Tavis Smiley

The Untold History

Tavis smiley raises awareness about the often-overlooked JAMESTOWN AFRICANS at this year’S 400th anniversary commemoration.

BY BRET LOVE

Chances are, your elementary and high school teachers focused on the landing of Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock in 1620 as the start of our nation’s history. The story of the crews of the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery landing on the shores of the New World 13 years earlier may have been mentioned as well, but it’s a tale that—especially this year—deserves more attention. The adventurous explorers, led by Captain John Smith, who founded the English colony of Jamestown, Virginia, traveled five months across raging seas to reach their new homeland, where they were met with inadequate food supplies, rampant disease and curious natives who eventually turned hostile. But it was a confluence of multicultural influences—not just English, but also native Powhatan and that of the African slaves brought over to assist with manual labor—that made the Jamestown Settlement what it was.

Now, 400 years later, Jamestown is commemorating its founding with 18 months of festivities, 10 signature events, hundreds of community projects and commemorative programs, which included a visit by Queen Elizabeth II in early May. Organizers of the event wanted to ensure that the contributions of minorities involved in the Settlement’s early growth were represented. They sought out advisory councils representing African-Americans and Native Americans, who voiced a desire for a national symposium dedicated to their role in shaping the foundation of America.

Actor Tim Reid (best known as Venus Flytrap on “WKRP in Cincinnati”) and his wife, Daphne, were dispatched as representatives of the State of Virginia to meet with PBS talk show host-turnedbest- selling author Tavis Smiley about hosting his annual State of the Black Union symposium as a signature event of Jamestown’s 400th Anniversary commemoration. The result brought 36 of America’s leading thinkers and more than 10,000 on-site participants together for an event viewed by millions on C-SPAN that delved into the African-American imprint on America during the past 400 years—and outlining a plan of action for the next 400. We recently discussed this historic event with Smiley himself

Why did you want to get involved with the 400th anniversary Jamestown celebration?

Primarily because when the story is told of the founding of America, it is most often told through the eyes of the immigrant arriving at Ellis Island. That is a powerful and poignant story that needs to be told, but it is not the only story that needs to be told. There is this place called Jamestown, Virginia, where my ancestors and the ancestors of millions of other African-Americans first arrived. Before the Plymouth pilgrims, you first have the Jamestown Africans, and that untold backstory of America needs to be told. These Africans, and others, oftentimes arrived at Jamestown against their will, and this year marks the 400th anniversary commemoration, which is pretty significant.

Considering that controversial past, why did you decide to hold your annual State of the Black Union symposium at Jamestown this year?

To try to raise awareness of what Jamestown means and what the African-American imprint on America is all about. That imprint is undeniable, and hopefully in this poignant year we can get some conversation going about this other story that makes America what she is.

Was there a specific agenda in mind, or were you able to plan the event the way you wanted it?

The latter. For eight consecutive years during the month of February, which of course is Black History Month, I have organized and moderated what has become the preeminent conversation about the critical issues that confront black America. We call it the State of the Black Union, and they televise it annually on C-SPAN. Tim Reid and his wife Daphne own a TV studio in Virginia, and Daphne happens to be on the state committee, so they asked me to go to lunch a few years ago when I was giving a speech in Richmond. They had been dispatched by then-governor Mark Warner to talk to me about my interest in being involved, so it just became a matter of using Jamestown 400 as a backdrop for our conversation

Did the historical context of Jamestown add anything to this year’s event?

Absolutely. The timing worked out perfectly, because we released The Covenant In Action, the companion book to The Covenant With Black America, which went to No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list last year. The setting, timing and everything just worked out perfectly, with people coming to Virginia from all across the country. It was by far the largest gathering we’ve ever had even, with overflow rooms and people who couldn’t get in and had to turn around and go home. I actually clocked this in the car I was riding in, and traffic was backed up for over three miles at 7am with people just trying to get into the parking lot.

Tell me a little bit about Covenant with Black America. What do you hope the book’s impact will be?

If you take the word “black” out of the covenant, what you get is a progressive agenda for moving America forward. We see this as no different than what Dr. King did during his era. His leadership came out of black America and was on behalf of advancing black America, but the whole nation benefited from it. So what I’m hoping people will get out of this
is the fact that you are the leader you’ve been looking for. Make a covenant with yourself, your community, your Creator, to use the skill and talent you have to make a meaningful contribution. Dr. King, Gandhi and Nelson Mandela changed the world as we know it, but at the center of their message was this notion of loving and serving everyday people. A strong community does not need a leader, because if everybody becomes a committee of one, it fundamentally and unapologetically changes the definition of leadership. We live in a world where, if we don’t grab hold of the reality of people being responsible for making some sort of contribution, if we keep thinking all these problems are somebody else’s, we’re going to literally and figuratively explode, as a nation and as a planet…. When we were at Jamestown, the president of PBS joined us to announce that this summer I’m going to be moderating two presidential forums live in prime time. The first will be the Democrats at Howard University [in Washington, DC] on June 28, then at Morgan State University [in Baltimore] on September 27 for the Republicans, and we’ll be talking about the issues in these books with all of the candidates. That is historic in and of itself.