WEBVTT - 3 Things I’m Grateful For 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.280 Malague Buds has all the knowledge you want. My league 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:05.280 has how the knowledge you need. 0:00:05.680 --> 0:00:08.719 Leg Yet they have all the books that the whole 0:00:08.760 --> 0:00:09.360 wild world. 0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:13.400 Wunner read my League books. 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:18.080 Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to Malik's Bookshelf, bringing a world together 0:00:18.480 --> 0:00:23.040 with books, culture and community. Hi, my name is Malik, 0:00:23.280 --> 0:00:25.760 your host of Malik's Bookshelf. 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:28.240 June is hot. 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:32.800 Then we repeat that again, June is hot and Malik 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:34.479 Books has. 0:00:34.560 --> 0:00:38.120 Some hot authors all month long. 0:00:39.240 --> 0:00:39.800 Whoo. 0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:45.240 That's why on this episode, I'm gonna let the authors 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:49.479 who we have lined up all month long talk about 0:00:49.760 --> 0:00:53.320 their books leading into events. 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:53.880 Listen. 0:00:53.960 --> 0:00:57.200 We got Cary Sellers on June eleven at seven pm. 0:00:57.880 --> 0:01:00.920 They're gonna be talking about his new book The Moment. 0:01:01.200 --> 0:01:05.399 Now he's gonna be in conversation with attorney, author and 0:01:05.880 --> 0:01:09.000 CNN commentator Ariva Martin. 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:11.560 Also on June. 0:01:11.560 --> 0:01:17.119 Fourteenth, at seven pm, Now Cole Hannah Jones in conversation 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:21.800 with Angela Rye at the Miracle Theater in Inglewood. That's right, 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:25.240 June fourteen, seven pm is going down that Friday night 0:01:25.400 --> 0:01:29.080 when Nicole is gonna be talking about the sixteen to 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:34.280 nineteen project. It's a paper back after five years, it's 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:37.360 one of the most bad books in the country. And 0:01:37.480 --> 0:01:41.160 Nicole Hannah Jones in conversation with Alian Rye. It's gonna 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:45.199 be electric. I even got a Grammy Award performer named 0:01:45.319 --> 0:01:49.680 Deep is gonna perform at this event on June fourteenth. 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:50.720 You gotta come on out. 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:54.560 Rswepm League Books coming up coming up Ay Mileague Boxx, 0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:59.279 Seeing Rogers, the founder of Bay. She's gonna be here Monday, 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:02.440 June seventeen seven pm. Now for new book, We're gonna 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:05.760 have a book talk, book sign the outside advantage because 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:08.280 you don't need to fit in to weak. 0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:13.560 But then we have the June tenth celebration at Malik 0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:15.560 Books on June eighteen seven pm. 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:19.239 That night we got Victor Lukison wrote the book Built 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:23.240 from the Fire, and he's coming along and gonna be 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:27.600 in conversation with descendants from the Dreamland Theater that was 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:32.280 burnt down in the nineteen twenty one Oklahoma massacre. These 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:35.920 descendants of the Dreamland Theater are gonna be in conversation 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:40.480 with Victor Lukerson on June eighteen, seven pm at Malik Books, Westfield, 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:47.080 coach Claw. Then we have Taragi b Hension celebrating with 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:49.960 us for June team celebration. 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:50.840 At the Westfield Covi Cino. 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:55.720 Now Taraji p Henson on June twenty second, at three pm, 0:02:55.960 --> 0:02:58.880 it's gonna be doing a story time in the center 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:02.120 court of the field maull In Cuova City. 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:03.760 She's gonna do story time. 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:06.959 Bring all your family and friends and bring the kids 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:12.080 out for an eventful celebration. This headline by Toaji p 0:03:12.280 --> 0:03:16.240 Henson doing storytime for her new book You Can Be 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:19.680 a Good Friend No Matter what to Roggi p Also 0:03:19.840 --> 0:03:22.000 is gonna be doing a book signing. Now that part 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:24.840 you got an artist for me because that's excrucilly inside 0:03:24.960 --> 0:03:29.600 malik book. But story time it's downstairs center court, free 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:30.360 to the public. 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:31.400 Bring your kids. 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:36.920 Then June twenty and ninth, we got the comedian Tiffany 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:41.480 Hattish and her new book I Cursed You with Joy. 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:45.680 This is gonna be epic at Melite Books June twenty ninth, 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:46.320 two pm. 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:48.000 You gotta come on out. 0:03:48.000 --> 0:03:53.279 Support our authors. June is hot at Malik's and we're ending. 