00:00hey what's up everybody when I asked you guys bear with me a bit I never had to
00:17speak about childhood directly since since his passion so I'm gonna do my best
00:30right on I'm good I'm good just just struggling when I think a child bothers me I think of three
00:51things leadership teaching and generosity he was an incredible leader he was fearless infirm yet
01:08gentle in his leadership Chadwick was ageless I never really knew how old he was until I went to
01:17one of his birthday parties he had this incredible youthful look to him but being around him you got
01:29the I always got the sense that I was around someone incredibly old and I'm not talking
01:36baby boomer a silent generation Chad felt thousands of years old he was that calm and that wise it was
01:46a very unnerving feeling to be around our first time together we were completely alone and he
01:52somehow snuck into a into a a hotel room I was in during a massive press tour for Creed
01:58Sylvester Stallone was there the great Michael B Jordan was there the great Texas Thompson was there
02:03was it was crawling with press but he got by all of them for us to have a one-on-one meeting to talk
02:10about working together on Black Panther and I was so impressed by that I asked him how he got past
02:17everybody and he smiled at me and said that was the Panther I didn't know what to make of him
02:28when we started talking he quickly shared with me that he felt that he could say things to me that he
02:40couldn't say to other people in the industry and I cut him off and told him that I felt the same way
02:44but when you're around Chadwick you think about all the sayings and phrases that maybe older people
02:52would taught you in life I often think about a phrase my father told me when it comes to his
02:58leadership style my dad would always say more is caught than taught meaning if you sit somebody down
03:03and try to and try to teach them a lesson to show them how to do something you know maybe they hear it
03:07maybe they won't but if you actually do that action if you actually live it then they will see it
03:12be motivated to to try to duplicate it Chad was an incredibly humble teacher he taught in that way
03:23you never knew you were learning a lesson I remember one day I was having a conversation with him
03:27about a about a particularly tense moment that he had on set and he told me in his uh in his
03:34what kind of accent I'll call you when I get home and he did and we talked and he said something
03:43during that during that conversation I never forgot he said something happened and he said Ryan when
03:48this happened I had to really manage my emotions and take a step back I never forgot that I never
03:54heard these phrase these these words said together manage your emotions and I'll tell you guys right now
04:00I'm a father of three kids and my wife Zinzi can attest to you I say this to my children every day
04:05today going to class you got to manage your emotions hey mom and dad got to go down to LA to do
04:10something for Uncle Chadwick I know you're sad but you got to manage your emotions and still take it to
04:14school today
04:14the biggest pillar of Chad even in comparison to his incredible leadership and his teaching was his
04:26generosity he was so generous the very act of us meeting was it was an incredible gift in my life
04:34but he was generous to other actors this man who already was casted as the Black Panther he came
04:40to every single audition and every single callback that I asked him to come to sometimes he would be
04:44busy and we would schedule one and he'll he'll race across town and read across the other actors
04:48he would come to every rehearsal he even worked with the with the actor that was portraying him
04:53in a childhood role he was incredibly generous with his time on set even though he was going
05:00through what he was going through he would do his own stunts he would stand he was he would be there
05:03for off-camera dialogue readings it was incredible
05:07but in all this generosity
05:11Chad only gave me one physical gift
05:15I don't know if Nate Moore is here you got yours bro you got it not here um when we we wrapped the
05:25movie Black Panther and I was convinced this movie was not gonna work
05:28Chad took my hand and he and he and he bent this this copper bracelet around it um check out Chad's
05:42brothers his hands were massive if you uh see his big bro Derek his hands about the same size
05:48but he but he took both hands it was like a vice grip you know what I mean
05:52and and what's crazy about Chadwick is I never have been strong enough to bend this thing
06:02I actually I actually thought I misplaced it and look for it frantically after he died
06:12I was actually I was actually ashamed to take a gift from him at the time so I pulled it off
06:25and I stashed it somewhere put it in his storage somewhere in the Bay Area because I took him for
06:29granted I figured he'd always be around and the gift could be something I could get to later
06:34but after he passed I I frantically frantically looked through storage units tried to find it and I
06:42put it on I tried to bend it and it ended up snapping so I had to have my assistant take it in to get
06:48it repaired but they signed it up and I figured I'd wear it for a special day ended up being today
06:55but he gave me so many oh I'm sorry
07:04but he gave me and us so many other gifts the gifts of his incredible performances which
07:10inspire actors all over the world which inspired the actors that we worked with the gift of of
07:15being of being close to greatness this is something that people who maybe play ice hockey with Wayne
07:20Gretzky can attest to maybe people who play basketball Michael Jordan can attest to
07:24there's something special about being that close to somebody that great
07:29you realize how much you don't measure up but you also realize how much the human body is capable of
07:37Chad showed that every day
07:41and his generosity extended to the fact that even when he knew his days were limited
07:48and his moments were numbered
07:49he still gave to the art form
07:56he still threw himself into the fire
08:00of close-ups across from Viola Davis
08:02of uplifting the beautiful dialogue of our ancestors
08:16of dedicating his time to his alma mater at Howard University
08:19he passed
08:25but like Viola said he's still here he's still kicking he's still giving me gifts from beyond the grave
08:32the gifts of of hugs from his best friend Logan
08:35the gift of the friendship of his family
08:40and the gifts of
08:43his wife Simone
08:45who's from the Bay Area like me and Zinzi
08:48Chad and I would always talk about spending time there when we was off
08:56and I wrap it up with this last physical gift
09:00one day I get a call from Simone
09:02and she says hey I want to drop by and come see you
09:05you and Zinzi
09:06she came by our house in Oakland
09:09and she uh she had a bag of books
09:12not everybody know this about me but I love books
09:15she said these are from Chadwick's collection
09:18and he didn't give me any specific
09:20ideas of what to do with these but but
09:23his spirit was on my on my heart and he thought that these books would be for you
09:26and every single book ended up being something that I needed
09:34one of the books was actually a conversation that I had with Chadwick
09:37when I was looking for action words for actors on set
09:41it was just a glossary of of action words for actors
09:45I took that book with me when we made sinners and I kept it with me every day
09:50to make sure I opened it
09:51and I was able to give Mike probably the most important direction I could ever give any actor
10:00when he was working on playing these twins with his dialect that was challenging
10:04I looked at him and said what would Chadwick do
10:12Chadwick would stay in accent on set all day
10:16Chadwick would uplift the other actors
10:19and Mike looked at me
10:21and nodded and said he got it
10:24we continue to carry him with us
10:26Chadwick's a star deserving of a star on the walk of fame
10:30but he was also our most incredible jewel
10:38he reflected light he refracted it
10:42and when he did he showed the greatness of our people
10:48in the universe of our shared humanity
10:50thank you Chad
10:55you
10:56you
10:56you
10:56you
10:56you
10:56you
10:56you
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