Being BeBe: The BeBe Zahara Benet Documentary

Funding for this program was provided in part by New York State Council on the Arts E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation And Robert Holgate Philanthropic Fund [birds chirping, sounds of distant street activity] [traffic sounds, youthful yelling in distance] [OFFSCREEN] I think she's giving us drag superstar realness.

I think she's an "It Girl."

[RUPAUL] When I see BeBe, I don't see a man in a wig.

I see a graceful, beautiful creature.

[REALITY SHOW JUDGE] There's not a whole lot of negative I have to say about BeBe... [RUPAUL] And do we think that BeBe delivers?

Has she brought it to the mainstage?

[ Afropop beat: "Banjo" by BeBe Zahara Benet ] [audience cheers] [ club beat with rhythmic chanting ] Dirty drums, dirty drums [ rhythmic syllabic chants ] [BEBE] Come on!

[crowd cheers build] [crowd cheers peak] [rewinding sound] [RUPAUL] Well, this is it.

The grand finale of RuPaul's Drag Race.

Tonight we will crown America's Next Drag Superstar.

[EMCEE] Look at this cute little crowd.

Let me hear it!

Who loves drag?

[crowd cheers] The gorgeous BeBe Zahara Benet!

Cameroon!

[audience cheers] [EMCEE] RuPaul's Drag Race!

RuPaul's Drag Race, may the best woman win [BEBE] The game is so on.

[BEBE] It's going to be a battle right now.

[RUPAUL] This is it girls.

I've made my decision.

The winner...

The Next Drag Superstar... is BeBe.

[big cheers from crowd] [RUPAUL] BeBe this is your moment.

I pass the reins on to you my dear.

[EMCEE] Congratulations lady, well deserved.

Clap for your queen, clap for your queen!

Cameroon!

Can we get a big Cameroon?

[RADIO HOST] BeBe Zahara Benet is with us, and you know, she won the first RuPaul's Drag Race, Season One.

BeBe, welcome to our show.

[BEBE] Hello, how are you?

[HOST] Good!

I've wanted to meet you for ages now.

But I want people to be reacquainted with your story.

You were born in Cameroon and got into drag, kind of in an accidental kind of way - remind us - [BEBE] Um, I don't know if it's accidental.

I think I was meant to... Well, I was, you know, I, I grew up, doing a little bit of modeling, male modeling, and I was doing like a fashion show, with one African designer.

And, some of the female models did not show up.

There was a shortage of them.

And, you know, I said, "Put me in a dress," you know, put me in the look and I can do it.

And it's when I moved to Minnesota, that I really got the opportunity of really exploring the art form of drag and really knowing what it's all about.

And, you know, years later, here's where I am.

[BEBE laughs behind mask] [CINEMATOGRAPHER] I think we're good to go!

[EMILY] Alright, well let's do this... well, okay so - I think we can - [BEBE] Can we make sure that when I take it off my f- I'm not like - like my T-zones, how is my T-zone?

'Cause we really need this face to look young.

We're going for the youthfulness, ok?

[EMILY] It looks great.

[BEBE] When we, uh, rung in 2020, I was like, "Oh, this is the breakthrough year."

Like, this is the year that is gonna do it for me.

[THORGY] This is so much more than a makeover.

[BEBE] There was all these amazing things that were happening this year.

I mean, my calendar was like so booked.

And then all of a sudden it just went crickets, crickets, crickets, crickets, crickets, crickets, crickets, crickets, and still more crickets happening like crickets, crickets.

So right now I am unemployed.

How about that?

[EMILY] Why don't we, um, go back in time and start looking at some of the clips from the film and just dive right in?

Go ahead and hit play.

[BEBE] Play.

rhythmic wordless vocalizations [BEBE] Oh my sisters!

[BERNICE] He just brings a difference to the world.

[DIMITRA] A spice, he spices things up.

[BERNICE] He spices it.

So I guess, you know, he was just God's gift to the world.

[DIMITRA] God's gift to us first!

And then, after us, then the world.

[BEBE] That used to be a parking lot over there.

