State of the Black Union: Opening Remarks

Good morning everybody! I'm in Downtown Los Angeles at Tavis Smiley's State of the Black Union forum. What is the State of the Black Union? It's the equivalent of a State of the Union address, but for black folks. Black people share the same concerns as anybody, but we also have very specific challenges around education, housing, healthcare and a host of other issues. Why those challenges? That's called the legacy of racism, baby.

Anyway, a who's who of black intellectuals, movers and shakers discusses the issues and challenges facing black America today. However, this is not just a discussion, because the goal is to come up with solutions for individuals, institutions and community.

I'll be live blogging as many of the sessions today as I can. You can watch along live on C-SPAN if you'd like! The crowd just went nuts while hearing a taped address from our President of the United States, Barack Obama.

Now Tavis is talking about his Covenant With Black America, which is more than a contract, it's a spiritual promise that speaks to the historical legacy.

Tavis is talking through his next book called "Accountable". It has Obama's face on it and the cover is made up of hundreds of other faces of elected officials. Tavis cracks the crowd up by saying that the book is not just about holding Obama accountable but holding every elected official accountable to the concerns and needs of black folks in America. "Presidents alone do not shape our future!"

"Never forget that we the people are accountable for making sure that promises made are promises kept!".

Oh cool, he's going to be doing an "Accountable" Town Hall Tour starting in NYC on Monday, so if you aren't here today, you can still catch Tavis and hear about the book.

Tavis just told the crowd that Prince is holding an afterparty tonight but you have to have a ticket for it! How can I be down??? How come I don't have a ticket??

Can I also just say that this is probably the most black folks I've been around in a hot minute! This convention hall is absolutely packed. Everybody is looking so positively radiant! Love it!

How nice, we just gave C-SPAN a standing ovation for showing State of the Black Union in it's entirety every year for the past 10 years! Yes, thank you C-SPAN!

Comments

Lola Gets said…
Girl, you need to get you a ticket to that Prince party, so you can tell us all about it!

L
Liz Dwyer said…
Lola,
I wish! He had an Oscar party last weekend too! I called my babysitter but she's going down to San Diego tonight. Oh well!
Shiona said…
Wow! I never even knew they had anything like this. And it's been going for ten years. I'm going to stop writing now and goe educate some family members after I read your posts.
Liz Dwyer said…
Shiona,
I know so many folks who didn't watch this year because they felt like it would just be the same conversations in a different year, and because Tavis' attitude gets annoying, but I'm glad I went.

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