Tomorrow, President Barack Obama speaks to the nation in the annual State of the Union address, which got me thinking about  the state of our communities and neighborhoods. I know many of us are already swooning just from the President’s crooning at the Apollo or still putting 100% of the blame on former President Bush, but do we really believe the Obama administration has been aggressively addressing our issues?

According to CBS news, Black unemployment is “at Depression-era levels”. “The most recent figures show African American joblessness at 16.2 percent. For black males, it’s at 17.5 percent; and for black teens, it’s nearly 41 percent.” In fact unemployment fell for Whites and Latinos, but not for us.  Check this heartbreaking video of  people standing in line for 3 blocks in 10 degree weather just to apply for a job.

On Tuesday, January 24th, at 7:30pm EST on YoungVoterLive.com, I’ll be joining the League Of Young Voters Education Fund, AllHipHop.com and Rock The Vote for the second annual #BarackTalk, a State of the Union round table discussion and watch party. Other panelists include Grammy award winning rapper Che “Rhymefest” Smith,  Goldie Taylor, leading news correspondent (TheGrio.com, MSNBC) and  Chuck Creekmur, influential urban entertainment journalist and co-founder of AllHipHop.com. I hope to advocate for much greater change in my community, as well as, address issues like America’s injustice system and abolishing the death penalty. Log in and let your voices be heard!