Speaker 1: My League Books has all the knowledge you want. My
Speaker 1: league has all the knowledge you need. Legs, yet they
Speaker 1: have all the books that.
Speaker 2: The whole wild world one up read.
Speaker 1: My League Books.
Speaker 2: Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to Malak's Bookshelf, Bringing a world together
Speaker 2: with Books, Culture and community.
Speaker 1: Hi, my name is Malik.
Speaker 2: You're host of Malik's Bookshelf. Let me let you in
Speaker 2: on a secret. I do my introduction every single time,
Speaker 2: and what I mean by the introduction is that welcome
Speaker 2: to Malik's Bookshelf, bringing a world together with books, culture
Speaker 2: and community. That introduction when I introduced my title of
Speaker 2: the podcast and my name. I typically do that every
Speaker 2: single time instead of just recording it and slicing it
Speaker 2: in as the introduction. But anyway, that's a little secreting
Speaker 2: about the podcast. But another milestone point that I need
Speaker 2: to mention. This is the one hundred episode. Let me
Speaker 2: say that again, and if you're listening to this, I
Speaker 2: need you to clap and shop. This is the one
Speaker 2: hundred episode. Milestone huge a brainstorm. I wanted it to
Speaker 2: be the right episode. I wanted to have the right title.
Speaker 2: I wanted it to have the right content.
Speaker 1: This is the one hundred episode.
Speaker 2: What I'm gonna talk about, what's gonna be my subject matter,
Speaker 2: who I'm gonna interview. Sometimes, you know, you got to
Speaker 2: just get out of your own way and let it
Speaker 2: happen naturally and all again.
Speaker 1: Sometimes we can plot and plan, and we can develop
Speaker 1: and what have you.
Speaker 2: But a lot of what I do on this podcast,
Speaker 2: and so again, a lot of what I do is
Speaker 2: interview authors about their book without questions, without script. A
Speaker 2: lot of what I do on this podcast talk about books, community,
Speaker 2: talk about culture. So I'm sitting around here for weeks
Speaker 2: and weeks trying to figure out and the most unusual.
Speaker 1: Has placed.
Speaker 2: An idea came to me organically, was in the restroom. Now,
Speaker 2: if you ain't up on them, spiritual baths, bubble baths, ows, fragrances,
Speaker 2: meditation music, then I tell you it's more special and
Speaker 2: it's healing. And you get up early in the morning,
Speaker 2: like four five in the morning, you know, take a
Speaker 2: spiritual bath, you say some informations, you try to go
Speaker 2: on to spiritual meditation. It's just devoting time to yourself
Speaker 2: to heal yourself and think about yourself and reinforce yourself.
Speaker 2: And through that process, I'm trying to block out everything,
Speaker 2: and it's very difficult because all these things trying to
Speaker 2: come at you while you're trying to just be silent
Speaker 2: and block out everything and just have a moment of
Speaker 2: peace and tranquility so I can get into the realm
Speaker 2: of manifestation.
Speaker 1: Right. But in that process of me trying to throw everything.
Speaker 2: Out, sometimes some things come to you that you need
Speaker 2: to receive.
Speaker 1: You know, our brains is a receiver as well, just.
Speaker 2: Like that television and the programming comes right through the
Speaker 2: TV where your brain is like that, and it's a
Speaker 2: receiver as well as a transmitter, and sometimes you need
Speaker 2: to be ready to received. And in that spiritual bath,
Speaker 2: in that very moment, it came to me a title,
Speaker 2: Why I Do what I Do? That's don't beat my
Speaker 2: title for the one hundred episode, Why I Do what
Speaker 2: I Do? And I always say children are one hundred
Speaker 2: percent of our future, and so what I was able
Speaker 2: to pull together for this episode one hundred episode is
Speaker 2: the title why I do what I do. I'm the
Speaker 2: heart man of books. That's right, this is Malie. Been
Speaker 2: doing this since nineteen thirty.
Speaker 1: I developed along the way.
Speaker 2: I'm not the same person I was thirty years ago.
Speaker 2: This is not the same business as it was thirty
Speaker 2: years ago.
