Blog Talk Radio: The We Count Episode: What Would Black Jesus Do?

Did you happen to catch the We Count!: The Black Agenda Is the American Agenda Summit hosted by Tavis Smiley yesterday? If you did not, then you can catch it here. And this summit will be our topic for discussion on tonight.

Let me repeat a question that I’ve posed many times before: What is the Black Agenda? I keep hearing about this “Black Agenda,” but as of yet, no one has been able to articulate a cohesive, coherent Black Agenda for me. And on yesterday Tavis Smiley convened a panel of august African American community leaders, religious leaders, and scholars to discuss just that—The Black Agenda.

However, at the end of four hours, I still had not gotten a better grasp of this agenda though one of the panelists did suggest that those in attendance and those looking on could purchase a copy of this agenda in the form of Tavis Smiley’s book, but no real consensus seemed to be reached.

But this show is our attempt to make sense of the proceedings of that summit. Did that summit meet your expectations? What do you think was accomplished by that summit? What are you feelings toward the proceedings of that conference? Did that summit inspire you, spur you to act?

Come and join our own august panel of guests as we attempt to get to the bottom of this Black Agenda yet again. iluvblackwomen will be in the house, as will the dynamic Brother Jesse, and California community activist Alvin Herring.

And we look forward to you being in the house as well. Remember, the show starts at 9 PM EST. You can join us on our show platform page by clicking here, or you can dial in to listen to the show at 914-803-4881.

The Black Agenda: Black Leadership in the Age of Obama

Take just a second and listen to the exchange embedded above between Tavis Smiley and Rev. Al Sharpton. Can you tell me just what is happening here? First of all, I’m a bit surprised that this very public and seemingly acrimonious disagreement took place the way it did. Usually, African Americans do not air our dirty laundry in public like that. But most importantly, I am wondering what are they arguing about anyway?

Many times I’ve asked readers to enlighten me on just what is this “Black Agenda” I keep hearing so much about. And not only that, what this “Black Agenda” consists of. Furthermore, just who set this “Black Agenda”?

We have any number of people claiming the mantle of leadership in African America, and any number of people claiming to represent “The Black Agenda,” but I cannot for the life of me figure out what this “Black Agenda” is, nor can I find it articulated anywhere. Not only that, I cannot figure out exactly who is out front leading, and more specifically, where they are leading African Americans to?

Plus join me tonight along with RiPPa, our new co-host Fungke Blak Chik, and special guest Kris Broughton of the blog Brown Man Thinking Hard and contributor to Slate Magazine, Talking Points Memo, and The Big Think, as we engage in a round table discussion on the relevance of “Black Leadership” in the age of Obama.

Using the recent controversial and very public disagreement between Al Sharpton & Tavis Smiley on national radio, we’ll explore this disagreement to expand on the idea of a “Black Agenda.” Or what exactly is a “Black Agenda”. How do we incorporate said agenda in our perceived “post-racial” society? How do we go about communicating said agenda and is said “agenda” a political liability for Barack Obama?

Most importantly, we’ll discuss the division within our community caused by said agenda and try to come up with a solution as to just what is best for Black America. We’ll also explore the New York Times’ piece on the CBC, and discuss their relevancy as it relates the Black electorate at large. Are they, like “Black Leadership,” doing enough for Black America?

Stop by tonight to get in on the discussion at 9 PM EST. You can either listen directly from the platform at Freedom thru Speech Radio or by using the dial-in number at 914-803-4881. And remember, the most important voice in this discussion is yours.