Trivia

Received his bachelor's degree in public affairs from Indiana University Bloomington (2003).

Distant cousin of T.D. Jakes, James Wheaton, and Sarah Jakes Roberts.

Received the Du Bois Medal from Harvard University's W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute on December 12, 2008.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 6270 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on April 24, 2014.

Son of Joyce Marie Roberts, and Emory Garnell Smiley.

Is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.

Attended and graduated from Maconaquah High School in Bunker Hill, Indiana.

Received an honorary doctorate from Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut (2008).

Received an honorary doctorate from Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma (2009).

Time magazine added him as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World (2009).