Nashville public officials and residents debated issues affecting the city's various communities of color after viewing an exclusive preview screening of CNN's Black in America 2.

The July 25 event touted the use of emerging technologies, employing the use of a real-time broadcast of the town hall discussion online and a conjoining Twitter discussion via a hash tag, #NashvilleBIA2. This was a distinction among all other Black in America 2 screenings across the country, which had been granted to only 15 cities.

"Many of us are journalists who see so much going on, who hear so much about what's happening in our communities," explained Harriet Vaughan, president of the Nashville Association of Black Journalists--one of the organizations who hosted the event. "We wanted to create a forum for bringing all these discussions together and in one place."

The NABJ and the Nashville branch of the NAACP presented the screening and successive town hall meeting, held at the Avon Williams campus of Tennessee State University.

NewsChannel 5 anchor Vickie Yates moderated the three-hour event, with support from Jonathan Martin of WSMV-TV, who fielded questions from the Twitter discussion happening as well. This gave Twitterers the opportunity to have their comments and questions become a part of the town hall meeting.

Tennessee State Senator Thelma Harper and representatives from Nashville Mayor Karl Dean's office answered questions regarding business and education, themes also presented in the screening. TSU's Freedom Riders also weighed in on controversial themes like the breakdown of the family unit and the importance of the church in repairing broken communities.

More than 300 residents attended the event, many of whom had their questions addressed or comments discussed. Other attendees had their questions added to the Twitter discussion and archived for future town hall meetings, organizers said.