Using the historically Black university, Hampton University as its host, The Covenant With Black America once again took center stage in an effort to address critical social and political issues within the Black community.

The Covenant with Black America is a national plan of action to discuss the primary concerns of African Americans today -- including health, housing, criminal justice, and education. The panel host and visionary behind the book, Tavis Smiley, worked with Tom Joyner and National Public Radio/ABC News Contributor Michele Martin to facilitate the day-long discussion.

Panelists present at this year's discussion included:

Part 1

• Jesse Jackson, Rainbow Push Coalition Founder/President
• Stephanie Robinson, Jamestown Project CEO
• Otis Moss, Minister Olivet Institutional Baptist Church (Cleveland, OH)
• Catherine Hughes, Founder and Chairman of Radio One;
• Al Sharpton, Founder and Chairman National Action Network
• Keith Ellison, U.S. Representative (D-MN)
• Douglas Wilder, Mayor Richmond, VA (D)
• Tim Reid, Producer/Actor
• Daphne Reid, Actress
• Glenda A. Hatchett, Judge
• Timothy Kaine, Governor Virginia (D)
• Azia Alexandria, Contest Winner
• Eddie Glaude, Jr. Associate Professor of Religion, Princeton University

• Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President, Children's Defense Fund
• Julia Hare, Co-Founder, Black Think Tank
• Mae C. Jemison, M.D. Astronaut (Fmr.), NASA
• Carlton Ridenhour("Chuck D"), Entertainer
• Robert "Bobby" Scott, U.S. Representative, (D-VA)
• Sonia Sanchez, Poet
• Lerone Bennett, Jr., Author
• Cornel West, Professor of Religion & African-American Studies, Princeton University
• Omar Wasow, Executive Editor, Blackplanet.com
• Bruce S. Gordon, President and CEO, NAACP
• Charles J. Ogletree, Founding Executive Director, Houston (Charles Hamilton) Institute for Race and Justice, Harvard
• Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder and CEO, PolicyLink
• Wade Henderson, President and CEO, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights

When speaking about education, Jesse Jackson commented, "Why are we so good in sports and athletics? We need that same option when it comes to science and math. No one has earned the right to do less than their best."

During a discussion that centered around the Black community and more specifically the Black family, Jamestown Project CEO Stephanie Robinson stated: "Our families are important and we need to strengthen them. Families are where we learn how to relate to each other."

Al Sharpton questioned some of today's artists, claiming that their music isn't uplifting to Black people. "We didn't sing about men picking cotton in the fields, or "hoes" in the back of the bus."

Sharpton further commented on slavery and the significance of how Blacks view it historically. "We have to quit giving the wrong people credit for our history. Slavery went away because of the abolitionist movement, not Abraham Lincoln."

The State of the Black Union 2007: Jamestown, America's 400th Anniversary, was titled "The African American Imprint on America" to commemorate the 400th anniversary of America at Jamestown, Virginia.

Click to purchase a copy of: The Covenant In Action

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