Anderson@Large

Where the Action Is

The National Action Network’s 13th annual convention opened to a packed house. In his opening remarks, NAN President and Founder Al Sharpton said:

This is a working conference. That’s why we call it National Action Network, not National Pontification Network or National Procrastination Network.

Sharpton derided “activists who have never been in a fight”:

There’s a difference between an academician and an activist.

While I was looking forward to the first panel, “Politics 2011-2012: What are the Issues?,” I tuned out the speakers almost from the start. With the exception of a white woman, Jacqueline Salit, president of IndependentVoting.org, all of the panelists were men. The optics were more 1961 than 2011.

Black women make up 53 percent of the black vote, but there was no black female panelist to talk about our issues. I have an issue with that.

So I have half-listened. My ears perked up when Rev. Frederick Haynes III laid out his agenda: economic justice, education justice, and a just foreign policy. He invoked Dr. King’s prophetic warning that “bombs dropped in Vietnam explode at home.”

Dr. Haynes said bombs dropped in Iraq. Afghanistan and Libya are exploding in this country. He questioned the trillions of dollars for war but no money for the poor. He said it’s past time to organize a “coalition of justice” to counter the Tea Party movement.

Sharpton plans to mobilize and energize black voters now:

We can’t wait till next year. There are some elections this year. And where there are no elections -- practice. Walk to the voting place.

I’m telling you these people are mean. They want to cut out Head Start, Pell grants, Social Security. We can’t say we are all for something if we don’t turn out. Without turnout it doesn’t count...We got to have turnout. Politics is about self-interest but it’s also about a process.

Sharpton’s call for grassroots action was echoed by David Axelrod, President Obama’s chief political strategist who left the White House to work on the reelection campaign. Axelrod said:

One of our great tasks for 2012 is registration and mobilization. Job number one is to get people registered and participating in the process.

I didn’t attend the gala, where President Obama delivered remarks:

It is wonderful to be here as you celebrate your 20th anniversary. Some things have changed a lot since 1991. I told Reverend Al backstage he’s getting skinnier than me. He’s getting skinnier than Spike. But he hasn’t lost his sense of style. The other thing that hasn’t changed is the National Action Network’s commitment to fight injustice and inequality here in New York City and across America. And that’s not only a testament to Reverend Sharpton. It’s a testament to all of you who are here tonight. I want to commend you for the work that you’ve done over the last two decades to lift up not only the African American community but the broader American family. That’s what you’re about.

The convention runs until Saturday. Follow the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #NANConv2011.

2011 National Action Network Convention

The National Action Network’s 13th annual convention starts today. The convention will bring together civil rights, labor, government, business and media leaders, activists and influencers.

The convention will kick off with a panel discussion, “Politics 2011 – 2012. What are the Issues?,” moderated by Rev. Al Sharpton, NAN’s president and founder.

And speaking of 2012 politics, President Obama will deliver remarks at NAN’s Keepers of the Dream Awards Gala.

This year’s honorees include Muhammad Ali, Samuel and Latanya R. Jackson, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, and AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Lee A. Saunders. Dr. Bill Cosby will give a keynote address at the gala.

I am a presenter on the youth panel, “There’s a Social Media Revolution: Join In!” My takeaway will keep it real: It’s OK to be young and dumb when you’re, well, young and dumb. But don’t be stupid because the Internet records everything and forgets nothing.

For more information, go here.

For updates, follow the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #NANConv2011.

Black Unemployment Rises to 15.5 Percent

The overall unemployment rate fell to 8.8 percent, the lowest in two years. Private sector employers added 230,000 jobs in March

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports:

In March, 2.4 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, up slightly from a year earlier. (These data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-1.)

In a statement on the employment situation, Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Austan Goolsbee said:

The overall trajectory of the economy has improved dramatically over the past two years, but there will surely be bumps in the road ahead.

For African American workers, it is indeed a bumpy ride. While the calendar says it's April 1, the employment situation seems like Groundhog Day.

There was a slight increase in the black unemployment rate to 15.5 percent, from 15.3 percent in February.

The black female unemployment rate fell to 12.5 percent, from 13.0 percent.

Black male joblessness rose to 16.8 percent, from 16.2 percent. Black youth unemployment increased to 42.1 percent, from 38.4 percent.

For a timeline of black unemployment, visit Tracking Change.

Innovation and Job Creation

Yesterday I was at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, where I took this photo of a button worn by demonstrators during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

I was at the museum to attend Digital Music Forum East, an annual gathering of music executives, content creators, thought leaders and influencers. The discussions focused on the intersection of music and technology.

Jobs were on the agenda. The speakers lamented the disruptive impact of technology and social media. Since the advent of Napster, there has been a steady decline in revenue. Although consumers are willing to pay for web-based entertainment such as Netflix and gaming, their price point for music is free.

To be sure, technology has disrupted other industries, including television, newspaper and publishing. And word up, you can “wave your hands in the air like you don't care.” But that's not a sustainable business model.

A better business strategy is to spot the trends and then Spotify. In stark contrast to the Recording Industry Association of America which sued music fans for file sharing, Spotify leveraged the social web and created a company that is valued at $1 billion and has nearly 900,000 Facebook fans.

Gary Shapiro, President and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association and author of “The Comeback: How Innovation Will Restore the American Dream,” said:

That's what innovation does. We come along and upset the apple cart...There are always shifts going on...The nature of life is change.

He advised against waiting for big companies to change:

They're protecting what they've done so they can't innovate...If a big company takes a risk, they put the whole company at risk.

Shapiro noted the perilous state of the economy presents three choices: raise taxes, cut spending or grow:

We are good at growth because we are innovators. We challenge the status quo...Innovation is our strength. We have to encourage innovation.

Also yesterday, the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness held its first meeting.

In his opening remarks, President Obama said:

We're going to have to up our game in this newly competitive world. And that means that we've got to out-educate every other country in the world. We're going to have to out-innovate every country in the world. We've got to make sure that we've got the best infrastructure to move people and goods and services throughout the economy.

Indeed, every business will have to up their game if they want to compete in the age of Web 2.0. That includes minority-owned businesses.

In a recent interview, Johnathan Holifield, co-founder and CEO of the Black Innovation and Competitiveness Initiative, observed:

Innovation and competitiveness, the cornerstones of the 21st century economy, are essential ingredients for minority businesses to achieve present and future prosperity.

As we enter the second decade of this millennium, we believe that it is time for us to acknowledge and do something about the sobering fact that our real economic and education progress is not commensurate with the new and dynamic opportunities inherent in the global “Innovation Economy.”

Word!

Sharpton Tries to Rev up Black Voters

When all else fails, pray.

Democrats are praying that a high black voter will be their "secret weapon" to avoid a Republican ass-kicking.

Today, Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network will launch a coast-to-coast voter education tour to try to rev up the black vote. Sharpton will speak at churches, rallies and get-out-the-vote events, and visit early vote polling locations in targeted predominantly black precincts.

Sharpton's message:

Just because blacks got the vote out in 2008 does not assure victory this November. Once was not enough to protect African American interests.

The tour will kick off in Los Angeles, where Sharpton will meet with faith and community leaders to discuss GOTV efforts for the midterm elections.

On Saturday, Sharpton will be in Philadelphia, where 2000 people are expected to attend a GOTV rally at Bright Hope Baptist Church. He will be joined by a host of elected officials, including Gov. Ed Rendell and Mayor Michael Nutter.

For more info on the tour schedule, visit the National Action Network or call (877) 626-4651.

August 28

On Aug. 28, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shared his dream in which his “four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

On Aug. 28, 2008, Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.

In his acceptance speech, Obama made an oblique reference to “a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.”

This August 28, two counter rival rallies were held in the nation’s capitol, one mostly white, the other mostly black. The organizers of both said they were there to “reclaim the dream.”

Fox News commentator Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial was streamed live on C-SPAN and Facebook.

According to McClatchy Newspapers, “hundreds of thousands of people streamed onto the National Mall.”

Proclaiming “this country has wandered in darkness,” Beck exhorted the crowd to “turn back to God”:

Something beyond imagination is happening. Something beyond man is happening. America today begins to turn back to God. For too long, this country has have wandered in darkness and we have wandered in darkness in periods from the beginning.

On the other side of town at Dunbar High School, thousands of black folks and, in the phrasing of SEIU’s Jaime Contreras, some “happy white people” gathered for the “Reclaim the Dream” rally, which was streamed live on MSNBC.com.

The rally and march were spearheaded by Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network.

In his keynote remarks, Sharpton said:

This is not about a one-day thing. We need to show up…They’re betting on us not to show up. We know how to sucker punch you. We’re coming out in ’10 because we’ve just begun to fight. We’re not going to let you turn back the clock.

Sharpton continued:

We are the children of the dreamers…They may have the mall, but we have the message. They may have the platform, but we have the dream. The dream was not about state’s rights…Just because you got the spot doesn’t mean you are standing up to the dream…We can dream from jail cells! We can dream from hospital beds! We can dream anywhere we are. We don't need to stand on the spot!

If the “children of the dreamers” don’t show up on Election Day, next August 28, they will wake up to a “hijacking” partly of their own making.

As Sharpton rightly observes, “We can’t expect others to stand up for us if we don’t stand up for ourselves.”

Black Jobless Rate is 15.6 Percent

The July jobs report is out. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.5 percent.

The black unemployment rate is 15.6 percent, up from 15.4 percent in June. The black jobless rate is nearly twice that of whites (8.6 percent).

Black teens have the highest unemployment rate, 40.6 percent.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the economy lost 131,000 jobs last month, primarily 143,000 temporary Census jobs. Private employers added just 71,000 jobs.

On the first Friday, the bubbly Christina Romer, chair of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, typically paints a rosy scenario about the jobs report. With a smiley face, Romer tells the American people not to worry about the numbers. We are making “substantial progress.” Yeah, really :-).

But Romer’s days are numbered. She is leaving the White House and heading back to UC-Berkeley, where she was a professor of economics.

As the saying goes, those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach. Romer can’t reconcile her prediction that the stimulus package would prevent the unemployment rate from rising above eight percent.

Well, the Recovery Act was passed, 62 percent of the money has been spent, and the unemployment rate continues to hover in the double-digits.

Indeed, Moody’s Economy.com forecasts the unemployment rate “will peak at 10.1% in the second half of 2011.”