Topper Carew may be best known for co-creating and executive producing the hit 90s TV show Martin, which shot comedian Martin Lawrence to fame, but he trained as an architect. , had quite a career starting out producing television in Boston.
Carew, who is still a proud “Son of Roxbury” in “Kwani Has Questions,” is educated and “street schooled” by attending an elementary school in the suburbs of Roxbury at the urging of his grandmother during Boston's racial segregation. He talked about how he came to receive both. ; How a man named John O'Bryant helped him get to Howard University, which he calls “Black Harvard.” And how that education, which continued at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University, helped him create “Martin” differently than other Hollywood shows at the time.
Read lightly edited excerpts from the interview below. Watch the full interview in the video at the top of this story.
NBC10 Boston: Your film “This Little Light of Mine” is currently streaming from the International Space Station.
Topper Karoo: I wanted to do something to deal with all the darkness that exists in the universe right now. War, division, racial hostility, anti-Semitism, sexism. And, you know, I just wanted to do something cool and positive. When I was a voter registration worker in the South. As a young student, I was a member of the Mississippi State Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. …In our congregation, we met very often and very often in church when starting new campaigns. [Fannie Lou Hamer] He will lead us in song. And one of the songs she leads us through is, you know, giving us courage, eradicating fear, and inspiring us with her wonderful, strong, honest voice. Sho. [was] “This little light of mine.” Now. What's so interesting about that song is that people all over the world know it. And, you know, that song that Miss Hammer sang has been in my heart, mind, and spirit ever since she was in Mississippi.
NBC10 Boston: We talk about Roxbury, Howard, and the show “Martin.”How do you think your experience in Boston and at an HBCU contributed to the show not just existing, but becoming something that has become a symbol of black culture over the years??
Topper Karoo: I found Martin and came with him. I discovered Martin in South Central Los Angeles. As you know, it was a shooting zone. And most of my professional colleagues were afraid to go there. But the raw comedic talent was there, and the strongest comedic talent was there. So, I used to go there a lot, and I was in Mississippi, so I wasn't afraid of people.
The best idea I can imagine is a series about the very, very clever AKA. [Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority] A kind of younger sister and an ambitious older brother who didn't go to university. And it was about their relationship. And even though they had their drama, their fights, their messy relationships, their messy friends, at the end of every half hour, they were still in love. And I felt that was important. Because I kept hearing about the struggles and dynamics between Black men and Black women.
And I thought that was a good thing. That's part of the reason this show is on the air, because it's so focused on the strength of Black women. And you know, that was a really important part of our following. …
Now, the Los Angeles show usually draws an audience from Hollywood Boulevard tourists, but it might be people from Iowa, or it might be people from Norway. And I was going to get an audience from Compton. …
One of the great things about places like Howard, MIT, and Yale is that they help you think differently.
