With media coverage focused on the health care debate, the Tavis Smiley gathering in Chicago on Saturday to discuss the need for a so-called “black agenda” in Washington was less than front-page news.

The gathering drew a diverse panel of academics and former civil rights leaders, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrakhan, Cornell West and Bennett College President Julianne Malveaux.

Smiley said that if President Obama is to be a “transformational” president, he cannot ignore the issue of race and the special needs of African Americans.

"We love Barack Obama,” he said. “We want him to be a great president. We believe he can be a great president, but great presidents aren't born, they are made. They have to be pushed into their greatness. They are pushed into their greatness when we hold them accountable."

In the attached video, Georgetown University Professor Eric Dyson and Michelle Bernard, president of the Independent Woman's Forum, debated the issue on MSNBC.

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