Tavis Smiley Quits the Tom Joyner Show Over the Issue of Barack Obama
Popular Political Commentator Felt the Heat for His Stance on Barack Obama's Candidacy
Tavis Smiley, through his weekly spots on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, has been a strong voice on a number of issues ranging from voter registration to discrimination by radio advertisers to the auctioning of slave memorabilia by Christie's Auction House to a number of political initiatives and issues. When Tavis and Tom have gotten behind an issue, they have been able to motivate the audience to action and been very effective at raising the awareness of these issues and bringing about changes. Tavis Smiley has written several books including The Covenant With Black America (reviewed in my article: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/62108/the_covenant_with_black_america_black.html) that lays out a plan for political and community support of black issues.
However, since the Barack Obama campaign has gotten underway, Tavis Smiley has been very vocal about black American's support for Obama without focusing on whether Obama addresses the issues in the black community. Despite the fact that Tom Joyner has been a vocal and strong supporter of Barack Obama's candidacy for the president, it seems that Tavis has not thrown his support behind Obama.
Early this week, Tom Joyner stated on his show that Tavis contacted him and said that he was quitting the show. A statement by Tom Joyner on his website, BlackAmericaWeb, found at http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/entertainment/index/tavis041108, discusses the reasons behind Tavis Smiley's abrupt departure from the show. The article says that Tavis quit because he was tired and had a lot of things going on. In the article from the website, Tom Joyner states that the real reason was due to the "hate" that Tavis was receiving from black people, many of them listeners of the radio show. Many of these same black people had been some of Tavis Smiley's biggest fans until his reluctance to back Obama for president.
Smiley had discussed several occasions where Obama had not given his support or time to things and events that Tavis felt he should. Given the groundswell of Obama support by the Tom Joyner radio audience, it is not surprising that there would be many people that normally favor Tavis' commentaries that would be upset with his viewpoints on Obama.
According to the Eurweb.com site (http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur42564.cfm), Tavis Smiley issued a brief statement on April 11, 2008 about his resignation and he has indicated in this press release that he will discuss the reasons for his departure on his regular spot on the Tom Joyner Morning Show on Tuesday, April 15, 2008.
Whatever the real reasons behind Tavis Smiley's departure and his feelings toward Obama, I feel that we all, including Tavis, should be open to varying viewpoints and opinions. I hope that Tavis Smiley will rethink his decision and continue to be a part of the Tom Joyner Morning Show. He has been a tremendous voice on the issues and the Tom Joyner Morning Show offers a sizeable audience that, despite the current backlash, can continue to be a great platform for him to champion causes and issues important to the black community.
Published by Memphis Vaughan
Editor of the TimBookTu website which publishes African-American fiction, poetry, essays and other forms of writing. View profile
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- Tavis Smiley has been a popular commentator on the Tom Joyner Morning Show.
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- Smiley has resigned after almost 12 years of association with the Tom Joyner Morning Show.
10 Comments
Post a CommentEven I as an African American had reservations about Obama. One of the main things is the fact that this man wasn't even known on the national arena until 2004; His story to me is one of overnight success. but my thing is this. why vote for the man, and it took some soul searching to come to this point. plus he was not happy when he didn't make it to his State of the Union conference in 2008. so I can understand his reluctance.
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Hey Memphis, the April 28, 2008 issue of JET magazine with Raven Symone has an article about Tom Joyner and Tavis Smiley where Smiley repeatedly states that he did not leave the show because of folks bothering him about Barack. Whether that's true or not remains to be seen, but it's an interesting article nonetheless.
Why can't Tavis state how he feels and that be accepted? I don't believe that Blacks should vote for a Black just for that reason. We need to open our eyes to several things with this presidental race. I am a black female, and not an Obama supporter. I am trying to look at the big picture. I think it is great that finally we are in a day and age of having a black, a female and white running for president. However, in the shape that we are in now, I'm looking at the person who has the experience of being a player in the white house. A person who has been there and watched, and learned from her husband. Someone who has contacts, which can reastablish American trust in other countries. Our country is in a mess, and as democrats we can not afford to fall apart at this point. We need to come together if this country has a chance to survive.
This year's race has been very interesting and has gotten the attention of many. I agree that the listeners shouldn't harass Tavis and others who have different opinions.
As far as the article being unfinished, there is more to the story. Once Tavis discusses his reasons for leaving this coming week, there may be more to write about.
Jamal, I actually thought Memphis ended his article well, leaving us to reflect on the issues. Memphis, I guess that means your article was so good that people wanted to continue to read it. *thumbs up* Anyway, today on Blog Talk Radio (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/04/13/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio), we talked about Tavis Smiley and the Tom Joyner show. Feel free to check out the interview and share your opinion. I didn't even know about the Tavis Smiley issue until I read your article and started googling other articles. Thanks for the info.
Good points memphis but this article seems unfinished
This was great information. I knew nothing about this. I have to admit that I'm definitely not perfect at being able to separate a person's political opinions from that person. One of my favorite AC writers felt that Reverend Wright (Trinity Church) should have been more pleasant in the way he spoke about race, and I was PISSED! I went into a whole tirade about how race isn't a pleasant subject, and Rev. Wright should be able to say what he wants and blahzay. I had to calm down, remember that everybody has a right to their opinion and it may not be the same as my own, come back, and apologize to her. So while I cannot fault a prior Tavis Smiley fan who is mad that Tavis isn't backing Barack Obama, I can say that it's not right to harrass him about it. I'm completely annoyed with the folks who are harrassing the Black Superdelegates saying they won't support them unless they vote for Barack. People should be able to support whomever they want to support.
Very nice job as usual Memphis. I have concerns about Obama that have nothing to do with race. That should be the last consideration in voting. A person's color does not guarantee that he will represent the issues facing that color. Look at what the man stands for and vote accordingly. Obama has a lot of positives, and some negatives. I am still undecided, as yet. Great article as usual
That is a sad state of affairs. I don't know why we can't put things like race, and gender aside, and vote based on the issues. Voting for someone because of their race or gender is the wrong way to vote. I wish all people would vote because they agree with a politicians issues, and believe they can truly help the country instead of what race or gender they are. If everyone voted according to issues this country would be a much better place. Hating someone for not backing a certain candidate is just silly. Perhaps Joyner and Tavis should have stuck to the facts of the election, and left their own personal thoughts to themselves. Politics can be a dangerous thing to discuss. Nice job on this piece.