WEBVTT - Tara Stringfellow Writes For the Betterment, the Glory, and the Beauty 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:06.680 Hello Sunshine, Hey fam Today on the bright Side, best 0:00:06.680 --> 0:00:10.360 selling author and poet Tara Stringfellow is here to discuss 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:14.440 her latest poetry book, Magic Enough, which celebrates the vibrancy 0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:18.720 and vitality of black womanhood. It's Wednesday, June nineteenth. I'm 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:19.800 Simone Boyce. 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:22.599 I'm Danielle Robe and this is the bright Side from 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:24.320 Hello Sunshine. 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:27.479 Today is a very special day on the bright side, y'all. 0:00:27.480 --> 0:00:28.920 We are celebrating Juneteenth. 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:31.880 Happy June teenth to everybody. 0:00:32.320 --> 0:00:35.479 Yes, you know, Danielle, this is a holiday that has 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:38.960 long been celebrated in some black communities and black families, 0:00:39.000 --> 0:00:42.000 particularly in the South, And even though it became a 0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:44.600 national holiday in twenty twenty one, I think some Americans 0:00:44.600 --> 0:00:46.680 may still be learning about this holiday, or at least 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:48.360 the meaning behind it for the first time. 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:51.199 Yeah, can you tell us the history of it? 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:54.480 I would love to. I think that's so important to 0:00:54.520 --> 0:00:57.320 set the record straight because a lot of us didn't 0:00:57.320 --> 0:01:00.520 grow up learning about this holiday. In schools, were taught 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:04.839 that the Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery in eighteen sixty three, 0:01:05.080 --> 0:01:08.280 but in reality, it took two more years for troops 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:11.920 to reach Galveston Bay at Texas, freeing the more than 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:15.279 two hundred and fifty thousand slaved black folks in that state. 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:19.399 So those troops arrived on June nineteenth, eighteen sixty five, 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:22.160 and that is why we celebrate Juneteenth today. 0:01:22.760 --> 0:01:25.680 Simon, thank you for sharing the history of the holiday. 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:29.160 I just learned about it a few years ago, and 0:01:29.200 --> 0:01:32.280 I think I'm probably not alone in that as a country, 0:01:32.319 --> 0:01:35.319 we're learning how to properly celebrate and mark this day. 0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:39.479 And I'm curious how you relate to the holiday. Now. 0:01:40.240 --> 0:01:44.240 Here's what this holiday means to me, Danielle. I actually 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:50.640 didn't grow up celebrating June teenth. My mom is African 0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:55.200 American and her family did not live in the South, 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:57.840 so it wasn't a thing that they grew up celebrating. Now, 0:01:57.840 --> 0:02:01.400 I had a peripheral awareness of it, but I'm so 0:02:01.560 --> 0:02:04.160 happy that we have it now, especially as a mom. 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:06.240 As a parent, this means that I get to create 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:09.000 new traditions for my children and I get to instill 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:12.920 them with the meaning behind this holiday. And I think 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:17.560 it's also significant because patriotism can be a tricky concept 0:02:17.600 --> 0:02:20.800 for a lot of black folks. Having ownership over the 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:25.960 American experience is something that feels very complicated because we've 0:02:26.000 --> 0:02:28.800 been in chains for longer than we've been free. So 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:33.560 just receiving this acknowledgment of Juneteenth is caused for celebration. 0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:35.160 In my eyes, I love. 