tv United Shades of America CNN June 17, 2018 10:00pm-11:00pm PDT
10:00 pm
look at this gorgeous day on this amazing beach. where are we? we are on the sun kissed shores of orange beach alabama. on this episode of united shades we're in the south. and we'll talk about some things you probably know about the south, confederate flags, hurricanes. getting windy right now. we are talking about things you don't know about the south. alabama has beaches like this. alabama is the original home of mardi gras. sit become and enjoy the show. i think you need more sun block.
10:01 pm
i don't need any. i was born with mine. >> i literally woke up like this. >> my name is w. kamau bell. as a comedian, i've made a living finding humor in the parts of america i don't understand. and now i'm challenging myself to dig deeper. i'm on a mission to reach out and experience all the cultures and believes that add color to this crazy country. this is the united shades of america. so for the first two sundays of this show i might have mentioned live in the bay area. >> i come from berkeley california. i live in the bay area. >> the bay area.
10:02 pm
>> berkeley. >> berkeley. >> berkeley berkeley. >> i live in berkeley where people have pants free days. >> dispute how many times i say it it's not entirely true. i'm o i'm also from palo alto, boston, as we all learned last season, chicago. but also sort of from alabama. kamau, how can a lefty liberal snow flake k leader be from alabama? because i am. and this episode is all about the stereotypes and the realities of alabama. and when i say alabama, i specifically mean mobile. now you'll notice i didn't pronounce it like a cell phone. mobile is the way i best justin timberlake proposed to jessica. girl, i want some mobile. >> now i want to hit to the streets to see what the locals think about mobile. >> can you explain mobile to me. >> no. >> that's how i feel about mobile too. >> people outside of the south think all the south is the same. like they think south carolina and mobile alabama. >> no, no the way people talk is the biggest difference. >> what's the difference how they talk. >> well where i'm at it's red
10:03 pm
neck country. >> all right. all right. >> and here it's kind of don't know how to say this without. >> just say it. >> kind of uppity country. >> uppity. >> i like that uppity country i know what you mean. that's -- i think people outside here would not realize there is lo brow and uppity country. >> there is a big difference. >> there is a big difference. >> i will say i've had the best bowl of shrimp appear grits near mobile. >> near here. >> down the street at mama. >> just say the word. i'll see you later you guys do rock paper scissors. who hosts the show. excuse me i got to get shrimp and zblits our realize our country has a democraticed relationship with alabama first of all this is this. >> i say segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever. >> and we came way too close to senator this.
10:04 pm
>> all right let's break it down a total of nine women have come forward with allegations of overtourns by roy moore. >> here is the breaking news this hour. cnn projects doug jones has won the special senate race in alabama. >> but that election proves a point about alabama. no one thought doug jones would win. no one except for charles barkley and his fellow alabamaens. i see you black women. and if people were paying attention. that they'd have known a few months before randall woodfin was elected, the first progressive mayor in its history. sometimes charles barkley knows what he is talking about. it's a confusing world. but let's start from the beginning, my beginning. so this is the house that i grew up in. spent a lot of time here, lived here a couple years where my dad and step mom lived and step sister.
10:05 pm
spent a lot of time here. cutting this grass. as you can see i did a great job. it's still cut. my dad likes to remind me that i blew up two lawn mowers. all this grass because i didn't put enough oil in them. is that right, dad? that's right. >> come here. so you still -- you still upset about the lawn mowers. >> you owe me a couple of lawn mowers. >> that's my dad. he is so much better looking than me. but we're spending a lot of quality time with him. but first, i have some unfinished business with the city of mobile. >> this is the mobile public library. i used to come here all the time as a kid. the house i grew up is near here. need to come back today becaused i've had this book out of the mobile public library over 30 years. it's probably time take it back.
10:06 pm
hi. >> hi. >> good. i'm returning a book. >> okay. >> i took it out in 1986. >> are you serious. >> my dad got mad and returning a book late and got a notice in the house and i got afraid to return the book. >> oh, my goodness. it's just $10. >> the book $10. >> i need you. >> got to call in the back up. it's a cold case. >> walter bell. i think that's what my library card was under. >> this is out of the system. >> every time i visit my dad i see that book. all the kids who didn't become comic book artists because i stole that book. how about this does the library take donations.
10:07 pm
>> yeah we do. >> can i donate money to the library. >> we'd never say no. >> how about i donate $1,000 to the mobile public library to make up for that book. >> a thousand dollars? should we hold out for two? >> i think i waited all that time and i could have just kept the become. but i relief this library. because they have all the best books. >> man. off air two years suddenly his book is below mine. show biz is not nice. ancestrydna told my dad he comes from the southern coast of ireland. i think it's why we've been doing this...forever. my dad has roots in the mountains of northern mexico.
10:08 pm
home to the strongest runners in the universe. my dad's ancestors were african bantu. i bet they told the most amazing stories. with twice the detail of other tests... ...ancestrydna can show dad where he's from- and strengthen the bonds you share. it's only $69. give it to dad for father's day. totally re-mixed. [ music: "bygones" by oliver ] introducing the all-new volkswagen jetta. we have a mission: to help hand everyone a better world. that's why we, at the coca-cola company, make shore breaks with actual coconuts.
10:09 pm
tea, organically. treats for celebrations. water with added minerals for taste. dear future us, that's why we're striving to do good. and help our communities get the education they deserve. we're doing this today... ...so you can do even more. the coca-cola company ...so you can do even more. we're listening to what matters most to you. and we're committed to improving every ride. starting with features designed to make it easy for your driver to find you...
10:10 pm
taking the stress out of pickups. ♪ we're putting safety at the heart of everything we do... by making it easy to verify your car, and driver. uber has new leadership, a new vision, and is moving in a new direction... forward rewards me basicallyaptain everywhere i stay.bvious and hotels.com so why am i stomping grapes with aerobics enthusiasts near this b&b? or doing goat yoga at this mountain resort? or treating a destination wedding to the sweet sound of pug bongos? because hotels.com lets me do me. where my dogs at? oh, here they are. hotels.com. you do you and get rewarded. take it away henry.
10:11 pm
come on kids, let's destroy more stereotypes. even though mobile isn't a major city. i'm far from its most accomplished person. there are five baseball hall of famers including the home running king, hanke aaron. i said it barry. . it was important to for me to talk about mobile when i wrote my book. which meant talking about my dad, walter bell. when it came out there was a bill article in the local paper. and this being a small town while we were shooting the reporter who interviewed us happened to be walking by. >> jb. jared b.b. boyd. >> it's not a plan i just happened to be walking around. >> this is why we are here right
10:12 pm
now. >> what was it like to interview my dad. >> for me, inspiring to see a black man in this area seemed to have achieved that much. he was like how you described him in the book, stern, serious, seemed disappointed when he saw me pull up. >> that sounds like my dad. >> i was an entertainment reporter. i was dressed down. i went looking. >> i should have told you put on the hard bottoms and button down. >> he was very candid and that made the best parts of the story. we know you. >> all right, yeah. everybody in alabama knows me. >> you mentioned sweet things. he mentioned how god it made him feel to be at the grocery store. and to see now we are it's great. >> good to use man. >> good to see you as well. >> my career is doing okay by most measures but my dad's a more impressive. >> he was the insurance commissioner for alabama which
10:13 pm
made him the highest ranking black person in alabama. he was the first alabamaen to become the president of the national association of insurance commissioners. he has met with multiple presidents, clinton, obama, nope. but before all of that he was a struggling artist in the bay area. well that's where i got that from. but his life started in a shack in fredden berg, alabama, 1007 miles outside of mobile. a population of 312. the shack is on land that my family owns right off of don't get too impressed, bell road. it seems funny to have all this land but it's so far away. >> not the end of the earth but. >> on its way towards it. >> so there it is. >> yup. this is where i was born. and this is the house actually your grandfather built. it's now a hunting camp so it doesn't resemble what it looked like. most of my brothers and sisters
10:14 pm
were born here from '27 on. my dad used to walk six miles towork and six miles home and 90 cents day. working in a sawmill not like what you do. >> leave it to my dad to roast me on my tv show. >> mobile was the wig city. >> it was the wig city. you either went to mobile, montgomery or birmingham. my dad went south. >> why did they pick mobile? >> work. >> during the war years my grandfather with 90,000 others moved to alabama forwork. they had a port and it was perfect for manufacturing. there was so many jobs the south couldn't afford to be racist so they hired everybody. 20% of the rural black population flocked. it was an opportunity to increase their income in the first time since the
