Mykelti Williamson & Sheldon Candis – In Studio

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I'm smiling and that's Snoop. Uh so, Uh you gott
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we do it. Whenever we have guests in the studio,
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we let them choose they'll walk on track and uh
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so I said to Michael Williamson Macael, g uh what
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do you want to walk on? He looked at me,
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he looked at Myles, my board up and he said, uh,
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anything from Snoop? Is it that serious? Michael? It could
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be anything from Snoop. That's Michael on, that's her mind.
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No, cudn't leave, that's my light. I'm out with the
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border with them. I'm at the church doing with the
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works game got two, one, three, Hell yeah, we're getting this.
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It's the remixed Miles. It's the remix Michael till you,
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I'm saying, accompanying uh Snoop? Uh So. I was sad
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moment ago you you wanted anything from Snoop, so we
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gave you that. You and the stoop like that.
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Amen, anything from Snoop. I just love the brother man,
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I really do. Yeah, we're connected. He is.
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He is my top five for flow. Ques about it?
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Come on for flow? Yeah you can't.
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Yeah, no, not for flow, and nobody like him.
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I told you. One day we were he was he
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was interviewed on one of my shows, my TV shows
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I Recall and Yeah TV. Because I can I can
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see his face. So we were on the set and
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we're talking about his new project. And I don't know
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what possessed me to say this, because he could have
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slapped me, but he didn't. I said, Snoop, your flow
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is so cold. If you were saying something Nigro, you'd
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be dangerous. Man. Did you take it back?
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No?
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I didn't tell it what I didn't take it back
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because I meant it. I meant it.
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That's that's ugly.
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No, it's not ugly. It's not I'm saying. I tell you.
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I wanted to kept out of my mouth. I said, hope, Snoop,
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don't snap me. I said, man, your flow is so
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he's number one on my list to flow. Yeah, I
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got Snooping Biggie top of my list from flow rock
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him for flow smoothness. Come on, man, I said, your
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flow is so cold. If you're actually saying something Negro,
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you would be danger He fell back and laughing. He
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laughed at it. So anyway, yeah, I don't know what
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you said about me. Afterwards, but at least I will
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find out as soon as pop. No, we've seen each
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other many many times since then, he said, nephew, nephew.
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So it's cool.
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It's good. No, he's a beautiful cad.
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Yeah.
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But and it's all fun, everybody. We are just playing around.
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We are just playing around. But I A'm planning around
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about this. Uh. This new project called They Fight is
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premiering uh this week on Hulu Friday, July seventeenth, to
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be exact, Hulu and Disney Plus. And I want to
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give you the trailer, uh for this highly anticipated, inspiring
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coming of age sports drama called They Fight. Michael T
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is here. Sheldon Candice, writer and director, is here. It's
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gonna a great hour talking about this project and a
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great deal more. Michael T's I say, brought his harmonica
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with him, so we're gonna let him do his thing,
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uh in this hour. This brother is just a I
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to He's a black chameleon. He does a little bit
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of everything, So we go leaven some of his music.
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It ain't gonna just be snooped a whole hour. Uh. Anyway,
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here is the trailer for the new Hulu series UH
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coming up Base Sports dramas I said premiering Friday night,
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called they fight.
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Mister Managan, I'm sure you are well aware this is
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your last shot.
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Please tell us what are your players for your life?
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Give my life to Kevin.
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At least try to do some good. Even if you lose, Man,
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you gotta fight back. You walked him in here. I'm
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expecting you to help me train him. Coach, I ain't
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no damn babysit. I know who you are. You got
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no home, nowhere to go. But this gym keeps calling you.
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Some say you to be great.
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Nobody remember the corner man.
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Just to fight it.
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Ain't got too many places for these kids to go.
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They gonna close it like they close everything else.
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What you do with FOLLDC would always compete with the
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junior national. I make a deal with you, y'all can
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see pass my mistakes.
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I promise you I get everything I got.
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If you ain't to get in.
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But you still with foleet, can I come on?
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You gotta do the work first. Whatever happened to you,
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I'm really sorry, coach. I found a fight again. It's
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an each and every one of y'all. Let's go out
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with a bang.
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Slim young amateur fighters are stepping into the ring today
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displaying pure heart and hustle.
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Come on, man, move your feet.
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It's time to lock in. It's coach, let's get it.
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Come on. As I mentioned, writer and director of Sheldon
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Candas joins us in this hour with Michael T. Williamson.
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Sheldon has referred to they fight as a declaration for
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black boys to dream big. We're gonna talk about that
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in this hour. You're listening to Tavis Smiley. It's a
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bunch of remixes. Uh Snoop remixes this hour. Michael T.
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Williamson has chosen the artist. And that's Michael T. Yeah,
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saying right there on that harmonica. Uh and uh, as
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I said, I hate folks like him. That's just too
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much talent, too much talent in one body.
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Uh.
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But we're gonna let him do his thing. We're gonna
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play as much Snoop as we can in this hour.
