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Speaker 1: Every day up weak, pack your ass.

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Speaker 2: Up the Breakfast Club.

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Speaker 1: You don't finish for y'all done.

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Speaker 3: Yes, it's the world's most dangerous morning to show to

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Speaker 3: Breakfast Club. Charlamagne to God, DJ Nvy just hilarious. But

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Speaker 3: Envy's not here right now. But Laura Lerosa is in

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Speaker 3: and we got a special guest in the building, the

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Speaker 3: Great Windell Pierces here.

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Speaker 1: Good morning, sorry, good morning, good morning.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for having me. This is a real honor. I

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Speaker 2: finally made it to the Breakfast Club. You know. I

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Speaker 2: was just feel like you've been on before you No,

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Speaker 2: this is my first time. This is my first time.

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Speaker 2: It's a real honor man, you know. Like I was

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Speaker 2: telling you, I'm a jazz head, you know, so I'm

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Speaker 2: listening to jazz in the morning and stuff like that.

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Speaker 2: And it wasn't until I was in London do a

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Speaker 2: death of a salesman, you know that. The two gentlemen

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Speaker 2: who played my sons, Everyone's like, you don't know about

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Speaker 2: the Breakfast Club. I'm like, yeah, I know about it.

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Speaker 2: I lied and then and then and then they would

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Speaker 2: turn me on to it. Like every day we got

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Speaker 2: every I got all my news. That was like my

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Speaker 2: you know, my associated press was the Breakfast Club, you know,

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Speaker 2: so so now that was That's why I was joking,

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Speaker 2: I should come in here with my you know, I

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Speaker 2: have my I have my little unto rage and you

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Speaker 2: know that's my bag of cash. Yeah. I love that. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: So you glad.

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Speaker 3: We're glad that you are finally. Yeah, we're glad that

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Speaker 3: you finally could join us. Man, I wish I could

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Speaker 3: be there in the studio, but I had to be

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Speaker 3: out of town this week.

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Speaker 2: No, understand, how are you? First of all, I'm good man.

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Speaker 2: It's been a real busy summer. I've been enjoying myself

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Speaker 2: because I'm already back to work. Summer ended for me,

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Speaker 2: uh last week. But it's been great. I've been traveling

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Speaker 2: a lot. You know. I have discovered Angila great. Oh man,

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Speaker 2: It's what I call a drop and PLoP. Right, you

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Speaker 2: drop your bag and you flopped down. Oh man, we're

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Speaker 2: giving it. We should be given it away, Charlotte Mane.

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Speaker 2: But then again, they.

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Speaker 1: Listen, I've been going. I've been going there for years. Man.

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Speaker 1: I love it. But it's an island that you go

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Speaker 1: to if you like to do nothing.

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Speaker 2: That's it. That's why drop and PLoP. I love it.

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Speaker 2: So I've been traveling around and uh, you know, had

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Speaker 2: a busy summer because I had a lot of films

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Speaker 2: come out this summer and coming out. So it's good

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Speaker 2: and back to work already.

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Speaker 4: And what I said, I just have to say, for

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Speaker 4: just for me personally, you do not age hey, like

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Speaker 4: because I discovered you on the Wire.

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Speaker 1: I'm frommost city, so that's right, Baltimore.

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Speaker 2: And my favorite show. Like it's one of my favorite cities.

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Speaker 2: I feel like it's a hometown with mine.

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Speaker 4: Yes, yes, but I just want to man, you look

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Speaker 4: amazing still.

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Speaker 3: You just.

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Speaker 2: Thank you well. You know they say black don't crack, uh,

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Speaker 2: so I'm trying to live up to that. Unless you

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Speaker 2: want crack, unless you want to crack, you know you

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Speaker 2: will crack. There's always exceptions to that, right. I love Baltimore.

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Speaker 2: When we were doing the Wire, you know, it was

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Speaker 2: like this delayed response, so it was like our summer camp.

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Speaker 2: We would go down work on the Wire, and I

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Speaker 2: had such a good time there. I saw y'all had

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Speaker 2: the whole crew, all the criminals side over here, the cops,

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Speaker 2: the cops. You know, we need our we need respect

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Speaker 2: to But I would always go to. There was a

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Speaker 2: club called Choices. I loved Choices and that dance that

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Speaker 2: whatever that dance was. Man, pop, I looked like the

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Speaker 2: old man in the club. That's what I was. And

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Speaker 2: I would go there and they thought I was a

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Speaker 2: cop because I would put on the suit. Choices was,

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Speaker 2: you know, it was it was, it was. I went

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Speaker 2: in with a suit because Choices was. You know, you

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Speaker 2: didn't you didn't play in Choices. It was a real deal.

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Speaker 2: It was no TV criminals in there. It was the

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Speaker 2: real deal sometimes. And so I put on a suit

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Speaker 2: and everybody I thought I was real. Five Oh you know,

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Speaker 2: I said, that would keep me safe. Any club you

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Speaker 2: have to go through two metal detectives where you go in.

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Speaker 2: You know, it's an issue too too. So I stayed

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Speaker 2: near the door. But I loved Choices. I love Baltimore.

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Speaker 2: Baltimore reminded me of New Orleans where I'm from, right

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Speaker 2: has all the same issues. That has all the beautiful

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Speaker 2: stuff too, you know, and to this day a city

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Speaker 2: that I love, have invested in and is a second home.

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Speaker 1: When you think about twenty three years and a wire,

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Speaker 1: what does that mean to you?

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Speaker 2: The wire was the Canarian the mind. It was the

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Speaker 2: thing that let us know that there was going to

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Speaker 2: be an American decline if we did not take care

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Speaker 2: of the greatest resource we have in this country, and

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Speaker 2: that's its people. And the thing that I'm proud of

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Speaker 2: as an artist is that's the role of artists, not

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Speaker 2: just entertainment. It's the place where we reflect on who

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Speaker 2: what thoughts are to the individual, where you think about

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Speaker 2: who you are, what you want to be, your triumphs,

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Speaker 2: your failures. That's what art is, you know, And that's

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Speaker 2: what the show was. It was a place where we

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Speaker 2: reflect on who we are, what we're doing, our dysfunction, hopefully,

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Speaker 2: decide what our values are and then act on them.

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Speaker 2: You know. I was very I was very proud of

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Speaker 2: what the Wire is, and the Wire is it's a

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Speaker 2: classic and what makes something classical speaks to people, then

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Speaker 2: speaks to people now, and it will speak to people

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Speaker 2: long after we're gone, because it speaks to that common

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Speaker 2: humanity that we have. You never pass a corner boy

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Speaker 2: anymore without understanding that he has a full life and

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Speaker 2: there's a whole story behind him. So I'm very proud

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Speaker 2: of the Wire, very proud of it.

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Speaker 5: What because because you were early on in saying this right,

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Speaker 5: that the Wire is letting us know what's about to

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Speaker 5: happen coming. How did you know that then when you

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Speaker 5: were doing it, and like, you know, even in the

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Speaker 5: earlier years, because people always ask you about bringing the

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Speaker 5: Wire back, Yeah, and you've been saying it for some time.

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Speaker 2: And I always said, you know, the only thing I

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Speaker 2: tried to do. I tried to convince them to do

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Speaker 2: a prequel of the Wire because they always said, y'all

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Speaker 2: too old, too long in the tooth now, you know,

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Speaker 2: to be trying to do a sequel. But I said,

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Speaker 2: we should see how it comes up. And actually I

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Speaker 2: talked to Sam Samuel Jackson man he was going to

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Speaker 2: play the folks that that were controlling the towers before

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Speaker 2: Stringer and av Yeah, Boxdale took over, right who they

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Speaker 2: that battle for that territory then. So David said, oh yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 2: that's a good idea. But he always said he was

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Speaker 2: never going to do it. So it's like a good book.

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Speaker 2: I knew that it was going to be effective then,

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Speaker 2: because you saw, you saw, you heard how it impacted people.

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Speaker 2: I remember one walk I had in Manhattan. I was

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Speaker 2: walking one time and this little old white lady with

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Speaker 2: blue hair stop me on the east side. I said,

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Speaker 2: you know, I love the wire. That's my show. A

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Speaker 2: little further along, this real sort of military square, drug

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Speaker 2: guid looked around and said, you know, I love the wire.

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Speaker 2: You know, really, I can't talk to you right now

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Speaker 2: because I'm under cover. I'm on the job. Then I

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Speaker 2: got up to like, wow, I got up to one

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Speaker 2: hundred and eighteenth Street whatever, and his brother came up

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Speaker 2: to me. Man, he was looking around just like the

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Speaker 2: other guys looking around. Said yeah, man, I love the wire.

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Speaker 2: I can't talk to you right now, but you know

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Speaker 2: I'm hustling. I'm hustling right. So I was just like

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Speaker 2: if a hustler and the little blue headed old lady

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Speaker 2: was still digging the same thing. We were speaking to

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Speaker 2: our humanity. So that's how I knew that's hownew we would

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Speaker 2: make an impact.

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Speaker 3: Then, yeah, man, I want I'm glad you keep using

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Speaker 3: that word humanity, right, because how do you ensure each

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Speaker 3: performance speaks to our humanity and not just the character's story.

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Speaker 2: Uh? First of all, good good research. You know, I

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Speaker 2: learned so much about specifically cops, why someone would become

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Speaker 2: a cop. Most of African American. This was across the

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Speaker 2: board man. Most of the cats I met black men

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Speaker 2: and women who decided to become police officers were from

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Speaker 2: those neighborhoods. And they said that I grew up with

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Speaker 2: miss Anne and mister Joe, and ninety nine percent of

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Speaker 2: the folks are some hard working, you know, working poor

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Speaker 2: going out there and trying to make it, make a

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Speaker 2: way out of no way, as we say. And then

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Speaker 2: they realized, you know, that the crime that was disproportionately

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Speaker 2: affecting their neighborhood was just like that one percent, and

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Speaker 2: they knew that they could have an impact on that.

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Speaker 2: And when you tap into that, that's something that's authentic.

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Speaker 2: And when something is authentic, it mayn't be something that's

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Speaker 2: totally different from you from a disparate world, but if

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Speaker 2: it is truthful, you recognize it. Right. The more universal,

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Speaker 2: the more specific you are, the more universal your story becomes.

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Speaker 2: You know, and no matter where you're from, you can

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Speaker 2: recognize yourself in someone else's story and humanity. That's why

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Speaker 2: I always say, don't try to dumb something down, or

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Speaker 2: don't try to make it just appeal to me, or

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Speaker 2: you think I wouldn't like that Actually, if you're just

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Speaker 2: truthful to that everybody understands it. You could take you

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Speaker 2: could take some hardcore kid, you know, from the hood

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Speaker 2: who's never been you know, traveled outside of his ten

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Speaker 2: block radius and see, you know, uh, see the story

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Speaker 2: of uh, you know, uh, the Black Swan, see a

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Speaker 2: movie like that, and then go, man, I know what

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Speaker 2: she's going through, right, I can understand how how she

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Speaker 2: was trying to become something and had this you know,

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Speaker 2: all these other jealous people trying to keep her down,

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Speaker 2: and ultimately, you know, she thrived. You know, they recognize

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Speaker 2: the story that's truthful. So the more authentic and truthful

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Speaker 2: you are, the more universal what becomes. And the way

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Speaker 2: you do that is you tap into something that is authentic.

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Speaker 2: And that was the thing that actually made them right.

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Speaker 2: Speaking of the wire, I was talking about Black Cops

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Speaker 2: when the writer said, can I use some of that?

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Speaker 2: And that's the scene between me and Omar on the

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Speaker 2: bench because we came from the same neighborhood. We are

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Speaker 2: of the same neighborhood, and I'm telling him no more bodies.

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Speaker 2: He understands it. The reason he doesn't say anything is

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Speaker 2: because he knows I'm right, right, and so that's the

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Speaker 2: thing that's that's the thing that makes it truthful, and

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Speaker 2: that's the thing that makes it universal and appealing to people.

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Speaker 5: Early on, though, like what did you like how how

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Speaker 5: were you able to kind of shape yourself? Because you know,

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Speaker 5: when you first start working in the business, you just

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Speaker 5: gotta work bills, right, But now knowing you as an actor,

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Speaker 5: even just seeing you've I can feel the characters you've played,

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Speaker 5: and like, you know, it becomes like a brand or

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Speaker 5: almost like a like a reputation for you. Like there's

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Speaker 5: certain things I just expect you to do and take on.

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Speaker 5: But early on, like how did you kind of gear

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Speaker 5: your way into this lane of responsibility, humanity and all things?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so you know, I trained very seriously. You know,

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Speaker 2: I went to Juilliard and trained four years and all,

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Speaker 2: and I knew that I wanted to if I work

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Speaker 2: that hard. I wanted to do television, I wanted to

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Speaker 2: do film. I wanted to do stage, classically trained actor.

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Speaker 2: And so I try to be as diverse as possible

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Speaker 2: every year, do the try effector some stage, television and film. Right.

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Speaker 2: And I am tri coastal, live in New Orleans, but

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Speaker 2: I work here in New York. I work in Los Angeles.

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Speaker 2: I'm on the golf coast, East coast, West coast. People

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Speaker 2: always say, Wendell Man, hanging there, man, you're gonna be working.

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Speaker 2: I'm like, I am working man over here, you over there, right,

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Speaker 2: And so mixing it up like that helps you start

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Speaker 2: to build a career because work gets you work. Right,

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Speaker 2: you work with someone, people see it's okay, they appreciate it.

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Speaker 2: You get another job, then that person says, I want

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Speaker 2: to work with you again. So work gets you work.

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Speaker 2: And then also your audience starts to starts to see

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Speaker 2: that you are consistently really building your characters in a

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Speaker 2: particular way. So I'm I think my brand, uh would

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Speaker 2: be as that journeyman actor you know who you know,

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Speaker 2: that character actor who is an actor of character you know.

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Speaker 2: And so that's what I pride myself on doing all

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Speaker 2: sorts of different things, especially at the same time so

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Speaker 2: you can see the range. You know, I'm playing I'm

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Speaker 2: on Elsbeth right now as a captain, the police officer,

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Speaker 2: and at the same time, I'm raising Canaan where I'm

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Speaker 2: like an old school bank Robert and supplying Canaan with

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Speaker 2: his with all of his product and uh, and I'm

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Speaker 2: his bank. I'm in Superman. This summer has been great

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Speaker 2: a perfect example of that. Thunderbolts started off the summer

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Speaker 2: first time, and you know, the whole Marvel world. And

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Speaker 2: then I did Superman, which has just gone around the world.

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Speaker 2: It's really fantastic. I went to you know, uh to

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Speaker 2: the opening and the seed. The impact that that that

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Speaker 2: that franchise has is amazing. And and then later on

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Speaker 2: I worked with Denzel and Highest to Lowis, which is

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Speaker 2: coming out next week. So Spike Lee film Spike Lee Joint.

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Speaker 2: I was one of the assassins. The second time I've

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Speaker 2: worked with Denzel. I was one of the assassins on

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Speaker 2: Malcolm X. So it's great to be back with Spike

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Speaker 2: and Denzel again.

