CDMPTV & FILM

The call to action that came from the symposium Tavis Smiley held on March 20th, 2010, the expression for the necessity to push President Barack Obama to advance the Black Agenda was clarified for me. It became oh so clear when Michael Eric Dyson spoke on how we pushed presidents, who were not African-Americans, to put the needs of black people on the policy agendas, and how it should be no different just because Pres. Barack Obama is African-American.

Indeed, Tavis Smiley may have hit a wall with Black People in America because it sounded like he was hating on then Sen. Barack Obama. When Tavis would speak on Sen. Obama, it sounded as if he was worried about his standing with his backers of "The Covenant With Black America." He may have thought he would be the first African-American President Of The United States Of America, and with the arrival of Senator Obama on the scene, this would jeopardize his chances to see his goal fully recognized. This is purely conjecture.

What is not conjecture is Tavis Smiley may have been on to something, but he made one mistake, or should I say, in my opinion, one misstep. He was uses to people listening and loving every word that came from his mouth. He was/is for his people, but his people began to abandon him when he began to be critical of Barack Obama.

The misstep I speak of happened in this way. Tavis' words were valued, in my estimation, he thought he could do no wrong, and he forgot to pull back to take a moment to educate/inform the people on what has happened in the past. In my opinion, he assumed that everyone knew-- were educating themselves on past history where Black Politicians were concerned, but that was not the case!

Plus, Tavis was busy making sure the covenant was completed and was in the hands of politicians, policymakers, activists, etc., whom he thought could, along with his staff, begin to activate, what was in the covenant, into policy framework.

The symposium was the missing piece in the puzzle, so to speak! If he had been able to address his concerns with a table of esteemed leaders, such as he convened on March 20th, 2010, he could have educated the masses, who went along with the wave of enthusiasm 'to have the first Black President elected,' on how all presidents from Roosevelt toJohnson to Clinton to Bush have to be pushed to see the Black Agenda advanced, and how it would not be any different because Barack Obama is African-American.

That was Tavis' mistake in my opinion, and maybe it is a little bit of him thinking his work would be pushed to the wayside because of Barack Obama becoming the 44th President Of The United States. Maybe, maybe not. We probably will never know!

Action, movement by us for us was the greatest message given from the symposium. As many may know or may not know, when the candidate Obama's street teams set down in Cleveland, I had my own posters made pushing for Barack Obama. I was registering people to vote from my store, and I had been registering people since 1993 when I became a registrar of voters.

Like Tavis Smiley, Prof. Cornell West, Minister Louis Farrakhan, Jessie Jackson Sr., and countless others, who have been in the struggle, I do my part! So, the call to action, for me, from what I heard, means we have to organize and get out the vote to make sure our agenda is not killed, because people are placed into sits, in the senate and the house, who do not care for hearing what we have to say!

We have to vote not only for the top, the presidency, but we have to vote for state representation, and local government which affects us more immediately than does Federal Government. The dollars provided by the Federal Government have to get into the hands of people who are about changing the plight of The People. So, we have to do our part by voting for individuals who are For The People!

Register To Vote At Crazy Dee's Muzic Palace (Warrensville's Compact Disc Store) 20003 Harvard Ave., Warrensville Heights, Ohio 44122.

From 12n to 7pm Mon. thru Wed., Thursdays 12n to 8pm,

Friday & Saturdays 12n to 9pm.

This November, we have to be sure that President Obama is not hamstrung by a party that is not willing to cooperate with the first African-American President! And, we have to push President Obama to be favorable towards the Black Agenda.