Speaker 1: We changed. We because that's what that means. I'm better.
Speaker 2: I'm boulder, I'm more electric, I'm more knowledgeable, I'm more energetic.
Speaker 1: I'm more passionate. I'm more committed.
Speaker 2: I'm more cultural, I'm more community relevant.
Speaker 1: I can go on and on, but the point is I.
Speaker 2: Have changed, I have evolved, and I think I'm more special.
Speaker 2: I'm more magnetic, I'm more energetic. That's why I'm the
Speaker 2: hype man of books. No one wraps it up more
Speaker 2: than me, No more hypes it up more than me,
Speaker 2: no more enthusiastic and exciting when it comes to books.
Speaker 1: This is mine e more. This is my brand. This
Speaker 1: is what separates me from everyone else.
Speaker 2: Why I do what I do is because I love
Speaker 2: what I do.
Speaker 1: I'm passionate of what I do. And this is why.
Speaker 2: I have a podcast and I'm on one hundred episode
Speaker 2: because other people like Ron Seacrest and his team saw
Speaker 2: something in me and invested in me.
Speaker 1: And I'm grateful for that.
Speaker 2: I never saw myself as a podcast Everybody is doing podcasting.
Speaker 1: I have been blessed and fortunate to have.
Speaker 2: Thousands and thousands and thousands of downloads since starting the podcast.
Speaker 2: I'm blessed to be on one of the greatest, if
Speaker 2: not the greatest, platform that host podcasts.
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. That's right.
Speaker 2: People ask me all the time, well, where can I
Speaker 2: find your podcast? Well, first of all, you can listen
Speaker 2: to Malie Bookshelf on wherever you listen to any podcast,
Speaker 2: but it's.
Speaker 1: Hosted on iHeartRadio. That's an honor listen.
Speaker 2: I never saw myself as a podcasting and I believe
Speaker 2: personally it has helped.
Speaker 1: Me to engage with the community. Even better, it has
Speaker 1: helped me.
Speaker 2: To talk to authors and interview them because I'd like
Speaker 2: to interview them gonna get me.
Speaker 1: In most cases, it has involved me into hosting book
Speaker 1: signings where I'm the moderator.
Speaker 2: I did a moderation with pastor podcaster Tim Ross, got
Speaker 2: a huge following, and I was engaged in the moderation
Speaker 2: on his new book called Welcome to the Basement, An
Speaker 2: OtherSide Down Guide to Greatness. I featured that episode and
Speaker 2: interview on one of my podcasts episodes. It has helped
Speaker 2: me to gain confidence, which is very important because some
Speaker 2: of these people I gotta interviewed on this last episode
Speaker 2: Let's Go, it was Tiffany Hattish, right, So just standing
Speaker 2: there talking to her, not being intimidated, having confidence, that's important. Listen,
Speaker 2: nowhere near on the scale and level where some of
Speaker 2: these people are. But when I meet Spike League, who
Speaker 2: I interviewed from the podcast, or Central the entertainer where
Speaker 2: I get a chance to talk to, I'm not nervous.
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm no different than them.
Speaker 2: And I don't let the stars study position and wealth
Speaker 2: that they all have intimidate me and lack confidence because
Speaker 2: without confidence, it's everything.
Speaker 1: That's what I like.
Speaker 2: Growing up and over the years I've had to push
Speaker 2: myself in areas where I was nervous or shy and
Speaker 2: petrified and introverted, where I had to come out of
Speaker 2: that shell and be engaging.
Speaker 1: And the books helped me. People in my life helped me.
Speaker 2: This podcast has helped me gain the confidence where I'm
Speaker 2: able to be.
Speaker 1: Malik two point oh. This is why I do what
Speaker 1: I do.
Speaker 2: Listen, No one gets to where they need to go
Speaker 2: or it's going without that comfort and aid and direction
Speaker 2: and push from other people. And I've had a lot
Speaker 2: of people in my life to guide me even when
Speaker 2: I didn't want to be guided to help me even
Speaker 2: though I didn't want to be helped. That's the way
Speaker 2: the world works.
