(ThyBlackMan.com) It seems that Tavis Smiley believes that he’s so important that the President of the United States is engaged in a covert conspiracy against him.
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Michael H. Cottman reported in his BlackAmericaWeb.com commentary,
“Tom Joyner’s Opinion on Tavis Smiley’s White House Accusations,” that “Smiley told the Associated Press that members of the Obama administration, whom he didn’t identify, have successfully convinced sponsors to stop funding Smiley’s ventures, including his anti-poverty initiatives.”
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As Cottman alluded to in his commentary, the mere fact that Tavis Smiley failed to identify exactly who in the Obama administration “convinced sponsors” to stop funding his ventures, and exactly which sponsors he’s talking about, is particularly telling. That’s not like Smiley. If he had any evidence whatsoever to support his allegation he’d be holding one of his PBS “
gibfests,” complete with “
expert analysis” by the prince of gesticular verbosity, Dr. Cornel West, pointing his finger at the president, and
condemning the people in the administration who were involved.
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Because the fact is, even if the corporations involved didn’t want to reveal themselves, he could have at least attributed his allegation to “a source who wants to remain anonymous.”
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But why would Tavis’s corporate benefactors even want to hide the fact that they were being pressured by Obama? Trying to put pressure on Walmart, Nationwide Insurance, or Exxon/Mobile would not only be extremely dumb on the part of the administration, but it would be a gift from God to Tavis’s ALEC connected corporate benefactors. Can you just imagine what Darrell Issa could do with something like that in his House Oversight Kangaroo Committee? He’d turn it into Watergate.
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So it seems that yet again Tavis Smiley is being deluded by his overblown ego – the same ego that made him assume that Obama had an obligation to come on his “State of the Black Union” show to be anointed by Tavis to run for president; the same ego that made him think that he’s been slighted when Obama failed to do so; the same ego that caused him to go all over the media complaining that “For the very first time in my career I haven’t been invited to the White House;” and the very same ego that made him think that he had enough clout in the Black community to challenge the first Black president of the United States.
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The fact is, President Obama hasn’t given either Tavis Smiley, or Cornel West, a second thought since he’s been in office. He hasn’t had to, because he, like just about everyone else in America – at least, with good sense – could see that he didn’t have to. Tavis and West were making themselves look like perfect fools on their own accord, so the president didn’t have to say, or do a thing. All he had to do was sit back and watch them implode – and that’s exactly what he’s done.
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It’s a monument to Tavis’ lack of foresight that he couldn’t see this coming. In October of last year in an open letter to Pacifica Radio I wrote the following:
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“Tavis and West have become the new Amos & Andy of the Black community, and their trajectory is identical. They not only fail to represent Black interests, but they’ve become a major liability and embarrassment to many in the community. This will become more readily apparent as they begin to lose the major corporate sponsors currently propping them up – corporations that make it their business to know what’s going on in the community. Once these major corporations begin to see that these two have become liabilities rather than assets, they’re going to drop them like hot rivets. They probably already see it, but Tavis and West are still of marginal value – at least, until after the election.” http://wattree.blogspot.com/2012/10/an-open-letter-to-pacifica-radio.html
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And later on the Smiley and West website I wrote,
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“The only thing that Tavis and West have to sell is the Black community, and once they lose that, which they’re currently hemorrhaging, they become a liability rather than an asset to their corporate benefactors. At that point, they become irrelevant. http://smileyandwest.ning.com/forum/topics/tavis-smiley-and-cornel-west-going-down-like-the-titanic.
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So if I could see this coming over the horizon, why couldn’t Tavis Smiley? It’s quite simple – because his all consuming and gargantuan ego blinded him to reality.
Staff Writer; Eric L. Wattree
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Agree or not? but I really don't care. Obama has done many steps to remove the poverty from the state and it is the act that I like very much about him. Obama has been a great president for his country.
nicodemus good observation..........no matter where business is conducted 9 times out of 10 it's not done by them nor do they have the capital.
nicodemus,
You bring up an interesting point. But the fact is, there are many in this country who don't judge a happy and/or successful based on how many corporate accounts they have. Many of us have the intelligence to understand that, that's not what life is all about.
