Owning the Room: Nia DaCosta Is In Charge!

0:00Instagram teen accounts default teens into automatic protections for who can contact them and the content they can see. Explore teen accounts and all of our ongoing work to protect teens online at Instagram.com slash teen accounts. United Health Group is simplifying health care by investing in tools to help patients know more and pay less. These tools help patients find providers and compare costs and save hundreds of dollars annually. Learn more at unitedhealthgroup.com slash commitment. Dave's company just got the five-year price lock guarantee from Comcast Business. That's gig speed internet at a great rate for five years. Powering five years of savings, powering possibilities, Comcast Business. Now through March 29th, switch to Comcast Business and lock in a great rate for five years on a qualifying internet bundle. Plus ask how to get a $500 pretty paid car for a limited time only call today. Restrictions apply. New customers only. One new contract required for guaranteed rate by your pricing applies in monthly service charge excluding taxes and fees. Look, if you've got

1:02prescriptions, the Walmart app is your place to manage them. Transfer your scripts, refill them and have them delivered straight to you. Migraines managed allergies alleviated dermatology, derma delivered. Ding dong. Is that your pizza? Nope. Walmart pharmacy delivery with a refill. Switch to Walmart and manage your prescriptions in the app. The Walmart you thought you knew is now new. Delivery not available for all prescriptions. Exclusions apply. Welcome to Karen Hodges. Awesome. I'm Karen Hunter and this is Women's History Month. Every day I want to highlight a woman who is doing some things. Okay. So I want to introduce you and you may know her already. Her name is Nia DeCosta. Nia DeCosta. So I was, you know, I scroll on Instagram from time to time and my, as I mentioned before, my Instagram scrolling is really inspirational.

2:04Actually, I get a lot of greatness. I freak my algorithm and I suggest you do the same meaning that you only get filtered in things that motivate, inspire, and also inform. I came across this clip from Nia DeCosta. She was being interviewed and she was talking about her mom on vacation. I'm gonna get to that in a second. But if you don't know who she is, she is Brooklyn born director and writer. Her first film feature film is called Little Woods. I have not watched that. Okay. I didn't watch Candyman either, which she was also tapped to direct. It actually became the number one top-grossing film by black woman in the history of films. So you should know her, right? Nia DeCosta. I did watch top boy 2019, one of the best series. If you have not watched top boy in summer house, get your life, all right? If you like the wire or snowfall, top boy takes you into London, into England, and all of the, oh my goodness, it's just amazing.

3:07Okay. Chef's kiss to you. She did one episode or a couple episodes of top boy. But the Marvels in 2023, which again, for her, this film, they call it a bomb. They said it was a box office bomb for the Marvel franchise, but this film, which featured all women, different backgrounds, kicking ass. I thought was really well done. I think in many ways, it's quote unquote failure at the box office speaks more about society than it does about the actual film. But I'm gonna say less about it. But I was really caught up with her when I saw this clip that I'm gonna play for you. And by the way, 28 years later, the bone temple, which is out this year, chef's kiss. Okay, the whole 28 days, her ascension speaks to just being excellent and getting the opportunity to direct, she's directing 28

4:10years later, the bone temple, she wrote and directed and produced Heta, starring her buddy, Tessa Thompson, which is so eclectic. And I actually watched that. You should check out Heta as well. The Marvel, she wrote and directed Candyman, she wrote and directed Little Wood, she wrote and directed and just quietly, by the way, the Marvels made 46 million at the box office, which is nothing. This needs that. No, it's not Black Panther, but it's not nothing. Okay. And when we think about, you know, these successful women, her name is not a household name near the Costa, born in Brooklyn. But I just wanted to uplift her today, want to teach school of arts in NYU, 2011, graduated, went on to a degree from London's Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. So in many ways, she has the pedigree, she's gone through the paces, you know, to become what she is. She earned her

5:12right to be there. But when I came across this clip, I said, man, this is somebody I want you to know. So take a listen. So once my mom and I and my little sister were in the Adirondack, she was on a business trip. She brought us with her and we were leaving our hotel room and the people across the hall came out. And they were like, oh, are you the maid to my mom? We're in bathing suits. We're like half towels over our, like, we don't, like, we're not in, like, there's no cart of linens in front of us. Yeah. Also, like, why are these children here if she's the maid at a resort? Um, and my mom was like, no, and she smiles just very gracious. And they were like, oh, my God, I'm so sorry that I remember being like, whoa, like, that's what it is actually. It's less like someone like calling you the N word or like, you know, it's more like an assumption of where you belong. So as a director, what's been interesting is having crew who work for me, saying crazy things to me, like one person said, um, I was like, oh, yeah, you have dreads. He's like, oh, that's gross. And then one time I was on the corner

