Woody McClain says he wants to produce music and movies next
“Black Girl Stuff” may have been on hiatus last week, but it’s back in full swing! Hosts Tori Brixx, Brii Renee and Britt Hall, along with REVOLT’s resident correspondent Kennedy Rue, appeared for yesterday’s (April 5) episode. The ladies were joined by singer Zonnique Pullins, R&B legend Tiny Harris’ daughter; Woody McClain; Angela Davis; and many more. The girls dove into the comments to discuss marriage in the Black community and their personal thoughts on tying the knot. Plus, the “Affirmations After Dark” segment discussed the true meaning of balance. There’s lots to unpack!
As always, you can catch “Black Girl Stuff” every Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on the REVOLT TV channel and every Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET on the REVOLT website here, YouTube channel, and app. Get into the full recap below!
1. Jumping the Broom in 2023
To kick off their return, the ladies dove into the comments to discuss one of the hottest topics amongst the Black community — marriage! Recent studies have shown a decline in Black nuptial rates, and social media is divided on who to blame.
One TikTok user had lots to say on the topic. She stated, “My take on it is that it’s not that we don’t desire marriage, or that we don’t want to get married… It’s more so that we’re not being offered or the opportunity is not being presented to us. And so as a defense mechanism, we’re saying that we don’t want that. So why are you staying in this long-term relationship with a man if marriage isn’t the ultimate goal?”
Renee went on to ask the ladies if they thought the value being placed on Black marriage has declined. Rue answered and shared her perspective. “I don’t think marriage value has declined for men. I think it’s declined for women, specifically Black women. And that’s because, I mean, we’re outpacing our male counterparts in terms of education, in terms of just self-sustainability. And so, I feel like we’re no longer seeking those relationships as validation. We’re finding out that studies show that most Black women are happier single, investing in relationships with other women. I think we’re finding value in other spaces as opposed to marriage bringing the all-encompassing ‘This is what your worth is’.”
Renee talked about feeling like she had to choose between her career and marriage. She said, “I actually will be honest with y’all, I didn’t have that dream. And I thought because of the examples that I had been shown, that as a Black woman, I had to choose between having a career and being self-fulfilled and having a family. And this wasn’t because of anything someone told me — it’s often because of what we see in the media, like the successful Black women who looked like they were happy, and living their life and didn’t have a man. So, I grew up thinking it had to be one or the other, but now we are rewriting history. And we see so many women that are doing it all, have it all, but I think it takes that real partner. And I feel like we don’t have as many Black men who are open to the dynamics of marriage shifting.”
2. The Kennedy Konnection
During this episode’s “Kennedy Konnection,” Rue sat down with the one and only Angela Davis to discuss the newest wave of feminism. Barbara Smith defines feminism as, “The political theory and practice to free all women: Women of color, working class women, poor women, physically challenged women, lesbians, old women. Anything less than this is not feminism, but merely female self-aggrandizement.”
Davis spoke about Black women’s role in feminism. She stated, “Black women are perhaps the most important influence within all social movements. However, Black women are also the ones who have been least recognized and whose contributions have been erased from the annals of history.”
Rue went on to talk about how the work behind feminism is deeply important. She noted, “You know, it’s work! It is work, day in and day out, to have to advocate for yourself, to fight for your rights, to speak up for yourself, to have your voice heard. And you know, the work never stops. We do it all the time. There are spaces we have to walk into and portray [ourselves] a certain way, so we’ll be taken seriously. All that stuff has to do with our female experience, our experience as women.”
Davis left viewers with a bit to think about before the interview ended. She added, “This is an important year for young Black women because they’re recognizing now that they do not have to leave themselves behind. They can write themselves into the narrative.”
3. Woody McClain Sits in the Hot Seat
Next, the ladies were joined by Woody McClain. McClain began his career as a dancer, where he participated in various competitions and performances. However, he gained recognition and rose to fame for his acting skills after his portrayal of Bobby Brown in the BET miniseries “The New Edition Story” in 2017. The performance earned him critical acclaim and a large following of fans. He went on to reprise that role in 2019 with the BET miniseries “The Bobby Brown Story.” Since then, he’s garnered more recognition with his role in “Power Book II: Ghost.”
