Smiley and West discuss poverty

People gathered in the D.P. Culp University Center Auditorium Tuesday to experience a lecture from Tavis Smiley, a PBS television comentator, and Cornel West, a philosopher and author. Smiley and West presented a lecture based on the information in “The Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto,” the book they co-authored together. The event was brought to East Tennessee State University by the ETSU Diversity Events Committee, Buctainment, Division of Student Affairs, Office of Equity and Diversity, Office of Multicultural Affairs, Black Affairs Association, Office of Community Service Programs, Progressive Student Alliance and WETS-FM/HD. “A number of student groups and campus departments have had interest for some time in bringing Mr. Smiley and Dr. West to campus,” said Joy Fulkerson, director of Greek Life Programs and Community Service. Even though the event seemed as if it had been planned and put together for weeks, the reality is that this event almost didn’t happen and was said to be last minute. “You know timing is sometimes everything and we were able to pull those groups together and secure this one open date on their tour,” Fulkerson said. The two influential men spoke on the war on poverty and how people can play a part in spreading the awareness of poverty in our nation. According to the lecture series website, www.povertytour.smileyandwest.com, their mission statement is to highlight the plight of the poor people of all races, colors and creeds so they will not be forgotten, ignored, or rendered invisible during this difficult and dangerous time of economic deprivation and political cowardice. The Poverty 2.0 tour will continue into April.