Karmagawa Interview With Denzel Washington

We were fortunate enough to meet up and chat with iconic actor and filmmaker Denzel Washington, who is not just a living legend, but who also has a huge heart and loves giving back to causes he believes in deeply. He’s been a longtime spokesman for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America because he lost some of his closest friends to the streets when they ended up in jail or worse and he credits The Boys & Girls Club for providing a safe place for him to be inspired and learn right from wrong. After speaking to children in the Boys & Girls Club in Baton Rouge, he said, “to share my experiences with young people and to watch them listen and be curious, it’s the way to go. To see the potential in these young people and to see their leadership, it’s inspiring to me.”

Washington is also an honorary chairperson for Save Africa’s Children, a lifetime founder member of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and he established the Denzel Washington Endowed Chair in Theatre with a $2 million gift to his alma mater, Fordham University, in 2011. He and his wife have also given scholarships to train medical students and his family foundation also made a $2 million donation to revive the Wiley College debate team, home of “The Great Debaters,” a 2007 film Washington directed and starred in as Professor Melvin B. Tolson, the legendary Wiley debate team coach who led the college on a 10-year winning streak in the 1930s and pioneered interracial collegiate debates during the Jim Crow era. “Supporting the next generation of brilliant minds in the art of debate at Wiley College will open so many doors of opportunity for these students during college, career, and beyond,” said Washington. 

Washington is proud to support an additional 20+ charities such as the Elton John AIDS Foundation, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Project Angel Food and Stand Up To Cancer