Jamie Foxx was a guest on SiriusXM Urban View’s “The Mike Muse Show” and discussed feminism and raising strong daughters in his new book, “Act Like You Got Some Sense”. Foxx also spoke about the importance of showing the world all that Black people can be, shared his belief that the Black community needs more “financial muscle” to rise up, and spoke about the importance of Black celebrities and Black journalists working together.
Jamie Foxx on Feminism and Raising Daughters:
Host, Mike Muse: So why was it for you to really single out then feminism in your book, and to make sure Annalise and Corinne felt empowered? Like how do you balance that duality?
Jamie Foxx: Well, here’s the thing it’s like having daughters, I wanted them to be able to have the same type of energy that my grandmother gave me. That you’re going to be able to go to across the tracks. I thought she meant over the black and white. She says, no metaphoric. I want you to be able to go anywhere in the world and be comfortable. So with our daughters there’s a lot against them. We gotta prop them up. So I take them to places, let them see women handling jobs in high places and empowering them in trying to unlock what has been locked for so many years with women of that, this is the only place you can go. This is as high as you can go. I said, I want you to crack that glass ceiling. I want you to break it wide open because you mine. Now, whatever tick I had before I had my daughters that changes. I said, I don’t want you to shy away from anything. My daughter, 12 years old, she’s 5’10, she played against the boys. Last time before the COVID, she had 21 point 17 rebounds five blocks. My oldest daughter is now running part of my company, actually my producer on my shows. And so as fathers and in a funny way, cause I let you know in the book, I’m talking a lot of joke things, but behind that is unlock your daughters, allow them to soar as high as they can go, because they’re gonna need us. They’re gonna need us. And I always say this, and this is not in the book, but I always say this, as much as minorities go through, women go through even more. Even look at the way my young daughter talked about hip-hop. She’s like ‘I don’t really like all that being called a bitch, and a hoe and all that. I don’t like all that.’ I said, ‘wow.’ She said, ‘why do y’all let that happen?’ And so that checked me. I’m like, whoa. So, she was like, I don’t want to hear all of that. So my young daughter and my oldest daughter, so that’s what I mean, like things that they taught me, is like yo, dad, I ain’t really with that. And so I make sure that I can facilitate that. They’re not saying they don’t like all hip hop or whatever it is or what we’re doing, but they definitely made me open my eyes as well.
Host, Mike Muse: And I think what you just mentioned, you said her playing against the boys and opening her eyes. And there’s a part in the book where it talks about the competitive nature of Annalise, and when she lost the game and she was like, I’m going to kill my team, or their team, but somebody’s going to die today. I thought that was hilarious, but you recognize that as passion, but you also do highlight that could be seen as an angry Black woman. How then do you reconcile that with Annalise and Corinne on that balance of maintaining that passion without having to give in to the angry Black woman trope?
Jamie Foxx: I don’t know who’s making up these things. That’s the thing it’s like, you got all these people that make these labels, and we live.. America is a world of labels. When we were Black, we were called niggas, and porch monkeys, and all these different things. And the reason people label people is because that sits in your mind and that keeps you down. So I tell my daughters, I don’t care what nobody says. You better go do everything you gotta do. They’re going to talk trash anyway.
Jamie Foxx Says Black Celebrities Need to Advocate for Black Journalists:
Host, Mike Muse: Jamie Foxx and Michael B. Jordan was my first ever SiriusXM town hall. Jamie Foxx and Michael B. Jordan had the green light for me to be able to do that town hall and Jamie, I want to just thank you man for trusting me with that conversation for ‘Just Mercy.’ You don’t know what that does for a black man, like myself in journalism, to be able to be validated by black celebrities at your status, to ensure that the black man like me gets that look and particularly for somebody who’s coming up in this space. And so personally I just want to say thank you, and if you notice Jamie over my shoulder, there’s a poster from ‘Just Mercy’ hanging in my dining room where you and Michael B. Jordan signed it. It meant just that much to me that not only are you two of the biggest stars on the planet right now, but you just so happen to be black talking about a movie written by a real story of a black man who was helping black men and women get off of death row. And so it just meant so much that I had to archive it here in my space. That’s how much you mean to me.