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That's his uh, his uh, his walk on choice for
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this hour. And uh, we all love Snoop and so
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we're gonna celebrate Snoop. We're gonna celebrate Michael T. We're
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gonna celebrate Sheldon Candace. Uh So the project is called
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They Fight, premier on Hulu this weekend. I mentioned earlier
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you had the trailer. Let me get should I want
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to start with you? Let me let me just take
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just set this up for you. First of all, so
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I knew that this project was coming out. My production
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team and I were in one of our meetings one
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day talking about it, and we all agreed, let's get
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Michael T back on the program, inviting on the show
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to talk about this new project. So I reached out
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to Michael T be a text and said, you know,
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we'd love to have you come on the program if
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you can squeez us in your busy schedule to talk
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about this new project, They Fight Again on Hulu. And
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Michael T text me back and said, essentially under one condition.
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And I said what is that? And he said, can
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I bring Sheldon with me? And I said, you absolutely can.
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Now that didn't surprise me because this isn't the first
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time I've had this a Michael T. He is such
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a star in his own right, With all due respect
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to you and anybody else, I don't need no other
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guests in the studio. I could talk to just him
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about his amazing body of work, right, Yes, but every
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single time I called Negro to ask him to come
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on the show, he always wants to bring somebody with him,
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and so I have never had that experience in my
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entire career. I've had folks who are invited on my
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TV or radio show. They want to bring somebody in
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to show somebody off, or they bring somebody in because
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they are producer on their project and they want to
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sell their project and promote theirs as well. And I
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ain't not gonna hustle. I ain't hate right like Mary J.
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Jay Z, I ain't not gonna hustle. But Michael t
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leans in differently. He wants to make sure that when
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he comes in that he shares his platform with those
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who need to be exposed to have a story to share,
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and so he wants to pull in the writer and
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director and show then candish in this conversation. I just
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want you to know that up front, but it's really
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a statement to the audience or who Michael t is.
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I mean, I know him, but now the audience knows
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a bit more about his backstory. He always wants to
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bring the other folk with him to let them get
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some shine as well. How does that story strike you.
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It immediately.
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Brings a quote to mine as human beings, it is
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of our greatest responsibility to be in service of others.
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And that says everything. Uh. And that was the late
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great Desmond too too. That said that, And this is
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everything about Michael t but also to our relationship. Speaks
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to the core of this movie, the power of mentorship.
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And you know it was the late great John Singleton.
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That is the connection point between the two of us.
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As you know, your studio is just down the street.
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You are right now in the studio, so.
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You know to hear that, and I'm happy you just
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amplified that right to who he is at his core.
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So I thank both of you for being here. I
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thank y'all as as like my uncles. But look, the
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kids on the on the movie were calling me mister Sheldon.
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I'm like, when did I become a mister?
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But I'm there a cross that I have crossed. The
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rubrit like, no, no, no, mister Williamson. Nice to meet you, sir,
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But I don't mind that. Yeah you know what I mean. Yeah,
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I've been called worse. They called me mister Smiley. I
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don't come in that's terrible, exactly. I mean, I mentioned
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Eardier Show and you have declared said about this film
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that it is a declaration the fight they fight, Rather,
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it is the name of the project they fight. Uh,
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is a declaration for black boys to dream. B tell
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me more.
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Yeah, I feel like for us, especially in these present
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day America that we're living in. You know, this is
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an homage, just a love letter to the old rec
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centers and all of those mentors. You know, I learned
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how to swim in the reservoir Hill, YMCA and Baltimore, Maryland,
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and there was just so many mentors.
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That I had along my path.
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You know, I'm a former NAACP Youth Council president because
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of what Woodard and Statesville, North Carolina. You know, I
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used to go to those conferences under Jamal Bryant, who's
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from our beloved Baltimore. And so in saying all of that,
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you know, I just feel like this movie is so
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important because it is basically expressing to young black boys
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that your dreams matter, that you matter, and that your
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life matters. And so that's why I made the film,
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and I'm just so deeply thankful that it's touching people
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that way.
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Before I bring Michael t and tell me, tell the
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audience the frame, the storyliner. Yeah.
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So you know, it's adapted from a documentary called They
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Fight that Andrew Rinsy made. Michael Minahan wrote a wonderful
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Washington Post article, and it's about Walt Mannigan, who Andre
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Holland plays so wonderfully on screen, and about Walt coming
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back from prison into Southeast DC and returning to this
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rec center. I always say this movie is about Walt
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reclaiming his soul. But in that reclaiming of one soul,
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we need people who pull us, you know, and pull
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us ahead. And this idea that Walt is returning from
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a purgatory, He's coming home from prison, and I just
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believe that once we find the belief in ourselves, we
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still need others, Tavis to believe in us, right, and
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that comes through Wendell Pearce's beautiful character right that he
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plays in Slim. He's interesting in his character.
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You know.
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Coach Mack is literally like the surrogate father to Andre's Walt.
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But it's a situation where it's a father who has
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had his heart broken. Because as much as I've tried
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to give you that guidance, for whatever reason, you made
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some choices. But now once at this point in your life,
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Walt can get back on the right track and literally
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be what he needs to be in these young boys lives.
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Up to tell you more about your character.
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Well, Coach Mack, like Sheldon just said, is sort of
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the surrogate dad. Coach max dilemma is that Uh Walt
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has caused so much harm and injury in his own family.
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My wife got hurt really bad over something that Walt did.
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I'll just leave it at that, so much so she
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can't wake make her way back when Coach Mack is
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willing to give him another chance, but the wife is not.
