good morning and welcome to 'mosaic'. it is a privilege to host 'mosaic'. on behalf of our producer and our cohost. i have wondered in the 17 years i have done the show whether people get up as early as we get up? to do this program. i am surprised there are people who see it , the last program i did on thanksgiving , with my colleagues dale witherspoon and jim hopkins, i was text a few minutes later from an old

friend, troy. with good media entertainment. he had seen the program and i made a reference to a program or i should say , a movement called, love life. he said he knew the producer and the creator. they would like to come on the program. that is proof that we are seen as early in the morning now that we are at 5:30 . people get 30 minutes more to sleep in. we welcome you this day and we are blessed to have donald lisa jr., and actor, writer, producer and talkshow host. >> god bless you. >> great to have you. >> is troy waking up are just going to bed? >> that is a good one. he did not tell me. >> as i said to you earlier, you have any second peter of

experience . let's start with love life and how you produce that and how that is based. >> thank you for the question. it was the idea of my 16-year-old daughter. she was a special long lady and i delivered her in the car while driving on 583 way. >> it is amazing. >> to god be the glory. she survived that traumatic experience. the summer of 1997, a classmate of hers was murdered and she said she wanted me to help you write a play to honor her friend. i have never been more proud of an individual. a couple months later, she was killed on october 20th, an innocent victim to a shooting across the

street . at the time i was going back and forth to los angeles and working on several shows . i stopped all of that and decided to pick up her baton and carry on her mission. here we are over 20 years later, having made an impact on hundreds of thousands of lives, as well as , love life is the official motto of the city of oakland. we have had some signs unveiled already that say love life but when you enter oakland, not only to remind us that the greatest gift god gives us is the breath of life, and to honor anyone whose life has been senselessly taken. >> i believe there are trees on the time. >> tree of life . that is fantastic. we appreciate you coming. you have done so many things. acting and a comedian

and you produce. how did you end up in the profession? >> it started at san francisco state. where i was a student in trying to get into the broadcast department. a friend of mine said, let's go to this acting class. i never acted and i read a cold monologue. he is banging on the floor and talking about making a deal with the man. i was crying i looked up and everybody was applauding. i have this feeling to be able to say words and move people. i realize that is what i wanted to do. i had my first professional acting gig in 1984. i made $10 a show. my father told me, this is not going to make it, partner. you better get a real job. i got paid to act. >> remind him that city poirier -- >> i think i did. it has been

something that has been a passion of mine. >> i know comedy has a serious side. you have done a lot of serious drama , i noticed in your resume. how do you combine that? that is a great question. >> they say drama is hard but comedy is harder and that is true. i have always been naturally funny. when we were little kids are used to reduce produce joe's in a garage. i would emcee and tell jokes my sisters would be danci on chairs. my sisters are better today that i made her audition.

>> you have a tremendous amount of stories but we will take a break and we will look forward to hearing more. thank you for being with us . >> my pleasure. >> be with us as we continue with donald lacey jr.

welcome back to mosaic. if

you have been with us in the first segment you heard donald lacey talk about his daughter and love life and what that is meant. he has also produced and written a lot of plays and acted in them. name some of them that you have done. >> into did this wonderful piece. the royale. as seon tst black heavyweight champion. it was an incredible cast. the ran about six weeks . that was an amazing experience. i played the manager. to do the research -- i felt he was a giant . i never realized until i researched and read the book, unapologetically block the rise and fall of jack johnson. just how far ahead of his time he was to be in the earliest

