Black Journalists Should Cancel Florida Convention

National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ)
Fate has a habit of slapping us awake with  "defining moments,"  forcing moral decisions upon us at the most inopportune of times. How the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) handles the George Zimmerman acquittal will forever define it as an organization.    The NABJ conference is scheduled to be held in Orlando, Florida from July 31 through August 4th. Included with the registration will be two free tickets to Disney World.

Realizing before hand that the Zimmerman verdict might spark a national boycott of Florida, thus turning their Orlando conference into a public relations embarrassment, the organization set up a committee to explore other options.  The committee's decision to ignore the boycott issue and go on with the conference, but sprinkling in a few seminars on the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman case, as well as inviting Martin's grief-stricken family and Zimmerman, himself, to participate -- came across as well . . . shameful.  It is as though the NABJ, founded in 1975 by some of the  top black journalists in the nation, has somehow lost its way.  Now is simply not the time to play journalistic games about "fairness" and "objectivity," when we're dealing with a moral issue -- the safety of black boys -- parading as a racially-blind legal case. 


The president of the NABJ,  Gregory Lee Jr. issued the following polished cop-out:   

We as black journalists have a role here; we must examine this story and the ramifications of the tragedy of Trayvon Martin’s death, as well as the ramifications of the verdict in the Zimmerman trial, from all sides.

But haven't hundreds if not thousands of pages already been written analyzing this tragedy from every imaginable angle and to no avail?

Journalist and blogger Marc W. Polite has written a thoughtful post entitled: "Why I'm Not Going to the NABJ Convention." He comments:

All of us may not have power in this society, but we all still have agency. This is my expression of agency, in light of what I see as a tragedy. If we are really serious about affecting change, then its time for those of us who can to put our money were our mouths are. No one can do everything in the struggle, but we all can do something. This is my something. 
It would be dishonest for me to proclaim that I had made a moral decision to skip the Orlando conference, In truth, I hadn't any plans to attend and thus have nothing at stake.  Conference participants will, on the other hand, suffer financial losses from non-refundable tickets and hotel reservations.  The organization has also explained that cancellation of the conference, or a last minute change of venue from Orlando would cost  a million dollars in lost revenue, probably driving the small-staffed group into bankruptcy.  

However, it is also possible that the sacrifice entailed in changing the venue or cancelling the conference would garner positive support. It will, certainly, show leadership and integrity at a time when so many organizations tend to be preoccupied  with little save the bottom line.  Will NABJ make the right decision and thus prove that it stands for something more meaningful than a minority jobs' fair in a shrinking industry? 

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