[MUSIC PLAYING] [WHISTLES] Hey. Oh, yeah. Yes, thank you. Where's the paper? Dammit. We discussed this. It's time to get black, y'all. [MUSIC PLAYING] Your attention, please. Good day. Good evening. Good life. It's me, Craig
Robinson, and I'm here to be your guide through a
journey of epic blackness. No, I'm not talking about my
skin, which is pretty epic.
I'm talking about a new
batch of heroes that are out in the world taking
charge in spaces and places you will never imagine. I'm talking about coders, CEOs,
plant whisperers, just to name a few. I'm going to be sort
of like your conduit into these amazing stories. And hopefully, they inspire
y'all to go out there and conquer your own calling,
even if it is something that would be hard to explain
to your uncle at the family reunion this year. So sit back, relax, and
let's enjoy together. Thank you. Say what? I'm not done yet? Oh, I have to introduce the
first piece before I enjoy this delicious truffle popcorn? OK, gotcha. Thank you.
What do Ghana, Google, and
unicorns have in common? They are all a part of the
epic journey of Iddris Sandu. Dude is a self-taught
computer wunderkind. He started coding at 13. When I was 13, the
only decoding I did was looking for that ring at
the bottom of the cereal box. You see, Iddris is
literally out to change the world through tech. And I'm definitely
not going to be the one to tell him he can't. I heard he likes "Iron Man 2." Maybe he can help me make
one of those chest thingies so I can dominate
my spin classes. On that note, let's see
what Ghana, and Google, and unicorns have in common. Wait, hold up. Ghana, and Google, and unicorn. [MUSIC PLAYING] Your attention, please. Growing up, you know, we didn't
really have a lot of resources. We were a very low-income
family, and my mom raising me. And she would get these remote
controls from Food 4 Less, or she would get them from,
you know, 99 cent stores.
I remember she used
to spank me all the time, 'cause I would, like,
break the remote control she would buy. I would just always
look at the way that circuit boards were made. And the first thing
that I ever programmed was turning a light on. It was a diode, a circuit. It had a transistor
connected to it. And it would just literally
send a zero or one state. Zero is off. One is on. And that's when I
was really like, I can input a value into
an equation, essentially, and the output of it can have
an effect on the real world. From a young age, I just
understood that, no matter what products we
ended up creating, there was a story before
the product was created.
Throughout my life, there's
been people that have been very important in shaping my story. And one of those was my Google
colleague who discovered me in a library at 13
years old and showed me that I could elevate my skills. The backstory of it
is, I love the library, and I was going to
the library every day. That was my virtual reality. It was like a safe haven for me. There, I could learn
the C#s, and the C++s, and the Objective-C, Java,
Fortran, Java, .NET, 1.0, 2.0. One day, this Google designer
just happens to come in and says he recalls
seeing this book online, and he wants to check it out.
And the librarian is
like, the book should be in the computer section. He goes to the computer section. The book isn't there. He comes back. She sends one of her
colleagues with him. They couldn't find the book. They both returned to the front. And it dawned on her that,
there is this kid that comes in here every single day. And he goes to the same section,
and just reads these books and leaves. In fact, I think I
saw him here today. And so she basically
points at the table I'm at.
He walks up to me, and he's
like, if I borrow that book, I promise I'll have it back. I was just like,
here, you can take it. And so he takes four steps
away, then turns, and is like, do you know what you're reading? And I was like, yeah. Like, I just want to
learn how to program. And as I start to
tell him who I am and where I'm actually
from– beyond just being a kid from Compton that
moved to Harbor City, being a kid from
Ghana that came here when he was three years
old, and how much I wanted to use
technology to really change lives and save lives.
He offered me an
internship at Google, and I was able to go there
for a couple of months. And being at one of the
largest companies in the world, the insight that I received has
informed every single decision I've ever made in my life. What that represented
to me was the ability for somebody to really
believe in another person. And even from a young age, I
just knew that that was a gift. That was a chance that we speak
of– being at the right place at the right time. And in the same way as the
library, I was at a Starbucks and just sat there
by the restroom, because it's the only section
facing the wall that no one else can see what I'm doing. I was modifying software,
because I realized that I wanted to create a
digital audio workstation for kids in the hood to be able
to make music with their hands. And so I'm just, like, waving my
hands over my computer screen, just doing this.
