America’s Night to Remember: Who Will You Vote For Now?

June 28th, 2007 was a night to remember at the PBS First All-American Forum held at Howard University located in the nation's capital. This historic event was inspired by The Covenant with Black America. The “Covenant” addresses the issues and solutions to many of the problems in the African American community.

The First All-American Forum was a forum in which the democratic presidential candidates had the opportunity to reach out to Black voters to get the “black vote”. At the same time, this forum was established to question the democratic presidential candidates in relation to the issues outlined in The Covenant with Black America.

Out of the eight candidates, only two were most noteworthy. Senator Hillary Clinton for her profound statements and Senator Barrack Obama for his “unexpected responses.”

The senator from New York, Hillary Clinton, made very powerful statements that earned her many standing ovations. Clinton’s statement about the HIV virus was magnificent. She said that if it were white women between the ages of 25-30 who had the virus, there would be an outrage in this country. Every time the senator responded to a tough question it was like lighting striking her opponents. During the forum she expressed her disappointment with the government’s handling of the “Katrina Situation.” Boldly, the senator said, “If we were to return to New Orleans there is nothing to return to.” Senator Clinton did an exceptional job at the forum. In fact, I believe that during the forum she successfully reached out to the Black community.

To my surprise, senator Barack Obama did not do as well as I thought he could have. It seemed as if he was not as well-prepared as the other candidates. Don’t get me wrong! I do not think he did a terrible job, however, when the senator was asked certain questions he could have given more sound answers. When he was asked about education in regard to the African American community, his response was, “But the most important thing is that we recognize these children as our children. The reason that we have consistently had under-performance among our children is because too many of us think it is acceptable for them not to achieve. We have to have a mindset where we say to ourselves that………” His response didn’t seem to give a solution to the problem. In fact, it sounded as if his campaign did not really cover this issue.

It is my hope that in the future, the great senator from Illinois will make a comeback and finish the race strong.