Jack & Jill Politics

From W.E.E. See You:

A Two Hour Special Event on Race Relations in America On Martin Luther King Day

Tom Joyner and Chris MatthewsOne year after the inauguration of the first African-American President, MSNBC will present “Hope and Fear in Obama’s America,” January 18, 2010, 10 p.m. ET, an extended discussion surrounding race and post-racial identity in America. Moderated by “Hardball’s” Chris Matthews and featuring syndicated radio host Tom Joyner, live from Texas Southern University, a historically Black university in Houston, Texas. The two-hour special event on Martin Luther King Day will explore some of the most pressing and provocative issues connected to race and race relations in the U.S.

From Tom Joyner’s blog at BlackAmericaWeb.com:

Friday, December 18, 2009, 7:38 am

Hopes and Fears

As we get closer to Christmas, New Year’s and Kwanzaa and prepare for two weeks off for vacation, my plan was for this blog to reflect on some of the biggest stories of 2009. On my list was President Obama’s inauguration; Chris Brown and Rihanna; the death of Michael Jackson; the two black astronauts calling the TJMS from space and yes, Tiger Woods. Those are still important stories, but there’s a developing story that I want to share with you.

On the King Holiday Weekend 2010, I will co-host an MSNBC town hall special about race in America with Chris Matthews. This is also an important story because it will give me and you a rare opportunity to participate in a much needed discussion about whether racism is still a relevant topic now that President Obama has been elected. Of course, we know that it is. But now, we will get a chance to say why.

Having an audience of 8 million mostly African-American people is always a good thing, but it’s a crucial thing when mainstream America wants to know what’s on our minds. Together, we can give provide honest questions and answers about racism in this country.

In the days leading up to January 18th, I will be using this blog, BlackAmericaWeb.com, the Text Tom club, the morning show and all of its resources to garner your opinions about some of the specific topics that will be addressed on the program. Among the topics: Does Post-Racial America Exist? (Yep.) Is Affirmative Action Necessary? (duh!) and Generational Colorblindness. Isn’t it funny that usually the only people who claim they don’t see color always end up telling you they’re married to a black person?

Of course, the traditional, easy way to tackle these topics is to get the same old people to say the same old things. Not knocking any of the people who have sat on panel after panel after panel to talk about race in America in past years. But it’s almost impossible to get any new perspectives on issues unless we solicit information from varied sources, and from what I can see, at this point, that’s what this MSNBC town hall Meeting will attempt to do. Chris Matthews and I will not talk to a panel of your “usual suspects” about hopes and fears in Obama’s America.