"Our Time!"

Over the next two nights, CNN will attempt to sanitize, synthesize, and crystallize the essence of the black experience in America. The highly anticipated, much ballyhooed, two-night, two-hour segments have already been extensively critiqued; both praised, and panned, depending upon the source of the assessment.

Any realistic evaluation of the series must begin with conceding that conducting an exhaustive treatment of issues that have been 400+ years in the making, in 4 hours or less (commercials you know), is not just a tall order, but impossible. What is achievable, and let us hope CNN succeeds in providing it, is a fair and balanced presentation.

First, it is important to stipulate, CNN should be commended for conceiving and executing this undertaking, especially considering it will be more than half a year before February rolls around again. The first of the two segments will focus on black women and families, starting this evening at 9:00 p.m. EDT. The second segment kicks off tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. EDT, with a look at the experiences of black men.

The two segments were presaged during the past weekend with an in-depth look at the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. CNN has created a special website, http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2008/black.in.america/, which allows site visitors to preview the series. Maria de la Soledad Teresa O’Brien, better known as Soledad O’Brien hosts the series. O’Brien, a native New Yorker, is of Irish Australian and Afro-Cuban heritage, and currently hosts the CNN Special Investigations Unit.

As I alluded to in the opening paragraph of this post, the buzz factor surrounding this series is already off the charts. It will certainly rise even higher over the next few days. I have seen notices and advisories for weeks now, indicating the series would be aired. I read reactions from people who previewed it, watched some of this past weekend’s Special, and decided to engage you on the topic.

One of the by-products of Barack Obama’s success in vying for and securing the Democratic Nomination for President of the United States is, even more attention and scrutiny are devoted to all things concerning black people. Does that make CNN’s effort with this series just another “Flavor of the Month” gambit? Will this “curiosity” subside if McCain prevails in the November contest, and Obama resumes his duties as the Honorable, but junior Senator from Illinois, rather than assuming the mantle as Commander-in-Chief of the US? Oh yeah, let’s not overlook the elephant in the room; is Barack Hussein Obama black enough (for you)?

Surely, this well-written, powerfully delivered, incisive look at the travails and triumphs of a people, many of whom were brought to these shores as chattel property, and now poised to play a key role in a electing a leader who looks like them, will be universally viewed as the ultimate Horatio Alger tale. Wait a minute, not so fast!

Yes, there are still trenchant impediments to uniformly robust success by all blacks; not just the fortunate, or the elite. As the series underscores, black women represent an alarming and disproportionate share of new AIDS cases. At the same time, black men are unemployed at twice the rate of white men. Joining these chilling twin statistics is the fact that a discouraging and pernicious performance gap plagues black student educational achievement levels, compared to that of their white counterparts.

Without trying to tell the entire story of the series, which I encourage you to view, it is clear there are no silver bullets, panaceas, or other quick fixes in sight. The story of black folks in America is still evolving. If we are savvy, inventive, and unyieldingly committed, we will, individually and collectively find the lessons this historic series has to offer, and leverage them to form strategies to attack and eradicate the problems that assail us.

When I reference our finding the lessons, I am referring to the collective, national us. It is black people, but not just blacks; it is all Americans. The fate of Black America is inextricably intertwined with that of America, the whole. It is a fact, solving the nation's health care dilemmas, enhancing employment opportunities, closing the education gap, devising an end to the mortgage lending, housing, and fuel crises, counteracting the recession, and jump-starting the economy will all contribute to a more beneficial experience by blacks in America. True that, but quiet as it is kept, these prescriptions will contribute to a more perfect union and provide remedies for what ails all of America, and to a large extent the world.

In his Nomination victory speech, Senator Obama proclaimed. “This is Our Time!” I say, it’s about time; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. A new post is published each Wednesday.


http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2008/black.in.america/index.c.html

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2008/black.in.america/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2008/black.in.america/index.b.html

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2008/black.in.america/hbcu/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soledad_O