Hold Your Nose – Here Comes Rev. Cornel West & Tavis Smiley Again, Folk.

by Staff November 17, 2013 8 Comments News Opinion Politics Weekly Columns

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(ThyBlackMan.com) Cornel West said,
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“The kind of courage that these brothers had in 1971 is in short supply,” said Dr. West. “It’s in short supply. Because when you bring together the national security state and the military industrial complex, when you bring together the prison industrial complex and all the profits that flow from it, when you bring together the corporate media multiplex that don’t want to allow for serious dialogue unless we got sister Amy (Goodman) or brother Tavis (Smiley) and some others, and then when you bring together the Wall Street oligarchs and the corporate plutocrats and they tell any person or any group, ‘if you speak the truth, we’ll shoot you down like a dog and dehumanize you the way they typically the brothers in Attica’, the only thing that will keep you going is you better have some love in your heart for the people.”
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NICE SERMON, REV. WEST, BUT WE’D PREFER YOU LIVE US A SERMON INSTEAD OF ALWAYS PREACHIN’ US ONE.

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1). If you have so much “love for the people,” why is it that you’ve never taught at a school that the average Black student can get into in your ENTIRE career?
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2). And where was your “love for the people” when you sat back and watched your “Brother Tavis” Smiley be paid by Wells Fargo to Judas-Goat over 30,000 minorities into being swindled out of their homes and life savings in the Wells Fargo “Ghetto Loan” scam?
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3). And why doesn’t your “love for the people” inspire you to encourage Mr. Tavis ‘Accountability’ Smiley to be “accountable” and return the money he made off the scam to the people who lost their assets?
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4). And why doesn’t your “love for the peo ple” inspire you to encourage Mr. Tavis ‘Accountability’ Smiley to speak out on the atrocious way that his Walmart road dawgs treat it’s workers?

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UNTIL YOU DO THESE THINGS “BROTHER” WEST, YOU AND THE “HONORABLE” MR. TAVIS SMILEY HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO CREDIBILITY IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY.
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A QUESTION FOR BOTH TAVIS SMILEY AND CORNEL WEST

Mr. Smiley, do you intend to return the Millions of dollars that you reportedly made from herding poor Black people and Hispanics into the Wells Fargo “Ghetto Loan” scam to the people who lost their money and homes? And Dr. West, in your learned opinion, what is the appropriate course of action for your friend and associate to take – in accordance with the “prophetic tradition,” of course?

A discrimination lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice, and several articles, including one seeded on Newsvine entitle, “Tavis Smiley – “Ghetto Loan” Peddler for Wells Fargo,” closely associates PBS talk show host, Tavis Smiley, with the Wells Fargo Bank scam targeting poor and middle-class Black and Hispanic borrowers. The article quotes Kelvin Boston, host of

“Moneywise, and Keith Corbett, of the Center for Responsible Lending, as calling Tavis Smiley “the big draw” of the Wells Fargo scam. Specifically, the article states the following:

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“Smiley was the keynote speaker, and the big draw, according to Boston [host of “Moneywise”] and Keith Corbett, executive vice president of the Center for Responsible Lending, who attended two of the seminars. Smiley would charge up the audience — and rattle the Wells Fargo executives in attendance — by launching into a story about how he hated banks, and how they used to refuse to lend him money for his real estate projects in Compton, Calif., and elsewhere… But what appeared on the surface as a way to help black borrowers build wealth was actually just the opposite, according to a little-noticed explanation of the “Wealth Building” seminar strategy, contained in a lawsuit recently filed by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
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“Wells’ plan for the seminars all along was to target black borrowers for higher-cost subprime mortgages, not for wealth-building, the suit charged. And the seminars were a part of the bank’s overall illegal and discriminatory practice of steering black and Hispanic borrowers into riskier and more expensive loans, the suit said.”
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Subsequent to the law suit, Richard Prince reported in The Washington Independent that Smiley issued a statement indicating that he would sever all ties with Wells Fargo until charges that the company steered minorities into higher-rate loans are resolved. The article went on to say,
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“Wells Fargo sponsored Smiley’s radio show on Public Radio International, and underwrote the annual C-Span-televised “State of the Black Union” conference that Smiley organizes. Smiley’s foundation also distributed Wells Fargo materials to young people at foundation events, he told Journal-isms.
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‘“I cut everything off with Wells Fargo,’ Smiley declared. He said the move cost ‘a lot of money’; he said he did not know how much.”
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On July 12, 2012 Charlie Savage reported in the New York Times that Wells Fargo Bank agreed to pay $175 million to settle the discrimination suit which, according to the Department of Justice, targeted over 30,000 Black and Hispanic borrowers for subprime loans with a higher interest rate than for similarly situated White borrowers between 2004 and 2009.
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What makes it particularly ironic that Tavis Smiley would be associated with this scheme to target poor and middle-class minorities is that Smiley is the primary promoter of what he calls “The Poverty Tour,” along with his friend and associate, former Princeton professor, Cornel West. During the tour, on their joint radio talk show, and on numerous media appearances, Smiley and West have gained a reputation for being President Obama’s harshest critics, indicating that the president is not sufficiently focused, and “accountable,” to the nation’s poor and minority community.
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In a statement by Wells Fargo put out after the bank agreed to a settlement of $175 Million, they said that while not admitting to any wrong doing, Wells Fargo agreed to a settlement of the law suit because the bank felt that it was the right thing to do.
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CNNMONEY quoted Mike Held, president of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, as saying, “Wells Fargo is settling this matter because we believe it is in the best interest of our team members, customers, communities and investors to avoid a long and costly legal fight, and to instead devote our resources to continuing to contribute to the country’s housing recovery.”
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The settlement includes Wells Fargo paying the Black and Hispanic victims of discrimination $125 million in compensation, and an additional $50 million in down-payment assistance to borrowers in the affected communities.
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So the question that remains is, if Wells Fargo Bank feels that paying compensating to the poor and middle-class victims of this scam is the right thing to do, shouldn’t Tavis Smiley, the most strident advocate of “accountability” and fervent crusader for the interest of the poor, feel obliged to do the same? Certainly, benefiting from the misery of the poor and minority community would run counter to Mr. Smiley’s zeal for the need of the powerful to maintain accountability.
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We’d also like to put that question to Smiley’s friend and associate, Dr. Cornel West. What do you think your good friend and associate should do, Dr. Cornet West? What does the “prophetic tradition” dictate is the proper course of action?
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We’ll be anxiously awaiting your response.

Staff Writer; Eric L. Wattree

More thought provoking articles feel free to visit; The Wattree Chronicle.

8 Comments

Wattree says:

November 19, 2013 at 12:28 pm

James Davis,

You seem to “know” everything but one essential and irrefutable fact – that the United States Constitution gives the United States House of Representatives sole control of ALL spending, and the House id controlled be the Republicans, which you didn’t mention once.

How, in a free society, can President Obama create jobs if the Corpo-Republican coalition have decided that it is in their vested interest to keep unemployment high so people like yourself have something to complain about and blame on Obama? Obama is merely President Obama, not King Obama.

Here’s what Forbes Magazine (hardly a bastion of “socialist liberalism) has to say in the subject:

Forbes Magazine: Economically, Could Obama Be America’s Best President?
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Firstly, let’s review just how bad things were in 2009. In 2000 America was completing the longest bull market in history. But by the end of President Bush’s tenure the country had witnessed 2 stock market crashes, and the DJIA had fallen 58%. This was the second worst market decline in history (exceeded only by the Great Depression,) and hence the term “Great Recession” was born.
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In 2000, at the end of Clinton’s administration, the Consumer Confidence Index was at a record high 140. By January, 2009 this index had fallen to an historic low of 25.3. Comparatively, when Reagan took office at the end of the economically weak Carter years the Confidence Index was still at 74.4! Today this measure of how people feel about the country is still nowhere near 2000 levels, but it is almost 3 times better than 4 years ago.
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Significantly, in 2000 America had a budget surplus. By 2009 surpluses were long gone and the country was racking up historic deficits as taxes were cut while simultaneously outlays for defense skyrocketed to cover costs of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Additionally, banks were on the edge of failing due to unregulated real estate speculation and massive derivative losses.
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Today the Congressional Budget Office is reporting a $200B decrease in the deficit almost entirely due to increased revenue from a growing economy and higher taxes on the wealthiest Americans. The deficit is now only 4% of the GDP, down from over 10% at the end of Bush’s administration – and projections are for it to be only 2% by 2015 (before Obama leaves office.) America’s “debt problem” seems largely solved, and almost all due to growth rather than austerity.
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We can largely thank a fairer tax code, improved regulation and consistent SEC enforcement. Also, major strides in health care reform – something no other President has accomplished – has given American’s more faith in their future, and an increased willingness to invest.
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http://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2013/05/16/economically-could-obama-be-americas-best-president/