Speaker 1: And I'm now.
Speaker 2: On one hundred episode and I'm a podcaster, I'm a
Speaker 2: ghost owner, I'm a former track Olympian, I'm a business owner, entrepreneur, father,
Speaker 2: a husband, and most importantly, I'm very handsome. Hey, you
Speaker 2: gotta have a sense of humor. That's what life is
Speaker 2: all about.
Speaker 1: Smiling, laughing.
Speaker 2: That brings your joy and it keeps you younger and youthful.
Speaker 2: This is why I do what I do, because I
Speaker 2: enjoy it.
Speaker 1: I believe this is my calling.
Speaker 2: I didn't always believe that, but I know that to
Speaker 2: be the case because the synergy and the energy and
Speaker 2: the forces all around me has put me.
Speaker 1: In this position. And now I know why I do
Speaker 1: what I do. Now are you ready for this? Are
Speaker 1: you ready for this?
Speaker 2: Guess who came to the neighborhood this Thursday and visited
Speaker 2: Malik Books. Now, this was an honor, This was magnetic,
Speaker 2: this was electric, This was a blessing. He could have
Speaker 2: chose to go to any place he wanted, but he
Speaker 2: chose Malite Books.
Speaker 1: He chose to make us part of his riding tour.
Speaker 2: Hundred and twenty years on Kiss FM Radio one O
Speaker 2: two point seven Kiss FM.
Speaker 1: Let's give it up for Ryan Seeks and.
Speaker 2: The Morning Teen, selecting Militue Books as one of the
Speaker 2: stops for his twentieth anniversary owned Kiss FM. Ryan Seacress
Speaker 2: is one of the most dynamic entertainers in the industry.
Speaker 2: He's a producer and an electric host on television on radio.
Speaker 1: He's so successful.
Speaker 2: And he came to Malague Books and embraced Malique himself.
Speaker 1: He treated me with love and grace and honor.
Speaker 2: It was the most embracing moment that I can remember
Speaker 2: in such a long time, and I was very honored
Speaker 2: and appreciative. We took pictures, we laughed, we hugged, we
Speaker 2: said we love each other.
Speaker 1: And but let me tell you this.
Speaker 2: They came and gave away one thousand dollars to the community.
Speaker 1: Someone won a.
Speaker 2: Thousand dollars from Kiss FM at Malite Books.
Speaker 1: That's huge. That's huge. They did a rifle and looked like.
Speaker 2: She was about eleven years old and she had the
Speaker 2: winning ticket.
Speaker 1: One thousand dollars.
Speaker 2: Ryn Secret of the Morning Team also sponsored one hundred
Speaker 2: and two twenty dollars gift cars to buy books.
Speaker 1: At Malikue Books. And let me tell you, it was
Speaker 1: pot They was waiting in the line. They were screaming.
Speaker 2: When he came up to escalator to walk into Malik Books.
Speaker 1: They was shouting Ryan, Ryan rolling. That's right. Listen.
Speaker 2: Community embraced Ryan inside of Milk Books. I walked side
Speaker 2: by side, shoulder and shoulder as we greeted all the
Speaker 2: people inside of milik But we.
Speaker 1: Filled that out.
Speaker 2: We gave away one hundred and two twenty dollars gift
Speaker 2: cars and someone.
Speaker 1: Won a thousand dollars.
Speaker 2: All is sponsored by Kiss FM Ron Seacrest Morning Show.
Speaker 1: This was unprecedented. I've never had.
Speaker 2: A giveaway like this inside of Elite Books, so I
Speaker 2: was honored.
Speaker 1: I was just blessed. It was amazing.
Speaker 2: And you know my podcast Leak's Bookshow in the World
Speaker 2: together with books, culture and community, Well this was that
Speaker 2: type of event inside of Elk Books April twenty fifth,
Speaker 2: where we gave away one thousand dollars. We gave away
Speaker 2: give cards to the community, buy books, a blessings upon,
Speaker 2: blessings upon blessed. That's community, that's cultural, that's books. Come on, man,
Speaker 2: this is why I do what I do. I love
Speaker 2: what I do and I do it with a passion.
