Speaker 1: Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to Malik's bookshel bringing a world together
Speaker 1: with books, culture and community. Hi, my name is Malik,
Speaker 1: your host of Malik's Bookshelf. I never get tired of
Speaker 1: saying my intro. Instead of it being taped, I do
Speaker 1: it live every single time.
Speaker 2: Welcome, Welcome, Welcome.
Speaker 1: Last week you heard my last podcast. It was about
Speaker 1: saget To entertainer did a book sign an exclusive book
Speaker 1: signing at Malik Books and it was fire.
Speaker 2: So you know, if you ain't heard.
Speaker 1: That particular podcast label, go back and I got some
Speaker 1: of the highlights on there because it was fire.
Speaker 2: I interviewed him.
Speaker 1: So that's last week's podcast. This week's on this episode,
Speaker 1: you know what I want to talk about. I want
Speaker 1: to talk about band books. That's white band books. Now,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of movement going on every year about
Speaker 1: that subject. Minor and books a band from different states
Speaker 1: and different cimris and different cities all.
Speaker 2: Over this country.
Speaker 1: For whatever reasons, this is a hot topic out in
Speaker 1: the in the United States. This week happened to be
Speaker 1: I believe Bad Book Week and so a lot of
Speaker 1: people are doing events across the New I'm not doing
Speaker 1: an event, but I'm gonna talk about it and the
Speaker 1: reason why I'm not doing an event in the store
Speaker 1: because Malik's books. It's a bookstore that has tons of
Speaker 1: band books all throughout his bookshelf. That's why I don't
Speaker 1: need to do nothing s p you know, separate or
Speaker 1: or an event just to highlight band books.
Speaker 2: We got an old bookstore full of band books. There's
Speaker 2: no reason for me to.
Speaker 1: Do anything other than what I've always been doing giving
Speaker 1: voice to the voices, and that includes a gang and
Speaker 1: a ton of band books. You know, we got wall
Speaker 1: to walk books on our shelves that are banned. A
Speaker 1: lot of these books on our shelves you can't find
Speaker 1: at bookstores. Be why because they CeNSE of these books.
Speaker 1: A lot of these bookstores can say, oh, we are
Speaker 1: advocates against you know, against banned books.
Speaker 2: But still they don't carry a lot of these books
Speaker 2: because they are biased. People are biased. They can say
Speaker 2: they not, but they are and their corporations that are biased,
Speaker 2: and they have banned many books, most.
Speaker 1: Of them self published, and history cultural and books that
Speaker 1: speak about the upliftment and betterment and the cultural history
Speaker 1: and the historical history of rugby.
Speaker 2: They've been banned without being banned.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, They ain't been found at
Speaker 1: these bookstore. That's how I got started. I got started
Speaker 1: selling books because I wanted to bring materials that I
Speaker 1: graduated from USC. I done told this story many times.
Speaker 1: I wanted to bring these books to our community because
Speaker 1: I felt it could make a difference in our community,
Speaker 1: because it.
Speaker 2: Can change and transform the lives of people.
Speaker 1: Why Because know thy self is important, believing in self,
Speaker 1: love and self is important. And most of the books
Speaker 1: that were published throughout this country and that you can
Speaker 1: finded these bookstores did not even address the mental trauma
Speaker 1: and the lack of self esteem and the lack of
Speaker 1: representation that black people had suffered from. They might've had
Speaker 1: a few shelves full of black books, but none of
Speaker 1: those books there little mainstream, and they were civil rights.
Speaker 1: They didn't deal with the cultural significance and elevated history
Speaker 1: that black people brought to the world. They didn't address
Speaker 1: the real trauma. Most of our books have been banned.
Speaker 2: That's how I got started. And people ask me all
Speaker 2: the time, you know what got you you started selling books.
Speaker 2: The fact that all these books that I read were
Speaker 2: banned and wasn't found.
Speaker 1: In bookstores, and you certainly couldn't, you know, bring those
Speaker 1: books in most of the school district. You know, they
Speaker 1: allow certain books that are powerful, but yet they don't
Speaker 1: far they don't reach far enough. See Mayangelo, you see
Speaker 1: Tony Morrison, you see James bond All. They wrote significant books. Langston,
Speaker 1: you they wrote significant books. These are award winning giants
Speaker 1: in the literary world. Their books have been banned, their
Speaker 1: books have been historically banned all across this country. But
Speaker 1: once again, they didn't address the intersecting issues that create
Speaker 1: this mass trauma where you don't have a knowledge of self.
Speaker 2: And a lot of these books that were self published.
