Speaker 1: My League Bugs has how the knowledge you want? My
Speaker 1: league but has how the knowledge you need? My League bus. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they have all the books that the whole wild world
Speaker 1: want to read, My League Bugs. This is a milestone,
Speaker 1: milestone a quarter of a hundred episodes. That's right, episode
Speaker 1: And you know the title of episode, Critical Race Theory.
Speaker 1: That's right because that's a hot topic in the community,
Speaker 1: and I want to be a hot topic. So my
Speaker 1: episode it's called critical Race Theory, and I'm gonna be
Speaker 1: talking about a book that has a Ford written by
Speaker 1: Cortnerial West, Critical Race Theory. I'm also on this episode
Speaker 1: gonna be talking to an author named Leah Johnson. They
Speaker 1: walked into my Leak Books and the opportunity to talk
Speaker 1: to her about her young adult book out which she's
Speaker 1: written to this publishing, the third to come out later
Speaker 1: on within the year or early next year. And lastly,
Speaker 1: I'm doing a book review. I've gotten away for a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks now because I've been putting events on
Speaker 1: Guard sail Um Terry Crews Independent Bookstore to day, so
Speaker 1: I'm back at it. My book review is by none
Speaker 1: of the Viola Davis, who just came out with a
Speaker 1: book called Feeding the Soul. You know the Viola Davis
Speaker 1: that's an author of Pilanthros and producer as well as
Speaker 1: the Triple Crown winner an Oscar, an Emmy and A
Speaker 1: Tony So enjoyed this episode as I dive into a
Speaker 1: hot topic today, critical race theory. You never know who's
Speaker 1: gonna walk in Milik Books. I'm blessed with an author
Speaker 1: and we happen to have her book in the store.
Speaker 1: And I love when we do because it's a million
Speaker 1: books out here and we always don't have that book.
Speaker 1: We might have sold out, but in this case, at
Speaker 1: least we got her second book, which is Rise to
Speaker 1: the Sun. But the first one, the first book she wrote,
Speaker 1: was You Should See Me in a Crown and the
Speaker 1: author name is Leah Johnson, and I happen to have
Speaker 1: it right here at Malik Books and Malik's bookshelf bringing
Speaker 1: the world together with books, culture and community. Wants to
Speaker 1: get a few minutes for her just to talk about
Speaker 1: her book. Welcome, Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1: This is a delightful surprise. I was just going to
Speaker 1: Old Navy and I was like, you know what, this
Speaker 1: is where we were supposed to be absolutely, And why
Speaker 1: walk by a bookstore not come in exactly exactly? That's
Speaker 1: that's probably my most toxic trade is that I can't
Speaker 1: see a bookstore without jumping in and walking out the
Speaker 1: armful of books usually, and we're excited the fact that
Speaker 1: we have your book in the store. Now we sold
Speaker 1: out of your first one, well, will reorder that. But
Speaker 1: I want you to tell us about your first book. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So my first book, You Should See Me in the Crown,
Speaker 1: is about a girl named Liz Lighty whose only dream
Speaker 1: is to get out of her small and small minded hometown.
Speaker 1: But when her scholarship falls through, she realizes she's going
Speaker 1: to have to run for prom queen for the scholarship
Speaker 1: that's attached to the crown, which would be difficult enough
Speaker 1: for a wallflower like Liz, but it's made even more
Speaker 1: difficult when she begins to fall for her competition. So
Speaker 1: this book is more of a teen younger dog book. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: so the target audiences between like thirteen and seventeen ish um,
Speaker 1: that is the target for most of my y a.
Speaker 1: But my middle grade book, which is called Elie Ingle
Speaker 1: Saves Herself, which is due out the next spring from
Speaker 1: Disney hyperiod is for much younger readers, so between like
Speaker 1: nine and thirteen, and that book is about That book
Speaker 1: is about a girl named Elie Ingle who believes herself
Speaker 1: to be really, really ordinary, and her biggest problem is
Speaker 1: that she thinks she has a crush on her best
Speaker 1: friend until an earthquakes hits her small hometown and she
Speaker 1: wakes up the next morning with the ability to bring
Speaker 1: things back to life of their touch. Well, I know
Speaker 1: that the book we have um Rise to the Sun
Speaker 1: right now in stock sign autograph here at Malik Books
Speaker 1: book right right right. Okay, So Rise to the Sun.
