[MUSIC PLAYING]
(SINGING) It's a kooky, wacky, crazy, loopy world
we're living in, so Craig decides to close
up shop to live in a cabin.
And while he's there, he talks to corn,
and birds become his friends.
A dolphin shares the keys to life, the fun will never.
It's a wild and rowdy, loud and shouty earth we're spinning on,
so Craig put down the payment on a quiet little home.
The home is far from quiet, it's a lot that's going on.
A wormhole opens up, and now, his twin is in his home.
Oh yeah!
You're going to want to stick around for this.
Your attention, please.
It's time to get Black, y'all.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[VOCALIZING]
Your attention, please.
[CANNED LAUGHTER]
[SCATTERED APPLAUSE]
[CANNED LAUGHTER]
[CHEERING]
Greetings, what it dos, and hello--
(SINGING) is it me you're looking for?
Craig Robinson here, and I'm coming
to you live from what I like to call my productivity zone.
It's here that I keep meticulous notes
of all my intellectual doodads, idea thingies, and bladoodles--
oh, sorry, that's a Black dude doodle.
We've got an epic show for you today,
so I don't want to waste any more
time on my hopes and dreams.
Because around here, we're all about focusing on the hopes
and dreams of others.
Now, if you don't mind, I'm going
to get back to my bladoodles.
[HUMMING]
[FAX MACHINE TONE]
Why is someone faxing me here?
Weird!
Attention, Craig-- read the next segment.
Set up the next segment, bro, you tripping.
I feel like we've been through this.
If you're still reading this, why?
You really need to set up the next segment.
Who is that?
Good thing I didn't accept that offer
from my neighbor to trade his glove
collection for my fax machine.
End of the day, late, breaking updates
are worth more than the finest crafted
Corinthian leather gloves.
And let's see, how shall I set this up?
Got it.
Now, if you recall in season one,
I mentioned my extensive doll collection.
Well, did y'all know I also have an insanely intricate
celebrity wig collection?
As much as I love to go into very,
very specific detail about all of my wigs, I'd rather not.
That level of color will stay between me, the wigs,
and the celebrity skulls that they once laid upon.
Goochie, goochie, goo!
Pop quiz, hot shots--
when I say the name Annie, what's the first thing
that comes to mind?
Red dress?
Red hair?
Lots of white people in a hard knock life?
Or maybe, Annie, are you OK, are you OK, are you OK, Annie?
Annie!
Oh, you OK.
If all that is true, you wouldn't be wrong.
But after this next piece, you'll
see another Annie who is on her way to being on the Mount
Rushmore of Annies.
The short film we are about to peek
was created by a sister who I can
only describe as a legendary auteur in the making.
She writes, she directs, and she edits.
From SZA to Ciara, she's somehow finesses this all
while still being in school.
She's 23, y'all, and I'm in awe.
When I was 23, I was still trying to talk my way
into the [INAUDIBLE] Club.
Now, without further ado, your attention, please--
a short film by Annie Bercy.
[INHALES DEEPLY]
1989.
I'll see you later.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Your attention, please.
[JAZZ MUSIC]
I know you're not about to walk in this house
without saying hello to me.
Hi, mom.
Hey, baby.
How was school today?
Another great day of school, mom.
Well, good.
Get those school clothes off, get on your homework, wash up,
and I'll be ready with dinner in about an hour.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[GIRL SNICKERING]
[PENCIL WRITING]
[GIRL LAUGHING]
[LAUGHTER]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Yes.
Excuse me?
Begone.
So fly.
So free.
Yes, you can be beautiful, with Shine and Sleek.
[MUSIC PLAYING - CHRISTIAN RAMNATH AND ANNIE BERCY,
"LIONESS AD"]
When I'm not in my school uniform, I like to be fierce.
And I want my hair to be fierce, too.
That's why I use Lioness--
the permanent relaxer cream system
with constant conditioning.
(SINGING) So fly, so free.
So fly, so free.
Yes, you can be beautiful, with Shine and Sleek.
No more pain, easy to maintain.
Finally, tame that mane.
Lioness has successfully relaxed over 20 million heads of hair.
Ask your professional stylist for Lioness--
the premium, no-lye, conditioning relaxer,
available in your local beauty supply.
Are you ready to be fierce?
(MUFFLED) Riley, where are you?
Riley!
Oh, my bad, mom.
Dinner's ready.
Cut that off.
Now.
Riley!
You didn't remind me that Monday is picture day.
What?
Oh, I-- I forgot.
Well, pour something for us.
Let me get my purse.
Mom-- I want to perm my hair for picture day.
And ruin those precious curls of yours?
No.
Please?
I can pay for it myself.