Speaker 2: And this particular weekend was also Independent Bookstore Date this Saturday,
Speaker 2: April twenty seven, and so we hosted Tamisha Booker, doctor
Speaker 2: to Misha Booker.
Speaker 1: Let me get it right, let me get it tight.
Speaker 2: You go to school, you get a doctorate, you need
Speaker 2: to be honored as such. Doctor Tomsha Booker, who has
Speaker 2: a publishing company called Hey Carter Books and wrote a
Speaker 2: book called Brown Boy Joy. We featured her at Malik
Speaker 2: Books this Saturday, April twenty seventh. She came through as
Speaker 2: our honored guests for Independent Bookstore Day. Just don't stop
Speaker 2: and it won't stop because I do what I do.
Speaker 2: And it was amazing to celebrate independent bookstore. The inside
Speaker 2: of Malite Books is one party and it's all nationwide.
Speaker 2: All the independent bookstores are celebrating at their locations. We
Speaker 2: had music, we had snacks, we had books, we had
Speaker 2: doctor Tamisha Booker.
Speaker 1: It was enough, a powerful day, powerful.
Speaker 2: Week Independent Bookstore Day, Malite Books in the Westfield, Covid
Speaker 2: City Mall and ball and Hills Crenshaw Mall. I'm just honored.
Speaker 2: I'm just grateful that community shows up when Elite host events.
Speaker 2: Next up May seventh, Ladarian Williams and I'm gonna be
Speaker 2: the moderator.
Speaker 1: That's right, the.
Speaker 2: Hype man of books. His book, Ladamian Williams wrote is
Speaker 2: called Blood at the Root. Come through May seventh, seven pm.
Speaker 2: Elite Books, Westfield, Covid City Mall. We're gonna be discussing
Speaker 2: magic power and guess what the main character of the
Speaker 2: book is Milk.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna moderate.
Speaker 2: We're gonna be talking about magic, fantasy, adventure, sci fi
Speaker 2: because that's what that book is all about. It's gonna
Speaker 2: be electric, it's gonna be powerful. We're gonna have conversations.
Speaker 2: We're gonna have a book signing. Go tomlitebooks dot com.
Speaker 2: You got an RSVP and on May fifteenth, time to
Speaker 2: be announced.
Speaker 1: But we got Shanie Henderson.
Speaker 2: Now she used to be married to Shaq and she's
Speaker 2: the mother of all his kids.
Speaker 1: She has a new book called Undefeated.
Speaker 2: Gonna have a discussion, We're gonna have a book signer
Speaker 2: and guess what.
Speaker 1: She's the producer of a show called Basketball Wife.
Speaker 2: And if they gonna be filming in sign Elk Books, Listen,
Speaker 2: it's gonna be featured on one of the episodes on
Speaker 2: Basketball Wives Shanie Henderson.
Speaker 1: At Malik Books May fifteenth.
Speaker 2: Time to be announced, but go to Melite books dot
Speaker 2: com get more details. You know you're gonna have to
Speaker 2: R's and fe you know it's gonna be limited Seaton.
Speaker 2: It's going down all at Melite Books and guess what,
Speaker 2: you know, I'm gonna try to interview Shannie. You know
Speaker 2: I'm gonna be already interviewing Ladarian Williams Blood at the Root.
Speaker 1: So hey, you gotta keep listening. You gotta keep toning
Speaker 1: into Mileak Books.
Speaker 2: You need to keep continue to follow us on our
Speaker 2: social media and if you need to email, email me
Speaker 2: at real Malik Muhammad at gmail dot com. Well, stay
Speaker 2: tuned for this upcoming episode because it's the one hundred episode.
Speaker 1: Why I do what I do.
Speaker 3: Welcome, Walcome, Welcome to Malik's bookshelf, bringing a world together
Speaker 3: with books, culture and community. I have a guest today
Speaker 3: and it's independent bookstore. Dank give it up.
Speaker 4: We got we got some.
Speaker 1: Folks in Malik Books on independent books no day.
Speaker 3: Thank you for coming by. This is important without independent books.
