I SEE U with Eddie Robinson By cover art

I SEE U with Eddie Robinson

By: Houston Public Media
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  • Summary

  • I SEE U is a unique, award-winning program that gives voice to those who have often been unheard. Hosted by Houston Public Media’s Eddie Robinson, I SEE U explores cultural identity through the stories of people and places that have been transformed by the effects of long-standing biases. Eddie guides fascinating conversations with newsmakers who share their personal histories, their struggles and their triumphs. In listening, we learn to empathize and hopefully experience a few ‘a-ha’ moments for ourselves.
    ℗ & © 2024 Houston Public Media
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Episodes
  • 119: A Resurgence of Ballet Royalty – Legendary Dancer Lauren Anderson

    119: A Resurgence of Ballet Royalty – Legendary Dancer Lauren Anderson
    May 18 2024
    Ballet traces its origins to the 15th century and the Italian Renaissance. But the art form has continued to evolve, with choreographers and dancers creatively incorporating new interpretations reflective of contemporary culture. Despite its evolution, today’s ballet still lacks dancers of color, especially in principal roles.Trailblazer Lauren Anderson was one of the first Black dancers to climb the ranks to become the principal dancer at a major ballet company. Though it’s been 34 years since she made history in that role, Anderson tells I SEE U that while progress has been made, more needs to be done so that young people of color can feel like they belong in this industry. She admits that more ballerinas of color are, indeed, taking lead roles – but too often, preference is given to light-skinned dancers. Anderson, who is dark skinned and has a muscular physique, was told as a teen that she didn’t fit the right look of a ballerina – despite being recognized as a huge talent at a young age.Stay tuned as host Eddie Robinson chats unguarded with the first African American Principal Dancer with the Houston Ballet, Lauren Anderson. Born and raised in Houston’s Third Ward, the iconic dancer reveals how she dealt with discrimination, which led her to unhealthy coping mechanisms due to the pressures of perfection. While she almost lost her way because of addiction, Anderson is now celebrating 14 years of sobriety as she continues to educate and mentor students on their quest to achieve their own hopes and dreams.
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    52 mins
  • 118: A Life of Empathy, Family and Community – Actor & Producer, Luis Guzmán

    118: A Life of Empathy, Family and Community – Actor & Producer, Luis Guzmán
    May 10 2024
    Despite a highly successful acting career with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, Luis Guzmán never really wanted to be an actor. He was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Loísada, the name given to Manhattan’s Lower East Side by the massive working-class Puerto Rican community that migrated to New York in the 1950s. Loísada was also a hot bed for activism, with residents coming together to fight against discrimination and for better housing and working conditions. Guzmán admits to I SEE U that his calling was to be a social worker as he embraced the culture and spirit of his community, working extensively with youth to enhance their lives and help guide them to their own aspirations.Guzmán started performing in popular street theater as a hobby to showcase his acting ability through the art of social and political advocacy. To supplement his social work with more cash, he also appeared in several indie films, including his first movie role in 1977, Short Eyes—a prison life drama written by close friend and playwright, Miguel “Mickey” Piñero. Co-founder of the Nuyorican Poets Café, a haven for Black and Latinx artists and activists, Mickey even helped him land a role on NBC’s Miami Vice in 1985—a role that would change Guzmán’s life forever. 50 years and nearly 200 film and TV projects later, his comedic brilliance and authentic bravado have positioned him to become one of the most renowned and recognizable actors around the world.Join us as host Eddie Robinson chats with award-winning actor and producer, Luis Guzmán, from his farm in Vermont. The veteran performer reminisces on his family and how paying a phone bill as a young adult led to finding his biological father in Puerto Rico. Plus, Guzmán shares an incredible moment of vulnerability as he remembers his friend, the late Robin Williams—one of the greatest comedians of all time—and recalls how his death by suicide over a decade ago still affects him to this day.
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    52 mins
  • 117: Ain’t We Lucky We Got Thelma from ‘Good Times’… Actress Bern Nadette Stanis

    117: Ain’t We Lucky We Got Thelma from ‘Good Times’… Actress Bern Nadette Stanis
    May 3 2024
    In 1974, CBS premiered Good Times, a TV sitcom that would showcase the first Black mother and Black father on screen – two parents, trying to make ends meet, while raising three children. Set in a public housing project in the south side of Chicago, Good Times elevated stories of struggle – the joy, the pain and the dreams of a determined Evans family during the economically turbulent 1970s. With legendary producer Norman Lear at the helm, the program would be one of three of the top ten rated shows with Black casts on American TV at that time – the other two gems were Sanford & Son and The Jeffersons.

    But there were many, including actors on these shows, who believed that producers equated the black experience with poverty and that too often writers pushed negative stereotypes and tropes, especially after the progress in civil rights of the previous decade. Times also weren’t all that good for the Black creators of Good Times, Eric Monte and Mike Evans – both men struggled with Lear to receive recognition for their work.

    In the last 50 years, we’ve seen a (mostly) upward trajectory of positive Black representation in film and television – from the likes of The Cosby Show to Abbott Elementary or HBO’s Insecure. Despite this advancement, negative stereotypes persist – and a new animated reboot of Good Times on Netflix is igniting fresh criticism, with many viewers saying the show promotes an image of Blacks as criminal, prone to violence, uneducated and hypersexualized. Would a reboot of a classic sitcom with an all-white cast like The Brady Bunch or Leave It to Beaver receive the same kind of treatment today?

    Join us as I SEE U host Eddie Robinson chats with the actor who portrayed the first Black teen on network television – Bern Nadette Stanis, who starred as Thelma, the daughter of the Evans family in Good Times. Stanis shares her thoughts on the adult reboot and how she felt misled after portraying one of the characters in the modern series. Plus, Variety TV critic, Aramide Tinubu, provides her perspective on why Hollywood still refuses to let go of outdated and harmful depictions of American Black life.
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    52 mins
Art Politics & Government Social Sciences
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