I just want to try something different.
You don't perm your hair for a day,
and then rinse it out when you change your mind.
A perm means permanent.
Why not spend your money on a-- a wash and set instead?
Maybe because I want it to be permanent.
Well, maybe you don't know what you want.
And besides, you're too young to be putting those harsh chemical
products in your hair.
I don't want your hair to fall out because you
don't know how to manage it.
I mean, you managed just fine, mom.
Why can't you just teach me?
What's the rush?
Why now?
I-- I just want everyone to see a better version of me.
I want to be a better version of me.
Plus, you look so good with straight hair, mom.
Imagine how good I'd look.
[CHUCKLES]
Hmm?
Lord.
You want straight hair?
Well, you're going to have to take care of it.
You hear me?
It's a big commitment, and it requires a ton of maintenance.
Yes, of course.
Lord.
Tomorrow, when I'm at work, you go to the beauty supply store
for me, OK?
You know which box to get?
All right.
"I'd look good with straight hair"--
Lord, have mercy.
[DOORBELL]
Sir, what is this?
You don't see anything wrong here?
You don't see you're missing a shade here?
So this is the darkest shade of brown you guys have?
Really?
Might as well be the color of the bottom of my foot.
Right!
These are all the shades they have.
You have a problem?
Take it up with them.
Ooh, he did not.
Did you see that?
I saw that.
You saw that.
You know what?
I don't understand why you guys sell
all of these things in our neighborhood,
but you can't get the color of our skin.
And it is not that--
y'all assume every Black person here is stealing.
Right.
And I see your eyes glued to the cameras every time we come in.
Right.
You know, this one is better than the one on Beverly.
Right?
Because that lady be following us around.
She trippin'! So true.
She get on my damn--
Hey, so are you buying something, or?
No!
No, we're not.
And sir, watch us open up our own beauty supply store
and run all of you out of business.
You know what?
Let's go.
We're done.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[MUSIC PLAYING - CHRISTIAN RAMNATH AND ANNIE BERCY,
"CHANGE THE WORLD"]
(SINGING) You can change the world, just the way
you are, you're perfect, worth it.
You were made just right.
No need for you to change a thing Look at all the light
you burn.
You will change the world.
Baby, you can [INAUDIBLE] perfect.
And whenever you're feeling down,
remember how far you've came.
You will change the world someday.
Are you going to buy something?
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Next.
[GOSPEL CHOIR VOCALIZING]
Your attention, please.
That is how you paint a picture.
Black girl magic strikes again.
Keep killing 'em, Annie.
Maybe find a little part for you boy on your next one.
And by a little part, I mean the lead.
I want the lead.
Consider that my audition, Annie.
My assistant will send the footage.
Speaking of oceanic levels of Black girl magic--
cowabunga, sis.
Surf's up, queen.
Don't worry, I'm not getting into young adult novel naming,
even if I do have titles for my series, for days.
No, these are all things you'll likely
hear coming from the waves the ladies of Black Girls Surf
are making as they use surfing to break
the chains of the patriarchy.
Led by a fearless leader who calls herself
the original Dorothy, you're going
to be blown away by this one.
So let's do it.
Your attention, please-- meet Rhonda Harper.
Your attention, please.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
My connection to the water is very spiritual.
It's my church, it's my home.
It's a place where I get respite.
So when I go to the cove, I can go back to the time
when I was four, and my dad taught me how to swim.
It's a connection to my family.
And I am free.
[CHEERING]
I see the utopia that I dreamed about.
The lighthouse leads me home.
I know that's my place.
I know that's my space.
This is my journey.
[TRADITIONAL MUSIC]
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
I created the Africa Surf International and Black Girls
Surf for lack of representation in the professional surf
industry.
Black people weren't being shown on a professional level.
If you can't see it, you can't be it.
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
These girls are coming from a patriarchal system.
It's cultural, it's religion.
There's a lot of variables in it.
They come from disadvantaged homes, communities
without access.
We give them, through surf therapy, the opportunity
to express who they are, who they want to be,
how they see the future.
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
Surf therapy is quite needed, especially if you're
a person of color, and you're coming into a sport,
and people aren't used to seeing diversity.
There's always some judgment.
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
If you prepare emotionally, as well as physically,
then you have the perfect athlete, because they're
able to adjust easily.
We are?
Black girls surf!
You are?
Black girls surf!
You are?
Black girls surf!
You are?
[INAUDIBLE] surf! You are?
Black girls surf! You are?
[INAUDIBLE] surf! You are?
Black girls surf!
Yay!
They're working within themselves
to find their own agency, so that they
can go out and represent themselves, and excel.
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
Relax, relax.