Speaker 1: If you are a fan of music festivals, if you're
Speaker 1: a fan of summer love stories, if you're a fan
Speaker 1: of black girls getting to be free and foolish and
Speaker 1: flawed and brilliant and all those things, then Rise to
Speaker 1: the Sun is a book for you. It's about two
Speaker 1: girls named Tony and Olivia who both go to a
Speaker 1: music festival to have one big adventure before their next
Speaker 1: chapter in their lives. And when they get there, they
Speaker 1: find each other and realize that they meet each other
Speaker 1: and the music more than they thought they ever could,
Speaker 1: that that bonded new and and why did they need
Speaker 1: each other more than the music, because they're each hole
Speaker 1: on their own right. Like I, I don't subscribe to
Speaker 1: the ideology that a person is incomplete and you need
Speaker 1: like a puzzle piece to fulfill you. But both of
Speaker 1: them are hiding things about themselves, are afraid of parts
Speaker 1: of themselves, and so the other is able to bring
Speaker 1: out those pieces of them and make them more confident
Speaker 1: and make the other feel more safe for make them
Speaker 1: feel more free. And so I think that's the goal
Speaker 1: of any love story. Really, it's like, let's find people
Speaker 1: who make us better and fuller. Friendship is important, companionship important.
Speaker 1: So I like a great book, a good read, page turner. Um,
Speaker 1: what ages is? This is a young adult as well? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: so if you are a teenager, young adult, even if
Speaker 1: you're in your early twenties. I think all these stories
Speaker 1: sort of deal with the same idea, is of like
Speaker 1: coming of age, trying to figure out who you are
Speaker 1: and what you want out of your life. I think
Speaker 1: it'll be a good book for what you draw your
Speaker 1: inspiration for to write these types of books. Um, A
Speaker 1: lot of it's from my own life. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: when I was growing up, I didn't have access to
Speaker 1: stories where black girls got to be main characters, got
Speaker 1: to be heroes, got to have big, exciting adventures and
Speaker 1: love stories. And so I'm really just trying to write
Speaker 1: the kinds of books that I would have wanted to
Speaker 1: be able to read when I was fifteen and sixteen
Speaker 1: years old. I'm glad you said that, because, um, the
Speaker 1: voice of women matters. We just came off the Mother's
Speaker 1: Day and that's one day a year we celebrate Mother's civilization.
Speaker 1: So I'm glad you mentioned that you write strong stories
Speaker 1: about you know, young women and and and gifted women,
Speaker 1: because that is important. Um, just a male dominated world
Speaker 1: and in the voice of our women are very important,
Speaker 1: and I want you to continue to do what you've
Speaker 1: been doing is writing these wonderful books for young adults. Um,
Speaker 1: if you had to leave us with one thing and
Speaker 1: to tell a young adult, what would it be. Oh, Oh,
Speaker 1: that is the question. That's a million dollar question. I
Speaker 1: think if I could leave young people with anything, it's that. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, even if you don't necessarily feel at home
Speaker 1: in your body and your community and your family, hold
Speaker 1: on because there is a community, there is family, there
Speaker 1: is a life that's possible for you out there. You
Speaker 1: just have to stick around long enough to get to it.
Speaker 1: Well said, well said. Thank you Leah Johnson for signing
Speaker 1: the books, for visiting Mileage Books and sharing with us
Speaker 1: on Melik's Bookshelf information about what you're doing in types
Speaker 1: of books you're writing, and your contribution because our voice matters.
Speaker 1: Thank you a lite of course, thank you Melik's Bookshelf.
