The Independent View: NAN 20th Anniversary & 13th National Convention

National Action Network (NAN) is one of the leading civil rights organizations in the world and is in the forefront of social justice in the United States. As a direct outgrowth of the movement that was built and led by the Rev. Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., NAN was founded in New York City in 1991 by the Rev. Al Sharpton and a group of activists that were committed to the principles of non-violent direct action and civil disobedience. I was asked to attend the convention and was in the audience for the following Opening Panel and Special Plenary Presentation.

Politics 2011 - 2012 What Are the Issues?
Moderated By: Rev. Al Sharpton

Panelists:
Charles M. Blow - Columnist, New York Times
Harold E. Ford, Jr. - Former Congressman and NYU Professor
Kirsten John Foy - Director of Intergovernmental & Community Affairs, Office of the New York City Public Advocate
George Gresham - President, 1199 SEIU
Frederick D. Hayes, III - Senior Pastor, Friendship West Baptist Church, Dallas, TX
David Jefferson, Sr. - Senior Paster, Metropolitan Baptist Church, Newark, NJ
Roberto Ramirez - Founding Partner, MirRam Group, LLC
Jacqueline Salit - President, IndependentVoting.org
Lee A. Saunders - Secretary-Treasure, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

Special Plenary Presentation I:
David Axelrod - Former Senior White House Advisor to President Barack Obama

The thrust of the conversations was the need to address these issues for 2012:

1. Jobs
2. Hunger
3. Education
4. Workers Rights
5. Immigration

The statement "Who Gets to Feel Secure" could be the defining issue between which major party the voters' put into the White House.

All these issues will not be addressed until we fix the follwing:

Because so many of the primaries and other selection processes were OPEN, the independent voter gave Obama the opportunity to win the election. But today, the Republicans are trying to CLOSE their primaries so this won't happen in the future. This effort must be stopped, but only as a holding effort.

With over 38% of registered voters having not selected a party, they want to vote for candidates not parties. But in many states you can only select a party's primary ballot if you want to take part in the political process. So the need for something like the Open Primary / Top Two that was put into place in CA, with some modifications, could be a good structural political reform.

As evident with our current stalemates in Congress, just selecting a President isn't the final answer. We must prepare the foundation for a truly successful administration that will work for the people. To do this, we need to elect local, state, and Congressional candidates that will be flexible in the process of making this country work and support the President.