All language subtitles for MasterClass LeVar Burton Teaches the Power of Storytelling - 12 My Storytelling Heroes

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Whenever I have
the opportunity

to speak my mother's
name in public, I do.

Erma Gene Christian
was her name.

And I know that I am the
man that I am because she

was the woman that she was.

My mother was an
English teacher,

and so in Erma Gene's house,
reading was not optional.

You were either going to read
a book in my mother's home,

or you were going
to get hit with one.

It was your choice,
but you were going

to have an experience
with the written word.

My mother not
only read to us--

I have two sisters--

she not only read to
us when we were kids,

she read in front of us.

My mother was an avid,
voracious reader.

My mother was the first
person in her family

to attend college.

And so that legacy
of learning that she

has forged in our family--

I mean, my-- my
personal storytelling

was largely shaped by my mother.

And it wasn't just
her love of literature.

It was her value system that
she also taught and communicated

to me while I was growing up.

The idea that you put
forth your best effort

no matter what, that
even if it's unpleasant,

if it is yours to do, do it to
the very best of your ability.

I was also taught
that one's life really

should be about something
larger than oneself,

that service was a really
important aspect of being

human.

And after her first
career as a teacher,

my mother had a second
career as a social worker.

So I grew up in this environment
where literature and service

were stressed.

She also had a
really strong intention

to give us the
tools that we needed

to survive in this world,
especially as Black children.

My mother was really very
clear that I would grow up

and inherit a world
that would sometimes

be hostile to my presence
simply because of the color

of my skin.

And what she wanted to
do more than anything

was give me the tools with
which I could compete on a level

playing field with what I call
my melanin-challenged peers.

And so that was really
important to me growing up,

knowing that my life was not
going to be easy necessarily,

and that there would be
challenges and struggles.

But that as Erma Gene's
son, I had the wherewithal

to not just endure it
all, whatever came my way,

but that I could actually
flourish in life, that I could

actually find fulfillment,
and be a part of that family

tradition of teacher.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

I've been incredibly
blessed in my life

to have had storytelling
mentors that I've

been able to learn from.

Alex Haley was my first mentor.

Alex Haley was probably the
most authentic human being

I've ever met.

And what I learned from
Alex is that every one has

a particular voice, and that
voice is informed by your life

experience, as is your story.

And to find your authentic
voice is critically important.

And by way of example, I
was with Alex many, many times

when he was in public making
a speech talking about "Roots"

and his journey of
writing the novel "Roots."

And as often as I heard
Alex tell that story,

as often as I heard it directly
from the storyteller's lips,

it was always fresh
for me, because he

was in his authentic self.

He was telling his story
from his personal experience,

and that's really powerful.

When I read Alex's
words, I actually

hear his voice, his
rhythm, his inflection,

his intonations in my head.

And I don't have that
experience with any other writer

that I've ever read, and I
think that's because Alex's

storytelling was
able to penetrate

to a part of my heart, a part
of my soul, that was really

thirsting for the message
that he delivered.

The message that people
of African descent

are the strongest of the
strong, that we survived

the horrors of slavery,
and in doing so,

have forged a legacy that
we continue to pass on

to successive generations.

What a powerful message to
receive as a 19-year-old kid,

right?

It was absolutely
instrumental in me forming

a positive, healthy self-image.

LEVAR BURTON: Gene
Roddenberry, I've

been a "Star Trek"
fan my whole life.

My family, my mother, my sisters
and I, we watched "Star Trek"

all the time.

"Star Trek" was so
important to me growing up.

Science fiction,
speculative fiction,

is my go-to body of literature
when I'm reading for my own

pleasure and personal enjoyment.

It had been very
rare for me as a kid

to encounter heroes in
the pages of those novels

that I read who looked like me.

Gene's vision of
the future was one

that absolutely embraced me.

As a kid growing up in
Sacramento, California,

watching that show on
television, it reassured me.

By the presence of Michelle
Nichols being on that bridge,

it reassured me that when
the future came, that there

would be a place for me.

And again, in terms of forging
my own identity, that was huge.

It is difficult, I
believe, if not impossible,

to develop a healthy self-image
absent seeing a reflection

of oneself in popular culture.

And it was, in fact, you
know, rare and uncommon,

not just in
literature, but on TV.

And the kinds of
images of Black people

that I was exposed to on
TV were very monolithic,

which is to say, we
were always being

portrayed as pimps, or
prostitutes, or maids,

or in trouble with the law.

And so "Star Trek" was
revelationary to me

in terms of it
revealed a world that

revealed a point of view that
was expansive and inclusive

because it included me.

LEVAR BURTON: Fred
Rogers, Fred and I

met on the field of service.

Fred was a
Presbyterian minister,

and I studied for the
priesthood earlier in my life.

And when I first met Fred,
I was really excited.

We met at a PBS function.

And in advance of
that cocktail party,

I was really excited,
because I wanted

to know what the man Fred
Rogers was really like.

I assumed that that
was a character that he

was playing on his show.

Come to find out, that's
exactly who Fred was.

He was that patient,
he was that present.

Fred was the sort of man who,
when you were in conversation

with him, there was no question
but that he was focused

completely and totally on you.

That sense of concentration
was always present in Fred.

And it was Fred
who really taught me

that it was OK to use
the medium for something

more than entertainment.

Because of that awareness
that it was possible,

that it was really incumbent
upon me, especially

in my work with
children, to bring

my authentic self to that job.

And to really be OK, be
comfortable with sharing myself

with my audience.

And that's a really overlooked
aspect of storytelling,

being vulnerable enough
to share your story, being

able to be honest
enough, warts and all,

to reveal who you are
through your story.

And Fred was really
instrumental in encouraging

me to find that
authentic part of myself

to share with my audience,
especially an audience of kids.

What I learned from Fred,
what I learned from Gene, what

I learned from Alex, what
I learned from my mother,

those truths reside
inside of me.

They have become a
part of me to the point

where they are integral to
the stories that I tell.

They're integral to who
I am as a human being.

Their influences have
shaped me, and the stories

that they have told
have not only shaped me,

they've gone on to shape
the world in large measure.

And so the power of
storytelling I learned right up

close and personal.