We give you the facts. I told you information is power -

"We give you the facts. I told you information is power – knowledge is power. We can’t be in an ideological battle to redeem the soul of this country if we don’t have the facts." Thus declared Tavis Smiley, a voice of conscience, a messenger to his people, who understood that no struggle for justice can be fought in darkness. His words thunder with urgency: if a people wish to rise, if a nation seeks to heal, it must first be armed with facts, with knowledge, with truth that cannot be denied. For in the wars of ideas, ignorance is slavery, but truth is liberation.

The meaning of this saying is deep and unyielding. Smiley reminds us that information is power, and that power is not measured in weapons, wealth, or armies, but in the clarity of truth. Without facts, a people are easily deceived, manipulated, and divided. But with knowledge, they see clearly, they resist falsehood, and they chart a path toward justice. To redeem the very soul of a country—to lift it from corruption, hatred, or despair—requires not blind passion, but informed conviction.

History testifies to this eternal law. Consider the work of Frederick Douglass, once a slave, who risked life and limb to learn to read. He proclaimed that “knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave.” The masters knew this, which is why they forbade literacy. For a slave who knows the facts of his bondage, who reads of liberty, who understands the laws of men, is a slave no longer in spirit. Knowledge gave Douglass power not only to escape but to become a leader, a voice that shook the conscience of a nation.

Or look to the days of the Civil Rights Movement, when leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks relied not on vague ideas but on the clear facts of injustice—segregated schools, discriminatory laws, brutal violence. They armed themselves with truth, documented, undeniable, and they carried it into the courts and into the streets. It was not merely emotion that swayed the nation, but the unrelenting weight of facts married to moral conviction. In this way, they redeemed part of the soul of America.

Smiley’s words also carry a warning for our own times. In an age when misinformation spreads like wildfire, when lies travel faster than truth, the danger of ignorance is multiplied. People may fight with passion, but if they fight without facts, they fight blindly, and their struggle collapses into chaos. To engage in the battle of ideology, one must be armed with truth. To redeem the soul of a country, one must shine light upon darkness and refuse to be seduced by falsehood.

The lesson is plain: never underestimate the power of knowledge. Do not be content with rumor, half-truths, or ideology untested. Seek out facts with diligence, weigh them with reason, and let them guide your convictions. For passion without truth is fire without light; it consumes but does not illuminate. But truth, once known, becomes a sword sharper than steel, cutting through lies, deceit, and oppression.

Practical action follows. Read widely. Question boldly. Do not accept what you are told until you have searched for truth yourself. In your communities, share facts generously, for others may not yet see what you see. Build your beliefs upon knowledge, not upon ignorance. And when you enter the battles of justice—whether in politics, in work, or in family—carry truth as your shield and knowledge as your weapon. Only then can you fight not in blindness but in wisdom.

So I say to you, children of tomorrow: remember the words of Tavis Smiley. Information is power. Knowledge is power. Without it, a people are lost; with it, a people can redeem their very soul. Seek truth, speak truth, defend truth, and you will not only save yourselves—you will save the future of your country.