Latest / Creative Roots Podcast / The Life, Legacy & Art of James Baldwin - Brian Daye | Ep. 73

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The Life, Legacy & Art of James Baldwin - Brian Daye | Ep. 73 · Creative Roots Podcast

0:00
SPEAKER_02: We're we're talking riots, you know.
0:03
SPEAKER_03: We're talking heavy interaction with the police and it's And in a very short period of time I found what eventually would save my life.
0:16
SPEAKER_02: You might think about the future, but I don't think it's like, hey, let me write this or make this speech to As I said, we got a chance to dramatize Mr.
0:24
SPEAKER_03: Baldwin's life.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: That being said, my final question is Truth in the air, let it speak.
0:37
SPEAKER_02: Welcome back to another episode of Creative Roots Podcast where seeing someone become visions grown.
0:42
SPEAKER_02: I am your host, Tay.
0:43
SPEAKER_02: And I am Shamar.
0:44
SPEAKER_02: Tay's trusty sidekick.
0:46
SPEAKER_02: Welcome back.
0:47
SPEAKER_02: Welcome back.
0:48
SPEAKER_02: Welcome back.
0:52
SPEAKER_02: Today we are sitting here with actor, playwriter, director, producer, and I'm pretty sure I'm missing a few things.
1:04
SPEAKER_02: You got enough.
1:05
SPEAKER_02: You got them.
1:06
SPEAKER_02: So today, y'all, we are sitting with Mr.
1:10
SPEAKER_02: Brian Day.
1:11
SPEAKER_02: Uh, y'all already know how this goes.
1:13
SPEAKER_02: So I'm Brian, I'm gonna let you introduce yourself to the audience and tell them who you are and what you do.
1:19
SPEAKER_03: Well, hello everybody.
1:20
SPEAKER_03: My name's Brian Day.
1:22
SPEAKER_03: Um uh born and raised in Stamford, Connecticut.
1:27
SPEAKER_03: I'm uh I hail from Connecticut by way of New York.
1:30
SPEAKER_03: And I say that uh because our son was born in New York.
1:34
SPEAKER_03: So um I always love New York City.
1:37
SPEAKER_03: Uh he was he was actually born in Queens, where we used to live, Jamaica, Queens.
1:41
SPEAKER_03: Um But uh I've been I've been, I guess, officially a creative, um uh in allowing myself to call myself that.
1:53
SPEAKER_03: I've been a creative pretty much all my life.
1:57
SPEAKER_03: Um been acting since I was 16, and um I've been writing and directing really for about 20 years.
2:08
SPEAKER_03: Um uh the latest of which we'll talk about shortly.
2:13
SPEAKER_03: But um uh it's it's my craft, it's what I love, it's what I do.
2:19
SPEAKER_03: Um uh shout out to, of course, my wife, Val Day.
2:24
SPEAKER_03: Um she's an ordained minister, and she she's actually the smarter one in the family, which I'll admit.
2:33
SPEAKER_03: Um, but uh she she is involved in um HR and uh uh business uh principles through Atrium.
2:44
SPEAKER_03: Um and my son is in Oakland, Jared uh Christian Day.
2:48
SPEAKER_03: Hi, big ups to my son, uh, who recently got married to our daughter-in-law, Hope.
2:54
SPEAKER_03: Uh so Hope, we love you.
2:57
SPEAKER_03: Um she herself is a uh clinical therapist.
3:02
SPEAKER_03: He works for NBA 2K.
3:05
SPEAKER_03: He's been with them nine years, going on 10 years, and they both live in Oakland.
3:10
SPEAKER_03: Um so uh they're doing great uh and um wonderful family, really blessed to have such a wonderful support system, and here we are.
3:21
SPEAKER_03: Well, here we are.
3:23
SPEAKER_02: Right.
3:23
SPEAKER_02: Here we are.
3:24
SPEAKER_02: Right.
3:25
SPEAKER_02: So you say you've been doing this uh been a creative your whole life, but you've been writing 20 years, right?
3:32
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
3:33
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
3:34
SPEAKER_02: From that, can you tell us like what seed was planted that got you started on this whole creative journey?
3:42
SPEAKER_03: Um well, part of that, um uh forgive the promotion.
3:48
SPEAKER_03: Part of that, um I put together in a one-man piece called Hey You, an Afro Stereophonic Journey.
3:58
SPEAKER_03: Um I've been acting, like I said, since I was 16.
4:03
SPEAKER_03: Um I was actually uh coming off of a real challenging time in my life.
4:12
SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, a lot of challenging stuff was happening, and you know, who knows how to navigate through that at 16?
4:24
SPEAKER_03: Um, I certainly didn't, but um as as as God would have it, um after I went through that whole period, um uh the summer uh leading into my senior year of high school, um I had a summer job at our hometown community center, again, Yearwood Center in Stanford, Connecticut.
4:50
SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, summer job doing what you do on a summer job.
4:54
SPEAKER_03: Um but then I heard a bunch of people in the auditorium, and I I looked around and I said, what's going on here?
5:03
SPEAKER_03: And I I uh first of all, they were very loud.
5:07
SPEAKER_03: Um, so I I that drew me anyway.
5:11
SPEAKER_03: And without sounding cliched, you know, the rest is history.
5:17
SPEAKER_03: Um they were rehearsing, I forget what play they were rehearsing for, but um literally one thing led to another.
5:27
SPEAKER_03: I felt drawn to what they were doing.
