Every Black artist I've ever worked with
has mentored me in some way, shape, or form.
The biggest mentor I could point out
is my father who not only raised a generation of young Black men
from his work and his art, but when he wasn't busy
doing that, he was busy imparting into me
what it means to be a Black man in America.
Mrs. Michelle Obama-- she supported my music and just
me as a person and brought me along on the Let Girls Learn
campaign, and I just got to see the power
and the strength of a Black woman
going in and making waves of change.
A woman named Victoria Alexander,
she put out a booklist for people
who wanted to learn about anti-racism, people who just
wanted to-- like, hey, if you have
white friends or non-Black friends
and they're looking for books or answers.
She's been doing incredible work as an activist.
The work of Issa Rae is just so authentic and unapologetic.
She just gives permission for us to be ourselves and celebrate
life, just normalizing the millennial
awkward-ass Black experience.
A book by Angela Davis called "Women, Race, & Class--"
she does such a thorough job at walking you
through the history of Black women,
specifically in America, and how much
they've contributed to society.
RZA has really inspired me in this industry.
Working with him on "Wu-Tang--
American Saga" has been exceptional.
Tim Anderson and Sharon Couch--
they're two individuals from my childhood
that really invested in me a positive Black male role
model, positive Black woman role model.
They instilled in me hard work.
They always told me they believed in me,
and I have carried that on through adulthood
and in my career.
My brother, Luti Fagbenle, has a production company called Luti
Media, and it's a Black production company
and they made a show called "Maxxx."
You can watch it now on Hulu.
He was an example of diversifying
in front and behind the camera.
Definitely my mom.
My mother and my aunt and my grandmother.
My mother runs her own business.
My father went from being a gas meter reader in Seattle
to an executive here in New York City.
I think we're in a really interesting place where
the idea of mentorship and elevating of voices
is no longer traditional.
I feel like we're doing that for each other actively--
Mm.
--on an equal plane.
I think that's what's so beautiful about it is you're
seeing filmmakers who are brand new
mentoring studio execs on how to tell stories.
Everyone knows about Rosa Parks, but what
about Claudette Colvin?
Everyone knows about Martin Luther King,
but do a lot of people know a lot
about John Lewis or the fact that one in every four cowboys
was actually Black?
Black people can go to space.
Yeah.
Black people can fight dragons.
Why do they always got to be slaves for some reason?
It doesn't make sense.
More Black fantasy, more Black superheroes.
I want to see stories of love, of connection, of family.
I want trans Black stories.
I want gay Black stories.
I want more Black women stories.
Let's focus on sharing more stories about Black education.
Or ones that showcase the range of our humanity.
That's the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows.
And we'll get authenticity the more
that we get as many different people
within positions of power within this industry
as we possibly can.
And that's people behind the camera, that's people writing
the stories, that's people directing the stories, that's
people producing the stories.
We're in this together.
Every month is Black History Month.
Yeah, look out for your brothers and sisters.