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Books by Tavis Smiley
My Story of Growing Up in America /
The Covenant with Black America /
The Covenant in Action
Never Mind Success: Go for Greatness /
Keeping the Faith /
Black Rage, Black Redemption
Accountable:
Making America
as Good as Its
Promise
* * * *
*
The State of the
Black Union 2009
Tavis Smiley
Interviewed by Kam
Williams
Born in
Gulfport,
Mississippi on
September 13,
1964, Tavis
Smiley was
raised by his
mother and
step-father in a
modest mobile
home in Peru,
Indiana along
with his seven
siblings and
five orphaned
cousins. After
earning a B.A.
at Indiana
University where
he majored in
law, Tavis
started his
career as an
aide to the late
Los Angeles
Mayor Tom
Bradley.
He currently
serves as the
host of his
PBS-TV talk
show, Tavis
Smiley, and he
heads the Tavis
Smiley
Foundation whose
mission is to
enlighten,
encourage and
empower black
youth. He is
also the founder
of Tavis Smiley
Presents, an
organization
which brings
ideas and people
together through
symposiums,
seminars,
forums, and town
hall meetings.
In addition, he
has authored ten
books, making
publishing
history when “The Covenant with Black America
” reached
#1 on the New
York Times
best-seller
list. Most
recently, he
published “Accountable:
Making America
as Good as Its
Promise.”
In 2004, he was
honored by Texas
Southern
University which
opened the Tavis
Smiley School of
Communications
and the Tavis
Smiley Center
for Professional
Media Studies,
making him the
youngest African
American ever to
have a
professional
school and
center named
after him on a
college campus.
Furthermore,
Time named
Tavis one of
America’s 50
most promising
young leaders,
while Newsweek
dubbed him one
of the “20
people changing
how Americans
get their news.”
From his
celebrated
conversations
with world
figures, to his
work to inspire
the next
generation of
leaders, as a
broadcaster,
author, advocate
and
philanthropist,
Tavis continues
to be an
outstanding
voice for
change.
Here, he talks
about the State
of the Black
Union, the 10th
annual gathering
of some of the
most influential
black thinkers,
entertainers,
and political
leaders. This
year, the event
is being staged
at the Los
Angeles
Convention
Center on
Saturday,
February 28th
and airing live
on C-Span from
11 AM to 7:30 PM
(ET).
* * * *
*
KW: Hey Tavis, thanks for the time.
TS: My pleasure, man.
KW: Congratulations on staging another State of the Black Union. What do
you have planned
for Saturday?
TS: Another riveting conversation, as we enter into this Obama era. As you
know, we’ve been
doing this for
ten years, and
when we started,
Kam, nobody
could have ever
imagined that in
our 10th
anniversary year
we’d be
celebrating the
100th
birthday of the
NAACP, Lincoln’s
200th
birthday, the
inauguration of
the first
African-American
President, and
even the
election of
Michael Steele
as the head of
the Republican
Party, for that
matter. So, it’s
an interesting
time to come
together and
reflect on these
conversations
we’ve been
having for the
past decade.
KW: What makes the gathering so special each time?
TS: It’s the only time when, for a whole day, you can turn on live
television and
watch the best
thinkers in
black America
engaged in a
dialogue. It
only happens
that one day a
year, so
everybody looks
forward to it.
KW: Is there a theme that everybody will be addressing this go-round?
TS: Yes, making America as good as its promise. To answer your question,
Kam, what we
really want to
get down to is
how we navigate
this gap between
the promise of
America and the
possibility in
America. Even
with a black man
in the White
House, there’s a
gap between the
promise and the
possibility in
this country.
There are people
who think that,
just because we
have a black
President, black
kids no longer
have any
excuses. Well,
that’s a bit
naïve. There are
structural
barriers to
other
African-Americans
becoming the
President. So,
there’s a lot to
celebrate about
the Obama
election, and
I’m on the front
line doing the
Electric Slide
myself,
celebrating. But
at the end of
the day, there’s
still a lot of
conversation to
be had about how
we, black
people, take
this moment and
advance the
causes and
concerns that we
care about so
that we don’t
look up four
years from now
and have
celebrated a
symbolic
victory, but not
have a
substantive
victory. That’s
what the
conversation’s
going to be
about.
