In 2010 PBS commentator Tavis Smiley said the speech was the most controversial speech of Dr. King's career, and the one he "labored over the most".
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Along with noted scholars, Dr. Cornel West and Michael Eric Dyson, he also appeared in the documentary, Stand, produced and directed by Tavis Smiley.
Controversy erupted in 2012 when WBEZ cancelled the program "Smiley & West", an interview program hosted by Tavis Smiley and Cornel West.