[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 47 (Wednesday, April 26, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E602]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   THE VOLUME THAT'S MAKING A LOUD NOISE: PEOPLE FLOCK TO HEAR ABOUT 
                               `COVENANT'

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 26, 2006

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend Tavis Smiley for his 
publication of a remarkable analysis of the status of Black America, 
``The Covenant With Black America''. Smiley, an instrumental American 
author, political commentator, and radio talk show host has contributed 
a great deal to the discussion on the goals of African Americans from 
fair minimum wage increases to equal and accessible healthcare. Smiley 
is determined to bring the plight of Blacks to the forefront of the 
national agenda by convincing African American leaders to embrace it. 
He introduced the covenant at a leadership conference in Atlanta and it 
appears to be succeeding in taking the covenant to other cities.
  His Covenant with Black America is now number one on the Washington 
Post best seller list and number two on the New York Times best seller 
list, an indication of a significant audience for its proposals which 
is being augmented by the taking of the proposals to audiences in the 
Black community such as the Shiloh Baptist Church in downtown 
Washington.
  The covenant includes pieces from an array of notable contemporary 
African Americans including former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher; 
Marian Wright Edelman, Angela Glover Blackwell, and Cornel West. The 
book has African Americans all across the country gathering and 
discussing Black America as was done with Smiley's presentation at 
Shiloh Baptist Church in downtown Washington on Thursday, April 7, 
2006. Smiley has made many think about their status as he has asked the 
very pertinent question, ``Can we go from moment to momentum to 
movement?''
  Also notable about ``The Covenant'' is that it is No. 1 on the 
Washington Post's paperback nonfiction bestseller list. This alone 
indicates that there are many who are interested in engaging in the 
discussion of the future of Black America. More than 200,000 copies 
have been sold since it was published less than two months ago.
  I enter into the Record an article from the Washington Post entitled 
``The Volume That's Making a Loud Noise'' for the acknowledgment and 
support of a book with such a profound and straightforward method for 
tackling the vital issues within the Black community. Now is the time 
for revitalization in those communities across this nation and the 
Black community must rise to the occasion.

                [From The Washington Post, Apr. 7, 2006]

   The Volume That's Making a Loud Noise: People Flock to Hear About 
                               `Covenant'

                           (By Linton Weeks)

       When a book becomes a collection of people, not just pages, 
     we sit up and pay attention.
       ``The Covenant With Black America,'' a volume of essays 
     pulled together by omnimedia personality Tavis Smiley, may be 
     doing just that. At No. 1 on The Washington Post's paperback 
     nonfiction bestseller list, ``Covenant'' is the book of the 
     moment. It's been on the list for four weeks. And it is No. 2 
     on the upcoming New York Times paperback nonfiction list.
       All across the country, many black Americans are gathering, 
     mostly in churches, to hear Smiley spread his gospel of 
     response and responsibility and to buy a bunch of books. The 
     publisher, Third World Press, reports that more than 200,000 
     copies have sold--at $12 apiece--since ``Covenant'' was 
     published less than two months ago.
       In downtown Washington last night, Smiley's rousing 
     presentation from the lectern of Shiloh Baptist Church is 
     greeted with scores of amens and several standing ovations. 
     Brandishing a copy, he says, ``Make black America better, you 
     make all America better.''
       Funny and self-effacing, Smiley asks the thousand or so 
     people in the pews, ``Can we go from moment to momentum to 
     movement?''
       The volume could also be titled ``The Purpose Driven 
     Community.''
       ``Covenant'' is a collection of pieces by notable 
     contemporary African Americans, including former U.S. surgeon 
     general David Satcher; Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the 
     Children's Defense Fund; Angela Glover Blackwell, founder of 
     the think tank PolicyLink; and Cornel West, who teaches 
     religion at Princeton University.
       The 250-plus-page book is divided into 10 core chapters, 
     each plumbing a single subject, such as the right to health 
     care, the unequal justice system or the racial digital 
     divide. Arguments are buttressed with statistics and calls to 
     personal and political action. For example, in the chapter on 
     accessing economic prosperity, the book encourages 
     elected officials to ``increase the minimum wage to a 
     living wage'' and urges individuals to ``open and maintain 
     a savings account, no matter what your family's income 
     is.''
       Smiley, who has written a handful of books and is a regular 
     on public television, is proud that ``Covenant'' has sold 
     mostly through the traditional African American grapevines of 
     church meetings, talk radio and word of mouth. And that he 
     has bypassed the Great American Buzzmaking Machine.
       ``We haven't been on `Oprah'!'' he shouts to the crowd. 
     ``We haven't been on the `Today' show! And we haven't been on 
     NPR! That's all black folks,'' he says about the book's 
     phenomenal rise on the bestseller lists. ``Black folks did 
     this.''
       He uses the success of his book to illustrate the economic 
     and political might of the African American community. He 
     also points out that he chose Third World Press in Chicago, 
     an influential African American publishing house founded in 
     1967, to publish his book.
       ``It's selling so fast we can't keep up with demand,'' says 
     Bennett J. Johnson, vice president of Third World.
       Johnson says one of his friends describes the book as ``an 
     oasis in the desert'' because it is the rare volume that 
     ``allows black Americans to view their own interests in an 
     organized fashion, and it provides white America with an 
     articulated version of what black America wants.''
       This will be ``a wedge book,'' Johnson predicts, that will 
     make book buyers and the publishing industry look at black 
     publishers and writers in a different light.
       `` `Covenant,' '' he adds, ``is not a bible. It's not 100 
     percent right on each issue. But it starts a dialogue.''
       The book does touch a certain chord with some people. 
     Pamela Johnson, 38, of Upper Marlboro, for instance, who is 
     sitting near an aisle in the church. She heard Smiley talking 
     about his ideas on the Tom Joyner morning radio show. African 
     Americans have to ``understand what we have to do to improve 
     our situations,'' Johnson says. An industrial engineer and a 
     mathematics professor at Strayer University, she is 
     especially interested in the book's emphasis on establishing 
     an equitable system of public education.
       Edelman, who is onstage with Smiley, wrote the book's 
     statement of purpose. ``Covenant,'' she writes, ``calls on 
     parents, educators, preachers, social service providers, 
     community leaders, and policy-makers to act now and create a 
     brighter future for our children.''
       The book grew out of several annual State of the Black 
     Union symposiums that Smiley conducted. Contributor Blackwell 
     explains from her home in California that Smiley wanted to 
     take the conversations from those confabs ``and harness the 
     intellectual power and the energy.''

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