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Speaker 4: Man, you work, you're working.

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Speaker 2: Trying to get out there, trying to get out there,

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Speaker 2: you know. You know, I'm that guy that people see

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Speaker 2: They go, hey man, where do I know you from?

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Speaker 2: Hey man?

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Speaker 1: You know you go to my church.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's what happened. So I'm that guy. And

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Speaker 2: then then they go away and then come back say,

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Speaker 2: oh man, I'm sorry, I was just looking at you

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Speaker 2: last night, you know. So it's actually a compliment. It's

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Speaker 2: actually a compliment when people see you like I feel.

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Speaker 3: Like I've never seen you do a role that wasn't

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Speaker 3: grounded in purpose, that intentional.

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Speaker 2: Uh, well, you haven't seen all my stuff I got.

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Speaker 2: I got some bullshit out there. You know. You can't

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Speaker 2: you can't do, you can't do. I am celebrating my

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Speaker 2: fortieth year in the business.

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Speaker 1: Man, and wow, congratulations, thank you, thank you.

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Speaker 2: It's this month. Actually, yeah, you go back. Just I'm

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Speaker 2: fortunate that they bombed, right, because you know, just like

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Speaker 2: work gets you, work bullshit gets you. Bullshit a lot

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Speaker 2: of times. I'm a stop cursy too, but a lot

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Speaker 2: of times feel free a lot of time, A lot

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Speaker 2: of times. A lot of times. The business you know,

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Speaker 2: they want you to make chicken salad out of chicken ship.

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Speaker 2: So d I got a lot of chicken ship out there,

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Speaker 2: you know. But I tried. I tried to I tried

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Speaker 2: to pick my with purpose. You're absolutely right, because you know,

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Speaker 2: I want to be able to look back at a

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Speaker 2: body of work and and and see you know, a

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Speaker 2: multitude of different roles and uh, you know, tap into

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Speaker 2: trying to come to an understanding of what this journey

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Speaker 2: is all about you know, and I'm was motivated to

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Speaker 2: become an actor by James O. Jones and Roscoe Lee

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Speaker 2: Brown Julius Harris. You know, those men kind of set

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Speaker 2: the bar high for me, you know. And for those

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Speaker 2: of you who don't know who Roscale Lee Brown, James

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Speaker 2: OL Jones and Julius Harris are you know? Now you've

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Speaker 2: got a little homework, you know, Google, and you see

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Speaker 2: that they set the bar high, and I like that diversity.

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Speaker 3: Well, well let me ask this then, how do you

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Speaker 3: stay grounded in purpose while navigating in an industry that

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Speaker 3: can be performative even even off stage?

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Speaker 2: Yes, about what's in important to you? You know, Uh,

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Speaker 2: recognize what your contribution to the dynamic is going to be,

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Speaker 2: and be a be a student of your craft. I

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Speaker 2: tell young actors that all the time. Be a student

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Speaker 2: of your craft. And employment doesn't define you as an

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Speaker 2: actor or an artist. Now that's easy to understand. You know.

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Speaker 2: When you're unemployed, you know, you're like, I want to

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Speaker 2: hang in there, you know, I know, even though I'm

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Speaker 2: not being paid, I don't have a gig right now,

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Speaker 2: let me focus on the work. But then there are

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Speaker 2: times when you are employed and you're doing some bullshit.

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Speaker 2: You know, you have to also say, employment doesn't define

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Speaker 2: me as an actor. Everyone since being a yes man,

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Speaker 2: you know, saying oh you're good, You're good, that's the joint, right,

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Speaker 2: But you have to know, no, man, this is this

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Speaker 2: is some bull I have to I have to step

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Speaker 2: up my game and so have have some pride in

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Speaker 2: yourself and be a student of your craft and always

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Speaker 2: set the bar high. You see that, you know, man,

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Speaker 2: listen in the culture, people understand that when it comes

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Speaker 2: to basketball, when it comes to sports in general. And

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Speaker 2: I'll never forget the thing that got me so impressed

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Speaker 2: with Lebron is I'll never forget. He was explaining the

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Speaker 2: game one time, and you saw that he was a savant.

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Speaker 2: He described every play almost in the second half of

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Speaker 2: the fourth quarter. He said, well what happened this? And

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Speaker 2: then he's basketball you missed And the fact that he

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Speaker 2: remembered it, remember what we're right? What went wrong? He

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Speaker 2: was a savant, right, And so that just that made

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Speaker 2: me really appreciate him, right, really appreciate his game. But

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Speaker 2: you know, and that's the thing that will that that's

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Speaker 2: the thing that will help you and will be there

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Speaker 2: for you in the most difficult times, be a student

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Speaker 2: of your craft. When people are putting you down, when

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Speaker 2: there's conflict, when things aren't going right for you. The

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Speaker 2: one true north that you will always have is I'm

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Speaker 2: a student of my craft and that's important to me,

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Speaker 2: and that will be Uh. You know, you're saving.

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Speaker 5: Grace when you're choosing or I guess like you're getting

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Speaker 5: or casting for roles. You still audition or do they just.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you audition. They try to pretend you're not auditioning.

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Speaker 2: Let's just have a meeting, you know, let's just have

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Speaker 2: a meeting, and we're going to film the meeting. You

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Speaker 2: don't mind if we film meetings that we remember, but

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Speaker 2: you know, I just want to have a have some

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Speaker 2: of the reference what we were talking about. You know,

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Speaker 2: I'm like, okay, yeah, and then and then we'll be

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Speaker 2: talking about the role and they you know, uh, and

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Speaker 2: I like to cut to the chase. I said, well,

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Speaker 2: you know, in the first reel and this first act,

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Speaker 2: this was happening. In the second act, this happening. But

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Speaker 2: the most important thing is when he ultimately expresses his

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Speaker 2: love for this woman. And it's the most difficult thing

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Speaker 2: he's ever done in his life. But he knows the

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Speaker 2: expression of this love. Actually, you know what happens in

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Speaker 2: this scene scene you mind if we read it, let

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Speaker 2: me just read it. Let's just read it. And they're like,

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Speaker 2: oh yes, oh I love to you know, and they're

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Speaker 2: all happy. And that's the thing that actually makes it

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Speaker 2: gives me a little distinction because the most cats would

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Speaker 2: be like, nah, I don't want to read. If it's

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Speaker 2: a meeting, it's a meeting. Either make the offer or not.

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Speaker 2: I said, I'm going to show you what I'm going

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Speaker 2: to do. And some actors always feel as though the

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Speaker 2: audition process like that. It's like, man, you Kyle Twan,

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Speaker 2: you don't have to kiss his ass, you know. I'm like, no, man,

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Speaker 2: it's a business meeting. I'm going to show you what

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Speaker 2: I'm going to do with the role. Hope you choose

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Speaker 2: me so we can take this further. But just like

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Speaker 2: if I'm at IBM and I'm a consultant and I say,

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Speaker 2: this is what's going to work best for your company.

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Speaker 2: This is how we're going to do it, this is

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Speaker 2: how I want to put it together, develop it, and

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Speaker 2: this is how we're going to execute it. So thank

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Speaker 2: you consider that with your board of directors, I'm out

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Speaker 2: of here, right, And that's the same thing with an actor.

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Speaker 2: It's your opening and closing night. You know, my best

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Speaker 2: one of the highlights of my career, I had an

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Speaker 2: audition with the great oh Man, I'm forgetting his name now,

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Speaker 2: such a highlight of my career. I forgot it, oh Man,

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Speaker 2: Bob Fosse, Bob Fosse, Bob Fosse, right, And I went

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Speaker 2: in did the audition and the guy was fumbling. The

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Speaker 2: stage manager. He took the book from him and read

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Speaker 2: it with me. And then the next thing, you know, man,

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Speaker 2: Bob Fosse says, you're great man, I love doing a

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Speaker 2: scene with you. I'm going to find something for you.

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Speaker 2: You're too young for this, I said, all right. A

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Speaker 2: couple of months later, I saw on the television Bob

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Speaker 2: Fosse died right.

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Speaker 4: Wow.

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Speaker 2: I'm like, oh man, I never got to work with him.

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Speaker 2: And then it stopped. I stopped myself. I said, wait

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Speaker 2: a minute, I did work with him. It was an

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Speaker 2: audience of two, but he and I got to work together,

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Speaker 2: and I'll always remember that moment. Right. So that was

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Speaker 2: my opening and closing night. And so that's how I

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Speaker 2: take all auditions, you know, so that it's important to

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Speaker 2: remember that's your opportunity to show your work. So it's beautiful.

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Speaker 5: I was asking about the auditions because I know in Superman,

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Speaker 5: like you're playing an editor in chief of media outlet,

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Speaker 5: journalistic integrity and all those things are like the brain

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Speaker 5: Perry White. Yeah, Perry White, you come with, but like

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Speaker 5: that's so on time for right now and all the

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Speaker 5: conversations in the media. So how much do you bring

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Speaker 5: into from real life? Like do you connect to real

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Speaker 5: life when you do things?

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Speaker 2: Because I know somebody, yes, especially with that, you know,

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Speaker 2: and even if you don't get to use it in

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Speaker 2: the film, I knew that, Man, newspapers right now are

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Speaker 2: having a hard time, you know, and all of a sudden,

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Speaker 2: how do you make it? And I said, that's kind

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Speaker 2: of like the reason Perry White is always you know,

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Speaker 2: pissed off. You know. It's like, man, how am I

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Speaker 2: as an editor going to keep this newspaper going? And

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Speaker 2: then the biggest story of the universe falls into his lap,

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Speaker 2: which is Superman and he has an inkling that Clark

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Speaker 2: can Superman. I don't care what anybody says. Classes ain't

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Speaker 2: fooling me. And so it's it's I do take take

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Speaker 2: that into account. You know that he's probably an editor

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Speaker 2: who's struggling to keep on top of things, especially with

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Speaker 2: all these different platforms out there that are killing him.

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00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:02,840
Speaker 2: You know that are killing him. Uh is nobody reads

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Speaker 2: the papers anymore, so everything is online, you know, and

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Speaker 2: different platforms. Uh like this. So I used that to

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Speaker 2: kind of develop Perry White. And what's great about it is,

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Speaker 2: uh that's something that's developing even more that thinking about

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Speaker 2: doing a Daily Planet TV show extension of that with

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Speaker 2: actually it's around Jimmy about Jimmy Olsen. So yeah, so

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Speaker 2: you know that that I always take that's in the

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Speaker 2: development of character. Also, as you're prepared.

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Speaker 4: He spoke earlier about you spoke earlier about Elsbeth. How

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Speaker 4: is it working with Steve Golbert? He announced that that project.

428
00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:48,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, it was it was it was already

429
00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:54,520
Speaker 2: in the works, so you know, it's uh imitating life,

430
00:22:54,560 --> 00:23:00,480
Speaker 2: life imitating art. Uh. It was its great. Steve Colbert

431
00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:08,560
Speaker 2: is fantastic. I didn't have I didn't have much to

432
00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:15,520
Speaker 2: do with him because he was out, uh so, but

433
00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:18,119
Speaker 2: he's very talented and that was something that we had

434
00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:21,119
Speaker 2: already done. By the time the news happened.

435
00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:23,000
Speaker 4: So because I know he asked you for.

436
00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:25,199
Speaker 2: Yeah, we were. I was on the show and he said, oh, man,

437
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:26,639
Speaker 2: I would love to come on the show, you know,

438
00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:28,520
Speaker 2: even as a corpse. I said, I work on that,

439
00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:32,080
Speaker 2: you know, I did, you know, and it worked out.

440
00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:34,640
Speaker 2: So I'm not I'm not saying I'm going to take

441
00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:37,560
Speaker 2: all the credit, but I'm going to take the credit.

442
00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:41,639
Speaker 2: I got him on the show, and uh and so

443
00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:45,320
Speaker 2: it was really cool. And uh so, you know, whateverything

444
00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:47,439
Speaker 2: else happened was above my pay grade. I don't know

445
00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:50,120
Speaker 2: what happened behind the scenes, but it was cool.

446
00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:52,520
Speaker 5: So Trump keep coming for us because of Charlotte.

447
00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:57,560
Speaker 2: You can help us. Charlamagne, you hadn't let write. Man.

448
00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:02,560
Speaker 2: You know, you know, principle is principal. You know what

449
00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:07,120
Speaker 2: I'm saying. And actually you are exercising your right of

450
00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:17,640
Speaker 2: real having principal and that's something that you know, that's

451
00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:21,480
Speaker 2: something that is your true north. So I appreciate that.

452
00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:23,919
Speaker 2: I appreciate that, my brother. And you know, when you

453
00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:29,320
Speaker 2: think about you think about all the other times that

454
00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:35,240
Speaker 2: in times like this, people have given us the playbook

455
00:24:36,119 --> 00:24:39,640
Speaker 2: of how to stand on business, how to stand on principle.

456
00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:44,720
Speaker 2: And think of Muhammad Ali. Man, they marched down the

457
00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:47,919
Speaker 2: street against Muhammad Ali right outside this building, up and

458
00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:51,959
Speaker 2: down Broadway, and nights before y'all were born, when he

459
00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:55,720
Speaker 2: was fighting. Boy, they hated Muhammad Ali. They hated Muhammad Ali.

460
00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:58,160
Speaker 2: On the day he died. You couldn't find anyone who

461
00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:02,520
Speaker 2: hated Muhammad Ali. Right, everyone faint. Oh, you know, I

462
00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:06,399
Speaker 2: always love Mohammed right, But he stood on principle. I

463
00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:08,800
Speaker 2: think of him and the stand that you're taking. I

464
00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:13,320
Speaker 2: think of, you know, Martin Luther King in Birmingham Jail.

465
00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:17,199
Speaker 2: I think of black folks in the North Church, you know,

466
00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:19,879
Speaker 2: on New Year's Eve, waiting to get word about this

467
00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:24,760
Speaker 2: emancipation that we hear they're going to sign and give

468
00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:28,760
Speaker 2: us our freedom. Right, there were people who were principled,

469
00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:30,920
Speaker 2: going all the way back to the Revolutionary War. I

470
00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:32,679
Speaker 2: give a voice to one of the characters. I'm on

471
00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:38,639
Speaker 2: ken Burn's American Revolution coming out. It's coming out this month,

472
00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:44,080
Speaker 2: and I give voice to this one, brother James, who

473
00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:47,119
Speaker 2: the patriots asked him, you're going to get involved, and

474
00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:49,480
Speaker 2: even then they say, yeah, we're going to get involved.

475
00:25:50,119 --> 00:25:52,680
Speaker 2: But there's this issue with slavery we really got to

476
00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:55,560
Speaker 2: talk about. And even then they said, let's okay, we're

477
00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:58,520
Speaker 2: going to deal with that later. Let's just beat the British, right.

