Donald Glover fan and comedy screenwriter Jaboukie Young-White bumped into his idol last night (March 24) and was able to tell Glover an inspiring story.
‘I told him that when I found out he wrote for 30 Rock I realised black people could write TV,” Young-White – who now writes for TV shows ‘American Vandal’ and ‘Big Mouth’ – posted on Twitter.
“And now I’m a screenwriter and he said he recognised me from Twitter I’m astral projecting.”
“He said I was funny and now I have enough validation to last me the rest of 2k18,” he continued.
Glover was hired by ’30 Rock’ after gaining attention for his work with comedy group Derrick Comedy, while a student at New York University.
i told him that when i found out he wrote for 30 rock i realized black people could write tv and now i’m a screenwriter and he said he recognized me from twitter i’m astral projecting pic.twitter.com/NqMi3cZajC
— jaboukie (@jaboukie) March 24, 2018
he said i was funny & now i have enough validation to last me the rest of 2k18
— jaboukie (@jaboukie) March 24, 2018
The tweet quickly went viral, with users flooding to congratulate Young-White, and reminding people that it’s about ‘representation, not race.’
Honey, he was speaking about representation and how knowing a black man was already doing what he wanted to do inspired him. You missed it.
— Christen Turner (@isthatchristen) March 24, 2018
https://twitter.com/SheDoesArtWow/status/977774412312260608
Sometime all it takes is a little positive juice. Keep pushing! Make all you imagine happen. #cheers #power #greatness
— David P. Anderson, MSSE (@DavidPKey) March 25, 2018
This year, both the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs were heavily criticised for lack of diversity, with the latter accused of being too white and too male, showing that more work needs to be done to represent BME and female actors, writer and producers in the industry.
Meanwhile, Chance The Rapper has said he has been working on “amazing” new music with Donald Glover – AKA Childish Gambino – and Kanye West.
Asked about collaborating with Glover, he said: “We perpetuated that rumour for a long time without recording anything. We did link up in Atlanta and record some tracks and… they’re amazing.”
Childish Gambino is set to head on tour with Rae Sremmurd, announcing a series of North American live dates.
He’ll also headline London’s Lovebox festival in July, alongside Skepta and N.E.R.D.
Glover has announced his plans to retire from music following an upcoming third Childish Gambino album, set for release via RCA.