I SEE U

Former NFL player, Ryan Russell, tells I SEE U that he feels there is an imbalance in male athletics where society does not encourage, support or sustain LGTBQ+ youth in sports, much less create safe space environments early in their development. His latest memoir, “The Yards Between Us,” has allowed him to reminisce on narratives of his own past—of growing up in conservative Dallas; shy, loving the game but struggling with expectations of being Black in the South; and learning to hide things about himself while playing as a defensive lineman for the Dallas Cowboys, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Buffalo Bills. Stay tuned as host Eddie Robinson chats candidly with author and social justice advocate, R.K. Russell, who made history by becoming the first out active athlete in the NFL to identify as bisexual. He explores the notion of why players are, at times, showered with support from the league and teammates after coming out but then later find themselves unemployed. Russell, whose boyfriend is a professional dancer, also shares personal insight on interracial relationships and whether the stigma around couples of different races and ethnicities remains.

With a successful career in entertainment alongside his business partner, EGOT-winning musician John Legend, renowned producer Mike Jackson tells I SEE U he has a responsibility to bring multicultural content to global audiences. The Philly-native has produced countless projects with major networks, including ABC, NBC, FOX, HBO, Showtime, Netflix and FX. But what obstacles can exist in film, TV and theater pitch sessions when more diverse projects are shunned or snubbed by studio, production agents and network executives? Join us as host Eddie Robinson chats candidly with Emmy® and Tony® Award-winning producer, co-founder and managing partner of Get Lifted Film Co., Mike Jackson. He shares insight on how he’s been able to navigate through instances of prejudice and exclusionism as he continues his work of elevating Black artists and Black voices through different forms of media and digital platforms. Jackson, who now calls Austin his home, reveals his key ingredient to telling a remarkable story and provides details on a discussion series that he leads for people of color and underrepresented communities in media hosted at the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas called, Why Not Me? Our unguarded conversation also explores the intentions and motives behind Jackson’s ambitions and whether he’s leveraged the star-power of established entertainer, John Legend, to achieve his own personal success as an award-winning producer.

Reginald DesRoches, the eighth president of one of the most prestigious universities in the country, recently completed the first year of his historical post. The Haitian-native is the first Black president, the first immigrant and the first engineer to ever lead Rice since the founding of the university in 1921. But the history of Rice is a bit complicated and very controversial. Join I SEE U as host Eddie Robinson chats candidly with the Chief Executive Officer of Rice, Dr. Reginald DesRoches. A university that once banned Black undergraduates from attending, DesRoches shares his feelings about leading an institution whose founder, William Marsh Rice, profited from the slave trade. With DesRoches establishing the first Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Rice, a private institution, he offers up his perspective as to why state lawmakers are looking to dismantle those same offices at public universities across Texas. Plus, we learn more about his mentor—the former president of Prairie View A&M University, Dr. Ruth Simmons—and the role she’s played in his career since his arrival at Rice in 2017. A pioneer in higher education herself, Simmons now serves as the President’s Distinguished Fellow and Advisor at Rice.

Renowned actress Grace Byers embraced her leading role in the hit summer comedy horror, The Blackening. “Allison” – an outspoken, no-nonsense character from the film – was very proud of her Black heritage; that role has served as a replicate of who she’s become as a proud Black woman of empowerment. Her children’s books, “I Am Enough,” and “I Believe I Can,” remained on the New York Times best-sellers list for months. But for a long time, Byers, who was raised in a multicultural household, struggled with her own sense of identity and the pressures of society trying to define her. Stay tuned as host Eddie Robinson chats unguarded with acclaimed actress and celebrated author, Grace Byers. The new mom shares with I SEE U the challenges of navigating through her journey of being both Black and white; being Caymanian and American; and being of the deaf and hearing cultures. Byers also offers up an intriguing look at how her recent birth has admittedly overwhelmed her mentally and physically – providing moments of candid reflection as she comes to grips with her health all while showing a vulnerable ‘grace’ under pressure.

Award-winning film director, Steven Caple Jr., is fresh off his summer box office success with Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. Interestingly enough, he doesn’t have a massive portfolio of blockbuster films under his belt. But with this accomplishment for a major Transformers franchise comes a tremendous responsibility for an incredibly gifted, Black filmmaker in the competitive world of cinema. Join us as host Eddie Robinson chats candidly with acclaimed film and television director, producer and screenwriter, Steven Caple, Jr. The Cleveland, Ohio-native calls his unguarded chat with I SEE U: “therapy—but in a good way.” He dives deep into his own journey of what led him to pursue filmmaking as a career. The first generation college graduate also shares insight into his own unique style of visual storytelling and what he believes to be actual road blocks within the industry for directors of color.

