W.E. A.L.L. B.E.: The Root Interview: Why Tavis Smiley "Cannot Be Silent"

The Root Interview: Why Tavis Smiley "Cannot Be Silent"

By: Lynette Holloway

Posted: March 18, 2010

He reveals what inspired his upcoming black agenda summit, and why Rev. Al won't be there.

Just weeks after Tavis Smiley announced in January that he'd be ending his annual State of the Black Union conference, the PBS talk show host and activist revealed plans to convene a one-day symposium with leaders and prominent thinkers about the African American agenda. "The conversation is about whether or not there is a need for an African American agenda in the era of Obama in this so-called "post-racial" America and how we go about doing that," Smiley told The Root in an interview. "We Count! The Black Agenda is the American Agenda,'' is coming up this Saturday, March 20, at Chicago State University, and will be broadcast by C-SPAN. [Update on March 19: The event will be taped, not broadcast live. In order to view it as it happens, check out the UStream online.] Up to 5,000 people are expected to attend the panel discussion, which will include Nation of Islam minister Louis Farrakhan; Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr.; Angela Glover Blackwell, founder and chief executive officer of Policylink; professors Michael Eric Dyson and Cornel West; and Bennett College president Julianne Malveaux. The discussion comes on the heels of a vigorous debate between Smiley and civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton over how black leaders should relate to President Barack Obama's administration. Percolating beneath the surface of the dispute was Smiley's question of whether the president has done enough to help blacks who have been hit hard by the recession. Below, Smiley answers some questions about the "We Count!'' conference: The Root: Why did you decide to cancel the State of the Black Union conference and hold "We Count!'' Tavis Smiley: No. 1, after 10 years of doing the State of the Black union [we decided] that we weren't going to do it anymore because we had done it for 10 years. No. 2, in addition to my TV show, in addition to my radio show, and the other seven businesses I run through my company, we're doing four primetime documentaries for PBS. When I started the State of the Union, there weren't the numbers of blacks that there are now in the space that I occupy. [Now] there are other spaces and places to have these conversations about issues that matter. I had no idea that six weeks later in the middle of Black History Month that certain African American leaders would start this refrain the president doesn't need to have a black agenda and doesn't need to address our issues. To me, that's like fingernails on a chalkboard. I don't know how we lay down moral authority like a set of keys and pick it back up when we need it. TR: Was the conference sparked by the radio debate between you and Rev. Sharpton? TS: The radio debate happened as a result of my calling for the conference. Sharpton didn't like what I said in the commentary calling for the conference and went after me on his radio show. I was asked to call into his radio show to talk to him. Because I have great respect for Rev. Al Sharpton, I consider him a friend even to this day; I respect his work and his witness. He has been a freedom fighter. My statement is this: I think we need to learn as black folk how to learn to agree and disagree without being disagreeable. We can disagree without engaging in personal ad hominem attacks. After I went on his radio show, the conversation turned out to be what it turned out to be and people can judge for themselves. TR: Rev. Sharpton's name isn't on the list of invitees. Was he invited? TS: Yes, he was invited. He said he couldn't attend because of a scheduling conflict. TR: What is the importance of the event? TS: It is clear black folk are getting crushed, economically and politically. We see black folk high up in office being run [out], from Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) to pressure on Gov. David Paterson (D-N.Y.). While we celebrate a black man being in the White House, there are a number of other major African American figures who are being targeted in some pretty significant ways by some pretty powerful forces. There has not been any real drill-down from the media on that issue. But more importantly, it's the people who don't have job, who have disproportionately lost their homes -- black people -- and who don't have health care. And the health care we do have is disparate in its treatment of blacks. This is not just a conversation we're having in Chicago. Black folk across America are living this story....A lot of folk are having a difficult time trying to make it, but black folk are getting crushed. I believe that disproportionate pain requires a disproportionate response. The question is how do we do that in a space we've never occupied. I'm very much aware that black folk have never had to learn how to do a dance with a black president. ....It's like learning any other dance. It's going to require some practice. We're going to step on each other's toes, but we're trying to become dance partners here. If this were "Dancing with the Stars," the ultimate goal would be to win. But in the process of learning to win, there will be some challenges. People try to make this about me personally, but that's nonsense. There are growing pains until we learn this dance. But I declare I cannot be silent while the powers that be are not responding, as they should to the pain of black America. TR: What do you want to come out of "We Count!"? You know the rap against these kinds of panels, that they're all armchair theory and no action. TS: What I want to happen has already happened....This conversation has moved beyond black America. No. 1, the issue of how we're going to respond to the pain that black people are enduring has already happened. With regard to the backside of that conversation: I believe that black people will better understand their agency in this process and black leaders will better understand the urgency of this moment. Once we go live on CSPAN on Saturday, I think we will become more aggressive in addressing the concerns black people are facing, just like the gays and lesbians have done, just like the Jewish lobbyists have done, just like the environmentalists have done. We have to do the same thing no matter the color of the president. This is not about the president. It's about the presidency responding to the needs of black people. The White House and other people need to be more aggressive in addressing the needs of black people, period, and unapologetically. TR: Why do you think he hasn't done it? TS: The president's plate is full. It's not just full. It's overloaded. He was handed the worst recession since the Great Depression. He was handed two wars. Nobody is naïve about the pressure the president is under and the responsibilities he has. Yet we understand this was not a job that was forced upon him. He chose to run. He offered himself up as a public servant to deal with these issues. Now we're saying these issues need to be addressed. We are the most loyal constituency in your base. What we want to do is not be the headwind. We want to be the tailwind pushing you along and helping you to become a transformational president. I think this focus on Wall Street for the last year and just now getting to Main Street, and maybe someday the side street -- I think that process is inverted. The White House keeps suggesting that he is the president of all America and not just black America, which I think is specious. Their response to black unemployment has been that a rising tide will lift all boats. Well, all of the boats didn't go down at the same time. And all of the boats aren't going to come up at the same time. And when the tide does come up, if you're in a yacht and I'm in a dingy, we still have a problem. Let me be clear about this: My conversations about starting this panel discussion have not been about the president. [They have] been about black leaders. What compelled me to convene this conversation [is the idea] that this president doesn't need to address a black agenda. It's one thing for the White House to say that. But when black leaders -- whose job it is to represent the best interest of black people -- start saying that any president doesn't have to uniquely address the concerns of people who are getting crushed, that troubles me. TR: Have you reached out to the Obama administration to express your concern about what it is or isn't doing for blacks who, as you say, "are getting crushed.'' TS: I think they've heard me loud and clear . For more information on the symposium, go to TavisTalks.com. Lynette Holloway is a Chicago-based writer. She is a former New York Times reporter and associate editor for Ebony magazine. More On W.E. A.L.L. B.E.:

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