20th century and transcend not only the sport of boxing but culture and to be this worldwide first black icon to be respected around the world and to be the undisputed heavyweight champ. >> you mentioned that since it is black history month. jack johnson. what a legend and icon. my favorite sport is boxing. everyone thinks it is football. boxing, i know it backwards and forwards. >> i love boxing as well. in those days, some of his fights went to the two rounds . can you imagine? they only do 12 rounds. >> they don't have rematches. >> to do what he did was incredible. he was an incredible businessman. when he won the title beating jim jefferies, i did not realize he earned $110,000 in 1915. that is like millions for a black

man. at that time, in racist america, to be paid that kind of money for what you do, is incredible. >> i have seen where you have done some august wilson plays. >> i did fences at the california shakespeare in 2016. that was another surreal experience . i played gabriel, who is based on the angel gabriel. it was an unbelievable experience to delve into that and become that human being . he felt like he was at the gates with st. peter and he wanted to make sure that his brother , having a child out of marriage, that he made it to heaven. august wilson . >> i think there was an oscar

won for that. >> august wilson , how do you do august wilson? i tell young actors, you don't do august wilson, he does you. you have to humble yourself and be open. his writing is so deep and spiritual. i had the great pleasure when i did a show , to sit with them and have dinner. he was so gracious to me. as a writer to hear his process, i am interested in the artists process. how do you get from the idea to getting it on paper ? he said he would go to coffee shops and restaurants where there was a lot of people and he would listen. the characters would speak to him and they would say something. another character would say something. he moved from the characters and then the story would match the developing story.

>> i have been told that is how you should read the bible. let the bible read to you. you just mentioned wilson. >> thank you for that. >> i read that you wrote romeo and juliet. >> it is something i am in preproduction for now. hopefully we will be shooting , god willing this summer. it is a spoof, hip-hop musical comedy based on shakespeare. i studied classical theater, shakespeare , not to pop myself on the back. i tell young actors, it is a lifetime commitment. you cannot worry about being rich or famous, or you can focus on is your craft. once you do that, the doors will open for you. having done shakespeare years ago, this is such a universal love story. the beauty of our story is it is about racial polarization

in america. it is hilariously funny, romeo's character happens to be black and poor and juliet's character is rich and white. the laughter is fast and furious. i am thinking it is something people will enjoy but look at, why do we look at each other and judge each other based on skin color, our race or whatever references we have? there is no race but one of the human race. >> i think most people who have come to that realization have gone through some things and have come to that. it sounds like you have gone through that, with the death of your daughter and how you tried to make a living legacy of going against violence. and they getting people, demeaning people . but celebrating people's lives. >> love is not lost upon me, as it says in the bible. the

name of a person describes attributes for that person. her name means love life in english. i gave her the name the day after she was born because i figured she was so eager for life , she jumped out of her mother's womb on the way to the hospital. she cannot wait. she had that energy. she was always at 10. she was effervescent with love. she was all about love . it is not lost on me that the meaning of her life , to god be the glory, is to remind us to love each other and treat each other with respect. >> and she gave you the idea. >> it was her idea. i have been following in her prodigious footsteps ever since. i will always uplift. >> we are glad you are doing that. please join us in another segment, with donald lacey jr.

if you have been with us you have to be inspired. donald was talking about shakespeare and august wilson. one of our persons in the camera , the camera person, said do a little shakespeare . and he did. why don't you do a little shakespeare? >> how about some august wilson ? you put me on the spot and i'm trying to remember. all remember something from shakespeare which is from romeo and juliet.

>> that is wonderful. you can preach. >> my grandmother said we would always have prayer late at night and it came from the theater. i would do the 97th son. and she was a, you are a preacher. no. no thank you. >> you happened to hit a my favorite song psalm. 27. that is something i say every day. >> every service i do for those who have passed , i begin with the psalm 27. they are poems and prayers. tell us about your life .