478
00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:00,800
Speaker 2: And then the British offered a whole bunch of folks,

479
00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:04,520
Speaker 2: will give you a freedom right now if you come

480
00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:08,959
Speaker 2: to our side and help us. And they really there

481
00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:10,639
Speaker 2: were a whole bunch of black folks who said, I'm

482
00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:13,080
Speaker 2: gonna get my freedom, I'm gonna help the British. And

483
00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:16,800
Speaker 2: then they they messed them, they messed over them. Man,

484
00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:18,720
Speaker 2: they said, we're going to give you land in the

485
00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:21,040
Speaker 2: British Empire. You say that to somebody, they always think

486
00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:26,200
Speaker 2: of London, right, And they gave them Nova Scotia. They

487
00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:29,199
Speaker 2: gave them Nova Scotia. Right. We're going to put you

488
00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:32,000
Speaker 2: in the cold of Canada, you know, after the war,

489
00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:35,440
Speaker 2: so black folks will getting it from both ways and

490
00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:39,119
Speaker 2: slavery with the Patriots and with the British, you know,

491
00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:43,760
Speaker 2: kind of being in the turncoats that they were and

492
00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:45,520
Speaker 2: saying help us. But then we're going to put you

493
00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:50,880
Speaker 2: in one of the coldest, harshest places of our commonwealth.

494
00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:55,840
Speaker 2: So I say all of that to say that you

495
00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:59,440
Speaker 2: are a part of a long line of people who

496
00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:05,200
Speaker 2: stand on principle. So uh and ultimately we know that's

497
00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:08,040
Speaker 2: that's the thing that will help and that's the thing

498
00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:12,400
Speaker 2: that will protect you ultimately because people will recognize that.

499
00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:15,400
Speaker 1: So uh man, thank you very much, brother.

500
00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,560
Speaker 2: And that's the that's the American aesthetic, you know, that's

501
00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:21,240
Speaker 2: what the American aesthetic is all about. Yeah.

502
00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:25,600
Speaker 3: So I've always heard you say that acting is truth telling.

503
00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:28,080
Speaker 3: So when I listen to you talk just now, just

504
00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:32,359
Speaker 3: made me wonder when did you first realize that performance

505
00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:33,640
Speaker 3: could be a form of liberation.

506
00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:38,359
Speaker 2: In New Orleans, there was a group called the Free

507
00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:42,840
Speaker 2: Southern Theater and they used to perform during doing the

508
00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:47,040
Speaker 2: Civil Rights movement under the threat of violence. I remember

509
00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:50,560
Speaker 2: the Klan told them, if y'all do that play, this

510
00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:53,640
Speaker 2: is we don't know if it's an urban myth now,

511
00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:56,199
Speaker 2: but if you do the play, you know we're going

512
00:27:56,280 --> 00:28:00,840
Speaker 2: to kill you, right. So they did the play. Lights

513
00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:03,639
Speaker 2: go down, everybody's waiting for the curtain call, and they

514
00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:05,760
Speaker 2: got in the cars and they jetted. So the clan

515
00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:08,080
Speaker 2: never got them, but they would go on the marches

516
00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:10,600
Speaker 2: and during the Civil Rights movement and perform, And that

517
00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:13,360
Speaker 2: was the company that got me interested it was right

518
00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:15,080
Speaker 2: as I was a kid, so my parents would go

519
00:28:15,119 --> 00:28:16,560
Speaker 2: and see the play and come back and tell me

520
00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:19,280
Speaker 2: about it. But then you you know, it's one of

521
00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:23,399
Speaker 2: those things that inspired me to be an actor and

522
00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:27,320
Speaker 2: realize that entertainment is just a byproduct of the art.

523
00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:30,560
Speaker 2: If you really want to go to a high level entertainment,

524
00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,240
Speaker 2: it's just a byproduct of the art. The art is

525
00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:37,040
Speaker 2: really understanding that it's the form where we collectively come together,

526
00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:43,000
Speaker 2: reflect on who we are, good and bad, who do

527
00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:45,760
Speaker 2: we want to be, what our values are, and then

528
00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:48,760
Speaker 2: go out and act on those values. And that's the

529
00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:51,280
Speaker 2: thing that motivates people. You know, I think I keep

530
00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:53,600
Speaker 2: talking about the civil rights movement, but you know the

531
00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:57,800
Speaker 2: song we Shall Overcome to hear that song inspired people

532
00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:00,880
Speaker 2: right to be a part of a movie like I was.

533
00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:03,560
Speaker 2: I stood on the emen Pettit's Bridge, man, I looked

534
00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:07,560
Speaker 2: down in the Alabama River and I said, you know,

535
00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:11,640
Speaker 2: I could hear those souls say tell my story. Don't

536
00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:16,000
Speaker 2: forget me, right, don't forget me, And think about that man.

537
00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:20,920
Speaker 2: Men and women in the moment before their death looking

538
00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:24,080
Speaker 2: at the barrel of a gun held by one of

539
00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:28,000
Speaker 2: their neighbors, saying man, don't let my death be in vain.

540
00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:30,920
Speaker 2: You see those pictures of people right before they're lynched,

541
00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:35,280
Speaker 2: you know, and this one brother is that one haunting

542
00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:38,640
Speaker 2: image of this brother just cut up and lashed and

543
00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:42,720
Speaker 2: beaten naked, right before he's lynched, and he's looking dead

544
00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:45,040
Speaker 2: into the lens, and it says if he's looking at

545
00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:48,840
Speaker 2: us in the future, saying remember this, remember me, don't

546
00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:51,800
Speaker 2: let my death be in vain. So when you stand

547
00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:56,240
Speaker 2: on principle like that, you are honoring them, don't let

548
00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:59,600
Speaker 2: their death be in vain, because we're not going to

549
00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:01,960
Speaker 2: let any anyone just try to sell us a bill

550
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:07,760
Speaker 2: of goods and not be truthful and and not tell

551
00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:11,960
Speaker 2: us that, you know, not try to tell us that

552
00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:14,720
Speaker 2: we're going to make chicken salad out of that chicken shit.

553
00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:21,440
Speaker 1: You're gonna have me saying that.

554
00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:25,280
Speaker 2: Man, that's what it is when they ask you about

555
00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:27,360
Speaker 2: tier and say, yeah, that's you try to make chicken

556
00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:28,440
Speaker 2: salad out of chicken shit.

557
00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:37,080
Speaker 3: What's the difference between visibility and representation and which one

558
00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:38,000
Speaker 3: matters more to you?

559
00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:39,200
Speaker 1: At this point in your life.

560
00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:45,200
Speaker 2: You always want you always want to be impactful, So

561
00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:49,960
Speaker 2: representation is really important. But I don't sleep on visibility.

562
00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:52,560
Speaker 2: But you can't. You can't just that can't just be

563
00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:54,640
Speaker 2: the sole purpose of why you want to be out there,

564
00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:57,280
Speaker 2: you know, because that means you do anything for that.

565
00:30:57,720 --> 00:30:59,920
Speaker 2: You know, you do anything for that, man, I see,

566
00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:03,440
Speaker 2: you know, uh, you know that's why everybody has a podcast.

567
00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:07,360
Speaker 2: Everybody's you know, you know, man, everybody's a content creator

568
00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:09,160
Speaker 2: where they came up with a phrase for an and

569
00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:13,280
Speaker 2: ever I'm a content creator, you know. I'm an independent journalist.

570
00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:15,920
Speaker 2: That's the other one. I'm an independent journalist. Actually, that

571
00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:18,479
Speaker 2: one's kind of him because you know, you could be

572
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:20,200
Speaker 2: doing you could be getting away with a whole bunch

573
00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:23,640
Speaker 2: of stuff, and like, I'm an independent journalist, and actually

574
00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:28,440
Speaker 2: that independence forces you to to uh be more principal

575
00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:31,120
Speaker 2: with your journalism. Right. The only thing that will give

576
00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:34,920
Speaker 2: me the power or that visibility is if I'm uniquely

577
00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:38,280
Speaker 2: a journalist, because so many media companies are compromising that

578
00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:41,240
Speaker 2: now just to stay out of you know, be dodging

579
00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:44,360
Speaker 2: bullets and at the same time promote other propaganda. But

580
00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:49,000
Speaker 2: uh so visibility is important. If I had to give

581
00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:52,360
Speaker 2: up one, I'll give up the visibility for representation because

582
00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:55,680
Speaker 2: I know that that is impactful that. You know, how

583
00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:58,000
Speaker 2: many times are we hearing about people for the first time.

584
00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:03,040
Speaker 2: We didn't know we're so impact in people's lives until

585
00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:06,960
Speaker 2: later because someone said, no, you've you've been sleeping on

586
00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:12,280
Speaker 2: this person, right, you don't know about so and so

587
00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:15,080
Speaker 2: you don't know you know, in your gay man, you

588
00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:17,680
Speaker 2: know you hear about that producer. You go, man, yeah,

589
00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:19,479
Speaker 2: you know about all the cats who were coming up

590
00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:21,640
Speaker 2: in the Bronx and the music hip hop was happening

591
00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:24,680
Speaker 2: and all of that. But hey man, this cat was

592
00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:27,760
Speaker 2: the one who's the best DJ out there, right, and

593
00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:31,560
Speaker 2: so you start to hear that, and so that's because

594
00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:35,640
Speaker 2: he was truthful. And the representation is the thing that

595
00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:38,640
Speaker 2: cannot be denied. And this it's going to impact someone

596
00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:41,880
Speaker 2: who will ultimately that'll give you the visibility. It may

597
00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:45,320
Speaker 2: be delayed. It's just like the Wire. You know, everybody

598
00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:47,080
Speaker 2: was sleeping on it when it was on air. Now

599
00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:51,480
Speaker 2: twenty years later, it's still impactful, right because the representation

600
00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:54,720
Speaker 2: was there, you know. And we never were nominated for

601
00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:55,800
Speaker 2: an Emmy.

602
00:32:56,360 --> 00:32:57,240
Speaker 1: That's crazy, wow.

603
00:32:57,440 --> 00:33:01,800
Speaker 2: Never nominated for an Emmy, never nominated for an Emmy.

604
00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:05,680
Speaker 2: None of the performances nominated for an Emmy. You know,

605
00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:08,440
Speaker 2: and we could go down the line, performance after performance

606
00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:10,960
Speaker 2: after performance. We have the repertory company of some of

607
00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:14,520
Speaker 2: the best actors in the game. Yeah, and so that

608
00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:18,080
Speaker 2: just goes to show you, you know. But ultimately somebody

609
00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:22,440
Speaker 2: recognized it and said it's deserving of the Peabody Award. Right,

610
00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:26,080
Speaker 2: So you are making an impact, you know, So I'll

611
00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:27,960
Speaker 2: take representation of visibility.

612
00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:31,600
Speaker 5: Your work is so impactful though, in like what's happening

613
00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:33,440
Speaker 5: in media right now is like anybody who is like,

614
00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:36,040
Speaker 5: you know, standing, like you said, tints down right, Like

615
00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:39,240
Speaker 5: the American Revolution series that you talked about that's on PBS.

616
00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:41,880
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's going to be on PBS. Ken Burns The

617
00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:42,720
Speaker 2: American Revolution.

618
00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:45,120
Speaker 5: Is that? Because I've been seeing so much stuff about

619
00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:47,880
Speaker 5: NPR and PBS with the Trump administration, like.

620
00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:56,160
Speaker 2: Perfect example, perfect example of representation being important. We're living

621
00:33:56,160 --> 00:34:01,600
Speaker 2: in a time where funding is being cut. The Corporation

622
00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:06,440
Speaker 2: of Public Broadcasting no longer exists. Just think about just

623
00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:10,640
Speaker 2: think about that. PBS and NPR are going to be gone.

624
00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:15,160
Speaker 2: And that's because in all coups, you take over the

625
00:34:15,200 --> 00:34:18,759
Speaker 2: media first, so you can control the propaganda, and a

626
00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:21,759
Speaker 2: part of it is silencing those you feel as though

627
00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:30,759
Speaker 2: are going to shed light on your criminality, right, And

628
00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:36,399
Speaker 2: that's that's the thing that is so important to make

629
00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:40,279
Speaker 2: sure that you get out there and something like that.

630
00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:43,719
Speaker 2: The American Revolutionary think of all the ken Burns Civil War,

631
00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:48,920
Speaker 2: the Vietnam War, the recent when he did with country music,

632
00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:54,800
Speaker 2: you know, to show to the to show the roots

633
00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:58,959
Speaker 2: of country music and how impactful it was and how

634
00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:06,919
Speaker 2: you know, multi racial it was. You know, So all

635
00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:11,319
Speaker 2: of that doesn't have a platform, you know, and so

636
00:35:12,200 --> 00:35:15,520
Speaker 2: you have to fight against that. I mean, that's why,

637
00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:24,000
Speaker 2: you know, it's important to support organizations and institutions that

638
00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:26,719
Speaker 2: we'll be able to get give voice to the voiceless,

639
00:35:26,719 --> 00:35:32,000
Speaker 2: give a stage, you know, an opportunity to folks, you know.

640
00:35:32,600 --> 00:35:35,960
Speaker 2: And that's why as an artist, you understand, you know

641
00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:38,759
Speaker 2: that this form is where we reflect on who we are,

642
00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:42,240
Speaker 2: who we hope to be. But at the same time,

643
00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:46,080
Speaker 2: as an advocate, I feel as though the social justice

644
00:35:46,080 --> 00:35:50,600
Speaker 2: movement of the twenty first century is economic development. And

645
00:35:50,640 --> 00:35:54,600
Speaker 2: that's why at this time and in this moment, when

646
00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:58,080
Speaker 2: there's so much funding pulling back and opportunities that are

647
00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:01,480
Speaker 2: taken away, it's important to create those opportunities. And that's

648
00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:04,480
Speaker 2: why right now, I'm very proud of something that we're

649
00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:08,560
Speaker 2: announcing and launching. It's a great segue into that, which

650
00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:14,560
Speaker 2: is the Coalition for Legacy Theaters of Color Fund, which

651
00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:20,879
Speaker 2: I have been a part of creating to give opportunities

652
00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:25,719
Speaker 2: to those legacy theaters who have been in the creative

653
00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:29,839
Speaker 2: cultural economy of this city of New York for over

654
00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:32,759
Speaker 2: twenty five years, and also those new companies who are

655
00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:36,359
Speaker 2: giving that legacy a chance to live on. And that's

656
00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:42,200
Speaker 2: what this fund is going to fund, the productions and marketing,

657
00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:46,000
Speaker 2: and it's a ten million dollar commitment that we're announcing

658
00:36:46,040 --> 00:36:51,600
Speaker 2: today the Coalition WOW, the Coalition for Legacy Theaters of Color.