These are teenage girls, and it's very challenging, when
you don't know who you are yet.
And to put you in a spotlight, like we did with [INAUDIBLE],,
it's very difficult to be able to navigate who you are,
and who you think the outside world wants you to be.
So what we're trying to teach here is to keep who you are.
You can be who you are, and still rock a wave.
[APPLAUSE]
It's hard to believe that on this day,
or I have peace in the water.
Back home, I'm seeing riots, and racism.
And here I am in Africa, my second home,
watching all of this happen.
Where I am in this environment, and being on this island,
is not only very emotional, but it should remind people
of where Black people started, and how we maintained,
and survived through all of the injustice that has happened
since we left this rock.
My dad always says, learn a trade,
go back into the community, and help.
I came across the transatlantic slave route to do just that.
When I'm in Senegal, the entire village comes out to greet you,
and make sure that you're OK.
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
I can breathe here.
[DRUMMING]
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
These girls just watched me come to a country
that is not my own, and excel.
And now, they have a home.
I have a home.
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH] Black Girls Surf.
[CHEERING]
These girls see that there's something
better out there if you just believe in yourself.
So my girls have seen the world in a different light.
And that is why we're here.
(SINGING) Every day, every day, every day,
every day, every time.
(TOGETHER) Thank you!
Every day, every day, every day, every day, every time.
(TOGETHER) Thank you!
Yeah, you move together, me for you.
(TOGETHER) Thank you!
For them, everyone, [INAUDIBLE]
(TOGETHER) Love you!
I love you, I love you, I love you.
(TOGETHER) We love you!
I love you, I love you, my baby.
(TOGETHER) We love you!
I love you, I love you.
(TOGETHER) Love you!
I love you, I love you, I love you.
(TOGETHER) I love you!
I love you, I love you, I love you.
(TOGETHER) I love you!
Your attention, please.
Oh-- this is me being instantly inspired, y'all.
Call it inst-iration.
Rhonda has singlehandedly just created
yet another Black surfer.
Wish me luck, y'all--
I want to help tear down the patriarchy, too,
one wave at a time.
Look what the tide flowed in!
It's my dolphin homie, Cedric.
Probably just swimming through, if I had to guess.
OK, cool-- shouldn't be a problem with that.
Take notes at a master of his craft.
For this last piece, I'm going to let
you in on a little secret--
Indiana Jones is real.
But he's not white.
And he doesn't steal stuff.
He's Black, and young, and cool as hell,
and is using the power of archaeology
to shine a light on our Black ancestry
and its profound impact on the world at large.
Plus, the dude may or may not have
discovered how to time travel.
I'm not legally permitted to go further with that one.
So without any more long talk, your attention, please--
meet Justin Dunnavant.
Hey, you wanna see a movie after this?
Bet.
What you want to see?
"Free Willy"?
[LAUGHS]
Your attention, please.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Are you a time traveler?
I do travel through time.
That's one of the superpowers that we
as archaeologists possess.
My name is Justin Dunnavant.
I'm an archaeologist.
And I'm here in Nashville, Tennessee,
at Vanderbilt University.
Traditionally, I would be in [INAUDIBLE] right now.
I would be excavating.
We'd have a number of students.
Once we uncover what it that has been damaged, distorted,
or lost, we can begin to think about restoring
some of those things.
And for me, that's the exciting part.
I think, as researchers and academics,
we often get caught up in identifying problems,
but are rarely in a position to offer
solutions to the problems.
And I think that's the most exciting part.
I had two older brothers.
And so I was hanging out with them
and their friends most of the time.
So you know, by the time I hit middle school,
they were in high school.
So I started college when I was 16 years old.
So it was me, and another friend of mine,
that were the two youngest kids at Howard University then.
I wanted to travel.
I wanted to see the world.
Archaeology is really something that stuck out to me
and spoke to me when I got to college.
I wanted to study abroad my first year.
And the only trip that didn't have a prerequisite
was to go on an archaeology dig in the rainforest in Belize.
And so I had never been camping before, but I said, sign me up.
I lived in the rainforest for six weeks.
We were excavating a Mayan plaza.
I just thought, this is amazing.
I was traveling three times a month,
so at least within 10 days, I was on a plane going somewhere.
I was rarely home.
And actually, I explain to people
when I wrote my dissertation, I was
doing fieldwork in Ethiopia.
And I think I was home for maybe three months out
of the whole year.
So that's the life that we live as archaeologists, out
of necessity.
So you really start to value what it is that you
actually need, and you learn how to make
home wherever you end up.
The focus and theme of what I do is really
centered around Africa and the African diaspora
over the last 500 years.
Doing this work has really opened my eyes to the idea
that there's a whole other aspect of history.