5:30
SPEAKER_03: Um and in a very short period of time, I found what eventually would save my life, which was acting.
5:41
SPEAKER_03: Um did a in a whole slew of plays.
5:46
SPEAKER_03: Um my mentor, who's still with us, he's he's in New York.
5:52
SPEAKER_03: Big shout out to Glenn Borders.
5:54
SPEAKER_03: Um he he basically introduced me to theater, he introduced me to uh what acting was, he introduced me to the arts, and to be full disclosure, he basically taught me how to be a man.
6:13
SPEAKER_03: Um uh not that my father, my biological father, father wasn't there, um he was, but uh in in terms of all of the all of the areas where a young African-American man, teenager, who didn't have much self-esteem and who knew nothing about the arts, once that whole process got started, uh, you know, Glenn was really the person who really helped basically mold and shape me artistically and theatrically.
6:54
SPEAKER_03: And then, you know, I I I used my senior year of high school basically as redemption.
7:04
SPEAKER_03: Um uh got through that whole challenging period and kind of discovered that I wasn't such a bad guy.
7:15
SPEAKER_03: Um uh got into acting both in school as well as maintaining my um my connection with the community center and um if I went to college.
7:29
SPEAKER_03: Um but I didn't stay in theater and acting, oddly enough.
7:35
SPEAKER_03: Um uh after my freshman year of college, uh I kind of I drifted away, and that wasn't my decision.
7:48
SPEAKER_03: It was something that I thought, I said, oh, this ain't gonna last long.
7:54
SPEAKER_03: I got into another major and graduated in a corporate communications major.
7:59
SPEAKER_03: Well, with a minor in theater.
8:02
SPEAKER_03: Well, obviously that didn't go anywhere because I fell back into theater.
8:07
SPEAKER_03: You you you never get away from the things that you love.
8:11
SPEAKER_03: Right, right.
8:12
SPEAKER_03: So, you know, I I I I you know, we did our thing in New York, um, started our family, but at the tail end of living in New York, which was one of my life bucket list items, um, you know, my my wife's job moved us to Charlotte, and we both agreed, okay, I'm gonna get back into theater and acting.
8:39
SPEAKER_03: And and we've been in Charlotte now, this year, 26 years.
8:46
SPEAKER_03: And um Okay, okay.
8:48
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and um it's literally been non-stop and um, you know, done everything, done film, done theater, done TV, industrials.
9:02
SPEAKER_03: I often say, if the check clears, then I'm good, you know, and and and no check is bounced, you know, right, right in all that time.
9:11
SPEAKER_03: Um uh the writing came about, um, writing and directing came about um, you know, from our old church.
9:23
SPEAKER_03: You know, we were on a um retreat and you know, you try to figure out things to do, uh, you know, to keep the couples engaged and all that kind of stuff.
9:36
SPEAKER_03: So, you know, she leaned to me and said, Well, why don't you write a play?
9:41
SPEAKER_03: You acting, why don't you write a play?
9:43
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, I haven't written no play.
9:46
SPEAKER_03: What are you talking about?
9:46
SPEAKER_03: Writing and acting, yeah, but yeah, but but um that process itself took 30 days.
9:59
SPEAKER_03: Um writing is never that quick.
10:01
SPEAKER_00: Hey, what's going on, good people?
10:02
SPEAKER_00: This is Shamar Tay's trusty sidekick.
10:05
SPEAKER_00: Listen, I just wanted to come in real quick to let you all know here at Creative Roots, we are more than a podcast.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: We are a whole community.
10:11
SPEAKER_00: Yes, a community of creatives, and we want you all to tap in.
10:14
SPEAKER_00: Make sure you visit us at Creative Roots Podcast.com where you can join the community.
10:19
SPEAKER_00: You can check out the merch that we have over there, and you can just tap in.
10:23
SPEAKER_00: It's a good way to connect with us.
10:24
SPEAKER_00: Also, if you want to be on the show, you can fill out a form on the website.
10:28
SPEAKER_00: So again, visit creative roots podcast.com.
10:31
SPEAKER_00: Now back to the episode.
10:33
SPEAKER_00: Peace.
10:34
SPEAKER_03: Took 30 days.
10:36
SPEAKER_03: Um writing is never that quick.
10:39
SPEAKER_03: Um, but it took 30 days to write uh the piece that we eventually did.
10:47
SPEAKER_03: And uh I called some friends, some acting friends in here in town, and we actually premiered that piece in Greensboro at the at the retreat we were at, and um uh uh a couple from Virginia came to the retreat and they invited us to do the play at their retreat.
11:14
SPEAKER_03: I was like, really?
11:18
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
11:20
SPEAKER_03: So we packed our stuff and went to Virginia to their retreat and had some of the same folks that I'd gathered in Charlotte.
11:30
SPEAKER_03: They said, sure, we'll go to Virginia.
11:32
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, okay, okay.
11:34
SPEAKER_03: Um and that was successful.
11:37
SPEAKER_03: And then someone, my my agent at the time got wind of that and said that someone here in Charlotte wanted to see the play.
11:47
SPEAKER_03: I said, okay, that's three.
11:50
SPEAKER_03: All right.
11:51
SPEAKER_03: Um so we did that, and um and then I said, then I then I started liking writing and directing, not to put aside acting at all.
12:04
SPEAKER_03: Right, right.
12:05
SPEAKER_03: Because I was still doing, I was doing all three.
12:08
SPEAKER_03: But um writing and directing was new, and I was learning that part of the overall craft in addition to uh continuing acting.