Speaker 1: By doctor Claude Anderson, by Elijah Muhammad, by let's see J. A.
Speaker 2: Rogers, by Carter G.
Speaker 1: Woodson, by Joseph bin Yackaman, by doctor Henry Clark, by
Speaker 1: Francis cris Wellson. I mean, it's a ton of books
Speaker 1: there have been that you can't find in most bookstores
Speaker 1: all across it.
Speaker 2: And it's not that they wasn't banned. It's just that.
Speaker 1: These books, you know, the now Valley contribution of civilization,
Speaker 1: you know, they just didn't want this information disseminated across
Speaker 1: the name. When I opened up, I had a lot
Speaker 1: of these books that you couldn't find at.
Speaker 2: Most bookstores, let alone band books. These books was the
Speaker 2: double double band because they wouldn't carry certain books like
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 1: And and when they talk about band, they talking about
Speaker 1: books that can't be placed in libraries in school district
Speaker 1: schools all across this nation. Although some of the main
Speaker 1: book stores, yes, they will carry some of these books
Speaker 1: and have some of these books on their bookshell, absolutely,
Speaker 1: but what they wouldn't have in libraries all across this nation,
Speaker 1: they wouldn't have or they wouldn't allow these school dish
Speaker 1: wouldn't allow these kind of books to be disseminated or
Speaker 1: read in schools across this nation. Books such as My
Speaker 1: Angelo the Uh, the books she wrote I Know Why
Speaker 1: the Cage Bird Sing You not some powerful book she wrote,
Speaker 1: My Angelo Band.
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying, Band the Book by H.
Speaker 3: Richard Wright, Native Son Band, Song of Solomon by Tony
Speaker 3: mor Band, Uh Fahrenheit for fifty one in School's Band
Speaker 3: by Ray Ray Bradburry.
Speaker 1: You know, you know, and that's.
Speaker 2: A great book to read because look, it's band, It's
Speaker 2: banning Box in that movie.
Speaker 1: His burning books is controlling the way people think, and
Speaker 1: they controlling what they read, so they burning every you
Speaker 1: can't have books. It's particularly the books outside of the
Speaker 1: parameter that they want sold that book Fahrenheit for fifty one.
Speaker 1: You know they did a remake of also on that movie.
Speaker 1: I remember reading that back in the day band Song
Speaker 1: of Solomon. I don't know if I said that, but
Speaker 1: the Bluest Eye, that's the one I Met by Tony Band,
Speaker 1: Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Box Band,
Speaker 1: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison Band, and Malcolm X The.
Speaker 2: Autobiography of Malcolm X Band, The Color Purple by.
Speaker 1: Allison Walker Band, The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas Band.
Speaker 2: I can go on and on. The Lord or the Fly.
Speaker 2: I've read that back in my day band.
Speaker 1: A lot of these books today they go on want
Speaker 1: in schools. They all have their motives, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying now. I don't believe in censorship myself, but
Speaker 1: I do believe in age appropriate reading. And a lot
Speaker 1: of these books they're asia prop. They don't want them
Speaker 1: there reading in schools. They feel that they're racist, that
Speaker 1: they just criminate that they're sexist, that they're homophobic, or
Speaker 1: whatever the problem that it. Look here, look here, look here.
Speaker 1: This is a subject near to my heart, like I said.
Speaker 1: And a lot of these books that are banned, uh
Speaker 1: are one thing. And then there's the list that not
Speaker 1: necessarily get any national ten uh attention. But they're band
Speaker 1: and you can't find them at stores mainstream. The ones
Speaker 1: I just read out just now, you could find those
Speaker 1: in a lot of the public mainstream publishing bookstores, that
Speaker 1: is the mainstream bookstore, although they abandoned school.
Speaker 2: Just you know, you could always find them books at
Speaker 2: Elik Books.
Speaker 1: But a lot of them other books, like I said,
Speaker 1: nine Voley contribution them. So the book called the Black
Speaker 1: Jewel by Joseph bin Yacum the uh, the book called
Speaker 1: the American's Gift the Africa j Rogers, Let's see section
Speaker 1: and racest.
Speaker 2: M World's with the Colored by Jay Run.
Speaker 1: You ain't finding them in no mainstream published. A lot
Speaker 1: of these books you couldn't find nowhere, But then you had.
Speaker 1: I had 'em at Elie Books. And I've been serving
Speaker 1: the community since nineteen ninety and that's all I got started.
Speaker 2: You know, we was a we was publishing children books.