Oftentimes, we think of pirates, we
look at Captain Morgan, and all these other pirates,
and Blackbeard.
But we rarely understand or interrogate
the fact that a lot of them were involved in the slave trade.
Blackbeard the pirate, his ship, the "Queen Anne's Revenge,"
was a slave ship that he captured with over 200 Africans
on board.
And he sold those Africans.
It's part of a much larger goal focusing on the slave trade.
It's twofold-- one of it is actually
understanding what happened during the slave trade.
We're talking about a large, large, forced migration
of people from Africa to the Americas.
And then you have to deal with the ramifications
on the US side--
Indigenous populations that have been displaced and actively
erased from many landscapes, people
having to make a new life in this place that
wasn't traditionally theirs.
I draw strength mainly from ancestors.
I know that I'm not doing this work alone.
These are the cabins where the enslaved people
would have lived.
Over time, they were rebuilt and repurposed.
These were actually lived in up until the 1960s.
One of the most interesting finds that we found,
and that you can actually see in this imagery,
is if you zoom in, we actually dug down to bedrock, which is
the foundation of the island.
And you can see what we call postholes in the bedrock.
So these were actual holes that would
have been dug into the bedrock to affix some sort of post.
So that leads us to assume that perhaps enslaved Africans were
repurposing these postholes that were
created by Indigenous people.
From that point, we have to completely reconfigure
and rethink how it is that we understand
Black history in America.
Understanding what they were up against, what they've been
through, what decisions they had to make
allows us to add a more humanized component
to their life, and their story.
Diving With a Purpose is a non-profit organization
founded around 15 years ago.
A group of Black scuba divers, they
got into these conversations with the National Park Service
and realized National Park Service has underwater parks,
just like they have land parks.
The problem is, they're vastly understaffed and underutilized.
These recreational divers said, well, we love scuba diving.
We'd love to help, and assist.
More importantly, one of the national parks
was actually looking for a slave ship wreck.
And at that point, National Association of Black Scuba
Divers said, well, we'll offer our talents to help you search
for these slave ship wrecks.
Part of my work now is also trying to not just understand
the events as they occurred, but the mentalities that
allowed them to occur, so that we can
begin to change some of those.
Afrofuturism allows us to think through
and explore what could have been if the past had been different.
Afrofuturism allows us to dream, to imagine,
to think about what can be.
I've got a few things in the works right now.
The main project is in Africantown, Alabama.
The last slave ship to enter the United States, the "Clotilda,"
was located recently.
And that created a whole new resurgence of memory,
of history, of excitement and exploration,
and then also an intensive sort of revisiting of the history
of the town of Africatown.
The town was founded by the people who came on that ship.
A few years after the ship arrived, slavery was abolished.
So those people who were brought on that ship
found themselves now, quote unquote,
"free" in the United States.
And they came back to the area where
the ship dropped them off at, and established
a community in Africatown.
I honestly think archaeology in Africatown
will be one of the most significant
archaeology sites in the 21st century, [INAUDIBLE]..
[MUSIC PLAYING - ESPERANZA SPALDING, "BLACK GOLD"]
I think "Indiana Jones" raised awareness about archaeology,
but didn't attract enough people to it.
When I talk to younger people today that actually get
into archaeology, a lot of them really get into it
for similar reasons that I did.
This idea that I'm constantly working on a new project,
and exploring new ideas that people either haven't
thought about, or that people are now
thinking about in a new way--
archaeology provides us with another archive
that we can use to explore Black history.
(SINGING) But you're golden, baby,
Black gold with a diamond soul.
I would just tell the future generation,
remember, remind, and restore.
(SINGING) Oh, Black boy, Black boy, you are Black, boy.
You have a responsibility to your community.
And you have responsibility to the world.
There's really nothing that's outside of your capabilities
as a human being.
Anything and everything is possible.
And I just ask you to tap into that,
and live your life to the fullest.
Your attention, please.
Justin is the man, and not just because of this gift
that just showed up.
If anyone else is feeling gifty, at the bottom of the screen
is my Cash App.
Gift away.
Now, let's see what we have here.
[ANGELIC CHOIR]
[GASP] (WHISPERING) Oh my god.
The history-- look at it!
The story-- glorio-o-o-us!
[STRAINING]
[PANTING]
Whew.
Well, that's all the time we have for today, y'all.
I'm going to go find a place in the cabin
for this illustrious piece of history I was just gifted.
Remember, y'all, don't forget to find what you love,
share it with the world, and scream from the mountaintop,
your attention, please!
[WHISTLING]
Hey, football dummies, give me a hand in here.
[MUSIC PLAYING]