12:20
SPEAKER_03: Um so and the name of that piece, by the way, was One in the Spirit.
12:27
SPEAKER_03: Um the last time we did that was at the Atlanta Black Theater Festival.
12:34
SPEAKER_03: Um that was 13 years ago.
12:38
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, 13 years ago.
12:41
SPEAKER_03: Um that was the last time we did it, but it was successful enough where um I had a connection in Atlanta.
12:52
SPEAKER_03: I built and grew up some connections in Atlanta, and I realized that um that piece wasn't just a quote unquote church piece.
13:04
SPEAKER_03: Right.
13:05
SPEAKER_03: This is good enough for some real theater.
13:09
SPEAKER_03: So I I called, I made a connection and then met some wonderful film and theater actors in Atlanta, and we did it there.
13:23
SPEAKER_03: Um but I haven't done it since then.
13:27
SPEAKER_03: I I I'm the type that likes to keep moving.
13:29
SPEAKER_03: So um, so you know it it's still in the canon, if you will.
13:37
SPEAKER_03: Um, but I've written other pieces as well, and and fast forward to right now, um, as I said, I was just uh in in uh north of LA shooting a uh feature film.
13:55
SPEAKER_03: But the the the piece that we're doing again um at uh at Charlotte's off-Broadway black box theater at the Vapa Center, that's the marketing for it.
14:07
SPEAKER_03: Um the name of the piece is By Any Other Name and Opus for James Baldwin.
14:12
SPEAKER_03: That's what I uh talked about briefly at Charlotte is Creative.
14:18
SPEAKER_03: Um that the genesis of that came about.
14:23
SPEAKER_03: Um You do have the flyer with you too, right?
14:26
SPEAKER_03: You do have the flyer with you for the interview.
14:29
SPEAKER_03: I do.
14:29
SPEAKER_03: It's I brought my script um so we'll get a shot of that and then um you know we can talk about it.
14:36
SPEAKER_03: Um uh but but the genesis genesis of that came from um uh my wife and I, we saw, I don't know if you heard of the documentary I Am Not Your Negro.
14:49
SPEAKER_03: Yep.
14:49
SPEAKER_03: All right, so we saw that at the Manor Theater before it closed.
14:54
SPEAKER_03: Um and it was just blown away, just just wow, because no one had even remotely attempted to put Mr.
15:07
SPEAKER_03: Baldwin's life in any kind of organized history that you could glean from.
15:16
SPEAKER_03: Right.
15:17
SPEAKER_03: So uh we saw that, and I immediately called a friend of mine who's an actor, excuse me, his name is uh Gerard Hazleton, and um I told him, I said, look, man, you're the only person on this earth that I feel could play James Baldwin in a theatrical piece.
15:41
SPEAKER_03: And he he said to me, Well, you're gonna have to write it.
15:44
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, of course, right?
15:47
SPEAKER_04: Right, yeah, right.
15:49
SPEAKER_03: But but but but um no not not begrudgingly at all.
15:55
SPEAKER_03: Right.
15:55
SPEAKER_03: That took eight years, and um as I said, writing is never that quick.
16:01
SPEAKER_03: Um every piece you write, no matter who you are, is a process behind it.
16:06
SPEAKER_03: So that took eight years, and fortunately, um we were able to get the piece done last year.
16:15
SPEAKER_03: You know, big thanks to not only Charlotte's off Broadway, but also to the Arts and Science Council here in Charlotte, who provided a grant, and um we were able to assemble a cast, and um it it it it was I don't want to say a phenomenon, but could it, could it be, could it have been?
16:41
SPEAKER_03: It it was it was a wonderful experience.
16:45
SPEAKER_03: I'll I'll put it like that.
16:47
SPEAKER_03: It was a wonderful experience.
16:48
SPEAKER_03: It was um it was life-changing for me because um as I said, we got a chance to dramatize uh Mr.
17:02
SPEAKER_03: Baldwin's life in a manner that um I think showcased the broad spectrum of who he was and still is to a lot of people.
17:16
SPEAKER_03: Um and again, like I said, we had a wonderful cast with Mr.
17:23
SPEAKER_03: Hazleton, as I said, playing Mr.
17:25
SPEAKER_03: Baldwin.
17:27
SPEAKER_03: Um what I was also committed to and which we accomplished was um I wanted a an African-American woman in the cast because um I was drawing on Mr.
17:40
SPEAKER_03: Baldwin's history from the time he became a published author writer until per the per the play.
17:52
SPEAKER_03: Um uh I I document his ascension, if you will, into the early 70s.
18:00
SPEAKER_03: And um historically, he did an interview in London with a very young Nikki Giovanni, uh, God rest her soul, and it was one of the first interviews that she ended up doing because at the time she was coming up, and she interviewed Mr.
18:24
SPEAKER_03: Baldwin, she interviewed um Lena Horn, and she interviewed Muhammad Ali, all in succession.
18:33
SPEAKER_03: So not only was her her poetry growing, but her politics and and her activism were growing.
18:42
SPEAKER_03: So this was like, you know, perfect time of life.
18:47
SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, uh uh all of the positives you can attribute to that.
18:54
SPEAKER_03: And I was determined to have at least show that portion of both of their lives in the second act of the show.
19:04
SPEAKER_03: So it's it's it's act one where Baldwin discusses his life and it's his his love life was dramatized.
19:13
SPEAKER_03: I because he was a gay man.
