.
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 Smiley continues to be an
outstanding voice for change. He is currently the host of the late night
television talk show Tavis Smiley on PBS and The Tavis Smiley Show on Public
Radio International (PRI).
Time Magazine honored Mr. Smiley in 2009 as one of "The World's 100 Most
Influential People." The Smiley Group, Inc. (TSG) is a communications
corporation established in support of human rights and related empowerment
issues. TSG serves as the holding company for various enterprises
encompassing broadcast and print media, lectures, symposiums and the
Internet.
Here, Tavis talks about Been in the Storm Too Long, a special report on the
City of New Orleans airing on PBS on July 21st ET/PT. He also speaks about
the On Your Side Tour with Tavis Smiley, a series of free financial
empowerment workshops he's staging in various cities around the country
between now and the end of 2010.
Tavis Smiley - The "Been in the Storm Too Long" Interview
with Kam Williams
Kam Williams: Hey, what's happening, Tavis? How're you doing?
Tavis Smiley: I'm doing the best I can, brother. How about you?
KW: Things are hectic, as usual, but all is well.
TS: Oh, man, we're both just trying to make our own contribution, brother.
KW: Thanks for the time, again.
TS: Oh, it's my pleasure. It's a blessing to talk to you again.
KW: Since you were born in Gulfport, Mississippi, I have to first ask you
what you think about the Gulf oil spill?
TS: I was just down there for about a week. We're working on the third
installment of Tavis Smiley Reports.
KW: 'Been in the Storm Too Long.'
TS: Yeah, exactly. In addition to my late night show, we're doing four
primetime specials this year, one every quarter. And it seemed obvious that
in the third quarter it needed to be about the fifth anniversary of Katrina.
I'm doing this one in conjunction with Academy Award-winner Jonathan Demme
who is actually directing it.
KW: So, how're things down there?
TS: It's hard to find the language to describe what it's like when you see
it in person. It is horrific, and there are a lot of questions we're going
to have to address once we get on the other side of this crisis. I recently
had the former President of Shell Oil, John Hofmeister, as a guest on my TV
show. He has a powerful, new book out called,
'Why We Hate the Oil
Companies.'
We had a really, really serious dialogue navigating through the politics of
what happened, what President Obama ought to be doing, what BP ought to be
doing, and how we can insure that this never happens again. It was a
fascinating conversation. Still, when you see it in person, it's horrific,
for lack of a better term. It's a major, major crisis, and I'm just sorry
that the White House was a little slow moving on this, initially. But now,
it seems like they're fully engaged. So, I hope we can turn the corner on
this disaster. We'll see.
KW: There are some people who are secretly happy about the President's
delayed response to the Gulf oil spill, given Bush's failure in the wake of
Katrina. Let me read you part of an email I received recently from a brother
from the South: 'I say a pox on the racist whites of South Louisiana,
Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida' Let the Gulf be a cesspool, a dead zone.
Let the crackers and the rednecks be dispersed to find other places and
other jobs.' He goes on to point out that after Hurricane Katrina, 'a
quarter million blacks were dispersed across the country and not allowed to
return to New Orleans and their homes, even though public housing was
unaffected by the flooding. The white middle class racial oppression of the
blacks was exposed, and the racial conspiracy was a foot with no substantial
sympathy from them.' So, he obviously feels that blacks were abandoned,
uprooted and disenfranchised after Katrina, so whites deserve the same
treatment now.
TS: I hear what he's saying. My response to that would be that two wrongs
don't make a right. We ought to live in a country where we will not abide
the contestation of anyone's humanity. That's what's wrong with America. Too
many people's humanity is being contested. The humanity of black folk was
contested during Hurricane Katrina. The humanity of these fishermen and
others who live or make their living off the Gulf coast is being contested
now. In Arizona, the humanity of our Hispanic brothers and sisters is being
contested. Whether it's racism, ageism, sexism, homophobia or some other
form of intolerance, I call all of these slights the contestation of
humanity. The way forward is not playing tit for tat, and saying, 'You
killed my dog, so I'm gonna kill your cat.' It's about celebrating, reveling
in, and protecting the humanity of every American. I don't think any group
should be allowed to suffer because another one did. We have to rise to the
occasion by recognizing everyone's humanity. So, I hope that his opinion is
rare.
