Summary

Issuing a powerful call for constructive social action, the popular radio and television commentator Tavis Smiley has assembled the voices of leading African American artists, intellectuals, and politicians from Chuck D to Cornel West to Maxine Waters.How to Make Black America Bettertakes a pragmatic, solutions-oriented approach that includes Smiley's own ten challenges to the African American community. Smiley and his contributors stress the family tie, the power of community networks, the promise of education, and the leverage of black economic and political strength in shaping a new vision of America. Encouraging African Americans to realize the potential of their own leadership and to work collectively from the bottom up, the selections offer new ideas for addressing vital issues facing black communities. Featuring original essays by some of our most important thinkers,How to Make Black America Betteris an essential book for anyone concerned with the status of African Americans today.

Author Biography

Tavis Smiley is the author of Doing What’s Right, Hard Left, and On Air. He is a regular political commentator on “The Tom Joyner Morning Show” and won a 1999 NAACP Image Award for his own television talk show BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley. He lives in Los Angeles.

Acknowledgments

vii

Introduction

xiii

Tavis Smiley

Part I: Ten Challenges to Black America

(40)

Tavis Smiley

Part II: What Leading African Americans Have to Say About How to Make Black America Better

(120)

``Each Other's Keeper''

(12)

Susan L. Taylor

``History, Heritage, and Hope''

(8)

Cathy Hughes

``How We, as African Americans, Can Improve Our Community and Our Country in the Twenty-first Century''

(4)

C. DeLores Tucker

``Making Black America Better''

(4)

Maxine Waters

``Controlling Our Destinies''

(2)

Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr.

``Hard Truths''

(6)

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

``The Freedom Symphony's Fourth Movement''

(6)

Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.

``Rising Just a Bit Higher''

(2)

Nikki Giovanni

``Cherished''

(6)

E. Lynn Harris

``Updating Our Battles''

(6)

Stanley Crouch

``Getting Along''

(2)

Tyra Banks

``Full Political Participation''

101

(2)

Jesse L. Jackson, Jr.

``Rebuilding Black America''

103

(4)

Sinbad

``Leveraging Our Power''

107

(6)

Earl G. Graves

``Behaving Better''

113

(2)

Shaquille O'Neal

``A Community of Accomplishment''

115

(4)

Chuck D

``The Digital Age''

119

(2)

Darien C. Dash

``What We Can Do''

121

(4)

Marian Wright Edelman

``Try, Try, Try . . . to Teach All Children Well''

125

(4)

Farai Chideya

``Change the Children''

129

(4)

Bishop Noel Jones

``Making Black America Better Through Self-Knowledge''

133

(6)

Na'im Akbar

``The Challenge of Race and Education''

139

(4)

Charles J. Ogletree, Jr.

``Historically Black Colleges and Universities''

143

(8)

Tom Joyner

``Just for Today...''

151

(2)

Dennis Kimbro

``Our Golden Age''

153

(2)

Synthia Saint James

``The New Millennium''

155

(2)

Vivica A. Fox

``Jesus''

157

(2)

Deion Sanders

``Know---Who You Were: Who You Are; Who You Choose to Be''

159

(2)

Iyanla Vanzant

Part III: Advocacy in the Next Millennium: A Symposium

161

Panel I Panelists

Raymond Brown

Les Brown

Rev. Jamal-Harrison Bryant

Farai Chideya

Stanley Crouch

Dr. Michael Eric Dyson

Danny Glover

Earvin ``Magic'' Johnson

Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu

Dr. Julianne Malveaux

Hugh B. Price

Rev. Al Sharpton

Maxine Waters

Panel II Panelists

Charles Ogletree

Dr. Na'im Akbar

Danny J. Bakewell, Sr.

Johnnetta B. Cole

Nikki Giovanni

Lani Guinier

Jesse Jackson, Sr.

Jesse Jackson, Jr.

Bishop Noel Jones

Randall Robinson

Iyanla Vanzant

Cornel West

Malik Yoba

Supplemental Materials

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The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

Excerpts

Challenge #1

Think Black First, 100 Percent of the Time

Whenever we engage in business deals, whenever we have work for hire or contracts to be shared, or even if we're doing something as mundane as shopping, we should tell ourselves:

"I must find someone Black for this job. I must find some- place Black to spend this money." After all, we cannot blame the white man for our problems if we don't try to solve them ourselves. Our mission should be, first and foremost, to uplift the race.

How many times, in the past year alone, can you recall hearing another Black person rail about how we give our dollars to every community but our own?

Thinking Black requires more than altering our behavior as consumers or deciding to settle down in Black neighborhoods. It requires us to really part with some ingrained economic habits. We have fine examples in pop culture. Rather than watch top fashion designers, such as Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger, corner the market by appropriating hip-hop styles, Sean "Puffy" Combs and Russell Simmons countered with clothing lines of their own: Sean John and Phat Farm. The same holds true for the line of FUBU gear. FUBU's name stands for "for us, by us." And young Black Americans have responded by making FUBU one of the country's largest-selling design labels. Walter Latham, noticing a paucity of venues for Black comedy, brought together four Black comedians, dubbed them "The Kings of Comedy," and put them out on a national tour that was wildly successful. When Latham was ready to do a movie about the tour, he went with a Black director, Spike Lee.

Thinking Black first is an easy commitment to make. But don't be fooled; it is not the easiest commitment to keep. Thinking Black 100 percent of the time, however, doesn't mean we're required to act on our intentions all the time. In fact, getting our intentions translated into action can be a real challenge: At times, a Black alternative may not be available. And many of us have horror stories of being left in a lurch by a fellow Black person who simply failed to deliver. Just prior to the start of the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, for example, I sought out Black videographers to tape the symposium on advocacy I hosted (excerpts of which appear in this book). I hired three who came with good recommendations. To my dismay, they produced footage that was of poor quality and not at all worth the cost. We all have to realize that thinking Black is a two-way street. Our businesses can no longer limp along in the new millennium on the excuse that Black customers will support them. When we, as Black consumers, spend our money, we deserve quality, because by virtue of being Black we had to work harder to get our money. In my experience, this type of problem has been the exception rather than the rule. Just one experience like that can have a chilling effect, however, on the Black consumer; it can make us reluctant to choose Black the next time and leave us braced for substandard treatment when we do. I recognize that there are times when I can't do business with a Black person. But I always think Black first and always try to keep my business in the community.

For some areas in our lives, thinking Black is automatic. When we want soul food, a good barber or beauty shop, or place to worship, we know where to go. Plenty of Black people take our cars to a Black mechanic, regardless of whether he has his own shop or is replacing parts beneath a shade tree in his Backyard. But more often than not, we don't take thinking Black to the next level. We don't put diligence into supporting Black stockbrokers, lawyers, agents, doctors, dentists, Web sites. We have ourselves convinced that in those arenas, the white man's ice is colder. We complain all the time about the difficulties of being Black, of being dissed, of being misunderstood in our day-to-day dealings. Yet we have to be challenged all the time to give such business to a fellow Black person. There are other areas where we just flat-out give our business away without even asking whether we could have found a Black person to support it, such as furniture design. C'mon, people! All of us! I shouldn't even have to say this in this book. Start by at least considering the Black possibilities. It offers one of the few sure ways for Black America to climb on out of the abyss. If we can't help ourselves and look out for each other, how can we expect anyone else to?

Excerpted from How to Make Black America Better: Leading African Americans Speak Out
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.