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:58.560 This wonderful month with the explosive comedian Emmy Award, Grammy 0:03:58.560 --> 0:04:02.400 Award Tiffany had So I'm going to feature some of 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:05.160 their comments about their own book, so I don't have 0:04:05.200 --> 0:04:07.760 to talk about it, but they gonna talk about because 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:10.520 no one can tell you about that book more than 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:11.480 the author. 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:14.600 So stay tuned for this upcoming episode. 0:04:14.640 --> 0:04:18.960 But I also going to feature my three things that 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:22.520 I'm grateful for. I was interviewed at this location in 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:26.039 La Mirk Park and they asked me this three questions, 0:04:26.400 --> 0:04:29.520 and so I want to feature those three answers. 0:04:29.440 --> 0:04:34.560 Three things I'm grateful for, So stay tuned on this episode. 0:04:35.680 --> 0:04:40.200 Hi, it's Sierra, author of The Outside Advantage. Because you 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:42.840 don't need to fit into when it's Future Friday here 0:04:42.839 --> 0:04:44.880 at Penguins. So I wanted to talk a little bit 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:47.839 about my inspiration behind writing a business book. Why a 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:50.600 business book because I love them. I love tips on 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:52.839 how to make money. I love tips on how to 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:55.680 become successful. Give me a cheat code to life and 0:04:55.720 --> 0:04:58.200 I will take it, Thank you very much. But before 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:01.080 my business book, I felt like there wasn't really one 0:05:01.160 --> 0:05:05.560 that catered to people like me, outsiders. Maybe you didn't 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:09.080 have a normal upbringing, maybe you didn't have any money, 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:14.400 connections resources at all. Maybe you didn't grow up in 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:17.440 a family where the job was just handed directly to you. 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:20.919 So I wrote a book for people like us. I 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:24.240 wrote a book for you to use your disadvantages as 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:27.800 skills to become successful. Growing up, Goodwill was more than 0:05:27.839 --> 0:05:30.360 just a store for me. It was a destination with 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:34.240 my mom and my sister. I spent hours thrifting, reading books, 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:37.560 creating outfits, and defining my style. But I never knew 0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:40.800 about all the other ways Goodwill could help. People don't 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:43.599 really talk about their struggles, like if they're sleeping in 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:46.640 their cars at the moment when they got evicted, or 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:48.960 if they're struggling to pay their bills. We just kind 0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:50.839 of show up where we need to, and if you're 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:53.240 like me, you just keep on going even when things 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:55.560 are tough. When I first came to LA with only 0:05:55.600 --> 0:05:58.120 two hundred dollars in my account, things didn't go the. 0:05:58.040 --> 0:05:59.040 Way I thought they would. 0:05:59.400 --> 0:05:59.880 It's hard. 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:00.800 I had the. 0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:03.599 Resume, yet I didn't have the experience. I looked for 0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:06.680 any job I could get, freelancing on photo shoots, dialing 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:10.120 where I could, hauling closure across the city. I applied 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:13.479 everywhere you can think of, from pr agencies to burger shops, 0:06:13.560 --> 0:06:16.320 but I still wasn't getting hired. That's when I started 0:06:16.320 --> 0:06:19.560 my brand. That's when Babes was born. My roommate wanted 0:06:19.600 --> 0:06:21.679 me off her couch, so I had to make something happen. 0:06:22.080 --> 0:06:24.560 I started upcycling in reworking the clothes I found in 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:27.159 good will. Some of my first customers were my friends, 0:06:27.640 --> 0:06:30.039 and from their Babes just kind of took off. And 0:06:30.080 --> 0:06:31.720 that's when I learned you don't have to fit in 0:06:31.720 --> 0:06:34.720 to win. I was taking in hymns of blazers, cropping 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:37.279 te's and hoodies, and making space where there wasn't any, 0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:39.880 putting all of my skills to use while learning new 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:42.760 ones faster than I could use them. My sewing machine 0:06:42.800 --> 0:06:45.279 and my phone became tools that changed my life, and 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:48.200 with each cell, my business grew into a global brand. 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:52.280 That's my style, and that's the story it tells. 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:56.760 Hi friends. 0:06:57.160 --> 0:06:59.559 My new children's book, You Can be a Good Friend 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:02.920 no matter matter what, shows kids the great things that 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:07.520 can happen when we approach others and ourselves with empathy, patience, 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:11.280 and love. In the book, you'll meet quirky, stylish, and 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:14.800 a bit off the cup little TJ. She is ready 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:17.400 for her first day of school, but when she gets there, 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:20.640 TJ finds that everything she does is a little different 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:24.480 than everyone else, and she is filled with anxiety and doubt. 