KW: I see that you're going around the country conducting these free
financial literacy workshops. But with the real black unemployment numbers
way over 20%, of what value is financial literacy to people if they can't
even get a job?
TS: That's a challenge, and one of the things I'm going to be talking about.
I'm not na've about this. I recognize that unemployment is triple and, in
some cities, quadruple the national average. We have to find jobs, and we
have to pressure the powers that be. One thing's for certain: jobs won't
become available to the unemployed unless people start screaming, jumping up
and down, and demanding that the powers that be do more to get the economy
jumpstarted. Politics is not a spectator sport. Election season tends to be
a good time to get the attention of leaders. So, I think that makes this a
good time, Kam, to be having this conversation because people have
questions, they have concerns, they have fears, they have anxieties and they
want information about how to navigate through this, including those persons
who might still be employed but are just holding on. Some folks have a job,
but their retirement is exhausted, or maybe the cash saved for their kids'
college education has been shot or they've lost their home and had to
downsize. So, there's a lot to address, even though I can't just show up and
start handing out jobs. It's really about getting people the type of
information that will help them navigate their way through this crisis so
they can come out of these challenging times prepared to put themselves on
sure financial footing.
KW: Illness and lack of health insurance is hurting a lot of people, too.
TS: Healthcare is the number one reason for bankruptcy in this country.
People will spend everything they have trying to hold onto their lives. In
that regard, President Obama deserves credit for getting the healthcare bill
passed, even though it was watered way down, and isn't nearly what I think
it should have been.
KW: You mentioned elections. What do you think of that unknown candidate
Alvin Greene winning the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in South
Carolina when he had no budget and never campaigned? That's a real
head-scratcher.
TS: I can't figure it out, either. That's the most bizarre story I've ever
seen. There's something going on down there. What, I do not know. I get the
sense that the Democrats were asleep at the wheel. Who this guy is and how
he got on the ballot, they're only raising all these questions now, when
they should've been raised before the primary, if the Democrats had done
their due diligence.
KW: I wonder why nobody's talking about the possibility that there was vote
fraud, since South Carolina uses paperless electronic voting.
TS: They ARE looking into the question of whether or not it might have had
to do with the machines. If it turns out that he's a Republican plant, it's
so unheard of and so very, very bizarre, that it deserves to have a book
written about it. But I don't think either party is that well organized to
pull something like that off. We'll get to the bottom of it eventually.
KW: Larry Greenberg says, 'I've seen you bring together forces that I could
never imagine at the same table. Is it the power of love or diplomacy that
you have harnessed?' I think he might be referring to the Black Agenda
Summit you convened in Chicago this Spring.
TS: Yeah, I hope it's both. I love people, and I believe that diplomacy is a
valuable tool in one's arsenal. But beyond me, it's about the people I
invite. The people who are interested in engaging in discourse about making
America better. In that regard, it's not like I did something magical, you
ask the right people, and they tend to show up. So, it's about outreach. I
can honestly say that while those forums are monumental and take a lot of
work and energy to organize and pull off, I'd be lying if I said I had to
twist anybody's arm to be there.
KW: Children's book author Irene Smalls says, 'Your career has taken many
turns. What are your future goals?'
TS: That's a good question. For me, the answer has always been the same.
It's about trying to love and serve people. I operate off of a very simple,
but I think poignant definition of leadership. It's this: you can't lead
people unless you love people. And you can't save people, if you don't serve
people. Love to me means that everybody is worthy, just because all life has
equal value, and everybody is worthy of a quality education, worthy of a
good job, and worthy of living in a crime and pollution-free environment.
