Malik Yoba has entertained audiences for over 30 years in Hollywood, but he’s equally passionate about his philanthropic work. On November 12, the New York Undercover alum will host the 15th Annual Cristian Rivera Foundation Celebrity Gala to help find the cure for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) and provide vital support to children and families affected by this devastating form of brain cancer. Taking place at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City, Yoba will host the event for the third consecutive year.
Along with his commitment to the Cristian Rivera Foundation, where he is a board member, Yoba is focused on real estate, another one of his passions. Through his company, Yoba Development LLC, he’s educating young people on creating generational wealth through property and construction.
EBONY: You are hosting the 15th Annual Cristian Rivera Foundation Celebrity Gala for the third consecutive time. Why is this such an important cause for you?
Malik Yoba: I am always moved by people who turn their poison into medicine or tragedy and the triumph of pain into their purpose. I’ve met many people over the years who have been so dedicated to giving their lives and their passion to the community in a selfless way. I came out of the nonprofit world; my background working with organizations like the City Kids Foundation shaped me as a young person between 19 and 24 before I did my first feature film, Cool Runnings. So that’s in my DNA; it’s in my blood. For someone like John Rivera, who lost his son Cristian when he was 6 to DIPG, this incurable cancer that took his son’s life, he turned that tragedy into his dedication to finding solutions and a cure for this disease.
You have a business that also impacts young people. How did it come to be?
Well, 30 years after my career in film and TV started, I was doing a show called God Friended Me; I was playing a real estate developer of affordable housing in Harlem. At that point in 2018, I had been involved in real estate development in Baltimore for 11 years. And it was a moment where art imitated life: on a construction site, filming in New York, close to the housing project a friend of mine was doing, I thought about how many people leave the projects and walk by film sets and construction sites and do not know how either one works. Being in both worlds, I wanted to figure out a way to bring all three of my passions together: real estate, filmmaking and working with young people. That was the birth of Yoba Development. To be where we are now, as an organization six years later, was following that impulse, that inspiration and being obedient to what I feel is my true life calling in terms of how I’ve been able to integrate my work and educating young people and my passion for building community, business and storytelling.
How are you getting the word out about the real estate business for young people?
We created a documentary called Real Estate Mix Tape. It’s a 10-part series where I take seven young people of color on a journey with me across New York City to introduce them to how the built environment comes to be. That became the basis of the “I Build New York,” a pilot of the New York City Department of Education’s first real estate development curriculum for high school students, launched through our Yoba Development Foundation. It’s an incredible full circle moment where you’re standing in your purpose and impacting lives from South America to Europe and Africa and screening this doc in over 50 cities.
You’ve had a prolific career on screen. What have been some of your most memorable moments?
That’s hard! Cool Runnings has always been very special to me because one thing I wanted to bobsled as a kid and go to the Olympics: talk about dream fulfillment! I remember standing on set in Calgary on the bobsled run in my Jamaican bobsled uniform, looking at all the extras. Many people who had participated in the Olympics as workers or fans came out to relive those moments with us. It’s those moments in life where you say, “Wow, my dream came true,” not just as an actor working on my first feature film but also as a bobsledder.
Your TV series, New York Undercover, was groundbreaking in many ways, particularly its portrayal of Black and brown characters in law enforcement roles. How do you believe the show impacted the representation of these communities on television?
New York Undercover, featuring young people of color, Black and Latino, had a representation that never had been seen. We hoped the show would convey what we achieved: to show young dudes from the hood who took their job seriously in terms of serving and protecting their community and being compassionate role models. I was 26 with an 11-year-old son when we did that show, which we hadn’t seen before. I think that a lot of Black and brown people, Latino people specifically, could identify with seeing themselves in the way we dressed, the way we walked, the way we talked and where we hung out.
I don’t know how many people became law enforcement professionals because of the show, but some of the standouts in the field include Edwin Raymond, who released a book called An Inconvenient Cop about what he did within the department, suing the department for discrimination and predatory stop and frisk practices towards young, Black and Latino kids and young men. He was one of them who was targeted before he became a cop, and that impacted him. Or people like Rodney Harrison, who became the chief of police in New York City. I made a film in Turks and Caicos where I played law enforcement. The guy I did research with, after interviewing him, told me he became a cop because of me. So that impact was felt. The complexities that we have around race and identity in America obviously persist, but we are proud that we made a bit of a dent in representing Black and Latino men in law enforcement specifically.
What are you doing on screen next?
Yoba Development is launching a media investment platform that’s going to impact the real estate business in a significant way, particularly as it relates to people of color. It’ll be a lot easier for us to find each other, support each other, do business together and tell those stories and how those stories will drive business. My documentary led us to form Yoba Global Solutions, a federal contracting company. We’re doing a lot in teaching what we know about real estate, but also how entrepreneurs can form companies to work with the government in every conceivable sector and help shift people’s mindset around what that means to be in business with your own country. Kings of Jo’Burg on Netflix is set to launch season three in January. I shot that in Cape Town [South Africa] this past year, and I’m producing, so a lot of things are happening.
Getting back to the gala, how can people support the Cristian Rivera Foundation?
I’ve watched John dedicate every waking moment to raising money to help find a cure, and I’ve always supported him. And to finally join the board, I’m proud to be part of the Christian Rivera Foundation. Others can get involved by donating at cristianriverafoundation.org. They do different events throughout the year, like the foundation’s big summer boat ride. And they can certainly support the gala on November 15.
