Karamo Brown’s, activist and the host of Netflix’s Queer Eye and The Karamo Show, “I made it” moment has happened several times since his launch to international recognition. Most notably, and recently, was a moment he had at 30Rock in New York City.
“Jake Gyllenhaal comes running down the hallway, wanting to talk to me, and I pass out, I swear to God,” Brown said. “I was definitely like ‘What the hell?’ and when that type of stuff happens, you’re like ‘Why do you know my name?’”
He had a similar moment in 2017 when then-President Barack Obama called and asked to start working with him on the Obama Foundation and My Brother’s Keeper Alliance.
“I cried like a baby,” Brown said. “It was one of those moments where I was like, I grew up extremely poor, and this poor little boy is not supposed to have a president call me. Both people, the president and Jake Gyllenhaal, ironically, were like, ‘Because you just help people, it just makes me want to be around you.’”
Brown, during his keynote speech for Black History Month Tuesday night, reiterated this point when asked by the moderators if his greatest accomplishment was his career in media.
“My greatest achievement is definitely my ability to help people heal and grow,” Brown said. “The TV stuff has been a blessing, and I can get really emotional right now thinking about where I’ve been able to go with my career….so I grew up poor and in a space where no one was in front of me modeling the things I’ve accomplished [now].”
Brown spoke about how, in high school, he felt alone and misunderstood often and didn’t want anyone else to feel like that, so he became a peer counselor.
“Originally it was to skip class, but then when I would get there I would be like, oh my gosh you just need someone to talk to,” Brown said. “I can be there to listen and to help people and help them get what they need to be better. The fact that I can do that now on television and I’m literally able to be proud of the show.”
Brown is the “culture expert” of the show Queer Eye, which is a franchise based on a team of professionals that give lifestyle and fashion makeovers to guests who often have different beliefs from theirs.
“I hate the title ‘culture.’ I hate it. I hate it for the show because I don’t know what that means,” Brown said.
Brown was initially hired as a mental health professional for Queer Eye, as someone to talk about emotions and feelings openly, which, he says, he’s able to do because of the main inspiration in his life: women.
“Women have always been my inspiration,” Brown said, “I’m the baby. I have four older sisters and a single mom. So, my vulnerability, empathy, my good listening skills, my drive, I attribute it all to women. Any mentor I have ever had that taught me how to be a better man has oddly been a woman ”
Brown has always looked to women as his guide in becoming the person he is today.
“Something I always tell people, that my grandmother told me, is you have two ears and one mouth, so one of those two should be working double time,” Brown said. Holding his grandmother’s advice closely, Brown still continues to reflect on the tools his mentors have given him and continues to grow without end.
Coming from a family and background where he was always surrounded by activism, Brown has always been interested in being an advocate for change.
“So like, I grew up in a house with pictures of Jamaican leaders on the walls, African American leaders on the walls. I have a photo that my sister just sent me of us at a protest in Texas and I'm on my father’s shoulders, protesting,” Brown said. “So it's kind of always been around me, but I would definitely say that TV has amplified it because you quickly become like ‘one of few’ and so people look to you to be like 'What are you going to do? What are you going to say?’”
Looking ahead, Brown explained he initially wanted to go into politics. However, he did not want to see another TV personality turned politician. So, in light of this decision, Brown revisited his roots.
Brown is working to start a nonprofit organization.
“Hopefully I can start a nonprofit that can be nationwide, where I just want to help a lot of kids,” Brown said. “My goal is to help kids between the age of 18 and 24 who want to be creative, get jobs, get training and then continue to get paid jobs after my program.”
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Destini Ambus, senior in journalism, pursuing a minor in sociology is the editor-in-chief of The Auburn Plainsman.
Harlee Meydrech, senior in public relations with a minor in business, is the assistant managing editor at The Auburn Plainsman.