6:13waiting for my assistant to pick me up. And he made it same person, of course, I said, oh, you're like, hooking on the side for, you know, whenever I'm the director of the film, I hired him. I could fire him. There you go. And and I was just like, and this is like my second film. And I'm like, oh, right, that's what it is. Are you hooking on the side? Oh, you have dreads? That's disgusting. The fact that the crew member did not recognize the power dynamic is wild. But it is also very, very typical, typical. I actually, sometimes I live in delusion. Actually, a lot of times, I think you have to be a little delusional or a lot delusional to be successful in a world that will beat you down and tell you what your place is. Her mom, by the way, Charmaine de Costa was a founding vocalist for the band, World of Girl, back in the day. Check that out. So for Nia, watching

7:14her mom be successful and they're out on vacation. She's on a business trip, a business trip, right, with her daughters at a resort and to have some person in the hotel, look at her and ask her, she's the maid. I can't tell you how many times I've been in the store. And somebody's come up to me and asked me where something was. Like, I don't work here, you know, and I'm going to be indignant. I don't work here. Why are you assuming I work here? So now I'm, you want a confrontation? We're going to have it. That's me. But I feel like in many ways, some of us walk through life, you know, we just swallow that. We recently talked about the BAFTA, you know, Tourette Syndrome issue with Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo and how they had to just stand there and take that. Yes, the man has Tourette's, but they could have BAFTA edited it out. So we wouldn't have to see the indignity. And I'm not saying that they weren't humiliated because those two men are powerhouses and unto themselves. But they have to endure that anywhere. And

8:16as women in particular in places where we aren't supposed to be so called, aren't supposed to be, I'm in the throes of working on a project with a famous singer. And, you know, she's taking me through the paces of her career and all of the different rooms that she's been in where she has been made to feel invisible or had to be invisible or had to navigate uncomfortable situations like men watching her dress in the dress of Roman, all of these things. And she didn't even have a really horrific story, but the micro-aggressions of just having to endure the sexual advances that, you know, didn't fortunately turn into forced sexual encounters, but so many women have had that as well. So is the, do you work here? Where the, you know, it's those dreads are discussing, but you work. Well, you're saying that to the person that can fire you? What? But you don't even think about it because there's no way that this black woman's in charge. I get that all the time. I recently had somebody call up my radio show.

9:21Instagram teen accounts default teens into automatic protections for who can contact them and the content they can see. Explore teen accounts and all of our ongoing work to protect teens online at instagram.com slash teen accounts. Spring starts at the Home Depot and we are bringing the heat to your backyard this season. Fire up the flavor with our wide variety of grills for under $300, like the next grill for burner gas grill that's perfect for hosting your spring cookout. Then set the scene and turn your outdoor space into the go-to spot the patio sets for every budget. Bring it this season with grills that deliver flavor and patios that set the vibe from the Home Depot. Start your spring with low prices guarantee at the Home Depot. Exclusions apply to home Depot.com slash price match for details. Look, if you've got prescriptions, the Walmart app is your place to manage them. Transfer your scripts, refill them and have them delivered straight to you. Migraines managed allergies alleviated dermatology, derma delivered.

10:23Ding dong. Is that your pizza? Nope. Walmart pharmacy delivery with a refill. Switch to Walmart and manage your prescriptions in the app. The Walmart you thought you knew is now new. Delivery not available for all prescriptions exclusions apply. You're juggling a lot, but you can still squeeze in a financial plan. With the Northwestern Mutual Financial Advisor as your partner, it's not only possible, it's personalized. So if you're tying the knot, closing on a house, or welcoming a little one, you'll be ready for whatever life tosses your way. It's the right time to feel less stressed and more certain. That's a better way to money. Let's get started at nm.com, the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company Milwaukee, Wisconsin. By the way, you were just listening to me on for the first time. Hi, I'm Karen Hunter and I host a radio show on Sirius XM called the Karen Hunter Show. I've been in that seat since 2014 and somebody had to nerve to tell me I'm only in that seat because a man put me on and he was arguing. This guy was arguing I was trying. It was

11:26such a weird experience because I'm trying to, for a live radio, figure out like what is your purpose? It absolutely is not true. This man that you're saying put me on this program is not true. And I'm not saying I didn't have help. I'm not saying that there wasn't a way made for me. The channel that I'm on was actually foundationally created or bolstered by Joe Madison. And so yeah, I sit in that seat every day, understanding that there's a legacy that I've come before. I'm on the radio primarily because Kathy Hughes paved the way and so many women before me, PD Green, you know, like there's been ways made but this narrative that this guy was stuck on and what he was saying to me was that you don't belong here or you're only here because of this. No, no, no, no. I had a vision for what I wanted to do when I got on the radio. And part of that vision was to create a community that was larger than anything that I could do on my own. So I wanted collaboration. I wanted to give other people platforms so that the hall wouldn't be so heavy as

12:30we serve as audience. But what I had to sit and process this man was man that I'm winning. And by winning, I mean, I'm actually doing everything that I've set out to do on the radio airwaves and something about that bothers him. That's weird. So I had to call and then he followed me on YouTube and said, I'm the guy that you hung up. Why didn't hang up on you? But I'm not going to let you lie about something you don't know why you invested in this. But I realized that this is a world where there are places that people are supposed to be. And if you step outside of that place where you're supposed to be, you are upsetting the very spirit of too so many people that they want to make you sit in that. I'm shared in the space about Dorothy Counts, the young girl who had to integrate a school in North Carolina. The very presence, her very presence, the spit, the shoving, the inward hurling, her very presence, so upset, one 15 year old, upset people that they wanted to make sure that

