While Black History Month (and the anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) has come and gone, the struggle for equal rights, opportunity and favorable public perception must still rage on. With that said, it’s about that time. What time, you ask? The time for round-table discussions on African-American plight. The difference is that such discussions are usually reserved for bad time-slots on networks such as TV One or BET.

This particular round-table discussion will prominently feature the National Action Network, an organization headed up by the one and only Rev. Al Sharpton to address pressing issues in the Black community. Hosted by Ed Schultz, the discussion will go for two whole hours as Sharpton and his cohorts make their way through all-too-familiar territory such as the Black dollar, the Black vote, evaluating President Obama and such. The question is, will they say anything that we haven’t already heard or will someone really break new ground?

Furthermore, we should ask if anyone will actually listen and be inspired to action by the words of the National Action Network. Is there one “Black Agenda” and if so, what is it? Who determines it? Are we progressing toward or regressing away from the objectives of such an agenda? Most importantly, is there a concrete plan for leadership and change within our communities that we can come away with from such a discussion?

Don’t get me wrong, I love round-table discussions and think that political/intellectual discourse is great, but it seems that we only agree, disagree, argue, applaud, and go back to business as usual. It would be nice for this discussion to take center stage and leave us with a better road map toward a better destination.

A Stronger America: The Black Agenda will air at 12:00 pm EST on Sunday, April 10 on MSNBC.

Source: MSNBC

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