-Wyatt, good to see you.
Are you quarantined?
You're in New York? Are you in Brooklyn?
-I'm in Brooklyn, yeah.
I'm in Brooklyn -- actually, very close
to where all the demonstrations have been happening.
-Have you participated in any of these protests?
-Yeah, I mean, it's hard not to
when it's right outside your door.
You kind of -- -Go to the deli.
-Yeah, you kind of feel like --
And, yeah, really, anytime you have an errand,
you're basically like,
"Oh, well, okay, I'll spend a few hours here,
and then I'll maybe go get that toilet paper I needed."
-You were telling me some story. Was it your grandpa?
-Yeah, I think there's a part of, like,
wanting to get involved that I get from my grandmother.
And my grandmother was always very much the person --
She'd go into the city to go see a movie,
and I remember her calling me one day.
I think she went to go see "Juwanna Mann"
or something like that.
And, yeah, 'cause she just supported any movie
with black people in it.
-Man. "Juwanna Mann." -Yeah.
And that was -- She was the one old lady
watching "Juwanna Mann" at a movie theater in Manhattan.
Well, when she left, there were people protesting and marching.
And my grandmother was like,
"I should go see what this is about,"
and went and asked somebody.
And the next thing you know, she was like,
"I marched with them, and I met two really nice people,
and I marched them back
to my little apartment in Crown Heights, Brooklyn,
and I made them dinner."
And that feels like
that's what the power of collective action is,
people coming in together.
And it's not just their voices coming together.
It's communities being built.
If my grandmother could walk out of "Juwanna Mann"
and join a demonstration,
then I have no excuse to not do the same.
-Your show "Problem Areas" was on HBO.
I think that might have been the last time
you were on our show, promoting it.
And you really would just take one issue,
and all the episodes would be about that issue.
I think the first season was education?
-No, the second season was education.
The first season was policing.
-It's very interesting. The show's not on anymore.
-No, it's been canceled.
-And then you did something --
I don't know if it's -- I think it's unprecedented.
I've not seen this before.
You tweeted about it, and you said like, "Hey,
I'm not saying it's gonna do anything,
but what if HBO just put the shows up
on YouTube for free?"
-I just kind of put it out there
that if HBO wanted to make it free on YouTube,
I'd be cool with it.
And it picked up steam in a way on social media
that I honestly didn't expect.
A lot of people retweeted it and agreed with it and liked it.
And it got to a point where HBO then said,
"Yeah, why don't we do this?"
And they made it all available for free on YouTube.
-Is there anything that you'd like to highlight
that a lot of people don't really talk about with policing?
-Yeah, I mean, I think there's a conversation
that's starting to happen now
where people talk about how police budgets are being used
and just the idea that why, as citizens,
as taxpayers who pay into a police system,
do we not have more oversight and control
over how those dollars get spent?
So much of the conversation that we have --
yes, we need to do things
like change the way police are being trained
and do things like --
You know, there's a law on the books, 50-A, that hides --
It makes police personnel records hidden to people,
to public request.
-What can be people do to help with this?
I mean, do they they look up every city where they're from
and say like, "Hey, what's our policy?
What is our 50-A?"
Or does everyone -- Does 50-A cover everyone?
-No, 50-A is just in New York, and so in New York,
there is something called the Safer New York Act,
which has laid out a few things, including repealing 50-A.
We need to reach out to our local officials.
And a lot of it is doing that.
It's reaching out to local officials.
It's amplifying the voices.
-Do you feel like something positive
is coming out of these protests
or can come out of these protests?
-I hope so. I mean, I think what feels different now
as opposed to even just a couple of years ago,
is I feel like people are starting to look internally
and say, "Okay, well, as a white person, what is it that --
What is my responsibility in this?
What is my role to play in this?
And where have I been complicit
in allowing these things to happen?"
So I think what I feel hopeful for
is that as people are opting into this movement,
they continue to opt in and recognize
that we are no good when we silo ourselves off,
and especially when the wealthy who can silo themselves off,
to the detriment of everybody else.
-Yeah. Wyatt, thanks so much for talking with me
and coming on my show and having a great conversation.
And I hope to see you in person.
-I appreciate it. -Thanks again. Stay safe, okay?
-You too. -Thank you.
-Yeah. Thank you. Take care.