McClain opened up the conversation discussing how he got his start in the industry. He said, “Shout out to Nick Cannon. Without Drumline, I never would have wanted to go to college. When I seen that movie, I was like, ‘Damn, I want to go to school and I want to be a part of something like that.’ So then, from there, the next year, I joined the marching band. And it just taught me a lot of discipline. Because before then, like being homeless, I was outside, like just stealing sh**, doing bad sh**… That was like our extracurricular activities to do, but once band came along, it really taught me discipline. Then I happened to get a chance to get a full scholarship to go to FAMU to do that and met some amazing people along the way… Just last year, we did a Nike campaign with LeBron James. I was able to give the whole proceeds to my marching band. That was super dope.”
He also talked a lot about his time playing Bobby Brown. McClain revealed, “After Bobby Brown, I did not work for a year because I just wanted to sit with myself and find who I was again because being Bobby for, like — I did that for two years. I could’ve really went and been Bobby for real. You know what I mean? Like, let everything get to me. But I was like, now let me just take a year off and really find myself before I get back into it. But that whole experience was amazing. Bobby’s such a great dude. He’s such a loving guy — when you’re in his presence it’s like, I don’t know, you just feel like you want to hug him… Salute to Bobby Brown. I wouldn’t be where I’m at without New Edition.”
What he sees himself doing next was clearly something he’s given a lot of thought. He revealed, “I really want to do music producing. Music is really, really the thing I want to do. I went to school for that, so I want to go back where I started — and also producing movies. It’s time for me to take it to that level. Doing vines and stuff was a great opportunity to experience and how to direct edit videos… I’ve learned how to do all that. So now I’m trying to do it to another level and even put the homies that I started off with on.”
You can catch season three of “Power Book II: Ghost” on Starz!
4. Money, Marriage, and Real Estate
“Married to Real Estate” is a reality TV show that follows the personal and professional lives of real estate power couple Mike Jackson and Egypt Sherrod. Together, Jackson and Sherrod bring their unique expertise and personalities to the buzzing industry, offering viewers an inside look at the competitive and fast-paced market.
The duo joined the panel to talk all about real estate, life, love, and marriage. When asked about their most memorable moment from season two, Sherrod mentioned getting honored in Atlanta. She said, “Getting the proclamation from the city of Atlanta? Yes, that was amazing. We were working and my sister called and said, ‘Are y’all sitting down?’ We’re like, ‘Of course not.’ She said, ‘The city of Atlanta wants to honor you with your own day.’ And I’m like, ‘So what does that mean?’… It was a true honor for the city to say, ‘We just respect and appreciate your contributions, your philanthropy, and what you guys have meant to real estate in Atlanta.’ And I think sometimes you can be working so hard and just be so focused that you don’t even look up to realize what you’ve done or how far you’ve come. It wasn’t until that moment. And when they highlighted that, I personally realized that I’d done 14 seasons of television in Atlanta highlighting real estate between all the shows.”
“Married to Real Estate” airs on HGTV and has already been renewed for a third season! Be sure to check it out.
5. Affirmations After Dark
According to the U.S. Department Of Labor, compared to other women, Black women have the highest labor force participation rate.
When asked about how they’re balancing work and life, the ladies had lots to say. Rue expressed, “The struggle is real. This is something I’ve always struggled with. I’ve been working in this industry since I was a baby and I always went to regular school. So it was always when I was younger trying to find the balance between school and work. Now in my adult life, it’s trying to find the balance between work and everything else. So it’s like, I think from when I was a kid, what I did was made sure I carved out those specific moments just for me. Whether that was going to get a yogurt or a smoothie at the end of the day, or going to get a massage, or just reading a book… that uninterrupted me time was the time I had away from everything else.”
Brixx said, “For me, it’s always been a struggle to balance because I often… I think a lot of Black women struggle with this: We feel like we’re being unproductive if we take a break… As I’ve grown older — and I actually learned this in therapy — listen to yourself, and having time doing nothing is warranted, and it is productive.”
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