10:15 pm
emancipation pro clamgs. >> such a way way to go from that sous to where you have come. it's not the distance it's the journey. >> can you be born anywhere and end up anywhere. >> i feel like somehow this house somehow is connected to why you were so mad at me when i dropped out of college. >> well, it might have had a little bit to do with it. >> do you know where we came from so you could go to ivy league school. and you going to drop out for comedy? >> right. >> you know the family has been here since slavery days. and we started our own cemetery. and so this is francis here who was born in 1844. but had eight kids by a slave
10:16 pm
master by the name of dockery. that's kind of where the family started from. >> so how come our name isn't dockery. >> well, because, you know, they didn't give the names always of the slave master. >> yeah. >> i'm sure he had a wife. >> oh, yeah. well, yeah, that. >> you know what i mean. >> yeah, yeah. >> yeah. >> and so right here francis, she was enslaved. >> right. >> her son born five years out of slavery. then her son has your father. >> right. >> you -- it's not like we're that far from here. >> if you want to know why we can't get over slavery because it's just simple graphic to get from me back to slavery. >> it's a very sobering thought. >> what do you think your dad would think about you? >> well, you know, he was a
10:17 pm
union guy. i mean, bled union blood. for me to work for a republican governor, he probably would have had a few things to say about that. >> i didn't think of it like that. >> yeah. >> i was thinking of your accomplishments and he would have said working for the republican governor, i thought i raised you better than that. >> yeah, i know. out of titanium, aluminum, and high tensile steel. hand-built by masters, scrutinized by experts, and tested... ...relentlessly. the lexus high performance line. experience exhilaration crafted to the extreme. experience amazing at your lexus dealer.
10:18 pm
stella artois. voila! pockets. enjoy! why let life....keep you from enjoying life... ♪ ♪ because they'll never get a second chance to see their first concert. early ticket access to thousands of shows every year. another way we have your back. the powerful backing of american express. don't live life without it.
10:19 pm
10:20 pm
i'm a small business, but i have... big dreams... and big plans. so how do i make the efforts of 8 employees... feel like 50? how can i share new plans virtually? how can i download an e-file? virtual tours? zip-file? really big files? in seconds, not minutes... just like that. like everything... the answer is simple. i'll do what i've always done... dream more, dream faster, and above all... now, i'll dream gig. now more businesses, in more places, can afford to dream gig. comcast, building america's largest gig-speed network. getting people to take a
10:21 pm
vacation to a beach is usually no problem, unless you tell them where they are rebooting jersey shore or in alabama. that's right, the beaches of alabama. i get it right now you're like kamau, you're in the south where is the right nationalists? aren't you going to another clan rally. there has to be of an interview about confederate flags. >> this is the south i know and love and the south people need to see and i've sworn off nationalists. and we'll talk about confederate flags later. don't worry. until then, time to relax. orange beach, alabama, is beautiful. and if someone said it's miami no one would bet nye unless you've been to miami. but hardship transformed it to what it is today. >> it's change since i was a
10:22 pm
kid. didn't have all the huge sky scrapers. used to be tiny motels and inns. >> yup. in 1979 when hurricane frederick came along that was the time when it was just beach houses down here. >> yeah. hurricane frederick destroyed 80% of the buildings on the alabama coastline. and orange beach was change forever. becoming the resort town it is today. down here hurricanes are part of live. as the climate changes things aren't getting better. on the day we visited hurricane nate was on the horizon. one of 17 hurricanes in 2017 alone. >> right now, this wind and the way the water is this is the sign there is a hurricane headed this direction. >> yeah, the gulf is only like this when there is a storm coming in. >> but these people are saying
10:23 pm
