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Tavis Smiley Getting Replaced by Juan Williams in Racial Healing Forum?
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
For all of those who were once concerned about Tavis Smiley ending his much-respected State of the Black Union gathering every year, you no longer have any reason to worry: “The great” Juan Williams from Fox News is now going to take his place.
Well, Juan isn’t exactly replicating the State of the Black Union. Actually, he is going to be one of two moderators for the State of Race Symposium being sponsored by the Aspen Institute. According to Charlie Firestone, Executive Director of the Community and Society Program at the institute, the appointment of Williams to the post was nothing short of a perfect “basketball bounce pass.”
Dr. Boyce Breaks Down the Tavis Smiley Forum
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University
Tavis Smiley has a problem. The problem is one that is rooted in egregious miscalculation, poor target selection and mild delusions of self-righteous grandeur. As Tavis plans his symposium this week to define the black agenda in America, most of us are wondering if it’s Smiley’s agenda that will be highest on the priority list. While Smiley presents himself as a consistent political figure who has held all politicians equally accountable, many view his gathering this weekend in Chicago as a Barack Obama bashing festival.
Let’s be clear: It’s not easy to objectively criticize President Obama when his approval ratings in the black community remain above 90 percent. At least half of my articles about Obama have been critical, and I always have to make sure that I am not haunted by the ghostly spirit of Obama-mania, which is just as bad as Obama-haterology. Dr. Julianne Malveaux and Rev. Jesse Jackson have done a very good job of holding Obama accountable in a way that does not appear to be driven by personal motivations or latent hostility. Tavis Smiley, however, can’t shake the perception that he has a personal vendetta against the president, for it is quite rare to see a prominent public figure so obsessed with the career of another person.
The Your Black World Coalition monitors the political mood of our supporters when it comes to issues that matter to African-Americans. With 60,000 African-American members nation-wide, we have the ability to put our fingers on the collective pulse of black America through various forms of statistical sampling. In our analysis, a few things remain abundantly clear: Most of our followers love Barack Obama (probably more than they should), and a large percentage of them, to be quite frank, can’t stand Tavis Smiley. What makes matters worse for Smiley is that many of those who refuse to buy his books were once loyal fans – meaning that he has engineered the double loss of turning many of his friends into enemies. This is enough to make any publishing house or corporate sponsor run in the other direction, undermining the power of the Tavis Smiley brand. With such a terrible approval rating, Smiley wouldn’t even be invited to sell predatory loans for Wells Fargo.
Texas Southern University Removes Tavis’ Name from Building
A long-simmering disagreement between broadcaster Tavis Smiley and Texas Southern University ended Friday when the university’s governing board agreed to strip Smiley’s name from its communication school.
Smiley promised in 2004 to donate $1 million and to raise another $1 million for TSU. The school later created the Tavis Smiley School of Communication in his honor.
In return, Smiley made one $50,000 donation in mid-2005 and raised $250,000 from three corporate donors.
But he said Friday that he had intended to fulfill his personal $1 million pledge.
“Any institution that turns away a $1 million gift in this economy, I think ought to have good reason for doing that,” he said in a telephone interview.
He also said former university President Priscilla Slade offered to name the school for him before he pledged any money.
“I even made a joke, how much is this decision going to cost me?” he said. “She said, ‘This decision has already been made.’”
“It doesn’t feel good,” he said of the board’s decision. “My intentions were to help the students.”
Tavis Smiley Accused of Helping Wells Fargo Milk Black People
from AOL Black Voices
Did Tavis Smiley help Wells Fargo herd black people into subprime loans? Yes, according to information contained in a lawsuit filed recently by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. The suit alleges that Smiley was the hook used to draw in potential customers for subprime mortgages.
You might be familiar with the "Wealth Building" seminars that Wells Fargo conducted beginning in the year 2000. Smiley was the headline speaker at these events, held in Baltimore; Chicago; Richmond, Va.; and San Francisco. The seminars were advertised aggressively in black media and aimed directly at black communities. They were a huge success. Often, standing room only audiences would hear Smiley speak about how he mostly disliked banks while strongly urging attendees to invest in real estate as a sound strategy to build wealth. …
Your Black Scholar: Exclusive Interview With Dr. Cornel West On Obama, Colin Powell, Hip-Hop & More
STICKY POST — SCROLL DOWN FOR LATEST ENTRIES:
Interview with Princeton Professor and acclaimed scholar, Dr. Cornel West, by Tolu Olorunda.