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She's been devastated by whatever he did to her, and
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he feels terrible. Coach Mack is in the middle, you know.
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So it's a really powerful journey. And to work with
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Andre Holland and tee it up with my young uh
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director's soldier over here, Sheldon candae Man. It was for me,
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it was an opportunity. It's always an opportunity to help
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sure in any way you can. When you see the
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serious young cats that are really representing and and it's
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it's ministry purpose for them, Like my journey is for me, Well,
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he's a ministry purpose kind of filmmaker.
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I was just reviewing. Haven't had a chance to talk
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about on the air yet because I'm still going through it.
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But every year, you probably both know, UCLA puts out
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this diversity report about Hollywood. To do it every year,
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Darnelle Hunt is one of the one of the brilliant
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academicians over there at UCLA that's behind this report. So
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it literally just popped out my desk of there two
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cause I'm going through it literally as we're speaking. We'll
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figure out how to figure out when to do an
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hour on it here on the show, as we tend
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to do, you know, pretty annually. But I was looking
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at the top line of this report and the ways
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in which we have lost ground in this report from
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last year to this year, and I'm like, oh, man,
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say it ain't so right. No naivete here, But I
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just was top line, reading the top line, the overview
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of some of the takeaways from this report. Again, I
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ain't got into it yet in detail, but the point
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of that story is that here we are at a
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moment where we're losing ground and this reports the part
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I was specifically focuses on streaming. That's the reasonhy I'm
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raising it about the ground we've lost in streaming. At once,
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we thought that streaming was like the new on ramp
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for us to push out projects like they fight and
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according to this report again which I'm getting into, we've
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lost some ground over the last year. I raised that
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again because a story like this is rich and powerful
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in the narrative that it that it reveals right, And
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I'm wondering what it takes to get a project like
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this made in a moment like y, yeah, you know
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what I'm saying.
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Yeah, it I mean, And that's a moment for me
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to acknowledge Ndscape. An Landscape is interesting because a lot
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of people don't fully realize that they were formerly The
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Undefeated and ESPN. If you remember The Undefeated, that was
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the black journalism that rode about pop culture and wrote
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about our our lens and our imprint on culture. And
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Jason Adu at Landscape has a wonderful thing where now
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they're able to fund documentaries and feature films from our
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experience to be completely straight about a tavas, this script
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went around and everyone said no, and it's just the
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sign of the times where the film industry was and
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how our stories are getting made. But fortunately Jason Adu
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was someone in Nandscape that said, oh, I know the
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value of this story. I know that this story hasn't
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been told, Tavis. If I'm not mistaken, this is the
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first headgear, oversized glove youth amateur boxing movie from the
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black boy experience in America with.
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All the black male boy boxes we've had. That's that's
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telling right there. Yeah, that's telling.
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You said something important work.
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But that's what I was talking about Sheldon and his
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as a young legacy director. That's how I perceive it.
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That's why I wanted to be in his company today
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when you extended the invitation, you know. But yeah, man,
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it's his time to shine, to burn.
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You know, we just got to tee everybody up.
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I'm thinking of a former California governor and then later
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Chief Justice on the US Supreme Court, Earl Warren, who
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wrote many years ago Sheldon that when he woke up
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every morning, he would read the sports pages first because
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it showed and told a man's accomplishment of his ability,
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of his capacity against the odds to win whatever it was.
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So we all get inspired and amped up by sports right.
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I'm thinking of being a kid back in the day
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we watched the NBA didn't run through the playground after
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the game was over, so everybody could do their thing, right,
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every young black boy has that experience. You get inspired
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by sports, and there's something uniquely different about the way
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that black people tap into sports narratives. That would be
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what to your mind, Sheldon, how how is it that
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we tap into sports narratives, sports stories and ways that
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other communities.
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And cultures don't, well, because we're the best at it
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in the world.
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There you go, how about that part? It could be
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just the best at it, you know?
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And then and then listen, I'm gonna be honest with you.
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Thank God that I had an imaginative, creative mind.
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Because I was not a great athlete.
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So then there comes the paradigm, right that we can
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be the very best in the greatest, But then there's
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some of us that aren't that great at it. But
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fortunately I was someone who could then tell it narratively
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in film form. And you know, I always compare going
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to USC film School. Going to SC is like playing
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football at Alabama, playing basketball at Carolina or Duke or Kentucky.
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You know, in the day started. We only have an
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hour hour anyway an wash. Yeah.
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But to answer that, yeah, and I think that we
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just have so many wonderful It's in the lexicon of
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who we are, especially in America, right, that what sports
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mean to us. But it's more than just the competition
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of the game.
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Right.
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Sports have been social mobility. There have been a way
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for us to to to ascend out of our circumstances.
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And so that's why it means so much to us,
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more than I think any other type of culture, because
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it's the thing that it's not only the child, but
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it becomes the mama, the daddy, the grandmama, and the auntie.
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Everyone is on board with the success.