Whether he’s acting in a film, on-stage or involved in a television series, Russell Hornsby ends up delivering a powerful performance full of emotion with a genuine passion for the craft. In a career spanning over two decades, his extensive portfolio includes the infamous boxing promoter, Don King, in Hulu’s “Mike,” the Oscar-nominated Paramount film, FENCES, opposite Denzel Washington and Viola Davis; the Netflix drama series, “Seven Seconds,” with Regina King; and the devoted patriarch in the mega-hit STARZ series, “BMF (Black Mafia Family).” But in many of his roles, he plays the ‘angry Black father’ – a moniker he says is “misplaced.” Join us as host Eddie Robinson speaks unguarded with award-winning actor, Russell Hornsby, in one of I SEE U’s most provocative episodes ever produced. The NAACP Image Award nominee offers up fresh insight into how he’s managed to channel certain energies within himself to bring such an astounding presence and strength to his style of acting. Hornsby candidly admits that it’s these portrayals of fatherhood that speak to a larger sense of dignity, cultural worth and personal responsibility, especially in fatherless homes of today. Plus, the star describes what he believes to be the real reason behind the success of shows like BMF and the popular POWER franchise.

Civil rights attorney, Jeffery Robinson, released a film in 2021 entitled, "WHO WE ARE: A CHRONICLE OF RACISM IN AMERICA." In the documentary, Robinson addresses an audience onstage as if he's inside a courtroom, arguing a case on how grappling with racism is "our shared history." He challenges them to question why so many aspects of American history related to slavery, state-sanctioned violence and discrimination against Blacks had been forgotten or even hidden. Since the film's release, what inroads to racial progress have happened in the United States? Join us as I SEE U Host Eddie Robinson speaks unguarded with the founder and executive director of ‘The Who We Are Project,' an organization that tackles this country's history of anti-Black racism and white supremacy, Jeffery Robinson. A former ACLU Deputy Legal Director offers up a compelling look at the importance of reframing today's discussions around race and the implications of understanding what could happen if these hidden histories are suddenly revealed and circulated throughout communities across the nation.

The very complicated legacy of entertainer Little Richard is thoroughly examined in a new documentary by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, Lisa Cortés. The film showcases a bold, audacious man who's trying to navigate his life through sex, drugs, rock and roll, and the Lord – with the help of archival footage mixed with deep, social context from family, friends, scholars, ethnomusicologists, and on-screen fact-checkers. Join us as host Eddie Robinson chats unguarded with celebrated director, Lisa Cortés, about her critically-acclaimed documentary, "Little Richard: I Am Everything." Cortés shares insight into how the film was conceived and why it was important for her to reveal the struggles of Richard Wayne Penniman – a musical icon who was coming to terms with being a man of faith as well as being a man who was queer. I SEE U will also dive into her own personal life story, as the former Def Jam record label executive offers up her thoughts on today's LGBTQ+ artists and performers maneuvering through the music industry in their quest to make a name for themselves.

Based on his own real-life experiences, Elegance Bratton's THE INSPECTION, tells the story of a young Black man who was kicked out of the house by his Christian mother for being gay. After spending years at a homeless shelter and on the streets of New York City, he decides to enlist in the U.S. military to become a Marine. Ironically, this autobiographical film takes place during the era of ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell' – a controversial policy that shunned openly gay people from entering the armed services. Join us as I SEE U Host Eddie Robinson speaks candidly with acclaimed filmmaker, Elegance Bratton, about his feature debut and future projects on the horizon. Bratton will share intimate details of how he came to grips with the ultimate dilemma of whether he'd stay out on the streets and die young to become a mere statistic or join the military and die young to become a war hero. The New Yorker will even offer up words of encouragement for parents, when visions and dreams they had for their own children don't quite pan out the way they expected them to.

10-year-old Graceyn Hollingsworth has become an internet viral sensation. Her popular YouTube children's channel, "Gracie's Corner," features Black and brown animated characters reciting remixed nursery rhymes, soulful vintage poems and original songs in video form. Her father, Javoris Hollingsworth, came up with the idea during the pandemic and noticed the lack of diversity, especially in educational tools for kids. But with so much uncertainty around social media and digital entrepreneurship, are the financial sacrifices worth the risk? And what do you say to parents who support programs like this, but they are still concerned about the amount of screen time that children of a certain age are spending on the internet or watching television? Join us as host Eddie Robinson speaks unguarded with members of the Hollingsworth family – the content creators behind "Gracie's Corner." Javoris, along with his wife, Arlene Gordon-Hollingsworth and Gracie herself stop by our I SEE U studios for a candid conversation about the triumphs and challenges of developing such an inclusive brand of this nature. The Houston-based educators will also share insight on new, upcoming features and details on a live tour in the works.