It was the very first plenary session of conference and it was a good one.
Not scheduled to begin until 8:30 am I didn't leave my hotel room until 8:01. That left me just enough time to walk over to the convention center and be on time just in case I got lost. And of course, I almost did. You know not everyone is geographically savvy, but that is a discussion for another day, another blog...
On to business.
I walked into the convention center around 8:15 and walked almost halfway to the staircase to the second floor before noticing that I was walking side by side with a civil rights icon: Reverend Al Sharpton. He made absolutely no fan fare about his appearance and I wouldn't had noticed if people ahead of me weren't turning back to look in my direction repeatedly. After regaining my composure (which really means clearing my voice and making sure that there was nothing in my teeth) I greeted him with a "good morning". To this Rev. Al slowed his pace down just a bit to look to his left and reply with, "And how are you?" I was going to reply but you see, he kept it moving. He had to get to the plenary session. But I SAW him, hair and all and I SPOKE to him. I made my decision then and there that all I would have to do is get a photo and I would be golden.
In the Ferrara Theatre the front row seats were already full. I realized that I needed to get to these sessions earlier than 15 minutes before so that I could snag me some prime seating. (Mental note)
The split level theater had an amazing capacity and looked amazing. No matter where you sat you could see everything. But yet again I found myself not to bad off : row 5 center. What can I say, I lucked out and I was close enough to my favorite invention of all time: The Jumbotron.
There was endless chatter as people greeted each other, found their seats and spoke about the different panelists who would be addressing the topic of the black vote and whether or not we will be courted by presidential hopefuls. It truly is an issue of relevance for the times we are in now. I may be young but I don't think there has ever been such competition among front running presidential candidates for black votes and support. It is a noteworthy paradigm shift and it is long overdue.
As Mr. Morial correctly stated, we, African Americans and communities of color are people committed to justice and equality. We are a force. Yet the candidates don't always pay attention to our issues the way they should. But 2008 is proving to be a different time.
Rev. Al opened the conversation by saying that 2008 has the potential to be different. You see, a politician will only do as much as the constituents pressure them to do. We need to be aggressive and stand up for our communities as a constituent group. Because if we don't make the politicians see our issues, embrace our plans, and compete for our votes then no one else will.
Point well taken.
Rev. Joseph P. Watkins went on to say that as a community we need to change our voting habits to vote for the candidate that is best aware of our issues and is supportive of implementing a solution instead of just voting democrat because my daddy was a democrat and his daddy was a democrat and so on and so forth. Why would Republicans even venture out to compete for our votes when they figure that no matter what they say or do, in the end the black vote will flock to the democratic candidate.
Point well taken.
Let's not sleep on the Republican Party. But let's not let the Democratic Party take our votes for granted in order to get into office and then do nothing to benefit the people who helped get them there in the first place.
I may not agree ideologically with many of the stances that the Republican Party takes but it is assuring to see people such as Shannon Reeves and Tara Wall, panelists and spokespersons for the Republican Party. They are more than just blacks who are republicans; they are "black republicans". And according to Shannon Reeves, there IS a difference.
Black Republicans take their experiences and issues with them to the Republican Party, places the issues on the table for discussion and engages with the community to create change. An African American who is a republican usually doesn't associate with the community and their concerns.
Maybe its a play on syntax, but I sure would like to believe him. Hopefully there will be an increase in the level of inclusion of minorities within the Republican Party. That would truly be noteworthy.
More along the lines of political diversification which seemed to be the theme of the moment Tara Wall noted that by openly considering Republican Candidates we create more options for ourselves. True, but Rev. Al quickly rebutted that while options are good they are truly based on availability. If these republican candidates missed every conference put on by organizations such as the National Urban League and the National Action Network and other opportunities to meet with the African American demographic then we can only assume that these candidates by their absence were not courting us or our votes.
Again, point well taken.
It was all in all, a good session. Perspectives from those liberal and those conservative were shared, applauded and sometimes met with cynicism from the audience. But it was informational and nothing short of interesting. This plenary session was a good precursor to the Urban Issues forum that will take place on Friday with the presidential candidates. I've definitely got my list of questions ready. It's time to put the pressure on and get some answers.
And yes, I found my way backstage and I got my picture. :)
-Adaeze Udoji
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