my vacation is today. i planned this months ago. >> right. >> i can't lose my vacation day because of hurricanes on the way. >> there is some global warming occurring. that has an effect in terms of warming bodies of oceans, in terms of what's going on in the atmosphere. climate change is a real deal. the scientists say that it is. >> yeah. >> and it's undeniable. >> yup, another southern stereotype did he bunked p. an older church going man believes in climate change. >> this is a little slice of paradise. >> and i agree with you. it makes me laugh to think there is people watching going alabama, a little slice of paradise? >> propaganda finally got to it. >> shae's been bamboozled, hood winked was run amok. this is what he does. >> writing the book made me think about the piece of my life and made me who i am. >> right. >> ends what it meant to be me in ways i hadn't thought through. after the election there was so much about divides, so much
10:24 pm
written about red state versus blue state. there was a lot of stuff in the media, the people representing the south say things horrible i don't agree with. >> right. >> and there is the general outside of the south view of the south. and people don't know what they're talking about. >> sure. >> i want to tell my truth of alabama. another part of my truth about alabama includes mardi gras. ready to have your mind blown. mobile is the birth place of mardi gras not new orleans. now new orleans has put their own superdrunk and naked spin on it. but if you are looking for family friendly, come to the original in mobile alabama. l craig roberts is a mobile historian, architect and author
10:25 pm
of the book mardi gras and mobile. we're meeting in the famous mardi gras park, a place i never heard of until today. >> just to be clear -- there was some controversy about this. but i say mardi gras started in mobile. >> there is no controversy. it's a simple fact of history. they first settled in 1702 and the first marty debra it was in 1703. and new orleans followed in 1718 and rio 11 years after that. >> take that new orleans. mardi gras and mobile is definitely one of the ways i'm giving my daughter some southern education. look, a picture of my oldest daughter at last year's parade. isn't she cute. takes after her mom.
10:26 pm
>> everybody heard of new orleans mardi gras but since we're 16 biggest we don't get any respect because we have so much to show off and we're so proud of everything. but yet the tourists who come to visit say we had no idea, especially with mardi gras. our parade has gone 17 days and almost every night and all night long the last three days. >> who is this. >> that is one of the mini kings. >> this is the symbolize the kings and queens of mardi gras. >> that's exactly right. >> yeah. >> and there is a lot of them. >> like a lot of statues in the south this is of a black guy. >> oh, yeah. and we're also proud, you know we don't have a statue of robert e. lee but to the two men leaders of african-american and white community in the 1960s that took us through the civil rights period with love and understanding. and you didn't hear about mobile alabama during the civil rights period because of those two men. and that's our big 30-foot tall bronze statue. >> so much about mobile i didn't know.
10:27 pm
and i thought i was from here. >> that's right. >> announcer: united shades of america, brought to you by red lobster. . red lobster's lobster & shrimp summerfest is back! get all the lobster and shrimp you crave, together in so many new ways. there's new cedar plank seafood bake. tender maine lobster and shrimp, cedar roasted to perfection. or new caribbean lobster and shrimp. sweet pineapple salsa on grilled rock lobster, paired with jumbo coconut shrimp. and wait. there's lobster & shrimp overboard! it's a seafood party on a plate. so hurry in. 'cause lobster & shrimp summerfest won't last.
10:28 pm
and we got to know the friends of our friends.r the friends. and we found others just like us. and just like that we felt a little less alone. but then something happened. we had to deal with spam, fake news, and data misuse. that's going to change. from now on, facebook will do more to keep you safe and protect your privacy. because when this place does what it was built for, then we all get a little closer. ♪ most people come to la with big dreams. ♪ we came with big appetites. with expedia, you could book a flight, hotel, car, and activity all in one place. ♪
10:31 pm
rosy picture of the south. with you we all know there is another side. just like brett michaels said, every rose has its thorn zplo naturally the south has a negative reputation. what do you think about that reputation compared of what it is to live here. >> i think there is lots of amazing people down here. but some of it has been earned. because of its history. >> um-hum. >> they haven't done a great job at justice or inclusion. >> it gets kind of complicated sometimes. >> for many southern white folks the southeast history of racism is difficult to discuss. mostly because it ain't all history. >> one georgia town is struggling with racism after ending a tradition of segregated proms. >> take it down. >> but part of the southern traditions are the symbols of the confederacy. symbols so potent they still have the power to divide a country. then there are these dies, using discount stores tiki torches and symbols to further an agenda of hate and exclusion. while white people are all over the map on the confederate flag.