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Beautifully and eloquently eloquently stated, But I'm still with your
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first chance called me the Best Daddy. That's the short
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stio period, full stop, hard stop, Macaus Williams and Sheldon
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Cannison Studio the new coming of a sports drama. The
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movie is called They Fight, premiering on Hulu this week Friday,
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July seventeenth. More about that great deal more when we
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come forward, I'm Tavis Smie. I'm laughing because when guests
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come live in studio We always asked him what their
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walk on song is. But you a bad negro when
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you when you play your walk on music. This is
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00:19:19.160 --> 00:19:21.319
were you're playing Snoop earlier because Michael T said let's
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play some Snoop and he played along with Snoop on
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his harmonica. But this is his own music, and this
356
00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:32.200
is him live in studio right now playing harmonica, and
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Sheldon Cannis and I are just looking at him, just
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giggling and grinning and smiling.
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This track, if I may say, this is Jerry Gogo Ross.
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I'm San Francisco, California, so go go, and I've been
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making music for a long time.
362
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Wow.
363
00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:50.559
Yeah, he's one of my producers. So I expect to
364
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drop this on folks pretty soon.
365
00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:52.839
Man, I love it.
366
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I love it.
367
00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:55.279
You just wrapped it on us now, So that was
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an exclusive. That's too cold. That's too cold. First of all,
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00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:21.680
let's give up some love on that. Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
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00:20:22.359 --> 00:20:23.759
So let me let me just let me just pivot
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for a second. We've been talking about They Fight. That
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00:20:26.680 --> 00:20:30.039
is a new project on Hulu, movie premiering this Friday,
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July seventeenth. The acclaimed actor and director Michael to Williamson
374
00:20:34.039 --> 00:20:38.160
stars in an amazing cast. Writer director Sheldon Candice is
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00:20:38.200 --> 00:20:40.559
also in the studio with us, the Pride of Baltimore City.
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He is here, so we've had a great conversation in
377
00:20:44.279 --> 00:20:47.000
case you just tuned in. But Michael, you bought his
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harmonica with him, so we leaned on him to do
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00:20:49.319 --> 00:20:51.000
a little do a little something something and there you
380
00:20:51.119 --> 00:20:53.839
have it. So when we think when black folk think harmonica,
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we think one person, Steve Vie exactly. Everybody thinks Steve Wonder.
382
00:20:58.200 --> 00:21:00.599
Tell me how the harmonica became your your thing?
383
00:21:00.759 --> 00:21:00.920
Man?
384
00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:04.039
It uh the sound of it. Yeah.
385
00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:08.519
We had musicians in my my mom and my dad's
386
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lineage when I was coming up, you know.
387
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Uh.
388
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And there was one particular cad They called him Daddy Cuddy.
389
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Daddy Cuddy.
390
00:21:17.960 --> 00:21:21.720
Daddy Cuddy played slide guitar with a pocket knife.
391
00:21:23.319 --> 00:21:23.799
Say that again.
392
00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:27.000
He played slide guitar with a pocket with a pocket
393
00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:30.640
knife because he wanted to travel light. Now the pocket
394
00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:32.960
knife had multiple purposes.
395
00:21:32.599 --> 00:21:36.079
I'm sure it did. His name is Daddy Cuddy.
396
00:21:36.359 --> 00:21:39.920
Daddy Cuddy. So you got the whole story.
397
00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:43.359
I love people, Yeah, but musicians, and yeah, they'd have
398
00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:45.079
to walk with the pocket full of money if.
399
00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:47.279
They got paid. Sometimes they get paid and fried chicken.
400
00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:51.240
So you know when you say the sound of it
401
00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:55.319
unpacked up for me, the sound of the harmonica, it I.
402
00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:57.000
Mean, the best way I can put it is it
403
00:21:57.160 --> 00:22:00.839
administered to me as a child, and it still does.
404
00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:03.359
It's actually how I heal myself. It's how I speed
405
00:22:03.480 --> 00:22:04.799
up healing in my body.
406
00:22:05.480 --> 00:22:08.160
I just play it, play the harmonica two that part
407
00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:12.119
of my body and it accelerates the healing.
408
00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:14.480
And people go, how do you do that? Why do
409
00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:16.799
I feel so different? They come in my room all
410
00:22:16.880 --> 00:22:17.279
messed up.
411
00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:19.279
I said, you ain't gonna leave it like that, and
412
00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:21.680
I put on a beat and just ride, just ride
413
00:22:21.720 --> 00:22:24.839
on them, man, and they leave differently. Because it's a
414
00:22:24.920 --> 00:22:27.279
ministry tool, bro, You're supposed to be able to fix
415
00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:28.680
people with whatever it is you do.
416
00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:31.839
That's right, that's right, whatever you're working witnesses.
417
00:22:31.640 --> 00:22:34.519
Yeah, exactly, help people. Help somebody.
418
00:22:34.519 --> 00:22:36.759
I'm gonna tell you a funny straight Yes, open open
419
00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:38.720
this case up if you will. So for those watching
420
00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:43.200
us live right now on our YouTube channel app. So
421
00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:47.079
there's your camera right here. You show that up. So
422
00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:49.279
you got to so you have a whole crazy.
423
00:22:50.839 --> 00:22:55.079
But no, this is my car kit. Ok, and this
424
00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:58.079
is and these are the keys higher, these are the
425
00:22:58.200 --> 00:22:58.839
keys I.
426
00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:03.279
Like, right for what they all have a purpose. So
427
00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:06.680
they all play different Yeah, they're in different keys.
428
00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:07.119
Wow.