Speaker 1: Want to talk about a subject matter that is sweeping
Speaker 1: across America. All over this country people are talking about
Speaker 1: critical race theory. There was a major election in Virginia
Speaker 1: where that was the number one topic. How a Republican
Speaker 1: defeated a Democrat governor, which no one anticipated that happening.
Speaker 1: It shook up the political world because this topic, critical
Speaker 1: race theory, is a hot topic amongst family, amongst parents,
Speaker 1: amongst children. And why why Because we had a crossroads
Speaker 1: in America. We're race is a sensitive subject and it's
Speaker 1: the elephant in the room. And oftentimes people, rather than
Speaker 1: not discuss what it's real, we want to live a
Speaker 1: life a perception. What we must deal with their elephant
Speaker 1: in the room. We must deal with these issues that
Speaker 1: are sensitive but are very important to discuss and talk about. Now,
Speaker 1: I have a book in Malak books I have served
Speaker 1: on critical race theory, but this particular one, Critical Race
Speaker 1: Theory The Key Writings that formed the Movement Forward by
Speaker 1: Cordinerial West, edited by kimbro Crinshaw, Gary Pillar, Kendall Thomas.
Speaker 1: These are some uh of the editors in this book
Speaker 1: called Critical Race Theory, the key writings that formed a movement. Now,
Speaker 1: why this book, why this subject be? Because it has
Speaker 1: to be addressed and we're not gonna get anywhere if
Speaker 1: we don't deal with the truth in reality. We have
Speaker 1: to face the elephant in the room. We have to
Speaker 1: deal with the trauma, we have to deal with the oppression,
Speaker 1: we have to deal with There's two nations in America,
Speaker 1: one black and one white. Or I could have said
Speaker 1: one white or one black, but the reality is there's
Speaker 1: two nations. There's two nations, and there is a divide
Speaker 1: in this country on race, on politics, on religion. But
Speaker 1: here's the thing, this critical race theory, it's is one
Speaker 1: group wants to teach. Listen, I got to talk straight
Speaker 1: now because I went to school, I graduated from college
Speaker 1: and to the victor right is the history. So everything
Speaker 1: I was taught was based upon those in power who
Speaker 1: wrote the books and wanted a certain narrative and a
Speaker 1: certain ideology and belief and Stottus quote. But the reality is,
Speaker 1: how do you teach a child? How do you teach
Speaker 1: your child? In two? Did George Washington never told a lot?
Speaker 1: George Washington owned slaves? George Washington the first president of
Speaker 1: the United States, although he's historically the founding father, the
Speaker 1: first president, and considered in most circles and academic a
Speaker 1: great general and a great president. He is a hero
Speaker 1: to America. But do you tell a child today in
Speaker 1: all the accomplishments of George Watty say character, Say, oh,
Speaker 1: we're living in a different time. Character don't change is
Speaker 1: because you in two You either had character two hundred
Speaker 1: years ago or you got character today. It don't matter
Speaker 1: the time frame or the error. You're either you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, You're either a person who is has
Speaker 1: character or doesn't. Because it's not a subject matter or question.
Speaker 1: If black people were human, if you really think that
Speaker 1: someone that brilliant, intelligent like George Watson didn't know black
Speaker 1: people human beings, Let's come on, let's be real. He
Speaker 1: was amazing. He knew that he knew certain things. But
Speaker 1: the reality is this, he wasn't a slaver. He owns slaves,
Speaker 1: he done horrendous things to black people. But yet his character,
Speaker 1: it's without which is taught in schools and academia, is
Speaker 1: that he never told a lie, and that he was
Speaker 1: a great general, he was a founding father, and that
Speaker 1: he was a decent and upright man. Now, I don't
Speaker 1: know how you could be decent and right man and
Speaker 1: be that brutal to a grace of people, that savage
Speaker 1: to a group of people. I don't, I don't, I
Speaker 1: don't know. How do how do you square that? How
Speaker 1: do you teach? Why you want me to teach my
Speaker 1: children that George Washson never told a lie and that
Speaker 1: he was all that and then something and it watered
Speaker 1: down the fact that he owned slaves, that he sold slaves,
Speaker 1: did he advocated slavery? Really? So that's an example of
Speaker 1: this critical race theory. It's like, are we to put
Speaker 1: down one race and lift on another? No, you tell
Speaker 1: the truth. That's what this book is all about. Critical
Speaker 1: race theory. Tell the truth. The truth doesn't change the
Speaker 1: fact George Washington was the first president one of the
Speaker 1: founding fathers, a great general. The truth doesn't change that
Speaker 1: at all. It also doesn't have changed the fact that
Speaker 1: he was in his slaver, that he would can be
Speaker 1: considered a white supremacists, that he would be considered oppressive
Speaker 1: to a group of people, racist to a group of people.
