How do I get on the Tavis Smiley mailing list? Sorry Tavis, I missed the "State Of The Black Union" conference again. Damn it! I hear it was out in L.A. this year. Nice. And I hear you had some pretty heavy hitters in the house. Black dignitaries and talking heads getting together to discuss the future of our race and where we stand in A-merry-ca. You can't get any better than that. There was Michael, Cornel, Maxine, Al, and Marc, (still no Obama, but hang in there Tavis, maybe one day) and of course they all had something to say....and say....and say...
Blogger, Faye Anderson, makes good point. Why is Wells Fargo, (one of the banks responsible for the housing collapse) the primary sponsor? Still, I have to give it to my man Tavis, he sure knows how to get those corporate sponsors. I wonder if he could cancel the "State Of The Black Union" get together one year and just ask all those sponsors to donate that money to a black scholarship fund or something? I mean I like to hear Dr. Dyson and Dr. West yap away sometimes too, but I would much rather listen to some poor kid tell me how his first semester of college was paid with money from one of the sponsors thanks to Tavis. Michael (M-Diddy) Steele was there. In between licking Rush's boots Michael has been doing the black tour thing lately. And what better place to see black folks than at the "State Of The Black Union Conference." Michael and Tavis together. What more could black folks ask for? Any day now all of our problems will be solved.
Finally, I hear that Tavis had a segment for bloggers this year. That's not like Tavis. Tavis does not like us bloggers very much. And to be honest, if you judge from this post, the feelings are mutual. But I am not mad at him. Tavis is on to the power of the Internet. He saw it work for the O man, and he wants to tap into some of that magic for himself.
Oh, and one more thing: I need some help with this. (I am serious) Do we have to go to the "State of The Black Union Conference" to be able to sign on to the "Covenant with Black America"? I have been looking for that damn covenant to sign my name to it and I can't find it anywhere. I am so frustrated. I am almost as frustrated as the poor guy who left the following comments on AOL Black Voices:
"State of the Black Union" shows that tremendious [sic]amount of research was done, every year he has the same presenters and they repeat what they said the year. Knowing what the problem is not Blacks problem, we know that black males have a high percentage of school dropout, in jail, unwed fathers and on and on and on.What have the State of the Black Union done to eliminate these problems. You have great panelists but all we get is "retoric" [sic].You did not do anything to get Obama elected, why should he bend over backward to deal with you, you are a black journalist and not considered a black leader. A high percentage of Blacks don't think your forum is necessary. Dr. West and Atty. Ogletree are the only one that discuss issures[sic] with substance.Write a book of your conclusion and make another million." ~Ernie Oglesby~
Ernie, I bet you aren't on the mailing list either.