Speaker 3: I know That's how I got started and it was
Speaker 3: self published independent authors. Is how Malik Books got started
Speaker 3: back in nineteen ninety. All these books that you see
Speaker 3: in here, with all them one published like it is today.
Speaker 3: It's only because of your buying power that all the
Speaker 3: mainstream publishers are publishing our voice.
Speaker 4: We like to say, I'm lead books.
Speaker 1: We get voice to the voiceless.
Speaker 4: So Hey, thank you.
Speaker 3: Now we're gonna turn this conversation to my beloved sister.
Speaker 3: She got a publishing company called Hey Carter Books. This
Speaker 3: particular book here, Brown Boy Joyce she got about sixteen.
Speaker 3: But Brown Boy joy has been the one that has
Speaker 3: blown up. Let's give a round of applause to Misha Booker.
Speaker 3: So no one can tell you more about that book
Speaker 3: than the authors. So let's get right into it. Tell
Speaker 3: us about this wonderful book that you wrote, Brown Boy Jorge.
Speaker 5: Yes, So Brown Boy joy is inspired by my son Carter.
Speaker 4: The whole brand is inspired.
Speaker 6: By my son Carter, now my daughter truly.
Speaker 5: And so as a child, I grew up with a
Speaker 5: lot of anti blackness in my home. I was raised
Speaker 5: by a biracial mother and a white grandmother, and so
Speaker 5: I heard a lot of hurtful things about my skin color, my.
Speaker 6: Hair, my facial features.
Speaker 5: And so when I wrote this book, I wanted my
Speaker 5: son to have something that would be empowering so you
Speaker 5: can see themselves. But really my books are letters to
Speaker 5: my inner child. I write all the things that I
Speaker 5: wish were around and wish I.
Speaker 6: Needed to hear growing up.
Speaker 5: And so inside Brown Boy Joy you will find all
Speaker 5: the things little brown boys love, from gardening to being
Speaker 5: in space, to playing with trucks and just paying with
Speaker 5: their friends and just highlighting all the joy. And when
Speaker 5: little black boys see this book, I want them to
Speaker 5: find themselves.
Speaker 4: On the pages.
Speaker 5: I know that they are loved and cared for and
Speaker 5: cherished and respected. And yes, this is just a little
Speaker 5: piece of my heart that is into the world.
Speaker 3: You know what, My introduction was short and it didn't
Speaker 3: encompass her academical Now this is doctor Tumisian, doctor Tomsia Hooker,
Speaker 3: all right, she paid a price to have that di
Speaker 3: to make sure I mentioned that, And what what is it?
Speaker 4: An education?
Speaker 5: So I am a life and social worker, have a
Speaker 5: master's in social work.
Speaker 6: I have a doctor education health and psychology.
Speaker 5: So a lot of my books are rooted in black psychology,
Speaker 5: especially when books serve as counter messages to the negative
Speaker 5: narratives that.
Speaker 6: We hear in the world, and so we.
Speaker 5: Need these as tools and schools and homes so our
Speaker 5: children know that their place is wherever they are.
Speaker 6: They can thrive and.
Speaker 3: Grow when you know everyone, I've been nicknamed the Height
Speaker 3: Man of Books, Mali the Height Man of Books, and
Speaker 3: I just want you to know I'm featuring it for
Speaker 3: my one hundred episode coming up, dim it Up one
Speaker 3: hundred episode or Malie's Books Show bringing a world together
Speaker 3: with books, culture and Kummer.
Speaker 4: Now I never saw much as a podcaster.
Speaker 3: I can't thank Royan Cacris, Kiss FM, iHeartRadio his team
Speaker 3: for staring me in this direction as a podcaster. This
Speaker 3: is my one hundred episode, and I think this is
Speaker 3: a wonderful one because we're talking about representation, and this
Speaker 3: is one of the reasons why I'm in the industry
Speaker 3: is because it was a lack of representation and books.
Speaker 4: Matter, reading matters, you know, and we have to start
Speaker 4: without you.