KW: In 2006, your book,
The Covenant, made my Ten Best List, while Obama’s book,
The Audacity of
Hope, was # 1 on my 10 Worst List.
TS: I remember reading that piece.
KW: What I appreciated about
The Covenant, Tavis, was that it very specifically addresses areas where black
people need help
urgently, in
employment,
healthcare,
education,
housing,
criminal
justice, and so
forth. By
contrast,
Obama’s book was
vague if not
silent in terms
of the concerns
of the
African-American
community, and
amounted to
little more than
the transparent
game plan of
guileful
politician. In
it, he seemed to
be taking the
black vote for
granted while
clearly courting
Republicans by
praising
President
Reagan, who had
supported
apartheid and
repeatedly
referred to
Nelson Mandela
as a terrorist.
That’s why I trashed the book in 2006, although I did support him after
he threw his hat
into the ring.
Most black
leaders seemed
to clam up and
were afraid to
talk about any
black agenda
after Obama
declared himself
a candidate.
Even last year’s
State of the
Black Union
seemed almost
like a
referendum on
Obama, and his
conspicuous
absence sort of
hung over the
event.
TS: You’re right, but that was hard to avoid, given all that was happening
last year. It
was hard to
avoid the
conversation
being about
Obama to some
degree. That was
to be expected
when you have
someone who’s
driving towards
making history.
And he wasn’t
even in the
building. If you
recall, Hillary
did attend, and
the conversation
was still about
Obama. This
year, now that
he’s President,
the
conversation, in
a word, is going
to be about
accountability.
How do we
advance the
causes and
concerns of
African-American
people about
health, about
education, about
the criminal
justice system?
Believe me, we’re going to get serious this year. Part of what happened
last year was
that there were
many voices in
the black
community
saying, “Let’s
not discuss
these issues.
Let’s help the
brother win
first, and we
can discuss
these issues
once he wins.”
Well, that
moment has
arrived. He has
won, and he’s
safely ensconced
in the West Wing
of the White
House. Now the
moment has
arrived to raise
these issues.
And it’s not
about casting
aspersions on
him. And that
was not what I
was doing last
year. My issue
was with the
question of
accountability.
And this
conversation in
this symposium
in this 10th
anniversary year
was going to be
about
accountability
no matter who
the President
was. What I’ve
spent the bulk
of my career
talking about is
accountability,
and trying to
move our people
toward an
accountability
politics. We
have to move
beyond symbolism
and get to
substance.
I believe that time for us is running out. The statistics are getting to
be so damning
that it would
take ten
generations of
steady progress
to turn it all
around. The
numbers are
getting so bad
for us in so
many areas, pick
one, education…
the digital
divide… health…
that we may
never catch up.
One thing’s for
certain, Kam.
The only way we
will catch up is
if we have an
agenda that we
hold ourselves
and our leaders
accountable to.
It won’t happen
around
celebrations of
symbolism. We’ll
have to get
aggressive here,
not unlike our
Jewish brothers
and sisters do
on behalf of
Israel.
KW: Yeah, you notice how Rahm Emmanuel’s father assured the Jewish
community when
his son was
named Obama’s
Chief of Staff
that, “Obviously,
he will
influence the
president to be
pro-Israel. Why
wouldn't he be?
What is he, an
Arab? He's not
going to clean
the floors of
the White
House."
TS: Exactly. That’s my point. We’re going to have to get serious about an
accountability
agenda and about
accountability
politics. I
don’t apologize
for that. I just
don’t see any
way that we are
ultimately going
to advance the
cause of our
people.
KW: Your colleague at PBS, Gwen Ifill, has a new book out,
The Breakthrough.
TS: Yeah, I’ve read it.
KW: In it, she quotes my review of the 2006 State of the Black Union in
which I say that
the younger
leaders on the
dais for the
late afternoon
session “were
unfortunately
given short
shrift since
long-winded
speeches and CPT
delays meant
little time was
left when they
finally got
their chance.”
Is there any way
to abbreviate
the long
introductions
where the
luminaries tend
to hug and
lavish praise on
each other
before getting
down to
business? And
will the next
generation of
black leaders be
allotted more
time?
TS: I hear your concern. First, it’s important for you and others to
understand that
this event only
happens one day
a year, so most
of these people
don’t see each
other but this
one day a year.