He is, perhaps, the most well-known public scholar the universe has to offer. Alongside that, Dr. Cornel West has also been celebrated as, America’s leading public intellectual. Judging from his scholarly work, dedication, perseverance, intellectual curiosity and diligence, one can certainly confirm the role he plays as a distinct leader of his peers. Dr. West has continuously proved to be a multi-generational force for good. Through the publication of books, Hip-Hop albums and television specials aimed at young adults, Dr. Cornel West has impacted and transformed a whole generation of love-starved and directionless people. His wit notwithstanding, Dr. West’s ability to interpret the harsh conditions of the financially-disempowered is parallel to none. I had the distinguished pleasure of engaging in dialogue with this esteemed scholar on a wide swath of issues affecting our daily lives. I spoke with him on issues including, the presidential campaign of Sen. Obama, Gen. Colin Powell’s endorsement, the role of progressives in an Obama administration, “Hope on a Tightrope,” Hip-Hop, the next generation of Black public intellectuals, and much more:
Thanks for joining us. What has Dr. West been up to lately?
Oh, I’ve been on the moon. I did 15 events for Brother Obama in Ohio, this past weekend. I did 12, the weekend before that. I’ve been to Seattle, Alabama; teaching full time. I’m blessed though, brother.
How does it feel being a surrogate for Sen. Obama’s historic presidential run?
Well, it’s a good thing, because in the end, it’s really about empowering everyday people, and he’s a major vehicle for that. He’s got some genius and inspiring people that give him a sense of possibility and hope. So, it’s a beautiful thing. But there’s always a tension there because I still got to speak my mind. So, I got my criticisms of the brother; but the most important thing to do, is a full-court press to get people out to vote, and to make sure that we contribute to this democratic awakening that’s taking place. This greed out here is running amok, man.
On the subject of greed; you’ve often talked about the melting of the Ice-Age. Do you feel the Democratic platform addresses poverty in a substantive fashion?
Well, it doesn’t address it as much as I would like [...]
Your Black Scholar: Exclusive Interview With Dr. Cornel West On Obama, Colin Powell, Hip-Hop & More
STICKY POST — SCROLL DOWN FOR LATEST ENTRIES:
Interview with Princeton Professor and acclaimed scholar, Dr. Cornel West, by Tolu Olorunda.
He is, perhaps, the most well-known public scholar the universe has to offer. Alongside that, Dr. Cornel West has also been celebrated as, America’s leading public intellectual. Judging from his scholarly work, dedication, perseverance, intellectual curiosity and diligence, one can certainly confirm the role he plays as a distinct leader of his peers. Dr. West has continuously proved to be a multi-generational force for good. Through the publication of books, Hip-Hop albums and television specials aimed at young adults, Dr. Cornel West has impacted and transformed a whole generation of love-starved and directionless people. His wit notwithstanding, Dr. West’s ability to interpret the harsh conditions of the financially-disempowered is parallel to none. I had the distinguished pleasure of engaging in dialogue with this esteemed scholar on a wide swath of issues affecting our daily lives. I spoke with him on issues including, the presidential campaign of Sen. Obama, Gen. Colin Powell’s endorsement, the role of progressives in an Obama administration, “Hope on a Tightrope,” Hip-Hop, the next generation of Black public intellectuals, and much more:
Thanks for joining us. What has Dr. West been up to lately?
Oh, I’ve been on the moon. I did 15 events for Brother Obama in Ohio, this past weekend. I did 12, the weekend before that. I’ve been to Seattle, Alabama; teaching full time. I’m blessed though, brother.
How does it feel being a surrogate for Sen. Obama’s historic presidential run?
Well, it’s a good thing, because in the end, it’s really about empowering everyday people, and he’s a major vehicle for that. He’s got some genius and inspiring people that give him a sense of possibility and hope. So, it’s a beautiful thing. But there’s always a tension there because I still got to speak my mind. So, I got my criticisms of the brother; but the most important thing to do, is a full-court press to get people out to vote, and to make sure that we contribute to this democratic awakening that’s taking place. This greed out here is running amok, man.
On the subject of greed; you’ve often talked about the melting of the Ice-Age. Do you feel the Democratic platform addresses poverty in a substantive fashion?
Well, it doesn’t address it as much as I would like [...]
Your Black News: Tavis Smiley Remembers Iconic Singer, Odetta
ON the same day, on the same steps where Martin Luther King Jr. would deliver his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963, Odetta—only 33 but already a folk-music force—sang “I’m on My Way.” And she was. [...]
Her final interview—which she gave 10 months before her death from heart failure on Dec. 2—was with PBS host Tavis Smiley. He spoke to NEWSWEEK’s Samantha Henig about his memories of a woman whose optimism brought him to tears:
After our interview, Odetta performed “Keep On Moving It On”—a song whose hopeful lyrics in the midst of a historic election brought tears to my eyes in January. [...]
Off camera, I asked Odetta why she remains hopeful, and she talked about the path that the country had traveled just in her life. She said she could not have imagined back in her heyday that she’d ever be on PBS talking to a black man who had his own show [...]
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