You're with me!

here in our new corner of the internet

New year! New me! In a new place!

Hey everybody,

Welcome to my new thing. It’s called W. Kamau Bell asks, “Who’s with Me?” It is my response to the last few years in this country and my way to hit restart on my relationship with YOU, the person who is interested in what I do and maybe wants help me do more of what I do. We all know social media ain’t what it used to be (and maybe never was what we thought it was). And I have found over the years that I have posted less and less because I’m not sure I want a bunch of randos telling me that what I posted isn’t what they wanted me to post. Also, I don’t enjoy mediating fights in the comment section. I’m too old for that shit. Hell, I’m even older than Danny Glover when he first said he was too old for this shit in Lethal Weapon.

Tired of the taking out the trash. Credit: Aundre Larrow

This new project is an effort to get back to the days when it felt like talking on the internet was bringing us all together. Remember those days? Of course none of these platforms is perfect. But I’m hoping to talk to folks who are excited to hear about new things and PRODUCTIVELY engage. I just can’t spend my last remaining years on this quickly burning out planet fighting in the comments. This new space will also be a way for me to experiment with new ideas and new projects before talking them out to the random citizens… who can then fight in the comments. Next week, I’m self-financing a podcast idea I have just for fun. If it turns into something, you’ll be among the first to know.

And as always, I’m going to suggest some way that you can help me help the world. Let’s make this one an easy one. Help me make sure this teacher doesn’t have to go into her own pocket to organize her library.

As you may know (or have maybe wondered about), my CNN show United Shades of America is no more. That has opened up some time in a way that is of course scary, but I’m trying to turn scary into invigorating. I’m getting back into stand-up. I’m doing a stand-up comedy residency at The Berkeley Rep, here in the Bay Area. So it sorta feels like the old days… but with more children who I am responsible for…. which is where the fear kicks back in! But don’t cry for me. It’s not your fault I have so many children. (IS IT?) I’m cooking up some new ideas. Join me on that journey! I’ve got a way better kitchen now than I did back in the day. It’s a new (somewhat scary) day. But I’m deciding to rev up my own engines and see what happens.

Shout out to the amazing & righteous New York Times Bestselling author Miriam Klein Stahl who designed the “Who’s With Me?” logo. Check out her work here.

And with that, I have a fun announcement. Remember that ABC show, What Would You Do? Even if you don’t think you know it you probably know it. It is a reality show where journalist John Quinones sets up strange situations in public places to see… “What Would You do?” But it isn’t mean spirited like the current wave of social media click-chasing pranksters. I describe it as Candid Camera with heart. Or like what if that MTV show Punk’d was hosted by Dolly Parton? Everybody involved would feel good at the end instead of just pretending to feel good for the cameras. Well anyway, that show is returning on February 18th on ABC. And I am one of the new correspondents. My first episode airs February 25th. It will available on Hulu. It was super fun and interesting. I’ll tell you more about my experience when it is closer to airing.

Wow. I really buried the lede here, didn’t I?

What are the subscriptions about?

Wherever you know me from — stand-up comedy, CNN, my documentaries, various podcasts, or the farmer's market — you know I like to make interesting things. Well, if you subscribe, you get to be a part of helping me make even more interesting things. Help me cut out the middle man… and the middle corporation.

Free subscribers get:

• A weekly essay about the world

Paid subscribers get:

• A weekly essay about the world

• The ability to comment on my essays

• The ability to participate in live monthly chats with me

• The satisfaction of supporting the development of my new projects and…

• An early look at some of those projects

Also, special shout out to all of you who were on the mailing list for my old newsletter! Welcome to Substack. You can still read my writing in your email, but you now have the option to read it on the Substack website or the Substack app. No more searching through your crowded inbox.

Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself

Art by Miriam Klein Stahl

In case we haven’t met before, my name is W. Kamau Bell, and I am a stand-up comedian, television host, director, producer, father, and husband. You might know me from my CNN docuseries United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell. It ran for seven seasons until CNN decided they didn’t like making things other than the news. Incredibly, I won three Emmys for that show. You also may know me from my four-part Showtime docuseries We Need To Talk About Cosby. More incredibly, that series (as challenging as it was to make) won several awards, including a Peabody(!!!). I wasn’t ready for that. Most personal to me and my family is my hour-long HBO documentary 1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed. It features my three daughters and a bunch of other mixed-race kids. It won an Emmy too, but the best part is that not only did I get to go the Emmys with my two oldest daughters, but I also got to see their faces when we won.

I have two books. My first book has the easy-to-remember title, The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell: Tales of a 6' 4", African American, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Left-Leaning, Asthmatic, Black and Proud Blerd, Mama's Boy, Dad, and Stand-Up Comedian. Yes, I went to The Fiona Apple School of Titles. My second book was the New York Times bestseller Do The Work: An Antiracist Activity Book. I co-wrote it with the brilliant and fierce author (who is also on Substack) Kate Schatz. I am on the board of directors of DonorsChoose, and I am the ACLU’s Artist Ambassador for Racial Justice. I am also on the board of directors of Live Free, a non-profit organization and social justice network dedicated to ending gun violence, mass incarceration, and mass criminalization through education, advocacy, and direct action. And to think that when I was a kid I just wanted to be a comedian like Eddie Murphy.

My wife, Melissa Hudson Bell, and I are the co-founders of Who Knows Best Productions, a media production company in Oakland, California. I care too much and sleep too little.

Behind the Scenes

Fun facts! This publication is edited and produced by my longtime collaborator, Kelly Rafferty. As you now know, the artist, activist, educator, and fantastic friend Miriam Klein Stahl designed the logo for Who’s With Me? She also make the papercut portrait you scrolled by a moment ago. In these essays, you’ll probably see lots of photos from Aundre Larrow, who has been taking my picture and protecting my sanity for YEARS.

And again, welcome! I’m really excited to get back to writing regularly this year. Did you know I’m interested in more things than racism and ending racism? SHOCKING! WHO KNEW? (I did.) So… Who’s with Me?