In a podcast released Friday, Karamo
Brown, Queer Eye's culture guy, talks about being Black in
America and the pressures he felt in quarantine.
Brown, who turns 40 on November 2,
appeared on Wondery's
The
Daily Smile
podcast with host Nikki Boyer.
When asked about the ongoing Black
Lives Matter protests, Brown said that the movement had shaken up
White America.
“For me as a Black man, I mean, these
are the conversations and things I've been aware of since I was two,
I would say,” Brown said. “I think that's the first time I ever
had the conversation with an uncle. And then it just continues on.
And then raising two black boys in America, it's something that I've
always talked about. I think what the Black Lives movement and the
unfortunate death of these beautiful individuals. What has happened
is that it has woken people up, particularly white Americans who
never had to talk about race and who never had to face these
realities.”
Brown also said that the coronavirus
lockdown had been “a real moment of growth and reflection” for
him.
“I think for me, this lockdown has
been a real moment of growth and reflection,” he said. “And also
some progression.”
“So, the reflection and growth have
come more emotionally and mentally, because I've literally been
evaluating things that I had not had an opportunity to focus on in my
busy day-to-day life.”
“I'm turning 40 this year and things
are like, I think that I have been doing a majority of my actions for
other people and have not been focusing on what I want. What I
realized is that I was making decisions based on what everyone told
me I was supposed to do and what the culture said is acceptable at
this stage in my life.”
“True happiness starts when you focus
on your own happiness and then when you're able to feel complete and
you feel solid, and then you have the love to give to your partner
and your kids and your co-workers and everyone else.”
“So, that's what I learned over
quarantine. Okay, I got to get this together,” he added.