Speaker 3: It talked to me about why it's important that we
Speaker 3: start early because most of your sixteen books, I'm assuming
Speaker 3: our children books, so talk to us about that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, I think when people think of representation,
Speaker 5: it's more than just yes, the exposure. But I see
Speaker 5: it from a safety perspective. I think when books are
Speaker 5: in schools, it lets our children know that this is
Speaker 5: the space for them, that they're meant to be there.
Speaker 5: They can see themselves, and that means that they know
Speaker 5: that reading is for them and education is for them.
Speaker 5: And when you don't see yourself inside of books or
Speaker 5: in a world, you know it's meant for you.
Speaker 4: And so when we have.
Speaker 5: Black books with written by black authors sharing a black narrative,
Speaker 5: it reinforces that messages and letting our children know that
Speaker 5: this space is for them, those books are for them.
Speaker 4: Yes, yeah.
Speaker 3: And so I mean you guys, you're own publishing because
Speaker 3: he Carter hate Carter Books.
Speaker 4: You write a lot of books dealing with representation.
Speaker 3: Brown Boy Joy, which I'm holding up and we're doing
Speaker 3: the book signing right here today Independent Bookstore Day at
Speaker 3: Malik Books.
Speaker 4: Westfield, Kobe City Mall.
Speaker 3: And youven wrote about it, like I said, sixteen of them.
Speaker 3: And so what drives you, what continues to move you forward?
Speaker 3: You know, I know what drives me at Molik Books.
Speaker 3: I know what drives me is the hype man of books.
Speaker 5: For what drives you definitely my children, you know, when
Speaker 5: I look at their faces, I'm reminded of all the
Speaker 5: other children.
Speaker 6: Who definitely need these books as well, and.
Speaker 5: Just future generations again that safety issue, making sure that
Speaker 5: black children for futures know that we got them, we
Speaker 5: love them as a place for them. And you know,
Speaker 5: just walking into Moleek Books, it feels like black children
Speaker 5: should be here, This is a space for them. It
Speaker 5: feels love, it feels comfortable. You know, if you walk
Speaker 5: into a bookstore and.
Speaker 6: You don't see yourself on the shelves, then why why
Speaker 6: are you gonna read?
Speaker 4: You know, read the books.
Speaker 5: So all of my books have affirmations in them. They
Speaker 5: really speak life into children. I want children to walk
Speaker 5: away feeling, you know, just rooted and who they are
Speaker 5: and standing in there their purpose and helping them to
Speaker 5: cultivate a positive inner voice. So yeah, I'm mostly also
Speaker 5: driven by, just like I said, my inner child. You know,
Speaker 5: I speak to and tap into her as much as
Speaker 5: possible to make sure that she knows she's loved and chairs.
Speaker 4: So yes, I.
Speaker 3: Didn't drop the book with the showbus go on, It's
Speaker 3: not over because I dropped a book but thats just
Speaker 3: said that how.
Speaker 4: Important that book is. You know, I grew up with
Speaker 4: a lot of self esteem. I grew up not loving.
Speaker 3: Mylf and it's only through books. Like I always tell
Speaker 3: you why you get in the book business. I had
Speaker 3: a degree from USC but I didn't have a knowledge yourself.
Speaker 3: And part of that is loving yourself, accepting yourself. In
Speaker 3: order to be yourself, you got to love yourself.
Speaker 4: And I know that the way I thought.
Speaker 3: And the things I used to say, I didn't grow
Speaker 3: up with a representative books that talked about our experiences
Speaker 3: looked like me in the book. The first thing a
Speaker 3: child look for in a picture is themselves.
Speaker 4: And when you don't see yourself, man.
Speaker 3: I can remember all the years I gave greeting cards
Speaker 3: to my mom with all kinds of other people on there,
Speaker 3: because it wasn't no black greeting cars. You know, and
Speaker 3: it's so important. And you know you have your doctorate
Speaker 3: you in education. Did the book come out before you
Speaker 3: had your doctorate or did you get your doctorate first
Speaker 3: and education and then as it spin off to evolve.
Speaker 4: Your brand, you wrote these books. Yeah, so education.