13:38she knew her place wasn't there. But here's what I want to say today. And I want to thank me at the cost of sharing this story, personal story of her mom's journey and how she has had to navigate these spaces that they don't think that she belongs in. She's still showing up every day. And she's not just showing up every day. She is showing up and killing it. And that is the message in the lesson. You don't shrink in those times. No, people are not going to want you to be in places because here's the real truth. You're a success. And this is how you know how other people are feeling. You'll be unsuccessful in the mind of somebody who is mediocre, who doesn't have the talent or the gift, who doesn't have the discipline or the way with all to get up and do something. You are in a front to them. Your success makes them feel small. But that's how you know they're actually small because big people don't spend time worrying about what success other people are having because

14:41you're in your own bastion of success. You're in your own glow and flow of success. You ain't worried about somebody else. That's how you know people are really small and they're inferior that they feel insecure, that they are insecure. That's how you know because they waste time. They're good time that they could be out there doing the thing that they want to do. Weren't about what you're doing. And particularly with women, men have made a decision and this is collectively and it's not anyone individual man. So if you feel threatened by this conversation right now, you feel I'm hit. You are a dog hollering. Stop hollering. Get busy working and get busy working on yourself more importantly because if you are satisfied unto yourself, you are not worried about what a need to cost us doing or care and what you're doing because you're doing it. So the message for everybody is to go out and do, get up and do, go out and do the thing that you were put here to do. And if you haven't figured that out, figure it out and stop worrying about what other people are doing it and move out the way because here's the other thing.

15:42I always like it myself. Actually, somebody early on in my career in my 20s started a women's magazine, a women's sports magazine called Women Next. And I've shared the story in this space before but I remember having a consultant come in and as I was putting a team down, putting a team together and again in my 20s, she called me a bullet train and I had never heard of a bullet train before. I just had not. And so it sent me down a rabbit hole and I was so lifted up by that description that it is something that drives me to this day. A bullet train, you're going to get out the way of a bullet train. You are going to move from the path of a bullet train. Not only would you be run over, you would be obliterated getting in the path of a bullet train. So when she described me as a bullet train, I was like, yes, I am a bullet train. And every day, I get up propelled by the notion that anything that I set my mind to doing, I may not do it at the exact level that I imagine, but I'm going to bullet train. We're going to get there. And I'm really,

16:48we're going to get there. We're going to get there fast. We're going to get their stream line. We're going to get that the ride is going to be, oh my god, it's going to be glorious for anybody on this train with me. And it is the thing that actually animates a lot of what I do is to remind myself every day that I'm a bullet train near the costas of bullet train. Some of you listening are bullet trains. And if you're not, get your bullet train on. So that's the message. This woman's history month. And every day, I'm going to be highlighting somebody that's out there doing it. And I just want to thank all of the people who are doing things in places that they were not meant to. This woman is the highest grossing black filmmaker woman of all time, highest grossing film directed by black woman was near the costas. I love it. All right, let me know what you think. Follow me at Karen Hunter Show dot com hit the comments. Y'all don't do that often enough because I would love to engage and answer questions. So if you have them, ask them. If you got comments, comments, I will share some of that in this space

17:50here as well. I love being in this space. And I thank you for listening. Share this with people because it's free. And if you are at Series XM, tune in to 126 Monday through Friday, 3 to 6 PM Eastern. Actually, the whole channel all day, 126. We're talking powers and becomes action. Urban View go do that. And you can also follow all of us on the Urban View channel, Urban View Network on YouTube. And you can follow me directly at Karen Hunter Show on YouTube. All right. Appreciate you. Till next time. Spring starts at the Home Depot. And we are bringing the heat to your backyard this season. Fire up the flavor with our wide variety of grills for under $300. Like the next grill for burner gas grill that's perfect for hosting your spring cookout. Then set the scene and turn your outdoor space into the go-to spot the patio sets for every budget. Bring it this season with

18:52grills that deliver flavor and patios that set the vibe from the Home Depot. Start your spring with low prices guaranteed at the Home Depot. Exclusions apply at home Depot dot com slash price match for details. One iced coffee. 99 cents please. For real? No way. What a deal. Your new morning groove. Ice coffee from McDonald's. Any size for just 99 cents to 11 a.m. Pricing participation may vary. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Look, if you've got prescriptions, the Walmart app is your place to manage them. Transfer your scripts, refill them and have them delivered straight to you. Migraines managed allergies alleviated. Dermatology. Dermat delivered. Ding dong. Is that your pizza? Nope. Walmart pharmacy delivery with a refill.

19:54Switched to Walmart and manage your prescriptions in the app. The Walmart you thought you knew is now new. Delivery not available for all prescriptions. Exclusions apply. Pick up a pack today. Angel Saft.