Desi Arnaz: The Immigrant Who Became a Star | Leo & Layla's History Adventures | PragerU Kids

[Music] um what's with the shoes it was world cultures day today my country was the netherlands there were wooden shoes there not anymore but traditionally yeah dutch wooden clogs and they eat delicious waffle cookies too is that what you and mom were making this morning yep made enough for my whole class they were so good did you have world cultures day back in elementary school oh yeah i had colombia mom and i made banana leaf tamales so yummy but honestly every day is world culture's day at my school what do you mean well our neighborhood is super diverse my friends have families from all over the world i learn about different world cultures almost every time i go over to someone's house good point why do you think so many people move here to america i learned about all kinds of cool countries today i don't know the news is always complaining about how bad america is but so many people seem to want to move here seems strange that people from other countries would want to move to america if it's really so bad something doesn't add up i agree we need to investigate can we see if someone from history can tell us i'm always up for time travel sure i got nothing going on but you probably want to change shoes [Music] lucy we did it again three years in a row the ratings are in and we are the number one show on tv i know miami i heard and with the money we're making from re-running episodes we're going to be able to expand the studio and produce new shows we risked so much for this crazy show and destiny productions it sure is fair enough where are we and why are we in black and white leo oh my goodness i think we're on the set of i love lucy you love who remember last christmas when grandma and i binged that show and i told you to come watch but you wouldn't oh yeah you were laughing like crazy but i didn't want to watch an old timey show and you missed out that's lucille ball she's like the funniest actress ever and that's desi arnaz pretty dreamy they're husband and wife on the show but also married in real life their characters are lucy and ricky ricardo tv legends okay sweetie i need to get ready for the show i'll be back in a bit darlin wonderful let's go see if we can get a picture and ask him about why so many people move to america oh yeah leo you're still wearing those shoes i like them excuse me mr arnez i'm a huge fan may we have a moment of your time of course anything for friends wow thanks i'm layla and this is my brother leo we've traveled back in time to understand why people from all different parts of the world moved to the united states yeah what's so great about america there are so many cool countries to choose from hmm in the future either people wear wedding shoes or someone just had world cultures day at school yeah i was netherlands hey mr arnez what's up with them they are our studio audience we're taping a new episode of i love lucy in a few minutes and they're here to watch as we record when i had the idea of a live studio audience the executives laughed at me and said it would be bad for business now lucy and i have the biggest show on tv who's laughing now um your studio audience good one kid so you two are curious about what makes this country of ours so attractive to people like me who need a new homeland yep you're cuban right i was indeed born on the island of cuba and lived there until i was a teenager but i moved here and today i am an american citizen and couldn't be prouder why did you leave cuba in 1933 a political revolution broke out and my family was unfairly persecuted for generations we had been one of the wealthiest families in cuba we owned ranches mansions and even our own private island but during the revolution everything my family owned was taken away and my father was thrown in jail was your dad a criminal oh no no no but he had been the mayor of our city and had political enemies who wanted to punish our whole family luckily after six months of being in jail my uncle got my father released and without any money and without knowing the english language we escaped to america were you more sad or mad that your family wasn't rich anymore neither i didn't have time to think about what my family had lost you see america is the land of opportunity for those who work hard i took special classes at school to learn english as quick as i could i got a part-time job at woodward's retail store and in my free time i practiced my passion playing the drums and singing and i thought i was a busy teenager i was busy and also blessed to have moved to america unlike in cuba it didn't matter who my family was what mattered was that i put in the work and developed talents yeah but there are talented and hardworking people all over the world what's special about doing it here from its beginning the united states has been a place where citizens are in control of their own destiny and i know of no other country where a 16 year old kid can show up broke and unable to speak the language and still achieve the levels of fame and fortune that i have in less than 20 years i've gone from owning nothing to owning the most popular show on tv how did you do it when i graduated high school i formed my own band my talent and work ethic got me noticed and so i joined a touring orchestra singing and playing the kung drum from there i began performing on broadway and acting in hollywood rooms is that how you met lucille ball yes yes yes we were co-stars in my first movie fell in love during production and got married for years we worked separately and we each had some success but then we teamed up and here she is now lucy i have some time traveling friends for you to meet hello my love nice shoes kid you'll never drown world cultures day yes ma'am myanmar after learning about different cultures leo here and his sister leila are curious about what makes america such a great place for people like me who weren't born here well that's simple for the same reason it's a great place for people like me who were born here it doesn't matter where you're from america rewards hustle and with a good idea and good decisions you can have the freedom of being your own boss yeah but isn't it harder for new immigrants like mr arnez we always hear a lot about discrimination listen you can be discriminated against for anything skin color hair color accent height weight age brains religion too good looking not good looking enough anything and desi certainly faced some obstacles but we didn't let them stop us and actually we turned the discrimination into one of our biggest strengths really how i love lucy wasn't supposed to be anything like what it is since i'm white tv executives wanted my husband to be a white man they feared audiences wouldn't like a show where one of the main characters was not only a latin immigrant but they were especially scared about a mixed race marriage boy we showed them didn't we honey lucy and i knew that america would love a show based on our real life so we started our own company called desilu productions and we took all of our money and created a live stage act based on our marriage filled with music jokes and dancing we performed our stage show at the ritz theater in new york and it was a big hit audiences actually loved that desi was a cuban immigrant and then our story showed the growing diversity of america you showed those tv executives we sure did and we weren't done as talented as desi is on screen playing the role of ricky ricardo he's an even more incredible producer and businessman and he keeps proving the tv executives wrong again and again oh you're too kind miamour but please continue my husband oversees every part of production and i love lucy has been the first tv show to record using film the first to use multiple cameras and first to have a live studio audience at first the executives didn't like any of these ideas they didn't take shows like ours seriously and thought desi's ideas would be too expensive so lucy and i again took a big chance we agreed to pay for the added production cost with our own money and in return once the episodes of i love lucy aired to the public we would have ownership of the film nobody had ever thought of re-running an old episode of a tv show but desi did now audiences love watching our reruns and thanks to the deal he made we get the profits our grandma watched isle of lucy when she was a little girl and she showed me the reruns last christmas just so you know you two are still funny and entertaining even in our time that's very good to hear but not surprising lucy is a comedy genius and our show has a wonderful timeless message that america is a home for different cultures to co-exist and thrive you said that you two took big chances to make i love lucy just the way you wanted it were you ever scared of it not working out not really and it gets back to the question that you and leila arrived with why is america such an attractive place for people of different nationalities races religions everybody it's a great place for all kinds of different people but to succeed here we americans are actually all kind of the same hard workers with good ideas you got it who love to laugh and are proud of our wonderful diverse country i know that there are lots of cool countries out there but i'm really proud of being an american a place that welcomes everybody and rewards hustlers like desi arnes and lucille ball i think you kids got it and more it's almost show time kids i think we can find you seats in the studio audience if you two would like to watch the show that would be great i love lucy isn't too old-timey now nope i'm all in if you'd like to time travel with leo and leila again please visit prageru.com kids and watch more of their adventures thank you for watching this video to keep prageru videos free please consider making a tax deductible donation