MIAMI SHORES — Millions of TV viewers have come to anticipate the insightful and provocative discourse of CNN political analyst Roland Martin.
Radio listeners now enjoy his analyses as part of the Tom Joyner Morning Show, heard locally on WHQT Hot 105 FM.
The author of Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith, and Speak, Brother! A black man’s view of America, is also a syndicated columnist and former executive editor and general manager of the Chicago Defender, the nation's largest black daily newspaper.
A staunch supporter of President-elect Barack Obama with an insider’s point of view, Martin will discuss Obama’s unprecedented campaign and historic win at the Miami Shores home of South Florida Times Publisher Robert Beatty during an intimate gathering on Dec. 4.
Martin interviewed Obama on TV One in 2007, an interview that earned him an NAACP Image Award.
The exclusive Dec. 4 event at Beatty’s house, hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists, the South Florida Black Journalists Association and the South Florida Times, is part fundraiser, part think tank. It will also include an opportunity to participate in a silent auction.
The fundraising event, for which tickets cost $50 each, benefits NABJ’s On the Move fund. The fund will help pay for the professional journalists organization’s fall 2009 relocation to newly constructed office suites on the University of Maryland campus.
Tonju Francois, the parliamentarian for NABJ, is an editorial producer at CNN en Espanol, and the person responsible for booking Martin. Francois said she hopes the event will generate $10,000 toward the $600,000 being raised nationally for the On the Move project.
“We will be having these types of events across the country – a fun way to come together, a little eat and drink and listen to some of the engaging conversation that only Roland can give us,” she said.
The host for the evening is another CNN regular, anchorman Don Lemon.
Beatty said he and his wife, Priscilla, are honored to host the event and “contribute in any way to the efforts of the SFBJA. They do such wonderful work in our community.’’
Beatty, who is also an attorney, said he’s thrilled to host Martin, who he said, “provided a level of unique insight with candor and with absolute professionalism to the presidential campaign.”
This will not be the first time that Beatty has hosted a prominent member of society at his home. He hosted President-elect Obama – when Obama was still a senator preparing himself to run for president – during a breakfast and chat during the summer of 2005.
Beatty had the foresight to introduce Obama as “the first black president of the United States,” a move he attributes more to Obama’s destiny than to any prophetic abilities on his part.
Beatty said his late mother, Juanita Beatty, “really fell in love with [Obama]’’ when he spoke at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, making the photograph that was taken of his mother and Obama at the 2005 breakfast an especially cherished possession.
The admission price of $50 to the Dec. 4 event includes live jazz and free mojitos provided by event sponsor Bacardi.
During the auction, guests may bid on a morning show appearance on NBC 6, a Miami Hilton weekend stay and a session by celebrity makeup artist Amy Palmer.
Rmharris15@Bellsouth.net
Photo: Roland Martin
IF YOU GO
WHAT: An evening with Roland Martin
WHERE: Home of Robert and Priscilla Beatty, 441 Grand Concourse, Miami Shores.
WHEN: Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008 at 6:30 p.m.
COST: $50 paid in advance to Tonju Francois. Send checks made out to NABJ prior to the event to:
Tonju Francois
611 NW 89th Avenue
Plantation, Fl. 33324
CONTACT: Tonju Francois, 954-635-6866 or Tonju.Francois@turner.com
No Comment