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:37.560 How you said that, Simone, And you know, when this 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:41.600 became a federal holiday in twenty twenty one, I thought 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:44.880 that it was a very small recognition, but at least 0:02:44.960 --> 0:02:49.080 some recognition that black history is American history, because a 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:51.959 lot of times black history gets lost in our history 0:02:51.960 --> 0:02:54.800 books in schools, and so my hope is that this 0:02:54.960 --> 0:02:59.760 spurs at least whether you're celebrating with food and fun 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:04.679 or you're just acknowledging that this date is momentous. I'm 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:09.280 hoping it spurs some sort of like conversation about what 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:13.000 this means. I want to know some of your Juneteenth traditions, though, 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:14.840 like what are you going to be doing with your kids. 0:03:15.120 --> 0:03:18.200 I'm going to have a cookout with my family and 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:20.320 some friends. And I'm so glad that you brought up food, 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:23.800 because food is a really accessible way to tell the 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:28.239 story of emancipation. Even if you don't know what food 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:31.359 items belong on the Juneteenth men, you know these foods 0:03:31.400 --> 0:03:33.600 because you've grown up eating them and loving them. 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:35.000 Tell me what's on your plate. 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:38.920 I need to know watermelon, of course, beautiful summer fruit, 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:44.760 fried chicken, barbecue, red drink, red velvet cake. And you'll 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:47.480 see red in a lot of Juneteenth foods because the 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:53.880 red carries this really beautiful and painful symbolism. It represents 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:57.840 the blood of our ancestors. So that's why we incorporate 0:03:57.880 --> 0:04:01.240 a lot of red into our foods. And there's even 0:04:01.400 --> 0:04:05.840 symbolism behind foods like fried chicken. Fried chicken today in 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:09.320 America is something that you can encounter in your everyday life. 0:04:09.400 --> 0:04:10.960 You know, you can get it at a drive through, 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:13.600 you can get it at the grocery store. But right 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:17.120 after emancipation, if you were a black person in America 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:20.400 and you had a chicken, it was a symbol of prosperity. 0:04:20.800 --> 0:04:23.200 It meant that you could provide for your family. It 0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:25.960 meant that you had means, and so it was a 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:29.120 food that was used as a point of celebration and 0:04:29.160 --> 0:04:31.080 it continues to be that for us today. 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:33.960 I didn't know some of this, Simone, thank you for this. 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:37.520 In addition to the incredible history of African American food, 0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:41.440 Juneteenth is a wonderful time to acknowledge and honor all 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:44.640 the black artists who help us put all of these 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:48.599 feelings into words. And Tara string Fellow is one of 0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:50.960 those artists that comes to mind. She is such a 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:55.279 dynamic and exciting new voice in the poetry and literary space. Danielle, 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:58.120 she was actually a former attorney and high school teacher, 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:00.040 and then she got her first break when she she 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:02.560 sold her book, and she just committed to diving into 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:05.920 writing full time. And that first book, it was called Memphis. 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:09.000 It became a national bestseller and it was longlisted for 0:05:09.080 --> 0:05:14.560 the prestigious Women's Prize in Fiction. Tara actually comes from Memphis, Tennessee, 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:17.120 which is a place where I spent several years growing up. 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:19.839 And her new book of poetry is what she calls 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:22.719 a love letter to her culture, her family, and the 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:24.000 city that she calls home. 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:27.360 But you know, before calling Memphis her home, Tara grew 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:30.080 up all around the world because her father was in 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:35.000 the Marines and was stationed in places like Okinawa, Ghana, Spain, 0:05:35.160 --> 0:05:39.479 and Italy. She is miss worldwide and she's keeping the 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:43.600 joy and celebration going with her poetry book, Magic Enough. 