7th State of the Black Union

On BlackAmericaWeb.com, Michael H. Cottman gave his take on Saturday's Houston gathering of African Americans to discuss the "State of the Black Union."

Cottman writes:

Nearly 8,000 people attended the seventh annual State of the Black America symposium Saturday, a day-long self-empowerment conference at St. Agnes Church in Houston, where prominent black educators, business leaders and activists gathered to embrace a national plan to help black Americans formulate their own plan for long-term social progress and economic security.

Radio personality Tavis Smiley engaged a range of panelists that included Congressional Black Caucus chair Rep. Mel Watt, educator Cornel West, entertainer/activist Harry Belafonte, author/economist Julianne Malveaux, National Urban League President Marc Morial, former SCLC president Rev. Joseph Lowery, Nation of Islam leader Min. Louis Farrakhan, National Action Network head Rev. Al Sharpton and financial expert Michelle Singletary.

The group discussed a range of topics that included the importance of saving and investing money, building generational wealth and home ownership. While blacks spend $110 billion on housing, only about 48 percent of black Americans are homeowners, compared to 75 percent of whites.

Throughout the day, panelists echoed the notion that black self-empowerment is the solution to a myriad of social and economic concerns.

...Blacks who attended the forum told the Houston Chronicle the experience was rewarding.

"I was honored to be in a room full of such intelligent black people," Wanda Carr, of Beaumont, told the Chronicle. "I'm glad I came."

Also in attendance was Houston police Chief Harold Hurtt, who told the newspaper the discussion was "very informative, very timely, and we waited much, much too long to have it."

But Alphonso Jackson, the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and a high-profile black member of President George W. Bush’s administration, who'd confirmed his participation at the conference, did not attend the event, according to organizers.

It was not clear why Jackson didn’t show up. During the forum, organizers said they had no explanation from Jackson and a call to HUD was not returned.

Ron Walters, a political science professor at the University of Maryland, told BlackAmericaWeb.com Saturday that he believes Jackson failed to appear at the forum because the Bush administration has not made good on its promise to address racial disparities in housing.

"He didn’t want to come on stage and defend why they are not closing the gap [between blacks and whites] in home ownership," Walters said.

Black conservatives have recently complained that black leadership mega-meetings have not included Republicans, but Jackson was invited to the forum and was listed as a confirmed panelist.

Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP’s Washington, D.C. bureau, told BlackAmericaWeb.com that Jackson’s decision not to participate Saturday was a "missed opportunity" for the Bush administration because Jackson is one of the most prominent members of Bush’s cabinet and talks often about increasing home ownership for blacks.

"He missed an opportunity to reach a large group of serious-minded African-Americans who are focused on solutions to problems facing African Americans in communities every day," Shelton said from Washington.

..."While President Bush would like for Americans to look at the economy through rose-colored glasses, recent news reports tell the real truth," Amaya Smith, a spokesperson for the DNC, said in a statement.

...Belafonte told the audience that black Americans should move forward with a sense of "rebellion" and "revolutionary action."

Meanwhile, Walters told BlackAmericaWeb.com that Saturday’s forum was successful because black Americans who attended the conference or watched the event on C-SPAN were able to get "hope and encouragement" from successful black professionals who offered practical advice.

And, Walters added, "They helped tear down stereotypes of blacks."

Cottman makes a big deal out of HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson's no-show. He takes the opportunity to slam the Bush Administration, citing the various speculation as to why Jackson didn't appear.

Although he doesn't hesitate to frame the issue in a manner that attempts to illustrate a failure on Bush's part to reach out to African Americans, at least he didn't say there was a conspiracy to keep Jackson from attending, such as blowing up levees.

In spite of wondering off into Bush-bashing territory, Cottman makes the gathering sound like a rather constructive, positive event. He achieves this by leaving the boatload of outrageous statements made by some of the black leaders and prominent African Americans in attendance out of his account.

