Is This A Good or Bad Thing?
African American activist and PBS television host Tavis Smiley is ending his annual State of the Black Union conference after an incredibly successful 10 year run.
What will the black blogosphere talk about now?
Smiley, who got his start in politics working for the late Los Angles Mayor Tom Bradley before unsuccessfully running for a seat of the LA City Council, says he was inspired to start the event because black issues were rarely addressed in the president's State of the Union speech or in the national media.
The conference averaged 7,000 to 10,000 participants each year, was broadcast on C-SPAN and drew speakers ranging from President Barack Obama to basketball great Magic Johnson.
In 2009, the event included for the first time a blogger's panel that included Carmen Dixon of All About Race, Roy Sekoff of the Huffington Post, and Kevin Ross of 3BAAS Media Group. It was streamed online and was watched by so many viewers that it subsequently crashed the website.
The televised chatfest drew millions to C-Span and was consistently it's highest-rated program EVERY year.
Smiley says he's ending the event because he needs time to focus on other projects, such as his four PBS prime-time specials this year, his weekly radio broadcast on PRI, and the outstanding America I AM: The African American Imprint exhibit currently on display at the California Science Center. He also says black issues now are being addressed by numerous other media outlets, commentators and bloggers.
And of course many of these individuals have not been shy about voicing their displeasure about Smiley's business dealings, such as Wells Fargo Bank being a sponsor of the annual event and publishing singer R Kelly's upcoming biographical tomb.
For fans and collectors, the State of the Black Union: 10-Year Conversation Box Set Collection, which includes all 10 symposia on 23 separate discs on DVD, is now available.
Smiley tells The Associated Press the series "doesn't have the premium that it used to have - and that's a good thing."
Source (AP)