Jamie Foxx: Well, listen, all I can tell you is that that was probably our best interview, no disrespect to anybody else, but the passion that you had. And then that moment, man, it’s time for us. You know what I’m saying? We’re tired of waiting on anything. We do everything at such a high level, and you know what I love, you said ‘you happened to be black.’ And that is a beautiful thing because what I tell my kids all the time and I tell kids that are around me, my nephews, I try to show them people doing different things. I try to show people like you in a positive light, doing journalism, doing things that are sometimes, you know, when we dream, we can only dream what we see and it’s narrow, especially when it comes to us. But to see you taking those reigns, taking that helm, and doing something special because we need our voices man. We need to hear, we need to get fed because the winds are blowing out here. Sort of blowing in a way that sometimes they’ll utilize us when they need us, and then when they don’t need us, they throw us away. I feel like sometimes black people are the side piece of America. Like they’re just treating us like the side piece. And so having people like you, who will hold people accountable for things, who will also be so proud of who you are, man, and what you do, it just means a lot. And I was happy to be a part of that. And anytime you need me I’ll come. I’ll come DJ your kitchen, whatever you need.
Host, Mike Muse: Jamie, I really appreciate that, thank you.. I’m a big believer in giving people your flowers and you don’t know how much of a small gesture was a grand moment for me in my life. And also too, for other journalists, and that we just need more of you. So if you can tell your homies, your colleagues, superiors, to make sure they recommend us, they ask for us, they make sure that we get the look. And I’m going to speak on behalf of all my Black journalists because it’s not easy in these media spaces, because we don’t control any of the behind the scenes. It’s just important for you guys to speak up for us, and I wanted to make sure I said that on behalf of Black journalists.
Jamie Foxx: Yeah. And for people who are not understanding what he’s saying, what he’s saying is sometimes when you get to this point in your life, and they’ll say ‘well, you have to go here and you have to do this show,’ and then you forget about that. Hey, listen, our voice and what you do for our voice is important so for all of our actors and actresses, we have to make sure that our Black journalists are taken care of. It’s actually weird. It actually turned on him a little bit. Without social media, you would think that yeah, mainstream media was everything. Now, you got social media and these Black voices and Black folk like yourself are making real strides.
Jamie Foxx Discusses the Importance of Showing the World All That Black People Can Be:
Jamie Foxx: A lot of times, people may not be racist, but it is the perception that they are constantly bombarded with that they can’t get by and see that you are a journalist, or a person could be a doctor, all these different things. And even we sometimes paint ourselves in the corner and say that this is all that we can be when it is not. And so that’s why I say here on this, let’s do the movie or the television show based around you. So we can show the world that there’s so many shades to us. We went to see Forrest Gump as well. That’s what used to trip me about Hollywood. They’ll do a white show and then put one black person on that says, ‘well, if they see that black person, I’m sure they’ll tune in.’
Jamie Foxx Believes Black People Need “Financial Muscle” to Rise Up:
Host, Mike Muse: I wanted to throw my pen at the screen at you when you talk about the ability to eat fried chicken in public because White America, Black people have subscribed to this narrative of white, well what is right based up whiteness. And then we get into respectable politics and what we should be. And so we think that, Jamie Foxx, the thing that made White people so unique and special, our food, our cuisine, our vibe. There’s a moment where once we get more money and get more educated, they will begin to dismiss it.
Jamie Foxx: Yes, we begin to talk differently.
Host, Mike Muse: Yeah, and all of a sudden Vogue then deems that cornrows are fashionable, a beauty trend, and all of a sudden then there’s value in it. But without us, sometimes, Jamie we don’t understand the value in ourselves, oftentimes try to be respectable.
Jamie Foxx: Preach, preach, and you’ve got to understand, we moved the needle on every ounce of everything. We are the biggest consumer. We’ve been the influencer since day one even when it comes to music. The music sounds dope, but let somebody else that may not be black sing it and now…’oh we can take it now. They’re so amazing.’ I said, but no, but when the brother was singing, or sister was singing it wasn’t, so we have to realize that. And once we start to realize that is when things will change. I say this all the time, and it’s our financial muscle that we lack. That’s why they’re able to manipulate us any type of way they want to. That’s why we are considered the side piece of America at times, and when we’re talking about politics, they’ll come and say, ‘yeah, we’re going to take you out. Just let me get your vote. Oh yeah, we’re going to take your eat on Sunday. Just let me get your vote. Let me get your vote.’ And then when you get our vote, you don’t call us back. You don’t say nothing to us. And so it’s like, once we understand that unless we have financial muscle, we will continue to sort of look around and wonder why things don’t move the way they move, and they move for other people. If it was the Asian act, boom, it happens. All these different things happen. Then when it comes to us, ‘well, this has happened in Congress, in the House.’ So that is an important thing that you say, because when they look at us, they know that we can’t come together because we haven’t quite come all the way together when it comes to that financial muscle. Latino community, can’t mess with them, Asian community, can’t mess with them. When it comes to us, we’re getting there, we’re getting close, but once we start relying on each other and having that, not only that political muscle and our vote, but that financial muscle, we’re going to be making some noise.