STAND: What Do You STAND For?

by Tavis Smiley

It was the summer of 2008 in Memphis, the birthplace of the blues. America was commemorating the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., against the backdrop of then Senator Barack Obama emerging as the first African American to become the Democratic presidential nominee. As America approached the historic presidential election, the national dialogue and debate intensified about race relations, politics, and the legacy of the civil rights movement.


Broadcaster Tavis Smiley dissects this national discourse with ten Black male friends over several days during a special road trip through Memphis and Nashville. While visiting places like the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. King died, and Stax records, credited with laying the roots of southern soul, Smiley and friends explore the diversity and complexity of the Black male experience in America-- past, present, and future.


STAND reveals the journey of a unique group of scholars, musicians, comedians, and social critics as they gather for a rare reflection of brotherhood while confronting their own roles and responsibilities as pioneers of social progress.


CAST: Tavis Smiley, Dick Gregory, Michael Eric Dyson, Cornel West, Cliff West, Eddie Glaude, BeBe Winans, Wren T. Brown, Daron Boyce, Robert Smith and Raymond Ross.  Special appearances by Sam Moore, Isaac Hayes and David Porter.

DVD (NTSC)

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Tavis Smiley is an American talk show host and author. Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi, and grew up in Bunker Hill, Indiana. After attending Indiana University, he worked during the late 1980s as an aide to Tom Bradley, the mayor of Los Angeles.
Smiley became a radio commentator in 1991 and, starting in 1996, he hosted the talk show BET Talk (later renamed BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley) on Black Entertainment Television (BET). After Smiley sold an exclusive interview of Sara Jane Olson to ABC News in 2001, BET declined to renew his contract that year. Smiley then began hosting The Tavis Smiley Show on National Public Radio (NPR) (2002–04) and hosted Tavis Smiley on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) on weekdays and The Tavis Smiley Show on Public Radio International (PRI) from 2004 until 2017.
Smiley had an employment dispute with PBS in December 2017 which resulted in his suing PBS for wrongful termination. Smiley is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SmileyAudioMedia, Inc. headquartered in Los Angeles. Since June 2021 he has served as Chief Visionary Officer for his radio station, KBLA Talk 1580.