Speaker 1: Not me, but self published author was publishing children books
Speaker 1: that didn't had pictures and images of black kids and
Speaker 1: about things that goes on.
Speaker 2: In the black family and so forth.
Speaker 1: Now a lot of the mainstream public publishing those things,
Speaker 1: but back then they wasn't.
Speaker 2: And I've been doing this since nineteen ninety.
Speaker 1: So a lot of black voices was banned, a lot
Speaker 1: of black voices wasn't heard, a lot of a lot
Speaker 1: of black voices, a lot of black voices was kept
Speaker 1: off the bookshelf.
Speaker 2: That's right, a lot of black voices was banned.
Speaker 1: A lot of black voices wasn't heard, a lot of
Speaker 1: black voices was kept off the bookshelf.
Speaker 2: All of this had.
Speaker 1: Taken place all across this nation, but at Malie Books,
Speaker 1: we gave voice to the voices. So I was asked
Speaker 1: by a cause, Hey, what you doing for Banned Book Week?
Speaker 1: I said nothing, Oh, you know, you should consider doing something.
Speaker 1: I was like, at all due respect, this whole store's
Speaker 1: has a ton of books that were banned. And I've
Speaker 1: been part of the band movement for a long time,
Speaker 1: so I don't need to set aside a date on
Speaker 1: the time to celebrate.
Speaker 2: Banded book week. Other people just now jumping on the bandwagon.
Speaker 1: We been on it since nineteen ninety and we host
Speaker 1: a lot of books at Melief books that have been banned,
Speaker 1: and so we get voice to the voice.
Speaker 2: So it's no need for me.
Speaker 1: So if you wanna visit Milique Books, then you walking
Speaker 1: into a store full of band books, because we don't
Speaker 1: believe in censorship. We just believe in age appropriate reading, okay,
Speaker 1: And so anyway, this subject matter, band books, you know,
Speaker 1: it's a powerful subject.
Speaker 2: It's a powerful movement, you know.
Speaker 1: But every book is not a good book, and it's
Speaker 1: it is what I call naive. It is nieve to
Speaker 1: believe that every band book is still a good book
Speaker 1: for to be read.
Speaker 2: What I'm saying, and that's being not even negative. Alright.
Speaker 1: I read a read a ton of books that it
Speaker 1: was so negative and outrageous about black people, about black history.
Speaker 2: And about black culture. And you will find them in
Speaker 2: libraries all across this world.
Speaker 1: You'll find books like that, there's inaccurate about our culture
Speaker 1: and our history, and a ton of them, thousands of 'em,
Speaker 1: if not millions. They had a false narrative about black people,
Speaker 1: black culture, and black life. We've been dealing with that
Speaker 1: stereotype in those kind of books for a long time.
Speaker 1: But I don't believe in censorship. I think you have
Speaker 1: a choice. You can read it or not read it.
Speaker 1: But my thing is, I think you should have age
Speaker 1: appropriate because I don't think children should be reading certain
Speaker 1: books that are geared towards adults. You know, there ha,
Speaker 1: there has to be advisory on that. You can't a child.
Speaker 1: Uh uh, Well, you can't drink out all to twenty one?
Speaker 1: Why because there's a age appropriate time for that. It's
Speaker 1: gotta be a age appropriate for each It's each book
Speaker 1: has a category that is targeting.
Speaker 2: Don't get me wrong, but some of those uh.
Speaker 1: Targets are not correct and some of those books, some
Speaker 1: kids at a certain age should not be reading. You know,
Speaker 1: I definitely don't think that the kids in preschool and
Speaker 1: elementary should be reading about sexual orientation. I don't think
Speaker 1: it's appropriate, and I don't think that it should be
Speaker 1: allowed because it's not age appropriate.
Speaker 2: Not that they it.
Speaker 1: Shouldn't be taught, but I don't think a five, of
Speaker 1: a six, and a three year old should be learning
Speaker 1: about sex.
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: That I don't think it's the school's right to appropriate that,
Speaker 1: and I don't think that it's wise that we have
Speaker 1: a school just focusing on sexual orientation to three, four, five,
Speaker 1: six years old. I think that's insane. And they are
Speaker 1: a movement of people trying to do that kind of stuff. Well, anyway,
Speaker 1: that's another subject. But I'm talking about band books. And
Speaker 1: band books in America have been going on for a
Speaker 1: long time, and black books have been the target of
Speaker 1: band books for a long time. And I just don't
Speaker 1: you know me personally, I'm just not jumping on a
Speaker 1: bandwagon with everybody, because everybody got a different agenda. My
Speaker 1: agenda is to get voice to the voiceless and to
Speaker 1: have books that can be positive and impactful and elevate
Speaker 1: our community and the people in the community.
