Latest / Black Fridays: Business Growth for Entrepreneurs, Creators & Professionals / Black Fridays Special: David Alan Grier on Detroit, Mentorship, and Purpose w/ David Alan Grier

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Black Fridays Special: David Alan Grier on Detroit, Mentorship, and Purpose w/ David Alan Grier · Black Fridays: Business Growth for Entrepreneurs, Creators & Professionals

• 0:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: What up, though, Black Friday family.
• 0:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: We are here at the Midnight Golf 25-year celebration, and I'm standing here with the legendary actor, comedian, and most importantly, casting mission and detrator, Mr. David Allen Greer, how you doing today.
• 0:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm fabulous man, I'm fabulous.
• 0:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now let me ask you a question, did you go past?
• 0:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: I did.
• 0:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: You all right, yeah.
• 0:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, right, no, that's the right answer.
• 0:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe conventional, that's high school in the country.
• 0:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, sir.
• 0:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I had the pleasure.
• 0:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going back to see talk to the kids at Cas couple times in the new building.
• 0:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I was so impressed with
• 0:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: the students and they performed for me and talking to them and it was really a joy and it was really a very special day.
• 0:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I loved them.
• 0:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.
• 0:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: And so I would love to know we're here at the Midnight Golf 25 years celebration.
• 0:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 0:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: First I got to ask you how your beef game.
• 0:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's terrible.
• 0:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not gonna lie.
• 0:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
• 0:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's terrible.
• 0:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
• 0:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: You put me on that
• 1:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: I might take some damage.
• 1:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, but but big boy golf, I can't.
• 1:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I can't do that.
• 1:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, fair enough.
• 1:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: There was a respect.
• 1:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 1:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: What was your first impression of the college career beyond midnight golf when you first heard about the organization?
• 1:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know what?
• 1:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: A friend of mine.
• 1:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: She approached me who I knew from University of Michigan.
• 1:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: And once she talked to me about the program,
• 1:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: and it's goals and achieved.
• 1:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: When something's easy, yes, it's really awesome to me.
• 1:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: What I can use my celebrity, my craft, what I do for a worthy cause, plus it's in Detroit, and that's an even more special bonus.
• 1:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: I wish my mom were here.
• 1:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: to see this because she's a school teacher.
• 1:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: My dad went to University of Michigan.
• 1:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: I attended University of Michigan.
• 1:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: So we Michigan's strong.
• 1:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: I went to Michigan too.
• 1:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: Boom, hey, I got caught up.
• 1:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you go.
• 1:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's what I was talking about.
• 1:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I had so much fun.
• 1:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: I used to go up to Michigan with my dad and Ann Arbor, the family, and we go to the museum up there.
• 2:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: And so I just,
• 2:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: I loved it here.
• 2:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: I loved it here.
• 2:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's a great place to be from.
• 2:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.
• 2:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: And one more thing in terms of the program is heavily influenced by people who dedicate their time to mentor the students.
• 2:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: I would love to know who has been somebody that was like a mentor to you, either during that time you were at cast at Michigan or in life in general.
• 2:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I'm going to give you a couple of people.
• 2:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: There is a teacher.
• 2:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: I had in
• 2:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was a black teacher named Mr. Henderson.
• 2:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now the reason why we love Mr. Henderson, he wore sharp suits.
• 2:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: Mr. Henderson was a sharp dresser.
• 2:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: I lost contact with them years ago, but he was one of those guys.
• 2:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: He had a after school science program, and I used to stay after with a group of other kids, and he was just, he made learning cool.
• 2:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 2:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: So he was,
• 2:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: He wasn't a nerd man, and he really influenced me, man, loved him, had so many mentors.
• 3:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: Vaughan Washington is a mentor of mine who he taught theater.
• 3:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: at the University of Michigan when I first started and he, uh, he was a great influence and, uh, I really appreciate him.
• 3:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think Vaughan was from Kalamazoo or something.
• 3:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 3:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was getting his doctorate at the University of Michigan back in the 70s.
• 3:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
• 3:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: When I was, they shot to all the black doctors out there.
• 3:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, sir.
• 3:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: Especially those mentors and then do you take time to mentor younger people or people
• 3:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I try to as much as I can go back to my alma mater.
• 3:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: I've gone back to Michigan a couple of times to talk to the kids and do master class.
• 3:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mentioned I've gone back to my high school and also now with social media.
• 4:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: young people reach out to me, and I try to give them some advice, man, you know, stay in there, people I meet, you know, along the way, and during my day, I drive to, man, because, you know, those little things, they don't seem like a lot.
• 4:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: to us, but as a kid, man, that meant everything, just as we acknowledge, just to have an older person say, I see you, I'm a look for you, I think you can make it.
• 4:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: So it doesn't take much to be a positive influence.
• 4:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I heard everyone do what they can.
• 4:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it makes a world a difference.
• 4:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: A matter of blakes.
• 4:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 4:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: You're a master of ceremonies for tonight.
• 4:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: You have, if you could give one encouraging word to the young people who are in the program right now, what would that word be for them to be able to pursue their dreams and passions in the future?
• 4:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: Watch out for something, you know.
• 4:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: They're going to be rough days, they're going to be periods of time where you feel like you're not moving fast enough, you're not getting far enough, but you just blink your eyes and keep working and before you know it, you're beyond where you thought you would be, you know, I know for me that's happened, but you know, when we're young, we're impatient,
• 5:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: And just use all that energy, that drive, and one step at a time, one day at a time, keep pushing.
• 5:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 5:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: We need you.
• 5:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 5:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 5:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: Most definitely.
• 5:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: Well, thank you so much, Mr. Greer, and I hope you enjoyed the rest of the time in the city and also at the evening at the event tonight.
• 5:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, sir.
• 5:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Cast, tech, baby, tech, go, Blue.
• 5:34
  [UNKNOWN]: Right?
• 5:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: It.