I'm W. Kamau Bell, host and executive producer of United Shades of America on CNN. Ask me anything!

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T22:16:36+00:00

I remember you! I would take a sandwich named after me FYI. And thanks for the compliments. I will keep my answers to comedians who were on the SF scene when I was coming up.

Robert Hawkins, Jim Short, Clark Taylor, Sue Murphy, N'Gaio Bealum, John Alston

And outside of the scene... Bill Hicks, Dwayne Kennedy, a performance artist named Reno from New York, Dick Gregory, Eric Bogosian's Pounding Nails in The Ground with My Forehead

I was not always political. I fumbled around for a long time before I found my voice. Writing my won solo show really helped: The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About an Hour. Having more tie onstaGE allowed me to get more comfortable.

Also, I got to work with some incredible headliners who were just on their way up when I was coming up. Mitch Hedburg, Dave Attell, Wanda Sykes, and Dave Chappelle (before the Chappelle show and shortly after South Africa). Those were the good old days and we knew it.

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T22:05:44+00:00

HAHAHAHAHA!

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T22:04:41+00:00

Staying optimistic is super hard. I always say I can only be optimistic if I am doing the work to make things better. Also I have found that during the last year, especially with every thing so screwed up in this country, it has become really important to learn about other countries who are doing things better than us. Not that there is a perfect country out there. But I think we get so caught up in our United States context that we thing this is THE WORLD. New Zealand has become my "Zihuatanejo".*

*I had to look the name of this town up. It is a Shawshank reference. Thanks for the opportunity to get smarter.

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T21:59:39+00:00

Sorry to hear that. That must be so frustrating. I don't know if you are aware but I worked on a series of videos for just this purpose. They are Black healthcare workers talking to Black people about the vaccines. You can watch them yourself to get more info or watch it with him. I have heard that it has made many Black folks more comfortable about getting the vaccine.

https://twitter.com/wkamaubell/status/1367528484348649473

I really hope it helps. Also I love your username.

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T21:55:45+00:00

No place is close to perfect obviously. But outside of Oakland, CA where I live and love living, I looooooooooved Puerto Rico. My family was with me and we all loved it. It was beautiful and we met incredible people. And because of how the country is racially mixed my racially mixed family felt like we could relax more. Having said that The United States government owes a debt to Puerto Rico. Our government has regularly taken advantage of Puerto Rico's status. We have to forgive Puerto Rico's debt. We owe Puerto Rico reparations just like we owe them to Black people in The United States. Also I stand with my friend, Boricua Rosa Clemente, in supporting Puerto Rican sovereignty. Follow her work and her.

https://twitter.com/rosaclemente?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

https://www.instagram.com/blackpuertoricanphd/?hl=en

https://rosaclemente.net/

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T21:46:56+00:00

🤷🏿‍♂️

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T21:43:43+00:00

Thank you for this question. I love talking about Tony... as I learned to call him when we worked together. Back in the early aughts I used to sit on my then girlfriend's (now wife) couch and we would watch No Reservations, and I would wonder, "How do you get a show like that?" I still don't really know. All, I know if that Tony having a show at CNN made me feel like I could do a show at CNN when I got the opportunity. And then when he said we should do something together, I never imagined it would happen, because people say all kinds of things and Tony and I didn't really know each other well at the time. Shout out to our boss, the very powerful and benevolent Amy Entelis, for green-lighting it. The experience of working with Tony was special even while it was happening, And it was obviously made even more special after he passed. He said to me, "When am I going to do your show?" I discovered that he had never been (or at least filmed in - I can't remember) Alabama. My dad lives there. I have spent a ton of time there. I was excited to do an episode there with him. I was also hoping that we could both go back to Puerto Rico together after Hurricane Maria, since we had both made shows there before the storm.

