Seems like everything is happening in my hometown since I moved in 2001. The Super Bowl, yesterday's NBA All-Star game, an NCAA Regional basketball final in 2008 and the Final Four in 2011, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the World Series and an NAACP convention. Shoot, even my old high school won the state 4A title in basketball.
On February 25 Tavis Smiley brings his seventh annual State of the Black Union Conference to St. Agnes Church, a megachurch less than two miles from the neighborhood where I grew up. Arrrgh!
It will be broadcast on C-SPAN live and will unveil the Covenant With Black America along with the comments and thoughts of 35 leaders of the African-American community.
A Message from Tavis...
At the close of the 2005 State of the Black Union in Atlanta, we
invited the public to weigh in on the most challenging issues facing
Black America. I'm happy to report that because of the huge response,
we now have a document that outlines how individuals, groups,
communities and the body politic can move forward to make this nation
better. When we make Black America better, we make all of America
better. We all want an America as good as its promise.
The Covenant book is made up of 10 chapters on the issues identified by
the public. They include economic disparity, health, education and
environmental justice. While the completion of the book marks the end
of one journey, it is in many ways the first step for those who want to
move forward toward real progress in improving Black communities.
I took the opportunity to log on to BlackAmericaweb.com and submit a question for Saturday's forum that reads like this:
I am a college educated African-American who happens to be
transgendered and a Christian. I have been deeply troubled by not only
the increasing willingness of megachurch ministers to align themselves
with political forces hostile to our community, but the homophobic
remarks being uttered from their pulpits.
My question is this: does your definition of African-American community
include people like myself and what steps will be taken to ensure that
we GLBT African-Americans are part of the building process for our
community?
Be interesting to see if my question gets read this Saturday.