People who dedicate their lives to trying to make and hoard money are trying to prove their significance, while those who are comfortable in comfortable in who we are dedicate our lives to living.
Personally, I couldn't be more happy if I were a billionaire - and I'm sure that I'm much happier than most billionaire. I love writing, and I can write - and be paid for it; I love music, and I can play the saxophone - and get paid for it if I choose; I love jazz, and one of the greatest jazz singers in the world today is madly in love with me. So what do I need with a corporation? My life is dedicated to doing what I love doing, whenever I feel like doing it, and I don't have to answer to anybody. That's what life is about, so what more could a billion dollars buy me?
nicodemus....what you will find out as you research more and more business matters business is done on public and private levels.....many billion and million dollar deals are done quietly.....it's a vast territory out here in terms of achieving commercial success....@ Eric the knowledge is power motif is true, especially in an information age....many blacks process garbage information which is why they live garbage lives
funny how some seem to have all the answers but have no corporation or industry to show how all this'success" has paid off. Among my people there are none rich. We have the have nots and the little bit more than nothings.lol
I keep hearing so-called Black activists talking about how the "White Supremacist" system is holding the Black man down. But can't these so-called intellectuals see that if White Supremacy can hold the Black man down, that means that the White man is indeed supreme!!!? It’s directly analogous to a man going home and telling his family that he can't feed them because "Willie won't let him." If Willie can prevent him from feeding his family, that means that Willie is the better man. Thus, every time we say, "the White man won't let me," we’re reinforcing the idea in our own minds that the White man is superior to us. It shouldn’t take Socrates to see that simple fact of logic.
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While I understand that “the White man” has a system in place that is designed to give him the upper hand, all the whining in the world is not going to change that system. How long have we been whining so far, and what has it done for us? It hasn’t done us a damn bit of good, has it? No it hasn’t, and it never will.
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The fact is, we will never be able to out-whine, out-scream, or out-fight, the White man. The only way we’re going to overcome the denigrating effects of his system is to OUT-THINK him. So what we need to do is shut up and stop telegraphing every thought we think; Turn off BET, MTV, and ESPN; and start educating ourselves so we’ll have something of substance to bring to the table.
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The only hope for the Black man is to make knowledge, the new soul, because God made birds to fly, fish to swim, and man to think. Thus, it’s no longer enough to simply say “I’m Black and I’m proud;” it is long past time for us to start investing in our excellence, so we’ll have something to be proud of.
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The axiom that “Knowledge is power” is no myth. The truth of that assertion has been repeatedly proven throughout human history. Therefore, with very few exceptions, it has been the most knowledgeable who have ultimately prevailed. So those who simply continue to advocate what’s been repeatedly tried and has failed miserably - attempting to whine, complain, and protest their way to equality - are on a fool’s errand. It's time, therefore, to give the novel and completely obvious a try - the acquisition of excellence, and the strength of knowledge.
As Chris Rock would say:
There are black folks, and there are Ni...s. and I hate ni...s!!! I was disappointed with the pseudo intellectualism shown by Vessey: Off topic not really addressing the points Eric had addressed. But you can't teach someone who refuse to see the reality of Black exploitation by "our own." Some of our worse enemies in trying to navigate American society has been those people who will "pretend to love while all of the time hating."(excerpt from Dr. MLK'S sermon A KNOCK AT MIDNIGHT.) We are in some of the places we are in as a people due to the fact that some black folks accept erudite speech as a pillar of strong intellect. The Smileys and Wests of the world understand this. Hence the Poverty Tours. True intellect is the ability to see with clarity; to use only when necessary, and never to condensend.