And that's where actually - the first time I got into full drag and I performed with Cyndi Lauper, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," for like the Pride Block Party.

And then from there I started doing amateur nights here.

[audience cheers] [NINA] She has a lot of culture behind her because she does come from, you know, she has African roots.

So she's got that sophistication about her, that a lot of the performers don't have.

[audience cheers] [BEBE] I always want to be the best.

Not only for people, but for myself, I want to be the best.

[audience cheers] That's pretty f***in' casual ladies and gentlemen!

[BEBE] I think here in Minneapolis, it's so restricting.

I feel like there's really no room for growth.

And then you kind of ask yourself, what have I done all this time?

[EMILY] How old are you?

[BEBE] How old do you think I am?

24?

24.

Oh my God.

Wow.

That's years.

Em, that is years!

Isn't it so interesting, like, how beautiful I looked back then, and then now, even like way more beautiful?

No I'm just kid - [big laugh] [GERALDINE] Yes.

[BEBE] You know, my parents, they are very motivated individuals.

[BEBE] This is nice.

Very cute.

[DR. NGWA] Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

May I bring you greetings from Cameroon.

Actually, coming to the U.S. is something like a homecoming for me, because I did all of my undergraduate and graduate studies in the U.S., then I went back home where I am teaching.

Somebody met me in Cameroon and apparently she liked what she saw.

[laughter from guests] Elizabeth, would you stand.

[applause from guests] [BEBE] At that point, there was a part of me that wanted to make sure that my path was successful, because I didn't want to hear, "I told you so."

Nobody tells their son, "Oh, go do drag."

There's no drag artists in Africa doing what I am doing or doing what I want to do.

Because I mean, you get the typical traditional men who are like, "Oh, is he uh, did he lose his masculinity?"

Cause I get up and I dress up, makes me less of a man?

Who says?

[BEBE] If you wanted to really take your career to that level of notoriety and really make a name for yourself, you go into the pageants.

People get to know who you are.

And from there, other opportunities come through.

[TOMMIE ROSS] Down the nose.

Yes.

[NINA] Just funky.

[EMCEE] Contestant Number Two, representing Minnesota, USofA - this is BeBe Benet.

Make some noise for BeBe Benet!

[cheering] Hey... Jambalaya [crowd whistles and cheers] [CROWD MEMBER] Come on, BeBe!

She is fierce!

[big applause and cheering] [BEBE]So I'm actually building my portfolio right now, trying to show people how versatile I am, and the different looks I can give, and how passable I can pull off those looks.

I want to use that to send it to places so that I can start booking myself, you know, in different places.

[TERRY] We can never just document a dress.

No, it becomes well what's the set and what's the backdrop?

They always get bigger.

This entire book is nothing but BeBe.

[BEBE] That's wild.

That's really wild.

Do you have more questions?

[EMILY] I feel like I probably do...

There's one I think you might get mad at me if I ask.

[BEBE] What?

[EMILY] Are you a gay man?

[BEBE] Am I a gay man.

Why do you ask that?

[EMILY] Because I've never - I've just realized that I've never asked you that.

[BEBE] I don't place myself into any category right now.

If that makes sense.

Sexually.

[EMILY] Do you think your parents or your family would have a problem if you were having a relationship with a man?

[BEBE] Yes.

[EMILY] Really?

[BEBE] Yeah, definitely.

Um, [EMILY] That serious?

Middle Eastern style music [BEBE] Yes I got called names.

Yes, I got bullied.

But I always found a way to be the star.

Because I felt as a child, that being the star protects you.

And so what would I do?

Would I be that person that would walk in the room and hide in the corner?

Or would I be the person that will get everybody together?

[AZAH] I remember the frame too.

[BEBE] Mm-hmm.

You remember you got this for my birthday?

[AZAH] Sure did.

Sure did.

[BEBE] The first time I decided that I was going to develop BeBe and actually put BeBe out on stage, the first person, the very, very first person I talked to was Azah Tabah.

[BEBE] I know... [AZAH]Exactly.

[BEBE] BeBe, nice to meet you... My name is Nea Marshall Kudi Ngwa, and I'm from West Africa, precisely Cameroon.

BeBe, nice to meet you.

[RUPAUL] Cameroon!

[BEBE] What Drag Race did is bring the art form to the houses of people, like people that would never go to the clubs.

Prior to me being in America and looking at drag, everything I had seen was people laughing at people.

You know, they're laughing at the art form, or making a mockery of the art form.

And so I was like very suspicious.

I was like, should I even be doing this?

Because it's like, are you going to put me on television, and are you going to laugh at me?

Face, face, face I give face, beauty face.

You can take it's okay, watch my body go insane.

[CAZWELL] You're a fierce bitch, man.

I'm scared of you.

[audience cheers] [RUPAUL] I've made my decision.

The next drag superstar... ...is BeBe.

[BeBe gasps, crowd cheers] [RUPAUL] BeBe this is your moment.

I pass the reins on to you, my dear.

[BEBE] It was just such a proud moment for me.

It's like having an A+ in class.

And then you can take it to Mom and Dad and say, "Guess what?"

[EMCEE] Cameroon!

Can we get a big Cameroon?

[VANJELIS] I won't lie and say it was okay.

It was a process of adapting.

I struggled to understand him and the other people in his world and to, to learn, to make room for them too, because they too are part of society, they're a part of us.

And just like, I struggle to find room for myself, I understand other people too struggle to find room for their own selves.

I don't even know if you are useful, as you are standing there.

[BEBE] What am I supposed to be doing?

[VANJELIS] Just leave this place and [MARCUS] Just move!

[AZAH] Lord we call upon you as we see our brother, Nea, as he travels to New York.

This is a new beginning for him.

Lord, know that you are everything to us and that you will fulfill his dreams.

Amen.

- Amen.

[BEBE] It's like, how are you going to take this to the next level?

Cuz you have a platform, but you don't necessarily have been given a career.

So how are you really gonna make this a career?

Can you feel me now?

When you wake up in the morning and you look in the mirror, tell her: I'm the sh**.

I'm the sh**.

I'm the one.

Get you up.

Turn you on.

Can you feel me now?

[BEBE] I'm now more in music as opposed to lip-syncing at a bar because I was actually pursuing live music and the live side of my career.

[MANAGER] The plan is to get BeBe on one of these walls, or, a few of them.

[OTHER MANAGER] Yes.

All of them.

[BEBE] I'd always dreamt of having a show where, the best way to describe it would be "Cirque du Soleil meets Lion King."

Now I know there was no way that I could create a big show like that just, right off the bat.

So I was like, okay, what I need to do is start small, intimate, and then let it build itself.

So birth it, and let it grow.

[MARK] I'm working on a song for her show "Creature."

There's a - the show goes into different worlds and themes... [BEBE] I'm meeting people to talk about Creature, which needs to be bigger than life, which in five years needs to be like the biggest show that is out there, like the biggest spectacle and possibly having it find itself in Vegas.

[muffled awards show acceptance speech on TV] [BEBE] Do you think we would ever get an Emmy for something?

We all strive for greatness.

We all strive for the - to be the top of the top.

What I aspire to be is to be very successful, to be a household name and to be a ver- like, and to be, um, like a business mogul.

[MARK] What's your product, just you?

[BEBE] My aim is, what do you mean?

My mom and my dad are very supportive.

They're warming up to the idea of what I have chosen for a career.

They want me to be successful.

They really do.

All they ask for is success.

[crickets and traffic sounds] [pop music plays in kitchen] [muffled chatter in French] [chatter in French and pop music in kitchen] [singing along to pop music] [PERSON IN HIGH HEELS] Delicious!

[PERSON COOKING] Mama like to cook!

[BEBE] It's really disheartening.

There're so many Cameroonians that are queer, that might, unfortunately might never ever even live out loud or be, be who they need to be, just because of what the society and the culture is.

And it's not supposed to be that way, but it's just that way.

While I would want to take a stand and say, this is how it needs to be, It all needs to be handled with care, because you put people's lives at risk and you put families at risk.

[BEBE] Take my hand, don't shy away [MARK] Take my hand, don't shy away [BOTH] Take my hand, don't shy away [MARK] Really hit the "I" in the "shy" [BOTH] Take my hand, don't shy away [MARK] Try and sing it without using your tongue.

I've noticed that your language requires a lot more tongue usage.

And when you don't use your tongue as much - [BEBE] Shy away.

[MARK] That's it.

There you go.

[MARK] I think what would make an enormous difference, is if you took diction lessons.

[BEBE] Okay... [MARK] Sort of like if you were an actor and you took on a role and you had to learn an Irish accent?

I think you should go and find somebody that can teach you to speak with an American accent.

Take my hand, don't shy away, I will be the answer... When it comes to this whole accent thing or whatever, it is frustrating because okay, now I have to change who I am or change where I come from, or what's part of my heritage, because I want to make myself accessible to the American, or those who are going to be buying my music.

I personally don't think it is fair.

singers chanting rhythmic syllables [BEBE] Gather round... [PRODUCER] I love it!

I love it.

[BEBE] I was open to trying, but if you notice, I kept going back to global and the world and my culture.

I kept going back.

I would try a little here, but I will go back.

[EMCEE] BeBe Zahara, BeBe Zahara BeBe Zahara Benet [BEBE] Hello, New York, hello!

Guys, where am I from?

I just want to let you know, Cameroon is a country.

And Africa is a continent.

And just to let you know, we don't just live in huts and hunt lions.

Just saying.

After it was all done, I was like, Oh my gosh, it's one of my biggest achievements when it comes to drag.

I found my way back home, home I found my way back home Thank you everybody, goodnight!

And we got to the point, where we were about to take this to the next level - And all of a sudden, poof, there's nothing.

[subway noise] Producers' meetings kept dwindling down, "Oh, we'll meet tomorrow, or we'll meet this day..." And then all of a sudden we hear that their investors pulled out.

I'd taken all my savings, all my money - everything - and put it in that show.

I was like, I don't think I can even do this anymore.

So I got really really frustrated and I'm like, you know what?

I had to take those feelings, I had to regroup.

I had to find my purpose.

You know, go back to those reasons that made me move to come to New York City.

What were those reasons that I believed so strongly in?

BEBE: It fell apart.

It just seems like everything at that moment was a "No."

[ANTHONY] Why should I be vulnerable, if it will be used against me if you will mock me?

I don't need to expose myself in front of you.

Well, guess what?

We all, at times, need to protect ourselves, but we're not showing the world who we are.

Your job is to sell experiences.

[BEBE] How am I going to push the boundaries and how am I going to get the people who are supposed to notice me, to notice me, if I'm not trying to take a little bit more risk than I'm taking right now?

So that brought me to the point where I decided that I wanted to do a new show, where people are going to come and experience different facets of me And that's why the show will be called "Reveal."

It will be a little bit uncomfortable for me - [SHIRLEY] Yeah, I understand that [BEBE] Because it's new for me.

I don't do that.

I am competing with so many other people.

I have to figure it out.

If not, I'm moving.

Honestly, I'm giving myself the summer.

If things don't do what they need to do, I'm moving away from New York.

[SHIRLEY] Wow.

That's big.

[BEBE] It was a big decision.

We will create a buzz!

You know?

We'll create a buzz.

I stood by the mirror one day and I said, you know, this time around, I am not going to let anybody define who I am.

I'm not going to let anybody tell me what to do, or what not to do.

How to dress, and how not to dress.

Who to love, and who not to love.

[ANTHONY] I'm just curious - I call you, "sir."

You know, I call you "him."

And a lot of people call you "her," do you have - [BEBE] Yeah, because they refer to BeBe.

So they usually see that image of BeBe first.

[ANTHONY] Right.

How do you feel about one over the other?

[BEBE] I don't care.

[ANTHONY] It doesn't even matter.

[BEBE] Yeah.

It's - it needs to be fluid.

Whatever's rocking your boat at that moment.

[ANTHONY] Okay.

Let me speak to BeBe.

[BEBE] Okay.

[students laugh] [ANTHONY] Hi there.

[BEBE] Hi.

[ANTHONY] I'm working with Marshall.

[BEBE] Mm-kay.

[ANTHONY] And how powerful are you in his life?

[BEBE] I think Marshall, um, cannot live without me.

[ANTHONY] Do you recall when you were developed, or were you always there?

[BEBE] Oh I was always there.

Right from when he, he was birthed.

You know, whenever he wanted to wear those high heels, when he was young.

Whenever he wanted to put that lipstick from the mom's dressing area, I was always there.

[ANTHONY] What would you do if you can just always take over his life?

[BEBE] How will I take over... [laughs] I would let him just always express himself.

Like however he wants to express himself, and flaunt it and own it, and not feel like some other person is looking at you and pointing fingers and wanting to judge you.

You know, you can just walk down and own it and say, you know, you can't take me, honey.

You know?

You can't take me, but here I am.

And I'm going nowhere.

[EMILY] I guess I wanted to ask you, how do you identify now?

[BEBE] I identify myself as Marshall.

I still don't say I'm gay or straight, because I feel like, why should I have to still say I'm gay or straight?

I am Marshall.

And if I happen to love a man, I happen to love a man.

If I happen to love a woman, I happen to love a woman.

I identify myself as a human being and I identify myself as Marshall.

There's this thing of, "I'm gonna be me," you know?

And sometimes that comes with risks when you're in a place that can be very dangerous.

Face... Hi there, I think you know exactly who I am - But in case you don't know where to find me, ah, check me out.

If you look for fashion... Take off my shoes.

Take, take my shoes off.

Don't be surprised if Google gives you BeBe if you look for curves, you're in the right place [SINGERS] Really?

[BEBE] Yes, I got that too - but nothing beats the face!

Beauty Face I got face [applause] [BEBE] Guys I got kind - You know this - when I got up this morning I was very emotional.

I really was.

And I kind of looked at myself in the mirror and I just really was about to really start crying.

I really did.

And um, I just didn't understand why God has to do what he does.

Sometimes I ask these questions like, "Father, why me?"

Why do you have to make me look so flawless?"

[big laughs] [BACKUP SINGER] You had the entire room... [BEBE]People think that because you're on stage then all of a sudden you're rich.

But what people fail to understand is that you're paying for the venue.

You're paying everybody that's part of the show.

You're paying for all of these things.

By the time you are done, we were barely making even.

[ANTHONY] I'm gonna go into another part now.

Relax yourself, stand up straight, hands down please.

Now look at someone in the eyes in the house and lock into them.

Who are you looking at?

Polo?

Alright.

Now, Polo sees you.

She sees the side of you that is feminine.

And the side of you that is masculine.

She sees the side of you that is extremely talented.

And the side of you that is void of talent.

[BEBE] You guys believe in me.

You guys have believed in me for such a very very long time.

It means so much to me.

It really does.

[ANTHONY] She sees the side of you that is a freakin' warrior, that gets up every morning and battles the good fight of what's right.

She sees that.

And she sees the coward, where you stay small, and don't put yourself out.

Sound.

[quiet exhale] [ANTHONY] Sound.

[slightly louder exhale] [ANTHONY] Yeah.

[vocalized exhale] [BEBE] Em, are you ready?

Boomba - ah!

Leave my hand now - Leave my hand now, I'm going.

Where you go-?

Go to Ma.

[baby cries] Let's go, let's go.

Bye - Oh my God.

[baby cries in distance] [muffled laughter] [muffled reality TV show] I'm glad to be home.

I'm glad to be by my family.

You know.

I don't know what's next for me.

But then, okay.

I gotta put my ego aside.

It's a job.

I have my fans there, to see me.

I have money that I can be making there.

I have opportunity.

And it's what I do with it.

Oh, look at Grandma!

[DR. NGWA] We are here together now because Vanjelis earned his PhD and we came to join together, to celebrate the event.

[BEBE] As much as I am very close with my mom and dad, I feel like there's still that pink elephant in the room That, in the sense, like we haven't really talked about the BeBe thing.

We don't really have conversations about it.

Ma, I don't know how, how did you guys - how did you guys feel the first time when I told you about the whole - being on television and doing drag and stuff like that?

Like how were - [ELIZABETH] Well, we were not, we were not surprised because we knew that from childhood you loved such things.

[BEBE] So I'm hoping that, by God's grace, by the time they go to Cameroon, you know, they will get an opportunity to come to one of my shows and get the live experience of it.

[EMCEE] You know who that is - She made us feel so wonderful here in the Twin Cities.

That was our own BeBe, look, that's our girl, that's our BeBe!

Yeah.

[DANCER] Let's pray.

[AZAH] Most gracious and loving Father, we just bless and give you all the honor and the glory.

And through the music and the drums and the voices Lord, you will be able to touch each and every one of us who has come to support this.

We just bless you and give you all the glory.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

[BEBE] Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to - Two Queens, One Stage: Tribal Fever!

Hold on - hold on guys - hold on, hold on - let me have my moment, thank you.

I just have to say today is amazing to me.

And I'm going to try not to be so emotional, I know we want to try to get the party going, but tonight is the night that my mom and my dad all the way from Cameroon are here, and the first time they've ever seen me perform.

Up there.

That's my mom over there, that's my daddy over there, that's my grandma over there, and all my sisters and brothers, thank you so much for - all of you... Oh my God... [ upbeat music ] Yeah!

C'mon.

Everybody put those hands together.

Put those hands together.

Put those hands together!

Come on!

[audience claps to beat] [laughs] [ wordless vocals ] [BEBE] I just really wanted them to be proud.

This is my work.

This is what I do for a living.

My mom called me on the phone the following day, and she's like, "How are you?

Are you okay?"

I'm like, "Yes, I'm okay."

And she said, it was really, really a great show.

And she was like, the show needs to be in a bigger space, you know, because it was just, you know, she was already giving her feedback on what she thought the show was.

My dad loved it too.

My dad really had a great time.

"It was very artistic," is what he would say.

[laughing] He did.

"It was very artistic," Dad would say, it was very artistic honey..

If that was what ended my career, I would have been A-okay with that.

That was a way for them to, to get it.

I would have been devastated if my dad passed without having seen me.

Ugh, seeing my dad... That's a hard one.

I called him the calm giant, because he was just this man who had this presence about himself, but was also just so strong, you know?

That he's no longer here with us, it's - that's a hard one.

Of course, we went to Cameroon.

My family wanted that to be my dad's private moment, you know?

And I felt so bad because we've grown so super close - I mean, if you'd said you were going to come, just to come there without the cameras, that would have been a different kind of story, right?

Because you're, you're close to us.

They would've loved to have seen you, but it was such a time for us where even talking about filming or whatever would have been so disrespectful.

You know, like you coming in as this, you know, Caucasian woman with your camera, and your little people and you guys are shooting - It just pulls a lot of attention.

[yelling] There's also the fear of foreigners who come and take culture, they come and take stories, they come and take fashion, they come and take music and then you bring it here, and then you exploit it.

I think a lot of Africans are aware of that now.

I think it was important just for you, even without me, to just go and be part of that energy.

[EMILY AND FRIEND] Goodbye!

[YOUNG CAMEROONIAN] Whoa!

Ahhh!

[somber score] [sounds from computer] [BEBE] How are you my loves?

Can you guys hear me?

I keep hearing another noise.

Is somebody back there?

Was somebody cooking - Somebody was cooking something I heard the - were they pounding?

What are they making, fufu?

What are they making?

Oh, and eru?

Um, you know - I cook, I cook very good eru.

Oh yes, in America.

Oh, I cook all of that stuff.

Eru, okra, fufu, Ogbono soup... Look at you!

But listen, what I would like to say, like you guys are such, you are such an inspiration, because of the simple fact that you are living your truth [BEBE] You're such in the right space.

