The Daily Show: Ears Edition - TDS Time Machine | Black History Month

Episode Date: February 19, 2025

A Daily Show salute to Black History Month. Take a peek back at what TDS might have sounded like in 1965. Trevor Noah unpacks the lives and legacy of Nelson and Winnie Mandela. Roy Wood Jr. recalls the history of civil rights marches in CP Time. D.Ll Hughley challenges Los Angelenos to a Black History quiz. Trevor and Roy dig into the surprising origins of Peanuts character Franklin. Finally, After the Cut, Trevor remembers legendary singer Aretha Franklin.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Now. February 1st, 1965. It's the Black History Month Daily Show. Welcome to the Daily Show. I'm Trevor Noah, my guest tonight, up and coming comedian, Bill Cosby. This guy's jokes are gonna knock you out. But we begin in Selma, Alabama. If you aren't familiar with Selma,

it's a small southern city located 10 miles east of No Negroes, Please, and five miles north of Say, Boy. And it's also where today, recent Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. got into some legal trouble. Dateline Selma. Civil rights leader the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested today while attempting to lead a mass march of 300 Negroes on the Dallas County Courthouse

to protest voter registration procedures. The Negroes were taken into custody on charges of parading without a permit. For more, we go to our junior civil rights correspondent, Roy Wood Sr. Now, Roy, what did you see out there? I saw a bunch of bullsh**, Trevor. Proud Negro men and women being arrested for no reason.

Well, now, Roy, the police said there was a reason. They were parading without a permit. Oh, oh, I'm sorry. Did the Klan fill out their paperwork before marching in my neighborhood? What have you ever seen white people arrested for parading without a permit? Oh, I'm sorry. Did the Klan fill out their paperwork before marching in my neighborhood? What have you ever seen white people arrested for parading without a permit?

Well, boy, that's just the world we living. Black people aren't ever gonna get the same treatment as white people, and that's never gonna change. Actually, Trevor, I don't agree. You have to look at the bright side of things. Yeah, maybe the cops arrested Dr. King and a bunch of our brothers and sisters, but they did it this time without violence. That's progress.

I mean, 40 years ago, a white man wouldn't even give a black man a glass of water. Now, not only can we have water, we can get it whether we want it or not. Well, I mean, I guess you could call that progress. Oh, I do call that progress. We've gone from lynchings to beatings, now to peaceful arrests.

In fact, I heard Dr. King is coming back right here next month to Selma to march across that bridge, and at the rate of progress we making, I bet you it's gonna be a fun day marching arm in arm with the police, and one day they'll make a movie about it, and it'll be called Selma, the day when nothing happened at all. -♪ The Daily Show theme happened at all? -♪

Obama's main purpose in South Africa was to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela. Madiba's life shown so brightly, even from that narrow Robben Island cell, that in the late 70s, he could inspire a young college student on the other side of the world Mandela said young people are capable when aroused. Yeah. Wow.

Wow. This is probably the only thing that Trump and Obama agree on. Trump's like, you're so right Barack, there's never a bad time to be aroused. He's like, oh, that's not what I meant. He's like, too late, Don Junior's out already, baby. We were catching up with President Obama, who's in South Africa,

to celebrate Nelson Mandela's 100th birthday. And let's just acknowledge how dope you have to be for people to keep throwing you birthdays after you're dead. Just think about how amazing you have to be. Like most of you can't even get your roommate to come to your party and you're alive. Yeah, it's like, dude, what do you mean you can't even get your roommate to come to your party and you're alive. Yeah. It's like, dude, what do you mean you can't come over?

We live in the same room. So who was Nelson Mandela to get Obama to take a break from kite surfing and go all the way to Africa to give his first big speech since he left the White House? Well, really there are two Nelson Mandelas. The first is played by every black actor in Hollywood. My name is Nelson Mandela.

I'm the first accused. I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. Those in power deny your freedom. The only path to freedom is power. I will walk to the quarry, but I will no longer run. Manila! Manila! It is not your place to tell me what is possible.

This is the time to build our nation. Ignorance brings chaos, not knowledge. Now I know, I know a lot of people complain that she takes roles she shouldn't, but I think she nailed it there. She killed it. She was pretty good. Scarlet can act, yo. So there's movie Mandela, and there's real Mandela.

