Malcolm-Jamal Warner Wants To Change Stereotypes In ‘Not All Hood’
Societal change often needs to come from the top down before it can really affect a culture. For Black culture in America, that change is so often tied up with the history of race and slavery and perpetuated by endless stereotypes in movies, music, and the like. It can become an endless Gordion knot unless that history is held up to the light and examined alongside how much has been overcome, and how much change is yet to come.
The new show Not All Hood is having those discussions on a weekly basis right now in order to bring a level of nuance and thought to the most pressing issues facing Black people today.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner hosts the show alongside his friend Weusi Baraka and producer Candace O. Kelley and it is available in both audio and video versions.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner was first introduced to the public consciousness as “Theo” in The Cosby Show, and after eight seasons of one of the most beloved shows in television history he earned the love and respect of millions around the globe.
After that program he had a star turn in a show with his name in the title – Malcolm & Eddie, recently was nominated for a Grammy for the spoken word poetry album “Hiding in Plain View”, and has a recurring role in ABC’s 9-1-1.
I was one of those millions who watched the Cosby Show 30 years ago and I was touched to able to connect with Malcolm about this show and even ask him about the legacy he came from.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner: I think we tend to generalize when we’re talking about any ethnic groups and the media tends to focus more on the negative aspects of the black community and that has an effect on how people see us and how the black community see themselves.
You said in that same interview that you feel safe enough to be as vulnerable as you allow yourself to be and listening to your new album, “Hiding in Plain View”, I couldn’t help but feel that it was a similar theme,
MJM: I’m pretty transparent, especially in my lines of poetry but with this podcast, my thoughts aren’t filtered right? There’s no rehearsal, there’s no editing my thoughts in the same way. In fact, I may have some ideas, thoughts, and expressions that may not necessarily vibe with everyone and I don’t expect them to. I think that’s the whole point of Not All Hood, that it’s a space where we can acknowledge the various thought processes of those of us in the Black community.
I want to ask you about the larger themes of the show like, for instance, mental health and how it’s perceived in the Black community.
MJM: I think in general, it’s a difficult conversation to have and needing to go see a therapist can have a negative connotation. I think for so long we have kept things to ourselves for a number of reasons like this thing of “don’t air your dirty laundry in public,” and “what happens in our home stays in our home.” So culturally going to see a therapist means that “something must be wrong with me”
I’m thinking of lyrics to your poem “Hiding in Plain View” where you said “Black boys boast bravado not to seem broken and often so do Black men.” Changing topics, can you talk about how you came up with the idea for the show with your co-host and old friend Weusi Baraka?
MJM: Weusi and I both have daughters and we were in a truck talking about older dad experiences and after talking a while we were like “oh man this would be a really cool podcast.” So when we brought on Candace as a producer we realized together that we should broaden the topic because there’s so much ground we can cover by looking at all the different aspects of the Black experience, even parts that we may not agree or vibe with.
Another thing I wanted to ask you about was in that same People Magazine article where you said your ultimate hope is that these conversations will help combat the black narrative often covered by the media. Why do you think the media persists in showing this black ghetto portrayal so often?
MJM: Because it continues the narrative that has been created from the very beginning, and I think conditioning plays a large part in people’s journey. If you focus on the survival skills aspect of a community, then young people go through life feeling that they always have to be on edge, and if the focus is just day to day survival, it doesn’t leave a lot of bandwidth to think about your future, right? Believing that stifles growth and we live in a society that depends on limited thought and limited exposure needing more workers than thinkers.
Now I’m thinking back to watching early Dave Chappelle joke about this phenomenon telling kids “you’re trapped! You better learn to rap or pick up a basketball.” Now you’re someone who wants to change that thinking. In Not All Hood, you say that you have been replacing the use of the “n” word (yes that’s how he refers to it on the show) with the word “comrade”. How much success have you had getting people to say that?
MJM: Actually in my circle, a little bit more success than I thought. I think it first starts out as a lighthearted joke. People say “comrade” and they think about it and it seems to take hold, especially when they’re looking to express love to their fellow person. It makes more sense to find a more loving word than a word that was created as a derogatory term.
Now in the show Candace talked about the need to move on from the N word, but also not to forget about it. How do you think this can be done?
MJM: Just as it’s possible to move on from the Jewish Holocaust or the African Holocaust (better known known as the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade), without forgetting about them, it’s possible to move on from the N-word without forgetting about it. I just don’t believe that we need to continue to use the term to reference ourselves as a way to “not forget.” What’s the sense in our proudly using the word to describe ourselves for the world to hear and then getting offended when others use the word?
And I don’t think that will be the last time we discuss it. The thing I think that’s important to note is that this podcast is not about the 3 of us always agreeing. It’s a safe space to express ourselves. It’s far more interesting to experience people who respect each other immensely, but have a difference of opinion. The respect factor forces us to spend a bit more time looking to understand a perspective we may otherwise simply brush off
You have been fortunate enough to pick up these valuable life lessons along the way, both from your parents and obviously from being on the most famous sitcoms of the eighties that was packed with life lessons. I know that association is now tainted in many people’s minds, but I still think you come from a very strong legacy with that program.
MJM: Oh yeah, man. That’s an experience that I will forever be proud of and it honestly really helped shape a lot of the way I see the world and the way I carry myself. It’s not just that I was on this insanely popular tv show, but that it had such an impact on Black America and I’ve always carried that understanding with me. I think that’s why I tend to be as vocal as I’ve always been about my experiences and about how I feel about Black culture. And since then I’ve come to realize that my perspective is often different and can sometimes fly in the face of conditional thinking. But we need to see different perspectives and that’s one of the most important things about Not All Hood.
