TAVIS : Turn About is Fair Play
by Isidra Person-Lynn
Monday night Arelettia, Afia and I got a chance to attend the kick-off of Tavis Smiley's new self-titled show on KCET. Afia, a family friend and student at Berkeley, had just the day before expressed her desire to work for Tavis. After receiving the invite the next day from Tavis' right hand person, Denise Pines, I put the Expo Update on hold and went. But in the hustle and bustle of leaving, I forgot my ever present cameras--still or video! So, here are the 1,000 words in place of the picture:
The soirée was held at Tavis' cavernous TV studio at KCET in Hollywood. There were notables there, but they were acting regular...because it was Tavis' night, not theirs. Blair Underwood, Wren T. Brown, Terry Vaughn, Michael Colyar and a whole lot more graced us with their presence. The highlight was Venus and Serena Williams. (Venus and her partner designed the set for Tavis.) The support was thick. This has been a long time coming.
Conversations were easy and we were all having fun, but at one point I went in search of a trash can since I had been balancing my mini plate on top of my cup and had long since consumed the sushi and grilled cheese with smoked turkey slivers and downed my lemonade.
Walking down the hall, I saw the place where my son, Jarim, interned when he was in the Yes To Jobs program in high school. Then I passed a door that said "Tavis Smiley." And I flashed back that it was the same room where I interviewed Maya Angelou when she was on a book tour. It was a warm room with soul, and I thought...this is the best room at KCET for you, Tavis. Immediately, I was reminded how we (my former co-host Mark Whitlock and I) were there at the start of Arsenio Hall's show some 13 years ago--interviewing him on the lot of Paramount Studios. Like that time, this was an historic night and each step reminded me of the connections that brought me there.
Back inside, there was the trimmed down Tavis at a lull when he wasn't as pressed. Arelettia and I had already introduced Afia to as many Tavis staffers as we knew, but here was an opportunity for her to meet Tavis himself. Just as we approached, he turned to me and called all three of my names. "This has been a long time coming, Tavis," I said, wondering if he still held a grudge from our early days. You see, back in my KACE days, Tavis had begun his quest that led him to this night. He, Kerman Maddox, Mark Whitlock and later Kevin Ross (the judge) all had similar yearnings to drive this media train as far as it would take them. I am proud of them all.
Kerman became a regular on KCET's Life and Times, and to this day I love to hear his political interpretations of what is going on around us. Mark, now Rev. Mark Whitlock, who I think is one of the most interesting interviewers, became a guest, rather than a host, so his running talk show became his church in Orange County. How he became a part of the story was when the 1992 civil unrest occurred and his First AME Church was in the eye of the storm. Then he led FAME Renaissance to its fruition and made quite a name for himself. Once I was watching TV way out in Virginia at my grandmother's little house on the prairie and there was Mark being interviewed on TV. Both Mark and Kevin co-hosted Sunday Morning Live with me at various times, and Kevin was tapped for a stint at KABC, a sane balance to Larry Elder. But he ran for and was elected judge and he has since set his sights more in the political arena, though he is perfect for TV.
But in my opinion, of these four brothers, Tavis seemed to be the least likely to make it. That may sound harsh, and it was obviously wrong, but when Tavis was lobbying me at KACE while he was still on air at The Beat and the two stations-one black owned and one white owned (at the time) were archrivals, I refused only because I didn't really know his depth. This was before websites where you could go look a person up and all I knew were his short sponsored segments that were running on The Beat. My refusal did not sit too well with him, but he was on a mission. Next thing I knew, he was on Tom Joyner, then BET, then his very public firing attracted all kinds of media attention and soon he was being offered gigs from all across the country.
He wrote books and took on some really sincere challenges through his programs, so it was clear what he was fighting for. And he became the "something of substance" I wanted him to be in order to warrant an interview, but by then my radio career had ended. And today he has built a radio studio within walking distance from my house. Ain't life ironic?
Often I am on committees that want to invite Tavis for one thing or another. They invariably turn to me and ask me to contact Tavis to ask if he would appear for them. But I never had the heart to--It would not have been fair. Although people who've refused me along the way have no shame in asking me for things all the time, and I forgive, I still think they have some nerve. But turn about is fair play.
(Tavis is not the only one I underestimated in my days...Tiger Woods' Dad would ask for interviews. I wanted to, but never got around to it because what did I know about golf back then?)
So, peering into Tavis' content but exhausted face (not from the work, rather from the hand shaking and small talking) I wished him well and stepped back for Afia to introduce herself. I am glad he separated himself from the pontificators, to be one who has done his homework and knows what he is talking about. If there is to be one of us to have a national audience on PBS, then Tavis is your man.
Look at what he's built, and how many he has hired. Like his first guest Dr. Bill Cosby said, "This is a promotion for you." He is right, but it is a promotion for many more than him.
But if I can throw my two cents in to the PBS powers that be: Let Tavis be Tavis. When Les Brown got his TV show, TV execs tried to make him into a Sally Jesse Rafael. When Iyanla Vanzant got her show, they did not dance with the one who brought her, rather they straightened and coiffed and Europeanized her almost until she was unrecognizable. Let Tavis be Tavis. Let him keep his edge and as he said 'Introduce America to America." We do not need a Larry King clone. We do need a probing questioner like Tavis' that can raise the right questions, just like the ones we would like to ask.
Given my lack of vision, I can at least promote Tavis. I wish him well.
The clip above is excerpted from the Tavis Smiley Show, so you will get a taste of how it is!.
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IPL
1/7/03
For a schedule of the Tavis Smiley Show, Click this link:
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/