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:27.960 You can be a good friend no matter what. Shows 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:31.400 kids the importance of standing in their own uniqueness and 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:36.040 promoting friendship over bullying. My debut picture book is the 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:39.360 perfect read for promoting mental wellness to your kids. All 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:43.560 the while you'll also be sharing with them new socialization skills, 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:47.240 how to embrace the importance of standing in their own uniqueness, 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:51.320 how to lean into their friendships, and how to end bullying. 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:53.280 This book will help. 0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:56.920 Your kiddos with various struggles, such as managing any back 0:07:56.920 --> 0:07:59.560 to school jitters or even bigger things that are making 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:02.280 them nerve us in the evening or when getting ready 0:08:02.320 --> 0:08:05.360 in the mornings. Children ages four to eight will love 0:08:05.400 --> 0:08:08.120 the book, and I think you parents will too. I 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:12.200 hope that people get that I love people. I hope 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:16.320 that my legacy will be one of a person who 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:21.360 really cared about humanity and used her celebrity and her 0:08:21.440 --> 0:08:25.640 blessings to bless others. And that's what That's what my 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:28.840 book is about. That's what my hair care products is about. 0:08:28.840 --> 0:08:32.160 It's about taking care of yourself and investing time into you. 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:38.920 My foundation was something that I founded because I was 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:43.240 in dire need of repairing my mental health right and 0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:47.120 my sons. And then I realized that there's an entire 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:52.120 community of people who, especially in the black and brown community, 0:08:52.120 --> 0:08:55.400 where we don't even talk about mental illness or mental illness, 0:08:56.080 --> 0:08:58.920 and I just felt inclined to do something about that, 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:01.520 and that's why started Divorced lawnce Hints and Voundation. 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:03.120 So hopefully my. 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:06.559 Legacy will be one of someone who cared about humanity 0:09:07.000 --> 0:09:11.680 and wanted to do something about it to help others 0:09:11.679 --> 0:09:12.440 that may be in need. 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:17.440 Ooh, y'all, I got my new book, Tiffany Haddish, I 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:19.800 Curse You with Joy New York Times. 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:20.559 That's I like. 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:24.920 Y'all speak it. It got that mm hmm. It's brand new. 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:27.079 This one's brand brand new. I just put the book 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:27.640 marking here. 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:28.120 It got that. 0:09:29.320 --> 0:09:31.720 It got that fresh book smell. You know what I'm saying, 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:32.720 That new book smell. 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:35.559 Mmmm mmm. 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:41.559 It's got that like papyrus with like fresh linen scent. 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:45.240 Mmm, with a hint of coconuting. 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:50.439 Is that grateful? Oh? I'm putting this song. 0:09:51.000 --> 0:09:53.840 Please welcome back to the Late Show Tiffany has. 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:58.480 The most fabulous Tiffany has. 0:09:58.520 --> 0:09:59.760 Jiffy had it to everybody. 0:10:01.720 --> 0:10:04.319 She is just looking a new collection of essays called. 0:10:04.840 --> 0:10:06.040 I Curse You with Joy. 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:07.840 New book I Curse You with Joy. 0:10:08.280 --> 0:10:10.679 This book, by the way, is equal parts funny and 0:10:10.760 --> 0:10:13.920 equal parts poignant. Why did you initially say to yourself? 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:15.080 I want to put this on page I. 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:17.080 Wish somebody would have made a manual on how to 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:19.640 be famous. And I can't make that manual on how 0:10:19.640 --> 0:10:21.920 to be famous because I'm still figuring it out. But 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:24.079 I can make a manual on how to be yourself 0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:26.360 and not be afraid to be who you are, which 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:27.719 is the most powerful thing you need to do. 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:30.959 Yeah, selection everyone, hold on. 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:31.559 Let me split this. 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:38.959 Her mother told her, which you'll read about in this book, 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:43.320 that if she kissed a boy at all exchanged any saliva, 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:46.360 that her face would basically eat her from the inside out. 