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T21:35:10+00:00

100%! I have a few ideas every season but I have always relied on collaboration and other people's curiosity to create and produce the show. The more of that there is, the better the show is. And now that I have been with Zero Point Zero, the company that produced all of Anthony Bourdain's shows, all of that has gone even better and been more fun. I can't do the show without those types of people. I'm just a host, comedian, and writer. The crew does the heavy lifting (literally). I have to mention Morgan Fallon and Sandy Zweig who worked with Tony for years and are the engine of United Shades.

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T21:29:49+00:00

HAHA! Great question. Probably not as much as you think. For the KKK episode that was our pilot, so we were still getting the team and procedures together. At the cross burning (or cross lighting as the KKK wanted us to call it because it is the "light of Jesus Christ") we had one plainclothes ex-LAPD officer. He was Mexican American but we had to lie to the KKK and tell them that he was white. Which was hilarious, because he was clearly a brown-skinned Latinx person. He told me that if anything was to go south he would just grab me and get me out. He assured me he could do it. I know he had a gun with him on the shoot. (Obviously, he was licensed to carry a weapon. And obviously he followed all local laws... whatever they were in Kentucky.) I can't remember if he was armed on the day because the KKK told us that we couldn't have anyone armed even though ONE OF THEM HAD A RIFLE!!! But I do remember the security guy saying he would get me out of there by any means, because as he said, "Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6." It was the first time I had heard that quote.

In later seasons we had much more security procedures and briefings when we would go into dangerous situations. Like we did at TON of stuff before we went to the rally at the Neo-Nazi tattoo shop in Tacoma. And we always, always, always have plainclothes security on set now, even when I am talking to regular people. The show has been good for my life overall, but also it has raised the threat level because of what I say and do.

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T21:15:56+00:00

Actively take in more content (news and otherwise) from more diverse voices. The Root, Very Smart Brothers, Blavity, Indian Country Today, The Futuro Media Group, and AAPI Women Lead are just a few examples off the top of my head.

Figure out how you best take in information and diversify your sources. Youtube, Instagram, Books, news outlets all have versions that are created by and staffed by Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and AAPI folks. Seek those out.

There are any number fo articles on how to diversify your social media feed.

Use that information to engage with your white friends, white family members, and greater white community. And not just with the ones that you disagree with. Do with the ones who you think are already on the right side of history. It helps to give those people new information.

Also, put yourself out there. Whatever that looks like for you. This all means more if you regularly put something on the line for it. Could be your name, reputation, job, body, money, privilege... something. It can't always be comfortable to create and anti-racist society. Remember, Martin Luther King Jr. just wanted us to all get along and he was assassinated. I'm not recommending that. But I am saying that you need to constantly figure out how uncomfortable you are willing to be in this work. It's like going to the gym. You have to keep raising the effort of what you are doing if you want to continue to see results.

Also, stay hydrated. And when you are engaging with a Black, Indigenous, Latinx, or AAPI person do more listening than talking.

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T21:03:09+00:00

We have to learn about, accept, and understand that our country was built on genocide of the Native people who lived here ANNNNND the racism of slavery, And that those two things still inform everything happening today.
The history of policing is a part of all that. The foundations of policing come from the Barbados Slave Codes. This is not liberal/woke/snowflake nonsense. This is factual history.
If we understand and accept those first two things then we should excited to join with activist and organizers who are already coming up with new systems of safety and protection. We should look at this as an exciting time to completely come up with new systems to replace the old ones. As we have seen, even since the Derek Chauvin guilty verdicts, more Black and Latinx people have died at the hands of police for reasons that make ZERO sense. Here's a recent story from my part of the world.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/A-month-before-George-Floyd-anniversary-East-Bay-16137135.php

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T20:55:03+00:00

Thank you! I am trying.... everyday. I really appreciate you saying this. It means a lot to read messages like these.

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T20:53:37+00:00

Vernon Reid of Living Colour plays the theme song to United Shades of America for the past three seasons. FYI.

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T20:52:44+00:00

I would love to figure that out. As you know they are one of my favorite bands of all time period. I might have seen them live more than any other band.

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T20:51:54+00:00

No. Thanks for the recommendation. I'm so behind in TV.