10:32 pm
most black people fall squarely on one side of this issue. notice i said most. >> it's incumbent upon all of us to don't let them take it down. do not let them. >> meet arlene barnum. >> the color of my black skin is a zut to take down everything the confederate. >> can't let them do it. >> you knew i'd get here eventually. by here i mean south carolina. >> i'm here on a mission. >> what's the mission. >> the mission is to get the blacks represented in the confederate mumz in columbia throughout my travel throughout my south. i noticed that there were no black statue. i got to ask where are the black statues. >> we got it storage. i said then give them their freedom. put them on the floor. >> yeah.
10:33 pm
so first of all, this conversation has gone directions i was not expect sfwloog i'm sorry. >> no that's good. i'm saying i didn't know what to expect. you hear a black woman. >> you expected to hear heritage not hate, huh. >> the slowing and heritage not hate isn't something you would have heard in the ken burns docp this slogan warranty popular until the 1990s. >> this confederate flag in my black hand is representing the same as in a klansman hand. it represent two totally different things. >> let's start there. when the confederate flag is the hand of a klansman what does it represent. >> white supremacy. >> what does it mean in your hands? >> the south. i mean this means the south. and anything that belongs to the south. >> we both know that that symbol causes a lot of people pain who
10:34 pm
live in the south. >> i don't think it cause people pain at the time that this confederate battle flag was put out there. >> you don't think it caused black people flag to see the flag. >> eventually in the hands the of the wrong people when it was first made it didn't. it was just a design. >> here is the thing. this is america. we all have the freedom of expression, free speech. i support that 100,000%. if you want to carry that i'm happy. the thing a lot are hung up and i'm one of them when you see the statues in public spaces that are celebrating a part of america's history divisive and violent, and for the subju gas station of black people that doesn't seem right. i feel like a slave owner. >> um-hum. >> should probably be one of the disqualifying things to have a statue. >> i'm not down for haeg history down.
10:35 pm
any time you try to forget history, history is going to repeat. but you want him to stay there so you can show people, that man right here caused slavery to be pro . and i just wa to walk through the park with my daughters and go see that woman right here, that statue is oprah wintry one of the greatest people in the history of mankind. >> you a. >> that's what i mean. >> don't you think a person needs to be dead to get a statue. >> i think she gets a statue shez she's done enough. >> really? oh, god. >> here is my show. here is what the statue might look like. one thing we have shone is if you want civil rights you need to use lots of ways to get there boycotts, sit-ins, but in 2015 bree news om came one a new way. >> artist and active it bree newsome scaled the 30-foot flag pole in front of the south
10:36 pm
carolina state house. they should add that event to woke american ninja warrior. >> i hadn't heard of you before you went and climbed up the flag pole and took the flag down opinion. and there was a moment who was this person where did she come from? we have another superhero? what was that like from your side. >> the main focus wagon lowering the flag. that was the primary objective. >> you thought how do we get up and take it down. there was no thought about what then happens. >> we thought about getting arrested because with he knew that was going to happen. beyond that, we were just so focused because it was just this moment of, like a moral crisis. >> in 2015 two events that happened in south carolina inspired bree to take action. the first was the killing of walter scott shot 5 times in the back by a white police officer after a routine traffic stop. next was the assassination of nine parishioners at the
10:37 pm
emmanuel ame church by white supremacist dylan roof. >> the massacre that happened in mother emmanuel was a sparking point for the flag coming down. but the massacre also can't be separated from the killing of walter skos are scott. the pastor at mother emmanuel was a state representative who seven days prior to being murdered by a white supremacist in his church succeeded in getting body camera legislation passed. it's important to understand this is part of a long history. >> um-hum. >> a long history of attacks on black churches, attacks on civil rights leaders. and it can't be disconnected from that time line. and there is often times an contaminant to you know talk about these things that are happening as though they are separate from everything that has preceded it, you know. >> as it if history is a series of dots and dashes. >> absolutely.
