Funding the Movement on a shoestring budget.

Radio and Television host Tavis Smiley is the Nationwide spokesperson for the “On Your Side Tour.” He will be talking about Financial Planning to African American audiences. That’s something positive that we can all get behind. I know that Tavis has soured on a lot of folk because of his greasy 2008 Election talk. He slipped up by trying to be the spokes person for black folks. My Generation and the ones after us have come to realize a few things. We don’t need anyone speaking for us!! (uh oh!! I think I upset some folks) Black folks are not a monolithic race. We do ourselves a disservice when we ask for and expect people to speak for us. I don’t have a problem with Tavis, Dr. Cornell West and Dr. Eric Michael Dyson (keep a dictionary near you when he is talking). I don’t agree with everything that they say but I don’t wish for their silence. They were supposed to be a contrast to the black politicians we have out here. They were billed (or they billed themselves) as anti establishment. They were going to be our modern day Paul Robeson’s, Malcolm X’s, Marcus Garvey’s and Medgar Evers. They were going to keep the establishment honest like Frederick Douglass did Dishonest Abe (yeah I said it!!). But we now realize that being on the outside is a hard thing. Freedom Fighters don’t retire and move to South Beach (they end up dead, living in Africa or laying on the low in South America).


These days to push your agenda you will need to be well funded. So why not hook up with Nationwide to help tell black folks how to save money? Nationwide is a reputable company that services a lot of folks……..uh oh!!!....I have a report just in from the news room. What? Oh, okay. Scratch what I just said about Nationwide being reputable. Nationwide Insurance led survivors of Hurricane Katrina to believe they were covered from hurricane damage. Say it ain’t so Tavis? Tell me that this is a mistake. Tell me that this is a trick by the Republicans to throw salt in your game. Tell me that Nationwide isn’t involved in lawsuits with Katrina victims. I wonder how many of those individuals were African Americans? People thought it was bad when you had Wells Fargo as a sponsor of your State of the Black Union. They are being investigated and sued (in some states) for giving out bad loans to black folks. How can the slave fight against the slave master when they are working for the slave master (try saying that fast 5 times). I know if we comb through different corporations some will have shaky backgrounds. They will have done things that have hurt minorities and minority communities. If it deals with Finance, there is a good chance they might have screwed someone of color. I’m not telling Tavis to get Trojan Condoms (reputable company since the 1920’s that I have yet to hear about in bad dealings with black folks –actually most black folks I know speak highly of the company..or its product at least) to sponsor his functions. But he does need to make sure he is doing business with people that share his agenda. I’m all for keeping people accountable and that includes me being accountable as well. And I expect the same from Tavis Smiley.