Last year, The Covenant with Black America was number one on the New York Times bestsellers list. The Covenant addressed the ills plaguing African Americans.

Mr. Smiley pointed out that the book made history by becoming the first book “published by a Black publishing company to appear on any of the New York Times bestsellers lists.”

During a recent visit to Dallas, Mr. Smiley talked about The Covenant and THE COVENANT In Action.

A collaboration between the Jamestown Project and PolicyLink, THE COVENANT In Action shows what happened when people around the country embraced The Covenant and went to work.

The cover of THE COVENANT In Action will catch your attention as you gaze at hundreds of beautiful Black babies of all shades.

According to Mr. Smiley, when he put the call out to send in pictures, there were about 2,000 submissions. While all 2,000 do not appear on the cover, they are on the website at www.covenantwithblackamerica.com.

Just looking at the cover gives me hope, brings a smile to my face and also makes me realize more than ever my responsibility while on this Earth. “Your love and service is the rent you pay for the space you occupy,” Mr. Smiley said.

Having the children on the cover is an indication of the priority Mr. Smiley places on youth.

“Don’t ignore, leave out, talk about…them,” he implored. “You have to engage them. You don’t have a movement until young people are involved.” Princeton Professor Eddie Glaude, who joined Mr. Smiley for a town hall meeting at Dallas’ Friendship-West Baptist Church recently, also focused on the future, encouraged the audience to “form an image of yourself to which the future must conform.”

An interesting section in the book focuses on advocating. For those who don’t understand, the book defines what an advocate is and what steps you need to follow to be an advocate.

Lessons abound in this jewel of a book that costs only $10. An invaluable tool has to be the African American History Timeline that begins with the end of the Roman empire.

Complete with A Call to Action, THE COVENANT also has a study guide and curriculum.

You don’t need a classroom for this course and it’s not for the fainthearted. THE COVENANT is about building a better you and eventually a better world.

It’s time for class to be in session!


If you have a book you would like reviewed, contact Cheryl at csmith@dallasweekly.com