June 6th, 2008
Speaker: Judge Mablean Ephriam
Topic: Fatherhood Is Not Meant To Be A Burden: Challenging Unjust Child Support System

May 16th, 2008
Speaker: Mark Riley-Thomas, State Senator
Topic: Repairing California's Troubled Health Care System

April 28th, 2008
Speaker: Michael E. Dyson, Author/Scholar
Topic: TBA

Most Recent Forums
April 28th, 2008 - Dr. Michael Eric DysonTopic: April 4th, 1968: The King Assassination and How It Changed America.

Best-selling author and renowned scholar Rev. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson came to Los Angeles to promote his latest work “Martin Luther King Jr. Death and How It Changed America.” However, at the Urban Issues Breakfast Forum, held at the Center in South Los Angeles, Dyson didn’t just tout his recent literary work; he preached on the subject of blackness in America.

Using the book as a backdrop to the ongoing racism battle African Americans continue to fight, Dyson paralleled the bigotry during the height of the civil rights movement to the injustices blacks endure today. Moving eloquently and swiftly in slinging metaphors and hyperbole during his 45-minute speech before a group of professionals and students, Dyson hit all the right cues on the state of black America.

Dyson talked about things that many are afraid to say. A master orator, Dyson talked with passion, conviction and unapologetic blackness. Never one to shy away from a topic or brewing controversy swirling around the black community, Dyson tackled the latest storm hovering over presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama and his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Like a linebacker tackling a running back head on, Dyson hit the subject square in the middle.  

“They’re trying to hurt this man every way they can,” Dyson told the audience. “If you can’t like Barack (Obama), you can’t like any Negro. [Now], you see his pastor out there; it is not a pretty sight. King had to negotiate within the context of a dominant white culture. If they were to listen to King, they would see that he was much deeper than anything that Jeremiah Wright has ever said. Jeremiah Wright is playing tiddlywinks to what King said to black folks. King spoke to black folks in a way he did not speak to white folks.”

Going back to his book, Dyson shed some light on the death of King and just how dangerous of a threat he posed to the bigoted, oppressed ways of America during the Jim Crow era. Dyson said King was a much bigger threat to white America than Malcolm X ever was.

“Malcolm [X] wasn’t much of a threat; he was watchable, containable,” said Dyson. “King was on the inside of the mansion…trying to rearrange the furniture. King was much more dangerous because he was inside the system.”  

 

February 8, 2008

Speaker: Rev. Al Sharpton

Topic: The Relevancy of Social Activism In Bringing About Change in American Politics

The Rev. Al Sharpton came to the Urban Issues Breakfast Forum in February this year to remind the people of Los Angeles that injustices still live on in America. Sharpton, speaking at the Regency West Theater in Leimert Park, also told the roundtable audience he is still around to fight those travesties and the unequal treatment of black folks.  

Late last fall, Sharpton led a march in Jena, Louisiana to protest legal injustice done to six black teenagers, now infamously known as the Jena Six. Tens of thousands of demonstrators from all over the country took part in the march and virtually shut down the small town of Jena.

The six teenagers faced attempted murder charges and other charges levied against them for allegedly beating a white teenager. Sharpton and other civil rights activists viewed the charges to be racially discriminatory, which prompted the massive protest. Sharpton touched on many issues at the forum relating to the plight of African Americans today besides the Jena Six protest.

The longtime civil rights advocate critiqued the failure of black leadership, African Americans’ false sense of being obscured from racial and social injustice today and the hot-button debate about the presidential candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama.

Sharpton said there must be an understanding that there has to be a balance between blacks pushing legislation and those engaged in civil rights activism in order for African Americans to move forward as a race. Electing Sen. Obama into the presidency will not solve all the ills facing black America, Sharpton said.

“The only ones who assume that one black holds the answer for all blacks is us,” Sharpton said. “When you look back at the civil rights era of the 1960s, which is now romanticized, we had what was called the Big Six; We had Dr. Martin Luther King. We had Whitney Young of the Urban League. We had Roy Wilkins of the NAACP.  We had Adolph Randolph. You had John Lewis. Outside of the Big Six, you had Thurgood Marshall, you had Macolm X and you had the National Movement at the same time. This is before we had email, Internet or any of that. We had a multitude of black leadership at different levels that operated at the same time. The media has got us arguing whether it’s going to be Obama or Sharpton or Jesse (Jackson), like only one Negro can solve everything.” 

 

December 14, 2007
Speaker: Mr. Tavis Smiley
Topic: The 2008 Presidential Election: What Will It Take To Earn The Black Vote

PBS Host/Commentator/Author, Tavis Smiley Says Black Voters Can Make A Difference. The 2008 Presidential election promises to be one of intrigue when it comes to black voters. The number of black voters coming out to the polls is a concern.  Registering potential black voters is another issue.

And if they do come out to vote, black voters will be torn between choosing the wife of the so-called “First Black President” or actually voting to put the first African American in the Oval Office.

Such was the subject of discussion at the Urban Issues Breakfast Forum where global newsmaker and talk show host Tavis Smiley addressed the topic.

Several hundred people got out of their beds early and came out to the California African American Museum to hear Smiley talk on the UIBF theme of “The 2008 Presidential Election: What Will It Take To Earn The Black Vote.”

The hard-hitting question and answer man didn’t disappoint when formulating his thoughts about what it take for any presidential candidate-Democratic or Republican-to get his vote. Black America is clearly divided.

Black voters, who belong to the Democratic Party, have to choose between Sen. Hilary Clinton, wife of former President Bill Clinton, or selecting Sen. Barack Obama. When it comes to deciding to vote for, Smiley said that’s an easy decision to make. Issues, not personalities should determine who you vote for, Smiley said.