Speaker 5: In my home, I think my mother kind of you know,
Speaker 5: drove home the message of you need to go to college,
Speaker 5: mad Sri, go to college, and so I kind of
Speaker 5: was on this track of, well, I'm just gonna go
Speaker 5: to college and kind of figure it out.
Speaker 6: So I wanted to choose a.
Speaker 5: Degree that I thought was gonna be needed for a
Speaker 5: long time longevity, so I would to psychology.
Speaker 4: Have figured a computer can't.
Speaker 6: Replace me, So that's why I kind of chose that.
Speaker 5: And I think with a lot of other the to
Speaker 5: all professionals, when you come from a hurt place, you
Speaker 5: want to, you know, give that back to the community.
Speaker 5: But I had already had my doctorate and my master's
Speaker 5: when I wrote the book. It was actually when I
Speaker 5: was pregnant with my son. It was a very dark
Speaker 5: time me coming into motherhood, that transition. I was not
Speaker 5: really sure how that was gonna change me. I was
Speaker 5: a career woman and felt like I didn't want to
Speaker 5: be slowed down and it was just a lot. And
Speaker 5: so during that transition is when I turned to writing.
Speaker 5: It was a creative outlet to express myself. And then
Speaker 5: when I found out I was having a son, a
Speaker 5: black son, so he's gonna need tools, and I want
Speaker 5: to be able to create things. So it was kind
Speaker 5: of a cathartic experience to be able to transition into
Speaker 5: motherhood and.
Speaker 6: Give him, you know, this beautiful gift.
Speaker 5: And when I first started writing books, I had no
Speaker 5: idea what I was doing.
Speaker 6: It was just my gift to my son and to
Speaker 6: the world.
Speaker 5: And I'm so glad that I chose it because's actually
Speaker 5: a nice compliment with my education background.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, And you know, you travel the nation, you put
Speaker 3: on workshops.
Speaker 4: Can you tell us a little about these workshops.
Speaker 5: Yes, So the workshops have really been a good merge
Speaker 5: of my clinical skills and.
Speaker 6: Also being an author.
Speaker 5: And my main goal in the workshops is to help
Speaker 5: children cultivate a positive innervoice and just feel good and
Speaker 5: be able to know how to speak to themselves. I
Speaker 5: talk a lot about how powerful the brain is and
Speaker 5: that the messages you put inside of your brain those
Speaker 5: really mad. So today we let a workshop on planting
Speaker 5: at the Kannunga Park Library and all the attendees planted.
Speaker 6: Their own Basically, they gave life to their words.
Speaker 5: They had seated paper, they wrote affirmations on those they
Speaker 5: planted them, and really talked about how there's power in
Speaker 5: our words and the things that you say to yourself.
Speaker 5: They matter, And you know, I think as adults we
Speaker 5: may know that skills.
Speaker 4: So I'm really.
Speaker 5: Focused on helping our young children learn that and be
Speaker 5: able to take that with them throughout their life.
Speaker 3: Well, you talk about these affirmations, you talk about these words.
Speaker 3: We grew up with a lot of nursery rhymes that
Speaker 3: would very devastate and destructive towards like steaks and stones
Speaker 3: might break my moon, but words will never hurt me.
Speaker 4: How many times words.
Speaker 3: Have killed you, destroyed you, diminished you, you hate yourself?
Speaker 4: You know? Words are powerful?
Speaker 3: Yes, And we have to speak into existence what we
Speaker 3: want in this world and manifests what we want in
Speaker 3: this world. And we got to be careful what we
Speaker 3: teach our young A lot of these things that we're
Speaker 3: teaching and passing on, it's like we're passing on to
Speaker 3: the next gend the trauma not knowing better. You know,
Speaker 3: we you're responsible what you know. And I didn't grow
Speaker 3: up with these books. We hope that the next generation,
Speaker 3: because which is one of it's in our future, will.
Speaker 7: Take books like your books hate black black boy, I
Speaker 7: mean brown boy joy will take books like this and
Speaker 7: evolve and.
Speaker 3: Change, break the cycle, break the generational cycle.
Speaker 4: And so.
