I have always had a tremendous amount of respect for Tavis Smiley. There are few men in America with a greater commitment to the advancement of black people, and Tavis has been consistent when it comes to showing a great deal of focus on the issues that matter. I have critiqued Tavis in the past, and I have praised him. But that's my job as a scholar - to not see anything as completely good or bad. I am sure that my words are what kept me from being invited to the State of the Black Union Conference, but I have always been OK with that.

Smiley recently announced the end of his annual "State of the Black Union" event, and this saddened me. The SOBU was one of the most impactful gatherings of African-American minds in our nation's history. It inspired the nation and created openings for activism that didn't exist in other venues. Although I was never pleased by the presence of questionable entities like Wells Fargo, I still felt that the forum benefited our community.

In this video, which you can watch by clicking here, Tavis Smiley is surprisingly candid when providing explanations for his decision to end the State of the Black Union. He cites the growth in the blogosphere as well as an increase in the number of black syndicated radio shows. He then discusses that he is going to be doing some PBS specials in the near future. He even goes as far as describing the fact that his beard has a few extra gray hairs and that he's not getting any younger. The candor in the video is refreshing, and I respect him for putting it out.

The things that Tavis didn't mention were likely just as relevant: The difficulty of obtaining corporate sponsors during a recession and getting those sponsors to commit to someone who has lost some degree of popularity among the African-American community. Tavis' attacks on Barack Obama last year did not leave his career unscathed, as the entire black community (which I noticed from e-mails I received from supporters of our Your Black World Coalition) seemed to become angry that Tavis was not "drinking the Obama Kool-aid."

My conversations with friends have led me to conclude that in his critiques of the president, Tavis Smiley was on the "wrong side of right": He has been vindicated to some degree, given that Obama's black popularity has declined. But his close affiliations with Hillary Clinton led others to have a tremendous amount of skepticism regarding the nature and origin of the attacks. In other words, some wondered if Tavis, a man who plays hard in political circles, was angry about not being the next Barack Obama.

Either way, Tavis will remain a player in critical black social commentary. His connections with the State Department, through Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, are likely giving him the White House access he deserves, so I expect Tavis to remain relevant for many decades to come.



Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.