Syndicated radio host Tom Joyner will join the Democratic presidential candidates at a political forum Jan. 31 in Columbia, four days before the S.C. Democratic presidential primary, organizers said this week.

The Center for Community Change of Washington is organizing the “People’s Agenda for Economic Justice Summit” as a way to mobilize “under-represented voters,” including African-Americans, Latinos, and young and rural voters, said Leila McDowell, communications director for the center.

The group is a grassroots political and civic group known for its work on low-income housing and urban issues.

“We’re coming together as a force to make sure our vote matters,” said Anton Gunn, director of S.C. Fair Share, one of the local organizations participating in the forum. The candidates will leave knowing “this is a voting block that must be dealt with.”

McDowell said Joyner will moderate the forum, along with a journalist yet to be named. Joyner hosts the popular “Tom Joyner Morning Show” which airs locally on WLXC-FM, 98.5.

The forum will be broadcast live nationwide on cable television, McDowell said. Organizers are also negotiating with a local television station to carry it live.

McDowell said several of the nine presidential candidates have given tentative confirmation, but she would not name those who have agreed to attend. South Carolina representatives of Sens. John Edwards and Joe Lieberman and retired Gen. Wesley Clark said they are aware of the event but they can’t commit to it this far in advance.

The event is also two days after the Jan. 29 presidential debate in Greenville sponsored by the S.C. Democratic Party. Party chairman Joe Erwin said this week that eight of the nine candidates have said they’ll participate in the Greenville debate. He wouldn’t identify the ninth candidate.

Along with Joyner, McDowell said several celebrities who regular participate in her organization’s events have been invited, including actors Susan Sarandon, Ossie Davis and Morgan Freeman, and film director Spike Lee. Grammy-nominated R&B artist Will Downing has agreed to participate, McDowell said.

The one-hour forum is an opportunity for candidates to speak directly with individual families about issues affecting them. But the rally and grassroots efforts have a larger goal of helping low-income individuals find their voice as voters.

If the state’s poor mobilized as voters, McDowell said, they could swing elections. “The margin is very small,” she said. “That percentage could come from low-income voters.”

South Carolina is being used as a test case for the center and for efforts to mobilize the poor, she said. More than 90 organizations in the state serve this community in some way, but they are not working together as a political power. That has to change, she said.

After the forum at The Township, 1700 Taylor St., there’ll be a rally and then, McDowell said, they hope the candidates and celebrities will join the activists on buses across the state to knock on doors and urge people to vote in the primary.

It will all help the candidates realize that this group of voters has its own needs and its own issues, Gunn said.

The candidates “talk about what (President) Bush doesn’t do,” he said, “they haven’t talked to citizens about what they could do.”

The forum is four days after the New Hampshire primary. It’s possible, or even likely, that some of the nine candidates will have dropped out of the race by Jan. 31. It’s also difficult for the candidates to promise to be in Columbia again on Jan. 31 because several other states are also having primaries on Feb. 3.

But Erwin, the state party chairman, said the forum is a good opportunity for voters and the party.

“Any time we have events and organizations that are about inspiring people to vote and get involved in the process that’s good for democracy and certainly good for this primary,” Erwin said.

Reach Gould Sheinin at (803) 771-8658 or asheinin@thestate.com.