Talk show host Tavis Smiley visits RIT later this month, but Thursday he spoke with WXXI's own midday host, on Connections with Evan Dawson. Among the topics poverty, and a recent report that shows Rochester the fifth poorest city in the country among the largest metropolitan areas.
Smiley says income inequality must be addressed in the United States.
"We can't advance a democracy when you have that many people that feel that they have no worth. At some point something is going to give, something is going to break; you can't have millions of people who feel like their worthless, like their helpless and like their dignity is at stake.”
Smiley is the keynote speaker on January 30th for the Expressions of King's Legacy program. That program takes place from noon to 2pm and the doors open at 10:30a.m.
He will also be involved with a talk about “The State of Race in Rochester: 50 years after the ‘64 Race Riots.” That discussion takes place next Thursday evening, January 30th, from 6 to 8pm at East High School
