDO has bothered to present himself to a Black Audience, where he was received well.

Tavis did a 'Shout out' to his fellow Black Republicans, asking them why they were so silent on this matter. They keep on yapping that the GOP is a valid alternative for Black America, yet, when a nationally televised forum is put together so that GOP Candidates can present what they believe are GOP answers to concerns of the Black community, three of their Major Candidates don't even bother to respect Black Americans with their presence.

Why aren't these Black Republicans CHALLENGING their own frontrunners to appear in front of a Black audience?

I will give Maryland Senatorial Candidate Michael Steele credit. In an interview this week, Steele said that the GOP should be at Tavis' forum, and that they need to either ' put up or shut up' about being serious about presenting a platform to the Black community.

But, I haven't heard from any more prominent Black Republicans or Conservative Bloggers...their silence is deafening. And, until they speak up and out about this, they should just keep quiet about the GOP actually being a ' choice' for Black folk. But, as with so much else with the GOP, Black Republicans will find some sort of mental gymnastics to excuse this away.





Related Article:

GOP Candidates Snub Univision

Democratic Forum - Talking loud an saying nothing PART II

The political talking heads were all there. All the Democratic candidates, You know all the names. Tavis (prime time) Smiley moderated while Dewayne Wickham, Michelle Martin and Ruben Navarrette asked questions. It was the first time a panel of journalist of color got a chance to asks questions of the candidates.

The questions were loosely based on Tavis Smiley’s book The Covenant With Black America. The outgoing Howard University President welcomed the crowd, while syndicated talk show host and party man, Tom Joyner introduced newly elected Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. YES!

The first issue for discussion was Education and matters of race.

First up, the ever condescending Hillary Clinton who gave her bogus and insincere diatribe about today’s Extreme (Supreme) Court ruling, and her need to say “there is work to be done.”

AAPP - OK, as if Black America needed you to tell us this.

Next up, Joe (Obama is the first bright, clean and articulate man) Biden talks about what a great job he (himself) has done as a member of the Judiciary committee grilling Supreme Court Justice, John Roberts, and how it's the Roberts court that has turned the clock back. Hey and let's not forget Bill (I’m Latino-don’t get my last name twisted) Richardson who stressed, the next president needs to lead a dialogue on race. But provided nothing concrete other than the president needs to talk about race.

I was feeling John Edwards, who was one of the few "sincere" candidates at the forum. He at least admitted that there continues to be a dual public school system in America - one for the affluent, and ones for the poor.

Hello, Brown V. Education 2007.

Let’s not forget brother Barack Obama who received applause every time he smiled. Yes it was clearly an Obama crowd at this Forum. but maybe not Obama’s night.

Obama tried to say there should be mutual citizen and government action to get us where we are going as Nation regarding education.

OK, Obama sounds great, but, no strategy, no plan just smiles for the cameras. Oh yeah, there are other candidates like Dennis Kucinich who pointed out the need for universal kindergarten and day care. Hello!

Hey let us not forget about the blue eyed soul 2nd cousin, Mike Gravel.

What, you ask, "who is Mike Gravel," hey, this is the only guy who calls it the way it is, and talks about the real issues like the alleged War On Drugs, that caused the disproportionate number of black men and women to be behind bars.

Hey, what about the silver haired “certified” liberal, Chris Dodd. Dodd who has no chance of getting the nomination, sounded like he read the playbook from his look alike, Jack Kemp.

You get a sense of the discussion. Clinton with “It takes a village to raise a child..” which she stole. To clinton saying the village has failed its children. No Senator Clinton “America” destroyed its children. She makes me sick with that old school, “socioeconomically deprived” crap. But I have to wonder what type of drug Gov. Richardson and others were on when they responded to the HIV question.

Did you check out how Richardson continued to talk about “Needles.” Are black teenagers throughout America using needles to cause the high numbers of HIV? My understanding is it is un-protected sex. (education) not needles dude.

Hello this man is misinformed. Hey, Obama, was on point regarding HIV and homophobia issues in our community and the need for universal health care. Kucinich was on point regarding the need for sex education.Hello, Richardson, who ever your handlers are they did a bad job about coaching you about HIV and the black community. I like Chris Dodds approach regarding school-based clinics where children can get advice on sex education. But I’m not sure Chris Dodd is up on recent events. The Extreme Court has sent us back 50 plus years. We will be glad to have a toilet in the next 5 years. Here comes Hillary, If HIV/AIDS were the number one cause of death for white women a lot more would be done.

Hap hap, people are we!. The black women scream, yes, yes, she identifies with us! Yes, I’m voting for Hillary! YES, there is a God. Great one liner Hillary you got the black women vote. At least the one’s here who gave you the evenings only standing ovation. WHAT!

