Tavis Smiley & Cornel West Talk Voter ID Laws & Poverty

Tavis Smiley and Cornel West talk to CNN's Carol Costello about their book, voting rights, and the role of poverty in the presidential elections.

Legendary Black Coaches Weigh in on Trayvon Martin

To:  Eric Holder, United States Attorney General

We urge the immediate implementation of all prescribed legal and judicial actions and options applicable in establishing the circumstances of Trayvon Martin’s death and in bringing the person responsible to justice. We also request an immediate review of how the Trayvon Martin case was handled by responsible law enforcement officials and by the hierarchy of civil officials to whom those law enforcement personnel were ultimately accountable.  As devastating as the senseless killing of this young man is, worse is the impression left in its wake that the institutional machinery of justice has been utterly dismissive of his tragic death and even supportive of the acknowledged killer to the point of excusing, if not outright “covering up” his culpability.

It is our conviction that the smiling young man so widely pictured in his athletic uniform and his family deserve more than to be consigned to the status of yet another “statistic”.  They and this nation, deserve and demand justice - nothing more, nothing less.

Dr. Harry Edwards

Coach George Raveling

Coach John Thompson

Coach John Chaney

Coach Nolan Richardson