659
00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:56,200
Speaker 2: It's a partnership that I am giving my full throated

660
00:36:56,360 --> 00:37:01,920
Speaker 2: endorsement to the Caesars Palace Time Squared project, which is

661
00:37:01,960 --> 00:37:07,560
Speaker 2: a hotel in Casino. I'm very honored that they are

662
00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:14,920
Speaker 2: giving a commitment to making sure that those cultural institutions

663
00:37:14,960 --> 00:37:19,120
Speaker 2: like that are sustained going into the future. So they

664
00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:24,840
Speaker 2: listen to my proposal of supporting companies like the Negro

665
00:37:24,920 --> 00:37:28,839
Speaker 2: Ensemble Company and the Billie Holliday Theater and the Black

666
00:37:28,880 --> 00:37:33,399
Speaker 2: Spectrum Theater and New Heritage Theater Group, who have been

667
00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:39,439
Speaker 2: around since you know, for twenty five, thirty forty fifty years,

668
00:37:39,480 --> 00:37:46,080
Speaker 2: even serving communities of color with theater. They inspired me

669
00:37:46,239 --> 00:37:47,759
Speaker 2: to be an actor when I was a little boy

670
00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:50,399
Speaker 2: reading about them in New Orleans, right, and then came

671
00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:54,520
Speaker 2: up here and so proud to now join with jay

672
00:37:54,600 --> 00:38:00,600
Speaker 2: Z and Rock Nation and sl Green and Caesar's Gaming

673
00:38:01,239 --> 00:38:05,200
Speaker 2: and Caesars Entertainment to bring this coalition together. And that's

674
00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:08,680
Speaker 2: why they are building this project. But you know, you

675
00:38:08,719 --> 00:38:12,239
Speaker 2: can do well and do good, and they understand that

676
00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:16,200
Speaker 2: this project is about making sure that the community has

677
00:38:16,239 --> 00:38:20,040
Speaker 2: some input and then they're servicing the community. And this

678
00:38:20,120 --> 00:38:21,920
Speaker 2: is this is something that I'm proud of. It's going

679
00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:25,680
Speaker 2: to be right in the middle of Broadway, and that

680
00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:28,920
Speaker 2: in the Broadway community is at the is the pinnacle

681
00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:33,560
Speaker 2: of theater in New York and the cultural economy and

682
00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:36,360
Speaker 2: so uh, I'm proud to be a part of that.

683
00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:39,600
Speaker 2: I'm proud to to launch this fund today and give

684
00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:43,360
Speaker 2: my full throated endorsement of Caesars Palace Times Square.

685
00:38:44,640 --> 00:38:47,759
Speaker 1: It's the fun that is congratulations, thank you, thank you

686
00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:48,239
Speaker 1: very much.

687
00:38:49,360 --> 00:38:52,120
Speaker 3: Is the fun The sole reason you wanted to support

688
00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:54,840
Speaker 3: the bid for Rock Nation and that sl Green Caesar Palace.

689
00:38:55,400 --> 00:38:57,719
Speaker 2: Uh I wanted to support it. First of all, I'm

690
00:38:57,760 --> 00:39:01,200
Speaker 2: an artist, right. First of all are artists, and to

691
00:39:01,200 --> 00:39:06,880
Speaker 2: see these companies that should be who aren't getting the

692
00:39:06,920 --> 00:39:12,000
Speaker 2: attention they deserve, who are underfunded in my eyes, who

693
00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:15,160
Speaker 2: should who have given and created a legacy that has

694
00:39:15,200 --> 00:39:18,680
Speaker 2: to be sustained. That was the most important thing to

695
00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:24,359
Speaker 2: me as an advocate. You know, I'm from New Orleans.

696
00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:27,040
Speaker 2: Twenty years ago we were destroyed by Katrina. And the

697
00:39:27,120 --> 00:39:29,480
Speaker 2: one thing I learned is the social justice movement for

698
00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:33,839
Speaker 2: the twenty first century is economic development and to that's

699
00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:37,040
Speaker 2: the way you build sustainability. That's why how you protect

700
00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:41,600
Speaker 2: communities on all And one of the reasons I support

701
00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:45,840
Speaker 2: this is because this is clearly an economic engine that's

702
00:39:45,880 --> 00:39:49,719
Speaker 2: going to develop Times Square, that's going to bring multitudes

703
00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:56,880
Speaker 2: of jobs. You know, is going to have a halo

704
00:39:56,960 --> 00:39:59,640
Speaker 2: effect of affecting all the businesses around Time Square. And

705
00:39:59,640 --> 00:40:01,680
Speaker 2: at the same same time, think of all the people

706
00:40:01,680 --> 00:40:04,960
Speaker 2: that come in that's going to be coming to see

707
00:40:05,719 --> 00:40:09,000
Speaker 2: coming to be a part of Caesars and to stay

708
00:40:09,040 --> 00:40:12,080
Speaker 2: at the hotel and go to the casino. That's more

709
00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:16,120
Speaker 2: of an influx of people who are coming to Broadway.

710
00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:18,719
Speaker 2: You know, almost it's projected to be almost you know,

711
00:40:18,840 --> 00:40:20,799
Speaker 2: eight hundred thousand more people who are going to be

712
00:40:20,840 --> 00:40:24,239
Speaker 2: coming to Broadway. Now, take these companies who never get

713
00:40:24,239 --> 00:40:30,080
Speaker 2: the attention, who never get the real quality marketing that

714
00:40:30,160 --> 00:40:32,520
Speaker 2: this is going to present. This sixty five million people

715
00:40:32,520 --> 00:40:35,040
Speaker 2: who are part of this rewards program that they're going

716
00:40:35,080 --> 00:40:38,719
Speaker 2: to have access to. There's going to be childcare, so

717
00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:40,919
Speaker 2: you know, the development has said, we're going to really

718
00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:46,799
Speaker 2: put put our put our belief into action childcare for

719
00:40:46,880 --> 00:40:51,880
Speaker 2: Broadway workers. There's going to be debt relief, student debt relief,

720
00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:59,000
Speaker 2: medical debt relief, you know, health relief. And I think

721
00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:04,560
Speaker 2: that's important. I'm a union man, so my union Actors

722
00:41:04,600 --> 00:41:08,120
Speaker 2: Equity is supporting it Local eight or two, which is

723
00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:11,640
Speaker 2: a musicians union. So this is now you see a

724
00:41:11,719 --> 00:41:14,920
Speaker 2: part of me as a producer. You know, I'm a

725
00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:18,200
Speaker 2: Tony Award winning producer. So I understand here's an opportunity

726
00:41:18,200 --> 00:41:22,799
Speaker 2: where art meets commerce. And so we understand the art,

727
00:41:23,719 --> 00:41:28,040
Speaker 2: that's the thing that everyone shares. We have a vision

728
00:41:28,080 --> 00:41:32,000
Speaker 2: of how art can impact community. We may have differences

729
00:41:32,040 --> 00:41:35,600
Speaker 2: on how we build that economic engine and the commerce

730
00:41:35,640 --> 00:41:40,160
Speaker 2: that will support that but we have commonality there. But

731
00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:44,040
Speaker 2: the economic engine that a project like this brings, I've

732
00:41:44,080 --> 00:41:48,200
Speaker 2: seen it in New Orleans post Katrina. I've seen this

733
00:41:48,239 --> 00:41:52,200
Speaker 2: particular company, Caesars in New Orleans and how people have

734
00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:54,600
Speaker 2: the same concerns about whether or not we should have

735
00:41:54,640 --> 00:41:58,360
Speaker 2: this casino right in the French Quarter. You know, this

736
00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:00,960
Speaker 2: is the heart of our culture, and it has been

737
00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:05,799
Speaker 2: more than beneficial. It has developed the French Quarter, it

738
00:42:05,800 --> 00:42:09,440
Speaker 2: has brought jobs there, it has brought more visitors there.

739
00:42:09,840 --> 00:42:15,400
Speaker 2: So this is for me, an economic engine, and I

740
00:42:15,440 --> 00:42:18,680
Speaker 2: feel as though the twenty first century social justice movement

741
00:42:19,360 --> 00:42:23,520
Speaker 2: starts with it economic development, and especially in a time

742
00:42:23,560 --> 00:42:26,120
Speaker 2: when so much is being cut back, we have to

743
00:42:26,160 --> 00:42:30,239
Speaker 2: exercise our right of self determination. So I challenge the

744
00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:33,120
Speaker 2: partnership to say, I'm an artist, these are the companies

745
00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:35,120
Speaker 2: that I want to support, and if you want to

746
00:42:35,160 --> 00:42:37,480
Speaker 2: reach out to the community, I ask you to support

747
00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:40,520
Speaker 2: them too, And they said, we're willing to do that.

748
00:42:42,080 --> 00:42:44,000
Speaker 1: Man, blame Rock Nation for all of that.

749
00:42:44,120 --> 00:42:47,040
Speaker 3: And as you said earlier, when though, that's why representation

750
00:42:47,120 --> 00:42:49,640
Speaker 3: is important. Because you have a company like Rock Nation

751
00:42:49,719 --> 00:42:53,160
Speaker 3: who cares about the communities like Manhattan Plaza in that area.

752
00:42:53,239 --> 00:42:55,360
Speaker 1: They care about the folks on Broadway.

753
00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:58,600
Speaker 3: They listen to people like yourself, and they brought something

754
00:42:58,600 --> 00:43:00,000
Speaker 3: to the table to benefit those people.

755
00:43:00,239 --> 00:43:03,319
Speaker 2: Yeah, man, listen, you talk about Manhattan Plaza. There's a

756
00:43:03,320 --> 00:43:06,680
Speaker 2: fifteen million dollar commitment there. You know, there's twenty million

757
00:43:06,719 --> 00:43:11,000
Speaker 2: dollars going towards kids and families and seniors being able

758
00:43:11,040 --> 00:43:15,920
Speaker 2: to afford the tickets of Broadway. There's subsidizing ticket purchases

759
00:43:16,040 --> 00:43:19,879
Speaker 2: like that. So I tell people all the time, never

760
00:43:19,920 --> 00:43:23,759
Speaker 2: lose the ability to have your concerns and your questions.

761
00:43:24,160 --> 00:43:30,200
Speaker 2: Never lose the ability to be offended. And so challenge,

762
00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:33,279
Speaker 2: challenge yourself, and challenge anyone who wants to come and

763
00:43:33,320 --> 00:43:36,759
Speaker 2: do a development like Caesars in Times Square and say

764
00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:40,799
Speaker 2: this is what I expect. And they've heard that, and

765
00:43:40,840 --> 00:43:46,960
Speaker 2: they're answering that security, sanitation, infrastructure around it, jobs in

766
00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:50,359
Speaker 2: that area, the development of what the engine will bring

767
00:43:50,400 --> 00:43:54,960
Speaker 2: to the table. They are showing you the impact that

768
00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:57,200
Speaker 2: it can have, the economic engine. And that's why I

769
00:43:57,280 --> 00:44:00,319
Speaker 2: feel comfortable doing it. I've seen it done at this

770
00:44:00,360 --> 00:44:04,239
Speaker 2: particular company in New Orleans. I know how important it

771
00:44:04,320 --> 00:44:09,920
Speaker 2: is that a company like the Negro Ensemble Company is

772
00:44:10,920 --> 00:44:15,960
Speaker 2: started by Douglas Tronoward and Robert Hooks and so many people.

773
00:44:16,000 --> 00:44:20,080
Speaker 2: The last time I saw them in the theater that

774
00:44:20,120 --> 00:44:22,160
Speaker 2: they had was when I was in school in like

775
00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:27,920
Speaker 2: nineteen eighty two. It was a second production a play

776
00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:32,440
Speaker 2: called a Soldier's Play and a young actor in Denzel

777
00:44:32,600 --> 00:44:38,680
Speaker 2: Washington Adolf Caesar was playing the sergeant. And they haven't

778
00:44:38,719 --> 00:44:45,759
Speaker 2: had a play on Broadway since Ceremonies in Dark Old Men,

779
00:44:45,800 --> 00:44:49,080
Speaker 2: which was like nineteen seventy one. It's because they haven't

780
00:44:49,080 --> 00:44:52,640
Speaker 2: had the opportunity of marketing and funding. So this is

781
00:44:52,680 --> 00:44:58,440
Speaker 2: a chance. I wanted to bring an infusion of sustainability

782
00:44:58,480 --> 00:45:02,759
Speaker 2: to them because they should have their place at the

783
00:45:03,400 --> 00:45:07,080
Speaker 2: pinnacle of cultural economy in New York. And that's UH,

784
00:45:08,040 --> 00:45:10,719
Speaker 2: and that's what this fund is all about. The coalition

785
00:45:11,640 --> 00:45:16,200
Speaker 2: of legacy Theaters of Color, and that's what this fund

786
00:45:16,239 --> 00:45:17,640
Speaker 2: is going to be built on, and that's what we're

787
00:45:17,640 --> 00:45:19,960
Speaker 2: going to be building to make sure that they get

788
00:45:19,960 --> 00:45:23,719
Speaker 2: the recognition, have the sustainability, and have the marketing and

789
00:45:23,760 --> 00:45:28,000
Speaker 2: funding UH that is needed. And that's the commitment that

790
00:45:28,080 --> 00:45:32,560
Speaker 2: the Caesars partnership is bringing, and I'm partnering with them

791
00:45:32,600 --> 00:45:34,279
Speaker 2: to make sure that it's sustainable.

792
00:45:34,640 --> 00:45:36,239
Speaker 1: If the blame Rock Nation.

793
00:45:37,680 --> 00:45:40,880
Speaker 4: If the if the proposal for the casino is you know,

794
00:45:41,040 --> 00:45:44,160
Speaker 4: is denied, what is that? How would that impact the

795
00:45:44,200 --> 00:45:45,200
Speaker 4: CLTC fund?

796
00:45:45,760 --> 00:45:50,200
Speaker 2: Uh? Yeah, it it It means it doesn't happen initially

797
00:45:50,520 --> 00:45:53,319
Speaker 2: because you know, it means it doesn't happen. But then

798
00:45:53,360 --> 00:45:57,000
Speaker 2: we we we we go on and will uh you know,

799
00:45:57,080 --> 00:46:01,680
Speaker 2: the advocacy doesn't stop, you know, uh, and we'll look

800
00:46:01,680 --> 00:46:05,440
Speaker 2: for ways to fund it. Initially and you know, I

801
00:46:05,480 --> 00:46:09,440
Speaker 2: will challenge those who are part of the partnership to say,

802
00:46:09,960 --> 00:46:13,600
Speaker 2: even though we lost this, which I don't think they'll lose,

803
00:46:14,880 --> 00:46:17,480
Speaker 2: but we will find a way to still build a fund.

804
00:46:17,760 --> 00:46:20,120
Speaker 2: I'm still going to be committed to it. This is

805
00:46:20,160 --> 00:46:24,200
Speaker 2: something that you know is a long time commitment from it.

806
00:46:25,080 --> 00:46:27,720
Speaker 5: What do you say to people who still after everything

807
00:46:27,719 --> 00:46:29,879
Speaker 5: you just talked to us about, right, who still say

808
00:46:29,960 --> 00:46:32,960
Speaker 5: this is bad for Broadway? Broadway just started, it's uptick

809
00:46:33,000 --> 00:46:35,239
Speaker 5: since the pandemic, and now you're bringing something that will

810
00:46:35,600 --> 00:46:36,800
Speaker 5: be against the business.

811
00:46:36,920 --> 00:46:40,320
Speaker 2: Right. Yeah. First of all, I say take your emotions

812
00:46:40,360 --> 00:46:43,439
Speaker 2: out of it, and let's look at it like business folks.

813
00:46:43,520 --> 00:46:47,040
Speaker 2: Let's look at the spreadsheet. Do you want to have

814
00:46:47,360 --> 00:46:51,520
Speaker 2: sixty five million people with their eyes on your business.

