After speaking at a recent We The People North Carolina event this past weekend, McAllister will be featured inthe Studio 360 production "American Icons: The Autobiography of Malcolm X," an episode in the public radio's series of in-depth documentaries"on signature works of art that define the American identity." (Supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, American Icons has won many major broadcast awards, including the Peabody Award. For more information, please visit www.studio360.org/americanicons/) Lenny will provide an interview and dialogue involving host Curt Anderson and himself concerning the iconic civil rights leaders, the spectrum of ideals found in the book "The Autobiography of Malcolm X", and the current condition of Black America today; (air dates and times for the series will be announced later this summer.)
On August 10, McAllister will participate on a roundtable to celebrate Essence Magazine and its 40th-year anniversary. The roundtable discussion on race and politics in the Obama Era will include NAACP President Ben Jealous, CNN award-winning reporter Soledad O'Brien,Brown University professor and author Dr. Tricia Rose, noted sports writer and radio host Stephen A. Smith, and Zeta Phi Beta President and comedian Sheryl Underwood. The roundtable will take place in New York City and will be broadcast on www.essence.com before becoming available in print during the fall celebratory edition of the magazine hits newsstands.
McAllister's speeches over the past week on race, politics, tea party activism, and social healing in 21stcentury America have become popular items on the internet. Transcripts of the speeches can be found via the links below:
Transcript of the We The People North Carolina Speech from July 31, 2010 ("What is Dangerous for Some is Deadly for Others in Contemporary America") includes the excerpt:
"And I know that many of you may criticize my use of the term 'Black America.' I agree with you on principle, for people of all creeds and citizens of both genders have shed blood and incur sacrifices for the sovereignty of this great land.However, as ambassadors, we must deal with truth just as we must enact our plans for liberty as visionaries. And, while speaking in truth and with love,we must - as ambassadors - acknowledge the destruction that big government has imposed on African-American communities for decades now. We cannot unite America... if we will not admit that big government continues to divide America where very different realities, huge contrasts in life expectations, and rampant every day disparities exist in such a way that many live in a different world in this nation even as we live under the same flag as a country....This is nothing new. Time and time again, expansive big government has been embraced by politicians to separate our nation from within and separate our citizens collectively from their freedom. From the expansion of slavery within an expanding new nation...to the expansion of Jim Crow in response to Constitutional amendments guaranteeing citizenship...and now to the addiction of urban residents and young Americans to the expectations of big government intrusion in our lives...America has allowed big government to write the rules of fairness, the definitions of equality, and the terms of engagement in these United States. But just as we are learning that the continuation of big government sets America on a dangerous course for the future, we as ambassadors must faithfully inform others that continuing the loyalty of urban voters to big government and its toxic results sets Black America on a deadly course of destruction - right here and right now."
The full text can be found here.
Transcript of the Lee County of North Carolina Speaker's Series Speech from July 26, 2010 ("Conviction for the 3 Rs during Today's Teachable Moment")includes the excerpt:
"More than Race in America, we must discuss and embrace the second R in these contemporary times: Redemption.
"The beauty of the republican form of government is its redemptive qualities if the citizenry takes on its obligations to debate, to discuss, and to dive into the knowledge of the workings of government that are available in a free society...Do not surrender the greatness of America through the complacency of contemporary expectations...It is more than just about our government officials messing up, my fellow Americans. It is also about us not taking redemptive measures with our votes each November to heal the nation. It is also about us not taking redemptive measures to quell ignorance and prejudice before it hits the national spotlight. It is also about us not taking on the issues of imbalanced families in America, the secular movement against the presence of proper and redemptive religion in the public forum, and the growing disrespect for women,for our seniors, and for the common man in our society today. However, the beauty of the Great Experiment named the United States of America by our forefathers is that we control the math that equates success and prosperity in our country. We control the equation to make better solutions and to make it all add up in the 21st century for a prosperous and free nation. We are capable in our times, because we are called by our history, to redeem the flaws of our recent past with an inspired leadership in today's time - a leadership forged by voters and activists, by taxpayers and the unemployed, by young and the old alike. Under this leadership, our nation is redeemed by equals under the law in a nation that can prove once again to be indivisible and once again under God...we must be determined to be a redeemed citizenry eager and willing to pen a new path using the constructs of our republican government...In a democracy, if a nation is to rebound from recessions and other challenges, its citizens must speak out and act as its redeemers...
"Now, if we can take on race in a way that the White House, the media, and other leaders will not...and if we are willing to be redeemable through our Constitutional form of government, we will be able to bring about the third R we need today: Revolution."
The full text can be found here.
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