10:38 pm
>> not a long line. >> absolutely. it was just a reminder we can still be targeted and murdered for this work, for. >> yes. >> for civil rights. racial equality. >> yes the sad part is that it doesn't feel like the loss of the people has made the nation confront any of the issues that led to the loss of those people. >> that was part of what was so infuturing about the confederate flag debate, that more energy in the aftermath centered on the debate of whether they would lower the flag to half staff. instead of conversation centering on, my goodness, look at this horrific act this young white man in his early 20s goes into a black church, murders, you know, elderly black people while praying. what are the conditions that led to that, the nine black lives cannot compete with the confederate flag. >> yeah.
10:39 pm
>> now the tide shifted on that issue now folks say let's just talk about the monuments let's just a sec just talk about the monuments and taking the monuments down and pat ourselves ones back and go home. the systemic issues are not being talked about. >> what's basically still the truth in america. >> absolute. >> we are still living under institutionalized racism but you don't take it down. even those of us who agree with everything i'm sitting here, yeah, yeah. yeah i think i need to take this down right now. all fired up. >> let's get bail set up first because that would get you arrest zplood you're probably right. well thank you. >> absolutely. >> announcer: united shades of america, brought to you by progressive. drivers who switch to progressive can save an average of $668. arking job" goes to... [ drum roll ] ...emily lapier from ames, iowa. this is emily's third nomination and first win. um...so, just...wow! um, first of all, to my fellow nominees, it is an honor sharing the road with you. and of course, to the progressive snapshot app for giving good drivers the discounts -- no, i have to say it -- for giving good drivers the discounts they deserve.
10:40 pm
safe driving! for giving good drivers the discounts they deserve. introducing the all-new volkswagen jetta with app-connect and available beats audio. we have a mission: to help hand everyone a better world. that's why we, at the coca-cola company, make shore breaks with actual coconuts. tea, organically. treats for celebrations. water with added minerals for taste. dear future us, that's why we're striving to do good. and help our communities get the education they deserve. we're doing this today... ...so you can do even more.
10:41 pm
the coca-cola company and we're committed to improving every ride.t to you ...so you can do even more. starting with features designed to make it easy for your driver to find you. taking the stress out of pickups. and we're putting safety at the heart of everything we do. with a single tap, we're giving you new ways to let loved ones know you're on your way. uber has new leadership, a new vision and is moving in a new direction... forward.
10:42 pm
rewards me basicallyaptain everywhere i stay.bvious and hotels.com so why am i stomping grapes with aerobics enthusiasts near this b&b? or doing goat yoga at this mountain resort? or treating a destination wedding to the sweet sound of pug bongos? because hotels.com lets me do me. where my dogs at? oh, here they are. hotels.com. you do you and get rewarded. take it away henry. coming back into mobile
10:43 pm
after stopping by south carolina and witnessing two totally different takes on confederacy issues, more than ever i wonder, why do we all insist on this two dimensional view of the south. >> what do you think the south could do better. >> the south could market itself better. >> we're educated people. i think that's, you know the, hillbilly, southern no shoes on, that could be uplifted a little more. >> you bet it could. so let's talk about educated world beaters just from alabama. civil rights leaders like parks and king. and i don't mean martin. i'm talking kor eta. tim cook. e.o. wilson and harper lee. the soug has no shortage of brilliant people and i haven't even left alabama for the list. i don't need to go outside much my family to find someone. and for once i ain't talking about me. >> it's one of the great joys of
10:44 pm
my life when people fans of your work and are fans of my work. >> every other day, wait, you're related. >> cousins, real cousins, blood line, yeah. >> to me, this is my cousin nora. to the rest of the world this is n.k. genesee a fantasy author with legions of fans. he has won two hugo awards pb an award won by isaac asimov. . but she is the first black author to win one and only the third person of any race to win them back to back. >> thanks for come back to mobile for me. >> i only came because you asked. >> you thought i need to get out of here. you weren't say going a lot. but the feeling was that this was not -- even down to the fact that somehow you don't have a
10:45 pm