Serving to me means trying to give people information that can help them
live better lives. That's always been my goal. It's never changed, although
it's taken on a variety of forms, whether TV, radio, print, philanthropy or
any of the other things that I do. But the real substance is trying to love
people, trying to serve people.
![]() Colorblind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equality Click to order via Amazon by Tim Wise Paperback: 160 pages Publisher: City Lights Publishers (June 1, 2010) In this powerful follow-up to Between Barack and a Hard Place, Tim Wise argues against 'colorblindness' and for a deeper color-consciousness in both public and private practice. We can only begin to move toward authentic social and economic equity through what Wise calls "illuminated individualism"'acknowledging the diverse identities that have shaped our perceptions, and the role that race continues to play in the maintenance of disparities between whites and people of color in the United States today. This is the first book to discuss the pitfalls of 'colorblindness' in the Obama era. |
TS: A book by Tim Wise called Colorblind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics
and the Retreat from Racial Equality. It's a great book.
KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?
TS: That's a powerful question, Kam. To be honest with you, I see someone
who's struggling every day to get it right. What I mean by that is sometimes
you work really hard, and you look at everything you're up against in the
culture, in the society, in the economy, and in the body politic, and
sometimes it feels like you're just spinning your wheels. So, I wake up
every day, not depressed, but burdened by something, yet excited about
making a contribution. It's a struggle.
I'm a very introspective person, but usually not this public about my
introspection.
KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?
TS: The end of poverty, because with that there are so many issues that we
struggle with that would immediately disappear. If we could eradicate
poverty, the world would be a whole lot better place to live.
KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?
TS: That's another good question. Fortunately, for me, it was being loved by
two parents. I was the eldest of nine. I can recall being nurtured and
supported and paid a whole lot of attention by two very loving parents
before the others kids showed up. I believe we are who we are because
somebody loved us.
KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?
TS: I'm not one to cook. I'm an eater not a cooker. And I love to eat
anything my mother makes, except liver and onions. I can't stand liver. But
anything else Joyce Smiley prepares, I will happily eat. She's the best cook
in the world.
KW: My son's at Princeton, and told me he got to meet you when you made a
surprise appearance in Cornel West's class last year.
TS: Oh, cool. Give him my regards. How's he doing?
KW: Will do. Very well, thanks.
TS: I was in town doing something with Dr. West, and I stayed over to attend
his class. I love sitting in on his classes, especially his graduate
seminars.
KW: One last question. As the consummate interviewer, are you willing to
share with me a couple of questions I can ask everybody I interview?
TS: That's a very, very good question. Yeah, let me think of questions that
might work universally for a lot of different people' [Pauses] Because life
is so short, I'm always fascinated by what people want their legacy to be
and how they are doing in relation to creating that legacy. Some questions
that could come out of that are: 'What do you want your legacy to be?' and
'As we sit for this conversation, where do you think you are in the process
of creating that legacy?' That leads to these other questions that I love
asking in some shape or form: 'How introspective are you?' and 'How do you
engage in that introspection?' The point I'm making is that, typically, the
questions we ask are about external things, because nobody wants to talk
about the internal. However, Socrates said, 'The unexamined life is not
worth living.' I've discovered that, however you phrase it, if you can get
people to be introspective, you're in for a very deep conversation.
Introspection enables you to get to the heart of the matter. For me, the
sweet spot is getting them to open up about their introspective process, how
they see their lives, how they see their contribution. Once they start
opening up, 'Whew!' you're off and running.
KW: Those are some great questions, Tavis. You sure you don't mind if I
start using them?
TS: No, take whatever you want, Kam.
KW: Much appreciated. I promise to call them the Tavis Smiley questions.
Thanks for another great interview.
TS: It's always great speaking with you. Take care of yourself, brother
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