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James Davis says:

November 19, 2013 at 10:49 am

Just Criticism of Mr. Obama Is Good for Black People!

An answer to black women, Eric Wattree, and critics of Mr. Obama!
Eric, I guess you don’t mind my calling you Eric, criticism of Mr. Obama is good for black folks. You and especially black women irrationally support this president’s agenda, which has proven by the Pew Research Poll (http://www.people-press.org/2013/11/08/obamas-second-term-slide-continues/ )
to be out of step economically with what is wrong with America.

Here is what “we know” as the most supportive constituency of this president:

We know – our unemployment rate has been in double-digits for 6 uninterrupted years, when you include the last year of the Bush administration. It is rarely acknowledged by this president. It is as if his approach to resolving this issue is, out of mind, out of sight. While, it is true, black unemployment has traditionally been twice that of the national rate, it has traditionally not been in double-digits.

We know – high double-digit unemployment is undermining our communities, our institutions and contributing to an increase in many of our cities to black on black crime. We know instinctively that our communities are failing and if we are to survive and retain the communities as we have come to know them, we as people must have some relief. We are failing our children!

We know – the last time we were in a similar situation, Ronald Reagan occupied the White House. Mr. Reagan in the 1984 election for President receive 9.0% of the black vote, Mondale received 91%. This president received over 94% of the black vote. Where is our return on our political investment in him, when it comes to making an effort to reduce black unemployment which is the most pressing problem of Black America?

We know – that at least one of this president’s major policy initiatives will make an already horror economic situation worst for blacks. The most important concerns of the black community are job security and job creation. The current black unemployment rate for October is 13.1% while the national unemployment rate for the same period is 7.3%. The president and Congress, if they have their way will unleash by the end of the year over 11 million undocumented immigrants upon the American labor market, through their backing the Senate bill on Comprehensive Immigration Reform! Do you not think that blacks who have the highest unemployment rate of any working group will not be negatively affected? Even the Congressional Budget Office projects lower wages will result initially as these 11 million immigrants compromise the wages of the American worker as they seek employment in an anemic job market. What responsible government leadership allows 11 million plus new workers to enter a labor pool that is already suffering from over capacity, (11 million Americans are currently unemployed) without a national job creation plan

We know – Republicans in late December of 2011, refused to give the president enough votes to pass the legislation known as the Payroll Tax Holiday Plan, and instead granted an extension of the legislation for only two months. To have the Payroll Tax Holiday legislation extended beyond two months to the end of 2012, the measure which was officially renamed, “The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012,” the president and the Democratic Party ceded among other changes, the following to the Republicans:
1) The duration of unemployment benefits was reduced. By the end of the year of 2012, the longest anyone could claim unemployment benefits will be reduced to 73 weeks from 99 weeks. (The difference is more than 6 months in benefits, gone!).
2) States will be able to require drug tests of some benefit recipients.

The reduction in the duration of unemployment benefits hit the African American community like a ton of bricks because as the old saying goes, “Blacks are usually the first fired and last hired!” This compromise caused an uproar in the Congressional Black Caucus. Out of the forty Democratic Party voting Caucus members, fourteen voted “NO” against the legislation. Among the Caucus members voting “NO” was Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, Chairman of the Black Caucus at that time, Alcee Hastings and Frederica Wilson of Florida. Among Black Caucus members supporting the legislation were Maxine Waters of California, John Lewis of Georgia and Jessie Jackson Jr. of Illinois. For a complete list of how other Congressional Representatives voted, go to http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/112/house/2/votes/72/.

