Home > Social Butterfly > Archives > 2008 > June > 16 > Entry
Black in America preview at the High
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Morehouse College student Terrance Woodbury, from left, CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien, Morehouse student Brandon Douglas and the Rev. Herman “Skip” Mason Jr., interim vice president for student services and dean of students at Morehouse at the High after the preview of “Black in America,” a CNN special report.
A capacity crowd packed the Alliance Theatre Monday night for a preview of Black in America, a CNN special report that airs next month.
CNN anchor and special correspondent Soledad O’Brien was on hand for the event and answered questions from the audience after the screening of the condensed report.
She said she was disheartened by disparities in income, education and opportunity her reporting uncovered.
“Education isn’t part of the game, it’s the whole ball game,” she said, noting black students’ graduation rates trail white students’. The gulf is particularly stunning, she said, when examining the graduation of black boys versus whites.
“I haven’t quite figured out why people aren’t screaming in the streets about it,” she said. “No one’s marching about that.”
CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien with Ashlee Feemster at the High
After the presentation, guests filed out of the Alliance and onto the piazza outside the High Museum of Art, where a drum line entertained. O’Brien mingled with guests, who were eager to discuss issues raised by the special report.
“In this country we have a very selective memory about history,” O’Brien said. “I hope we could have a discussion about our shared bad past. I’m not sure we’re ready for that in this country, but I hope so.”
Her reporting dealt not only with friction between the races but within the African American community. In some cases, she said, class issues creep in within members of the same race, adding another element of division.
“Clearly, we are not understanding each other,” she said.
A drum line entertained guests after the preview.
The guest list for the event included the Rev. Joseph Lowery, King Center President Isaac Ferris, Atlanta Voice publisher Alexis Scott, Spelman College history professor Jelani Cobb and Dr. Louis Sullivan, former president of Morehouse School of Medicine.
Other guests included Fulton County Magistrate Judge Keisha Lance Bottoms, Atlanta Woman mag associate editor Nicole D. Smith, the Wall Street Journal’s Corey Dade and wife Sonji Jacobs Dade, who works in crisis and issues management and public affairs for Edelman Public Relations.
CNN was well represented by a contingent including Jim Walton, president of CNN Worldwide, and Abbie Boudreau, Elizabeth Cohen, Naamua Delaney, Tony Harris, TJ Holmes, Don Lemon, Betty Nguyen, Rick Sanchez and Fredricka Whitfield.
We met Lemon and his mother, Katherine Lemon-Clark, who was in town for the event from Baton Rouge, La.
CNN anchor Don Lemon with his mother, Katherine Lemon-Clark, at the High Museum of Art. Mom came from Baton Rouge, La., for the event.
After a cocktail reception featuring Southern cuisine, guests toured the High’s current exhibit, Road to Freedom. The collection of 200 photographs by 45 photographers depict the ugliness and bravery on display side-by-side in the South during the Civil Rights Movement.
Although the exhibit, and the CNN report, were full of disturbing images, O’Brien did leave the audience with a positive message. Someone asked what most surprised her during the reporting of Black in America.
Her answer: “the number of people interested in changing the status quo.”
Myrna Anderson Fuller, from left, with Howard Wertheimer and Tayyibah Taylor at the High Museum. They serve on the race relations impact team for the Leadership Atlanta Alumni group.
Carolyn Bramwell, from left, with Crystal Barrett, Marla T. Kendall and Marilyn Taylor at the High Museum.
Comments
By Crystal Barrett
June 19, 2008 2:42 PM | Link to this
Hi Jennifer,
Just wanted to say thanks for the article in the AJC, Social Butterfly section. It was a pleasure seeing me and my friends pictured among some of the other attendees. It was truly a nice and thought-provoking event, which I hope will cause all of us to look inward to decide what we can do and then seek outward ways to help change the horizon on race relations and disparity. Hope to see you again out and about Atlanta!
Regards, Crystal Barrett The Clorox Sales Company, Southeast RDC, East Point GA 404-346-6310
By Original lack Buddha
July 6, 2008 11:13 PM | Link to this
For the Black Buddhist perspective on CNN’s series on Black America check out my blog: http://originalblackbuddha.blogspot.com/2008/07/special-reports-black-in-america.html
By Wendy
July 9, 2008 9:31 AM | Link to this
Blacks are an infections that is killing this nation. Watch the news three nights in a row and tell me that blacks are not the missing link. Crime and the inability to conduct themselves appropriately in public proves that they are friggin apes
By Charly
July 27, 2008 10:57 PM | Link to this
Black in America: It’s a Beautiful Thing!
No amount of reports, statistics or opinions can change the results that were revealed in the July 2008 Black in America CNN special reported. We can discuss it, debate about it or ignore it – it won’t change anything. You see, in my opinion, all is right with the world. There is no special circumstance with being Black in America. Everything is as it should be.
I say this because what we see in our lives as Black Americans, is exactly what we should see – poverty, ignorance, lack and disease. How could we expect it to be any different? Can we blame the systems of this country? We probably could. Should we blame this society? Probably not. Will the airing of Black dirty laundry change circumstances? Certainly not! Who is responsible for the statistics that CNN revealed on July 23-24, 2008? When will change come?
We Black Americans are responsible. Things will not change until we change.
What millions of viewers witnessed on TV on these dark evenings is a disgrace to our Father in Heaven. We look like a group of God forsaken losers who don’t have the pride, intelligence or personal power to take control of our own destinies and create the lives that we and our children deserve. We continue to make the same choices and expect things to change. Or, we don’t expect to see the same results happen to us when we make the same choices that we watch others suffer for.
It’s time to turn back to the “Way!” As I read the articles and probe my associates for their opinions on these matters, I have yet to hear the true solution. Everyone is looking at us as if we are victims. I, for one, am no victim. I am a child of the Most Holy God and heir to the Kingdom. All that I need and desire will be granted to me because I choose to walk in the will of God.
There is no wonder that we have so many single mothers. There is no wonder that we have so many men and women infected with AIDS. There is no wonder why we are largely living in poverty. As I said earlier, I am not surprised at all with the CNN noted statistics. All is right with the world!
How could we possibly expect things to be any different or to improve when we continue to rebel against the Gift of God – His Will and Way? We have access to all that we need and He is prepared to grant us more than we can think or imagine, but we have abandoned His way of doing things. We have taken prayer out of school. We have physically separated ourselves from His House of Prayer and we have discarded His commandments. We have failed ourselves and in so doing, have failed our children by creating a world that continues to suffer from generation to generation.
Stop the madness. Take responsibility. Do the right thing. Recognize your source for all things. Take back your life and live the life that God created you to live. Here is the cure: if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).
Being Black in America is a beautiful thing. I am creating the life of my dreams. Follow the “Way” and see for yourself.
All the best,
Charly