0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:47.240 The book hits shelves on June twenty fifth this year, 0:05:47.760 --> 0:05:51.159 and it's an electrifying collection of poems that tells a 0:05:51.279 --> 0:05:55.720 universal tale of survival and revolution through the lens of 0:05:55.760 --> 0:06:00.040 black femininity. It's so exciting to see her success and 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:03.240 see her be added to the canon of iconic writers 0:06:03.279 --> 0:06:05.320 like this is something that she has wanted to do 0:06:05.440 --> 0:06:08.360 since she was a little girl, and she's living it. 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:11.679 I'm so excited to talk with her about her work 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:15.440 and her inspirations and her family. I love how much 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:18.280 we get to celebrate female authors and writers here on 0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:21.920 this show. The bright Side loves the written words, Simone 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:24.800 and I love the written word, and there's just so 0:06:24.880 --> 0:06:28.080 much power in telling our own stories as a woman, 0:06:28.279 --> 0:06:31.160 as a person, and telling them in our own voice. 0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:33.359 Tara's work really exemplifies that. 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:37.200 It sure does, Danielle. After the break, we're talking magic 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:40.640 in Memphis with author and poet Tara Stringfellow. 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:42.680 That's up next. We'll be right back. 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:58.680 We're back with author and poet Tara Stringfellow. Welcome to 0:06:58.720 --> 0:06:59.599 the bright Side, Tara. 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:01.440 Thank you for joining us today. 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:05.000 No, thank you so much for having me Tara. Today 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:09.560 we are celebrating Juneteenth. What does this holiday mean to you? 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:12.200 It's my July fourth. 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:16.680 It's the freedom of my peoples when we were actually 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:19.880 considered human beings for the first time of this country. 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:22.880 So it means a lot to me. I think it 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:25.920 should mean a lot to everyone that black folk have 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:30.240 a different data freedom in everyone else. And why is that? 0:07:31.000 --> 0:07:31.080 So? 0:07:31.280 --> 0:07:35.720 Yes, Juneteenth is significant for me in terms of just 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:38.600 being a Southern Black woman. But I think it's an 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:42.280 American holiday. It's American history, so we should all celebrate 0:07:42.840 --> 0:07:43.600 this holiday. 0:07:44.520 --> 0:07:46.840 We were talking about in our office how we were 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:47.920 wanting to celebrate. 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:49.120 How are you celebrating. 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:53.640 Oh my goodness, I'm going to eat. I'm going to 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:56.240 eat a lot. Are you eating? I'm going to eat. 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:59.600 You know, Memphis is very famous, yes, for our music, 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:02.880 but also so for food. So I'll probably go down 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:05.760 a Cozy Corner and pick up half of furnishing or something. 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:09.160 That's my favorite barbecue place in Memphis. It's called Cozy Corner. 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:14.440 It's black owned, female owned for generations. Yes, close to downtown. 0:08:14.840 --> 0:08:16.080 It's a beautiful little place. 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:16.840 Tara. 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:19.600 I want to congratulate you on magic enough. 0:08:19.840 --> 0:08:20.600 Oh thank you. 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:24.679 I was reading that this was a lifelong dream of yours. 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:28.400 How does it feel to have the magic out into 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:28.880 the world. 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:30.520 It's surreal, you know. 0:08:30.640 --> 0:08:33.400 Since I was a little girl, I wanted to see 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:36.839 my name in print underneath a poem. That's always been 0:08:36.880 --> 0:08:40.400 the dream. And it's a beautiful little book. I'm really 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:43.240 proud of it. And I just can't believe that I 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:45.080 have a whole book of poetry that's going to be 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:47.160 out there. And like I wish I would have, I 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:49.480 could go back in time and tell three year old me, like, 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:52.040 just go play outside. It's fine, You've got this, Like 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:56.040 it'll be okay, play with your sister more. And like 0:08:56.080 --> 0:08:58.280 you said, it is my life's work. I've been working 0:08:58.360 --> 0:09:02.959 on some of these poems for fifteen twenty years. Tara. 