southern accent. i feel you sort of acted like i'm not taking that on. you grew up here. lived here. you weren't coming back and forth that much. >> i wasn't chafing to go. it was more like i needed to be somewhere that felt like me. new york felt more like me but not 100%. mobile is always a part of me whether i want it to be or not. and since family is here i'm always coming back. >> you grew up here and lived here more than i did. but you also had the dad's in new york. >> the summer. >> you were doing the opposite what i was doing. >> for a few years, yeah, we were swapping places which was frustrating because you were the only person i could talk to about comic books and latest
10:46 pm
geeky tv show. >> yeah. >> we were such nerds. but 80s weird city to be a nerd in. >> especially a black nerd. as a writer your job is to create literally fantastic worlds and fantastic images. >> yeah. >> how much of that if any of that was informed by growing up here? >> a lot. >> yeah flew i'm writing in fantastic worlds but still writing about people, rarldless of the planet they're on. and that systems and networks of protection and networks of harm. and you know, also to make the worlds realistic is to explore the whiches oppression works. this is a town that's got a long and bloody history, and also a beautiful history. people banned together to kind of form, found families, or even to use blood families to try and make themselves safe in an unsafe world. and i hadn't realized how much of it i absorbed just from living here. it's in me. >> yeah. >> it's in me. there. whether i acknowledge it or not. and i troo i to acknowledge things. i'm renegotiating my relationship with mobile. and remembering how it started helps.
10:47 pm
>> i'm really happy we were able to talk. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> my time in mobile is a lot of us centered around us and being at grandma's house. >> yeah. yeah. it's hard to see her house boarded up. and it's hard to see all these old places changed. >> this is all good. >> and are you good. >> yup, speeding. >> where are we? >> give me a second. this was my grandmother's house. it's -- she died years ago, when i was in my early 20s, probably 20 years ago. i spent a lot of time in that house. i lived in that house every summer.
10:48 pm
when i moved here for a little bit i lived in here. well, my dad lived in the front. my grandmother's room was in the back. my room was right on this side here, looking across there. one of the big reasons that me and my wife decided to move back to the bay area is because all of my wife's family is out there. my family is scattered around the country. i wanted my -- i wanted my daughters to grow up with their family. i wanted them to know their cousins in ways i kind of didn't know my cousins. i knew my cousin n.k. whatever the physical symbol of family is, this was it for my southern family for me. people would come from all over the neighborhood and say hello to miss gladys. my the grandmother was a classic southern grandmother, filled with love but didn't put up with bull shit. she was -- she was -- she could
10:49 pm
cook. she could sew. she could do all the things you need a classic southern grandmother do. just what a grandmother is supposed to be. gladys bell, everybody. shout out to southern grandmothers. just to lower the drivingh position 10 millimeters? because when you're crafting performance, no measure is too extreme. the luxus lc and lc hybrid experience amazing at your lexus dealer.
10:50 pm
10:51 pm
10:52 pm
really big files? in seconds, not minutes... just like that. like everything... the answer is simple. i'll do what i've always done... dream more, dream faster, and above all... now, i'll dream gig. now more businesses, in more places, can afford to dream gig. comcast, building america's largest gig-speed network. southern coast of ireland. i think it's why we've been doing this...forever. my dad has roots in the mountains of northern mexico. home to the strongest runners in the universe. my dad's ancestors were african bantu. i bet they told the most amazing stories. with twice the detail of other tests... ...ancestrydna can show dad where he's from- and strengthen the bonds you share. it's only $69. give it to dad for father's day.
10:53 pm
♪ when i was a kid coming to mobile, i wasn't that excited about it. now that i've grown up i have a lot of love for it and the south and when people who have never been here condescend it, it makes me defensive of it which means we don't get to talk about the goodness. >> you can meet someone's mamau and call them that. you can't do that nowhere else. >> being in the south, there is a sense of belonging. there's a sense of love. >> people aren't afraid to say hello. even the squirrels want to say hey y'all. i've never seen this many squirrels. feels like there's a plan coming together. we didn't set this up. there is an entire film crew and the squirrels keep on coming.