We know – finally this president is not the president we thought he would be. If there is any justified criticism of this President, it is his lack of focus in regard to leveraging the resources of his office to come up with a consumer driven solution to our nation’s job crisis. The facts are the facts; the consumer represents 70% of the activities of this economy. Either the consumer will re-enter this economy as a purchaser of its good and services through slowly acquiring jobs over a period of time or through an economic job creation plan initiated by the federal government. Economist predict, the former will take at least 4-5 years for the economy to create enough jobs to match consumer spending prior to the downturn of 2008. That means, Eric, blacks will endure another three devastating years of double digit unemployment. The question is, “Does this current administration possess the will, skill, wisdom, knowledge and insight to adopt a national job creation plan geared to the consumer?” The Obama administration if it isn’t careful will turn in the worse performance since Ronald Reagan when it comes to black unemployment. Mr. Reagan left the White House after eight years in office with the black unemployment rate at 11.9%. The rate of black unemployment now stands at 13.1% and is rising. I don’t recall blacks giving Mr. Reagan 94% OF OUR VOTE! May God be with us!

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Wattree says:

November 19, 2013 at 12:32 am

James,

You make the allegation that Obama has all this “dirty laundry” but all you do is make the allegation without giving ONE SHRED of evidence of what you’re talking about. WHAT dirty laundry?

That’s what’s so ironic about this situation. Tavis, West, the Republicans, and a lot of other uninformed haters are always running around criticizing Obama, but Obama’s on Wall Street’s case. That’s why the GOP is trying to impeach Eric Holder, because he and Obama are killing their cronies.

Most American’s have forgotten all about the Wall Street scandal and have just written it off as a loss, but not Obama. He’s made them pay all that money back, with interest, (Bailout Payment Tracker), reimburse customers, admit guilt – so they can be sued – making them pay billions of dollars over and above what they stole, and THEN, making them cooperate in their OWN criminal prosecution!

But nobody’s talking about that, and Obama doesn’t believe in tootin’ his own horn. Obama is in Washington walking on water, while his critics are talking about him like a dog, he’s quietly performing one miracle after another, and then walking away from them without saying a word.

A perfect example of that is, if the Republicans had captured or killed Osama Bin Laden, they’d still be bragging about it. They were bragging about killing innocent people in Iraq in response to 9-11 for seven years. Every Republican in the country was running on it, and all they did was spend a trillion dollars with nothing to show for it. Then, Barack Obama came into office and casually took out Bin Laden with three helicopters and a handful of America’s finest, and then walked away just as casually as he accomplished it, and he hasn’t said a word. Yet, we have Republicans running around claiming that he’s the most incompetent president that we’ve ever had – and that’s in spite of the fact that they, literally, had to hide Bush and Cheney for two election cycles.

So to is severe detriment, Obama just doesn’t like to toot his own horn, but in my very next article, I’m going to toot it for him, because the American people should be lovin’ this guy. With respect to Wall Street, he’s walking around smiling and being Mr. Nice Guy in public, but Wall Street and the Republicans know who he REALLY is under that nice guy façade – Attila the Hun. Because he’s not taking no prisoners – if you screwed the American people, you’re going down – and some were his biggest supporters, the head of JPMorgan, for example.

JPMORGAN AGREED TO PAY $13 BILLION, AND IN A FIRST, ADMIT GUILT

In the past, “The banks in all the SEC cases were allowed to neither admit nor deny wrongdoing – a practice that brought criticism of the agency from judges and investor advocates.

“But in a first for a major company, JPMorgan admitted in the agreement with the SEC over the $6 billion trading loss in its London operation that it failed in its oversight. The admission could leave the bank vulnerable to millions of dollars in lawsuits. JPMorgan also reached settlements over the trading loss with the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority.”

In response, the government in January 2012 set up a task force of federal and state law enforcement officials to pursue wrongdoing with regard to mortgage securities.

In September, JPMorgan agreed to pay $920 million and admit that it failed to oversee trading that led to a $6 billion loss last year in its London operation. That combined amount, in settlements with three U.S. and one British regulator, is one of the largest fines ever levied against a financial institution. In another case, the company agreed to pay a $100 million penalty and admitted that its traders acted “recklessly” with the London trades.

1). Of the $13 billion, $9 billion is fines or penalties and $4 billion will go to consumer relief for struggling homeowners, the person said.