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:50.480 Amber was at school and this boy that we both had, 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.040 like a little personal She started kissing him and I 0:10:53.080 --> 0:10:54.920 was like, oh my god. And I was quiet so 0:10:55.000 --> 0:11:01.640 hard because I was like, Amber, you about to die. God, No, wait, 0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:04.840 that boy, you're about to die. You don't have your 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:07.440 vaccination yet. You're not vaccinated. 0:11:07.720 --> 0:11:11.000 Can you talk about gaining confidence in this book? Tell 0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:14.600 the people how you gained that big tip energy. 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:16.040 When I had the penis in my panties. 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:20.640 Yes, you're about to throw first fish underhanded? 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:21.480 It I underhand? 0:11:21.480 --> 0:11:24.000 About what if I did it? Like how Fred France 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:25.319 on balls, like. 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:26.480 On your tiptoes like that. 0:11:26.440 --> 0:11:30.400 He liked and then he throws it something I could 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:33.840 do a t up to the plate and then goes, 0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:37.560 I Curse you with the Joy is out today. 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:41.320 The only book you need to think about and focus 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:45.080 on is right here. Tiffany Hadis, I Curse you with 0:11:45.240 --> 0:11:48.160 Joy and she gonna be here at Melik Books June 0:11:48.200 --> 0:11:51.200 twenty nine, two pm doing a straight meat Greek book 0:11:51.240 --> 0:11:54.319 signing and photop Come through Melik Books, Westfield, Coach City, Mo. 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:57.240 The new book The Moment, Yes okay? Is your thoughts 0:11:57.240 --> 0:11:58.840 on the race reckoning that wasn't? 0:11:59.200 --> 0:12:01.400 Why is it? We wought a title? Why the title? 0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:01.720 So? 0:12:02.400 --> 0:12:04.880 Back in twenty twenty twenty one, when we were all 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:07.080 kind of locked in our homes and then we saw 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:11.720 George Floyd be murdered on camera, I thought about why 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:15.000 we saw what we saw and we were in a pandemic, 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:17.520 and so people were locked in their homes. We had 0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:19.920 the audacity of a seventeen year old black woman to 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:21.280 take her phone out in videotape. 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:21.800 What happened. 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:25.079 We had nine minutes of a black man calling out 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:26.520 for his mom with the knee on the back of 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:30.360 his neck, and the world could not turn away. And 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:32.960 then everybody came out in the streets around the world. 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:35.200 And it took all of that just for us to 0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:38.440 have accountability, not justice, but accountability. Justice is George Floyd 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:40.920 still being here? And at that point, maybe it's my 0:12:40.960 --> 0:12:44.079 youthful naivete, but at that point I thought that maybe 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:47.040 the world was changing, maybe we were starting to understand 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:49.240 the plight and pain of being black in this country, 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:52.040 and maybe we were actually having that racial reckoning. You know, 0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:54.280 those were the conversations we were having. And then shit 0:12:54.360 --> 0:12:57.200 changed and we went backwards. I mean we have literally 0:12:57.280 --> 0:12:59.840 since that point when I thought we were making that change, 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:02.560 we have been going back with sober sixteen hundred books 0:13:02.559 --> 0:13:05.920 band you see what's happening with the attacks on diversity, equity, 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:09.480 and inclusion. You see the abortion bill in Arizona from 0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:11.560 the eighteen hundreds, and so, you know, I wrote this 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:15.760 book about that moment. I was on TV with Felonious Floyd, 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:18.360 who spoke before me, and Charlomagne knows us. I'm a 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:20.600 real emotion I cry all the time, but he was 0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:22.120 on the segment before me, and I was on with 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:25.120 Dante Stalworth and I was in my home, my beard 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:27.640 and everything, pajama pants on. That's when we were still 0:13:27.679 --> 0:13:30.400 doing TV from laptops, and I began to think about 0:13:30.400 --> 0:13:31.840 my kids and what was I going to tell my 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:35.360 black kids listening to Colonius Floyd just speak. 0:13:36.200 --> 0:13:38.760 What made you That's a great point you brought up 0:13:38.760 --> 0:13:41.680 about how everybody thought things were going to change? What 0:13:41.800 --> 0:13:44.679 made you have a more audacity of hope? Did George 0:13:44.720 --> 0:13:47.840 Floyd situation or Barack Obama being elected? 