Wattstax Tribute: Isaac Hayes

[Smiley and West]

Highlights from a collection of conversations between Smiley, West and the late Isaac Hayes, including the 2008 documentary Stand, NPR's The Tavis Smiley Show in 2004, and PRI's The Tavis Smiley Show in 2005.

[Tea Norman]

I enjoyed the interview done by Tavis Smiley with Isaac Hayes. Isaac Hayes speaks surprisingly well after a stroke. Didn't realize he had suffered a stroke before his death. I also remember the death of Martin Luther King. I heard the report on t.v. I immediately called upstairs to my mother. "Mom, they just shot Martin Luther King!" She ran down the stairs as if she needed to confirm such horrible words.

We talk about September 11th changing America. Martin Luther King' s death also changed America in one night. Blacks and whites saw the assassination differently. Couldn't speak to one another about it without disagreement. Other white people wouldn't look you in the eye because of shame and guilt.

Isn't it ironic? Racial occurrences make us take off the mask that Paul Laurence Dunbar spoke about. Our hatred of other people makes us "real." Is that possible???? What a shame, in one night the death of MLK changed the relationship Isaac Hayes had with his close friend. Communication died because of the death of a black man by a white man. Yes, the interview gave me a lot to ponder.

[Tea Norman]

I've only been to Memphis, Tn. twice. Once we went for my son's wedding. The second time was for the birth of our grand baby.