It’s not like we
get together all
the time. Number
two, the
greeting is part
of the black
custom. We don’t
roll in cold as
ice like other
people and just
go right at it.
It’s just part
of our tradition
that we are warm
and brotherly
and sisterly
with each other.
That being said,
there are a
couple of things
we’re doing
differently this
year.
On Friday, the 27th, we’re hosting a youth symposium on the
campus of USC in
conjunction with
MTV. Taking
nothing away
from young
people, let’s be
honest. The
truth of the
matter is that
it’s hard when
they’re trying
to hold their
own as part of a
dialogue with
Cornell West,
Michael Eric
Dyson, Jesse
Jackson, Charles
Ogletree and
Julianne
Malveaux. It’s
not that we gave
them short
shrift. If I
didn’t have
young leaders on
there, somebody
would complain
that no young
leaders were
included. When I
do include them,
Kam complains
that I don’t
give them enough
time. I catch
hell either way.
I’m a big boy
and I can handle
that.
But it does require that people be a little sensitive about the
challenges of
putting on the
program. Like I
said, this year,
on Friday, we’re
having a panel
specifically for
young scholars.
And the entire
audience will be
young people.
Another thing
we’re doing
differently this
year is we’re
having a
one-hour
blogger’s panel
at the end of
the Saturday’s
program. And
some of the
original
panelists are
going to stick
around to engage
in dialogue with
five,
pre-selected
African-American
bloggers. That
bonus
conversation
will not be on
C-Span, but a
live webcast on
the internet.
So, yeah, we’re
trying to
evolve.
KW: Sounds good.
TS: I remember that we were in Houston the year you referred to,
specifically. It
was when I had
that youth panel
at the end. They
were young
influencers who
weren’t really
very well known.
But nobody had
ever thought of
putting all
those people on
the same stage
together before.
We got a good
hour and fifteen
minutes in that
day. It wasn’t
as long as I’d
planned, but at
least we
introduced them
to the nation.
Remember, this
is television,
and to get this
thing televised
nationally every
year…
KW: You have to bring the big names.
TS: Exactly. It’s all a part of the process. So, I understand it when
people want to
take their
shots, it’s
cool, but I have
a sense of what
I’m doing here,
because ten
years ago, this
didn’t exist at
all. I don’t
take that
criticism
personally, but
I know what I
have to do to
make the event
successful. And
I can’t please
everybody.
KW: I’ve always given the event a very positive review, so I was surprised
to see the
excerpt Gwen
used in her
book.
TS: Gwen just took the negative part, that’s all.
KW:
Yep. The
Columbus Short
question: Are
you happy?
TS: Very much so.
KW:
The Tasha Smith
question: Are
you ever afraid?
TS: Yes, of death.
KW:
“Realtor to the
Stars” Jimmy
Bayan question:
Where in L.A. do
you live?
TS: I live right in Hancock Park.
KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?
TS: Ooh, great question.
Looking for
Lincoln.
KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What music are you
listening to
nowadays?
TS: I have the most eclectic musical taste of anybody. Right now, I’m
listening to a
lot of Sixties
soul music… Stax…
Motown… Chess…
because I’m
working on a
film
documentary.
KW:
The Rudy Lewis
question: Who’s
at the top of
your hero list?
TS: MLK.
KW:
Is there a
question no one
ever asks you,
that you wish
someone would?
TS: [Chuckles] That’s a good question, but no, I get asked more than enough
questions.
KW:
The Laz Alonso
question: How
can your fans
help you?
TS: That’s another good question. By being the leader that they are looking
for.
KW: Thanks again for the time and good luck on Saturday.
TS: Thanks, Kam. See you, brother.
For more
information
click
Tavis Talks:
State of the
Black Union
* * * *
*
State of the Black Union
By Kam Williams
March 2, 2009
The 10th Annual State of
the Black Union, hosted by Tavis Smiley, convened in Los
Angeles on Saturday, February 28th, again bringing many
of the best and brightest African-American thinkers
together to air their concerns for the community during
an all-day affair aired live on the C-Span Network. The
event was divided into two different panels consisting
of leading luminaries from all walks of life.