And you know, with family or without family, you know that you have to keep doing what you're doing right now so that you can better your life.

And better your situation.

You know what I'm saying?

[RUPAUL] Welcome our queen, BeBe Zahara Benet.

I found my way back home, home Cameroon, she is Cameroon Cameroon, they call her Cameroon [ rhythmic chanting and animal howl ] Rrrrr-ra-ka-ta-ti-ti-ta-ta, yeah I'm p**** bitch.

[SHANGELA] What did she say?

Rrrrr-ra-ta-ta-ti-ti-ta-ta, yeah I'm p**** bitch.

Oo la la la la la la c'est bon, c'est bon... [BEBE] Being on All-Stars 3 was a great resurgence when it came to my, uh, to my platform or whatever.

Of course the bookings, you know, being able to travel, and work.

[EMCEE] You still look the same from Season One.

You do.

[MARCO MARCO] Especially from the back row, right?

[EMCEE] Yeah - No that's not shade!

[BEBE] Even with the recognition that was given, it did not stop what the hustle had to be.

You have to keep working.

Let's go!

We got that girl power [BEBE] Today, she is the only queen!

[FLORIST] Do you like?

[BEBE] I love it.

Isn't these unique features that we have what makes us special because we are not all created the same?

[DRAGNIFICENT GUEST] But it's like so hard.

[BEBE] What I loved so much about Dragnificent is the whole idea of being in a show where you are helping people and you're moving people forward in their lives and creating a situation where you're bringing them some light To me that is rewarding, because if it's not, then what is it?

Is it just making money and just being famous?

At the end of the day, what does - oof - okay?

I want to sit and feel like I've done something.

I want to feel when I go to bed, I am moving something forward, you know?

I remember being in my apartment and then one of my friends called me and was like, "Hey, have you, did you hear somebody got, you know, killed, murdered, in Minneapolis?"

I was like, "What?

You know, turn on the news, turn on the news."

I just had to shut everything off and just take a moment because I felt so cold.

I felt disgusted, like, I mean, this is a place that I claim, you know what I mean?

There are different forms of racism, right?

And I feel like I can only speak on my industry.

You know, where it's like, I am too African.

The masses will not understand.

I'm too worldly, right?

I'm not the Pop Princess, or the this, or the that, of what everybody's accustomed to.

Even though she won Drag Race and she's this and she's that and I love her - But guess what?

She might not be able to sell tickets.

Why might she not be able to sell tickets?

Because she presents herself in the global way, and people would not get it?

Maybe not.

Let's go with what's safe.

Okay well if you're not going to give that to me, then I'm going to keep creating it.

Creating that situation and being able to get the other artists of color and saying that - let's put our money, let's put our resources, let's put our connections together and let us create something where we are all producers of this project.

Nubia was - like that showcase we did in New York - having three sold-out shows - Every kind of person was in that space.

Black, white, straight, gay... I serve the face About to put the kids back in their place Just goes to say that yes, black entertainment does sell, black entertainment makes money, and black entertainment is also very entertaining.

[EMCEE] May I present to you, Black Excellence.

[BEBE] I don't know what the future of my career is.

I still feel like there's still a lot left to do.

It's not about the fame, and you know, oh, I'm a star, I'm a this, I mean, I am... [big laugh] Said you want to play me like a banjo Pull my strings like a banjo [TERRY] I'm not the makeup artist, I'm only the manager.

[BEBE] How do I look?

[TERRY] You're beautiful.

[BEBE] Rewind, rewind, rewind...

Lights, camera, 1-2-3... [ wordless vocal chants ] Rrrrr-ra-ta-ta-ti-ti-ta-ta, yeah I'm p**** bitch.

Rrrrr-ra-ta-ta-ti-ti-ta-ta, yeah I'm p**** bitch.

Oo la la la la la la c'est bon, c'est bon... A doko choco lata la You can't take my snatch Drag it up Wile it up Give me more Bring it to the ball [audience cheers] Funding for this program was provided in part by New York State Council on the Arts E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation and Robert Holgate Philanthropic Fund