0:13:48.120 --> 0:13:50.160 Barack Obama being elected, I thought was a moment in 0:13:50.200 --> 0:13:52.720 time because we had gone so far. I remember saying, 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:56.439 and I had these conversations. I remember being on call 0:13:56.440 --> 0:13:58.480 with people like Dick Carl Poutley, and Michelle Obama. When 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:00.920 it went many of us who supported the President of 0:14:00.960 --> 0:14:04.440 the United States, Anton Gunn in South Carolina, then Senator 0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:09.560 Barack Obama, and there were fears about Barack Obama. One 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:11.959 We didn't think white vote would vote for him. That's 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:13.600 why Iowa was so important. When he went to Iowa, 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:16.120 were like, oh, white people will vote for this black man. 0:14:16.240 --> 0:14:18.040 And number two, my father would bring it up all 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:19.480 the time. We were afraid that they were going to 0:14:19.560 --> 0:14:21.920 kill him. I mean, older black folk had a legit 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:25.760 concern that Barack Obama was going to be assassinated. And 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:28.120 the reason being is because it came from a valid place. 0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:31.640 They had seen all their heroes become martyrs, and so 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:35.760 that was a legitimate concern. And so Barack Obama gave 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:37.640 me a lot of hope when he got elected. The 0:14:37.720 --> 0:14:42.520 death of George Floyd was something that we just it 0:14:42.560 --> 0:14:44.640 was a moment that we missed it. It was a 0:14:44.680 --> 0:14:46.800 surreal moment. And being able to meet the family and 0:14:48.080 --> 0:14:51.320 see how the world kind of embraced his daughter. And 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:53.960 you know, God works some mysterious ways because he always 0:14:54.080 --> 0:14:57.960 uses somebody that you would not imagine to bring people together. 0:14:58.480 --> 0:15:01.000 And nobody would imagine that the person or the vessel 0:15:01.040 --> 0:15:02.520 he would use would be George Floyd. 0:15:02.600 --> 0:15:03.080 And he did. 0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:07.640 I write about that, but I was excited, but I 0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:10.920 was I was more let down, not by George Floyd 0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:13.400 of course, or his family, but by the way people 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:15.240 reacted to it, or the white lash to still a 0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:17.520 word from Van Jones. I wanted to come here and 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:20.880 drop a personal invitation to Tuesday night, June eleventh. 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:24.360 We're going to be at Elik Books in LA. You're 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:26.560 gonna swipe over and you're gonna see all the details. 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:29.080 But I want everybody on the West Coast, everybody in LA, 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:32.160 everybody in the surrounding areas, who's a supporter, who got 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:33.920 the moment, who wants to pick up the moment, to 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:36.440 come check it out. I'm looking forward to this long 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:40.720 flight going out there tomorrow, being in LA on Tuesday night, 0:15:41.880 --> 0:15:43.200 and I can't wait to see all of you guys. 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:45.360 So I'll see you guys in Elite Books Tuesday night, 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:47.479 seven pm. See all there. 0:15:47.480 --> 0:15:49.640 Joining me out is the singular Nicole had A Jones, 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:52.480 creator of the sixteen nineteen Project, reporter for the New 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:55.680 York Times magazine, and founder of the Center for Journalism 0:15:55.720 --> 0:15:59.840 and Democracy at Howard University. Shoot that was a lot. 0:15:59.880 --> 0:16:02.720 I remember when you first published this, before the book 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:05.040 came out, you and I talked in this building and 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:07.560 it was really remarkable and interesting. But I don't think 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:09.520 any of us were thinking this is how it was 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:10.280 going to unfold. 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:10.800 God. 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:14.560 No, you know, it's been five years, which seems at 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:16.960 once a long period of time in a short period 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:19.400 of time. But when you think of everything that's happened 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:22.640 since we had our first conversation, it really is remarkable 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:26.800 the way that government is using state power to try 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:31.000 to mandate our ignorance, even as we see the effects 0:16:31.000 --> 0:16:33.360 of this history playing out in our society every day. 0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:36.320 And I left a lot of stuff out of that story, 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:38.200 including stuff that happened to you, But I think it's 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:40.480 important to point out that you don't play nor do 0:16:40.520 --> 0:16:42.800 you think you're a victim of this whole thing. In fact, 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:44.400 when we spoke a few months ago, I want to 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:46.840 just read, I want to play back actually what you 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:48.400 said to me about this. Let's listen to this. 