429
00:23:07.480 --> 00:23:11.359
Yeah, because this is like Stevie plays a chromatic harmonica.
430
00:23:11.440 --> 00:23:14.079
It's in the key of C and it has a
431
00:23:14.200 --> 00:23:17.720
slide that raised every note a half half note.
432
00:23:17.880 --> 00:23:18.000
Right.
433
00:23:18.759 --> 00:23:21.880
So I played the chromatic and somebody said to me
434
00:23:21.960 --> 00:23:24.000
one day, you sound almost like Stevie.
435
00:23:24.079 --> 00:23:25.880
Wanted to keep going. I said, oh no, I ain't
436
00:23:25.880 --> 00:23:31.440
trying to sound like Steve. That just insulted me already did.
437
00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:33.440
That's exactly we got Stevie.
438
00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:35.480
What do you need a copy of Stevie for?
439
00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:36.440
So?
440
00:23:37.119 --> 00:23:39.160
But you could see my plan is just I play
441
00:23:39.240 --> 00:23:41.640
the diatonic. All the notes are not there. You have
442
00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:43.599
to create the notes within yourself.
443
00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:48.240
That seems harder. Yeah, what Stevie does, respect that's harder.
444
00:23:48.359 --> 00:23:50.839
Well, this is the hardest instrument I've ever picked up
445
00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:53.680
to play to make music with it. It's the most challenging,
446
00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:55.839
and it's the one that I refuse to let beat me.
447
00:23:56.440 --> 00:23:58.880
I'm like, oh no, I got some music in me
448
00:23:59.079 --> 00:23:59.960
for you, little thing.
449
00:24:01.240 --> 00:24:03.279
Tell me. I'm gonna tell you a quick, funny Stevie
450
00:24:03.359 --> 00:24:05.119
story in the second went not funny, but an interesting story.
451
00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:09.400
But tell me how because both your artistic in so
452
00:24:09.480 --> 00:24:12.160
many ways. But we know you for your art form
453
00:24:12.200 --> 00:24:14.359
as a thespian and now the world's gonna know you
454
00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:19.480
for your art form as a musician. On this harmonica square,
455
00:24:19.599 --> 00:24:21.839
juxtapose those two things to me? What they what they
456
00:24:21.960 --> 00:24:24.119
do for you talked about the harmonica being your healing.
457
00:24:24.559 --> 00:24:26.720
So your art as an actor does what for you?
458
00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:30.319
It adds value to other people's lives.
459
00:24:31.640 --> 00:24:34.400
Because it is so one enhances you and the other
460
00:24:34.519 --> 00:24:35.839
enhances the rest of the one enhance.
461
00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:41.440
They both enhance me, but everybody else too. Acting should
462
00:24:41.480 --> 00:24:43.839
add value to everybody else and to me as a
463
00:24:43.920 --> 00:24:47.039
human being because I used it not in a misguided
464
00:24:47.079 --> 00:24:53.079
way or a capital only way. I used it get
465
00:24:53.119 --> 00:24:55.559
the capital and use it as a ministry tool. What's
466
00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:57.680
in this human being that you need to transfer to
467
00:24:57.759 --> 00:24:58.759
other human beings.
468
00:24:58.559 --> 00:25:02.759
That look like you. That's the work I do. So
469
00:25:02.839 --> 00:25:04.200
I do it with my music as well.
470
00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:09.240
So take that notion you just share with us and
471
00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:13.440
connect it to they fight and what we're getting out
472
00:25:13.480 --> 00:25:16.319
of you in this particular character. That's gonna aid and
473
00:25:16.359 --> 00:25:18.680
to bet us do that makes sense? Yes?
474
00:25:18.759 --> 00:25:27.680
Absolutely, being your best given your best is.
475
00:25:31.720 --> 00:25:35.680
I think it's it's a tremendous responsibility, first of all,
476
00:25:37.240 --> 00:25:38.599
because you got to put love on him.
477
00:25:38.599 --> 00:25:38.720
Man.
478
00:25:38.839 --> 00:25:42.079
It's some days, some days you want to be mad.
479
00:25:43.920 --> 00:25:48.640
But you know, how quickly will your emotional intelligence enable
480
00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:50.640
you to let it go and keep going? And I
481
00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:54.200
think that's what Andre Holland's character has to deal with.
482
00:25:54.400 --> 00:25:59.079
He's got to He's caused some damage and now he
483
00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:02.799
has to to deal with it and navigate that damage
484
00:26:03.599 --> 00:26:07.119
that fallout. And you can because we're all trying to
485
00:26:07.200 --> 00:26:11.200
navigate things. And that's what appealed to me about they
486
00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:15.519
fight because everybody's in a fight. The mother's in the
487
00:26:15.559 --> 00:26:17.920
black community and fighting to try to keep the boys
488
00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:21.559
alive and make them successful. And the boys are fighting
489
00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:24.680
things that they think are important, even getting themselves in
490
00:26:24.759 --> 00:26:28.160
harm's way, standing up for things that have become important
491
00:26:28.200 --> 00:26:30.599
to them. How do you navigate that? How do you
492
00:26:30.759 --> 00:26:36.079
keep us alive? So a lot of that is in
493
00:26:36.200 --> 00:26:38.599
acting too. That's not a young actor bursting out at
494
00:26:38.599 --> 00:26:45.559
the police. Back up, pig cup, fool, no use your
495
00:26:45.640 --> 00:26:49.880
brain on them and then let everybody see, but we
496
00:26:50.039 --> 00:26:53.319
need directors like Sheldon to shoot it from a black
497
00:26:53.680 --> 00:26:55.319
human beings point of view.