19:15
SPEAKER_03: And I and you can't tell the story of Mr.
19:18
SPEAKER_03: Baldwin without talking about that part of his life.
19:22
SPEAKER_03: But he was also um uh he also had some very influential friends, um, three of which were Dr.
19:31
SPEAKER_03: King, El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, Malcolm X, and Medgar Evers, among others.
19:38
SPEAKER_03: And there's a portion in Act One where he interacts with them.
19:43
SPEAKER_03: I won't say what happens, but um there's an interaction with them, yeah.
19:49
SPEAKER_03: And um, and uh there's also an interaction based on an interview Mr.
19:58
SPEAKER_03: Baldwin had with a Yale professor in in 1969 on the DeCavit show.
20:05
SPEAKER_03: So I I took those parts of his life and kind of put them in order, and then between Act One and Act Two, and it it closes with um recognition of the books he wrote, and um is also an actual quick video uh video of him speaking in Paris.
20:31
SPEAKER_03: So that's that's the show in and of itself.
20:34
SPEAKER_03: And again, it's called by any other name an opus for James Baldwin.
20:39
SPEAKER_02: And one of the show times again.
20:41
SPEAKER_02: Um I know when the showtime's off.
20:44
SPEAKER_03: Right.
20:44
SPEAKER_03: Um September 23rd through the 26th.
20:50
SPEAKER_03: That's Wednesday through Saturday.
20:52
SPEAKER_03: Uh this camera Wednesday through Saturday.
20:56
SPEAKER_03: Uh again, September 23rd through the 26th at 7:30 p.m.
21:02
SPEAKER_03: And September 27th is our 2 p.m.
21:06
SPEAKER_03: matinee.
21:07
SPEAKER_03: Um, only five shows.
21:09
SPEAKER_03: And you asked about a flyer, if I may.
21:13
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
21:16
SPEAKER_03: Um this is the flyer.
21:19
SPEAKER_03: Uh however you could zoom in on that.
21:22
SPEAKER_03: Um that's it.
21:25
SPEAKER_03: Uh again, by any other name and opus for James Baldwin.
21:30
SPEAKER_03: Um, we have somewhat of a new cast this year, and the gentleman playing Mr.
21:37
SPEAKER_03: Baldwin uh this year is Roderick Shepherd.
21:41
SPEAKER_03: Um Rod and I go back just almost as long as I've been here as an actor, excuse me.
21:52
SPEAKER_03: Um Rod is a tremendous actor.
21:55
SPEAKER_03: You know, we we're we're not only actor friends, but we're Friends, which I'm grateful for.
22:02
SPEAKER_03: Um, so he he has the task of embodying who Mr.
22:10
SPEAKER_03: Baldwin was, and um, you know, we're we're we're keeping it moving, you know, again thankful to the ASC for yet another grant this year.
22:21
SPEAKER_03: And um uh as I said, it's it's two weeks away.
22:26
SPEAKER_03: So we still got work to do, still rehearsing.
22:29
SPEAKER_03: Um, but we're gonna get it done.
22:31
SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah.
22:32
SPEAKER_02: So most of the casts are they local to Charlotte?
22:35
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
22:35
SPEAKER_02: Okay, yeah.
22:37
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
22:37
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
22:38
SPEAKER_02: And is it only gonna be showing um that one week in Charlotte?
22:42
SPEAKER_02: Or is it going anywhere else?
22:44
SPEAKER_02: Or is it like you gotta be here in Charlotte?
22:48
SPEAKER_02: You do.
22:48
SPEAKER_02: Yes, you do.
22:49
SPEAKER_02: Yes, you do.
22:49
SPEAKER_02: Yes, you do.
22:50
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
22:50
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, okay.
22:51
SPEAKER_03: You got to be here.
22:52
SPEAKER_03: Um uh last year we were we did two weekends.
22:58
SPEAKER_03: This year it's just one weekend, but it's five shows.
23:01
SPEAKER_03: So Wednesday through Sunday.
23:04
SPEAKER_03: So you'll you know, you'll have ample opportunity to catch it within those five days.
23:11
SPEAKER_03: So yeah.
23:12
SPEAKER_02: Okay, okay.
23:13
SPEAKER_03: And where'd you say it was again?
23:15
SPEAKER_03: It'll it'll be at the the building itself is the VAPA Center, the Visual and Performing Arts Center.
23:24
SPEAKER_03: Um the the physical address is 700 North Tryon Street uptown.
23:31
SPEAKER_03: Okay, okay.
23:32
SPEAKER_03: Uh however, the play itself will be performed in Charlotte's off-Broadway's black box theater, which is within uh the Vappa Center.
23:47
SPEAKER_03: And and parking for that, I'm telling all the business, parking for that is at 731 North College Street.
23:58
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
23:58
SPEAKER_02: So it's still not too far from where the actual play is gonna be at.
24:04
SPEAKER_03: No, it's it's it's yeah, it's the same place as last year.
24:07
SPEAKER_03: Right there.
24:08
SPEAKER_02: Okay, okay.
24:09
SPEAKER_02: So you've been acting sick since six since 16.
24:14
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
24:14
SPEAKER_02: Writing since 20.
24:16
SPEAKER_02: Um 20 years.
24:18
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
24:18
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
24:19
SPEAKER_02: 20 years, my bad.
24:20
SPEAKER_02: That's right.
24:20
SPEAKER_02: That's right.
24:21
SPEAKER_02: So you you've done a lot within this time frame.
