What do you get when you mix, couches, drinks, a few diverse no-holds-barred brothers and some cameras? The simply answer is TV's candid sensation, 'Black Men Revealed.' This seasons hosts Ryan and Doug Stewart, already famous for their nationally-syndicated radio show '2 Live Stews', jumped at the opportunity to come on for the shows 2nd run.

With a variety of guests that range from doctors and comedians, to actors and even pimps, the guests are often as diverse as the topics.

Black Voices' own Denver Louis had the opportunity to speak to the two brothers on many of the same frank topics that are covered on their show.

How did the two of you get involved with the show?

Ryan: We do Tom Joyner every Thursday morning on Radio One with his affiliation, and maybe they heard some of the stuff or maybe Tom gave them a call and told them to give us a shot when they decided they wanted to go into a different direction for the second season. They reached out to us to see if we were open to doing the idea and Doug and I jumped on board because we were excited about doing a project that didn't involve sports. We went and met in DC and it's been a blessing and it's been pretty fun.

Why is it called 'Black Men Revealed?

Doug: Well basically because it's giving you an inside look at the conversations black men have on different issues. I think people get confused sometimes. They believed from the title that the show is some self-help show but that's not it at all. It's basically five guys sitting around in a setting that we would normally be in. In this case we're in a bar and we're just talking and these are the actual type of conversations that brothers have on an ongoing basis. You're pretty much just getting a camera and a mic placed in the middle of it and you're getting it really raw.

So are the conversations on the set really amongst you and not necessarily for the audience?

Ryan: Yes honestly, when you look at the episode you can feel the vibe. You'll see a waitress serving us with drinks and people lounging in the background in a laid back atmosphere. We were told not to look at the cameras or pay attention to the cameras just to sit there like we were at talking to our friends and I feel that's part of the uniqueness of the show because even though we were on television and the cameras were there, that wasn't the focus. The guests were busy talking with us with the particular topics at hand

Have you guys had any guests you seemed to be outrageous and maybe a little to hard to control compared to other guests?

A couple weeks ago we did the show called Bed, Bath and Beyond, which was basically about fantasies and we had a pimp on with a pimp cane and 'pimps up and hoes down'. He was pretty comical. And the comedian on that show, his name is Special K, he and the pimp got into it several times which made for great entertainment but when it comes to the guest everyone is pretty cool. Comedian Arnez J was another one or our comedians that was really off the chain and had a good time. So it never got out of hand, but when you're talking about a pimp and how people look at pimps, that struck a nerve with a lot of people who were viewing it.



Why do you feel there aren't many shows with black men discussing their insights?

Ryan: There are several shows, back in the day,' The Cosby Show,' 'Good Times,' 'Sanford & Son'. Those were sitcoms that were focused on our folks and our situations that we deal with. When it comes to a panel like this, TV One should be given a pat on the back for stepping out and putting educated black men together to talk about these issues that we deal with and face in our community. I just think that the black men have been misunderstood. I think the black man is still often hunted when it comes to the different races and the fact that he's not understood and he strikes fear to a lot of people and all those things combined is a good reason to do this show. I applaud TV One for putting it together for a second season with us.

What do you guys feel about homophobia in the black community? Interactions, perceptions, do you think the black community may be more homophobic than other communities?

Doug: Well I don't feel the black community is more homophobic than other communities. I mean to a degree. I really think that the guy that we had on made a very good point if you watch that show, where he talked about the reason why the "down low" phenomenon has hit so hard in the black community is because a gay guy can go home and tell his wife he likes to have relationships with men and the black woman would more so than other, he believes that she would go and blow up his spot as the way he put it. She would go tell everybody else and make a mockery of the person. Where in the white community it would be more understood if a white guy were to go home and tell his wife that he likes to have relations with other men it wouldn't be talked about with such disdain and it wouldn't be brought out to the community harshly either. So I do think that's a huge issue. We come from more simple values and we come from simpler backgrounds. In the heart we're much more conservative with family values. We might be a little bit more unwilling to understand or accept homosexuality but I believe that it's not just isolated to our community.

How does this term metrosexual fit into the black community? With stars like Diddy and Kanye being candid about their style. Is it changing hip-hop?

Ryan: Nah. Hip-hop is always going to be hip-hop and there are tons of variations when it comes to it. You've got the hardcore and then you've got the...the whole metro sexual term to me is something that someone came up with to basically say that this particular metrosexual person is not your average camouflage timberland wearing brother. This guy looks in the mirror and pays attention to his hair and being groomed, cares about how he looks. The term metro sexual has been created to define guys who care about their appearance. When you talk about being bi-sexual or being gay, I don't think the term metro sexual has anything to do with a man liking men or women. I think it's more of a situation of a guy who cares about how he looks and cares about how people think he looks. Puffy's big into the suits now and designing clothes and he's not ashamed to tell people that and when you see him on TV he'll pat his hair and fix his tie. He wants to look good and I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

Ryan has your perspective on marriage changed since you've tied the knot?

Ryan: My perspective hasn't changed on marriage, it's always been the same. I got married at the age of 34 and I think a lot of guys get married young and I was never the kind of guy that wanted to marry young. I wanted to get through school, kick it and travel the world and party like a rock star and spend my own money and not have to worry about anyone else. It was something I wanted to put off for a little while which I did. My thoughts about marriage has always been the same it's just that I'm almost 8 months of being married.



Do you think that since you waited to get married at a later age that you may be better suited for marriage?