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:06.640 You dedicated this book to Black women's I did. But 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:09.960 your dad is actually the one who helped spark your 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:11.319 love of poetry. 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:14.120 Yes, no, you my pops. 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:14.720 Yeah. 0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:17.839 I wouldn't be the poet I am without my father. 0:09:17.920 --> 0:09:21.320 He's a poet. He read me my first poem when 0:09:21.360 --> 0:09:24.480 I was three, And y'all all know the poem at 0:09:24.559 --> 0:09:27.880 Once upon a Midnight Druai. While I ponder, we can 0:09:27.960 --> 0:09:31.840 weary over a mini curious and quaint volume of forgotten Lore. 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:34.760 I heard that, I said, wow, it's like Grim's fairy 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:38.040 Tales Once upon a Time. It's like rap because it 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:42.520 ends in rhyme. It tells a story, a love story, 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:44.679 and a scary story, like a ghost story, all at 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:46.720 the same time. As a little kid, I loved Who's 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:49.160 Pumps and ghost stories and Ralstein and. 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:49.600 All of that. 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:56.560 I was devastatingly in love, deliciously in love. So I 0:09:56.679 --> 0:10:00.280 just knew that I had to do that. And my 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:02.680 father says, okay, you want to do this, then you 0:10:02.800 --> 0:10:05.800 have to be better than poet three ways. You're black, 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:08.120 you're a woman, and you were born in a country 0:10:08.160 --> 0:10:11.760 built to enslave you. And at the time my father 0:10:11.880 --> 0:10:14.120 said this, you know, Maya Angela was a poet, but 0:10:14.200 --> 0:10:17.520 she had yet to write the inaugural poem on the 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:20.200 Pulse of the Morning, so she was not a household name. 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:23.560 There were no black female poets my father could think 0:10:23.600 --> 0:10:26.920 of in America where he could say, okay, go do 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:27.360 you like her? 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:28.200 Go make a living. 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:32.840 And so my parents were rather worried, honestly, about my 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:35.160 life's goal and how I would achieve that in a 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:40.760 country design to ignore black Southern women. I told my dad. 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:43.480 I said, okay, give me some time. So it took 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:48.000 me about thirty five years, but I did it. It 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:49.920 took me a while, but I did it. And my 0:10:50.000 --> 0:10:53.199 dad is actually flying in for the book launch for 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:57.160 having a big party in Memphis at Novel Bookstore for 0:10:57.200 --> 0:10:59.240 the release, and my dad is flying in from DC 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:02.600 to join. So this is a full circle moment from 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:06.199 him reading me poetry as a little girl to folk 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:08.599 actually reading my poetry. 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:10.040 I can't believe it. 0:11:10.440 --> 0:11:13.200 As you were telling us that story, I was thinking, oh, wow, 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:17.160 you and your dad did this together. This was a 0:11:17.160 --> 0:11:20.400 wee thing. Oh yes, Like what does it mean to 0:11:20.440 --> 0:11:23.320 you now? To be able to have him come to 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:27.320 Memphis and to have this moment and share this work 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:28.800 with him. 0:11:28.600 --> 0:11:32.280 It means everything. I think we're creating a strength fellow legacy. 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:37.439 He is my first reader. I trust him completely with 0:11:37.520 --> 0:11:41.080 my words. He helps me edit. It's like and it's 0:11:41.200 --> 0:11:45.480 softer here, or wouldn't this touch be nice here. He's 0:11:45.520 --> 0:11:48.800 a great poet himself. He'll never publish. I'm not sure why. 0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:53.080 I guess he's just shah. But he's a far better 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:56.080 poet than I am. And so it's great to make 0:11:56.120 --> 0:12:00.480 like a strength fellow legacy of poetry and prose and 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:02.960 get our names out there. I'm not a marine like 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:05.640 my dad, but I hope I'm bringing honor to our names. 