815
00:46:51,880 --> 00:46:54,680
Speaker 2: In marketing, do you want to bring in on average

816
00:46:55,080 --> 00:47:04,080
Speaker 2: eight hundred thousand more people to your business? Do you

817
00:47:04,120 --> 00:47:06,319
Speaker 2: want to increase that pool? Do you want to have

818
00:47:06,400 --> 00:47:10,840
Speaker 2: cross marketing with with the theaters that are going to

819
00:47:10,880 --> 00:47:15,240
Speaker 2: be around there, the theaters who will be a part

820
00:47:15,680 --> 00:47:19,840
Speaker 2: of our fund. Uh. There's a rewards program that Caesars

821
00:47:19,840 --> 00:47:24,080
Speaker 2: has that directly to the businesses that will be a

822
00:47:24,120 --> 00:47:28,239
Speaker 2: part of the rewards program. Where you know that is

823
00:47:28,320 --> 00:47:31,480
Speaker 2: direct dollars to the business. It's a discount to the

824
00:47:31,560 --> 00:47:36,600
Speaker 2: members of the rewards program, but that discount is paid

825
00:47:36,640 --> 00:47:41,840
Speaker 2: for directly from the seat from Caesars, and so it

826
00:47:41,920 --> 00:47:45,000
Speaker 2: is not a discount to those theaters. So when it

827
00:47:45,040 --> 00:47:49,800
Speaker 2: comes to marketing, you can't buy marketing at this level.

828
00:47:51,200 --> 00:47:58,520
Speaker 2: When it comes to extending your pool of prospective clients,

829
00:47:59,000 --> 00:48:00,640
Speaker 2: as you say, or you're the people who are going

830
00:48:00,680 --> 00:48:06,279
Speaker 2: to be going into the theater, you can't buy that

831
00:48:06,400 --> 00:48:13,360
Speaker 2: level of influx. So I tell people all the time,

832
00:48:14,320 --> 00:48:20,439
Speaker 2: your concerns are valid, your questions are valid. But as

833
00:48:20,480 --> 00:48:23,160
Speaker 2: I say to my community in New Orleans, because I

834
00:48:23,239 --> 00:48:26,920
Speaker 2: was bringing back my neighborhood which is now on the

835
00:48:27,000 --> 00:48:30,680
Speaker 2: National Register of Historic Places, the price you have to

836
00:48:30,680 --> 00:48:35,960
Speaker 2: pay for complaint is bring a solution to the table. Oh,

837
00:48:36,120 --> 00:48:39,480
Speaker 2: we have a solution to the table. Now, where's yours?

838
00:48:40,560 --> 00:48:44,680
Speaker 2: Where is your economic impact of two hundred and fifty

839
00:48:44,719 --> 00:48:50,719
Speaker 2: million dollars to the community around you in security, sanitation, healthcare,

840
00:48:52,760 --> 00:48:56,960
Speaker 2: an economic engine for all the businesses. Employment. The other

841
00:48:57,000 --> 00:49:00,279
Speaker 2: thing that we have is a job fare for you

842
00:49:00,320 --> 00:49:04,240
Speaker 2: were unemployed that the Broadway workers on a monthly basis

843
00:49:04,280 --> 00:49:07,920
Speaker 2: can come to seizures for a job fair, the job fair,

844
00:49:08,440 --> 00:49:18,400
Speaker 2: student debt relief, medical debt relief, housing rental relief. So

845
00:49:18,920 --> 00:49:21,880
Speaker 2: that's our solutions to the table. That's our answers to

846
00:49:21,960 --> 00:49:23,800
Speaker 2: your complaint. Where yours?

847
00:49:25,520 --> 00:49:25,719
Speaker 1: Yeah?

848
00:49:26,040 --> 00:49:29,399
Speaker 2: That was a response. Do you feel like you get

849
00:49:29,440 --> 00:49:30,160
Speaker 2: to go ahead?

850
00:49:30,239 --> 00:49:31,600
Speaker 1: Charlie?

851
00:49:31,920 --> 00:49:32,279
Speaker 5: No, you go?

852
00:49:33,200 --> 00:49:34,239
Speaker 2: No, you go.

853
00:49:35,200 --> 00:49:36,600
Speaker 5: I don't know if I shifted a bit, but I'm

854
00:49:36,640 --> 00:49:38,239
Speaker 5: just sitting here like thinking about you know, what you're

855
00:49:38,239 --> 00:49:42,520
Speaker 5: doing right now with you know, with the fund, everything

856
00:49:42,560 --> 00:49:44,920
Speaker 5: we talked about with your career and like the roles

857
00:49:44,920 --> 00:49:47,239
Speaker 5: that you've had, and I don't know, do you feel

858
00:49:47,239 --> 00:49:49,200
Speaker 5: like you get your flowers enough for like just impact

859
00:49:49,239 --> 00:49:51,560
Speaker 5: but also like just the half that you're paving for

860
00:49:51,640 --> 00:49:53,879
Speaker 5: other artists, not even just actors. But artists in general

861
00:49:53,920 --> 00:49:56,759
Speaker 5: who really want to stand for substance I have.

862
00:49:58,280 --> 00:50:04,040
Speaker 2: I've been given a great blessing to know and meet,

863
00:50:04,200 --> 00:50:16,560
Speaker 2: I should say, just meeting Ozzie Davis, Ruby, d Sidney Poitier,

864
00:50:17,440 --> 00:50:28,040
Speaker 2: Arabella Fonte, Mary Alice, folks who have inspired me as

865
00:50:28,080 --> 00:50:31,760
Speaker 2: an artist, who were like a part of that Moses generation.

866
00:50:32,920 --> 00:50:35,120
Speaker 2: They give you the gift of their talent and their

867
00:50:35,160 --> 00:50:40,320
Speaker 2: time and inspiration, and that Moses generation hands you this

868
00:50:40,480 --> 00:50:44,640
Speaker 2: baton as a part of the Joshua generation, and you

869
00:50:44,760 --> 00:50:49,080
Speaker 2: take that on and as they have passed on, feeling

870
00:50:49,120 --> 00:50:53,839
Speaker 2: that responsibility to them, I'm standing on their shoulders. That's

871
00:50:53,880 --> 00:50:59,080
Speaker 2: my flowers, that's my flowers. I'll never forget meeting Sidney Puartier.

872
00:50:59,120 --> 00:51:02,719
Speaker 2: He came to a play. I was doing Fences in

873
00:51:02,800 --> 00:51:07,239
Speaker 2: Pasadena and man, they said, you know he's here and he.

874
00:51:08,280 --> 00:51:11,160
Speaker 2: I ran to my dressing room and took off my costume.

875
00:51:11,200 --> 00:51:13,200
Speaker 2: I couldn't wait to meet the man. And I opened

876
00:51:13,200 --> 00:51:15,120
Speaker 2: my door and he was standing in the threshold.

877
00:51:15,200 --> 00:51:15,600
Speaker 3: Wow.

878
00:51:15,960 --> 00:51:18,919
Speaker 2: And I just burst into tears. I tear up thinking

879
00:51:18,960 --> 00:51:22,399
Speaker 2: about it now, and I just said, thank you, thank

880
00:51:22,440 --> 00:51:25,120
Speaker 2: you for everything you've given me. You've changed my life.

881
00:51:25,760 --> 00:51:27,520
Speaker 2: This is the only moment I'm gonna have with you.

882
00:51:27,560 --> 00:51:30,000
Speaker 2: I just want to thank you. God is going to

883
00:51:30,080 --> 00:51:32,640
Speaker 2: bless you because you have impacted so many people and

884
00:51:33,200 --> 00:51:35,719
Speaker 2: made so much. And he said, oh, man, thank you

885
00:51:35,800 --> 00:51:39,399
Speaker 2: so much. Man, you don't have to. And I said,

886
00:51:39,880 --> 00:51:42,160
Speaker 2: but that says an artist. I just remember you as

887
00:51:42,200 --> 00:51:46,000
Speaker 2: a man. There's a famous interview when he lands and

888
00:51:46,040 --> 00:51:48,479
Speaker 2: he says, you're asking me all these questions. You haven't

889
00:51:48,520 --> 00:51:51,360
Speaker 2: said anything about. Ask me a question about being a father,

890
00:51:52,400 --> 00:51:55,279
Speaker 2: about being a husband, about being a man by a

891
00:51:55,280 --> 00:51:59,200
Speaker 2: black man. You insult me and assuming that I'm only

892
00:51:59,239 --> 00:52:04,440
Speaker 2: supposed to answer these certain things in a box. And

893
00:52:04,440 --> 00:52:06,880
Speaker 2: and I was able to tell him that and share

894
00:52:06,920 --> 00:52:12,200
Speaker 2: that with him. And that's my flowers. That's my flowers.

895
00:52:12,320 --> 00:52:15,080
Speaker 2: That's where I tell all the folks who want to

896
00:52:15,080 --> 00:52:21,120
Speaker 2: be content creators right right, you know, ready looking for

897
00:52:21,160 --> 00:52:28,000
Speaker 2: that likes. You know, if you give more, that's your like.

898
00:52:28,360 --> 00:52:32,040
Speaker 2: You know, don't work. If the more you give, that's

899
00:52:32,080 --> 00:52:35,799
Speaker 2: the thing that you know years from now you'll be

900
00:52:35,840 --> 00:52:40,440
Speaker 2: able to have some sense of accomplishment. And that's that's

901
00:52:40,520 --> 00:52:42,239
Speaker 2: what this is all about, you know, that's the thing

902
00:52:42,239 --> 00:52:45,000
Speaker 2: that motivates me as an artist and as an activist.

903
00:52:45,040 --> 00:52:48,920
Speaker 2: I learned twenty years ago. I said, twenty years from now,

904
00:52:49,080 --> 00:52:50,839
Speaker 2: some kid is going to ask me in New Orleans

905
00:52:50,960 --> 00:52:55,279
Speaker 2: darkest hour, what did you do? And I want to

906
00:52:55,320 --> 00:52:58,120
Speaker 2: be able to have an answer. And I did. I

907
00:52:58,160 --> 00:53:04,919
Speaker 2: put together a a resident initiated redevelopment of Punchy Train Park,

908
00:53:04,960 --> 00:53:07,239
Speaker 2: the neighborhood I grew up in, and brick by brick,

909
00:53:07,320 --> 00:53:10,680
Speaker 2: house by house, block by block, we rebuilt our neighborhood

910
00:53:10,800 --> 00:53:14,239
Speaker 2: and it's on the National Register of Historic Places. So

911
00:53:14,520 --> 00:53:17,160
Speaker 2: now twenty years later, I can say this is what

912
00:53:17,239 --> 00:53:20,839
Speaker 2: I did. Kid, right, go look at that market right there.

913
00:53:21,280 --> 00:53:24,400
Speaker 2: That's what we did together. Now I can hand that

914
00:53:24,480 --> 00:53:28,200
Speaker 2: paton off to you. That's my flowers. That's my flowers.

915
00:53:28,480 --> 00:53:31,120
Speaker 2: And that's why I'm doing it with these theaters, man,

916
00:53:31,200 --> 00:53:34,439
Speaker 2: you know, they they inspired me. I am only here

917
00:53:34,560 --> 00:53:41,040
Speaker 2: because of them? Is this the most uncool interview on

918
00:53:41,160 --> 00:53:41,839
Speaker 2: Breakfast Club?

919
00:53:41,960 --> 00:53:44,840
Speaker 3: What I love it?

920
00:53:45,440 --> 00:53:46,879
Speaker 1: This one of the most insightful ones.

921
00:53:46,920 --> 00:53:48,640
Speaker 3: What you just said is why I love these type

922
00:53:48,640 --> 00:53:50,840
Speaker 3: of conversations, because twenty years from now, it's going to

923
00:53:50,880 --> 00:53:53,800
Speaker 3: be some kid watching this interview and learning so much

924
00:53:54,239 --> 00:53:55,239
Speaker 3: from your wisdom.

925
00:53:55,400 --> 00:53:58,239
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, thank you man, that's uh you know, first

926
00:53:58,239 --> 00:54:00,600
Speaker 2: of all, the platform that you give folks is so

927
00:54:00,840 --> 00:54:04,280
Speaker 2: valuable and so important, And what you guys are doing

928
00:54:04,880 --> 00:54:08,239
Speaker 2: is impactful too. So that's why I'm I'm honored.

929
00:54:07,960 --> 00:54:08,359
Speaker 1: To be here.

930
00:54:09,239 --> 00:54:11,759
Speaker 3: I just got a couple more questions. You know, when

931
00:54:11,800 --> 00:54:14,160
Speaker 3: I think about your work, right like you've You've done

932
00:54:14,160 --> 00:54:16,239
Speaker 3: a lot of work that has dealt with systems from

933
00:54:16,280 --> 00:54:21,160
Speaker 3: poverty to policing, the housing. How do you, as a

934
00:54:21,160 --> 00:54:24,920
Speaker 3: black man stay hopeful when the systems seem not to change?

935
00:54:32,480 --> 00:54:39,120
Speaker 2: Because I know, I understand the power of exercising and

936
00:54:39,239 --> 00:54:48,799
Speaker 2: practicing radical self care, practice radical self care, And how

937
00:54:50,000 --> 00:54:59,080
Speaker 2: how dare I lose faith or lose hope or optimism?

938
00:54:59,120 --> 00:55:02,279
Speaker 2: As you think of those who were chained in the

939
00:55:02,280 --> 00:55:07,440
Speaker 2: bottom of those ships, who were thrown overboard, chained together

940
00:55:08,520 --> 00:55:15,760
Speaker 2: to their death. How dare you the centuries of folks

941
00:55:16,000 --> 00:55:20,560
Speaker 2: of your family who had no reason to hope, but

942
00:55:20,640 --> 00:55:27,840
Speaker 2: they still found a way to give vision and find

943
00:55:27,960 --> 00:55:33,919
Speaker 2: joy in their humanity? I mean, think about it, think

944
00:55:33,920 --> 00:55:39,399
Speaker 2: about it. How dare we, at any moment, especially where

945
00:55:39,400 --> 00:55:44,839
Speaker 2: we are right now, lose hope? Because what happens is

946
00:55:47,520 --> 00:55:52,239
Speaker 2: I think about you know, I came back at New

947
00:55:52,320 --> 00:55:55,440
Speaker 2: Year's Eve, I spent in a krog Ghana, which is

948
00:55:55,560 --> 00:55:58,319
Speaker 2: really hip. You know. In twenty twenty, they started the

949
00:55:58,360 --> 00:56:01,600
Speaker 2: Year of the Return and they have that Afro Future

950
00:56:01,719 --> 00:56:05,160
Speaker 2: concert and they have the biggest, the biggest New Year's

951
00:56:05,200 --> 00:56:08,520
Speaker 2: Eve party on the beach man It literally it had

952
00:56:08,520 --> 00:56:11,239
Speaker 2: the fireworks display that went off for half an hour,

953
00:56:11,480 --> 00:56:13,719
Speaker 2: and I was just like, people were like, that's enough.