Speaker 2: All across this nation. That's my first mission and agenda.
Speaker 2: Now it also can help educate racists outside of our culture.
Speaker 1: If you want to know something about black life, black history,
Speaker 1: black culture.
Speaker 2: Hey, come to Malite Books.
Speaker 1: We got a ton of books to get help educate
Speaker 1: you and break down your ignorance and stereotype because a
Speaker 1: lot of that prejudging and prejudice that go on cause
Speaker 1: a lot of time, Peach.
Speaker 2: Some people just don't know.
Speaker 1: They don't know the great history of black They don't
Speaker 1: know all the impact, all the impacts Black.
Speaker 2: People have made in America. It's a l a lot
Speaker 2: of people just like me.
Speaker 1: When I came out of high uh College, I didn't
Speaker 1: know much about black culture, black life, and I didn't
Speaker 1: think black people.
Speaker 2: Did much at all.
Speaker 1: So if I thought like that, imagine how many white
Speaker 1: folks in Hispanics and Asians think the same thing. This
Speaker 1: is a reality and this is a problem. But I
Speaker 1: believe books I can educate you. I got a ton
Speaker 1: of books to.
Speaker 2: Help you know.
Speaker 1: Yo s know about ourselves, black people know about themselves.
Speaker 1: But also it could help other coaches know about us
Speaker 1: and have a different view of us because they see
Speaker 1: the impact that there's not a in du industry. There's
Speaker 1: not a industry in America where Blacks have not made
Speaker 1: a impact in the investment of not only America, but
Speaker 1: the sivilization of humanity. And that's before America, and that's
Speaker 1: doing America and even doing slavery. Black people came up
Speaker 1: with inventions that enriched America, the impact of black life,
Speaker 1: black science, black culture, Mathematicians in the Industrial Revolution that
Speaker 1: shot America to the top of the superpower It's impactful.
Speaker 1: It is unimaginable how many blacks played the role, that
Speaker 1: so many people are across this nation do not know,
Speaker 1: just do not know. And you see, this is a
Speaker 1: subject I'm passionate about. You can feel the energy because
Speaker 1: a and it's not scripted, is coming from my heart
Speaker 1: because this is a subject.
Speaker 2: Matter that is real to me, true to me. And
Speaker 2: I've been on this journey since nineteen ninety when I
Speaker 2: wakened reading books about black culture, black history, and black
Speaker 2: life that allowed me to see a different window in
Speaker 2: a different world and a different perspective of black people.
Speaker 1: And it is my hope that other races and other
Speaker 1: cultures read books about other cultures. My whole life, I
Speaker 1: got a PhD in white history because hell, that's all
Speaker 1: they taught in school.
Speaker 2: There's no need for me to continue to keep reading
Speaker 2: books about them. I already read.
Speaker 1: I'm already doing that anyway, because I do book reviews
Speaker 1: and I love some of they books. But the reality
Speaker 1: is this is there's no need for me to continue
Speaker 1: to learn about the white civilization and white coust because
Speaker 1: my whole life, I got a PhD in.
Speaker 2: Now that's all they taught. But for other cultures, come.
Speaker 1: Get some of this black life, this black history, this
Speaker 1: black coust so you'll know more about us and get
Speaker 1: an appreciation for our for our history, the impact that
Speaker 1: we made on some civilization.
Speaker 2: You see, you see.
Speaker 1: That information is better still because still most people don't
Speaker 1: know about that. All these rural and suburban cities all
Speaker 1: across this country. They under an illusion, and they're under
Speaker 1: a lie of a lot of things that they've been taught.
Speaker 1: And this is why they created this movement about what
Speaker 1: is call critical race theory. See how they kind of
Speaker 1: tied together because a lot of the falsehoods they've taught
Speaker 1: for centuries and centuries and centuries.
Speaker 2: In school a lies about blacks.
Speaker 1: And now that books are coming out teaching us about
Speaker 1: a little history about ourselves, the cultural impact that we
Speaker 1: made in America, like sixteen nineteen Project by Nicole Hannah Jones.
Speaker 1: Now the books out like that they want to ban
Speaker 1: because it's making them feel uncomfortable. Well, how many centuries
Speaker 1: have you in decades have you made us feel uncomfortable?
Speaker 2: Making us hate ourselves? And nobody trying.