24:24
SPEAKER_02: You've learned a lot within this time frame.
24:27
SPEAKER_02: Um, you saw the documentary, I am not your negro.
24:32
SPEAKER_02: And that's what has gotten you to this point, right?
24:35
SPEAKER_02: Now, for those that don't know, James Baldwin is making all these statements and doing all these things in a time period where it's like the revolution time, right?
24:50
SPEAKER_02: It's like you said, Dr.
24:52
SPEAKER_02: Martin Luther King, we have um Malcolm X, we have, you know, Muhammad Ali, we have uh all these people that are in a sense shaping the black community, putting things on display that are not normally seen or shown.
25:10
SPEAKER_02: You know, we're we're talking riots, you know, we're talking heavy interaction with the police, and it's nothing different than today, you know, give or take.
25:22
SPEAKER_02: So knowing all of that and then getting inspired from the documentary, what led you to do uh not that question, because you answered that question.
25:34
SPEAKER_02: How has the support been knowing where the time frame lands with uh James Baldwin and the majority of what took place in his life?
25:45
SPEAKER_03: Oh, the support has been tremendous.
25:47
SPEAKER_03: Um you know, I'm still still uh hearing and receiving compliments from people who saw the show last year.
26:00
SPEAKER_03: Um and you know, my my first response is I didn't see you there, you know, but um, but that's okay.
26:08
SPEAKER_03: The fact that they came.
26:09
SPEAKER_03: He's like, well, you know, here there.
26:11
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, this is great.
26:12
SPEAKER_03: Um, well, when you correctly talk about the civil rights era, um not only unfortunately were the riots occurring, but also black expression was fully taking shape.
26:32
SPEAKER_03: Um African Americans had had taken their experiences and basically made it plain not to uh ignore or push aside any other racial group per se.
26:57
SPEAKER_03: But um, you know, when when you just talk about the overt physical experiences that black people, African Americans were going through, you of course had us wearing Afro's, you of course had us wearing African clothing, you of course had us eating African food, you of course had us, you know, shedding the the three-piece suit, if you will, and and abandoning um hair straighteners.
27:34
SPEAKER_03: I mean, uh it you know, it may sound trivial, but but just from the standpoint of hoping to shape our our existence based on what the mainstream culture has set forth versus us as a people bringing forth our own culture and making our own name and making our own decisions and people you know discarding quote unquote their government names and and and taking on names that re properly reflect their culture.
28:18
SPEAKER_03: Um you know, you know, the birth of Kwanzaa, if you will, you know, Dr.
28:24
SPEAKER_03: Malana Karinga, um, people like that.
28:28
SPEAKER_03: And Baldwin, Mr.
28:29
SPEAKER_03: Baldwin was right smack in the middle of that.
28:33
SPEAKER_03: As I said, he had some very influential friends, not only Martin, Malcolm, and Medgar, but also Harry Belafonte.
28:42
SPEAKER_03: And and he was in the actor's studio with Marlon Brando.
28:48
SPEAKER_03: He and Marlon Brando were like this.
28:51
SPEAKER_03: Um uh uh um he went to school with I think Richard Avidon, the noted photographer.
29:04
SPEAKER_03: So, you know, he he he literally was in the right place at the right time.
29:12
SPEAKER_03: And um him leaving this country to to live and to have his work first published while living in Paris, which of course brought him international notoriety, but him realizing that that didn't really do nothing with the for the culture here while he was over there.
29:34
SPEAKER_03: You know, he he came back because he realized he had to do, he had to take part here.
29:39
SPEAKER_03: Um, all of his brilliance, excuse me, and um his greater understanding of who he was as a black man in the world, and as a as uh and as a black gay man in this world, um, you know, of course, his realities would be different from, you know, quote unquote heterosexual people.
30:11
SPEAKER_03: And I don't mean to make it battle of the sexes, but it's just it's just the truth.
30:16
SPEAKER_03: Um you know, you he he became a writer.
30:22
SPEAKER_03: That's what he was drawn to.
30:24
SPEAKER_03: And his writing reflected, again, as you earlier said, um the stances that led to the riots that occurred.
30:37
SPEAKER_03: Um you know, he he clearly understood the the at times, at times, the brutal nature of what the police were doing.
30:48
SPEAKER_03: Some of the police were doing.
30:50
SPEAKER_03: I won't say all of them.
30:50
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but no, because you can't and you shouldn't.
30:55
SPEAKER_03: No.
30:55
SPEAKER_03: But but but, you know, those that did engage in that, he certainly called them out.
31:04
SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, he he he he left the church when he was young.
31:09
SPEAKER_03: He was a uh a young uh preacher, and he left the black church because he saw the inconsistencies of that uh uh in his life, and you know, he he was he was in a real time of formation and exploration and discovery and and acceptance um you know versus the five stages of grief.
31:39
SPEAKER_03: He was experiencing his own areas of ascension and um you know and and taking it all in and not being afraid of any of it.
31:51
SPEAKER_03: And um, you know, the he he his words carried an enormous weight then and they still do now.
32:02
SPEAKER_02: Yes, they do.
32:04
SPEAKER_03: You know, I mean your reaction is is is a perfect example of that.
32:10
SPEAKER_03: So, I mean, you you know, people are still reading um The Fire Next Time and Go Tell It on the Mountain.
32:18
SPEAKER_03: And um one of my favorites, The Devil Finds Work, which you know, he he also was a film critic in and of itself.
