Tavis Smiley - Accountable. Making America as Good as Its Promise

This book would not have been completed without the tireless work and unconditional support of many people. Their contributions made the book much better than it would have been without them.

We owe a debt of gratitude to the Jamestown Project, with special appreciation to the phenomenal staff, fellows, and board members, including Enola Aird for her insight, advice, and support; Charisse Carney-Nunes, Mark Jefferson, and Professor Ronald Sullivan Jr. for their significant contributions to the book in comments, ideas, and assisting us in articulating our thoughts to make the text more accurate, readable, and coherent.

Our research assistantsSusan Reagan, Jennifer Lane, and Brandi Colanderwere top-notch and gave endless hours of indispensable advice.

We thank Candis Hines for her beautiful graphic work on the book.

A special thank-you to Kimberly McFarland, executive assistant to Tavis Smiley, for her organizational and logistical genius, and to Paulette Jones Robinson for her superb editing of this book.

Others lent their specialized expertise to help improve particular chapters, including Nicole Bates, Lawrence Mishel, Damien Jackson, and Carmel Martin.

Finally, we appreciate the efforts of Carolyn Reidy, Judith Curr, and Malaika Adero at Atria Books and Simon & Schuster, for working with us to produce this book and to share with a broad audience the challenges facing our American democracy.

Our democracy, as it was envisioned by the founders of the nation, promises citizens a system of checks and balances, including politicians who lead with authenticity. The real test of authenticity in leadership is the willingness of politicians to tell the truth to the American people whether they want to hear it or not.

The 2008 presidential election will undoubtedly go down as one of the defining moments of the 21st century. Inasmuch as the results reflect both an attitudinal and demographic shift in the American electorate, they also represent a long-overdue exercise in active democracy. The inspiring level of engagement among youth, new voters, African Americans, Hispanics, and the electorate in general this time around in presidential politics was almost as significant as its unprecedented outcome.

While this extraordinary event answered a number of questions regarding the changing American electorate, it has also raised as many: How can we keep voters informed and involved in the political process long after the polls have closed? What does it take to keep our democracy active? How do we invest the engagement dividend that weve now realized?

And, as active citizens, how can we be sure that our elected leaders are telling us the truth? Or how do we make sure that those we select to represent us face consequences when they dont tell the truth?

In ACCOUNTABLE , the third book in a series, our mission is to equip citizens with the appropriate tools to assess the performance of our elected leaders and us. Accordingly, my coauthor and I present both inspiring and tragic accounts of everyday citizens and arm readers with Promise Charts (at the end of the book) designed to compare the actions of our new administration with the initial 10-point agenda outlined in the Covenant with Black America , the first book or political primer, published in 2006.

ACCOUNTABLE is the yardstick for measuring whether our politicians, our leaders, and we ourselves have satisfied our respective duties in this democracy. Our purpose is clear and nonpartisan; we pull no punches.

During the run-up to the 2008 presidential election, while I was still the resident political commentator on the Tom Joyner Morning Show , I caused quite a stir among the listenerswho are largely African Americanby insisting that we hold then-Senator Barack Obama accountable for both his political record and his campaign promises. I wasnt singling him out, but rather applying the same standard to him that we should apply to all. I feel now, as I did then, that it is our responsibility as engaged citizens to expect now-President Obama to live up to the promises that made him an appealing candidate. I want Barack Obama to be a great president. I believe he can be. But only if we help make him a great president by being the kind of active citizens democracy demands.

Certainly, I recognize that this transformative moment in American history is much bigger than me, and even bigger than our iconic new president. I revel in the progressive possibilities that this moment portends. But evaluating accountability, in its truest form, acknowledges neither friends nor enemies, and favors neither faction nor party. True accountability goes hand in hand with good government and representation that an active democracy creates, ensuring all of uselected leaders, public officials, and private citizensa role in making America as good as its promise.

We, the people, have a big job ahead to hold our elected officials and ourselves accountable. Therefore, we decided, at the inception of this book, that unlike the titles that precede The Covenant and THE COVENANT In Action we would address readers including and beyond the African American community. ACCOUNTABLE is aimed at the total American community, in the belief that we need all hands on deck in this ambitious and perpetual process, regardless of background, socioeconomic level, or ethnicity. There is certainly strength in numbers, and speaking to this expanded audience is fitting for the considerable size of the mission at hand.

Our mission to make government and ourselves more accountable is not shared by all. Some elected officials, business leaders, and others attempt and often succeed in throwing roadblocks in our path. They sometimes question the timeliness and popularity of our efforts. We believe though that the time is now, that there are legions of fellow citizens who share our concerns. As Martin Luther King, Jr.s Letter From Birmingham Jail reminds us, Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes from the tireless efforts of men willing to be coworkers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood.