Better than Fox News, NBC, CBS, ABC.

Candidly, most black folk would rather hear and see our own people review, analyze and discuss Black voting decisions, rather than having some redneck neo con “talking head” or a liberal guy or gal with no sense of black community thinking, discussing black voter turnout and decision making.

You have raised very important questions regarding Tavis Smiley, Tom Joyner and others. How can we as Black and Brown bloggers go to CNN or other news networks to “equal access” if black producers of programs are not giving equal access?

I agree we must stay focused and keep our eyes on the prize. It would be helpful if one day soon we have a collective discussion amongst black political bloggers to what the prize is.

Equal access is an FCC rule (although watered down from years past). When we have access to mass communications (as you pointed out) we can organize to our fullest potential (40 years ago the Black Panthers used Mass communication to inform black folks and the rest of America of Black folks right to bear arms).

We should demand and expect access to the airwaves from black folks and others. Yes, the first step is dealing with our own, but we should never believe the Mass Media, let it be Radio, TV, Cable, or the Internet is the sole proprietorship of whites in America. It is actually part of the American prize.

I’m reminded of a Frederick Douglass quote: “If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation want crops without plowing up the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters…. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”