498
00:26:56.680 --> 00:26:58.599
I love our Marquet leans into other people. As I
499
00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:00.640
said earlier, just I love that about him. Let me
500
00:27:00.680 --> 00:27:02.079
do this right quickly. When we come forward, we can
501
00:27:02.079 --> 00:27:04.440
talk a little bit more, but quickly on Stevie. So
502
00:27:05.319 --> 00:27:08.519
next year. I'm actually just about to start this year now.
503
00:27:09.359 --> 00:27:11.640
This is my thirty fifth year in the broadcast business,
504
00:27:12.839 --> 00:27:15.039
and I'm saying something now that hadn't even been mentioned
505
00:27:15.079 --> 00:27:17.440
publicly before. But I'm only saying it now because Michael Tea,
506
00:27:17.440 --> 00:27:19.839
maybe you think about it. So about thirty fifth year
507
00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:22.759
in the business, I'm announcing this publicly on my national.
508
00:27:22.559 --> 00:27:23.480
Radio show Amen.
509
00:27:23.839 --> 00:27:29.279
We are working on an exhibit, the Tavis Smiley Collection,
510
00:27:30.440 --> 00:27:33.480
that will showcase so much of the stuff that I've
511
00:27:33.559 --> 00:27:35.480
collected over the course of my career. I am the
512
00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:37.559
one talk show host and there have been so many
513
00:27:37.599 --> 00:27:39.680
great ones. You got Barbara Walters, you got to Oprah,
514
00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:41.160
got all kind of people. But I'm the only one
515
00:27:41.200 --> 00:27:44.559
that I'm aware of who, over the years of interviewing everybody,
516
00:27:45.319 --> 00:27:50.599
got something from them. Figured it out earlier. Not to
517
00:27:50.720 --> 00:27:53.400
mention all the things that I've just collected in my travels.
518
00:27:53.799 --> 00:27:56.960
So I've got art, I've got paintings, I've got sculpture.
519
00:27:57.440 --> 00:27:59.960
But I also have Prince's guitar from the Super Bowl.
520
00:28:00.920 --> 00:28:05.480
I've got Doctor King's recliner chair. I've got stuff from
521
00:28:05.519 --> 00:28:09.640
a Lei. I've got stuff from Fidelle Castro. I've got
522
00:28:09.680 --> 00:28:12.759
stuff from Pope John Paul the Second. My collection over
523
00:28:12.759 --> 00:28:14.440
the years, I never even thought of it as a collection.
524
00:28:14.519 --> 00:28:17.559
I've just been collecting stuff from the people I've talked to.
525
00:28:18.200 --> 00:28:21.279
Stevie Wonder and I are friends, have been friends for years.
526
00:28:21.319 --> 00:28:24.240
I even humble to even say that. And Stevie has
527
00:28:24.359 --> 00:28:26.599
interviewed with me many times and performed a number of
528
00:28:26.640 --> 00:28:30.920
times in those interviews. On two occasions where Stevie performed
529
00:28:31.039 --> 00:28:35.160
on my show, he played harmonica, and on both occasions
530
00:28:35.279 --> 00:28:39.480
I beg Stevie for that harmonica. So my collection has
531
00:28:39.599 --> 00:28:42.920
not one, but two Stevie Wonder Harmonica's in it. Now.
532
00:28:43.079 --> 00:28:44.720
I'm going to my office to get one right now
533
00:28:44.920 --> 00:28:46.880
to show it to you when we come forward on
534
00:28:47.039 --> 00:28:50.279
Tavis Smile. I ran down the hallway during that break
535
00:28:50.359 --> 00:28:53.160
to my vault, and there are a few items in
536
00:28:53.200 --> 00:28:56.759
the vault. As we're preparing for this Taistmidy collection art
537
00:28:56.759 --> 00:28:58.519
exhibit that we're working on as we speak. Don't ask
538
00:28:58.559 --> 00:29:00.279
me when I don't know yet, sometime next year, but
539
00:29:00.359 --> 00:29:02.359
working on it. So I told you I had not one,
540
00:29:02.400 --> 00:29:04.720
but two Stevie harmonica's. I brought him. Hold them up,
541
00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:06.640
Michael t for the cameras people to see them. And
542
00:29:06.640 --> 00:29:10.960
there they are. Uh. So those are two harmonicas, both
543
00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:15.799
played by Stevelyn Morris when he appeared on my very
544
00:29:15.880 --> 00:29:18.119
shows over the year. And as I said, I beg
545
00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:21.400
Stevie for these things. I said, man, come on, Steve
546
00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:25.160
Tavis and you know, and then you know when this
547
00:29:25.279 --> 00:29:27.880
happened a few years later a second time he said,
548
00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:29.960
nko did not I give you a harmonica? The last
549
00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.640
time I said, Steve, you did. Man, you can you
550
00:29:34.680 --> 00:29:37.599
can bless me again. Yeah, you can bless me that
551
00:29:37.720 --> 00:29:40.519
you got Nellen. So these are my for those watching,
552
00:29:40.599 --> 00:29:43.480