I hear these chains
clacking against each other. I look up, and it
was Nipsey Hussle. And then he goes to the
front to order a unicorn frappuccino for his daughter. I text one of my friends,
and I said, you know, Nipsey also just walked in. I have a very strong
feeling that he's going to come up to me. And then my friend
was like, Nipsey ain't gonna come talk to you. So I'm literally
there, and I was like, he's going to come talk to me. And that's the same feeling
that I felt the first time of the Google designer. And he started walking my way. And I was like, I knew it. And then he walks right past
me and goes to the restroom. He's there for, like, 20
seconds and then comes right out, and walks past me again. He did it four times.
The fourth time, he
comes straight to me, only to find out that
he didn't even need to use the restroom at all. And in the most polite way that
anyone has ever approached me, he says, excuse me, sir. I'm not trying to intrude
on what you're doing. But I know technology enough
that whatever you're doing is not out.
If you wouldn't mind me
asking, what are you doing? I told him, and he just
saw it in that moment. And I remember
these exact words. He said, I want to put you in
a position where the same thing you just told me, you can
tell that to everyone. I didn't know where
the dialogue would go. I didn't know if
he would hit me up. He hit me up that evening. The rest is history. It's really interesting how we
can draw these juxtapositions between two separate worlds. One person that
helped me was white.
The hood person that
helped me was black– a yin and a yang. But these two people had
the same amount of effect and approached me the same way. And when we talk
about fulfillment, every single person has at least
one time in their life where you really reflect on
your life, and then you say, what have I really done? And I think I always knew that
my purpose, my mission, what I would ultimately
leave this earth doing is fulfilling something
greater than my own existence. Your attention, please. The boy is bad. And that's bad meaning good, for
those who didn't get the slang memo, like, 30 years ago. Moving right along. What does MAI stand for? Hint, it's not what you think.
And I definitely know
what you're thinking. MAI stands for Movement Art
Is, an organization that uses movement artistry to
inspire and change the world while elevating the artistic,
educational, and social impact of dance. And I can't take credit for
the strength of that statement, although I really
want to, like– like, really, really bad. MAI and its purpose
are the brain children of two amazing movement
artists, Jon Boogz from Miami and Lil Buck from Memphis.
These fellas were nice
enough to put together a bespoke piece for us. So without further ado,
I present MAI, featuring the poetry of Robin Sanders. [MUSIC PLAYING] Your attention, please. [MUSIC PLAYING] They are the stories
that we tell. And so they dance. Breathe. On the path. And so they danced. And so they danced
under moonlit skies that heard their cries for freedom. And so they danced
boldly with the librettos of liberation in their bodies
and the earth beneath them. And so they danced
freely on the path paved by their
predecessors, waving like the waters that carried
their ancestry, frequently flying with no wings. Air Force 1s and Js lifted
them amongst the greats.
They land as legends. Their feet gangsta
walking on the streets that birth legacy,
electric boogaloos, G style, and rock steady. The heroes lived and loved,
danced through time in hand claps, finger snaps, toe
taps, buck jumps, CCs, hits, and pops to the
syncopated beat of djembe drums, now rebirthed in the
bassnectar of hip hop through hardships and
museums, our moving monuments. We– we honor them. They are the stories
that we tell. Their lives blazingly
declare that we are here from generation to generation,
gliding and spinning, history bearing the image of greatness. We are now the new ancients. Your attention, please. [ELECTRICAL BUZZING] Oh, damn. Didn't see y'all
watching me robot. Couldn't help my little self. Those fellas are
truly inspiring. And Robin's poetry is ear candy. You can't get diabetes
in your ears, can you? Probably not, right? [WHISTLES] [FLOOR SQUEAKING] For our final piece,
I'd like to introduce you all to Tomi Adeyemi. So to make sure I didn't
mess up her last name, I made a little game for myself. I just think of her being
the final ingredient in a delicious literary stew.
