How does the black community hold its leaders and high-profile personalities accountable for their promises and bold proclamations?
Many of the speakers who attended the National Action Network’s “Goal Setting” forum in Harlem are magnificent motivators who get people so high they have to look down to see heaven. Yet, as co-host Tom Joyner noted from the many texts and emails that poured into the live TV One event, blacks have long tired of being supercharged by well-paid speakers, as they’re quickly deflated when there’s no follow-up.
So, how do we hold black leaders accountable? Co-host and CNN personality Roland Martin and others spoke to rolling out about black people’s desire to see us graduate from eloquent speeches to concrete action and solution:
Roland Martin: We’ve passed out commitment cards. Those of you in the audience, if you want the panelists to work on education, for example, write it down. You in the audience and [those watching us on television] can write in to us at
Jeff Johnson:
Number one, I think we changed the model of how we need things to be done; two, I think that people were able to hear something tangible and real; and three, I think people were charged to do something, but I think people believe that we need to take it to the implementation phase.
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson: Number one, I think we clarified some issues that are critical to African American people; two, we specified responsibility mechanisms–that is how we hold each other accountable; three, we participated in an ongoing forum that really tries to critically reflect upon the needs and necessities of black people; and fourthly, what we did was talk about linking the black community to the resources that are politically available. And in a black agenda, that becomes the means by which we remove those resources from an abstract political realm into concrete communities.
–terry shropshire
Let us know what issue you want to work on for the next 90 days. Over the next 90 days, we will check in to see what each panelist is doing in terms of their commitment. If you want to see what they’re doing, you need to watch the show “Washington Watch” on TV One and listen to the “Tom Joyner Morning Show.” [email protected]