And because today marks 100 years since his birth, I just wanted to spend a few minutes talking about the man because he spoke about me on my birthday. Now, that's not true at all. Now, the first thing you need to know about Nelson Mandela is that his name was not Nelson. When I went to school, the lady teacher, Miss Dinghane, asked, what is your name?

I told him my African name, Horiqla. He says, no, I don't want that one. You must have a Christian name. So I say, no, I don't have one. She says, you are, from today, you are going to be Nelson. That's how I ended the name Nelson, not given by my parents. Wow.

Can you imagine how Mandela's parents must have felt? Their kid left the house as Rulisha Asha and comes back as Nelson. Like his dad must have been so mad. He'd be like, they called you what? I'm calling your teacher right now. Hello, this is Gardner Mandela. No, your name is Jeremy now.

Ah, they got me too. Ah! Ah! Now, the reason Nelson Mandela had to have a Christian name is basically because back in the early 20th century, white people ran South Africa. So you couldn't have a name that they couldn't pronounce. Even though they were only 20% of the population,

they controlled the government, the land, the economy, everything. Yeah, it's kind of like how today, all those no gluten people have control of all of our menus. Yeah, except in South Africa, the intolerance was real. So it was this oppression, it was this oppression that pushed Nelson Mandela to join a revolutionary movement called the African National Congress.

He joined politics when he was just 26 years old, partly to fight racial inequality and also because he had just been kicked off his parents' Obamacare. Now, at first, at first, the ANC fought for racial equality peacefully, but the racist government only got more oppressive. In fact, in 1948, South Africa's government

set up apartheid, which made legal racism the foundation of the entire country. Black people couldn't vote, they had to live in certain areas, and they were banned from playing sports with white people. And I'm not gonna lie, that last part, I completely understand, all right? I mean, if your system is based on white supremacy,

you can't have black people dunking all over your shit. It just doesn't go with the narrative. You're like, white people are superior. Oh, wait, I wasn't ready, I wasn't ready. In fact, the government became so oppressive that Mandela and the ANC decided to resort to violence. They bombed power stations, post offices, and I mean, they did it when people weren't in there,

but still, they blew shit up. And there were many people, not just in South Africa, but around the world, who wanted him to respond to the brutality of the government with civility, to which Mandela replied, bore shit. There are many people who feel that it is useless and futile

for us to continue talking peace and nonviolence against a government whose reply is only savage attacks on an unarmed and defenseless people. I know for a lot of people seeing a young, radical Mandela, that's a bit of a shock. Yeah, it's like finding out one of the Care Bears mauled a hiker to death.

So, I mean, I'd expect that out of Tenderheart, but you, Funchine? But you see, Nelson Mandela believed that violence of Tenderheart, but you, Funchine? But you see, Nelson Mandela believed that violence was necessary to fight a violent government, and he paid a price for it. In 1962, when Mandela was 44 years old, the apartheid government arrested him and sentenced him to life in prison.

And what he said in the docs is legendary. He said, I've cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society. It is an ideal which I hope to live and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die. I mean, I'm prepared to die. But I don't want to die. I'm saying I'm prepared.

Don't make me die. I'm just saying'm prepared. Don't make me die. I'm just saying, like, prepared to die, but not die necessarily. Let's edit that part out. Just leave the... So Mandela went on to spend almost 30 years in prison. And the longer he stayed in prison, the more Mandela became a legend around the world. By the 1980s, you had concerts around the globe to free Nelson Mandela.

And you gotta admit, you gotta admit, it's probably good that that teacher changed his name because it would have been a lot harder for white people around the world to protest his freedom when they couldn't pronounce his name. If they were like, free, running, free, free, you know, let's just go save the whales, guys.

Let's just go save the whales. Now Nelson Mandela's story up to that point was impressive, but it's what he did after he came out of prison that transformed him from a leader to a legend. Because when he became South Africa's first black president, he reconciled the country, and he insisted that white people be a part of it. And you realize this is a black country

and he's the first black person. He could have easily just said, I'll give you white people a 10-minute head start. You guys put me in prison for 30 years. I don't even know what a workman is. I just hope I get to meet Elvis. What? Five-minute head start.

So... Five minute head start. So, so you see, this is just part of why people like Barack Obama look up to Nelson Mandela. This was a man who grew up in a country, steeped in racism, spent decades in prison fighting it, and then dedicated his life to a world of racial progress. And most impressively, when he was asked why he's not bitter, he had this to say. You end up coming out of prison and there is no bitterness. How is there no bitterness?

