Some things you need to hear with your own ears - after being edified with a framework (provided by me) to improve your understanding.
I have net positive sentiments for NPR's Michele Martin. She promotes her journalistic professionalism over her own ideological sentiments (more often than not). The new crop of Black journalists should take note.
Still - I find that absent the possession of the proper framework for appraisal of an interview subject before the interview starts - certain critical statements which expose the individual's agenda will fly over the interviewers head.
In the case of the "Tell Me More" show's interview with Rep Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Mr Cleaver threw out some curve balls that blew right past Mrs Martin. What was at stake was a CHOICE for Black America. Continue along with the "protection racket" that has been hoisted up in the name of "Black (Progressive) Defense" of the voices of representation for the community sentiments versus the need to see that these elected representatives and their policies are merely a METHODOLOGY (and thus an option) that must be transparently appraised for its EFFECTIVENESS at delivering the standard of living that we are seeking as a community.
The Framework For AppraisalI maintain that the "Time Line" is the enemy of those who have achieved "establishment authority" over a people. As they seek to retain their power they seek to focus the masses on the future while having them avoid inspection of the past and the measure of the promises that were delivered upon.
In my opinion the interview with Rep Emanuel Cleaver was done from a perspective of the CBC being advocates FOR the interests of the Black Community. When we apply the dynamic of 'Time' to the appraisal of this supposition - a different type of interview would have transpired.
During the interview the subject of transportation policy was discussed. Rep Cleaver stated that working class Black people who live within the core city need transportation resources to get to work......in the suburbs. (Note Rev Jesse Jackson argued that the Obama Justice Department should investigate Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R-WI) for a 'civil rights violation' for refusing federal funds meant to be applied toward high speed rail because the absence of rail prevents Blacks from accessing JOBS).
The obvious miss by Mrs Martin was that she failed to note that the members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the larger Democratic/Progressive coalition in the federal/state and local governments grew their base of power out of these same cities. Why aren't these core cities prospering enough so that the residents WITHIN could sell their skills and labor within the cities that they live - thus providing evidence of the effectiveness of the forces that govern these place?
This important construct of thought would have nipped the "perpetual struggle" in the bud. It would have demanded - from Mrs Martin's part - that the forces that asked Black people to invest their "Equal Black Ballots" and fuse their "Community Development Hopes" into their cause - should now be made to show a "return on investment". Instead Rep Cleaver was allowed to "expand the domain of indictment" - outward to where the enemy has moved. This is the line of thinking that those who believe in the concept of "benign neglect" to describe the conditions of Black people being left all alone by ourselves with nothing more than the buildings and land that we were once disallowed to enter. Just as I noted about the once segregated elementary school in Philadelphia - it clearly was not the "building" that was contested but the occupants that used to be WITHIN the building that is of interest.
Long story short - the CBC and the "Black Racial Services Machine" that it is a component of represent a strategy that purports to drive the development of our community. The job of the Black Press NEEDS TO BE that of the agent which transparently inspects the veracity of this strategy. Thus they must disconnect themselves from the machine and inspect the operation of it to spec. My goal is to inspect "the spec", making sure that it is not skewed toward a predetermined end.
The Agreement To Not Attack Obama - A Smokescreen For The Protection Rack - A Measure Of The Weight Of The Water That The Black Community Is Forced To CarryThe part of the conversation in which Rep Cleaver was made to logically justify his organizations unwillingness to criticize Obama publicly because it would provide impetus for Obama's "RACIST" enemies to pile on was particularly disingenuous. The Black community must accept that the gap between our willingness to criticize any authority figure that is in power versus how far we will go to voice concerns against a favorable politician because we fear that he will be weakened is the measure of the weight of the water that the Black community is willing to carry for that politician.
Of course it is easily proven that this protection racket is not racial as Cleaver says but instead ideological and partisan. The will of a Progressive Black Democrat to engage in such protection is 100% based on the perceived connection that person has in advancing their ideological viewpoint. Even as our community's interests erode this silence is suborned among the masses seeking to remain in good standing with the masses.
Cleaver goes on to say that the press has never covered a Black president before and thus we see their inability for them to address the RACISM that he faces. With Cleaver as a progressive Democrat he has nothing to lose by claiming that the opposition to Obama's policies are due to his race. This is a "so when did you stop beating your wife"-type indictment. This allows Cleaver and other Progressive to take the witness stand and substantiate the effectiveness of their grand theories.
I have argued from the beginning that the best way to appraise Obama and Cleaver's theories is to go back closer to home and note the results when these progressive theories are implemented as the "last public policy standing". Why should they be installed nationally without strident challenge from those who want to resist these same results on a national scale?
The Best Thing That President Obama Can Do For Black People And Jobs Is To Make Empty Promises That Will Trigger Them To Fight Against The Republicans - The Goal Of The Black LeadershipRep Fredrica Wilson of South Florida has given President Obama the appropriate framework regarding how to engage with a roomful of angry and unemployed Black Progressives. Just as they see their decline in savings accounts and their "no confidence vote" starts to rise - one only needs to reclaim their favor by placing a piece of "Republican red meat" in front of their hungry eyes and they will begin to salivate.
The offensiveness of such a simplistic assessment of some people's disposition is buttressed by their real world evidence. The prevailing Black political discourse is as the "Special Teams" in the "Malcolm X Political Football Game", having lost ago lost its direct connection to the conditions of our community and the will to punish those who received our confidence but have come up woefully short.
There is no agent within our community that transparently accesses our interests - separate and distinct from the preferred METHODOLOGY chosen to accomplish the goal.
We are lead to believe that our present jobs situation is a political challenge rather than a market based distortion. With this in mind it is also logical to accept that you are due to the actions of your political enemies. This is the critical link that is shown in the propensity to allow elected leaders who should be held accountable for failures to instead levitate off stage and lead the protest rally against the common political enemies of the rank & file and the elected official. When they are all alone by themselves they merely expand their domain of indictment against the closest external enemy.
At this weekend's Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Weekend - there will be a lot of things talked about regarding the condition of Black America. The prevailing sentiment will be on how the Black community can more effectively achieve its desired end THROUGH the existing Democratic and Progressive Channels. There will not be any discussions which inspects the basic efficacy of this distribution channel in the first place.
There is no amount of evidence received about the condition of the Black community which will provoke such a discussion.
In hearing Black people have such discussions internally, after all, might cause the Tea Party Republicans to move in for the kill. :'( :'( :'(
African American Middle Class Gains Reversed
All photos by George A. Williams of the DC Public Library. 
The Exquisite Prompt Redux Writing Challenge from Reading Rockets and AdLit.org provides writing opportunities for students in grades K-12. Learn more at ReadingRockets.org. 
