Well, you did it. This isn’t the way you wanted it to happen, but it happened anyway. Just like I knew it would," begins an open letter from veteran radio personality Tom Joyner to Tavis Smiley.
It's the latest in ongoing drama that followed Joyner's announcement Friday that Smiley will end his twice-a-week commentaries on the syndicated morning show.
When the news broke, folks speculated that he couldn't handle the backlash he's been getting from blacks over his criticism of Barack Obama. Although Smiley released a statement saying he was leaving to focus on future projects under his company, The Smiley Group, Inc., Joyner isn't buying it.
"We all know that isn’t the real reason he’s leaving the show," Joyner writes in the open letter, posted on the radio industry blog Urbansite.com. "The real reason is that he can’t take the hate he’s been getting regarding the Barack issue — hate from the black people that he loves so much. He needed to feel the love. We all do, whether it’s from our radio audience or from people we know personally. He wasn’t feeling any love, so he quit."
As previously reported, Smiley sent a letter to EUR and other media outlets stating that he did not “quit” the Tom Joyner Morning Show effective immediately.
"In July I will celebrate my 12th anniversary with the show, and as I discussed with Tom, it is my intention to take on the issues of the day in my commentary twice every week with the same energy, passion and commitment until the end of June," Smiley wrote.
Still, Joyner claims Smiley is leaving because the black community has put him on blast. The cold shoulder was sparked after one of his TJMS commentaries urged listeners not to buy into the hype of Obama. It reached a peak after Smiley called out the senator for choosing to stay on the campaign trail instead of attending his recent State of the Black Union conference in New Orleans.
"I’ll also admit that I wanted Tavis to show a little more love to Barack Obama, and I was frustrated over his failure to do so," Joyner wrote before ultimately suggesting that listeners at least attempt to respect Smiley's different perspective.
"What Tavis was saying made us think. It had us talking, it had us listening to a different point of view, and it was damn good radio," Joyner continued. "Tavis on the radio not saying everything that we want him to say is a lot better than not having Tavis on the radio at all. 'The Tom Joyner Morning Show' without Tavis gives our listeners one less reason to tune in, and in case you don’t know, all of us in radio -- and in black radio especially -- are in a battle for our lives. We need good, controversial, compelling radio, and Tavis brought that."
"But because Tavis has not come out and said, 'I am for Barack Obama,' everybody has started hating on him and threatening him and clowning him, and he can’t take it," Joyner continued. "Those of us who know him well know that. If you read his autobiography, 'What I Know for Sure,' you know that no matter how deep his love is, if he feels that he’s right or that you’re wrong, he doesn’t back down.
"When his mom made him step down from being class president because his grades were slipping, he didn’t speak to her for two years. His own mama, a single parent of eight! He lived in her house, ate her food while he sat at her table and didn’t say a word to her for two years. All because he didn’t feel the love that his mom was trying to give him."
In conclusion, Joyner wrote: "Tavis said the things he said about Barack because he wants the black people that he loves so much to think -- but to most of you, it sounded like hate, and it sounded like that to me too. Love or hate, real or perceived, none of it matters now. What matters is that Tavis wants to quit the TJMS -- and that’s real.
"I want you to call him, e-mail him, text him, hug him, kiss him, get him in a corner and wrestle him and tell him how much you love him and appreciate his love for black people. Everyone needs that sometimes. And Tavis needs it right now."
*Meanwhile, the Tavis Smiley Group has just announced a three-year partnership with Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company that will include exclusive sponsorship of Smiley's PBS television program, national sponsorship of the 2009 State of the Black Union event to be held next February in Los Angeles and sponsorship of an exclusive five-city tour in which Smiley and Nationwide will join forces to promote economic empowerment and financial literacy.
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