you can see on the desk here these two. Uh
553
00:29:43.599 --> 00:29:46.720
these two Stevie Wonder played harmonicas, and you know they're
554
00:29:46.799 --> 00:29:49.359
dated of course when he actually performed. But I've been blessed,
555
00:29:49.359 --> 00:29:50.799
of course of my career to talk to every pretty
556
00:29:50.880 --> 00:29:52.640
much everybody, and I just had I don't know what
557
00:29:52.759 --> 00:29:54.640
made me do it, but I just started. I'm a collector,
558
00:29:55.119 --> 00:29:58.119
and I just started asking people for different things. Tony Bennett,
559
00:29:58.240 --> 00:30:00.559
you know, painted something for me at did Billy d
560
00:30:00.680 --> 00:30:03.000
Williams ass. I mean, I just I just asked for
561
00:30:03.200 --> 00:30:05.200
for stuff. And so now I've got all of this stuff,
562
00:30:05.720 --> 00:30:08.119
and I figured, thirty five years in, I better show
563
00:30:08.119 --> 00:30:10.519
it to somebody at some point. So we're gonna celebrate
564
00:30:10.599 --> 00:30:12.799
thirty fifth year of my career by doing this exhibit
565
00:30:12.839 --> 00:30:14.759
and we'll announce the dates and location here in l
566
00:30:14.799 --> 00:30:17.720
a summer time. That's nice. But anyway, that's you mentioned Stevie.
567
00:30:17.759 --> 00:30:19.480
We talked about seve I was like, wow, Wow, I
568
00:30:19.519 --> 00:30:21.079
think I think, I think they're in the building, and
569
00:30:21.119 --> 00:30:24.279
indeed they were, but yours are just I mean, while
570
00:30:24.319 --> 00:30:26.480
we're talking about it, this is this. Stevie's harmonic is
571
00:30:26.559 --> 00:30:27.880
so much bigger than the ones you played.
572
00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:30.960
Yeah, side, that's a this is a look at look
573
00:30:30.960 --> 00:30:34.200
at this. Yeah, this is a single octave right right right.
574
00:30:34.640 --> 00:30:37.960
Stee's plays all the different right okay, right right, So.
575
00:30:38.119 --> 00:30:41.039
He has multiple octaves here. And like I was telling you,
576
00:30:41.160 --> 00:30:43.000
the slide when you push the slide in.
577
00:30:43.279 --> 00:30:46.160
Pull pull out, pull out about Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah,
578
00:30:46.960 --> 00:30:49.559
got hood said, hold the camera there, yeah, yeah, yeah,
579
00:30:49.640 --> 00:30:51.240
there you go, so slide. Yeah.
580
00:30:51.279 --> 00:30:54.079
When you push the slide in like that, right, it
581
00:30:54.240 --> 00:30:59.599
changes raises the note a half step. Oh okay, yeah,
582
00:30:59.720 --> 00:31:02.279
all right, and then you have different notes on blow
583
00:31:03.160 --> 00:31:05.759
and you have different notes on draw, right, and then
584
00:31:05.799 --> 00:31:08.480
when you go up a half step, those notes move
585
00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:12.519
over because you went up a half step, and that's
586
00:31:12.559 --> 00:31:13.160
a blow.
587
00:31:13.000 --> 00:31:13.480
And a draw.
588
00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:16.599
So this is a very complicated instrument. You got to
589
00:31:16.680 --> 00:31:19.480
either find it or learn or study it to learn it,
590
00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:22.519
or it has to find you. And Stevie's all of
591
00:31:22.599 --> 00:31:23.359
the above.
592
00:31:26.359 --> 00:31:28.519
On that note. All right, madey moments with Michael T.
593
00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:30.880
Williamson and Sheldon See I love this show man. On
594
00:31:30.920 --> 00:31:33.200
any given day, I never know where this sting is
595
00:31:33.240 --> 00:31:36.160
gonna go. But I just learned more about playing a
596
00:31:36.200 --> 00:31:39.640
harmonica in that last three minutes. I never knew you
597
00:31:39.759 --> 00:31:43.000
my whole life about how the process actually works. Courtesy
598
00:31:43.079 --> 00:31:45.240
of Michael T. Williams and you're listening to Tavis smile
599
00:31:46.079 --> 00:31:49.400
Mickaelty Williamson and Sheldon Cannis. Acclaimed actor and director Michael
600
00:31:49.400 --> 00:31:51.319
to Williamson right of director Sheldon Cannis to a new
601
00:31:51.400 --> 00:31:54.960
project directed by Miss Cannis is called They Fight, premiering
602
00:31:55.119 --> 00:31:57.839
on Hulu this week to be exact, Friday, July seventeenth,
603
00:31:57.920 --> 00:32:00.079
on Hulu and Disney Plus. We were just talking in
604
00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:02.960
the break about a variety of things. Sometimes the best
605
00:32:02.960 --> 00:32:04.640
part of the show is in the breaks, and uh
606
00:32:04.960 --> 00:32:06.960
and Michael T was just talking about doctor King and
607
00:32:07.039 --> 00:32:10.240
Malcolm Xim and how he remembers, you know, in his
608
00:32:10.400 --> 00:32:14.000
earlier years, his younger years, how they spoke into his life.
