How to Make Black America Better: Leading African Americans Speak Out

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Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Apr 2, 2009 - Social Science - 272 pages
Issuing a powerful call for constructive social action, the popular radio and television commentator Tavis Smiley has assembled the voices of leading African American artists, intellectuals, and politicians from Chuck D to Cornel West to Maxine Waters. How to Make Black America Better takes a pragmatic, solutions-oriented approach that includes Smiley’s own ten challenges to the African American community.

Smiley and his contributors stress the family tie, the power of community networks, the promise of education, and the leverage of black economic and political strength in shaping a new vision of America. Encouraging African Americans to realize the potential of their own leadership and to work collectively from the bottom up, the selections offer new ideas for addressing vital issues facing black communities. Featuring original essays by some of our most important thinkers, How to Make Black America Better is an essential book for anyone concerned with the status of African Americans today.
 

Selected pages

Contents

Part
41
History Heritage and Hope by Cathy Hughes
55
Controlling Our Destinies
71
The Freedom Symphonys Fourth Movement by Rev Jesse L Jackson Sr
79
Rising Just a Bit Higher by Nikki Giovanni
85
Cherished by E Lynn Harris
87
Updating Our Battles by Stanley Crouch
93
Getting Along by Tyra Banks
99
What We Can Do by Marian Wright Edelman
121
Try Try Try to Teach All Children Well by Farai Chideya
125
Change the Children by Bishop Noel Jones
129
Making Black America Better Through SelfKnowledge by Naim Akbar Ph D
133
The Challenge of Race and Education by Charles J Ogletree Jr
139
Historically Black Colleges and Universities by Tom Joyner
143
Just for Today by Dennis Kimbro
151
Our Golden Age by Synthia Saint James
153

Full Political Participation by Representative Jesse L Jackson Jr
101
Rebuilding Black America by Sinbad
103
Leveraging Our Power by Earl G Graves
107
Behaving Better by Shaquille ONeal
113
A Community of Accomplishment by Chuck D
115
The Digital Age by Darien C Dash
119
The New Millennium by Vivica A Fox
155
Jesus by Deion Sanders
157
Know Who You Were Who You Are Who You Choose to Be by Iyanla Vanzant
159
Raymond Brown Les Brown Rev Jamal
163
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About the author (2009)

Tavis Smiley is the author of Doing What’s Right, Hard Left, and On Air. He is a regular political commentator on “The Tom Joyner Morning Show” and won a 1999 NAACP Image Award for his own television talk show BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley. He lives in Los Angeles.

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