The Associated Press reports also ran the story of the symposium through a very fine filter to eliminate what can only be considered utterly embarrassing comments and reactions from the participants at the conference.

I completely understand why.

Read what the "Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan" had to say to the cheering crowd.
America must be burned! America is no good at all. If you have made a promise that you don't keep, what are you? You are a liar, a deceiver. All right, now, did they promise the Native Americans? Did they write it in treaties? Did they fulfill it? Did they promise us 40 acres and a mule? Did they fulfill it? I could run the list down of promises made and promises broken. The right to vote. You got it, but the minute they gave it to you; they were finding ways to take it back from you. Can't you open your eyes and see the house is burning? This educational system isn't worth a damn. I'm not cussing. The house must burn.
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Now, listen, listen, you can't make no covenant with black America. Why not? How, if you're a basketball player or football player, like my brother from the Philadelphia Eagles -- what's his name? T.O. They let T.O. go. But he got to wait until the cord is cut before he can make an agreement or contract with somebody else. You can't make an agreement or covenant with black America when you have made an agreement with hell and a covenant with death.
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You have good white people who want to see this covenant successful. But you're not dealing with them when you dial up. When you sit down with Bush, who are you dealing with? And do you have what it takes to deal effectively with him? All you can do is petition. That's all you can do. You sit and you confer, you talk, and you feel good. But the Bible teaches you that we war not against flesh and blood. The white folk that you have good relationship with, that's flesh and blood. They don't have the power.
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This is a government that the Founding Fathers said, whenever a government fails to guarantee life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that government either needs to be reformed or abolished. Now, when are you going to stand up? Because you don't have the juice to reform it. It has to be abolished and something new and better set in its place. You all got to take your government back because it's been taken from you by a group of smart, crooked industrialist bankers. You all know what I'm talking about. But if you don't have the testicular fortitude to say what needs to be said, then sit down and stop trying to say you speak for our people and the hurt of the poor. Now, I close. Excuse me.
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Continue to live the way you were trained, a loveless Negro that can't do what my sister said, see the problem and plan for it, because you're reactive, because you're not mentally alive yet. Can the leaders wake up? Because the leaders are blind. And if the blind lead the blind, everybody falls in the ditch. America is not going to get any better. This war is going to spread. The war of Armageddon has begun, and it will not end until an old world goes out and a new world comes in. What Katrina showed us is why we can't depend on them. What Katrina showed us is why we got to depend on God and depend on ourselves.
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Look to God, look to yourself, break your covenant with hell and death, then make a covenant with black America and let's help implement a road map that will free us and the whites that will be free can be freed by this. The Mexicans, the Hispanics can be freed by this road map. We are a universal people. But those at the top, they're on their way to hell, and if I've got any power, I want to push them into hell as fast as I can.
Unbelievable.

This is pure insanity.

Now return to some of the reaction of people in attendance.

Political science professor Ron Walters thought "Saturday’s forum was successful because black Americans who attended the conference or watched the event on C-SPAN were able to get 'hope and encouragement.'"

Wanda Carr said, "I was honored to be in a room full of such intelligent black people. I'm glad I came."

Houston police Chief Harold Hurtt said the event was "very informative, very timely, and we waited much, much too long to have it."

I am praying that these individuals are not including what Farrakhan had to say as intelligent, informative, hopeful, and encouraging.

I sincerely hope these people are referring to other speakers at the event.

"America must be burned."

I will give Farrakhan the benefit of the doubt and assume that he's using a metaphor. However, it is a horrible, hateful, violent metaphor.

It's also horrible that the lib mainstream media give Farrakhan cover.

When Pat Robertson says something insane, which he frequently does, the lib outlets are all over it. It's a major story and gets lots of press.

Why don't they treat Farrakhan's ranting in the same way?

It's as if the lib media pretend they didn't hear it.

Bias? What bias? There's no liberal bias in the Old Media.

Yeah, right.