32:30
SPEAKER_03: If you read The Devil Finds Work, he has some real interesting uh uh things to say about um certain films.
32:40
SPEAKER_03: Um you know, I I dare say if if he had if he had just would lean into the would have leaned into that by himself, his critiques would have easily made him among you know the those more noted film critics of the time.
33:03
SPEAKER_03: But but but check out the devil finds work.
33:05
SPEAKER_03: It's very interesting, very interesting.
33:08
SPEAKER_03: But again, that that was you know the scope of his work.
33:12
SPEAKER_03: It wasn't just one-sided.
33:14
SPEAKER_03: Um you know, and um, you know, it his life reflected the times, and the times made him reflect on his own work.
33:25
SPEAKER_03: So uh the the the circle the circle closes but is still ongoing.
33:32
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and yeah, and and we're we're all just reflective of that.
33:36
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, he definitely um left his mark in history, yep, still is, and um it says a lot when you can do that.
33:47
SPEAKER_02: I don't think that anything that he said or a lot of um creators or people that are notarized at that time, I don't think that a lot of things were quote unquote done on purpose, if that makes sense, you know, because when you do something, you're in a sense doing it in the moment.
34:06
SPEAKER_02: Right, you know, you might think about the future, but I don't think it's like, hey, let me write this or make this speech to you know withstand the test of time 50, 2000.
34:16
SPEAKER_02: So you have no clue what's gonna happen.
34:18
SPEAKER_02: No, you just know this is on my heart and I gotta get it out.
34:21
SPEAKER_02: That's right, that's right.
34:22
SPEAKER_02: You know, and again, yeah, he's he's got some very bold pieces.
34:27
SPEAKER_02: I've not doubt dove into all of them.
34:30
SPEAKER_02: I've heard about most of them, yeah, but I do know um I Am Not Your Negro still carries weight, just like a lot of other things.
34:38
SPEAKER_03: Well, and just to speak on that, um, the filmmaker Raul Peck, uh he's he's a Haitian-born filmmaker.
34:48
SPEAKER_03: It took him 10 years to get that film made.
34:52
SPEAKER_03: Um, that's a lot of time.
34:55
SPEAKER_03: You know, like you know, like I said, this piece took me eight years.
35:01
SPEAKER_03: That's still time, but you know, a full decade from you know the the seed planted to uh you know finally getting it distributed and at least nominated uh for an Oscar, which I think it should have won, but that's that's my opinion.
35:23
SPEAKER_03: Um or it it you know it it could have won, they they could have split the category because at the time I think the OJ documentary won best documentary.
35:36
SPEAKER_03: Well, they both of them could have won, frankly.
35:38
SPEAKER_03: That's just me.
35:39
SPEAKER_03: Um but but still in all, you know, that that's time.
35:45
SPEAKER_03: And to to to really dig and into and to really learn who Mr.
35:54
SPEAKER_03: Baldwin was and why he was was um, you know, said says a lot.
36:00
SPEAKER_03: And that film, you know, carries its own weight, it will carry its own weight forever.
36:07
SPEAKER_03: Um so we just we're just trying to do it right.
36:11
SPEAKER_03: That's all.
36:12
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
36:13
SPEAKER_02: So we've got five days to see this play.
36:18
SPEAKER_02: Right.
36:19
SPEAKER_02: After that, it might not be back May.
36:23
SPEAKER_02: We'll see.
36:24
SPEAKER_02: We'll see.
36:24
SPEAKER_02: We'll see.
36:25
SPEAKER_02: But we'll say we'll see.
36:27
SPEAKER_02: It is definitely something that people don't want to miss.
36:31
SPEAKER_02: Like you, right?
36:32
SPEAKER_02: Right.
36:33
SPEAKER_03: All right, all right.
36:34
SPEAKER_03: Yes, all right, yes.
36:36
SPEAKER_02: Um put you on the spot.
36:37
SPEAKER_03: That's all right.
36:39
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you did, yeah, you did.
36:40
SPEAKER_02: All right, that's all right.
36:42
SPEAKER_02: So being, you know, a writer, actor, and you know, all of the things that you are, right?
36:48
SPEAKER_02: All the things that you do and the time that it takes to really and fully accomplish, you know, a great work of art, right?
36:58
SPEAKER_02: Um, what seed would you plant to the current and future um writers, actors, playwrights?
37:10
SPEAKER_03: Um don't put yourself in a silo.
37:17
SPEAKER_03: You know, there's I I I I co-wrote a piece for Lee Street Theater in Salisbury years ago.
37:30
SPEAKER_03: And um I I recruited some of my friends in Charlotte, and I met some people in Salisbury.
37:40
SPEAKER_03: It was extraordinary.
37:42
SPEAKER_03: Um, and they didn't know each other.
37:46
SPEAKER_03: You you got your you know, pool of talent here, and you got your pool of talent here.
37:51
SPEAKER_03: Why don't all you just come together?
37:53
SPEAKER_03: And it was incredible.
37:55
SPEAKER_03: Um uh same thing when I had the huge opportunity and and and lovely chance to direct fences, August Wilson's Fences, again for Lee Street.
38:12
SPEAKER_03: Um, and again, bringing talent from Charlotte to Salisbury and seeing Salisbury talents.
38:22
SPEAKER_03: There's some talented people out here, man.
38:25
SPEAKER_03: Oh yeah.
38:26
SPEAKER_03: Oh yeah.