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:08.920 I'm getting this full picture of your dad, and you 0:12:09.040 --> 0:12:13.040 speak to his duality so beautifully because he has this 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:16.520 tender side. He loves poetry. But Pops is also a 0:12:16.559 --> 0:12:20.280 marine and Marines. Yes, I mean that is the toughest 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:23.559 sect of the military. Like you don't mess with the Marines, 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:27.400 Oh my goodness. And because of him, and because of 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:29.960 his career in the military, You've grown up living all 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:33.280 over the world. What was the place the setting that 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:35.959 had the greatest impact on you and your work? 0:12:37.320 --> 0:12:40.120 Two places so ok Noawa, Japan, where I spent my 0:12:40.200 --> 0:12:45.319 childhood in Memphis, growing up on a beautiful tropical island, 0:12:46.120 --> 0:12:50.360 growing up with kiwi trees and eating fresh mango and 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:54.720 the best sticky rice and shrimp and oudan you'll ever have. 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:59.559 Surrounded by people, ok now, and people who I hate 0:12:59.600 --> 0:13:01.560 to get a motion, but we're so good to me 0:13:01.600 --> 0:13:04.160 and my sister. You know, to grow up in a 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:08.880 country as little black children, and no one ever ever 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:13.240 made us feel less bad I can't say that it's 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:16.040 the same in America, you know, I when I came here, 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:19.360 I was made very much made as a black girl, 0:13:19.600 --> 0:13:23.160 as a dark skinned black girl to it, made to 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:26.840 feel very much less than. So I owe my happiness 0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:30.560 and my joy to the Okinawan people into the Marine 0:13:30.559 --> 0:13:33.319 Corps for giving me that chance to live my life 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:38.160 abroad in a beautiful tropical paradise. And then the second 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:41.520 place is Memphis. I grew up here, and I, like 0:13:42.080 --> 0:13:44.920 the main character my novel Memphis. When I was ten, 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:49.679 we came here utterly, utterly poor, but the city told 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:54.119 me and taught me to love family, to love my community, 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:58.800 to look music and food, and there's something so joyous 0:13:59.000 --> 0:14:01.800 about being in mehas this especially now as an adult, 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:05.520 especially now as a writer. I think everything I write, 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:09.280 this poetry book, my novel will be for the betterment, 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:14.560 for the glory the beauty of black Memphis women. I 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:18.280 think there's something magical about us. 0:14:17.320 --> 0:14:18.160 Something in the air. 0:14:18.520 --> 0:14:20.520 I wish that I had came across your work when 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:22.960 my mom and I and my dad, my whole family 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:27.280 were living in Memphis, because it is one of the 0:14:27.320 --> 0:14:32.520 most devastatingly segregated cities in the US. My mom and 0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:37.040 I found it extremely oppressive and challenging to live there 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:41.880 as black women. And I'm curious to know how did 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:44.680 you find the poetry and the beauty in your city. 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:48.640 I have to disagree, Memphis, unlike any other place I've lived, 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:52.240 is very diverse. You know, it's a beautiful place if 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:54.400 you want to be an artist. Jamon Bullok is a 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:57.480 beautiful muralist in the city. He took me to prom 0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:01.520 you know, yes, we all know each other. 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:03.160 We all know each other. 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:05.720 Okay, Craigm, I'm going to shadow of craigmont Oh three 0:15:05.760 --> 0:15:10.040 Chiefs right now. Like Jamon Bullock took me a famous mirrorless. 