Two months after ending his annual State of the Black Union conference, Tavis Smiley is gathering African-American advocates to press the case for a “Black agenda.”
The decision was motivated by what Smiley called recent statements from some Black leaders downplaying the need for President Barack Obama to specifically help African-Americans.
“I was compelled to do it because of this debate,” the activist and PBS talk show host said Wednesday.
The panel discussion will be March 20 at Chicago State University. Panelists include advertising pioneer Tom Burrell, professors Michael Eric Dyson and Cornel West, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and Bennett College President Julianne Malveaux.
The meeting is free and open to the public. Negotiations to televise the event were in progress.
Some Black politicians and activists have recently begun to question Obama’s longtime stance that helping the overall economy will improve the fortunes of Blacks who are disproportionately poor and unemployed.
West, for example, gave Obama a grade of C minus on policies and priorities focused on poor and working people, saying, “He has really not come through in any substantial and significant way.” Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have blocked some legislation until their demands were met.
