Will Smith recently posted a video on his YouTube channel where he speaks with political commentator, Angela Rye. Smith’s interlocutor is truly influential and is a great source to turn to whendiscussing Black Lives Matterand the state of policing in the United States.
May Mr. Smith Introduce...
According to Rye’s personal website, she is Principal and CEO of IMPACT Strategies, a political advocacy firm in the nation’s capital. She is also a CNN Political Commentator and NPR Political Analyst. She has been featured as an influential politico, lawyer, and advocate by several publications and outlets from Marie Claire to Ebony and the Washington Post. Her main goal is to ensure positive change in the political process.
But also, apparently, Smith and Rye are old friends, as according to Rye, Smith counseled her through breakups, TV show ideas, brainstorming sessions, and what she needed to do with her life. At some point, Rye actually calls Smith “Willy Lama.”
“The Entire Globe Stood Up And Said To The African American People: ‘We See You And We Hear You’”
The two discussed misconceptions about the not so "Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air" personal experiences of Smith, as a Black person living in the U.S., where the actor opened up about growing up in Philadelphia, being stopped by the police frequently, and even being called an “N-word” by the officers. When looking back at his years at a Catholic school, he says: “White kids were always happy when a cop showed up, and my heart started pounding.”
Discussing the current active fight against racism in the United States, the actor said: “My grandmother taught me to try to be thankful for these times and these opportunities; to try to be thankful for your pain." He continued: “We are in circumstances that we’ve never been in before. The entire globe stood up and said to the African American people: ‘We see you and we hear you. How can we help? We have never been there before.'”
Smith also thinks that American people should be very careful not to be consumed by their own rage and said that this is something that he personally had to work on and overcome; and that for that exact reason, he loves peaceful protests happening across the country.
“Peaceful protests put up a mirror to a demonic imagery of your oppressor,” Smith said.
