When reflecting on his acceptance into Stanford University, Mekhi Jones ’20 marveled at accomplishing what “felt like a wish.” 

Jones, a first-generation Black student from a single-parent, low-income family, was introduced to the world of computer science through “The Internship,” a 2013 comedy film about two interns vying for a job at Google. 

Since then, Jones dreamed of securing an internship at Google and working a six-figure job as a software engineer. For Jones, Stanford University was the ultimate step in his come up to success.

This past year, Jones, along with fellow Stanford seniors Mamadou Diallo ’20, Sheck Mulbah ’20 and Garry Archbold ’20, launched “The Comeup Collective,” a podcast that follows their journeys through the academic and professional world as first-generation Black students. The four students discuss what it’s like navigating racially different spaces, while maintaining what they refer to as their “hood mentalities.”

Diallo recalled how the podcast was inspired by their “awesome, late-night conversations,” which began the fall quarter of their freshman year. The four bonded over their shared backgrounds, their academic struggles and their big goals for the future. “Let’s just record these conversations,” Diallo proposed, “so we can share our experiences with others.” 

Diallo, the son of Guinean immigrants, was born and raised in Harlem, New York. Like Jones, Diallo was interested in computer science and began to code for the low-income Black and brown people in his community. 

The name “Comeup Collective,” which was thought up by Archbold, embodies “a certain ethos” that Jones recalls wanting to embody. 

“It’s about all of us being on a come up, having big dreams, and actually accomplishing them,” he said.

The name also captures the community aspect of their podcast. “It’s not just us four,” Diallo acknowledged. “It’s for listeners coming up in their own lives.” Archbold, a Science, Technology and Society major, grew up in a low-income neighborhood in Miami as the son of a Nicaraguan immigrant.

In the podcast, the four discuss a variety of topics, including making money, choosing majors and minors, superpowers and interracial dating. Most recently, the four came together to discuss Black Lives Matter. 

From George Floyd’s death to coronavirus, “we had a lot on our minds leading up to us recording,” Jones recalled. “People we knew lost people close to them, [and] we had a lot of energy that allowed us to really dig into topics that personally all affect us as Black men.” The four acknowledged that despite receiving Stanford degrees, they could still face the same dangerous discrimination as Harvard-graduate Christian Cooper did in Central Park.

Despite the gravity of many topics discussed in the podcast, the four manage to keep the mood lighthearted. For Diallo, “humor is our way of talking through these traumatic-ass stories.” 

Diallo remembers making jokes about running out of food stamps and suddenly realizing, “Wow. That’s not funny. But at the same time, it’s hilarious.” Much of the time, however, the topics remain light, along with the mood. “You will find nice jokes, nice gems through every episode,” Jones hints. 

For Mulbah, these lighthearted moments — “the singing moments, the freestyling moments,” — are his favorite part of the podcast. “When we’re podding, it really feels like we’re kinda just hanging out,” Mulbah remarked. Mulbah, a political science and African-American Studies major, was raised by his mother in Harlem, New York after she escaped Liberia during a civil war. 

Although the podcast focuses on the personal journeys of Jones, Diallo, Mulbah and Archbold, the four hosts maintain a strong sense of community and a desire to give back. 

The four had always discussed their desires to help kids who come from similar low-income communities of color, and after securing coveted summer internships and making “a good amount of money” as Diallo recalled, the four decided to create the Comeup Scholars Program. 

Funded by Jones, Diallo, Mulbah, and Archbold using their internship earnings, the Comeup Scholars Program gave money to two high school seniors who embodied the “come-up.”

“Knowing how much people put into us, we wanted to give back to our own community,” Diallo said.

The four plan to continue the Comeup Scholars Program in years to come, hoping to reach students attending a range of universities. Jones remarked, “As our pockets get bigger, the more money we plan to give out.”

Season two of the Comeup Collective will premiere this fall, and will be available on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other podcast streaming services. In once-a-month episodes, listeners can follow Jones, Diallo, Mulbah and Archbold as they leave Stanford and enter the corporate world.  

Contact Nina Iskandarsjach at ninaisk ‘at’ stanford.edu.