Ryan: Definitely. If I would've gotten married straight out of college or even 5 years after I got out of college it wouldn't have been what it is now. I was just too curious and still had the feeling in my blood to hang out and party where I wouldn't go home, I'd just kick it. The things that I were doing right out of college and playing in the NFL just weren't conducive to being married. I knew I wanted to do those things that's why I didn't go down that road but now that I have that stuff out of my blood I can focus on my grind and can relax and be at home and not worry about what's on the streets. I think it's definitely better for me. It's the kind of thing that you've got to pick and choose your poison and you got to do you. Guys look at things differently. Someone like Doug did it right, out of college and was happy with it, good for him but I think you need to know your limitations as well as your capabilities before you get into it.

Doug, you've been married 12 years straight out of college, do you think you may have an upper hand on brothers that have recently married?

Doug: It's been fine for me. It's actually 13 years. There's ups, downs and a lot of growing pains. There's a lot of things you're going to face when you get married, I don't care who you are. For me it's been fine and I'm happy with my family and I'm happy with the way my life is.



What role does swagger play in any relationship?

Ryan: There are women who are attracted to swagger and I don't think it has anything to do with color. There's girls who grow up and have fantasies of being with a prince or a ball player and the dude that's cool. The cool dude and the swag is just attractive. Just like when it comes to men and how they want their woman to be; smart and witty and when they walk into a room they command attention. That's just where it is. You got to have swag to get a woman, they cool guy usually does get the girl but the cool guy who walks into the room and everyone goes "who's that?" he's going to be perceived to be more attractive than a guy who's laid back and nonchalant. So I think swag plays a big role in what women want and what women see. The fact that some people say Jay Z is an ugly duckling doesn't mean anything because he's one of the coolest guys in hip-hop and what he does in his industry. That's going to be attractive to women and they're going to look past a big nose and a big forehead when it comes to a guy who commands respect and gets that whenever and wherever he is.

Have either of you been a part of interracial relationships and why do you feel black women have such an issue with it?

Ryan: I've had black friends, Latino friends, Asian friends and white friends. To me, it's about being happy. It's not about what someone perceives or what someone thinks when I walk into the room with somebody. I could not give a damn about what you think about me hanging with a white person or a Latino chick. If whatever reason I've decided to go down that road, it has nothing to do with anybody but me. We talked about marriage a second ago. When it comes to me an my wife, Doug and I get into debates about how I do something versus how he has done things in his marriage. That's something where to each is own. You can't judge anyone else or their relationship based on your own relationship and your experiences so if a black dude with a white woman or a white man with a black woman isn't your fancy, good for you but for the people that it is, good for them. It's about them being happy and them being content in their relationship and that's what should matter.



Do you think black men are as adamant as black women when it comes to interracial relationships when the dynamic is a black woman and a white man?

Doug: I don't think so. You always hear there's eight black women for every black man. I think the numbers are so few and statistic shows that a lot of black men are in jail. There's somewhat of a homosexual problem in the black community and I feel that the numbers bare out, there's less men for black women so I think they do take it more personally that a black man would be dating a white as opposed to how a black man feels about a black woman dating a white man.

What have you guys learned from all of these conversations on the show?

Ryan: Everybody is different. We did nine shows, eight with all men panelists and one with a female panel. At the end of the day we all have different thoughts and ideas and we don't look at things the same. I think that the conversation and the dialogue based on who you're talking to and how they grew up can go in a totally different direction. Yes we're all black men and we were all educated but at the end of the day we're all different people and we see things differently. I think we're all a product of our environment. You could look at something totally different or feel totally different about something than someone else who's sitting right beside you.

Doug: I believe that we're misunderstood; the show even proves the point that black men are still misunderstood. I thought it was great to have this format because a lot of issues we talked about people come up to us on the street or e-mail us saying "I never knew dudes felt like that way" or "I never knew ya'll have conversations that deep." There's really a need for this type of show and I hope that TV One continues the series on.

Let's talk about your radio show, "Two Live Stews." I heard you guys worked three hours daily with no pay before you got a gig, what motivated you to work so hard?

Ryan: The opportunity just came to us by me going to Georgia Tech and knowing people that could make some phone calls to sit us down with the program director 79 the ZONE. Out of 500 plus stations in the country that do sports talk radio, there was a need for black folks to be in radio. Black people listen to talk radio but there weren't any black hosts when it comes to sports. It was sort of a natural fit that we were blessed to get into. It's been seven years now.

Why do you think there are so few black sports anchors, commentators, or sports reporters in general?

Doug: Just like anything else the people who make the decisions and do the hiring aren't black. I always tell people, that's the purpose of affirmative action programs because a lot of times people respond to and relate to people like themselves. Not saying that's wrong, but it's just the way it is. It's so humanistic. 95-98% of the program directors and the people who make the decisions in sports talk radio are white.

And how do you feel that affects the content and how black athletes are covered?

Ryan: Based on what I said earlier, that's going to sway the content. If you have white people who don't understand black folks or who aren't apart of black conversations, the content is gong to be from their point of view and from their angle. A lot of people always say that Doug and I always take the side of the athlete, and the black folks but that's not the case at all. We roast black folks that do things crazy, we roast white folks that do things crazy. But because we were athletes growing up and we played sports late into our lives, the way we look at different issues is going to be reflected upon that. When you got the majority of people on AM radio and TV being white, then their views and their thought aren't going to be the same as black folks. The more black people that get involved in radio and television, the views and opinions will kind of balance out. Until then, you're going to have a biased view being heard.