Is Tavis Smiley Fascinated With His Own Legacy?

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Writing at BlackAmericaWeb, Tom Joyner gives his take on the criticism of President Obama's use of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Bible at his swearing-in.                                                                                         

Tavis's commentary on CBS News Sunday Morning was both, a tribute to his hero Dr. King and a slam at his nemesis President Barack Obama. This is nothing new. In the words of the great Sunshine Anderson, "Heard it All Before." Except this time, he took it a bit further.

And I quote: "The president wants to channel King so badly that he's decided to use Dr. King's Bible at the inauguration ceremony tomorrow.["] …

I believe that Tavis is the one fascinated with Dr. King's legacy, but more importantly Tavis is fascinated with his own legacy, and that's not good. He wants more than anything to be remembered the way Dr. King was, and to [somehow] make that kind of mark on the world.

Dr. King wasn't concerned about how he would be remembered, he was concerned with doing good and doing right. In the end, that made him great. Tavis has done a lot of good things but his obsession with becoming great is destroying him. The whole issue with the inscription on the King Memorial illustrates the differences between Tavis and Dr. King. Days before he was killed, believing that death was imminent, Dr. King dealt with it publicly in his Drum Major speech.

Dr. King knew good things would be said about him in death and he was humbled at the idea of it. Tavis is afraid of what will be said about him and it's driving him crazy.

Read Tom Joyner's entire piece at BlackAmericaWeb.

The Root aims to foster and advance conversations about issues relevant to the black Diaspora by presenting a variety of opinions from all perspectives, whether or not those opinions are shared by our editorial staff.

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