Comments on: Dr. Cornel West and Tavis Smiley don’t hate the Messenger…

By: natalie

natalie — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 02:21:25 +0000

The irony is that the president chose fathers day to deliver a message of accountability to black men….and now that black men (west smiley belafonte glover farrakhan etc) are delivering a similarly passionate message of accountability to the president regarding his “abandonment issues” the loyalist and President O has an issue huh?

By: SADTIMESINAMERICA

SADTIMESINAMERICA — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 02:35:25 +0000

I am not surprised at Tavis Smiley because his tactics are often times below the belt but Mr. West.. dissappointed I have always held u to the highest regard but u have fallen from grace. In my opinion.. this is a political agenda…. perhaps trying to be Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson but it’s not selling. Remeber as I remember it was a black man that whites used to kill MLK. It was black Africans that whites used to enslave Africans….

Whose agenda is this really? Tavis has been bitter for years years… sorry excuse for a black man sell out…

By: natalie

natalie — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 01:31:27 +0000

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/16/latinos-to-obama-dont-cou_n_928732.html

EVERYONE can hold his feet to the fire and have their community addressed but us?

By: James Davis

James Davis — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 16:13:02 +0000

Here’s the problem I have with West and Smiley’s tour. Poor people have been around since the time of Jesus Christ. Jesus acknowledged this in scripture, John 12:8 For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always. We didnot need West and Smiley to tell us this, that there are poor people out there!!! No matter what the federal government has done in the past and present, poverty has not been eliminated. Neither West or Smiley identified a specific solution on their tour that would have ameliorated poverty, unlike Martin Luther King during his poverty campaigns. King was attempting to have legislation before Congress passed that he felt would reduce poverty. So, what were these guys doing!! There in lies the problem. We have brothers and sisters like West and Smiley who are at the top of the heap who are wasting “valuable air time.”

They could have use their air time to guide us to a solution to the problem of unemployment among Black males which stand at 17%. They don’t get it. We don’t want you to show us the problem!! Use your air time to show us how to resolve the problem!! To show you I’ve have not used this air time frivolously as Smiley and West did.

Go to http://www.sslumpsum.com, and please, let us all realize we are in dire straits, and we are hurting out here. Use whatever time you have before the public to promote a solution!!! Thank you.
James Davis

By: TOBBIE WILLAIMS

TOBBIE WILLAIMS — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 02:42:15 +0000

listen , I,am old school if you have an disagreement with another person of color , keep in the house , try to stick together , do like all the other race keep in the family , see they stich together no matter what the case is , ..but you know that WOW MY PEOPLE

By: Sapphire

Sapphire — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 23:23:49 +0000

What a crock of crap!

Where have they been for the last 10 years???

Who is paying for this “poverty” tour?

Have they (Mr. West & Smiley) given/donated any of their monies to poor people?

What good does a tour of the poor do for poor people?

Sorry, I ain’t buying what these two are selling!

By: Agabus

Agabus — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 23:21:44 +0000

It saddens me that so many people do not understand history nor the politics of America. “Power concedes nothing without a demand.” For one minute look at the actions of the speaker of the House. He has used that very quote of Frederick Douglas on the President. You will extend the Bush tax cuts; or we will sit on our hands(Power). You will not raise taxes(Concession); if you want the debt ceiling raised(Power); then this you must do(Demand).

Now as far as unification. Never the negros who have never went along have always been out front leading the Negros who have always got along in the end. I am Gabriel Prosser, Nat Turner, Sojouner Truth and Fannie Lou Hamer, Barbara Jordan, ML King Jr.. Keep in mind that negros were not unified during the Civil Rights Movement there were several voices speaking to the same cause in a different manner.

Thurgood Marshall believed that court was the best means to Civil Rights therefore he never gave props to his frat brother ML King Jr. He wanted to be the star and the leader. He was effective nevertheless. One voice is never good enough for the same cause. People are not going to hear the same thing in same manner. We need as many voices as we can get speaking Truth to Power!

By: Tonni

Tonni — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 20:50:32 +0000

Do you really think you’re helping in any way? Why are you fighting against the President? I suggest forming an alliance with the President to help resolve issues in our society. UNITY IS POWER!!!!!! DIVISION IS DESTRUCTIVE!!!!!!

By: KRush

KRush — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 20:11:30 +0000

My question to Tavis and Dr. West is, what are you doing for the poor? As citizens with better than poor means how are you giving back to help the President?

By: Dell Gines

Dell Gines — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:45:46 +0000

I think a more important question is not what you will die for it is what you will live for. Social justice should be a way of life, not a pursuit of death. What you die for is irrelevant if what you live for has no value. What Dr. King did of value was done while he was alive.

Personally I have absolutely no problem with what the brothers are doing. Criticism is warranted if actions do live up to promises. If we can’t hold our own accountable whether it is in the White House or out, then we are sad and lost.

I often hear quoted “With great power comes great responsibility”. If someone is not living up to the responsibility confered by power, should we not call that out?