38:27
SPEAKER_03: Um so I say to anybody uh to answer your question, yeah, don't fall into a silo.
38:37
SPEAKER_03: Don't be so cocky that you can't see the forest for the trees.
38:46
SPEAKER_03: Um there's people out here that are talented, there's people out there that want to communicate, there's people out there that are really working their tails off to be the type of artist that they've dreamt of being.
39:03
SPEAKER_03: Um and if you can lend a hand, do it.
39:08
SPEAKER_03: It won't hurt you.
39:10
SPEAKER_03: And there's plenty of time and talent to go around.
39:16
SPEAKER_03: Don't be selfish.
39:18
SPEAKER_03: You know, give, you know, extend that hand, and you'll be surprised who'll extend back.
39:25
SPEAKER_03: So oh yeah, oh yeah.
39:27
SPEAKER_02: Well, shoot.
39:29
SPEAKER_02: Uh, you got anything, Shamar, before we close out.
39:41
SPEAKER_00: I guess he was trying to get to the board.
39:43
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I was trying to get to the board.
39:44
SPEAKER_00: No, it was good information.
39:45
SPEAKER_00: Um, and uh James Baldwin is just uh staple.
39:50
SPEAKER_00: Like I think everyone, you know, at least culturally, um we all have had some impact or, you know, leave with something, you know, that he left.
40:00
SPEAKER_00: So I'm looking forward to it.
40:01
SPEAKER_00: I'm coming to uh the play.
40:02
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna do the matinee, though.
40:04
SPEAKER_00: That's during the day, right?
40:06
SPEAKER_02: Doesn't matter if you just come on up.
40:07
SPEAKER_02: Doesn't matter if you're gonna be able to do that.
40:08
SPEAKER_02: Definitely gonna check it out.
40:09
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
40:10
SPEAKER_02: So this is the space where I open the floor for you to ask me a question, make a statement, give advice or whatever.
40:19
SPEAKER_03: Well, and then gave you some advice, Hint Hint.
40:23
SPEAKER_03: Um, how did you get started in doing this podcast?
40:27
SPEAKER_03: What led you or both of you to do what you're doing now?
40:32
SPEAKER_03: Oh, that's a lie.
40:35
SPEAKER_02: Um, I'll say, long story short, uh you're running a podcast studio.
40:43
SPEAKER_02: You should have a podcast.
40:44
SPEAKER_02: Right.
40:45
SPEAKER_02: That way there's an instant example of the quality that you all can put out from the studio.
40:52
SPEAKER_02: Second, um, just uh a childhood question watching your own TV cribs and lifestyles of the rich and famous shows like that, and it's how did they get there?
41:03
SPEAKER_02: You know, we already see where they made it, but what's the story behind them getting there, you know?
41:08
SPEAKER_02: Um, and I wanted to not just offer that for us, but for other creatives locally and worldwide at this point.
41:19
SPEAKER_02: You know, so it's like let's talk about your story, your journey, you know, because what you say may be the solution to someone else's issues, problems, dilemmas.
41:29
SPEAKER_02: You know, there might be somebody watches, like, you know, where can I pull inspiration from to create a playwright?
41:37
SPEAKER_02: I want to create a playwright, but I don't know where to get started.
41:40
SPEAKER_02: Well, you know, you've given insight information, you know, you're carrying around your script.
41:44
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes you have to take things with you.
41:47
SPEAKER_02: You know, being a don't say nothing, Shaman, because I know you are being a photographer and sitting in the house holding your camera, trying to figure out why it don't work.
41:56
SPEAKER_02: You know, um, video, you know, acting, whatever it is, is we all have a story, we all have a creative journey.
42:05
SPEAKER_02: Let's talk about it because a lot of times, like I said, we only see people on TV.
42:11
SPEAKER_02: We only see people, they've got all these books already written.
42:16
SPEAKER_02: You know, you go to something like Creative Borns, and it's like, like, um, what is that?
42:22
SPEAKER_02: Uh this month, you know, it's like Lindsay went through a lot.
42:26
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, and it you won't know that.
42:28
SPEAKER_02: It was great.
42:29
SPEAKER_02: It was great, you know.
42:30
SPEAKER_02: So you have to you have to let people know your story.
42:35
SPEAKER_02: Everybody's got a story.
42:36
SPEAKER_02: You know, so that's right.
42:38
SPEAKER_02: What's your story?
42:39
SPEAKER_02: How's your journey?
42:40
SPEAKER_02: Uh and I I mean that's me.
42:42
SPEAKER_02: Simplified.
42:44
SPEAKER_02: You from here?
42:45
SPEAKER_02: Born and raised.
42:46
SPEAKER_01: All right, okay.
42:47
SPEAKER_01: You too?
42:48
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
42:48
SPEAKER_01: All right, all right.
42:50
SPEAKER_01: So y'all know.
42:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
42:52
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
42:52
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
42:53
SPEAKER_02: And there's a lot of creatives here.
42:55
SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, that's what I said.
42:56
SPEAKER_02: And yeah.
42:59
SPEAKER_02: You just have to get out and what's the word, insert yourself.
43:04
SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna say just assert yourself, but insert yourself.
43:07
SPEAKER_02: You have to put yourself into these places.
43:10
SPEAKER_02: Like I said at the beginning of the year that I need to start doing more creative events, networking events, whatever it is, regardless if it's um helping solve problems for people by offering our services at the studio or um telling people about the media production company or the event space that we have, um, or you know, finding other people to build as I, you know, do my YouTube stuff, you know.