954
00:56:13,760 --> 00:56:15,640
Speaker 2: We don't want no more fireworks. You know, I never

955
00:56:15,680 --> 00:56:20,640
Speaker 2: thought I'd get tired of fireworks. But I was thinking

956
00:56:20,680 --> 00:56:24,560
Speaker 2: about all the folks, all the kids that I want

957
00:56:24,600 --> 00:56:27,000
Speaker 2: to have an impact on, if I could just bring

958
00:56:27,040 --> 00:56:30,640
Speaker 2: them here, because the one thing, just a trip to Africa.

959
00:56:30,680 --> 00:56:32,560
Speaker 2: First of all, let's get out of this whole idea

960
00:56:32,680 --> 00:56:36,000
Speaker 2: of one day before I died, I was gonna make

961
00:56:36,040 --> 00:56:38,880
Speaker 2: it to the motherland. No man, next weekend, Get on

962
00:56:38,880 --> 00:56:43,879
Speaker 2: the plane and go for the weekend and come back. Right,

963
00:56:44,080 --> 00:56:47,360
Speaker 2: That's a part of that disconnect. The poorest person here

964
00:56:47,800 --> 00:56:51,120
Speaker 2: is a rich man on the continent. The poorest person

965
00:56:51,200 --> 00:56:54,200
Speaker 2: here is a rich man on the continent. Once they

966
00:56:54,239 --> 00:56:56,480
Speaker 2: see that sort of poverty and go oh okay, wait

967
00:56:56,560 --> 00:57:01,360
Speaker 2: a minute. Then you go there and I see so

968
00:57:01,440 --> 00:57:03,840
Speaker 2: many people like it's not how much we lost in

969
00:57:03,840 --> 00:57:06,840
Speaker 2: the Middle passages, how much we held on to so

970
00:57:06,920 --> 00:57:10,839
Speaker 2: you go, wait a minute, I know you that looks

971
00:57:10,880 --> 00:57:11,719
Speaker 2: just like Bookie.

972
00:57:11,760 --> 00:57:15,040
Speaker 1: You know, I.

973
00:57:14,960 --> 00:57:17,320
Speaker 2: Was in Uganda. I was in Uganda at the National

974
00:57:17,400 --> 00:57:20,240
Speaker 2: Theater and they were speaking their language language I forget,

975
00:57:20,280 --> 00:57:27,160
Speaker 2: which I like a tribe and they said, hmm, I said, man,

976
00:57:27,480 --> 00:57:32,360
Speaker 2: Robert Ziahmugga, I said, Robert. He was the artistic director

977
00:57:32,360 --> 00:57:36,360
Speaker 2: of the National Theater of Uganda in Coompala. Was that, Robert,

978
00:57:36,400 --> 00:57:38,600
Speaker 2: I know you look at the breakfast club. What's up? Man?

979
00:57:41,000 --> 00:57:43,560
Speaker 2: And I said, I said wow, Man, I said, wow,

980
00:57:43,640 --> 00:57:45,640
Speaker 2: we do that too. I can't believe we held on

981
00:57:45,720 --> 00:57:48,200
Speaker 2: to that, man. I was all emotional. Black people held

982
00:57:48,240 --> 00:57:51,640
Speaker 2: on to it, man, because you know, you go, I

983
00:57:51,680 --> 00:57:54,880
Speaker 2: can't believe it. What that girl lost all her money?

984
00:57:56,480 --> 00:57:58,840
Speaker 2: He said. Wendell, he goes, yes, you held on to it.

985
00:57:58,920 --> 00:58:01,320
Speaker 2: But it's not just an ex depression. That's a written

986
00:58:01,360 --> 00:58:07,360
Speaker 2: word for like disappointment and shame. Right. You see a

987
00:58:07,440 --> 00:58:10,760
Speaker 2: woman or a man they do something and you don't

988
00:58:10,800 --> 00:58:12,760
Speaker 2: appreciate it and go, oh, that's a that's a shame,

989
00:58:12,800 --> 00:58:16,000
Speaker 2: and you go he goes, yeah, he said, No, that's

990
00:58:16,040 --> 00:58:18,640
Speaker 2: a written word in our language, right, and that's why

991
00:58:18,640 --> 00:58:20,400
Speaker 2: it sounds like that you held on to it, but

992
00:58:20,440 --> 00:58:22,200
Speaker 2: you don't know what the language is because you cut

993
00:58:22,200 --> 00:58:24,200
Speaker 2: off from language. And I start to realize that there's

994
00:58:24,280 --> 00:58:28,640
Speaker 2: so much of that that we don't know about. And

995
00:58:28,720 --> 00:58:34,480
Speaker 2: I say that to say I don't lose hope because

996
00:58:34,520 --> 00:58:39,240
Speaker 2: I just those kids need that epiphany. Right, we are

997
00:58:40,160 --> 00:58:44,120
Speaker 2: the violence in our community is as a student of

998
00:58:44,200 --> 00:58:47,959
Speaker 2: human behavior, and you have psychologists on here, they could

999
00:58:48,080 --> 00:58:51,400
Speaker 2: actually tell you better than I is a reflection of

1000
00:58:51,440 --> 00:58:56,640
Speaker 2: the depression, the mental anguish and depression and the trauma

1001
00:58:58,240 --> 00:59:02,320
Speaker 2: in our community. Right, Like, you try to do everything

1002
00:59:02,440 --> 00:59:04,680
Speaker 2: right and buy the book, and every step of the

1003
00:59:04,720 --> 00:59:08,680
Speaker 2: way someone is going to challenge you every step of

1004
00:59:08,760 --> 00:59:12,800
Speaker 2: the way. Right, put your house up for sale. It's

1005
00:59:12,800 --> 00:59:16,240
Speaker 2: a praise lore. Right, we put systems in the place

1006
00:59:16,280 --> 00:59:19,720
Speaker 2: where education you're not going to get the money you want. Right,

1007
00:59:20,680 --> 00:59:23,360
Speaker 2: and now what this administration is going to do and

1008
00:59:23,640 --> 00:59:25,720
Speaker 2: administration is like it, we're going to take this public

1009
00:59:25,760 --> 00:59:29,000
Speaker 2: money that's supposed to be set aside for public education. Right,

1010
00:59:29,240 --> 00:59:32,240
Speaker 2: white flight has happening from our public education and kind

1011
00:59:32,240 --> 00:59:35,120
Speaker 2: of give it to them to subsidize their private education. Well,

1012
00:59:35,120 --> 00:59:37,080
Speaker 2: we're going to shut down the Department of Energy or

1013
00:59:37,160 --> 00:59:42,360
Speaker 2: the Department of Education. Right, but if so, at every

1014
00:59:42,400 --> 00:59:45,600
Speaker 2: step of the way, and that causes trauma, Man, you

1015
00:59:45,640 --> 00:59:49,400
Speaker 2: get tired of it and you're angry, and so therefore

1016
00:59:49,440 --> 00:59:52,720
Speaker 2: conflict resolution isn't Hey, hold on, let's talk about this.

1017
00:59:53,080 --> 00:59:55,200
Speaker 2: I see you as myself now. It's like you just

1018
00:59:55,320 --> 00:59:59,680
Speaker 2: lash out, right, So conflict resolution becomes right. So, as

1019
00:59:59,680 --> 01:00:01,800
Speaker 2: a student human behavior, you just want to give people

1020
01:00:02,520 --> 01:00:08,160
Speaker 2: instances of epiphany and hope. So I always think, man,

1021
01:00:09,000 --> 01:00:11,520
Speaker 2: to take those kids, just a trip to Africa and

1022
01:00:11,560 --> 01:00:17,840
Speaker 2: see it. Right, That's why it's so important to travel

1023
01:00:17,840 --> 01:00:20,880
Speaker 2: and have experience and different experiences and say that this

1024
01:00:21,120 --> 01:00:23,200
Speaker 2: is a part of who you are and your humanity.

1025
01:00:24,040 --> 01:00:26,560
Speaker 2: It doesn't even have to be that just to go, hey,

1026
01:00:27,280 --> 01:00:28,800
Speaker 2: we're going to spend a day in the park and

1027
01:00:28,880 --> 01:00:31,560
Speaker 2: learn about grass, different grasses. What does that have to

1028
01:00:31,600 --> 01:00:33,800
Speaker 2: do with anything? Mister Pearce, has everything to do with

1029
01:00:33,880 --> 01:00:36,240
Speaker 2: you find some interest in it, or at least find

1030
01:00:36,240 --> 01:00:39,240
Speaker 2: out I don't like this. That's an epiphany too, you

1031
01:00:39,280 --> 01:00:42,439
Speaker 2: know something. I don't want to spend my time trying

1032
01:00:42,440 --> 01:00:46,240
Speaker 2: to discern the different blades of grass. I want to

1033
01:00:46,240 --> 01:00:49,640
Speaker 2: do something else. So what do you want to do now, Okay,

1034
01:00:49,720 --> 01:00:52,480
Speaker 2: now let me make that decision. So now you're thinking,

1035
01:00:53,080 --> 01:01:01,080
Speaker 2: so that's the sort of work, the personal work that

1036
01:01:01,120 --> 01:01:04,960
Speaker 2: would be able to change systems, then you could have

1037
01:01:05,840 --> 01:01:08,240
Speaker 2: Then you can really have an impact. The reason we

1038
01:01:08,280 --> 01:01:10,560
Speaker 2: don't change the systems is because people are trying to

1039
01:01:10,560 --> 01:01:13,880
Speaker 2: spend so much time to just stay in the system. Right,

1040
01:01:14,680 --> 01:01:16,520
Speaker 2: So I'm not going to do anything to kick me out.

1041
01:01:16,560 --> 01:01:18,360
Speaker 2: That's why when people say I'm not going to run

1042
01:01:18,360 --> 01:01:20,720
Speaker 2: for Senate anymore, and then all of a sudden, you know,

1043
01:01:20,800 --> 01:01:24,320
Speaker 2: Senator Tillis, it's now speaking truth. Right. It's like, man,

1044
01:01:24,360 --> 01:01:27,360
Speaker 2: you've been here for twenty years now that you know

1045
01:01:27,440 --> 01:01:29,200
Speaker 2: you don't have to try to kiss ass to get

1046
01:01:29,200 --> 01:01:33,320
Speaker 2: somebody's vote. Now, now you're going to say, oh, okay,

1047
01:01:34,320 --> 01:01:36,640
Speaker 2: I want somebody to put I want somebody to get

1048
01:01:36,640 --> 01:01:40,240
Speaker 2: in the government. See. And this is the thing that

1049
01:01:40,320 --> 01:01:46,360
Speaker 2: our president is good at. And I don't support him,

1050
01:01:47,000 --> 01:01:49,360
Speaker 2: you know a lot of you know. But the one

1051
01:01:49,360 --> 01:01:53,800
Speaker 2: thing I got to say is there's a certain way

1052
01:01:53,840 --> 01:01:58,760
Speaker 2: you behave when you have fuck you money, right, Like

1053
01:01:59,400 --> 01:02:01,920
Speaker 2: I don't have to do anything to Coyle's outed you.

1054
01:02:02,000 --> 01:02:03,400
Speaker 2: I don't have to kiss your ass. I don't have

1055
01:02:03,440 --> 01:02:06,760
Speaker 2: to do anything right because it's not going to affect

1056
01:02:06,800 --> 01:02:09,400
Speaker 2: me because if you know, if you if you cut

1057
01:02:09,440 --> 01:02:13,280
Speaker 2: me off tomorrow, I'm cool because I'm I got some

1058
01:02:13,400 --> 01:02:16,280
Speaker 2: chips in my pocket. I'm good. That's an old term.

1059
01:02:16,120 --> 01:02:19,720
Speaker 2: I'm sure at my age, I got so I'm stacking chips.

1060
01:02:22,200 --> 01:02:27,560
Speaker 2: That's like an old but you know then you know

1061
01:02:28,000 --> 01:02:30,720
Speaker 2: so so when so when he starts to get a

1062
01:02:30,760 --> 01:02:33,240
Speaker 2: little protective, like we don't need to put out them files,

1063
01:02:33,640 --> 01:02:37,120
Speaker 2: then you know then you know he doesn't have fucking

1064
01:02:37,120 --> 01:02:40,520
Speaker 2: you money, doesn't have any any protective I'm scared of

1065
01:02:40,520 --> 01:02:45,560
Speaker 2: this ship, you know. So that's a long way to

1066
01:02:45,560 --> 01:02:51,080
Speaker 2: get around to exercise radical self care. And when you

1067
01:02:51,160 --> 01:02:56,560
Speaker 2: do that, then your contribution to the dynamic is different.

1068
01:02:56,640 --> 01:02:59,160
Speaker 2: You change the paradigm then, and that's how you change

1069
01:02:59,160 --> 01:03:03,840
Speaker 2: the system. That was a long winded man. We love,

1070
01:03:08,160 --> 01:03:10,760
Speaker 2: but that's how you change it. That's how you change it.

1071
01:03:10,840 --> 01:03:16,800
Speaker 2: You know, don't be exercise radical self care and stand

1072
01:03:16,880 --> 01:03:19,640
Speaker 2: on principle. Bro, you know what I'm saying, that's what

1073
01:03:19,680 --> 01:03:22,960
Speaker 2: it is. That's that's the people we remember. That's the

1074
01:03:23,000 --> 01:03:28,320
Speaker 2: people we remember, right, So I think that's how we

1075
01:03:28,440 --> 01:03:33,280
Speaker 2: changed the system. That's how we changed. I went on

1076
01:03:33,320 --> 01:03:38,400
Speaker 2: a I went on a barbershop tour, uh during the campaign, right,

1077
01:03:39,360 --> 01:03:44,400
Speaker 2: and uh the last Kamala I actually did it on

1078
01:03:44,440 --> 01:03:47,800
Speaker 2: my own, everybody thought. And then then you know, I

1079
01:03:47,920 --> 01:03:50,840
Speaker 2: was saying, hey, man, be selfish. I want I want you.

1080
01:03:51,320 --> 01:03:54,600
Speaker 2: I want you to challenge me and say this is

1081
01:03:54,640 --> 01:03:57,200
Speaker 2: what I want, and then I can show you everything

1082
01:03:57,200 --> 01:04:02,880
Speaker 2: in the platform that will service you. Right. So it

1083
01:04:03,000 --> 01:04:06,120
Speaker 2: was the barbershop too. I remember going to Milwaukee and everything.

1084
01:04:06,200 --> 01:04:09,600
Speaker 2: The rather said, Man, but you know, I don't think

1085
01:04:09,760 --> 01:04:12,640
Speaker 2: you know, they haven't done shit for me nothing. I said, Man,

1086
01:04:12,720 --> 01:04:16,040
Speaker 2: let's just go down the list of everything we as

1087
01:04:16,120 --> 01:04:18,160
Speaker 2: much as we hate the government, everything we love about

1088
01:04:18,160 --> 01:04:25,240
Speaker 2: the government. Social Security, we got money set aside for

1089
01:04:25,280 --> 01:04:27,520
Speaker 2: disability and you know a lot of people on disability,

1090
01:04:28,880 --> 01:04:37,480
Speaker 2: the hustle of disability sometimes right, social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Right.