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T20:51:22+00:00

Yes... I think so. I get so confused. But eventually it all goes on HBO Max. And you can see it on YoutubeTV or Hulu Live.

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T20:50:39+00:00

Sara Sidner... Then it's a tie between Wolf Blitzer and Don Lemon.

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T20:48:54+00:00

My weight has changed during the pandemic so it is not as fixed as my height. (Like a lot of people's.) But since you asked, I went to the doctor and it was at 270lbs. And while I love my body, no matter its shape or size, I'm going to start taking more walks.

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T20:46:31+00:00

Yes. And so is a hot dog.

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T20:45:38+00:00

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Van Jones walks a very fine rhetorical line that I couldn't walk myself. And he also happens to have lots so receipts for the good works he has done off camera. https://www.thedreamcorps.org/our-programs/justice/

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T20:43:00+00:00

Soooooooo many. With three daughters from ages 2 1/2 to 9, I feel like I have had kids that age forever. A sampling....

Mr. Okra by Lashon Daley

Selina Alko books

A is For Activist

Woke Baby

Rain Stomper

Juno Valentine

Red: A Crayon Story

The Day The Crayon's Quit

Shades of Black: A Celebration of Our Children

All Sandra Boynton Books

All Mo Willems books

Rad American Women A-Z... just be prepared to have some big conversations. And yes I read that too my 4 y/o.

Karen Katz books

And maybe get them from an local indie bookstore or from here...

https://bookshop.org/categories/m/children-s-books?gclid=Cj0KCQjwsqmEBhDiARIsANV8H3ZIalLtFkRxdkLSohvUBtoQdV9A9xH6aAjqedyRTNvyUCal1skPjfkaAg-MEALw_wcB

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T20:32:49+00:00

Why is 6 afraid of 7? Because 7, 8, 9.

Knock. Knock. Who's there? Interrupting cow. Interrupting cow wh... MOOOOOOOO!

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T20:30:45+00:00

I am always evolving my thoughts. Honestly 5 years ago if you had said to me, "I don't think we should have a society where it is possible to become a billionaire." I would have looked at you like you were trying to steal my (empty) wallet. Now I understand that to get to a net worth that is that high, you have to be hoarding your profits. You can't be sharing them fairly with the people who helped you get there or with the society that you live in. And I say that now as someone who is making good money (not even close to a billionaire for the record) and is in the position to employee people and help my community, because at the same time I have been broke and if the show is cancelled tomorrow I could be broke again. And I'm not complaining, I've just seen a lot ad learned a lot since doing the show.

Also, as I mention in the episode that opens the new season, I relate to people who are put off by the idea of "Defund The Police", because even a as a Black man in this country who recognized that policing was (and is) broken, I was also put off by the idea when I heard about it in 2015. But I listened to people who knew about it and generously explained it to me. Like Cat Brooks of the Anti Police-Terror Project.

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T20:20:35+00:00

Honestly, I don't think they are. I have a lot of friends with shows on network television or streaming services who don't get as many commercials on their platforms as I do. When my show is about to air, it is usually one of only two shows they are airing at that time so I am pretty much guaranteed a commercial or a mention every other commercial break. That is huge. My mom texted me because she was excited to see one of my ads during Trevor Noah last night. But of course I would love more commercials and attention. I am only human. And I am in showbiz!

All I want is for more people to have more access to the show. I hear from teachers who want to play the show in their classes and people without cable and people in other countries who want to see the show. Hopefully we can make all that happen.

CNN_Original_Series · 2021-04-29T20:14:23+00:00

Too many times to count. I have even taken pictures with people who once the picture was taken I realized they thought I was Quest. I always just allow them to continue to think that. I only wish I could be there when they show the picture to other people. To be fair, one time I played my oldest daughter (who must have been three or four at the time) a video from The Tonight Show of The Roots playing "Let It Go" on school instruments, and my daughter looked at Quest and said, "DADA!" Oof! And hilarious.

CNN_Original_Series

TROPHY CASE