609
00:32:14.440 --> 00:32:17.960
So I closed our conversation today, Michael. You'll come back again,
610
00:32:18.039 --> 00:32:21.079
Michael T. For that Snowfall spin off that I'm hearing
611
00:32:21.079 --> 00:32:23.400
to me, Yes, sir, I amagage you congratulations on that.
612
00:32:23.839 --> 00:32:25.000
We'll talk about the Snowfall spin off.
613
00:32:25.039 --> 00:32:25.839
It's called the Drop.
614
00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:28.279
The Drop, okay, Well you're gonna drop back in here again, Yes,
615
00:32:28.720 --> 00:32:30.720
when it drops, and we'll talk about it. I mean,
616
00:32:30.759 --> 00:32:32.880
the music drops. We'll talk about that. But very quickly,
617
00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:34.920
in the two minutes have left here, you mentioned Malcolm
618
00:32:34.920 --> 00:32:37.240
and Martin speaking into your life. What do you hope
619
00:32:37.279 --> 00:32:39.240
this project and more broadly, the work that you're doing,
620
00:32:39.319 --> 00:32:42.720
you're speaking in the lives of other younger black men today.
621
00:32:42.880 --> 00:32:46.160
I just hope it adds value and uh that there's
622
00:32:46.400 --> 00:32:49.759
enough of an anointing on my life, Uh that it
623
00:32:49.799 --> 00:32:53.279
would it would, it would redirect someone's path if it
624
00:32:53.400 --> 00:32:56.000
needs to be. Yeah, and and but in the in
625
00:32:56.079 --> 00:32:59.000
the in the appropriate direction for their journey. I just
626
00:32:59.160 --> 00:33:02.240
you know, when you see this kind of potential like
627
00:33:02.279 --> 00:33:06.000
you see in Sheldon Candace on, a director, singer, whatever
628
00:33:06.079 --> 00:33:08.759
it is, you do what you can to pour into them.
629
00:33:09.240 --> 00:33:11.160
And that's what it is. That's what this film is about.
630
00:33:11.200 --> 00:33:14.000
To last second time. I'm sorry, Michael J. Last a
631
00:33:14.039 --> 00:33:15.759
second belonging to you are Sheldon? What do you hope
632
00:33:15.839 --> 00:33:18.319
this project they fight on Hudo this week will speak
633
00:33:18.319 --> 00:33:20.759
into the lives of the young black men and others
634
00:33:20.799 --> 00:33:21.359
who will watch it.
635
00:33:21.559 --> 00:33:24.599
Yeah, Well, it's about legacy. And I bring it back
636
00:33:24.680 --> 00:33:29.359
to Michael T. That he's a legacy figure for us.
637
00:33:29.880 --> 00:33:32.680
When I think about Troy and Waiting ex hell, when
638
00:33:32.680 --> 00:33:35.119
I think about Bubba as far as Gump, when I
639
00:33:35.200 --> 00:33:38.599
think about Drunker and Heat and I think about Coach
640
00:33:38.720 --> 00:33:41.720
Mack and they fight. You know, Michael T is someone
641
00:33:41.799 --> 00:33:44.519
who is setting an example and has inspired me to
642
00:33:44.720 --> 00:33:47.680
be a filmmaker and to be And so that's the
643
00:33:47.799 --> 00:33:51.400
legacy that keeps moving along, And so I just hope
644
00:33:51.400 --> 00:33:53.319
that people watch the movie and they get to see
645
00:33:53.440 --> 00:33:56.240
so many different generations of us. Wendell Pierce, Andre Holland,
646
00:33:56.400 --> 00:34:00.240
Tusson Baptiste, Anthony B. Jenkins, Tory J Malone, right, all
647
00:34:00.319 --> 00:34:03.440
of these wonderful actors, Samir Wiley. It's all of the
648
00:34:03.599 --> 00:34:07.119
blackness at its full potential on screen, and we're winning.
649
00:34:07.240 --> 00:34:11.000
He's the best of Baltimore City. He is Sheldon Candas, writer, director,
650
00:34:11.920 --> 00:34:15.840
Michael T. Williamson, acclaimed actor director. And is it harmonicus?
651
00:34:15.960 --> 00:34:17.760
Is it harmonicus? That's not a word. Is what do
652
00:34:17.800 --> 00:34:26.440
you call harmonica? I don't know. Monica play Okay, the
653
00:34:26.599 --> 00:34:29.719
project is called They Fight, premiering again on Hulu and
654
00:34:29.840 --> 00:34:32.519
Disney Plus this Friday, the Ly seventeenth. I love both
655
00:34:32.519 --> 00:34:34.119
of y'all. Ain't nothing you can do about it. I'm
656
00:34:34.119 --> 00:34:36.760
just glad to have you here. Thank you for your time,
657
00:34:37.000 --> 00:34:39.000
just like that, three hours agone Lord, willing back here
658
00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:41.840
again tomorrow to do it all over until tomorrow. Thanks
659
00:34:41.880 --> 00:34:45.079
for listening to Tavis Smiley and as always, keep the
660
00:34:45.159 --> 00:34:45.400
faith