1091
01:04:39,040 --> 01:04:43,760
Speaker 2: Everything you think about my political party gave. You can't

1092
01:04:43,840 --> 01:04:48,720
Speaker 2: name anything that people care about in this country, right.

1093
01:04:48,960 --> 01:04:51,320
Speaker 2: That is saying this is important to us, that it

1094
01:04:51,400 --> 01:04:54,120
Speaker 2: was a part of government that came from that other side,

1095
01:04:54,160 --> 01:04:56,360
Speaker 2: those who do not have our best interests at heart,

1096
01:04:56,520 --> 01:05:00,360
Speaker 2: because the other side was always about keeping people ignorant

1097
01:05:00,400 --> 01:05:02,880
Speaker 2: of the game. So we can all make a lot

1098
01:05:02,880 --> 01:05:06,080
Speaker 2: of money because we will always be able to hustle

1099
01:05:06,120 --> 01:05:08,520
Speaker 2: the If you vote for me, you might become a

1100
01:05:08,560 --> 01:05:11,880
Speaker 2: member of the rich white boy club. That is the

1101
01:05:11,960 --> 01:05:14,400
Speaker 2: thing that is the kart on the stick. That the

1102
01:05:14,480 --> 01:05:18,600
Speaker 2: right has always been good at messaging. They haven't provided anything,

1103
01:05:21,160 --> 01:05:23,160
Speaker 2: you know, and that seems like a radical idea. But

1104
01:05:23,800 --> 01:05:30,320
Speaker 2: you know that's I forgot the question. Now I went

1105
01:05:30,320 --> 01:05:31,120
Speaker 2: down the rabbit hole.

1106
01:05:31,400 --> 01:05:35,800
Speaker 4: But all the time they write a messaging like the

1107
01:05:35,880 --> 01:05:39,600
Speaker 4: right is always good at messaging.

1108
01:05:39,680 --> 01:05:43,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, So I think the way you change the system,

1109
01:05:43,440 --> 01:05:45,360
Speaker 2: the way you change the system is first of all,

1110
01:05:45,400 --> 01:05:49,960
Speaker 2: be authentic and truthful and not care about I'd look

1111
01:05:50,000 --> 01:05:54,600
Speaker 2: forward to politicians and say, you know, something that was wrong? Right,

1112
01:05:55,120 --> 01:05:58,320
Speaker 2: that was wrong. We shouldn't have said that. Folks should

1113
01:05:58,320 --> 01:06:01,560
Speaker 2: be able to say right now, even defund the police.

1114
01:06:01,600 --> 01:06:04,200
Speaker 2: That was the wrong messaging. We knew what we wanted.

1115
01:06:04,320 --> 01:06:07,680
Speaker 2: We didn't want all this money going into militaristic policing.

1116
01:06:09,040 --> 01:06:14,920
Speaker 2: So redistribute the wealth of the or redirect redirect the

1117
01:06:15,000 --> 01:06:17,560
Speaker 2: resources or something. We should have said something else. We

1118
01:06:17,680 --> 01:06:20,080
Speaker 2: learned it in the sixties, Burn baby burn, that did

1119
01:06:20,120 --> 01:06:24,360
Speaker 2: not win US elections, you know. But the one thing

1120
01:06:24,440 --> 01:06:27,600
Speaker 2: I got, I got to give the right their due

1121
01:06:28,600 --> 01:06:32,760
Speaker 2: and the last person you were expected from, Richard Nixon

1122
01:06:32,960 --> 01:06:41,600
Speaker 2: started the EPA. Richard Nixon started the EPA, And that

1123
01:06:41,760 --> 01:06:44,800
Speaker 2: is something we got to give him credit for. And

1124
01:06:44,840 --> 01:06:48,760
Speaker 2: we should tell the right. One of your one of

1125
01:06:48,760 --> 01:06:53,400
Speaker 2: the pillars of your philosophy, started the EPA. So why

1126
01:06:53,440 --> 01:06:57,800
Speaker 2: are you going against it now? Richard Nixon started.

1127
01:06:57,600 --> 01:07:03,360
Speaker 3: The Yeah, they'll probably say he was wrong, Yeah.

1128
01:07:03,200 --> 01:07:07,960
Speaker 2: Definitely, Yeah, he said, yeah, then then they'll bring up Watergate,

1129
01:07:08,080 --> 01:07:10,240
Speaker 2: right exactly.

1130
01:07:11,120 --> 01:07:13,040
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask you a couple more questions.

1131
01:07:13,640 --> 01:07:16,960
Speaker 3: You're such a moral compass, right, and then it seemed

1132
01:07:16,960 --> 01:07:19,160
Speaker 3: like you in some roles you're casted as a moral

1133
01:07:19,200 --> 01:07:21,040
Speaker 3: compass too in real life?

1134
01:07:21,040 --> 01:07:22,880
Speaker 1: Who keeps you honest? Incentive?

1135
01:07:25,880 --> 01:07:30,400
Speaker 2: I love the books of Albert Murray. The omni American

1136
01:07:31,640 --> 01:07:37,520
Speaker 2: Omni Americans is one of my favorite books, just under

1137
01:07:38,000 --> 01:07:41,320
Speaker 2: he was a great philosopher. I was able to meet him.

1138
01:07:42,280 --> 01:07:45,240
Speaker 2: I grew up and went to Marcellus and great jazz

1139
01:07:45,240 --> 01:07:47,360
Speaker 2: trumpet player and all, and we would we would go

1140
01:07:47,480 --> 01:07:53,160
Speaker 2: up and uh talk to mister Murray, Albert Murray, Man,

1141
01:07:53,440 --> 01:07:58,240
Speaker 2: Albert Murray really taught me the understanding of what is

1142
01:07:58,280 --> 01:08:03,040
Speaker 2: your contribution to the diaspora. Then he also taught me

1143
01:08:03,160 --> 01:08:08,280
Speaker 2: that there's a uniqueness to our contribution to the human

1144
01:08:08,320 --> 01:08:15,920
Speaker 2: diaspora as black folk. Right, we are also why the

1145
01:08:15,960 --> 01:08:19,120
Speaker 2: book is the Omni Americans the best demonstration of the

1146
01:08:19,200 --> 01:08:23,160
Speaker 2: American aesthetic when it comes to like jazz, freedom within form.

1147
01:08:23,240 --> 01:08:27,920
Speaker 2: To improvise a solo while you honor the structure of

1148
01:08:27,960 --> 01:08:33,240
Speaker 2: the song is an example of the American aesthetic. We

1149
01:08:33,320 --> 01:08:35,559
Speaker 2: are a nation of laws, but we have to be

1150
01:08:36,600 --> 01:08:40,640
Speaker 2: adaptable and be able to do improv and honor that

1151
01:08:40,680 --> 01:08:42,880
Speaker 2: where the two can coexist, where you can honor the

1152
01:08:42,920 --> 01:08:46,080
Speaker 2: form but at the same time exercise your right as

1153
01:08:46,120 --> 01:08:48,760
Speaker 2: an individual to be as individual as you can be

1154
01:08:50,200 --> 01:08:57,320
Speaker 2: and to have that duality. Came from our community. That's

1155
01:08:57,360 --> 01:08:59,719
Speaker 2: with the creation. That's the creation of jazz, that's creation

1156
01:08:59,760 --> 01:09:03,559
Speaker 2: of hip hop. Right. Hip hop was always about you know,

1157
01:09:03,640 --> 01:09:06,760
Speaker 2: you're taking this, you know, it was always about the DJ.

1158
01:09:08,040 --> 01:09:10,800
Speaker 2: Remember about the DJ and the hype man was just

1159
01:09:10,840 --> 01:09:13,000
Speaker 2: to come to see the DJ, and then he started

1160
01:09:13,360 --> 01:09:17,160
Speaker 2: more and more and more becoming the front. Right, and

1161
01:09:17,160 --> 01:09:19,479
Speaker 2: then somebody would kick out the plug from the street

1162
01:09:19,520 --> 01:09:25,320
Speaker 2: lamp and the party's over. But that that's that's what

1163
01:09:25,360 --> 01:09:30,880
Speaker 2: it's about, you know. But Albert Murray teaches me that

1164
01:09:30,880 --> 01:09:36,080
Speaker 2: that's that's why it strengthened his philosophy of understanding that

1165
01:09:37,640 --> 01:09:41,200
Speaker 2: there's a discussion of the Western civilization, of the contributions

1166
01:09:41,240 --> 01:09:48,480
Speaker 2: of man and woman, and don't forget the unique contribution

1167
01:09:48,680 --> 01:09:54,240
Speaker 2: that our experience, unique experience has given to that. Right

1168
01:09:54,760 --> 01:09:57,360
Speaker 2: and once and once you understand that, then you can

1169
01:09:57,479 --> 01:10:03,160
Speaker 2: appreciate all the variations of it. That there's a uniqueness

1170
01:10:03,200 --> 01:10:07,760
Speaker 2: to someone who has our experience and the Caribbean experience,

1171
01:10:08,800 --> 01:10:13,600
Speaker 2: or our experienced Caribbean experience and the African experience in Africa,

1172
01:10:14,080 --> 01:10:16,920
Speaker 2: and understand the connection of all of that. And those

1173
01:10:16,960 --> 01:10:21,240
Speaker 2: are the Omni Americans. That's been the great contribution. And

1174
01:10:21,280 --> 01:10:26,240
Speaker 2: that's why so many cultures, you know, admire it, pretend

1175
01:10:26,280 --> 01:10:32,639
Speaker 2: that they don't and and but emulate it, you know. Ooh,

1176
01:10:33,840 --> 01:10:37,559
Speaker 2: and that and that Albert Murray, that's the man, that's

1177
01:10:37,560 --> 01:10:41,480
Speaker 2: the man. Read his books. Man read the Omni Americans.

1178
01:10:41,520 --> 01:10:44,000
Speaker 2: It is great, the great book. And that keeps me

1179
01:10:44,040 --> 01:10:47,280
Speaker 2: on track. That gives me, you know, that helps fight

1180
01:10:47,320 --> 01:10:51,599
Speaker 2: through all the craziness and stuff too, you know, because

1181
01:10:51,720 --> 01:10:55,559
Speaker 2: it's by design to separate you, right when you hear

1182
01:10:55,640 --> 01:11:00,920
Speaker 2: the arguments of I remember I was in Budapest and

1183
01:11:00,920 --> 01:11:02,639
Speaker 2: I came back and I was like, who these Ados

1184
01:11:02,680 --> 01:11:07,960
Speaker 2: people are? You know? It was Ados, right, And Roland

1185
01:11:08,000 --> 01:11:10,160
Speaker 2: Martin called me and said, boy, they gonna come after you.

1186
01:11:10,240 --> 01:11:11,960
Speaker 2: I'm like, this makes no sense what you're talking about.

1187
01:11:11,960 --> 01:11:16,400
Speaker 2: We're not connected. I'm just and now it's FBA or whatever.

1188
01:11:16,560 --> 01:11:18,960
Speaker 2: And you notice it only comes up around election time.

1189
01:11:19,080 --> 01:11:22,840
Speaker 2: So you're sitting there going somebody is paying this to

1190
01:11:22,880 --> 01:11:26,880
Speaker 2: go forward promoting this. And what's around this time is

1191
01:11:26,920 --> 01:11:28,840
Speaker 2: people get in where they fit in, and when they

1192
01:11:28,840 --> 01:11:33,400
Speaker 2: start making money, they start you know, listen, man, I'm

1193
01:11:33,400 --> 01:11:35,320
Speaker 2: gonna believe it. I'm gonna embrace it. I'll never forget.

1194
01:11:35,400 --> 01:11:39,760
Speaker 2: Rush Limbaugh mentioned on his show, oh man, you know

1195
01:11:39,840 --> 01:11:44,000
Speaker 2: those liberals are gonna kill Clarence Thomas and everything. And

1196
01:11:45,439 --> 01:11:48,200
Speaker 2: but I like that actor playing Clarence Thomas, Wendell Pierce.

1197
01:11:48,320 --> 01:11:50,280
Speaker 2: I really like him. So I reached out to him.

1198
01:11:50,600 --> 01:11:52,639
Speaker 2: I said, you know, I wanted to have a dialogue, right,

1199
01:11:52,960 --> 01:11:54,479
Speaker 2: I said, it doesn't have to be on the show,

1200
01:11:55,280 --> 01:11:57,640
Speaker 2: you know, I appreciate it and his whole thing. They

1201
01:11:57,680 --> 01:12:00,960
Speaker 2: came back, and it was us like, no, man, we

1202
01:12:01,000 --> 01:12:04,599
Speaker 2: know you support Obama, we know publicly you a liberal,

1203
01:12:04,640 --> 01:12:07,240
Speaker 2: and it wouldn't be a good look. And I was

1204
01:12:07,280 --> 01:12:09,479
Speaker 2: just like, man, you make one hundred million dollars a year,

1205
01:12:09,520 --> 01:12:13,320
Speaker 2: what does this matter. Let's have a real conversation. And actually, wow,

1206
01:12:13,640 --> 01:12:16,400
Speaker 2: it taught me something about Clarence Thomas too. Clarence Thomas

1207
01:12:16,400 --> 01:12:21,120
Speaker 2: and I literally almost had the same lives, right from

1208
01:12:21,160 --> 01:12:27,280
Speaker 2: the South, black Catholic grandparents with farmers. Education was real

1209
01:12:27,360 --> 01:12:34,160
Speaker 2: important to him, important to the family. We go to college,

1210
01:12:35,080 --> 01:12:38,519
Speaker 2: Clarence Thomas goes to college. Clarence Thomas was a radical,

1211
01:12:40,040 --> 01:12:42,840
Speaker 2: radical man. This afro is picking his head. He's going

1212
01:12:43,200 --> 01:12:47,439
Speaker 2: on protests, you know, almost like a black panther, and

1213
01:12:51,280 --> 01:12:53,920
Speaker 2: goes to law school and all he wants to do

1214
01:12:53,960 --> 01:12:57,200
Speaker 2: is come back to Savannah and practice law. And it's

1215
01:12:57,240 --> 01:13:01,439
Speaker 2: at that point that he's completely rejected, right, and it

1216
01:13:01,479 --> 01:13:06,400
Speaker 2: shows you how insidious racism can be, how insidious racism

1217
01:13:06,439 --> 01:13:09,040
Speaker 2: can be. He was just like, but I have a

1218
01:13:09,360 --> 01:13:14,680
Speaker 2: Yale law degree. You know, I'm better than most of

1219
01:13:14,720 --> 01:13:20,000
Speaker 2: the partners in these old you know, old line law firms.

1220
01:13:21,680 --> 01:13:24,280
Speaker 2: They say, yeah, but we still don't watch it, right,

1221
01:13:25,280 --> 01:13:27,880
Speaker 2: And He didn't take it as oh man, look how

1222
01:13:27,960 --> 01:13:31,840
Speaker 2: racist they are. He said, well, it must because they

1223
01:13:31,920 --> 01:13:35,639
Speaker 2: think less of my degree, so affirmative action is awful.