43:38
SPEAKER_02: You have to be able to put yourself out there because I mean, there are millions of people that are just here.
43:47
SPEAKER_02: You don't see everybody every day.
43:49
SPEAKER_02: You know, there are so many different small towns and cities outside of Charlotte.
43:54
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, you might not ever go to the north side, you might not ever go to the The south side, you know, but there's somebody there that is still gonna meet at this event or that event or here and there.
44:07
SPEAKER_02: And I mean, you know, that that's how we met.
44:10
SPEAKER_03: That's how I that's why I said don't be in a silo.
44:14
SPEAKER_03: Yes, you know, get out and and and and meet people like you said, and and grow.
44:21
SPEAKER_03: And and there's a way of doing that without being like crude or crass, you know.
44:32
SPEAKER_03: Sometimes we still need lessons in that, and I'm gonna leave that alone.
44:37
SPEAKER_03: But um, I'm I'm really leaving that alone, but there's a way of doing it and figuring it out where you can have everybody feel inclusive.
44:50
SPEAKER_03: You know?
44:51
SPEAKER_03: Yes, yeah.
44:53
SPEAKER_03: It's easy, it can be done.
44:54
SPEAKER_03: That's you just just think about it, and you know, you you'll get it done.
45:00
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, sit on it for a while.
45:02
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, don't sit too long.
45:03
SPEAKER_03: No, no, but exactly.
45:04
SPEAKER_03: But sit on it.
45:06
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
45:06
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, let it, you know, marinate and percolate and all that, and you know, it's all on God's timing, so yeah.
45:13
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
45:13
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
45:14
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
45:15
SPEAKER_02: So something that uh something new that I've started doing, um, because as creatives, we go through a lot, we do a lot, we plan.
45:26
SPEAKER_02: I know personally working on documentaries and short films, sometimes you have to attach yourself not just mentally to what was going on, but when you're displaying something, you have to attach yourself to it emotionally.
45:43
SPEAKER_02: Um that being said, my final question is how's your mental?
45:50
SPEAKER_03: Oh, well, God is good.
45:52
SPEAKER_03: I'm good.
45:53
SPEAKER_03: Um I really am.
45:56
SPEAKER_03: I really am.
45:57
SPEAKER_03: I'm grateful to that, really grateful to God.
45:59
SPEAKER_03: I really am.
46:00
SPEAKER_03: Um because there was there was a time when when I when it wasn't, um without going into any specifics.
46:09
SPEAKER_03: Um I'll just leave it the like this.
46:18
SPEAKER_03: If you need therapy, go get it.
46:21
SPEAKER_03: Go get it.
46:24
SPEAKER_03: Nothing, there's nothing wrong with it.
46:26
SPEAKER_03: It will not take away from your manhood, it will not take away from your blackness, it will not take away from from who you are as a woman.
46:35
SPEAKER_03: No, go get therapy.
46:38
SPEAKER_03: It it it it literally helped change my life.
46:43
SPEAKER_03: So, yeah.
46:45
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
46:48
SPEAKER_03: There's no no cr no crime in it, no shame in it.
46:51
SPEAKER_03: No, it shouldn't be.
46:53
SPEAKER_03: And there's no, you're right.
46:54
SPEAKER_03: Exactly right.
46:56
SPEAKER_03: You know, but just know who holds the final key, and um yeah.
47:02
SPEAKER_03: So I'm I'm a much better person as as a result of it.
47:08
SPEAKER_03: So yeah.
47:10
SPEAKER_03: And and real quick, you also like you, you you know, without being too corny, this is your happy place, right?
47:18
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
47:18
SPEAKER_03: So in doing what I do, that's my happy place.
47:21
SPEAKER_03: Once you find that, that's that's you know, just about the whole game right there.
47:28
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
47:29
SPEAKER_03: So yeah, yeah.
47:31
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
47:32
SPEAKER_02: Well, I mean, listen, y'all, that is that's it for this episode.
47:35
SPEAKER_02: Let me do one more of these if you can get a shot.
47:39
SPEAKER_02: Um I'm gonna get the link and I'll put it in the description as well.
47:43
SPEAKER_02: That way people can go from there.
47:45
SPEAKER_02: Uh make sure that they get their tickets.
47:47
SPEAKER_03: And the it tickets are on Eventbrite.
47:50
SPEAKER_03: Um, yes.
47:51
SPEAKER_03: By any other name, an opus for James Baldwin.
47:54
SPEAKER_03: And here it is.
47:55
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
47:56
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
47:57
SPEAKER_02: So listen, y'all, that's all we got for this episode.
48:00
SPEAKER_02: Uh neither of us did it at the top.
48:03
SPEAKER_02: So let me say this.
48:05
SPEAKER_02: Shout out to Allen Lux Studios.
48:07
SPEAKER_02: Shout out to thank us.
48:09
SPEAKER_02: Shout out to Charlotte Podcast Studios.
48:11
SPEAKER_02: I would like to thank us.
48:12
SPEAKER_02: And shout out to ArtBot Charlotte.
48:14
SPEAKER_02: I would like to thank us.
48:16
SPEAKER_02: That's it for this episode, y'all.
48:18
SPEAKER_02: Make sure y'all go get y'all tickets, and we will see y'all in the next episode.
48:21
SPEAKER_02: Peace.
48:22
SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
48:23
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
48:23
SPEAKER_02: Oh, you're welcome, man.
48:25
SPEAKER_02: No problem.