On Wednesday, March 30, 2005, I attended a town hall meeting called "State of Black America: where do we go from here?" It was in presentation for Student Leadership Forum 2005. It was held at the Return to Royalty Banquet in Atlanta, Georgia and the seminar began at 7pm. Professor Angela Campbell, founder and executive director of the student leadership forum, was the host of the event, but there were no main speakers.
             The purpose of the town hall meeting was to provide venue for open dialogue between a panel of solution-oriented experts, student leaders, and a public audience. There wasn't anything I enjoyed more than the next, but I found that the town hall meeting seeked to inspire organized community activity designed to face issues head on, to resolve conflicts, support organizational unity, spark institution building, and to promote proactive think tanks, social responsibility, and parental accountability. The second panel speaker, Ms. Kali Sichen of Morris Dale Institute, stated that the black community needs to take food and health into their own hands because the government doesn't care. The fifth panel speaker, Mr. Jamille Jones, stated that the community needs to get the black people out of jail and help its' children in schools. The seventh panel speaker, Mr. Justin M. Bayless, is a student from Morehouse College and the Vice-President of Communications for the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. He talked about the Atlanta University Center and the problems within the community from armed robberies and physical abuse to how the black community can create social change. I would recommend this event to every student because like myself, I did indeed produce a genuine, long-lasting change in the attitudes, moral character, cultural values, and behaviors amongst the collegiate student body. It helped student leaders to receive the support and guidance needed to effectively address and resolv...