I received the information below via e-mail. It seems like a great idea because the more people communicate, the better relations tend to be. Perhaps that's just me being female and supposedly we talk too much but that's another topic for a different blog.
Anyhoo, I confess that I have not visited the Covenant with Black America website since it started but you may want to check this out...
America's Premier Scholars and Public Intellectuals Discuss Issues of
National Concern
Contact: [email protected]
June 29, 2007 – The Covenant with Black America has launched its
presidential election season blog series, featuring lively, thoughtful and
provocative discussions around the ten covenants:
I. Securing The Right to Healthcare and Well-Being
II. Establishing a System of Public Education in Which All Children
Achieve at High Levels and Reach their Full Potential
III. Correcting the System of Unequal Justice
IV. Fostering Accountable Community-Centering Policing
V. Ensuring Broad Access to Affordable Neighborhoods that Connect to
Opportunity
VI. Claiming Our Democracy
VII. Strengthening Our Rural Roots
VIII. Accessing Good Jobs, Wealth, and Economic Prosperity
IX. Assuring Environmental Justice for All
X. Closing the Racial Digital Divide
The Covenant's blog series will present a fresh new voice each week,
leading up to the Republican Presidential Forum, September 27, at Morgan
State University in Baltimore, Maryland. Each blogger will focus on one
of the above covenants and discuss where the Democratic and Republican
presidential candidates stand on the issues. Each will also make policy
recommendations to ensure that a brighter future lies within reach for
Black America and all of America.
After the Democratic Presidential Forum—broadcast live on PBS, June 28,
2007 and hosted by Tavis Smiley—California Endowment President and CEO
Robert K Ross wrote eloquently about the need to fix the American system
through prevention, poverty, and place. "Want to improve America's
productivity, competitiveness and school performance for kids? Want to
reduce the crushing burden of skyrocketing health costs? Want to cut back
on the enormous sums we're spending to incarcerate Americans, particularly
young men of color. Think of the 3 P's…We must build healthy communities
by preventing disease and eliminating poverty."
Angela Glover Blackwell, President and CEO of PolicyLink, a national
research and action institute, has also added to the intellectual
discussions taking place on the site. "I was encouraged by Clinton's
calling for a 10-point Gulf Coast recovery agenda; and Obama's call for
additional resources from the federal government. All the candidates
agreed that the federal government has let Louisiana down and that New
Orleans should be treated like the national treasure that it is." She
continues, "It will be up to us and other Americans who are ready for
change to hold these candidates accountable. It was refreshing to hear
this opening dialogue about inequality in America. Let's keep it going."
Since the relaunch of The Covenant site late last year, there has been a
plethora of engaging blogs from scholars such as Cornel West, Princeton
professor Eddie Glaude, and Stephanie Robinson from the Jamestown Project.
This new series will continue to bring fresh new ideas and engaging
dialogue to solve some of our nation's most pressing problems. Check out
http://www.covenantwithblackamerica.com and join the conversation.
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