Tavis Smiley - What I Know For Sure

Contents

For Phyllis

And if there is a victory, it will be a victory not merely for fifty thousand Negroes but a victory for justice and the forces of light.

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.,
speaking to the people of Montgomery, Alabama

Acknowledgments

This year, two thousand and six, marks my tenth year working with Roger Scholl, the only book editor Ive ever had. Im grateful to Roger and to Doubleday for a decade of allowing me to express myself.

As youll read on the pages that follow, loyalty is paramount for me. In my entire professional career, Ive had only one editor, one partner, one lawyer, one business manager, and one accountant. Roger, Denise, Ken, Harold, and Errol still serve in those capacities.

This year also marks my fifteenth year in the media broadcast business, and Im fortunate that these friends have been with me every step of the way. Through the hirings and the firings, the bestsellers and the no-sellers, the critical acclaim and the searing criticism.

Ive been more fortunate; Ive been blessed beyond measure.

Throughout the book, youll come to understand how faith, family, and friends have sustained me.

In the end, if this book is about anything it is about this one thing I know for sure: LOVE WINS.

So, to all those persons who have ever worked with me, for me, or around me; to all those persons who have ever inspired me, supported me, or prayed for me; to all those persons who have ever enlightened me, encouraged me, or empowered meI acknowledge YOU.

Introduction

T his isnt a formal autobiography or a definitive memoir. I feel to attempt such a work while still in my early forties would be presumptuous.

Having said that, Ive consciously tried to write a narrative about the experiences that have helped shape the person I have become. With every page, Ive tried to answer a simple question: What have I learned that might help others?

In revisiting the turning points in my life, I am comforted by those words of Socrates that my dear friend and mentor Dr. Cornel West never tires of quoting: The unexamined life is not worth living. Writing this book has certainly helped me to reexamine my own life.

As people who know me well can attest, I take pride in writing my own speeches and commentaries for radio and television. But I dont consider myself a storyteller. So in writing this book I sought the assistance of a collaborator who could listen to me with an objective ear and help me craft a narrative that would be compelling and, I hope, insightful. That is why I turned to David Ritz. Ive known David Ritz for several years, in part through his work with Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and B. B. King, among others; I feel honored to be in such distinguished company.

David and I have worked chronologically because that seemed the simplest way to tell my story, to re-create the formative years of my childhood, teen years, college experience, and entry into the world of government and media. In reexamining my life on the page, I have struggled to weigh the impact of church, race, family, class, culture, and politics on my values and character.

If my relative young age made me wary of writing a memoir, I came to see its advantage: the traumas and dramas of my younger years are, perhaps, fresher in my mind. We have tried to ensure that the images and language we employ reflect that freshness.

When Moses asked God to define himself, God said, I Am the I Am. There is nothing, God said, but the present; past and future are illusions. In that same spirit, Dr. King described such influences as forces of light. I can think of no better phrase. The reconciliation of my past with my present life and faith is an ongoing process. Those forces that informed me as a youth continue to do so today. They defy linear thinking. They defy gravity. I believe such lessons and memories are not merely the miracles that get us through difficult times in our lives but are powerful tools that reinforce our spirit here and now, every second of every day.

If I am able to recount those forces of light in my life, it is only because the Source of that light, the source of all creativity, has guided me. That same Source has guided the writing of this book.

So it is with deep humility and love that I offer thanks and praise to the Source of all that is good.

Gulfport to Gotham

W hen I listen to Stevie Wonders brilliant song about New York City, Living for the City, my mind goes back to Mama. Youll remember that in the song, when the singing stops, a small drama begins: A Mississippi native takes the bus heading north, arriving in the midst of the great metropolis. Getting off the bus, he exclaims, New York, just like I pictured it, skyscrapers and everything!

I imagine my mother as that Mississippian.

When she took the bus from Gulfport, Mississippi, in 1964, I was with her, inside her womb.

Thats where my story begins

My mama, Joyce Marie Roberts, was stunningly beautiful. At eighteen, she exuded energy and confidence. But she also harbored a burdensome secret: she was pregnant. Her mother was a devout Christian who raised her and her brother and two sisters in the St. James Baptist Church of Gulfport, Mississippi, where the pastor preached fire and brimstone. Being pregnant was not part of the Baptist Church plan.

Mama had been a dutiful daughter, helping her mother, who worked six, sometimes seven days a week as a maid. Her daddy had a good job as a longshoreman. But my grandfather was known for drinking. As a result, Mamas family was always scuffling.

Mama shined in school. She was far more than just a green-eyed beauty; she was also a gifted athlete, excelling at basketball and track. Later, I heard stories about how she invigorated the pep squad with her tireless energy, and how she led the school band as they marched through downtown Gulfport during homecoming weekend. From all accounts, she loved life.

Mama was also a James Brown fanatic. When Brown came to Mississippi to perform, she perched herself in the front row, and as J.B. broke into his mashed potato, slipping and sliding from one side of the stage to the other, Mama held on to his leg and wouldnt let go. Lord, Mama could party, and she loved to laugh. While still in high school, she fell in love with one of the schools star basketball players, a boy Ill call T.

After graduating from Thirty-third Avenue High School, she worked at the Gulfport Laundry and Gates Cleaners, helping her mother with household expenses. But Mama always had an adventuresome spirit, and an advertisement in the local paper caught her eye. An employment agency was seeking young women as sleep-in maids in private homes in New York City. Displaying her independent streak and her courage, Mama signed up with the agency, and caught a bus up to New York City. Unfortunately, she was only there briefly; an injury sustained in a car accident sent her back home only a few months later. Upon her return to Gulfport, she and T renewed their romance. The result was my conception.

Mama didnt want to stay in Gulfport and face the scandal her pregnancy would cause. She didnt want her mother to know her condition. So she went back to the agency that had originally sent her to New York and took a job up north on Long Island, working again as a maid. But she also knew she needed to find a man to marry, to make me legitimate. She met a man named Scott, a West Indian, who wanted to get married to stay in America. So out of convenience, Joyce married Scott, something I didnt learn until I was an adult.