2). JPMorgan also agreed to provide cooperation in investigations against individuals in the company, the person said.

3). JPMorgan settled SEC charges in June 2011 by agreeing to pay $153.6 million and reached another such agreement for $296.9 million last November.

4). As part of the tentative agreement, JPMorgan dropped its demand for the Justice Department to take a “non-prosecution agreement” off the table, the person said, which means a criminal investigation of the bank’s conduct being handled by federal prosecutors in Sacramento, Calif., continues.

So they’re not through paying yet, because in spite of this “settlement” the administration is STILL coming after them with MORE charges, including criminal. And here’s another first – the head of JPMorgan, James Dimon, was one of Obama’s biggest supporters. So Obama has taken a “take no prisoners” approach – if you screwed the American people, you’re going down, no matter who you are. Now THAT’S new.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57608321/jpmorgan-chase-justice-department-reach-tentative-$13-billion-deal-over-mortgage-backed-securities/

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4real says:

November 18, 2013 at 11:42 pm

James that’s a no brainier to any one who’s half way paying attention knows the latter is far worst!

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Wattree says:

November 18, 2013 at 11:31 pm

Robert Oliver,

And I told Rev. Anthony Evans,

Rev. Evans,
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In response to your letter I’d like to say, without any equivocation, that Tavis Smiley and Cornel West, your representatives of “The Christ,” are quintessential frauds. West has a vested interest in promoting controversy, regardless to what he has to say to do it. He’s a part of the Tavis Smiley “gin mill” for controversy that includes television production companies, a book publishing company, a speakers bureau – which pays West $30,000 per speech – and a radio production company. They’re very livelihood DEPENDS on stirring up controversy. Without it, they’re out of business.
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And if you’ll notice, West has never uttered a word of moral indignation about Tavis Smiley’s involvement in the Wells Fargo “Ghetto Loan” scam, which victimized over 30,000 poor minorities, that Wells Fargo Bank settled in court for $175 million, and the Justice Department said was the second largest housing discrimination case in the history of the nation. Cornel West is the quintessential phony – both he and Tavis Smiley.
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And further, have you ever heard either of them utter one word of criticism regarding the abusive business practices of Walmart or any of their other ALEC- related corporate associates? Not a word! So take a minute to ask yourself, why?
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Reverend, you said, “These two brothers represent the Christ who cared and loved the poor. The church according to our Lord and savior must defend the poor—NBCI speaks for the poor-this is our job.”
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I have two things to say in that regard. First, I doubt very seriously that Smiley and West represent “The Christ,” because from what I was taught about “The Christ,” he’s not in the habit of employing poverty pimps and hustlers. And secondly, if you support Tavis Smiley and claim to speak for the poor, you might want to ask Smiley, on behalf of the poor, to give them their money back. After all, he is Mr. Accountability, right?
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And finally, Reverend, get over yourself, and stop running around trying to lecture the Black community like you’re the Lord’s Chief of Staff, because you’re not. You’re a preacher, period – and based on your letter – and your seeming propensity to jump out front on an issue before investigating the facts – you’re a preacher with very poor judgment.

Eric L. Wattree

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James Davis says:

November 18, 2013 at 3:15 pm

Tavis Smiley may have some dirty laundry. However, when our president hangs his laundry out to dry next to that of Smiley. Its hard for many of us to tell who has the worst laundry! And so it goes! http://www.Jobcreationnow.com

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Satchel says:

November 18, 2013 at 12:30 am

Like the The National Black Church Initiative,(NBCI) President, Rev. Anthony Evans, I am also concerned for My dear brothers, Tavis and Cornel’s safty, but I can understand why someone would want to harm either one of these brothers. What they did was a criminal and shameful act against our people.
What would Rev. Evans say to the the black people who lost their homes listening to Tavis and Cornel.

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Robert Oliver says:

November 17, 2013 at 8:48 pm

The National Black Church Initiative has a stern message for folks who have been critical of Tavis Smiley and Cornel West: Leave them alone.

“Take your hands off these brothers,” the NBCI says in a statement. “They Are Our Black Princes.”

The National Black Church Initiative, (NBCI) a faith-based coalition of 34,000 churches comprised of 15 denominations and 15.7 million African American parishioners, says it is “standing strong with Smiley and Cornel West as they continue to educate us on how the Obama administration has consistently ignored and vilified the Black community.”

