Comments on: Tavis Smiley on Obama and MLK's legacy
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- No question, the President needs to speak out against the rising poverty in America, just as every person who takes a stand for true justice should. Rev.Dr.King, Jr was, in his own words, a "Drum Major for Justice". In the Old Testament he frequently quotes the Prophet Amos and in the New Testament he preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ (The Drum Major Instinct text was Mark 10:35-45). He also was a man who strived to stand for love (agape) and peace. King's Dream is rooted in his Christian ideals and directly connected to a heavenly goal. Presidents, on matter how good their political intentions, have never been able to articulate the American dream from such an eternal perspective. At least to this point, Mr. Obama is no exception
Certainly the President's success is largely due to the unselfish work and commitment of Rev.Dr. King and many others who have been Christ centered and Biblical principled throughout this nations history. Keep praying that the President will keep moving closer to the godly ideals and principles that King's Dream represented! - Reply to this comment
- I plan to miss any of this.
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- The increasing majority of the hispanics over the blacks could trigger a political dynamic Mr.Smiley cannot foresee.
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- Tavis needs to shut up or run for office. As personable as he is and as much as I like his PBS show, he strikes me as a black Rush Limbaugh whenever he goes on one of these rants, i.e a person that's always quick to point out flaws and faults without offering constructive input. As Jemiltd already stated, for someone that rails against poverty, but who has Walmart as a sponsor for his PBS program; a world wide multi-billion dollar company reknowned for sub-32 hour a week low paid employees that have to rely on strapped and slashed state social service programs to get minimal health care coverage; he doesn't have a lot of credibilty.
Then there's Wells Fargo sponsorship of this program(s), most recently fined by the Feds for discrimination and mortgage fraud, which adds to the "poverty crusader" credibility gap:
Feds fine Wells Fargo over discrimination claims
July 12, 2012, 11:57 AM - CBS/AP
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-57471109/feds-fine-wells-fargo-over-discrimination-claims/
(CBS/AP) WASHINGTON - Wells Fargo Bank (WFC) will pay at least $175 million to settle accusations that it discriminated against African-American and Hispanic borrowers in violation of fair-lending laws, the Justice Department announced Thursday.
Wells Fargo, the nation's largest residential home mortgage originator, allegedly engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers from 2004 through 2009.
At a news conference, Deputy Attorney General James Cole said the bank's discriminatory lending practices resulted in more than 34,000 African-American and Hispanic borrowers in 36 states and the District of Columbia paying higher rates for loans solely because of the color of their skin.
10 banks agree to pay $8.5B for foreclosure abuse
AP/ January 7, 2013, 11:07 AM
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-57562441/10-banks-agree-to-pay-$8.5b-for-foreclosure-abuse/
WASHINGTON Ten major banks agreed Monday to pay $8.5 billion to settle federal complaints that they wrongfully foreclosed on homeowners who should have been allowed to stay in their homes.
The banks, which include JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC) and Wells Fargo (WFC), will pay billions to homeowners to end a review process of foreclosure files that was required under a 2011 enforcement action. The review was ordered because banks mishandled people's paperwork and skipped required steps in the foreclosure process.
Tavis Smiley: Did You Return All The Money From Wells Fargo?
Eric L. Wattree / 01-20-13
http://blackstarnews.com/news/135/ARTICLE/8641/2013-01-20.html
Mr. Tavis Smiley, do you intend to return all 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. Cornel 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?"
A discrimination lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice, and several articles, including one seeded on Newsvine entitled, "Tavis Smiley - Ghetto Loan Peddler for Wells Fargo," closely associates PBS talk show host, 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 executive vp, of the Center for Responsible Lending, as calling Tavis Smiley "the big draw" of the Wells Fargo scam. ...
Eric L. Wattree - Columnist for The Los Angeles Sentinel, The Black Star News in New York, and a Staff writer for Veterans Today.
Tavis Smiley - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tavis_Smiley
Controversy over Presidential Candidate Barack Obama
On April 11, 2008, Tavis Smiley announced that he would resign in June 2008 as a commentator on the Tom Joyner Morning Show. He cited fatigue and a busy schedule in a personal call to Joyner. However, Joyner, referring to several commentaries in which Smiley was critical of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, indicated otherwise on his program, stating: "The real reason is that he can't take the hate he's been getting regarding the Barack issue—hate from the black people that he loves so much."[46] Prior to the public controversy and being elected President, Obama had been on Smiley's PBS show six times.
Tom Joyner - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Joyner
The Tom Joyner Show
In 2005, a nationally syndicated television show, The Tom Joyner Show, was launched with Joyner as emcee of a one-hour comedy/variety show, combining sketch comedy featuring the Tom Joyner Show Players (his co-hosts from the radio show), talent contests, and musical performances by such artists as Earth, Wind and Fire, Brian McKnight, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and Toni Braxton. The show attracted advertisers such as McDonalds, Chrysler Corporation, WalMart and Southwest Airlines. - Reply to this comment
- A great CIVILIZED nation is ALWAYS known for how it takes care of its most vulnerable. I haven't heard the word POVERTY, POOR, etc. for years and years. I've never once heard this president talk about POVERTY or the POOR, the INNER CITY, etc. And right now, one out of five people are starving in this country.
We should be having a WAR ON POVERTY..........The kinds of WAR we've been having for 10 years does NOT make PEACE or anything else, for that matter......and the Nobel Peace Prize awarded made no difference. One would have thought we would have aspired to that! Perhaps this is what the rest of the world sees now. We are just a war machine......we even make movies and books to celebrate our great prowess in killing, torturing, etc......Which, correct me if I'm wrong, is against International Law. Yes, "love that liberates all"!! THAT is what the United States should be about..... - Reply to this comment
- I've developed a lot of respect for Mr. Smiley. He doesn't hesitate to point out the deficiencies of the Obama presidency and, unlike his detractors on here, is making an effort to "hold President Obama's feet to the fire" in the hopes that he will eventually start making decisions based on democratic principles instead of republican principles.
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- Just what has Mr. Smiley done that is so great. Absolutely nothing.
He does not have the cred to be criticizing anyone! - Reply to this comment
- I find it appalling that Tavis Smiley would make such disrespectful and disheartening comments about our President, Mr.Barak Obama on the back of Dr. Martin Luther King. I think Dr. King would be proud to see the accomplishments that the President has made in four years, not to mention the fact that the country is under the leadership of an African American President. Whatever is bothering Mr. Smiley, he needs to get over it and perhaps apologize to Mr. Obama for the friction and divisiveness he is trying extremely hard to perpetuate among Black people. Mr. Obama owes Mr. Smiley no more than he owes every other American, to fulfill his duties as President of the United States to the best of his abilities.
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- Thank you Tavis for pointing out the lack of focus our politicians have on poverty. Our president is a thoughtful man and here's hoping he heeds your words. I was struck by the Warren Buffet piece in the same broadcast where he points out that our country with an GDP average of $50K per person has no excuse for hungry citizens. Let's solve this!
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- Thank you for your candor in making a long-needed distinction between two very different men with two very different agendas.
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