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This interview has been lightly edited and condensed.
Youve been at the Black Lives Matter protests in L.A. and were recentlyattacked by the police.
Would you feel comfortable talking a little about that?
Ive been involved with Black Lives Matter Los Angeles for about five years.
Then there were the deaths of Black trans women like Nina Pop.
And Ahmaud Arbery was hunted down by white supremacists.
Tony McDade in Tallahassee.
We wanted to see to it we showed that it was the entire system.
This is during COVID-19, when our communities really need relief.
And Black folks are disproportionately affected by both the health and economic crisis as well as police brutality.
We dont need to invest any more money into oppression.
Crime has been on a steady decline for years as police budgets keep going up all over the country.
We want to let people know what solutions are available for them.
We can protest [L.A. County District Attorney] Jackie Lacey because she refuses to prosecute killer cops.
We can expose the system for what it really is and call for defunding of the police.
We had several demonstrations.
Weve been doing marches for years.
They only get aggressive when police are trying to make a point.
They tried to scare us back into our houses because of what was happening all over the country.
They brutalized us for hours.
They shot us with rubber bullets, beat us with batons and used tear gas.
My buddy Deon had two fractured bones in his skull.
My assistant had his shin split open so you could see the bone.
I was jumped by cops with batons, I was bruised all over.
This happened to so many of us.
We were brutalized in the streets by cops for calling for an end to police brutality.
That exposed the system for what it really is.
We had 100,000 folks the following Sunday.
Were going to experience that violence in our homes or in the streets.
We might as well come out and buck the system.
We might as well show what we really want and what were about.
You cannot scare us back into our homes.
And thats what were seeing all over the United States.
And were seeing institutions respond and begin to consider divesting from the police.
Were seeing Minneapolis commit to dismantling their police department.
Were seeing school districts canceling their contracts with police.
The movement is actually working.
Its a historic moment in response to a historic oppression.
Right before this interview.
It was passionate, succinct, and beautiful.
It was a historic moment.
So Im hoping we see some headlines soon and make waves.
When was the first time that you became aware of police brutality?
Ive been pulled out of my car at gunpoint, accused of stealing my moms car.
They said we matched the description, which I seriously doubt.
I went on to encounter police violence again during 2015 and 2016 in the wake of Ferguson.
And then again at Standing Rock with tear gas and rubber bullets.
There was surveillance, drones, bugs in rooms.
We are seeing the culmination of that oppression right now.
People are fed up.
We are committed to building something better.
What is like working in entertainment at a tumultuous time like this?
Where does entertainment fit into this?
One of my favorite sayings is: Theres no revolution without art.
Its a popular saying in movement spaces, and its 100 percent true.
Many of the organizers and radical abolitionists are artists.
As an industry, it is our duty to counter that oppression and be part of the solution.
Right now, Im really trying to organize Hollywood, be an activist, and speak out.
Not a whole lot of actors are working right now, if any.
Ive been doing press and talking about whats happening in the streets.
I think thats important.
AndMiss Juneteenthhas a narrative that is elevating the humanization of Black folks.
Im proud to be a part of those projects.
Art thrives in oppressive times because we need it.
I caughtMiss Juneteenthat Sundance, and it was one of the best movies there.
Im from Georgia, so I love southern Black movies.
Seeing us represented sympathetically and realistically is so important.
Im so glad you enjoyed it!
Im from Houston, so I love southern Black movies too.
I love the way you put that.
I hope that makes it to the final draft.
Thats exactly what it is.
The system is built up to work against us.
The film shows how the protagonist Turquoise navigates through that.
Nicole [Beharie] plays Turquoise so brilliantly.
And its all so complicated.
You know, I love how we call each other king and queen, but some of us werent.
Some of us were the proletariat.
We were farmers, workers, and artists.
A lot of our ancestors were regular folk, and theres nothing wrong with that.
Theres so much pride to be had in that.
My mother was an artist, she went to school for counseling, and then she worked in business.
My dad was a soldier in Vietnam and then came home and worked as a photographer.
And then he worked for the Department of Transportation.
And Im proud of that.
Im proud of who and where I came from.
I also really enjoyed this season ofInsecure.
One interesting thing about your character, Nathan, is that hes such a calm and quiet presence.
Bipolar characters especially tend to be written as erratic and aggressive.
Nathan is definitely a different image of a bipolar man.
Theres a full spectrum of bipolar disorder.
My brother had to navigate that.
For me, I have very debilitating anxiety.
In media, we like to sensationalize what mental health looks like.
But sometimes its just a regular mental-health struggle.
I think Hollywood has done a vast disservice to people with mental-health issues by constantly portraying them as violent.
The truth is that violence is cultural in America.
This is a country founded on violence.
I like that Nathans disorder wasnt demonized or made violent.
Its rare to see a Black persons mental health humanized onscreen.