>> i tell youngsters that i meant to , i wish i could take you into a time machine show you the oakland i grew up in. there was a thriving black community. there were other races but it was so cohesive. i was talking to someone and i was doing an interview , my wife and i lived in the neighborhood we live in for 16 years and i only know one neighbor. back in the 60s and 70s, you knew everybody. you shared a meal. someone was frying fish on fridays and selling dinners. other people's parents have the right to put hands on you and i was a hard-hitting youngster in several of my mother . it was a community. everybody locks their doors and closes their windows and we don't even communicate with each other to have a community. i was very

fortunate to have two loving parents and i had several black men, my uncles and my father's friends who were like uncles who would take me to and a-game or just talk to me. that is what i feel. a lot of men when i talk in classes were committed to groups, how many of you had your father? and 75% do not. there is the absence of the black male father figure to give these youngsters the same instructions and lessons i was taught , to keep me in the right path and stay away from the potholes that are for you if you are not careful. >> as you spoke about community, i was thinking about unfortunately sometimes a tragedy brings us together. it is great that people turn out and help and support. hopefully we would be a

community before them. >> absolutely. i was just at the service for a dear friend of mine. a young lady who knew my daughter. rest in paradise. her father said something , when someone passes or someone happens, we get together. it is the same in our family. somebody passes and we get together and the rest of the years in between we never see or communicate. that is by design. it is amazing the technology, which is supposedly designed to bring people closer together, actually separates us. when was the last time , for me, i cannot call anybody to get them to pick up the phone. in the old days when we did not have answering machines and twitter, you called somebody, they would pick it up and say hello. now i am so used to getting an answer machine, when someone picks up, i am thrilled. we are conditioned

not to communicate. >> before we came on you were trying to communicate with a cell phone to a minister who was ill. there is ways of making that contact that we can benefit from. >> i think we have been so conditioned not to communicate, i am halfway being facetious. that is why it is harder and people prefer to text. i like to talk to people so i can look in your face and know what you're telling me is true or feel what you're feeling . how my words affect you and how your words affect me. that has become more an aberration than normal. >> with robots taking over everything. >> they have robot wisely now. heaven help us >> i don't want to have a robot pastor . they better keep us around. >> yes, server. we need the real world delivered from a real human being. but that might be the next step ,

unfortunately. >> we have one last segment. i want the audience to know what you are doing , so they can be in touch with you. >> absolutely. >> please join us for our last segment with donald lacey.

you have been with us and we will tell you how to get a hold of donald lacey jr. cds , dvds or information about what he is producing for information about what he is acting in. >> you can reach me via email. if you like a cd or dvd. i will also be at a show this spring , with roger smith. >> people know him from malcolm x., do the right thing. a phenomenal talent. he has a wonderful one man show. it was incredible. i just feel blessed to have the opportunity to work with him. that will be in april. people should look

out for that. it will be amazing. >> what has impressed me is you are committed to the art and talent and not just the income. which you appreciate but , whether you're getting paid or not you will be there. that is a gift. >> at this stage, if i'm not getting paid, i will not be there. i always tell young people, i mentor young people and i used to acting coach people like laura hays when she was on martin when i was in l.a. for the young people now, i don't charge. all i want is for you to be successful. there is still stuff i do to give back. for love life, a lot of that is volunteer work. when it comes to the business itself, one of my first mentors told me, the word business is bigger than the word show. you better have your business together. >> i just saw the grammys not

long ago and i saw the other award programs and you receive a lot of awards. there are so much talent and competition, it is unfortunate that people cannot get the support they need. >> i was fortunate . i am of the screen actors guild so i got to vote for the awards . i think , that is one of his greatest performances. because he played something so different. did you see that? what a wonderful character he created. >> the movie had its problems. but his performance was sheer brilliance. i put it up with his other performance from malcolm x. >> thank you for being here. >> god bless. >> come back.

>> any time. >> thank you for being with us this morning. you have been listening to donald lacey jr. look him up . i know you will be pleased with anything he is in or anything he has produced. he is also a great comedian. thank you for being with us.

live from the cbs area studios, this is kpix 5 news. >> a store owned by a woman running for city council in oakland is rob. the crime was caught on camera. what is the candidate saying about the situation? >> if you just cower go inside and say i cannot deal with this anymore, you are saying you are going to shut your doors. bringing in the big guns, presidents and governors are