Tavis Smiley

I feel fortunate that I attended the HBCU Talented Tenth Tour featuring Tavis Smiley. I almost didn't take advantage of the opportunity to see such a well-rounded, public speaker. What Tavis does for our community-more specifically, my generation-is motivate us to become leaders for today and to seek social change in the name of justice for tomorrow.

As I struggled to find a seat in the balcony, I considered leaving and just catching a synopses of what I missed in The Famuan. Good thing I chose to stay though. Hearing the speech from a first-hand experience was inspirational and caused me to consider possibilities I had yet to acknowledge in regards to "where I want to be" and "who I want to become."

Tavis outlined to students, teachers, and local community how we must lead during this time of political and social uncertainty. We must lead through, "Love and Service", he said. Through those two virtues, a leader is born. With it marking the initial day of the Jena 6 trial in Jena, Luisiana, it was no surprise that Tavis would mention the importance of justice and how we must all seek to fight injustices everywhere. He went on to say that "Justice is what love looks like in public" and that by using the two previously stated virtues, justice can be achieved.

The last quote he left with the audience that night was one from Martin Luther King, Jr. Although I consider myself quite critical of Martin Luther King and his passive tactics for equality, I liked the quote.

"Cowardice asks the question, is it safe? Expedience asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question, is it right? There comes a time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor political, nor popular, but we must make it because our conscience tells us it is right."

I like the quote because it addresses all the typical emotions that effect people's reactions to particular situations while presenting a virtuous solution. This quote is how we should strive to live our lives. Tavis also presented an equally effective way to fashion ourl lives. We should create our own obituaries and then go out and live it. By doing this we will aspire to live a meaningful life worthy of remembrance.