Talib Kweli has likely grown accustomed to being the one asking the questions as the host of People’s Party With Talib Kweli, but on Wednesday night, he was given the opportunity to switch sides and answer a few as a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Throughout the ten-minute interview, Kweli addresses the ongoing protests against police brutality, reveals the first instance of racism he experienced as a child, watching his kids join the protests, and his hopes for the future.
When Fallon asked Kweli about protesting with his kids, he beamed, “My kids are wonderful. I love them so much. When Trayvon Martin was murdered by George Zimmerman, I went to have a meeting with Harry Belafonte… [he] put me in touch with Dream Defenders. They were occupying the state capital in Tallahassee, trying to try to reform and change ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws. When Trayvon was murdered, my son was 17 years old. I took my son down to Florida and we occupied the building with the Dream Defenders. That was me and my son’s first activism together.” He also notes that his daughter is also protesting in his native Brooklyn neighborhood where his bookstore, Nkiru Books, was once located.
After pointing out that the current federal administration is leaning toward fascism, he implores viewers not to forget to stand for equality “when the cameras are off,” name checking The Movement For Black Lives, Black Visions MN, and Black 2 The Future as organizations that “help the marginalized, the poor, and the people that fuel the fire that creates America.”
Watch Talib Kweli’s interview with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show above.