Like, I'll standing
over the pot, and I just need to
add a yemi to it. Tomi is a "New York
Times" best-selling author who's written two books and is
currently working on a third. I personally am a
fan for many reasons. One, my girl is from
Ashah, like Craig. Two, my girl left a safe
job to pursue her dream. I did the same when I left
teaching to pursue comedy. Three, she's a huge
"Harry Potter" fan. Me too, y'all. I wonder if Tomi me can
write the next "Harry Potter" but make Harry a brother. [GASPS] Maybe I'll pitch
that to her sometime. Now, let's all sit
back, relax, and enjoy. Say it with me, y'all. Tomi, Tomi, black girl magic. Tomi, Tomi, black girl magic. [MUSIC PLAYING] Your attention, please.
[TYPING] What is magic? [MUSIC PLAYING] A boy casting a
spell with a wand? A fairy godmother turning
pumpkins into carriages? For this magi, magic is words. It's words that can
open minds, words that can lift souls, words that
can change the world forever. But a lot has to happen
before that magic can work. [SIGHS] Each act is a battle. Every word, an attack. Every story, a war. To cast this magic,
the young magi must first gather her inspiration. She must take the seeds of a
story buried deep in her mind, and make it come
alive before her eyes. It's like, I don't even
know if this section should be in the book. [DOG WHIMPERING] I don't think she would do that. I don't feel like that
feels true to her character.
[DOG BARKS] It doesn't feel right. I appreciate the
suggestion, but– like, I get what you're
saying, but that doesn't change who she is as a person. [DOG BARKS] OK, OK. You can go. Thank you. Once all the magi's
ideas are out, she must put them together
to create her magic. She must consider what character
arcs are most dynamic, what plot points are
most exciting, what worldbuilding is most powerful,
what themes she must reflect. She must refine the
bones of the story until she has something
that makes sense. Then, she must go to work. [SIGHS] The magi must write again
and again, never stopping– [SIGHS] –never letting up. [SIGHS] She must create hundreds
of pages, burn those pages, and then write again. She must fight the words until
the magic can come alive. But when the magi's work is
done, her magic is powerful. It spreads around the world. It takes root in
heart after heart. [LAUGHTER] It empowers those who
feel its rush, calling them to cast their own magic. And it lives forever, because
powerful magic never dies. Your attention, please. Well, that about does it
for today's episode, y'all.
Damn, that was fun,
educational, and eye-opening. I hope you feel the same. Don't forget to tune
into next week's episode, where we'll do it again
with three new friends. Now I'm going to get out of
here and hit the library, then work on my
dance moves, and then put some hours in on my next– well, first novel. I mean, I've written
children's books, but I've got to get some
longer-form intellectual property popping in 2020. Don't forget to listen to
the podcast, where we dive even deeper into our stories. Check it out on
iHeart, or wherever you get your podcast fix. And as always, don't be
afraid to find what you love. Share it with the world.
And scream from the mountain
top, your attention, please! [ELECTRICAL BUZZING] And cut.
Cut, cut. There we go. Cut. [MUSIC PLAYING] [CLAPPERBOARD CLAPS] The boy is bad. And that's bad meaning good,
for those who didn't get it. I'm not going to do a
popcorn take, because I'm not going to eat it. Because if I eat it, then
I'll be thinking about it and chewing on it,
stuck in my teeth.
Even if it is
something that will be hard to explain to your
uncle at the family reunion– [CHUCKLES] [LAUGHS] [CHEERING] [GROANS] What the heck. [LAUGHS] Come on, let's do it again. Hey, how was the
robot, by the way? [INAUDIBLE] [LAUGHS] What's up, y'all? It's me, Craig Robinson. Now, listen. Head over to Hulu
and watch the four episodes of "Your Attention
Please," hosted by yours truly. I promise your little
minds will be blown when you see what we cooked up– amazing stories about powerful
new heroes and black culture out there killing it
in spaces and places you won't even see coming. So go check it out and
let us know what you think in the comments section. I'll be waiting. And as always,
don't forget to like and subscribe to this channel.
Later..
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