Tavis Smiley
Tavis Smiley
Tavis Smileyis an American talk show host, author, liberal political commentator, entrepreneur, advocate and philanthropist. Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi, and grew up in Bunker Hill, 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 Talkon BET. After Smiley sold an exclusive interview of Sara Jane Olson to ABC...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionRadio Host
Date of Birth13 September 1964
CityGulfport, MS
CountryUnited States of America
I'm delighted. I don't know if he is, but I'm delighted to welcome him back to the show, this time here in person in our studios in L.A.
How do you grow up in the shadow of a guy-I want to talk about the movie in a second-but how do you grow up in the shadow of a guy who really is a legend in his own time?
I'm trying to get to a point here of how much progress we've made in this business. Were you able to find that diverse crew that you wanted?
It was impressive for everyone to see that progress is being made.
This is an awesome sight. It speaks to the hunger that exists in our community ... the hunger to be heard, the hunger to be empowered.
This country is going to implode, or put another way, it's going to get crushed under the weight of poverty. You can't have one percent of the people who own and control more wealth than the other 90 percent of the population.
We - again, the, the, the, the bastardization and the demonization over the last few years of teachers and of unions and of collective bargaining, that is not the answer.
I thought our community should have a deep dialogue to make black America better. I believe if we make black America better, we make all of America better.
I don't think that left to its own devices, capitalism moves along smoothly and everyone gets treated fairly in the process. Capitalism is like a child: if you want the child to grow up free and productive, somebody's got to look over the shoulder of that child.
Poverty and wealth inequality are a form of instability into the future.
Why don't we scale up those things that do work.
Don't envy someone else's gift. Discover your own.
Take your focus off how others see you. Cease being obsessed with the need to impress your friends and your foes. Keep your concern on the vision you see in the mirror. Don’t allow the approval of others to obstruct your view of you.
Sometimes rejection in life is really redirection.