Speaker 1: Black people is the group of people. None of that
Speaker 1: changes the truth. That is the truth. And you have
Speaker 1: to decide which how you see his character. You have
Speaker 1: to decide where he lines up in your mind and
Speaker 1: your heart. O person, don't think that White America we're
Speaker 1: see him any different. They will see him as a
Speaker 1: great general, as a founding father, as the first president.
Speaker 1: That's how they're gonna see him. But his character is
Speaker 1: his character, and that's taught to his humanity. And you
Speaker 1: want to teach a group of people that his character
Speaker 1: it is sound and good and upright, because I ain't
Speaker 1: never met an enslaver or oppressor. They got good character.
Speaker 1: They might do good things, but you can't judge their character.
Speaker 1: That's like telling the murderer got character. He murdered the
Speaker 1: whole family. Come on, now, some of this stuff is
Speaker 1: common sense. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
Speaker 1: You can't have your heroes and heroes and not just
Speaker 1: and look at their character. You can't have the cake
Speaker 1: and eat it too. You got to call it or
Speaker 1: what it is. It is what it is. George Washington
Speaker 1: is George Washington. But don't sit here and act like
Speaker 1: that he was more and he had good character just
Speaker 1: because you love them and because you feel that he
Speaker 1: did a great contribution to this great country. But at
Speaker 1: the same time, i'm his character. It's on judgment. Today
Speaker 1: we are in a different era and we must look
Speaker 1: at things different and we can no longer continue to
Speaker 1: keep a blind eye and just walk past and walk
Speaker 1: on eggshells and access if these things don't matter. It matters.
Speaker 1: It matters in critical race theory matters, and that's why
Speaker 1: it is sweeping across this nation because it is causing
Speaker 1: the great divide. To look at the real injustice and
Speaker 1: how we educate our kids. We cannot No one should
Speaker 1: be trying to put down any race of people. But
Speaker 1: you got to teach the truth. You got to teach
Speaker 1: the truth. You gotta teach blacks and whites the truth,
Speaker 1: and that will cause a union and the elevation of
Speaker 1: our society to walk together in the truth, not have
Speaker 1: one believe one thing and the other believe in it
Speaker 1: at their own detriment. You want Black people to believe
Speaker 1: in certain things at their own detriment. That's unfair to
Speaker 1: us as a group who have been oppressed. We no
Speaker 1: longer can continue to think inferior like that. We must
Speaker 1: embrace the truth and accept the reality for what it is.
Speaker 1: Critical race theory is on the scene to day, and
Speaker 1: the question is where you want to line up at
Speaker 1: what side do you want to be on? My thing
Speaker 1: is picked the truth. Stop trying to water down the truth.