The morning session was
moderated by N.J. Attorney Raymond Brown, Jr., and
featured Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr., Congresswoman
Maxine Waters, Harvard Law Professors Charles Ogletree
and Stephanie Robinson, motivational speaker Les Brown,
Brown University Professor Tricia Rose, former talk show
host Iyanla Vanzant, former N.J. Attorney General Peter
Harvey, Washington Post finance journalist Michelle
Singletary, Georgetown Professor Michael Eric Dyson, and
Urban League President Marc Morial.
Highlights from the first
half of the program included Dyson’s spirited indictment
of America as perhaps “post-racial” but not yet
“post-racist,” Brown’s assertion that “Any lawyer who is
not a social engineer is a parasite,” Waters’
criticizing the event’s sponsor Wells Fargo for being
among the corporate vultures taking advantage of the
poor via predatory lending, and Jackson’s suggestion
that college students ought to have access to TARP loans
at the same 0% interest rate available to banks.
By far, the most
compelling person sitting in the overstuffed beige
armchairs on the stage had to be Ms. Vanzant, who shared
the intimate details of how she recently came to lose
her home. The fall from grace was understandably
humiliating for the attorney-turned-talk show host and
author of 13 books, 5 of which have landed on the New
York Times best-seller list.
Her host of woes include
the death of a daughter, having to take custody of her
granddaughter and an inability to get health insurance
due to a pre-existing condition. “I can’t get sick,” she
told the shocked audience,” after admitting to feeling
ashamed and guilty about her plight.
The standout of the
afternoon session, hosted by Tavis himself, was
newly-named Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele, if
only because his right-wing agenda and subdued speaking
style sharply contrasted with the passion and
progressive ideas of public intellectuals Cornel West
and Julianne Malveaux, L.A. Sentinel publisher Danny
Bakewell, Sr., Psychologist Na’im Akbar,
Environmentalist Van Jones, California State Assembly
Speaker Karen Bass, Obama youth organizer Erica
Williams, African-American Images founder Jawanza
Kunjufu and L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Steele seems to have
served himself well by attending, despite the cool
reception he received. For not only did he get a chance
to make his Republican Party recruitment sales pitch,
but he even seemed to be taking mental notes, such as
when he nodded in agreement with Dr. West’s assessment
that President Obama won the election because the
“Southern Strategy” of demonizing blacks no longer
worked.
Kudos to Tavis Smiley for
successfully juggling so many celebrity egos to produce
another very worthwhile day’s worth of informative and
thought-provoking conversation designed to inspire
impressionable young minds to aspire to be the very
best.
To see an excerpt from
the State of the Black Union featuring Tavis Smiley and
Michael Steele, visit:
YouTube
* * * *
*
Tavis Smiley
is a broadcaster, author, advocate and philanthropist.
TIME Magazine honored Smiley in 2009 as one of "The
World's 100 Most Influential People." He is currently
the host of the late night television talk show, "Tavis
Smiley" on PBS and "The Tavis Smiley Show" distributed
by Public Radio International (PRI). In 2007, Smiley
made television history as the moderator and executive
producer of the All-American Presidential Forums on PBS,
the first Democratic and Republican presidential debates
broadcast live in primetime with a panel exclusively
comprised of journalists of color.
In addition to his radio and television work, Smiley has
authored fourteen books. His memoir,
What I Know For Sure: My Story of Growing Up in America,
was a New York Times bestseller.
His latest book,
Accountable: Making America As Good As its Promise,
addresses how our political leaders, corporations and
finally, American citizens themselves can enforce
accountability and effect change.
The Tavis Smiley Foundation, a non-profit organization,
was established to provide leadership training and
development for youth. Since its inception, more than
6,000 young people have participated in the foundation's
Youth to Leaders training workshops and conferences.
* * *
* *
Tavis Smiley (born September 13, 1964) is an
American talk show host, author, political commentator,
entrepreneur, advocate and philanthropist. Smiley was
born in Gulfport, Mississippi and grew up in Kokomo,
Indiana. After attending Indiana University, he worked
during the late 1980s as an aide to Tom Bradley, the
mayor of Los Angeles. Smiley became a radio commentator
in 1991, and starting in 1996 he hosted the talk show
BET Talk (later renamed BET Tonight) on BET.
