MSNBC hosting at Texas Southern University: A discussion of race in the age of Obama.
I thought someone should liveblog it.
I think the Tweetster is already angering me. So, here we go.
F--- it! We'll blog it live.
From MSNBC/Texas Southern University:
One year after the inauguration of the first African-American President, MSNBC will present "Obama's America: 2010 and Beyond," Jan. 18, 9 p.m.-11 p.m., an extended discussion surrounding race and post-racial identity in America. Moderated by "Hardball's" Chris Matthews and featuring radio host Tom Joyner, live from Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas, this two-hour special event on Martin Luther King Day will explore some of the most pressing and provocative issues connected to race and race relations in the U.S.
"Obama's America: 2010 and Beyond" will discuss the progress we've made in the United States and the challenges we continue to face around racial equality, addressing issues ranging from whether there is such a thing as generational colorblindness, to the "burdens of the first," and whether there are a unique set of expectations and challenges attached to being the first to break a racial barrier.
Panelists include:
Voto Latino founder and MSNBC analyst Maria Teresa Kumar;
Melissa Harris-Lacewell, Associate Professor of Politics and African American Studies at Princeton University;
Michael Smerconish, radio talk show host;
Rosie Perez, actress and activist;
John McWhorter, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute;
Irshad Manji, author, "The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith";
Jeff Johnson, political commentator and journalist.
MSNBC.com will feature additional information on the special and its guests. Tv.msnbc.com will also allow viewers to participate in live votes and continue the discussion online.
TheGrio.com, NBC News' video-centric news community and opinion site focused on African-American interest and perspectives, will dedicate coverage to the changing racial dynamics in America from January 14-19. TheGrio will explore whether race relations have improved or deteriorated since the election of President Obama and look at whether the rising number of Hispanic-Americans will create a 'black/brown' tension amongst African-Americans and Latinos.
Chris Matthews hosts "Hardball with Chris Matthews" weekdays, 5-6 p.m. ET and 7-8 p.m. ET on MSNBC and "The Chris Matthews Show" on NBC. A television news anchor with significant depth of experience, Matthews has distinguished himself as a broadcast journalist, newspaper bureau chief, presidential speechwriter, and bestselling author. He has covered every American presidential election campaign since the 1980s.
Matthews worked for fifteen years as a newspaper journalist, thirteen of them as a Washington bureau chief for the San Francisco Examiner and two as a national columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. Before that, he had a fifteen year career in public service: in the U.S. Senate for five years for Senator Frank Moss of Utah and Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine; in the White House for four years under President Jimmy Carter as a presidential speechwriter and on the President's Reorganization Project then for six years as the top aide to Speaker of the House Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, Jr.
Tom Joyner is a nationally syndicated radio and television personality, philanthropist and entrepreneur whose morning show is heard in more than 100 markets by nearly eight million listeners each week. Known as the "hardest working man in radio," Joyner is a 1999 Radio Hall of Fame inductee, an NAACP President's Award winner and was bestowed with the prestigious Marconi Award for Network/Syndicated Personality of the Year in 2004. His website BlackAmericaWeb.com has more than 1.5 million registered users and features news with special reports by award winning journalists and exclusive political coverage as well as interactive elements with on demand audio. The Tom Joyner Foundation(r) has raised more than $55 million to help students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities stay in school.
Built on the worldwide resources of NBC News, MSNBC defines news for the next generation with world-class reporting and a full schedule of live news coverage, political analysis and award-winning documentary programming -- 24 hours a day, seven days a week. MSNBC's home on the Internet is msnbc.com. Msnbc.com delivers a fuller spectrum of news.
Drawing on its award-winning original journalism, NBC News heritage, trusted sources and Microsoft's advanced technologies, the site presents compelling, diverse and visually-engaging stories on the consumer's platform of choice.
Members of the media can get more information about MSNBC and its programming on msnbc.com or the NBC Universal Media Village Web site at www.nbcumv.com.
UPDATE: Prof Lacewell says there is still segregation, even if it is not de jure, certainly some de facto. This is clear in our schools. Since schools are a reflection of the neighborhood in which they sit, many are very much segregated. Not by law, but segregated nonetheless.
UPDATE 2: I should mention, this is being broadcast from my hometown, and my sister graduated cum laude from Texas Southern. I think I see our illustrious Mayor Annise Parker in the front row.
UPDATE 3: Tweety really has a hard-on for this poll. It's a poll Tweety. It's not the Gospel According to Gallup!
UPDATE 4: Melissa Lacewell has grown up in a lot of places: Chicago, New Orleans, Virginia.
UPDATE 5: WTF is Stephen Smith talking about? Addressing racism gives black youth an excuse to fail? WHY is this moron up there, and why is the audience applauding? And now the genius with the sweater vest talking about? We DO talk about race all the time, but only in the most superficial, vapid, moronic ways. Talking about race in a constructive and TRUTHFUL manner RARELY happens in America. Let's get real here, people.
UPDATE 6: I like watermelon, but don't offer it to me, I'm offended. I think Tom's comment might codify the value of this little forum: it has very little.