“Barack Obama is not going to get my vote just because he’s black,” Smiley said. “And Hilary is not going to get my vote just because she’s married to Bill.”

Black Republicans, however, seem to be extremely pumped that former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee could win the party’s nomination to be the country’s next president, said Smiley.

“Black Republicans are finally jumping up and down,” Smiley said.

 

 

Smiley dismissed the notion of having a “black vote.” To Smiley, there is no such thing. It is black voters who are going to make difference, he said.  

“There are black voters. There is no black vote,” Smiley said. “What does that mean for black people? How do we read that? I see that as political sophistication. The Democrats take us for granted and the Republicans ignore us. [That means] our hope does not lie with (a) president or a Republican or a Democrat.”

Smiley answered questions on immigration, racial and social injustice, education and health, issues that could determine candidates’ fate in the presidential race. It also would provide insight to what black voters deem important to them.

August, 2007 Speaker: Los Angeles Fire Chief,
Doug Barry

The new fire chief of the city of Los Angeles, Doug Barry, appeared at the Urban Issues Breakfast Forum, and he's vowed that the residents of this town will see a different fire department. Speaking as the first African American in the history of the Los Angeles Fire Department, Chief Barry said it would take several things to make the changes happen.

"It's going to take strong leadership, it's going to take determination, and it's going to take money and it's going to take time," Barry said at the California African American Museum, where the discussion under the topic, "Reforming the Los Angeles Fire Department: What Will It Require?" was held.

"The leadership has to come from me. I've got to set the tone. I have to make my expectations clear and communicate it well. That's what I am trying to do. That's what I am doing."

Barry, a 32-year veteran of the L.A. Fire Department, has been working under the guise of interim fire chief since December last year. That title was recently lifted by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who made Barry the permanent chief of the department.

Barry said he's excited about the promotion, and is eager to lead the department in a new direction. However, Barry also knows the road may get a little bumpy along the way. The department has been embroiled in a series of civil rights and discrimination lawsuits. Another thorny issue Barry has to tackle is the culture of perceived racism within the department. Barry said he's up to the task.

"I'm going out to get every station to report that stuff," Barry said. "I think this is an opportune time for us right now to make that change. Will it change totally? No. Will it change overnight? No. But it can change, and it is changing."

June, 2007 Speaker: Los Angeles Mayor,
Antonio Villaraigosa

Responding to the Urban Issues Breakfast Forum on the two year "report card" issued by several Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa prided himself to be a coalition builder like the man he admired: Tom Bradley. Villaraigosa has built his reputation on that mantra, solidifying his presence in both the African American and Latino communities. He has collaborated and strengthened his partnership with Jewish and Asian leadership as well.

However, underscoring his two-year tenure as mayor has been the rising tension in race relations between African Americans and Latinos. There was the much-publicized race riot that took place at Jefferson High School in which black and Hispanic youths clashed.

Other schools have been bitten by the bitter racial climate between black and brown. Scores of racial incidents between these two races at public schools and on the streets of Los Angeles have drawn the scrutiny of outrage from the public. VIllaraigosa appearing at the Urban Issues Breakfast Forum for the second time as Mayor, also addressed his work in promoting economic development in South Los Angeles, and his contentious battle with black leadership over his takeover attempts of LAUSD in his effort to reform public education.

Villaraigosa found himself peppered, however, with hard questions on the issue of black and brown relationships in the city and gang provocation at the two-hour discussion. The event was held at the California African American Museum. Besides the incident at Jefferson, Villaraigosa has had to calm emotions around other episodes.

The cold-blooded murder of a black youth in Harbor City last year by Latino gang members highlights the barometer of race tension crippling the city. Measuring his words carefully, Villaraigosa downplayed the fractured relationship between African Americans and Latinos. Citing the Jefferson High incident as an example of media hysteria, Villaraigosa said things are not as bad as what the press sometimes make them out to be. For the most part, African Americans and Latinos work, go school and socialize together without problems, he said.

May, 2007 Speaker: A Panel Discussion
Topic: A Change Is Gonna Come: Emerging Black Agendas Inspiring Community Change

What exactly is the Black Agenda and what relevance does it have on the African American community in this day and age? Probably a little bit of everything, according to panelists discussing the subject at May's Urban Issues Breakfast Forum at the California African American Museum.

Dr. David Horne, Rev. Eric Lee, executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (Los Angeles Chapter), Rev. Najuma Smith of the Nehemiah Project, Ms. Valerie Shaw, of the Black City Commissioners, Ms. Faith Culbraith of SEIU/SOULA and Nation of Islam Min. Tony Muhammad were among a handful of religious, civic and community leaders that spoke bluntly on what Black America must to do to right its ship.

And the way to start doing that is to have a strategic plan that will embolden, empower and further the progress of the African American community. Putting in place a Black Agenda is the first step, panelists said.

"We need an agenda for ourselves and by ourselves," Rev. Lee said. "We don't need anybody else to create an agenda. We need to educate ourselves. Every other culture has a plan and strategy. We need to stop blaming folks and take control of our lives. We've got a lot of work to do."

Horne stated that Black folks sitting and waiting for their pie in the sky isn't the answer.

"Do we need a Black Agenda?" Horne asked. "Absolutely. Without a Black Agenda, we just do. We have to get our articulated agenda out front. What are we doing? We're whining and complaining and waiting for the Messiah? That won't do."

The focus of the Black Agenda concentrates on every aspect of Black life-be it in health, civic engagement, education and politics. All panelists virtually agreed that a master plan for the Black community is necessary in order to move forward to chart a brighter path for future generations of African Americans. And starts with the leadership in the Black community, said Min. Muhammad.

"We have too many black leaders that have their own agendas," Muhammad said.