Tavis Smiley has done it all: Successful entrepreneur, New York Times bestselling author, co-host with Cornel West of radio’s Smiley & West; and star of the popular PBS TV series Tavis Smiley. ReelUrbanNews.com recently spoke with Smiley about his new book,Death of a King: The Real Story Behind Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Final Year.
Smiley told ReelUrbanNews.com that America has created a false mythology around Dr. King by celebrating his “I Have a Dream” speech while ignoring his huge impact on the country and the world.
“We freeze him as this sort of dreamer. I argue in this book Death of a King that King’s martyrdom in many ways undermined his message. The last years of Martin’s life, Black folks — in ’67 to ’68, that last year of his existence — they didn’t want to hear about none violence, they wanted to hear about Black Power. King said, ‘Black Power is a slogan, it’s not a solution. Black Power is a slogan and not a strategy.'”
Smiley remains a powerful and topical voice on race and injustice in America. Moments after tackling the topic of the country’s recent civil unrest on the Fox News Channel’s Hannity, Smiley sat down with our Michael Reel for a no-holds-barred discussion of why race continues to divide our nation today.
