Tavis Smiley

I was thinking of alcohol. Like massive amounts of rum or tequila, but I am afraid I may fall asleep faster than you say Al-Qaeda, so I am actually doing a double espresso with a shot of milk ... un cortado as we say in the isla.

What about you? Come on over to the chat room and tell us all about it.

If you see me in a suit it generally means one of two things: I am going to a wedding or I am invited to an event with Bill Clinton.

The work I have done for Kiva, both as a lender and a blogger, has gotten some attention. My Kiva diaries are among the more popular ones I write. A little while back I was interviewed by BBC World News as a lender. And most recently, I was invited to a private panel discussion for the release of Bill Clinton’s latest Book, GIVING: How Each of Us Can Change the World. I do not have a copy of this book as of yet so this is not a book review, though that might come. Instead I want to discuss the event and some of the individuals and organizations that were highlighted.

Three people I have had previous contact with were on the panel: Bill Clinton himself, who I got to meet at a fundraiser for Christine Jennings, Majora Carter, an awesome NYC rising star, and Premal Shah, President of Kiva, the organization I have been working with that got me invited to the event. Rounding out the panel were Geoffrey Canada of Harlem Children’s Zone (which hosted the event), Mark Grashow of U.S. - Africa Children’s Fellowship and a 6 year old girl named Mackenzie who organized a beach cleanup for her birthday. The panel discussion was moderated by Tavis Smiley.

I can't leave for Washington DC until I address the Frank Luntz uproar.

If you have not been following the latest (in a littany of) outrage in the lefty blogosphere, PBS had announced that tonight's Presidential Forum with Tavis Smiley was going to have as the sole broadcast commentator the infamous Frank Luntz. This is the notorious "pollster" of the GOP who publishes a "rule book" for republican candidates that teaches them how to attack their opponents as angry liberals.

Jeffrey Feldman --who ought to be the DNC's top communications strategist-- has this to say about Luntz :

Well ... it's not quite that way.

I just got word from Robert Cox of The Media Bloggers Association that I have been credentialed, along with another 21 bloggers, to cover the Democratic Presidential Debate at this Thursday night at Howard University.

It's this Thursday at 9:30pm with Sexy Beast
Tavis Smiley as the moderator. PBS is the sponsor of the event.

I'll have later today the final list of bloggers attending.

I just have to say that my head is going to explode just thinking of Tavis, Obama and me inside that bastion of American negritude.

YEARGGGGH bbs!