1224
01:13:36,800 --> 01:13:41,320
Speaker 2: I'm just like, what, You're not gonna blame them at all. No,

1225
01:13:41,760 --> 01:13:45,240
Speaker 2: I'm gonna blame everything that gave me an opportunity to

1226
01:13:45,280 --> 01:13:49,160
Speaker 2: get there. And then the only job he could get

1227
01:13:49,320 --> 01:13:56,400
Speaker 2: was with the Republican a d in the in the Midwest,

1228
01:13:57,400 --> 01:14:00,479
Speaker 2: and so and then he was on track. But I

1229
01:14:00,560 --> 01:14:04,960
Speaker 2: actually think Clarence Thomas is a perfect example of how

1230
01:14:05,000 --> 01:14:12,759
Speaker 2: insidious racism can be, because I think he is really thinking,

1231
01:14:13,439 --> 01:14:19,800
Speaker 2: I'm giving you the best of humanity and I'm still

1232
01:14:19,840 --> 01:14:26,360
Speaker 2: being rejected, and it has developed I think a self

1233
01:14:26,360 --> 01:14:30,320
Speaker 2: hate in him, a self hate of all of.

1234
01:14:30,200 --> 01:14:33,120
Speaker 5: That, you know, self hate, And so I feel like

1235
01:14:33,160 --> 01:14:35,479
Speaker 5: sometimes I think this goes back to Charlomne's questions about

1236
01:14:35,479 --> 01:14:38,240
Speaker 5: like you keeping hope alive throughout all your work, it

1237
01:14:38,280 --> 01:14:40,080
Speaker 5: can make you feel like these things aren't never ever

1238
01:14:40,160 --> 01:14:44,000
Speaker 5: ever going to change, Like you know, like no matter

1239
01:14:44,000 --> 01:14:46,200
Speaker 5: what you do, what you accomplished, would you try to

1240
01:14:46,240 --> 01:14:50,880
Speaker 5: do There's always someone to say, but you.

1241
01:14:50,880 --> 01:14:53,040
Speaker 2: Have so many examples of when it does change and

1242
01:14:53,080 --> 01:14:59,080
Speaker 2: how it feels when you just think of just your

1243
01:14:59,320 --> 01:15:03,960
Speaker 2: education dream, you know, think about graduation. There were times,

1244
01:15:04,200 --> 01:15:06,240
Speaker 2: you know, when you had a paper due or you

1245
01:15:06,280 --> 01:15:08,600
Speaker 2: were taking a test and you're like, man, I'm just

1246
01:15:08,640 --> 01:15:13,479
Speaker 2: not going to get through this. You ultimately do when

1247
01:15:14,360 --> 01:15:23,160
Speaker 2: you know, when you find people who support you where

1248
01:15:23,200 --> 01:15:27,840
Speaker 2: you least expected. You know, people you assume were against

1249
01:15:27,920 --> 01:15:34,160
Speaker 2: you were like, I'm going to recognize your excellence. There

1250
01:15:34,200 --> 01:15:40,800
Speaker 2: are so many of those times also that should embolden you,

1251
01:15:43,320 --> 01:15:49,160
Speaker 2: that should give you encouragement. The mistake that we make

1252
01:15:49,320 --> 01:15:54,920
Speaker 2: is we think that once we accomplish something we support,

1253
01:15:55,479 --> 01:15:59,320
Speaker 2: accomplish a change, that is done. The work is done.

1254
01:15:59,320 --> 01:16:02,519
Speaker 2: But it's like a crime disease. Right, It's like a

1255
01:16:02,600 --> 01:16:04,880
Speaker 2: chronic disease. You have to be ever vigilant. We never

1256
01:16:04,960 --> 01:16:08,000
Speaker 2: thought that in twenty twenty five, we have to protect

1257
01:16:08,000 --> 01:16:11,599
Speaker 2: the Voting Rights Bill or reconstitute it because they've taken

1258
01:16:11,600 --> 01:16:14,240
Speaker 2: out Section four, which actually protects you, gives you all

1259
01:16:14,240 --> 01:16:17,599
Speaker 2: the voting right protections. They've actually taken that out. So

1260
01:16:22,680 --> 01:16:25,120
Speaker 2: you have to be ever vigilant to make sure that

1261
01:16:25,200 --> 01:16:29,320
Speaker 2: it works for you. Right. That's where the hope comes in, right,

1262
01:16:30,280 --> 01:16:35,000
Speaker 2: because you know that those who do not have our

1263
01:16:35,040 --> 01:16:38,240
Speaker 2: best interests at heart, and you have to do everything

1264
01:16:38,280 --> 01:16:45,240
Speaker 2: possible to give yourself that hope. Right, And that's what

1265
01:16:45,280 --> 01:16:48,200
Speaker 2: I mean by exercising radical self care, doing the things

1266
01:16:48,280 --> 01:16:51,559
Speaker 2: necessary that you know are necessary to get you there.

1267
01:16:51,640 --> 01:16:56,679
Speaker 2: And don't get distracted by trying to convince something, trying

1268
01:16:56,680 --> 01:17:00,800
Speaker 2: to convince someone who does not have your best interests

1269
01:17:00,840 --> 01:17:02,880
Speaker 2: at heart. That's just on a personal level, and you

1270
01:17:03,400 --> 01:17:05,200
Speaker 2: translate that into a larger level too.

1271
01:17:07,120 --> 01:17:09,719
Speaker 3: It's my last question, mister Pis. You've been very generous

1272
01:17:09,760 --> 01:17:12,360
Speaker 3: with your times, so thank you. How do you define

1273
01:17:12,360 --> 01:17:15,080
Speaker 3: cultural legacy and who are you building yours for?

1274
01:17:16,520 --> 01:17:21,160
Speaker 2: Albert Murray? Once again, the man teaches you what culture is.

1275
01:17:21,840 --> 01:17:27,839
Speaker 2: Culture is a people intersecting with life itself. The literal

1276
01:17:27,920 --> 01:17:36,640
Speaker 2: intersection of how people deal with life is culture. How

1277
01:17:36,680 --> 01:17:46,320
Speaker 2: they deal with pain and joy, death and life developments, enlightenment.

1278
01:17:49,800 --> 01:17:53,479
Speaker 2: That is culture. And when you when you understand that,

1279
01:17:53,920 --> 01:17:59,680
Speaker 2: and entertainment is a byproduct of that, When you understand

1280
01:17:59,760 --> 01:18:02,720
Speaker 2: that's that's what the culture is. That's what the definition

1281
01:18:02,800 --> 01:18:07,840
Speaker 2: of culture is. You are keenly aware of how it

1282
01:18:07,960 --> 01:18:11,839
Speaker 2: is an exercise and futility. If you don't contribute to culture,

1283
01:18:13,080 --> 01:18:15,400
Speaker 2: you have to say, well, how is this going to

1284
01:18:16,000 --> 01:18:19,639
Speaker 2: bring some meaning to how we deal with this situation

1285
01:18:19,760 --> 01:18:27,880
Speaker 2: in life? Are we just making noise, talking gossip or

1286
01:18:28,320 --> 01:18:33,559
Speaker 2: or we're saying, hey, let's enlighten ourselves about this. What

1287
01:18:33,600 --> 01:18:37,639
Speaker 2: does this mean? This is how it's destructive? And how

1288
01:18:37,640 --> 01:18:45,720
Speaker 2: can we make this constructive? That's cultural legacy. It's I

1289
01:18:45,760 --> 01:18:49,960
Speaker 2: think of the culinary arts of New Orleans. What gumbo

1290
01:18:50,080 --> 01:18:54,479
Speaker 2: is all about. The scraps from the table mixed with

1291
01:18:55,880 --> 01:18:59,240
Speaker 2: flower and burning flower in some oil and getting your

1292
01:18:59,320 --> 01:19:04,000
Speaker 2: root going the holy trinity of celery, onions and bell

1293
01:19:04,040 --> 01:19:06,200
Speaker 2: pepper chopped up. And that's going to be my season.

1294
01:19:08,360 --> 01:19:14,719
Speaker 2: And I'm going to build this from nothing and build

1295
01:19:14,720 --> 01:19:20,880
Speaker 2: it into a dish that is known around the world gumbo, right,

1296
01:19:21,720 --> 01:19:24,439
Speaker 2: And that's a metaphor for what we need to how

1297
01:19:24,479 --> 01:19:27,080
Speaker 2: we can look at it. So I have nothing, So

1298
01:19:27,120 --> 01:19:29,240
Speaker 2: how am I going to make an impact on how

1299
01:19:29,280 --> 01:19:33,080
Speaker 2: we literally live our lives. I'm going to give sustenance.

1300
01:19:33,640 --> 01:19:36,679
Speaker 2: We're going to feed ourselves and at the same time

1301
01:19:36,800 --> 01:19:39,680
Speaker 2: be as creative with what we do that people are

1302
01:19:39,680 --> 01:19:43,360
Speaker 2: gonna remember it. That's what gumbo is all about. You know.

1303
01:19:43,720 --> 01:19:45,800
Speaker 2: It's like when a guy is shooting his shot, he's like, man,

1304
01:19:46,520 --> 01:19:50,120
Speaker 2: you know you still stay shooting your shot. Yeah, that's

1305
01:19:50,160 --> 01:20:00,320
Speaker 2: actually just like you know, you're trying to trying to

1306
01:20:00,320 --> 01:20:03,400
Speaker 2: get that person's interest in you at the same time

1307
01:20:03,439 --> 01:20:06,880
Speaker 2: trying to find out what is it about them? Right,

1308
01:20:06,920 --> 01:20:11,240
Speaker 2: the two happening at the same time. Right, If you're saying, hey, man,

1309
01:20:11,320 --> 01:20:14,280
Speaker 2: I want to become something, not only are you interested

1310
01:20:14,320 --> 01:20:15,880
Speaker 2: in it, but how am I going to change the

1311
01:20:15,920 --> 01:20:19,000
Speaker 2: game and then be a student of the game and

1312
01:20:19,040 --> 01:20:21,840
Speaker 2: not be jealous of somebody who does it better than me,

1313
01:20:22,160 --> 01:20:26,080
Speaker 2: but actually, go, man, I need to get there. That

1314
01:20:26,240 --> 01:20:29,040
Speaker 2: is the development of culture, and that's how you leave

1315
01:20:29,160 --> 01:20:33,240
Speaker 2: a cultural impact for me as an artist. I'm trying

1316
01:20:33,240 --> 01:20:35,200
Speaker 2: to do that as an artist, but I'm also trying

1317
01:20:35,240 --> 01:20:38,519
Speaker 2: to do that as an advocate. Right. That is what

1318
01:20:39,560 --> 01:20:43,080
Speaker 2: you know, supporting institutions that have legacy is all about,

1319
01:20:44,200 --> 01:20:48,599
Speaker 2: And that's the impact that I hope to have. That

1320
01:20:49,920 --> 01:20:57,240
Speaker 2: you know, to build and sustain companies who have built

1321
01:20:57,680 --> 01:21:02,160
Speaker 2: and build something in me and in my heart, right,

1322
01:21:02,280 --> 01:21:05,400
Speaker 2: these companies have given me encouragement, they have given me vision,

1323
01:21:06,280 --> 01:21:08,880
Speaker 2: and I want to make sure that they're sustained and

1324
01:21:08,960 --> 01:21:13,000
Speaker 2: go into the future, right because they motivated me when

1325
01:21:13,000 --> 01:21:16,040
Speaker 2: I was younger and I was starting my career. That's

1326
01:21:16,080 --> 01:21:18,880
Speaker 2: what culture is, That's what cultural legacy is all about.

1327
01:21:19,840 --> 01:21:25,599
Speaker 2: And having that cultural impact is entertaining. Yes, people will

1328
01:21:25,640 --> 01:21:29,120
Speaker 2: always remember the joy of being entertained by the culture

1329
01:21:29,160 --> 01:21:31,200
Speaker 2: that you create, but also it has to bring some

1330
01:21:31,280 --> 01:21:37,479
Speaker 2: insightfulness and impact their lives long after, right. I'm always

1331
01:21:37,479 --> 01:21:44,040
Speaker 2: thinking of the words of Arthur Miller that says, there's

1332
01:21:44,040 --> 01:21:48,240
Speaker 2: a certain immortality in the theater now given by monuments

1333
01:21:48,280 --> 01:21:52,000
Speaker 2: of books, but with the knowledge and actor takes with

1334
01:21:52,080 --> 01:21:56,400
Speaker 2: them until their dying day. That in a dusty theater

1335
01:21:56,960 --> 01:21:59,960
Speaker 2: on the stage, he cast the shadow of a person

1336
01:22:00,040 --> 01:22:05,959
Speaker 2: who was not himself, but all the distillation of everything

1337
01:22:06,000 --> 01:22:09,599
Speaker 2: he has ever seen, and all the unsung heart songs

1338
01:22:10,640 --> 01:22:15,519
Speaker 2: that the common man feels but never utters, he gives

1339
01:22:15,640 --> 01:22:20,360
Speaker 2: voice to. And then doing that he joins the ages.

1340
01:22:21,880 --> 01:22:25,360
Speaker 2: I'm trying to join the ages, giving voice to the voiceless.

1341
01:22:26,439 --> 01:22:30,000
Speaker 2: That's cultural legacy, and that's cultural impact.

1342
01:22:31,080 --> 01:22:32,559
Speaker 1: You should gonna be a time about uncool.

1343
01:22:32,640 --> 01:22:37,200
Speaker 2: How the hell what amazing?

1344
01:22:38,439 --> 01:22:42,160
Speaker 3: That's important, mister Wendell Piss, Thank you man, Thank you

1345
01:22:42,200 --> 01:22:44,519
Speaker 3: for your wisdom, thank you for your insight, thank you

1346
01:22:44,600 --> 01:22:47,439
Speaker 3: for your art, thank you for your service to our people.

1347
01:22:47,640 --> 01:22:50,240
Speaker 3: Thank you for the Coalition of Legacy, Theaters of Color.

1348
01:22:50,320 --> 01:22:52,320
Speaker 3: Thank you, just just thank you, brother.

1349
01:22:52,240 --> 01:22:55,639
Speaker 2: Thank you. Man. I am so honored to be here

1350
01:22:55,680 --> 01:22:58,000
Speaker 2: at the Breakfast Club. It really is. It's a smile

1351
01:22:58,080 --> 01:23:00,760
Speaker 2: on my face. Smile on my face. I got some

1352
01:23:00,840 --> 01:23:01,519
Speaker 2: cache now.

1353
01:23:01,920 --> 01:23:03,320
Speaker 1: As soon as they said you, I'm like.

1354
01:23:06,720 --> 01:23:10,520
Speaker 2: Baltimore in the house. Man. I love Baltimore. I love Baltimore.

1355
01:23:10,920 --> 01:23:12,160
Speaker 2: Thank you for the breakfast Thank you.

1356
01:23:12,439 --> 01:23:14,240
Speaker 1: It's window Piers, It's the Breakfast Club.

1357
01:23:14,840 --> 01:23:18,360
Speaker 3: Hold up every day a wake, clake your ass up,

1358
01:23:18,479 --> 01:23:19,360
Speaker 3: the Breakfast Club.

1359
01:23:19,600 --> 01:23:20,840
Speaker 1: You don't finish for y'all done.