Chappelle shares Floyd commentary
Last weekend, comedian and local resident Dave Chappelle hosted a short series of pop-up comedy events in his hometown of Yellow Springs. Footage from a portion of one of those shows has been released and is available for streaming on Netflix’s YouTube channel.
The 27-minute clip, entitled 8:46, was filmed at the Wirrig Pavillion in Yellow Springs on June 6. The title 8:46 relates to the amount of time that George Floyd had a police officer kneeling on his neck, resulting in his death.
The special shares Chappelle’s commentary on Floyd’s death, young protesters, Black Lives Matter and political commentator Candace Owens, among other topics.
“I don’t mean to get heavy, but we got to say something,” Chappelle says during the clip. He added that America is enduring “the wrath of God” for a string of police assaults on black men.
“This man kneeled on a man’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Can you imagine that?!” Chappelle says during the clip. “This kid thought he was going to die, he knew he was going to die. He called for his dead mother.”
“When I watched that tape, I understood this man knew he was going to die,” said the comedian. “I can’t tell you, as a man, watching another man, go through something like that, what it makes you feel like.”
Chappelle said 8:46 also was the time he was born on Aug. 24, 1973. “I can’t get that number out of my head because it was my time of birth on my birth certificate,” he said.
Chappelle added that he has been quiet until now for a reason. “Answer me: Do you want to see a celebrity right now?” he asked. “No, this is the streets talking for themselves. They don’t need me right now.”
The special was released with a note from Chappelle: “Normally, I wouldn’t show you something so unrefined, I hope you understand.” The simple statement was followed by information about how people can support the Equal Justice Initiative (eji. org).
The intro to the special shows audience members arriving, getting their temperature taken and wearing custom Chappelle face masks. Chappelle admitted during the clip the new procedures are “weird” and “less than ideal,” but those who attended said they thought the safety protocols made them feel at ease and were grateful for the opportunity after the coronavirus shutdown.
“We are very lucky and thankful to have Dave her engaging with the community... He gave people a reason to smile and have hope that maybe we can pull off these kinds of events in our ‘new normal,’” Ashley Pennington of Centerville shared.
Keith Klein of Dayton described: “It was so intense to see the emotion on his face from such a close distance. It was a powerful and moving moment, especially with everything going on in the world.”
Chappelle started the Dave Chappelle & Friends: A Talk with Punchlines series last weekend ( June 6-8). He added more dates Thursday, Friday and tonight. Tickets are sold out, according to Eventbrite.
— This article contains information from the Associated Press.