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:12.360 I see his art all over Memphis when I'm driving 0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:15.720 and being Hampton Overtak, Like he's everywhere, and I'm like, 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:18.560 that's a Jamon Bullock. Like I've seen those works since 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:21.840 I was a little girl in high school. I think 0:15:21.880 --> 0:15:25.920 of Katari Jones, who does Pea Valley. She's the writer 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:28.560 Pea Valley. She was a senior and I was a freshman. 0:15:29.160 --> 0:15:30.840 Lorilla is from my neighborhood. 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:32.480 She's from Frasier, you know. 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:38.480 So my city produces great, great artists. I love being 0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:41.840 a black woman in the city. I feel myself. I 0:15:41.880 --> 0:15:46.480 feel I can no matter where what space I am in, 0:15:46.800 --> 0:15:49.120 I feel like I can own that space. 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:51.320 I feel right at home. 0:15:52.040 --> 0:15:54.680 I'm so glad that you have that experience. I had 0:15:54.720 --> 0:15:57.840 a totally different experience and maybe I just saw a 0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:02.880 different side of the city. But you are bringing beauty 0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:06.360 and honor and beautiful art to that city. So that 0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:08.120 is so encouraging to see. 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:12.520 Ah, I have an embarrassing thing to tell both of you. 0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:18.600 Okay, So I'm such a Katari fan that I flee 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:22.840 to Atlanta to see The Hot Wing King because it 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:26.280 was only playing for three weeks and it's she want 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:27.200 to pulletzer for it. 0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:27.960 It's amazing. 0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:32.360 But I'm I'm a big fan. I mean, she is. 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:34.440 It's something about Memphis. It's something. 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:36.400 I don't know what, but in the mid nineties they 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:39.000 were putting something in the water making us all become 0:16:39.160 --> 0:16:42.520 great writers or something. But I'm just so proud of 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:44.960 her and so proud to go to the same high 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:48.320 school that she went to. And I'm just so proud 0:16:48.440 --> 0:16:51.080 of all the artists we're coming out of this city 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:55.760 right now. They are doing amazing, amazing things. So it's 0:16:55.800 --> 0:16:59.480 an honor to be in the same conversation as those folk. 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:03.760 Emphis is bursting with creatives and stories to be told, 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:07.920 and your first novel, titled Memphis, is another exploration of 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:10.720 that of writing about your roots and the matriarchs in 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:13.240 your family. What does it meant to you to be 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:15.920 able to highlight your heritage through your art? 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:17.120 It means so much. 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:20.240 As I walk around Memphis or the South, I don't 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:25.320 see monuments to black women. I see monuments to Civil 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:30.480 War Confederate traders, but I don't see monuments to black women. 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:35.000 And I know black women were instrumental and finally getting 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:39.159 Juneteenth or forgetting civil rights, especially here in Memphis. So 0:17:39.520 --> 0:17:41.679 the fact that I can walk around the city and 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:47.760 not see memorials and poems and everything written about black 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:51.360 womanhood just boggled my mind. So I said, Fye, I'm 0:17:51.359 --> 0:17:53.120 going to sit down and I'm going to write our 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:56.439 own monument. I'm going to write an ode to black 0:17:56.520 --> 0:18:00.280 Southern women because I know that we've done everything our 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:04.560 power to make this country great since we arrived here 0:18:04.720 --> 0:18:09.439 in chains. So I think my novel Memphis, and this 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:12.800 poetry collection and all of the books I'll ever write, 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:18.200 will always glorify and show a spotlight, shine a light 0:18:18.280 --> 0:18:22.160 for just a second on black Southern women. I say, 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:22.600 why not. 0:18:23.119 --> 0:18:26.680 Well, speaking of your collection