1.) What elements and/or characteristics made you say to yourself that you wanted to be an educator for a living? Who are your influences/heroes/role models?
When the city of Baltimore determined that the childhood home of my grandfather and his sister Blanche was of no historical significance, I became afraid that all this black history was going to be lost. They had destroyed so much of the black history in Baltimore. Just from my grandfathers era they lost the Royal Theater, the Chick Webb home, the Eubie Blake home, the Billie Holiday home and now they lost Cab and Blanche’s home. I knew that people either didn’t appreciate, know about or care about this history. I as really worried because I knew that a people without a history have no future. As I went about trying to save his house none of the big groups helped me, at all, so I realized if I was going to save this history I would have to do it myself.
So I decided I would try and show people how important and valuable is the black history, and the Native American history. I mean of all that I learned back in elementary school the black history is the most valuable to me personally. It’s the thing I remembered the most, of course nobody talked about Native American history in my school, I had to learn that all on my own.
My heroes are Carter G. Woodson, Marcus Garvey, Bob Marley, Malcolm X and of course my grandfather. I am also moved by the stories of Leonard Peltier, Russell Means, Chief Joseph and Oren Lyons.
2.) If you could compare yourself to someone who is already established in your line of work, who would that be and why? If you don’t like to compare yourself, then what separates you from other everyone else who does what you do?
I think it would be people like Phillip Merrill, Cornell West and Eric Michael Dyson, who are also heroes of mine because we are public intellectuals and we are trying to show people why things are important and what we should be looking at and discussing.
3.) Everyone in life goes through adversity of some sort. Is there anything in your life that has any influence on the work that you do? What is the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure on your path to becoming an entrepreneur?
I think the most difficult thing is waiting for it all to happen. And then when it does happen, you are never fully prepared. I think another problem is that I am always trying to do things based on what I see others doing. When you have to create what is right for you, even if it looks, feels or seems weird in comparison to what everyone else is doing. So there is a fear of failure, you are going to do all this work for nothing, and then there is a fear of success, which is that you have to deliver on all the things you said you would do. The other fear of success is that people will discover you are a failure or an imposter. https://www.post-gazette.com/news/insight/2020/08/09/Paving-over-history-A-jazz-great-s-home-is-doomed-cab-calloway-baltimore/stories/202008090015
4.) How do you prepare yourself to create? What is your process?
I tell you what, I honestly never know when creativity is going to hit me, sometimes its when I am laying down trying to sleep, other times while driving and sometimes in conversation. You know I try to go back to the history, usually I like to perform a ritual or something that connects me to the ancestors and then try to look into the future from their perspective. I am always wondering how something will be received or taken, what is it people will be thinking about when they see this. Its kind of a form of time traveling. It can come from something like a pipe ceremony, walking barefoot in the grass or just looking at an old photograph. Mostly I am always thinking of what would the ancestors want me to say that would make people happy.
5.) Unfortunately many industries are full of talented individuals who more or less become the “starving artist” and don’t get any recognition for their talent and/or hard work. What do you plan to do to make sure you stand out and get noticed?
My strategy is to give them something highly relevant that they cannot find anyplace else. I tell people things they have never heard before and hopefully they find value in that. Making money is hard, and I haven’t figured it all out yet, but the idea is to be unique, authentic, rare and valuable all at the same time.
6.) Would you rather work for a big corporation or would you rather stay independent? Why or why not? What makes one better than the other? Are you able to make a living with your art? If so, how were you able to attain a career doing what you love? If not, what do you do in order to fund your business? What advice would give to someone who’s interested in pursuing a career in the creative industry?
Get money wherever you can. I don’t think anyone wants to work for a big corporation unless you are at the top, so do that while being creative. I can’t make a living yet with my art, but that is what I plan to do. In terms of funding I am lucky because everyone in my family is sacrificing for me to be able to do what I do, but at the same time when there is work, I take it no matter what it is. I think the secret is not to let yourself get to down while you are waiting for things to develop, instead keep pushing and preparing for success. I think everybody needs a mentor.
7.) How do you think the internet and social media affected the creative industry and how artists are able to market themselves? Social media is obviously an extremely important element in today’s world, especially when it comes to business, branding, marketing, etc. With that being said, do you think an artist will be able to survive in today’s economy if they’re not social media savvy?
I think artists do survive who are not media savvy, but they always have something else, whether its a patron or an institution or some kind of fanbase to support them. I think for example if the Jackson 5 came along today or in the near future they would struggle because society is not as organized as it was, its become a lot more decentralized and it’s really hard to get fans without money.
8.) Typically, entrepreneurs who try to create products and/or services for mass consumption for the general public and make more money are seen as “sell-outs.” Do you see it that way and if so, what do you plan to do to make sure that what you offer stays true to your brand and make a good living at the same time without having to “sell out”?
I think that’s interesting because you know my grandad gave Dizzy Gillespie his first great big shot and they didn’t use those terms back then, but Cab really continued to try and be popular and create universal appeal, whereas Dizzy and the cool jazz which came later took it in a totally different direction from popular music. I think you only sell out when you are no longer true to yourself or your ancestors. You are just trying to get all you can now and don’t care about the future or the past. You know Elvis Presley’s grandson committed suicide and I know what that’s about and to me that’s a form of selling out. I still say if he had been involved in his community and preserving his grandfather’s legacy he wouldn’t have done it. But everybody thinks their life is just about them, and that is a form of selling out too.
Peter Brooks – 90 years of music history chart
9.) Professionally, where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
I hope I am going all over the place speaking and telling people of the incredible contributions that our people have made to this civilization.