I finally got around to viewing a rebroadcast of Tavis Smiley's annual State of the Black Union conference which originally took place earlier this month at my alma mater, Hampton University. Perhaps what Smiley is attempting to accomplish is admirable, but I believe his annual political barbecue is misguided and ineffective. Mistake number one, The Union always appears to showcase the usual suspects-Reverend Al Sharpton (before we found out about his Thurmond shocker), his vice president, Reverend Jesse Jackson (Sharpton and Jackson alternate the Black presidential title based on circumstances and need) and Cornel West as well as a cavalcade of other African-American notables.
Over the years, I have grown increasingly weary of these gatherings that are set up as self-aggrandizing/promotional vehicles for the notables in question-with no real solutions for the Black community that they are targeting. What was most noticeably absent at Tavis' Union was a Black conservative perspective. And putting politics aside, people of color are sorely in need of hard constructive plans that can be implemented (and monitored) instead of motivational infomercials. Even the mentioning of Barack Obama at this particular function was met with suspicion as he does not come from the civil rights vanguard. The Civil Rights hierarchy currently posssess a stranglehold on the Black community with past accounts of the glory days and dated precepts. Mind you, I have great admiration and respect for what those of the Civil Rights era have accomplished, but there must be room to adopt new strategies as well as conversing and collaborating with individuals like Mr. Obama that may possses fresh ideas and ideologies. As I jokingly alluded to previously, the time for passing the sweet potatoes at these functions must cease-let's try to pass some ideas around (with rules of implementation)...for a change.
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