the fact that they think they are putting in work is telling in itself....even the "black conscious/civil rights" movements was a planned exercise by people who think 1000 years down the line while negroes thin day-to-day...these people think that black studies was their idea.....lol....they have been duped for a very long time....this so-called movement was never a movement: it was a staged event by greater powers. In the words of Malcolm these coons have been "hoodwinked and bamboozled." Black studies/black liberation theology is a con job. These people do not know how to interface with the world they live in. Race is and always has been an illusion. At the end of the day there are the haves and have nots. And based on what you have, your life experience wil be a certain way. I saw a caucasian woman on CNBC who became a millionaire by painting designs on martini glasses and was eventually able to sell them in macy's.....a simple idea that allowed this woman to become wealthy......how? because she used her imagination....negroes have lost their ability to imagine and this is why they sell crack, strip in strip clubs, and try to use outdated intellectual mumbo jombo that has proven to not be viable.....I had to call the ploice on a gay black male here in Atlanta for trying to solicit sex from me a few weks back...my first instincts was to whip his ass but something told me this was what he wanted...a confrontation...he was hateful because I was dressed professionally and was about business and he looked like he was homeless selling sex for a bite to eat...now do I feel a kinship with this dude or his "struggle?" Hell no because we are not family. This dude would have gladly taken th opportunity to fight, tear up my clothes and try to bring me down if I let him. But I handled things in a civilized way and the police dealt with him. Once the police saw how he acted, they didn't need to even really question me. We are surrounded by uncivilized monkeys who we think are apaprt of some struggle with us when the reality really is us struggling to get away from these coons!!! why do we move to "white" neighborhoods? Not because we want to be white like many sorry black people claim. It's because we know we can't get peace around these coons. If you were a doctor and tried to live in the hood, how long do you think would you last? Negroes would be stealing your car, breaking into your home all the time. And then would say "nigga think he better than me." Why do niggas say that? Because they know you are better than them when you're civilized. my friend who's living in Brazil now said "the most hurtful thing out here, after all my accomplishments, is being grouped in the same category with these worthless niggas." I said the more successful you are, the less you have to worry about that because you won't be in the same environments these clowns are in. Before these niggas can criticize Barack, or republicans, or foreginers, or anyone else, they need to clean up their own house first. We all know they won't don't do that
rameses,
The problem with these "Bligots" is, they're jealous. They figure that they've been putting in all the work of lying to the people and trying to build their reputations for years, and then Obama pops up out of nowhere, steps over them, and becomes President of the United States. It's driving them crazy, in the very same way that it's driving the Republicans crazy.
They all felt like big shots before Obama came along. But now, with him becoming president, it diminishes their accomplishments. So Obama's very presence is a pie in the face of their delusions of grandeur.
i agree....but it's ironic though....many of these "intellectual" negroes didn't even consider Obama "black." Some said "well his dad wasn't really black, he was African, so he really doesn't know the struggle of black people since he grew up around whites." LOL....so the very political establishment, who came out in droves in support of Hillary, are piping hot that they have to bow down to a "light-skinned" nigga!!! I love it. Obama to many of these slave-minded niggas is the overseer who was fathered by the plantation owner who is whipping their asses.....I love this dynamic....only difference is his daddy is dark as night. But you get the logic. Boyce is a woman masquerading as a man and so are the rest of these civil rights dinosaurs. 50 cent went from selling crack to to being a boxing promoter with no college degree!!!!!!! who will I listen to more? Someone who has done more with less because 50 cent is more in tuned with the ancestors than these bourgeoisie niggas who keep running to master for handouts. And in terms of holding a coalition together, there is no black coalition to hold together. You got blacks who support more the gay struggle (whatever that is) than the "race" struggle (whatever that is). "Black" has become so convoluted as a term, it has no meaning anymore. There is no side which lets you know that you have to do for self and put yourself around a small team and get things done that way. Black organizations are an oxymoron because blacks and being organized just doesn't seem to go together on a large scale. I give you a lot of credit: you go hard but they will never listen. Can you imagine what malcolm felt like to feel like he was up against white folks and his own? Malcolm's death proved that we have been dealing with a devilish people who claim they wanted to be free, got free, and did nothing with the freedom but squander it and now have allowed foreigners come and accomplish more in one generation than they do in three.......go figure