‘At a crossroads.’ Jamie Foxx discusses chance for social change on Calipari show.
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Coffee with Cal
University of Kentucky men’s basketball coach John Calipari is hosting a weekly show on Facebook Live called “Coffee with Cal” in which he interviews influential individuals from the worlds of sports, media, politics and beyond. The shows are designed to benefit COVID-19 relief and draw attention to the Black Lives Matter movement. Click below to read the Herald-Leader’s stories recapping previous shows.
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During an appearance Monday on the “Coffee with Cal” Facebook show, award-winning musician and actor Jamie Foxx spoke of protesting for social justice for decades.
“I’ve been going to protests since Rodney King,” he said of the 1991 Los Angeles police beating caught on camera.
Earlier this year, Foxx accompanied retired NBA player Stephen Jackson to Minneapolis to join protests sparked by the death in police custody of George Floyd, who happened to be a friend of Jackson. Foxx said he came away more encouraged than ever about the possibility of change.
“We’re at a crossroads with an opportunity to do great things . . . ,” he told Kentucky Coach John Calipari. “There are millions of people all over the world that are looking for the good, that are saying we need to change things.”
The diversity of the protesters made him optimistic, Foxx said.
“We lived for eight minutes and 46 seconds with George Floyd,” he said of the time policeman Derek Chauvin kept a knee pressed onto the victim’s neck. “We heard (Floyd) call out for his mom. We heard this man plead with them. ‘I can’t breathe.’
“And I think it’s so bitter. But it’s also — in a weird way — sweet because the world got to see what we as Black people have been talking about for hundreds of years.”
That white people were moved to protest makes a significant difference, Foxx said.
“A billion Black people yelling out that there’s racial injustice, the needle will move a certain amount,” he said. “But if a very influential white man says, ‘Hey, we’ve got to fix something,’ watch what that needle does.”
To see young, old, Black, white, Asian, Hispanic, male and female protesters is encouraging, Foxx said.
“But let’s stay aggressive,” he said. “Keep Black Lives Matter alive. Don’t fall back from that. Don’t become comfortable. . . . There will always be issues when it comes to us as Black men and Black women. We have to continue to bang that gong until things have changed.”
Besides the diversity of the protesters, Foxx said he was also encouraged by the many young people present in Minneapolis and elsewhere.
“Then I realized that young, white kid, his first record was a hip hop record,” he said. “That young, white kid, his favorite basketball player is Steph Curry. That young, white kid, his president was Black, and it wasn’t a big deal to him.
“So, therefore, when they see these Black people being killed on camera, those are their Black friends they go hang out with, go to the gym with. . . .
“Us old heads, we’ve got to get out of the way . . . and let these young folks come through and make the world better.”
Foxx, 52, said he had joined with others, including Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, in an effort called the “Remember Me Campaign.” Organizers stage picnics with police officers and Black children.
“So that Black kids can see that police official in a different way,” he said. “And that police officer can see that Black kid in a different way.”
To explain the change he wanted to see, Foxx used a pizza analogy.
“When you eat pizza, you don’t say, ‘Hey, I’m eating pizza from Italy, and it’s Italian,’” he said. “You just eat pizza.
“And that’s what I want the Black experience to be. That we’re just all in this together. It’s human.”
American dream
Without saying so directly, Calipari seemed to link his idea of an internship program for minorities in UK’s Athletics Department to the American dream of self-improvement. Internships create access and opportunities.
Foxx, whose real name is Eric Marlon Bishop, grew up in Texas. Calipari asked him about his rise to fame. Foxx, who adopted that stage name in tribute to comedian and actor Redd Foxx, has won an Oscar and a Grammy.
Foxx credited his grandmother’s encouragement. His grandmother ran a nursery and insisted he learn to play piano.
When Foxx questioned why, his grandmother said playing the piano would take him to the other side of the tracks.
Foxx had a question: Play for white people?
No, his grandmother replied. The piano could take him to the other side of the metaphoric tracks, he recalled her saying.
‘Right notes’
Foxx won an Oscar for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the movie “Ray.”
During filming, Charles offered a piece of advice when Foxx hit the wrong note as the two played Thelonious Monk riffs.
“He said, slow down and make sure you hit the right notes,” Foxx said. Charles added, “That’s what life is: taking time to hit the right notes.”
Great expectations
Calipari asked Foxx which Los Angeles-based NBA team he rooted for: the Lakers or Clippers?
“My pro team in L.A. is LeBron James,” Foxx said. “That’s my team.”
Calipari suggested former UK player Anthony Davis merited accolades. Foxx turned back to James.
“I just marvel at LeBron James . . . ,” he said. “LeBron James had every expectation. And I’ve never seen a person have to shoulder so much. Shoulder social issues. . . I appreciate that he didn’t run away from it.”