10:54 pm
>> oh, jesus. oh, god. oh! >> that was crazy. >> that makes me itch. mobile, alabama, i never knew it was the squirrel capital of the world. there's another thing i didn't see when i lived here, the prancing elites. ♪ the prancing elites are a dance company that might make you rethink your image of the prototypical southern man. i'm sitting down with ka cream davis and kentrell collins, two founding members of the group. >> hi. >> you just going to pick it up. >> is it okay if i pick up the hardware? >> what's the question? >> this won you won for bucking off and this one you won for
10:55 pm
bucking down. what is the buck is the difference? >> what? >> i'm just asking. >> okay, so that's the name of the competition. it was called the candy land buck off and this one was called the midwest buck down. >> well, there's a ton of trophies out there. i will put them down here. you've been doing it for awhile. have a tv show and international acclaim. >> hello. international. >> international. >> kind of did something. >> yeah, people know, you know. prancing elites. so first of all i have to ask because i spent a lot of time here as a kid. there weren't people as i talked about being gay. >> they were here. i can tell you that. >> a lot of choir directors. >> ooh. >> people outside of the alabama and the south imagine gay people were comfortable coming out. >> i was forced. i was in the army. didn't want to be in the army anymore. >> what was it like being a gay man in the army? >> like another gay man in the army. i wasn't the only one. so what wow say to people who think that gay people shouldn't be in the army. >> it buyers me so much because
10:56 pm
in other words you telling me that i can't protect my family. i can't provide for them because you don't like what i do? >> i don't understand what are we supposed to do. >> we're not supposed to put on leotards but not supposed to go into the army either. it gets stupid to me. >> then what are you supposed to do. >> i believe in leading with the most respecting dig knit so that's what we did if we weren't allowed somewhere we didn't fight in the moment. >> we take noes with a grape of salt, okay, you said no. somebody is going to say eventually. >> then those noes because part of the bandwagon. >> what do you love about the south? >> the food. >> okay. >> all right. >> i didn't finish the question yet. the food. what food? >> soul food. >> good food, if they cook it in an hour, don't. you might as well go to a fast food restaurant because soul food takes like six hours. >> my other question, what do you not like about alabama? >> regardless of what people think i love where i'm from. nobody knows that because they
10:57 pm
think we're just hicks who are racist and don't accept gay people. >> people who don't know alabama need to catch up to the good stuff and people in alabama need to catch up to the rest of the world. catch up, everybody. enough talk. now it's time for my daughter's favorite part of my show, me dancing. >> what is your skill level? >> my skill level? >> before we start moving. >> i am like at a clumsy beginner level. >> hold up. you have to be working with us. >> no, i'll give anything a shot. whatever you want me to do. if i look bad you'll look good. that's all right. >> can you rock your hip. >> my hips don't lie. >> they going to tell the truth today. >> i just want to do this for awhile. >> can you kick your legs up? >> yeah, i can kick my legs sdmrup what if we do step left, pick up right. yeah. okay, you did it, seriously. one, two, three. four. >> four. >> five.
10:58 pm
>> six, seven, eight. >> what happened? now. snap it up. come on. >> so my time is mobile is wiping down to an end and figured i'd make sure my dad got a little more screen time by doing something he loves to do, not fishing, breaking it down. >> i have a great life here, you know. >> yeah. >> i know people. people know me and making a living and making a life is two different things. and when you make a living you also want to make a life. >> yeah, sometimes it's probably for the worst but for the better mobile hasn't changed. it's still a place i can come to and i know the airport and the streets. >> and the feeling. >> and it's nice to feel connected to someplace. >> that's what the south does better than anyplace in the world. >> i know we talk about the good parts of alabama and mobile and, but also some of the divisive parts of america. >> well, there's a lot of polarization in the country.
10:59 pm
if you can find a confederate flag in california and new york as well as alabama and north carolina. but, you know, there are good people everywhere. >> usually i do a big wrap-up of my show but i dad pretty much summed it all up. >> guess what, i got something on here. >> you got something on there. >> it's biting. it's biting. do i pull it up. >> yeah, bring it back. >> okay. >> whoa. >> my son the fisherman. >> i'm from mobile, alabama!
77 Views
Uploaded by TV Archive on