Well, I hated oppression. And when I think about the past, the type of things they did, I feel angry. You have a limited time to stay on Earth. You must try and use that period for the purpose of transforming your country. That's why he's a legend. Happy 100th birthday, Madiba.

You must remember, because of so many of the struggle leaders in South Africa were either imprisoned or exiled, the movement in South Africa was held together in large part by women in the country. And so it's weird for me, because I understand you travel the world, you understand that everywhere feminism is different and the idea of women is different.

But I grew up in a world that was very matriarchal and where women were the most dangerous freedom fighters that existed. This is true. You read up on Winnie Mandela. Like Nelson Mandela was an icon, but the police in the country were afraid of Winnie Mandela. You know, they were... And we had a phrase in South Africa that was...

We still use it today, which was... Whatin tabafazi, whatin timboruoko. Which means you strike a woman, you strike a rock. And that's what I grew up learning. That's a, it was kudos, man. It was fire. It was fire. And a lot of the time, my mom would strike me with a rock. And...

["The Rock"] Hi. Welcome to CP Time, the only show that's for the culture. Today, we will be discussing the history of civil rights marches. They were how black people fought the system, made change, and it's also how your granddaddy got his steps in. Now, there are the famous marches that we all know about.

The March on Washington, Birmingham, and the March in Selma, which I was getting ready to attend until I found out that march was on a bridge. I don't do bridges well. I told Dr. King, if God wanted the black man to cross rivers, we would have been born with those little floaty things on our arm, like white people.

But there are many other marches in black history worth noting, such as the 1995 Million Man March in Washington, D.C. Now, some people say the crowd size didn't actually reach a million men. But if that's true, it's only because it was the 90s and all those parachute pants took up too much space. But at least hundreds of thousands of men attended this march.

They gathered to call attention to black issues like structural racism, unemployment, and, most importantly, an end to the Jerry Curl. Or as I call it, the Black Mullet. That hairstyle has held more black men back than bad credit. The Jerry Curl is the only hairstyle that made black men look like Jewish mothers. Sadly, I did not attend the Million Man March.

I tried to, but I misheard the location. You see, they said it was at the National Mall, but what I thought they said was the Nashville Mall. And let's just say all those white people in Tennessee were as confused as I was when I was protesting in front of an orange Julius. Now, you can't speak about marches without speaking about the big, bad, sexy, Afro-repping Black Panthers.

Look at them. Anyone wearing leather in the summertime means business. In 1967, the Black Panthers protested against California gun control by marching to the Capitol with their grievances and some AK-47s. That's right, white people. I know you like to think that being out in public with the big gun was your idea,

but that was some black shit first. And while bringing guns to a debate about gun control is not very logical, it is very effective. In fact, it gives you the upper hand in most situations. My Uncle Bebo once walked into a Chipotle and forgot he had a loaded pistol in his hand. He got free guacamole for life. Well done, Uncle Bebo.

But before you criticize armed protests, remember, it was a different time, and you had to be there. Which I was not. I wanted to join the Black Panthers, but the day before the protest, my barber cut my afro too low, and I ended up with a buzz fade.

I couldn't join the Black Panthers looking that square. I look like a Wesley Snipes who does pay his taxes. And finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention the powerful black women who fought to unshackle the chains of oppression. One of those icons is Ida B. Wells, who famously took over a 1913 march for women's suffrage. The white women said that she had to march in the back,

but Ida refused, telling those white ladies, either I go with you or not at all. Which is basically a turn of the century way of saying, I'm about to take my earrings off, Heffer. Now, I didn't attend this march either because I was not yet born, but my grandmother Regina Wood Jr., was able to go. But she didn't go.

She said she was going with her best friend, Susan. But the two got lost on the way, and somehow they ended up in the Caribbean, where they've been living as roommates ever since. Oh. Well, that's all the time we have for today. I'm Roy Wood Jr. This has been CP Time. And remember, we're for the culture.

Must have been more than friends, I guess. They ain't got but one bed in their house. This is the very first day of Black History Month, so I thought I'd hit the streets to ask black and white people how they were celebrating. As we enter yet another Black History Month, we thought it was important to connect with people and to find out what their idea of black history was. And nothing says black history like Hollywood Boulevard. Actually it's the closest that the crew will come to Martin Luther King Boulevard.

