b'says.Ifyoureallywantto getdeepintotheweedsof Star Wars lore, Kelleran Beqs name is a riff on the charac-ter Achk Med-Beq, a cameo character that Best played in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones.JediMasterKelleran Beqwouldgetsomesig-nificantexposurecasting Best in a favorable and he-roiclight.In2023,Lucas-filmlaunchedSeason3of the highly popular show The Mandalorian.AhmedBests KelleranBeqappearedin Episode 4 (Chapter 20: TheAhmed Best with his son, Marley, and wife, Raquel Foundling)foracriticalHorsford Best.flashbackinvolvingGrogu (Baby Yoda),whowasonceayoungism has led him to teaching at both padawan training to be a Jedi. The se- Stanford University and the University quencesolvedamajorplotmystery:of Southern California. He also hostsREADY TO How did Grogu avoid being murderedTheAfrofuturismPodcast.Illnever along with the other young padawansforget how forward thinking [Lucas] andJediKnights?Inthesurprisingis. And that really sparked this energyEARN MORE flashback, Kelleran Beq defeats the at- in me. And thats when I really started tacking Clones and rescues Grogu tothinking about a future that you can prevent him from becoming a victim ofhave agency. Best takes the world ofMONEY FAST?Emperor Sheev Palpatines mass mur- science fiction and fuses it with the ex-derwhich fans know as Order 66. ploration of Black history and culture.Many articles written about the ep- WillwecontinuetoseeBestas isode have used the term redemptionKelleranBeq?Icertainlyhopeso. when referring to Best. The meta-cin- There arent any plans as far as I know,Our new Accelerate Savings accounts make every dollar ematicexperienceofwitnessinghimbut hes definitely somebody that has acount more by paying higher dividends without the long fly through the crowded lanes of thelot of story to tell, he says. There areterm commitments and minimum balance requirements. planetCoruscantairtrafficwiththe30 years between [Kelleran Beq] sav- Sign up today and give your savings an extra boost!franchise baby in tow is redemption,ing Grogu and him finding his secondEARN UP TOindeed. And he handles a pretty meandad, the Mandalorian. I really want to4.07 *lightsaber to boot. do something within those 30 years.Initially,BestwasntsosureheDecades later, Best lives in Los An- %wanted the job. It did take a lot ofgeleswithhiswife,RaquelHorsford convincing, honestly. Im firmly mid- Best, and their 14-year-old son, Marley. dle-aged and I didnt need to be a partHe still looks back warmly at what he of this anymore. But Dave [Filoni] andlearned from living here. Maplewood John[Favreau]andRickFamuyiwaand South Orange is a special place forAPY[the Mandalorian creative team] are some, he says. Its where a lot of my art-honest. I felt like I was in a room withistry first started coming out. And, you people like me who care so deeply. know, a lot of it was the teachers. I had BestlovedtheideathatKelleranreally good teachers. BeqwaspassionateaboutbeingaDonnyLevitisawriter,Maplewood teacher. He really cares about the fu- resident and one of those crazy Star Wars ture generation of the Jedi. Theres afans. He is the author of Rock n Roll very large shiftnot just in the worldLies, 10 Stories. You can hear him DJ of the Empire growingbut also inhis indie rock shows Under the Influ-the role of Jedi in that empire. ence and Newish Radio and his jazzGardenSavings.org | (973) 576-2000Bestcreditsthecollaborationheshow Kind of Pool on Bone Pool Radio. had with George Lucas for the way inFollow him on Instagram @underthein-*Variable rate account. Rate subject to change. APY = Annual Percentage Yield. Rate which he sees himself as a teacher influenceradioand@kindofpoolradioas of 07/01/2023. 4.07% APY on balances up to $15k and 1% APY on balances over real life. His exploration of Afrofutur- and @newishradio.$15,000. Only one Accelerate Savings Account can be opened per membership.feature story /17'