Speaker 1: To teach white America to hate themselves or feel unpreciate
Speaker 1: about themselves. You running the world, You running this country
Speaker 1: and the world. How's this gonna make your children feel inferior?
Speaker 1: And you running the world? When they wake up every day?
Speaker 1: And who do they see flying airplanes? Who do they
Speaker 1: see flying making all the automobiles? Who do they see
Speaker 1: as the most teachers? Who do they see as president?
Speaker 1: Who do they see running this world? All the congressmen
Speaker 1: they see when they go into malls, who do they
Speaker 1: see manufacturing goods and serve all across this nation? Then
Speaker 1: they gonna feel infeeling to learn about black history and
Speaker 1: black culture and black life.
Speaker 2: They gonna make them feel or the appreciate about themselves.
Speaker 2: They gonna it's gonna make.
Speaker 1: Them mourn about who they are really, So you can't teach.
Speaker 1: George Washington was the founding father and Thomas Jefferson was
Speaker 1: one of the founding fathers, and they were presidents, and
Speaker 1: they helped write the Decreation of Independence of what have you?
Speaker 2: And George Washington was the first president.
Speaker 1: You can't teach that. It's still and still teach that,
Speaker 1: you know on the other side of that. Yeah, but
Speaker 1: they were slaveholders. Yes, they were white supremacist. Yes, they
Speaker 1: were im moral, no matter how you try to make
Speaker 1: them appear to be civilized in so many they were
Speaker 1: uncivilized in a lot of other areas. They had committed
Speaker 1: crimes against humanity. Yet you can't teach both of the
Speaker 1: truths about that, both of truth. Why is it that
Speaker 1: I gotta be one or the other. Oh, Joe, I
Speaker 1: never told her lie. Oh he never told a lie. Oh,
Speaker 1: he's the founding father.
Speaker 2: He's Grays.
Speaker 1: Yeah, see him the founding for true, him the first president.
Speaker 2: True. Him never telling a lie is a lie. See,
Speaker 2: it's a lot.
Speaker 1: Him being great, Yeah, he was great. Him being a
Speaker 1: wife suprimercy, that's what he was. Him being a slavery
Speaker 1: that's what he was him crimes against humanity. American laws
Speaker 1: is not the final law. If that's the case, they
Speaker 1: never would have had the newmborough trials for Germany. They
Speaker 1: were just following instructions. There's a higher law than what
Speaker 1: uh uh uh uh Hitler's generals and troops has has
Speaker 1: to follow. Y. They have to follow the law of humanity,
Speaker 1: the law of life. There ain't no justification just because
Speaker 1: that was Germany's law and Hitler gave him direction.
Speaker 2: It was wicked. It was evil. What he what they
Speaker 2: did to people, it was evil. And they didn't get
Speaker 2: away with it, did they.
Speaker 1: They were convicted the Newmburg trial, and they should've been
Speaker 1: What about all the evil that America has done to
Speaker 1: to blacks and Indians? See when when when's the justice
Speaker 1: on that? And I'm just being hardcourting right now on
Speaker 1: that it was evil what George Washington did, what Thomas
Speaker 1: Jefferson did, You could hold them up. See and black
Speaker 1: peo pe people are waking up and they not seeing
Speaker 1: they not seeing them in the same light as white
Speaker 1: people who see 'em because he was the founding father,
Speaker 1: he was the president.
Speaker 2: When I'm saying, George, see, this is an example of
Speaker 2: a problem that exists. So when it come to.
Speaker 1: Banned books, there's a lot of books that talk about
Speaker 1: a lot of white heroes that are detrimental to black
Speaker 1: minds and black thinking, and a lot of this need
Speaker 1: to be addressed and deal with. So when it comes
Speaker 1: to band books, like I said, we have a whole
Speaker 1: store full of band books. We have been an advocate
Speaker 1: for band books for since we.
Speaker 2: Open our doors.
Speaker 1: So there's no need for me to do anything independent
Speaker 1: other than to continue to do what I've always been doing,
Speaker 1: and that's give voice a voiceless and provide a place
Speaker 1: where people can find unique and hard to find books
Speaker 1: about black culture, black life, black civilization, black family.
Speaker 2: You see about our culture. And all I'm saying is
Speaker 2: come to Malik Books.
Speaker 1: You know, and and and and and you'll find a
Speaker 1: treasure troll. You know, you'll find a treasure troll because
Speaker 1: that's what I do. So that's why this subject of
Speaker 1: band book is passionate. And that's my podcast for this episode.
Speaker 1: No nothing else need to be said. I hope you
Speaker 1: enjoyed my thoughts on this Peace