Tavis Smiley pens `Keeping The Faith'; holds benefit for his foundation

Jet, Nov 18, 2002

Tavis Smiley believes you can get through anything in life as long as you have faith in God, faith in family and friends and faith in yourself.

In his new best-seller, Keeping the Faith: Stories of Love, Courage, Healing and Hope From Black America (Doubleday $22.95), Smiley has collected personal essays from Black Americans from all walks of life, including Dr. Cornel West, Iyanla Vanzant and Danny Glover, as well as everyday people, who write about their most important life-changing and sometimes life-saving experiences and how faith in God, family and friends brought them through and gave them peace of mind.

The powerful, inspirational stories are all about faith. Many of the contributors also write about the joy, strength and motivation that comes when someone else has faith in you.

Smiley also writes several essays and reveals a painful chapter from his childhood as well as the pain he has experienced in his professional career.

He writes: "I don't know what's worse, private or public pain. I do know that they both hurt and that if you live long enough, you will experience both ... It is my hope that the stories of love, courage, healing and hope from Black America ... will inspire you to keep the faith, no matter what you're going through ... Sorrow looks back, worry looks around but faith looks up ... No matter what comes your way, keep the faith."

Smiley, host of "The Tavis Smiley Show from NPR" is the first Black to host his own signature talk show on National Public Radio. The best-selling author of six books, appears twice weekly on the nationally syndicated radio show, "The Tom Joyner Morning Show." He also is heard daily on urban contemporary radio stations on the ABC Radio Network.

Smiley shares several life lessons he has learned in Keeping the Faith. "One, bad things do happen to good people. Two, love is the infrastructure of everything and anything worthwhile. And three, in the end, through love we can turn pain into power. The power to heal ourselves. The power to help others. The power to hope for better days. The power of possibility."

Smiley also writes about his first mentor, Douglas Hogan Jr., superintendent of the Sunday School at New Bethel Tabernacle Church in Kokomo, Indiana. "It was the leadership and mentorship of Douglas Hogan that was the impetus for the mentoring and work I engage in through the Tavis Smiley Foundation," he writes.

His Tavis Smiley Foundation recently held a star-studded benefit, "Salute To Youth Leadership 2002" at the home of nationally syndicated columnist and author Arianna Huffington in Brentwood, CA.

Among those lending their support were legendary actor Sidney Poitier, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, poet Sonia Sanchez, Vivica A. Fox, BeBe Winans, Eric LaSalle, Dexter King, Malik Yoba, Bernie Casey, Kim Coles, Erika Alexander and comedian Michael Coylar. Executive Chef Jerry Nottage of Detroit's Sweet Georgia Brown created an exquisite five-course meal for dinner guests who paid $1,500 each for the benefit.

The goal of the recent benefit was to raise funds to bring 1,000 youth leaders to the National Youth Leadership Summit to be held next year in Washington, D.C.

Honorees at the event included the Annie E. Casey Foundation, youth advocate Gail Perry Mason, volunteer Barbara Jones and youth leader Elicia Wyman.

Sponsors of the benefit included ExxonMobil, Hewlett-Packard, Fannie Mae, Microsoft and others.

The Tavis Smiley Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to encourage, empower and enlighten Black youth.

The foundation's cornerstone program is Youth to Leaders, an annual series of one-day leadership-building conferences held throughout the country for teenagers.