Speaker 1: I've never seen White America embrace something that is not
Speaker 1: in their best interests. I've never seen that. We got
Speaker 1: a lot of mental health issues and a lot of
Speaker 1: us tied to self esteem. And you gotta stop the
Speaker 1: madness where you trying. No one's trying to put down
Speaker 1: white is and make them feel inferior because you want
Speaker 1: to teach the truth in the critical race theory, because
Speaker 1: that's all this is about. It's saying, hey, we got
Speaker 1: a voice. We want the truth to be told, We
Speaker 1: want the truth to be spoken, and we want the
Speaker 1: truth to go forward. We no longer want to accept
Speaker 1: the fact that you want to teach certain things at
Speaker 1: all the detriment. We have to stop that. So get
Speaker 1: old heads, need to get out the way, because these
Speaker 1: new people ain't going forward. Parents, I understand you have
Speaker 1: an issue with critical race A lot of your mislad
Speaker 1: a lot of people because the mainstream media or media
Speaker 1: in general is out here misleading. But the reality is that, um,
Speaker 1: you know, there is a cross roads and critical race
Speaker 1: theory has hit a nerve and our voice need to
Speaker 1: be heard and magnify and not pushed under the pillow,
Speaker 1: under the bridge, you know, and kept locked up like
Speaker 1: it has been in the past. We need to be
Speaker 1: heard and our and our grievous need to be addressed.
Speaker 1: We need to stop teaching and inferior education to one
Speaker 1: group and teaching a superior education to another. We need
Speaker 1: to both walk into that classroom and come out that classroom.
Speaker 1: We're loving ourselves but leaving in ourselves doing for ourselves.
Speaker 1: We gotta stop the madness. So I believe critical race
Speaker 1: theory is important in this day and time to create
Speaker 1: a balance going forward. So thank you. That's my book
Speaker 1: review Critical Race Theory. It was also how I feel
Speaker 1: about it, So it's all wrapped up into that one thing,
Speaker 1: critical race theory, the key, the key writers that form
Speaker 1: the movement. This book come go out and get forward
Speaker 1: by Cornell West. It's been a few episodes and I
Speaker 1: haven't done my own personal book review, simply because I
Speaker 1: had these major events. I had the independent bookstore to day,
Speaker 1: I had a signing with Garcel, I had Terry Crews
Speaker 1: hosted at Malik Books, and we had to do the
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Times Festival books. So I didn't necessarily do
Speaker 1: a book review. But what I did was interview authors
Speaker 1: on the last two segments. But I got a few
Speaker 1: books that I want to talk about. Now I'm gonna
Speaker 1: get back to some of these book reviews. But oftentimes
Speaker 1: I just want to point out that if you don't
Speaker 1: see a book review, usually I have at least someone
Speaker 1: talking about a book if it's not me. So that's
Speaker 1: the constellation. So each episode still always has some information
Speaker 1: about a new book or upcoming book or what have you.
Speaker 1: But I'm going to do a book review on Violent
Speaker 1: David's new book called Finding Me, and it's a story
Speaker 1: about her and her journey of self discovery and how
Speaker 1: she wrote this book in order to inspire not only
Speaker 1: you know you should want to find herself, but she
Speaker 1: also want to give ala branch too people who read
Speaker 1: the book so that they can also find themselves. That's
Speaker 1: why it's called Finding Me, and it's a beautiful book.
Speaker 1: It's a deep reflection, they promise, and a love letter
Speaker 1: of sorts to self. My hope that is Viola David's hope,
Speaker 1: is that the story will inspire you to light up
Speaker 1: your own life with creative expression and read discover who
Speaker 1: you are before the world put a label on you.
Speaker 1: The book has lots of trauma and self discovery. Viola
Speaker 1: Davis grew up in privaty and we'll attacked as a
Speaker 1: young girl by a group of young boys while she
Speaker 1: was young. She talks about that in the book. Overcoming
Speaker 1: the stereotypes of being a black woman and finding success
Speaker 1: in one of the most difficult jobs in the world
Speaker 1: only the goom and become one of the most internationally
Speaker 1: known actresses, producer of blanchises, and now a best selling author.
Speaker 1: First black to win the Triple Crown. That means she
Speaker 1: won the Emmy, the Tony, and the Oscar. That's what
Speaker 1: the career has been for Viola Davis. This book is
Speaker 1: a page turner, heart field and breathtaking memoir. So pick
Speaker 1: up your copy of Finding Me by Viola Davis. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to Melik's Bookshelf, where topics on the Shelf,
Speaker 1: our books, culture and communities. Be sure to subscribe and
Speaker 1: leave me a review. Check out my instagram at Melik Books.
Speaker 1: See you next time.