STAND the Movie

Q & A WITH THE WRITER, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR OF STAND... TAVIS SMILEY

Q: Why did you decide to do STAND?
I have a wonderful group of friends - - brothers who I communicate with, hang out with, seek counsel and advice from consistently. I’m blessed to have this core group of Black men who I engage with on a regular basis. There’s so much joy, laughter, humanity and intellect on display when we get together. I’ve been threatening for years to have a camera just follow us, because the dialogue is always rich, it’s always funny, it’s always empowering and enlightening to be around these people. So this was not really a new idea, I just finally got around to doing it.

Q: Was there a particular reason for filming in the Summer of 2008?
Last summer just seemed like the perfect time to get together for three reasons. Number one, it was the 40th anniversary of the assassination of the person who I regard as the greatest American we’ve ever produced, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Secondly, then-Senator Barack Obama was making his move to become, as we now know, ultimately the Democratic Party standard bearer in the race for the White House, and, of course, now president.

Thirdly, my partners and I had been so busy with all different aspects of this historical moment that we hadn’t had a chance to get together in a while. It just seemed like the perfect time to get together to have some dialogue about what this moment in history meant for us Black men.

Q: Why did you choose Memphis and Nashville as the places to go?
I chose Memphis primarily because of the connection to the assassination of Dr. King. I had been in Memphis earlier in the year on April 4th with my radio and television programs to commemorate the anniversary.

Nashville becomes a part of the itinerary because I didn’t want to take the trip without visiting an HBCU. Turns out that Fisk University is just down the road a couple hours away in Nashville. Two things become important for going to Fisk: One, Fisk is the place where the parents of Dr. West and his brother Cliff actually met, and there’s a powerful scene in the movie about the actual spot on the campus where the West parents, Irene and Clifton West connect.

Secondly, when you arrive on the campus, the first thing you see is this huge statue of W.E.B. Du Bois, who matriculated at Fisk, and who is, of course, the nation’s first internationally recognized Black public intellectual. I think Dr. West is the Du Bois of our time, so that connection was important.

For all the right reasons, Fisk was the right place to go. The brothers had no idea when we arrived that we were going to be serenaded by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, but it is a great moment in the film.

Q: What surprised you the most about this trip?
What surprised me most were the connections that were made in the film. For example, I could not have ever predicted that Sam Moore (of Sam & Dave) was going to tell a story about being in a room when Dr. King was chastising a young Jesse Jackson about using the “N-word” and that if he didn’t get that under control it might come back to haunt him one day.

How do you know, sadly and regrettably, that you’re going to end up having the very last conversation on film with a legend like Isaac Hayes?

Finally, I had no idea that Dick Gregory, in spite of his closeness to Dr. King and all his work in the movement, he had never been inside of Mason Temple himself. These are things that you can’t plan.

Q: Was there a moment in particular that stood out for you?
I think if I had to choose a moment that seems to touch everyone, it’s the scene when we go back to the Lorraine Motel.

It is impossible to go to that site where King is assassinated and not be moved, not be brought to tears, not be humbled, and not be chastened by that space.

Q: What has the response been from audiences when they get a chance to eavesdrop, as it were, on some of your deep dialogues?
I’m always amazed at people outside of the Black community who are really unaware of so much of what happens inside of our community. I see this movie as a window, if you will, a window into the world of Black men.

It’s one thing to celebrate a Black man being president; it’s another thing to help create conditions that allow other Black men to rise to the level of their own talent, ability and skill. This film features a range of Black men that we run into in church, over dinner, on the streets of Memphis and Nashville.

There are times in the film when we debate, cry, laugh, hug and even hold hands and pray together. It’s a genuine reflection of Black men and brotherhood which we rarely, if ever see in the media, and when people see the film they really respond to that.

My hope is that we start to celebrate what brotherhood is really all about in meaningful, in significant, and in special ways.

Q: What is the take away from STAND?
I hope it’s going to be empowering for Black men to recognize and then to realize the kind of relationships that we can and ought to have with each other, even…and especially…when we disagree.

For folk outside the Black community, I hope they come to understand, appreciate and embrace the intellect of Black men, the humanity of Black men, the soul of Black men, the spirit of Black men. That’s all.