How are you? I'm doing good. It's Black History Month. Actually, it's the closest that the crew will come to Martin Luther King Boulevard. How are you? I'm doing good. It's Black History Month. Absolutely. What excites you the most about it? I think it's an opportunity we can celebrate ourselves, our contributions as a people. It makes me feel good. I love Black History Month.

What do you love about it? Our kids are getting more educated. Not in Florida, though. Well, I don't know about Florida. Nobody does. What do you know about Black History Month? I'm turist, so I don't know much, but I respect everyone. I like white, black, brown, everyone.

I know, but they already had their turists. Our turn now. What does Black History Month mean to you? Celebration. Celebration. Are there any black people you'd like to celebrate? Martin Lawrence. Martin, out of all the black people who...

I mean, I love it. Black History Month. Yes. You excited? It'll be my first. It's your first Black History Month? Yeah. How long have you been black?

I'm not home, but we don't do it in South Africa. Oh, you don't do it in South Africa? What's the blackest thing you've ever done? I think when we have guests over, and I don't wanna share our food, so we just all go hungry until they leave. What's the blackest thing you've ever done? Eat chitlins.

Oh man, I put a cereal in the glass bag so I can keep it from the roaches. Because if the roach ate it first, I'm damn sure I ain't gonna eat it. That's so black, I'm embarrassed. Every time I go to a new city, I like to go to the grocery store, I'll stop, I'll get some watermelon and some chicken,

and I'll see if they'll say something to me at the register. Has anybody ever? Don't go to Mississippi. Have you ever been denied a loan? No, I haven't. That's probably the whitest thing you've ever done. What is the whitest thing you've ever done?

With surfing. You didn't shut up. And how did that work out? Not very good. What is the whitest thing you've ever done? Uh, with surfing. You didn't shut up. And how did that work out? Uh, not very good. What is the whitest thing you've ever done? Improv. Uh, pay my taxes. Uh, mayonnaise. Can you name any of the members of the Wu-Tang Clan? No, I can't. You know any other words to the black national anthem? That's messed up, but I don't. You know any other words to the black national anthem? I know to stand up. Even if you don't know the words,

you know you're gonna be respectful. Can you name any members of the Wu-Tang Clan? No. Have you ever been late somewhere? Heck no, I'm very punctual. That's pretty white. I know. Do you know any of the members of the Wu-Tang Clan?

No, I don't know, that's messed up. You're about to take my car from me right now. Give it here. I'm like, I don't even know who Wu-Tang Clan is about to take my car from me right now. Give it here. Give it here. You know any of the words to the black national anthem? No. You know any of the members of the Wu-Chang Clan? I do. Ghostface, Killer, Raekwon.

You got Jizza, Rizza. M-a-n-d-d-d. That's it. What is the blackest thing you've ever done? Um, I went to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffle. Yeah. What is the blackest thing you've ever done? Oh, damn. That's pretty black right there.

Do you follow anybody on black Twitter? I don't have a black Twitter. Smoke weed. I was in a hip hop group in high school. No, you weren't. I was. What was your name in the group? Big high school. No, you weren't. I was. What was your name in the group?

Big and Tasty. Big and Tasty. Give me some. Look at me, look at me, look at me. Bread chasing like a bakery. Like, I don't know. I like that. What is the blackest thing you've ever done?

That's a racist question. Of course. What is the blackest thing you've ever done? Talking to you. Yeah. Yeah. This week marked a milestone in civil rights history. The 50th anniversary of Franklin's first appearance

in the comic strip, Peanuts. Now, now it seems like a joke, but the reason this was a landmark is that before Franklin appeared, newspaper comic strips were segregated, right? Black comic strips were always separate from white comic strips. In fact, if you even tried to put the pages

of the newspaper together, the police would just break down your door. You'd be like, whoa! And they'd be like, well, well, well, we got a troublemaker over here. So the character of Franklin was a pretty big deal. And what's really fascinating is his origin story. April 1968, Martin Luther King had been shot and killed.

American cities burned in rage. In California, a 42-year-old teacher and mother of three felt helpless. And I remember sitting in suburbia, saying, is there anything I can do? Harriet Glickman wanted to reach someone with influence. She wrote to Charles Schultz. His Peanuts comic strip was read by nearly a hundred million people each week. Charlie Brown, Lucy Linus, they were all white.

