TAVIS SMILEY’S 'STAND' DELIVERS: Broadcaster’s first film premieres Sunday on TV One. (Video)

Scroll down to watch the 'Stand' trailer

      *What do you stand for?

      That's what author, activist, and broadcaster Tavis Smiley is asking via his first film, "Stand," which premieres on TV One this Sunday.

      The documentary follows Smiley and ten of his friends - scholars, students, musicians, actors, comedians, and social critics - on their six-day Tennessee road trip. The film presents unscripted dialog and debate "about race relations, politics and the legacy of the civil rights movement," according to the film's website.

      "This is my first film," Smiley told reporters and bloggers at a screening last week. "I do radio and TV every day, but I'm always looking for opportunities and looking for platforms to continue to tell stories that are powerful; to tell stories that are empowering; stories that are inspiring; stories that are informing."

      According to Smiley, the TV One network has been asking the celebrated author and TV personality to do a project like this for quite some time. He explained that he hadn't really had the time to dedicate to a film, but was motivated by the moment of the Summer of 2008 to put the project together.

      "I think we will always remember where we were in the Summer of 2008 because it was such a historic summer," Smiley said. "On the one hand you had then Senator Barack Obama making his run for the primary nomination of the Democratic Party. Obama was set to make history against the backdrop of the 40th anniversary of assassination of the person who I regard as the greatest American we ever produced - that's my own assessment - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr."

      Smiley took his project to the place of King's 1964 assassination, Memphis, TN, where he invited some well-known friends to join him.

      "I have a bunch of friends I spend time with that I've been threatening for years to basically have a camera crew follow us around."

      That crew was made up of scholar/author Cornel West, activist Dick Gregory, and academic/author Michael Eric Dyson, and singer Bebe Winans, among others.

      "I thought it made sense for my Soul Patrol, as we called ourselves, to get together, to situate where we found ourselves in this moment," he said. "You got Obama on one hand and everybody, certainly in Black America, is trying to properly situate themselves in what this historic moment is. I just called my boys, sent everybody a plane ticket to meet me in Memphis and said, 'Just trust me on this.'"

      They all showed up and for the following seven days, moved throughout Tennessee.

      "Nothing about the documentary is scripted," Smiley promised. "They did not know where they were going, what was going to happen, who they were going to meet, and in some instances, neither did I."

      Smiley described the story as one "of the humanity, the intellect, the humor, the soul, and the spirit of Black men" and of the history that has made the Obama presidency possible in the Summer of 2008.

     "While it is a story about me and my boys, you'll see from the film that there is no way that this moment happens without a lot of black history, which of course includes a whole lot of Black women, which we celebrate in the film as well," he said.

     The film follows African American history including the activism of Frederick Douglass, the championing of Mohammad Ali, the trailblazing of Isaac Hayes, and more all in and around historic landmarks of Memphis and Nashville.

      "The problem with America is that America is still not a nation that's as good as its promise," Smiley said referring to the history and potential covered in the documentary. "There is a gap between the promise of America and the possibility in America for every single one of us. This is a moment where we can do something significantly to shrink the gap between the promise and the possibility.

      With screenings lined up with speakers (before the TV premier) and an educational component for the film, Smiley is most energized about talking about the film and its topics more than viewing the project. The website even offers teachers, educators, mentors, and parents the ability to download a lesson plan that turns the film into a teaching tool.

      "What I'm hoping is that this movie is going to allow us to have this kind of conversation about how we as Americans and as Black Americans take a stand in this moment," Smiley aspired. "I believe that this moment is so pregnant with possibility. That's why I'm doing everything I can on radio, and TV, and now film. We have got to recognize this moment for what it is - an opportunity to radically rewrite the promise of America."

      "Stand" premieres on TV One this Sunday, May 24 at 9 pm ET/PT. For more, go to the website at www.standthemovie.com.

Watch the trailer for "Stand":

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