Rev. Anthony Evans, President of NBCI, says he’s concerned about Smiley’s safety since Smiley has received death threats from black people.

“I am ashamed of my people that they will go after one of ours – Tavis and Cornel – as they defend the dignity of black people,” Evans said in a statement. “When I heard that black people and some black women have threatened Tavis’ life I stopped being ashamed and was horrified of the way that we have begun to treat one another. The Black Church will have none of this in our community.”

The NBCI also took aim at radio talk show host Tom Joyner, Rev. Al Sharpton, and NAACP President Ben Jealous, who the NBCI refers to as “so-called black leaders.”

According to the NBCI, Joyner, Sharpton and Jealous “have made the poor choice of cozying up to the Obama administration as the black community has literally gone to hell in a hand basket.”

“There is a dire need for them to stop criticizing Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West,” the statement reads. “These brothers are trying to force the administration to address the economic needs of the black community and to treat African Americans equally.”

Smiley and West have been obsessed with criticizing President Obama in recent years. Every few months West rolls out new material to beat up on Obama whenever he has an opportunity to meet with the media.

In an interview with the Financial Times, West insists that it’s Obama who is fanatical.

“I think at this point he’s obsessed with being on Mount Rushmore. He wants to be a great figure in the pantheon of American presidents,” West, the outspoken Princeton University professor, told the Financial Times.

“If you’re thinking about Mount Rushmore, you’re thinking about your legacy, your legacy, your legacy. Puh-lease.”

There was widespread speculation that West was upset because he didn’t get a ticket to the inauguration after campaigning hard for Obama in 2008.

For West, it seems, Obama can’t do anything right: He’s not black enough. He isn’t doing enough for poor people. He lacks foreign policy experience. He doesn’t listen to black folks.

West prefers to share his complaints about Obama with the media, perhaps in hopes that he will shame Obama into coming around to his way of thinking.

Still, West keeps piling it on. Last year, the attacks on Obama by West were particularly ugly.

“I think my dear brother Barack Obama has a certain fear of free black men,” West told reporters. “It’s understandable. As a young brother who grows up in a white context, brilliant African father, he’s always had to fear being a white man with black skin. All he has known culturally is white. He is as human as I am, but that is his cultural formation.”

“When he meets an independent black brother, it is frightening,” West added. “And that’s true for a white brother … Obama, coming out of Kansas influence, white, loving grandparents, coming out of Hawaii and Indonesia, when he meets these independent black folks who have a history of slavery, Jim Crow, Jane Crow and so on, he is very apprehensive. He has a certain rootlessness, a deracination. It is understandable.”

Meanwhile, the NBCI also said the black community has not been treated with the respect it deserves especially since the black community gave President Obama over 98 percent of the vote in 2008 and 2012.

“Sharpton is not the president of Black America; we have a God-given right under the Constitution to air our views,” the NBCI said. “The Black community is not monolithic in its thoughts. We have diverse sets of viewpoints just like all Americans.”

The NBCI said the black community is in crisis and listed inequities in the system:

• We have lost 54 percent of black spending power during this recession.
• Black unemployment rates vary between 13 and 15 percent.
• Black businesses fell sharply under the Obama administration.
• Black students are saddled with more debt under this administration.
• The Black poverty rate increased under this administration.
• Black home owners got little or any assistance from the president’s three foreclosure programs (all of the administration foreclosure assistance programs have been an utter failure of black families).
• Black women, especially black poor women, who have supported the president at 99.8 percent have nothing to show for their single mindedness of support for President Obama.
• Black youth employment numbers are worse under this president than under Presidents Bush or Clinton.
• Black colleges and universities are experiencing the worst economic downturn without any resource support from this administration. Will President Obama let Howard University fall?
• Africa was granted a five year $7.5 billion economic assistance package – pennies when compared to $200 billion in overseas investment in China.

“These are hard facts,” the NBCI said in the statement. “We have invested so much hope in President Obama and he has consistently failed us with his drone and spy programs, and his thirst for killing and talking down to our children, especially at Morehouse. He has and continues to be a moral embarrassment to the black church and the black family by not addressing their real concerns.”

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