Glickman told Schultz he should integrate. Okay, that was pretty dope of that lady, but, yeah. But at the same time, also kind of a weird reaction to a tragedy. I mean, Martin Luther King is dead, there's chaos in the streets, and her first reaction is, maybe Charlie Brown can help. For more on the Civil Rights Trailblazer,

we turn now to our very own Roy Wood Jr., everybody! Roy. Roy. Roy. Roy. Roy. Roy. No matter who you are,

you gotta love Franklin, right? Oh man, love him. Are you kidding me? Franklin was a straight up G. Integrated the shit out of peanuts. Yeah, and it must have been a pretty big moment for you as a kid when he first appeared in the strip. First appeared?

That was in 1968. How old do you think I am? 50... 40? 60? I'm 39, Trevor. 39. Here's the thing.

Newspaper Franklin was great. Newspaper Franklin was great. You can't argue that. But when they put him on TV, it was a different story. All of a sudden, they made him a stereotype. -♪ You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around. That's what it's all about. It's all about our coffee, so don't check anything in your shoes.

We're the tea invincible, and we're not gonna lose. What? Why couldn't Franklin just do the hokey-pokey, Trevor? You telling me black kids can't put their left foot in and take their left foot out? It looked like Franklin was auditioning for House Party 2. Yeah, but, Roy, but, Roy, it's still cool

to have him in there, even if he had one dance break. It was every time with this kid. Anytime you walk down the street in Peanutsville, you might run into Franklin, and he'll be like, But it's still cool to have him in there, even if he had one dance break. It was every time with this kid. Anytime you walk down the street in Peanutsville, you might run into Franklin and this homeboy pop walking. And even when he's hanging out with his friends,

everyone else gets a normal handshake with no, not Franklin. He got a slapped skin. See what I mean? All the other peanuts are just kids, but Franklin's running around Peanutville like a damn baby shaft. He's a tiny, bad mother.

Shut your mouth. I'm talking about Franklin. Look, I just don't want him to be the other kid all the time. Even at Thanksgiving, yeah, they invited him, but look where they put him. He's by himself. Even the dog gets to sit with the kids. Why is the dog even at the damn table?

It's cool though, Franklin. Franklin, look man, Franklin, they did you a favor. You don't want none of that bland ass white people turkey anymore. Today was a day when we got some really sad news that Aretha Franklin passed away. That was rough for a lot of people and not just because of the music, because of who she was. I remember I used to sing the songs with my mom.

So I grew up, most of the time it was just me and my mom. And so I used to sing all the songs songs not really knowing what they meant per se so as a little kid I was like confident like you make me feel like a natural woman and then like I got I got older and I was just like whoa wait what was I doing what was it I was like mom why didn't you stop me she's like cuz you look like a natural woman you were doing so well but what I loved is like Aretha Franklin, and you know, you see everybody talking about this is, it's one of those examples where you see an artist

who uses their platform to go beyond just making money and doing what they do. Like, you read these beautiful stories about how Aretha Franklin had it in her contract that she wouldn't perform for segregated audiences, right? So, you know, if audiences were segregated by race, she was like, no, I'm not gonna perform. You know, she was one of the first people

who supported Angela Davis, you know, from the Black Panthers. She fought for Martin Luther King. Like, this is at a time when it wasn't cool to do that. It was risky to you and your livelihood. I mean, you saw what happened with Nina Simone, you know? And she was out there, and she was doing it. And she was making songs and she was doing it. And she was making songs that at the time were crazy

when you think of how women were situated in society. I mean, you know, the Me Too movement has shown that we still have a long way to go, but at that time it was pretty much like women just keep quiet and she was out there and R-E-S-P-E-C-T was, I mean, I remember that as well. Like my mom used to say that to me. I was like, like if I ever ever say something, back chat or whatever,

and the mom would be like, R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Then she's like, play the song, and I'll be like, yeah, R-P-S-P-E-S-P-T. Find out what. And she was, you know what I loved about Aretha as well, is like the stories that she was gangster. Like, she full on, she only performed when she had her money in cash before the gig, always.

Like that her whole life, till like now, till she was like, where's the money? Like she was the original bitch better have my money. Money before the gig, then I sing. Like I sometimes think to myself, like the girl's back there, he's counting it and she's like doing it word by word. You and I, you and I,

and it's home home. So yeah man, she'll be missed. Everything we see today in so many ways, in the music, male and female, is because of her. So, Rita Franklin, rest in peace man. It's a beautiful, beautiful story. Explore more shows from The Daily Show Podcast universe by searching The Daily Show, wherever you get your podcasts. Watch The Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus.