President Obama Meets With African-American Leaders To Discuss Economy

President Obama Meets With African-American Community Leaders To Discuss Economy

In an effort to get a first-hand account of exactly how the economic crisis continues to affect African-American communities across the nation, President Obama recently sat down with a handful of prominent black leaders to hear them out and provide feedback on how to move forward.

Among the attendees were Rev. Al Sharpton, Avis Jones-DeWeever of the National Council of Negro Women, Ben Jealous of the NAACP; Judith Browne Dianis of the Advancement Project, and a host of other leaders.

via News One

On Thursday, President Barack Obama met with African-American leaders across various organizations to discuss and address growing concerns regarding the economic crisis that continues to grip the country.

With the release of “The President’s Plan for a Strong Middle Class and a Strong America” last week, Obama’s presence at the meeting was to hammer home some fine points of the plan as it relates to Black Americans.

In a statement, Rev. Sharpton commented on his meeting with the President, saying the group focused on voting rights:

“I and other leaders had a very significant discussion with the President about concerns in the African-American community and the civil rights community in general and most specifically about voting rights.

“Just yesterday the state of Virginia House of Delegates passed strict government photo ID requirements for voting. As states around the country engage in what we feel are voter suppression methods, next week the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments about Section 5 of the Voting Rights act.”

Rev. Sharpton also said gun control and unemployment were also important discussion points.

While it is certainly important for President Obama to assert himself as the leader of the entire free world and not just of the African-American community, we think it’s pretty awesome that prominent black leaders got the chance to have an intimate sit down with the first black President of America and voice their concerns and ideas on how to help our communities directly.