Oh, hell to the no, says Biden. You are not going to out do me Hillary!

Hey black guys, In my state I have gone into the black neighborhoods in Delaware talking to black men about wearing condoms. what! See Brotha’s I know whats going on in the hood. Biden even says, hey, I even got tested for HIV, hey, Barack Obama did too! Holy Shit! What the hell!

It went down hill from there.

That’s how it was for the rest of the night. Pointless.

Tavis Smiley attempted to have the Democrats come to the black community to have them address issues of importance to us. Unfortunately, the format sucked, and as usual the Democrats brought us a circus.

It was the Barnum and Bailey circus at it’s best. And black folks, lead on by aging black leaders watched the three ring circus and clapped, and watched, and clapped, and watched, and clapped.

We watched as Democrats gave us a dog and pony show, with an invisible dog and pony. I would have loved to enjoy the stupid pet tricks. No commitments just hollow words. The Covenant With Black America had no meaning at this forum. The little meaning available was Tavis Smiley (new school) and a bunch of old school black political opinion makers and civil rights icons having the opportunity to shake hands with a number of Democratic candidatess. WOW! If there is truly any meaning in that!

Hey, but guess what, we have a Latino and a African American running for the presidency of the United States. A clueless and confused group of people who proved last night, they have no idea how to truly address America’s issues that are Black, white, and gray.

The bottom line was, for me, the forum was truly just another Barnum and Bailey - Democratic Circus, with the best financed clowns money can buy. I only wish they had graduated from clown school and rehearsed their skit, so this African American Political Pundit could have at least enjoyed the show.

Tavis, maybe next time, with the Republican event you’ll ask the Universal Soul Circus to come to town. We can at least get a laugh when the bigoted Republican Circus comes to Baltimore.

Candidly, I can’t wait to see who they put in the front seats of that circus! Colin (WMD) Powell, or Clarence (you blacks stay in your poor schools) Thomas?

The Media Bloggers Association & the PBS Debate

The following is a response to commenter Denise, regarding the credentialing of Bloggers for the PBS debate. Here is the list of Black bloggers invited or "allowed" in by MBA and PBS.

It looks like you had to be an award recipient in order to gain approval from the Media Bloggers Association. I had a pretty bad experience with this group (the "MBA") a couple of years ago. I attempted to join their little organization shortly after I entered the world of blogging, as a way to help me get started... but I was told at the time (in so many words) that I was not elite enough. I basically told them that they could go straight to Hell.

The MBA is an elitist white-run group... which is reflected in how they choose people to "credential". Their aim is to gain favor with the big media (which is what they are doing here). That is a horrible group to have as a filter for these events. It's an especially bad filter for an event involving black bloggers... Black bloggers are excluded & marginalized enough as is.

Who in the hell are they to even know or decide who the good Black bloggers are? That organization knows little about Black bloggers... and I doubt if they even read "Black blogs"... (from the full spectrum of what is offered). Side note: "Black blog" is usually a term that I don't care for because it paints too small of a box. The term tends to suggest that a blog is limited to certain content, mostly centered on race. I never wanted my blog to be pigeonholed or placed in any one category, because I cover all kinds of issues; issues that transcend race, religion, national boundaries, cultures, and so forth....but for the sake of this commentary I am going with the term.

Is the MBA even familiar with the wide cross section of Black bloggers? Reading LaShawn Barber and Booker Rising does not make anyone an informed reader of Black blogs.
This is why I have called for a professional organization that could represent Black Bloggers, and work in their interests. I have a vision for a Black Bloggers Association...that would be supported by existing minority media groups, or at least an Independent or Progressive Bloggers Association that could do the same function and provide the support that we need. It does not necessarily have to be a race defined or race based group. But I don't have the money or the other resources needed to turn that vision into a reality. But if we could ever get that idea off the ground... we'd be able to tell the MBA to go to Hell. Why is a predominantly White group...that has little to do with the event, deciding which Black Bloggers are allowed in????

Unfortunately, due to the divisions among Black bloggers, I am not too confident that a Black Bloggers group (a professional bloggers organization) would be successful. Based on what I have seen in the Black Blogosphere, I have plenty of reason to doubt that it would be a workable proposition. But I will keep this vision in the back of my mind.

In the meantime, I have to take advantage of the tools I have just as an ordinary blogger. This David and Goliath nature of the media is why blogs are so important. Blogs help to level the playing field...at least to some degree. I have the same opportunity to comment on the event as those who are "credentialed" and "allowed" to attend.