Controversially, after Smiley sold an exclusive
interview of
Sara Jane Olson to ABC News in 2001, BET declined to
renew Smiley's contract that year. Smiley then began
hosting
The Tavis Smiley Show on
NPR from 2002 to 2004 and currently hosts Tavis
Smiley on
PBS on the weekdays and a weekly self-titled show on
PRI. . . .
Smiley was honored
with the
NAACP Image Award for best news, talk, or
information series for three consecutive years (1997–99)
for his work on BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley. Smiley's
advocacy efforts have earned him numerous awards and
recognitions including the recipient of the Mickey
Leland Humanitarian Award from the National Association
of Minorities in Communications.In 1999, he founded the
Tavis Smiley Foundation, which funds programs that
develop young leaders in the black community. Since its
inception, more than 6,000 young people have
participated in the foundation's Youth to Leaders
Training workshops and conferences. His communications
company, The Smiley Group, Inc., serves as the holding
company for various enterprises encompassing broadcast
and print media, lecturers, symposiums, and the
Internet.
In 1994,
Time named him one of America's 50 Most Promising
Young Leaders.
Time honored him the next year as one of the "100
Most Influential People in the World." In May 2007,
Smiley gave a commencement speech at his alma mater,
Indiana University at Bloomington, Indiana. In May 2008,
he gave the commencement address at Connecticut College,
where he was awarded an honorary doctorate. In May 2009,
Smiley was awarded an honorary doctorate at
Langston University after giving the commencement
address there.
On December 12,
2008, Smiley received the Du Bois Medal from Harvard
University's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and
African American Research.—Wikipedia
* * *
* *
The Katrina Papers
by Jerry W. Ward, Jr /
The Richard Wright Encyclopedia (2008)
Michael Eric Dyson to President Obama /
Michael Eric Dyson: To The Young & Disillusioned
Michael Eric Dyson: Obama isn't Moses, he is Pharaoh
/
Smiley and West: Obama & Sharpton
* * *
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|
Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in
America
By Melissa V.
Harris-Perry
According to the
author, this society has historically exerted
considerable pressure on black females to fit into one
of a handful of stereotypes, primarily, the Mammy, the
Matriarch or the Jezebel. The selfless
Mammy’s behavior is marked by a slavish devotion to
white folks’ domestic concerns, often at the expense of
those of her own family’s needs. By contrast, the
relatively-hedonistic Jezebel is a sexually-insatiable
temptress. And the Matriarch is generally thought of as
an emasculating figure who denigrates black men, ala the
characters Sapphire and Aunt Esther on the television
shows Amos and Andy and Sanford and Son, respectively.
Professor Perry
points out how the propagation of these harmful myths
have served the mainstream culture well. For instance,
the Mammy suggests that it is almost second nature for
black females to feel a maternal instinct towards
Caucasian babies.
As for the source
of the Jezebel, black women had no control over their
own bodies during slavery given that they were being
auctioned off and bred to maximize profits. Nonetheless,
it was in the interest of plantation owners to propagate
the lie that sisters were sluts inclined to mate
indiscriminately. |
 |
* *
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Sex at the Margins
Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry
By
Laura María Agustín
This book explodes several myths: that selling sex is completely different from any other kind of work, that migrants who sell sex are passive victims and that the multitude of people out to save them are without self-interest. Laura Agustín makes a passionate case against these stereotypes, arguing that the label 'trafficked' does not accurately describe migrants' lives and that the 'rescue industry' serves to disempower them. Based on extensive research amongst both migrants who sell sex and social helpers,
Sex at the Margins provides a radically different analysis. Frequently, says Agustin, migrants make rational choices to travel and work in the sex industry, and although they are treated like a marginalised group they form part of the dynamic global economy. Both powerful and controversial, this book is essential reading for all those who want to understand the increasingly important relationship between sex markets, migration and the desire for social justice.
"Sex at the Margins rips apart distinctions between migrants, service work and sexual labour and reveals the utter complexity of the contemporary sex industry. This book is set to be a trailblazer in the study of sexuality."—Lisa Adkins, University of London |
* *
* * *
The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By
W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
* *
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Ancient African Nations
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If you like this page consider making a donation
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Negro Digest /
Black World
Browse all issues
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Enjoy!
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
/
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
/
Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery
* *
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
/ January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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ChickenBones Store
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posted 22
February 2009
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