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:54.680 No one is more surprised at what both sixteen nineteen 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:58.800 has become symbolically and what I've become symbolically. This was 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:01.040 just the work of journalism, too, and I hope people 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:03.400 would read it, but I certainly didn't think it would 0:17:03.920 --> 0:17:06.399 kind of spawn this backlash that we've seen. You know, 0:17:06.440 --> 0:17:08.879 all of these anti critical race theory laws. They began 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:12.760 at Anti sixteen nineteen project laws, and it's really become 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:15.600 this cultural phenomenon. But I guess that speaks to why 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:19.359 we became journalists, understanding the type of impact and power 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:22.280 that we can have around the idea of narrative and 0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:23.600 how we see our society. 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:26.840 And that's the point of the exercise. Right, you did 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:31.240 actually provoke a discussion. So now what happens? You poked 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:34.000 the bear, there was some dry tender there and you 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:35.600 lit it. Now what happens? 0:17:36.000 --> 0:17:38.000 Yeah, I mean, I think it's clear that you don't 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:40.879 see a project facing this type of backlash if that 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:44.600 project is not having impact. And every day I speak 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:49.359 all over the country and I see thousands of Americans, 0:17:49.400 --> 0:17:53.879 white Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans, Black Americans who are saying, 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:57.120 I understand my country better, who are starting to really 0:17:57.160 --> 0:18:00.560 critique so much of the inequality that we accept. But 0:18:00.600 --> 0:18:02.880 now what happens next, though, I think is largely dependent 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:06.919 upon us. Which version of America are we going to 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:09.960 allow to move forward. We are in, as you know, 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:14.800 an extremely polarized time, a time where people who view 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:18.679 seem antithetical to democracy are really pulling the levers of 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:20.879 power to make it harder for us to vote, to 0:18:20.920 --> 0:18:24.400 make it harder for us have a shared sense of 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:27.240 civic obligation to each other. So I don't know what's 0:18:27.280 --> 0:18:29.520 going to happen next, but I fear, as I know 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:31.640 you do, that we're ahead. We have some very dark 0:18:31.680 --> 0:18:34.199 times ahead unless we have the Americans decide that we 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:35.280 want a different country. 0:18:35.400 --> 0:18:37.440 I don't wish to draw you into a debate with 0:18:37.840 --> 0:18:41.160 Donald Trump, but what do you say to people who 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:45.000 say that you're trying to frame all of our history 0:18:45.000 --> 0:18:48.879 and society through race in some way that's damaging. I 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:51.000 didn't hear that when I first read what you wrote 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:53.960 and subsequently the book. That's not how I saw it. 0:18:54.000 --> 0:18:57.399 I saw you adding more information to our corpus of 0:18:57.520 --> 0:18:59.080 history and knowledge about ourselves. 0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:02.679 Well to hear that argument from people who themselves are 0:19:02.720 --> 0:19:05.760 obsessed with race, right, These attacks on affirmative action, these 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:08.960 attacks on DEI, the tax on immigrants, these are all 0:19:09.040 --> 0:19:12.879 race obsessions. But they're pretending that it's in fact, people 0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:16.680 like myself and the work that we produced that is divisive. 0:19:17.400 --> 0:19:19.440 We have to be honest about our history, and parts 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:21.639 of our history are very ugly, but how can we 0:19:21.760 --> 0:19:25.280 possibly try to become the country of our highest ideals 0:19:25.320 --> 0:19:27.680 if we're not honest about what we were built upon. 0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:30.399 And if you actually read the project, it's actually the 0:19:30.400 --> 0:19:31.920 most patriotic thing I've ever say. 0:19:32.000 --> 0:19:32.840 It's not angry. 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:35.919 It's simply a here's a piece of the story that 0:19:36.040 --> 0:19:39.680 is left out of our own narrative about ourselves. Why 0:19:39.680 --> 0:19:41.640 don't we have a more complete look at this thing? 0:19:41.880 --> 0:19:43.800 It doesn't come a way as angry, It doesn't come 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:45.719 away as mad at anyone. It doesn't come away as 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:47.440 vengeful or divisive. 0:19:47.920 --> 0:19:48.000 No. 0:19:48.160 --> 0:19:50.639 I mean, what it argues is that we have failed 0:19:50.680 --> 0:19:53.560 to live up to our ideals, but that black Americans 0:19:53.640 --> 0:19:56.120 joined with other Americans to fight to try to make 0:19:56.160 --> 0:20:00.159 those ideals manifest. It actually is empowering. It says we 0:20:00.200 --> 0:20:02.480 don't have to accept the society that we have, and 0:20:02.520 --> 0:20:05.359 that I actually think the highest calling of patriotism is 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:07.639 not to say we can't ever critique our country, but 0:20:07.720 --> 0:20:09.439 to say that if our country is great, we have 0:20:09.480 --> 0:20:12.800