Speaker 3: Man, I applaud you for doing your part. I'm doing
Speaker 3: my part by being a bookstore owner. And what I mean,
Speaker 3: any plans for this turning into animation a series on
Speaker 3: TV talk to us about the future of your brand.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I have definitely spoke out loud and I'm a
Speaker 5: really very manifestation and just saying out loud what I want.
Speaker 5: So definitely have said out loud many times that I
Speaker 5: see this as an animated series. If you look at cartoons,
Speaker 5: you don't see black boys in the front, and that's
Speaker 5: completely problematic.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 5: That's another reason why I wrote these books is because
Speaker 5: I saw on the shows that black boys weren't really there.
Speaker 4: And even a lot.
Speaker 5: Of times when I'm selling my books, people will say, oh, yeah,
Speaker 5: something for girls, and I'm like, I do see the need,
Speaker 5: and I definitely understand why black girls need to be
Speaker 5: front and center. But when you aside from your bookstore,
Speaker 5: of course, but when you're in typical bookstores, you're not
Speaker 5: seeing black boys.
Speaker 6: Front and center.
Speaker 5: So I am manifesting, you know, a animated series where
Speaker 5: a black boy is in the front and shining, and
Speaker 5: you are seeing him living his life, his happiness.
Speaker 6: His joy for the world to see.
Speaker 5: So that's definitely when I had these books in mind
Speaker 5: where I see.
Speaker 4: It going, well, that's wonderful, and you're right, we have
Speaker 4: to you know.
Speaker 3: I mean it was a book out called Conspiracy Destroyed
Speaker 3: Black Boys by doctor Juwanza can Chu f You? And basically,
Speaker 3: you know, he pointed out as a in his doctor
Speaker 3: and his degree and his education that black boys are
Speaker 3: under assaw and are being destroyed at a very age.
Speaker 3: They run them away from mathematics and they make math.
Speaker 3: They teaching a way to make them not like math.
Speaker 3: When math is at the root of every civilization. Math
Speaker 3: is at the root of nation building. There is no
Speaker 3: civilization without engineering and science.
Speaker 4: There's no growth.
Speaker 3: And if we running away our young, are you away
Speaker 3: from math?
Speaker 4: What future were we heard? Yeah?
Speaker 5: You know, black boys grow up to be feared as men.
Speaker 5: You know, black boys are seen as more aggressive, their
Speaker 5: emotions are misunderstood, They are giving harsh for punishments than
Speaker 5: their counterparts. And you know, even my son as early
Speaker 5: as two years old was seen as his age appropriate
Speaker 5: play and.
Speaker 6: Behavior was seen as aggressive. And you know that's really problematic.
Speaker 5: And then you kind of have that preschool to to
Speaker 5: to jail pipeline.
Speaker 6: You know, the prins of pipeline.
Speaker 5: And so it's really important to me that black boys
Speaker 5: know that they are loved and cared for.
Speaker 4: And valued and value and we matter.
Speaker 3: We matter, and our black sisters and black children and
Speaker 3: black young women matter. But we definitely have to put
Speaker 3: emphasis and I appreciate that on black boys, brown boys,
Speaker 3: because without.
Speaker 4: Our men and our children, our future is dismal.
Speaker 3: And so I want to take this opportunity to thank
Speaker 3: you for your contribution to the upliftment of the next generation,
Speaker 3: because that's our future and of our future.
Speaker 4: So thank you, thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 3: Tell the people how they can reach you and follow
Speaker 3: you and keep in touch with the moves that you're making.
Speaker 5: Yes yes so On all social media platforms, it's Hay
Speaker 5: Carter Books on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and also online at
Speaker 5: haycarterbooks dot com.
Speaker 4: Bingo, bingo, thank you. I don't want to mess up
Speaker 4: your name. Doctor to.
Speaker 1: Me your book the doctor, but doctor to mess your book.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to Malak's bookshelf with topics on the
Speaker 2: shelf are books, culture and community.
Speaker 1: Be sure to subscribe and leave me a review. Check
Speaker 1: out my Instagram at Malak Books. See you next time.