of poetry, magic enough, it's 0:18:26.760 --> 0:18:29.800 such a special title. What does that mean to you? 0:18:30.560 --> 0:18:33.080 It's from one of my poems, the last line of 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:36.119 one of my poems. These women in my life, the 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:40.680 women I know as they are, as flawed and complicated 0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:46.040 and gorgeous and dark skinned and poor, These women as 0:18:46.080 --> 0:18:51.160 they are are magic enough. Men can take a back seat, 0:18:51.600 --> 0:18:53.840 God can even take a back seat. If I am 0:18:53.920 --> 0:18:58.879 surrounded by these women, I know that there's going to 0:18:58.920 --> 0:19:02.760 be magic in my life, that I will lead a beautiful, full, 0:19:03.160 --> 0:19:08.240 graceful life. And so that's where the title comes from. 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:10.920 It I guess it's a play on black oral magic. 0:19:11.720 --> 0:19:15.800 But why are we magical? What made us this way? 0:19:16.280 --> 0:19:20.520 It's because we've been do our centuries of you know, oppression, 0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:23.840 and yet look at all the joy that we have 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:25.639 all the time, and look at the art that we 0:19:25.760 --> 0:19:29.800 can create. And so that's what magic enough means to me. 0:19:30.280 --> 0:19:32.199 We need to take a quick break, but we'll be 0:19:32.359 --> 0:19:41.440 right back. Stay with us and we're back. 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:44.840 Can you tell us about some of the magical black 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:47.600 Southern women in your life? What are the qualities that 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:50.520 make them magical? And how can we incorporate some of 0:19:50.520 --> 0:19:51.919 that magic into our own lives. 0:19:52.400 --> 0:19:58.560 My mom wears red lipstick to go the doctor's office. 0:19:58.160 --> 0:20:00.040 Like right, red lace. She'll come at the house and 0:20:00.160 --> 0:20:01.600 where are you going? You look gorgeous? 0:20:01.640 --> 0:20:03.119 Like, oh, I'm just going the doctor. It was like 0:20:03.160 --> 0:20:07.160 the doctor. She's like, listen, I could meet my husband 0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:11.640 this day. Like aren't you like pearls? Did you wake 0:20:11.760 --> 0:20:12.359 up with them? On? 0:20:12.680 --> 0:20:15.240 Even I'm an on, like who aren't you women? Like 0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:16.360 can I come from you? 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:19.160 So I was taught not to walk out the house 0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:22.000 without some red lips on in your business card, because 0:20:22.000 --> 0:20:25.560 you just never know. There's something about Southern women just 0:20:25.600 --> 0:20:29.600 being utterly graceful in all things. So just the grace 0:20:30.280 --> 0:20:33.680 that Southern women seem to have hair and nails done 0:20:33.760 --> 0:20:37.640 always just face you can't he never declines, I don't know. 0:20:38.080 --> 0:20:38.920 We've just been. 0:20:38.760 --> 0:20:45.800 That cultural and that beautiful and elegant and eloquent. 0:20:46.400 --> 0:20:49.359 So it's just it's just a pageantry of the South. 0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:52.560 I don't know. We can all cook and cook well. 0:20:52.560 --> 0:20:55.760 I don't know why I need to come to Memphis 0:20:55.760 --> 0:20:56.200 to learn. 0:20:56.680 --> 0:20:59.000 Yeah, Danielle doesn't cook, but we love her anyways. 0:20:59.080 --> 0:21:02.560 Right, Okay, so you have past lives. 0:21:02.840 --> 0:21:06.280 You were an attorney, you were a tenth grade English teacher, 0:21:06.640 --> 0:21:09.280 I was. You know, writing is a clear through line 0:21:09.359 --> 0:21:12.439 in all three of your professions. At what point did 0:21:12.520 --> 0:21:15.000 you decide you were going to be doing this full time? 0:21:15.119 --> 0:21:17.439 When I got the book deal and I could financially. 0:21:19.280 --> 0:21:22.440 The only reason I went to law school is because 0:21:22.560 --> 0:21:25.360 there was a recession. I'd, you know, come out of college. 0:21:25.880 --> 0:21:28.359 I had a book of poetry. No one but my 0:21:28.440 --> 0:21:30.840 family bought it, and I was like, okay, well I 0:21:30.880 --> 0:21:33.000 need to eat, I need to do something. So I 0:21:33.000 --> 0:21:36.040 went to law school so that it could finance me 0:21:36.200 --> 0:21:39.840 and pay for an education. And I was an attorney 0:21:39.920 --> 0:21:43.600 for years, but I would still sneak out and write poetry. 0:21:43.760 --> 0:21:46.160 Like I go to work early, and how early people 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:48.360 thought I was a good worker. No, I'm writing a poem. 0:21:48.760 --> 0:21:51.359 I'd go there on Saturdays, I'd stay extra late, and 0:21:51.359 --> 0:21:52.359 they're like, oh, she's working. 0:21:52.440 --> 0:21:56.400 No, I'm editing the poem I wrote that morning, like little. 0:21:56.119 --> 0:21:56.680 Do you know? 0:21:57.440 --> 0:22:01.639 And then I became a teacher because that's a profession 0:22:01.680 --> 0:22:04.119 in which you have summers off, so I'd save up 0:22:04.119 --> 0:22:07.080 my pennies and i'd go to Italy or Cuba or 0:22:07.119 --> 0:22:11.240