Essence News Editor Wendy Wilson was in Tampa last week to "find out exactly why [African Americans in attendance] aren't backing President Obama in 2012. Here is part of her interview with Rev. William Owens:

ESSENCE: Why are you attending the RNC, and what’s the message you want to send here?

REV. WILLIAM OWENS: We are here but we will also be at the Democratic National Convention next week. We want it to be known that the African American community is for marriage between a man and a woman. I’m not dealing with any other issue here because as the Black family deteriorates, none of the other issues will matter. The President has gone down the wrong road. He’s in the White House because of the Blacks who gave their lives during the civil rights movement. If it wasn’t for them he wouldn’t be there, and yet he caters to less than three percent of the population only because they can give him that Hollywood money. He is taking the Black vote for granted.