...statement and corroborated his assertion that he was the shooter and these other two people, not Mr. Islam or Mr. Aziz, who were our clients, you know, had committed this crime.
But that information was withheld.
Innocence Project Executive Director Christina Swarnes.
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We are kicking off our annual Holiday Authors Week series, and we're starting this series with the wonderful Gloria Edom, who is the founder of the literary platform Well Read Black Girl, who's joining us to discuss her book, Gather Me,
a memoir in praise of the books that saved me.
Welcome to Washington Journal.
Oh, thank you.
How are you?
I'm doing well, thank you.
Now, talk about Well Read Black Girl, which started as an online community, but has since taken on...
Yes, so Well Read Black Girl is a book club, a podcast, and now a nonprofit.
It started off really small, a group of black women reading books written by black women to support them and uplift them, especially when they were in their debut coming out party.
You know, it was their first book, and we wanted to make sure they felt supported.
And how big is this community now?
Oh my goodness.
It began 20 people in a room, but now we have over 400 ,000 followers on Instagram.
We have We have tons of listeners of our podcast and we have an annual festival each year where people come from all around the country to support the works of black women.
Speaking of black women authors, you have a book yourself.
Your latest book is a memoir titled Gather Me and it's part of a quote from Toni Morrison's Beloved.
What does this particular quote mean to you?
When I think about it, I get emotional because it's brought me such inspiration throughout my life.
The idea of gathering people, gathering yourself when you're reading works that make you feel seen, and bringing together community.
When we're talking about books, they're more than just books.
They're spaces for people to see each other, they're reflections, they're inspiration in a lot of ways.
So this idea of gathering myself, these books saved me when I had challenging moments in life, when I wasn't I wasn't able to find my own direction.
I could turn to a quote, turn to a book, and find my footing again.
So it's very important for me to pay homage to writers like Toni Morrison, Edwidge Dandycat.
Maya Angelou.
All these writers became reflections of myself.
And the specific quote is also Toni Morrison's epigraph.
"She is a friend of mine.
She gather me man, the pieces I am.
She gather them and give them back to me in all the right order." Yes.
And that's how books feel to you.
Absolutely.
It is just something that brings me Yeah.
How did books...
Yeah.
You know, that's the beauty of the book.
It's so accessible.
I would go to the library with my siblings.
I would be able to just look at these books and read them and find a sense of hope.
And that's the power of literature.
You can see yourself when maybe you don't have a model to follow directly or you're feeling depressed or alone.
A book can really offer you some support.
And luckily I had great teachers and mentors to offer me support as well.
So this book is really a tribute We have an excerpt from your book where you mentioned that in school many of the books that you sought were absent from your syllabus.
Can you read a little bit of that for us?
Here are all the important things for you to learn in order to pass the test and cultivate a healthy sense of self.
Yet the books on my reading list told me that some stories were more important than others.
Slave narratives were occasional, but a resounding yes.
Everything else I yearned for, an array of black fiction, poetry, essays, and memoirs, well, that was glaringly absent from my coursework.
I felt a certain of Kind of rebellion when I fail to see the stories that reflected black history.
So yes, Maya Angelou and Frederick Douglass was there too.
But beyond that, To Kill a Mockingbird, 1984, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, James Joyce, and, I rolled my eyes, the ever -present Catcher in the Rye.
How would you compare your experience then with what students are encountering in schools today?
Yeah, at that time my purview was very limited.
As I mentioned, we read Maya Angelou and we had the opportunity to read Frederick Douglass, but that was about it.
We're good to go.
I think?
I see that especially students because they're building their sense of agency and their understanding of the world and so we need more voices to reflect that and it's challenging to see what's happening in schools and libraries right now.
Yes, you mentioned some of the pushback against various titles in schools, but this is also coming from the incoming administration.
There's a story in the Associated Press here about Trump's policies, saying Trump wants to end wokeness in education, and he has vowed to use federal money as leverage,
saying that Donald Trump's vision for education revolves around a single goal, to rid America's schools
He wants to keep transgender athletes out of girls' sports.
And throughout his campaign, the Republican depicted schools as a political battleground to be won back from the left.
Now that he's won the White House, he plans to use federal money as leverage.
Yeah, you know, this idea of wokeness, what I see instead is an ability to build wonder, to build curiosity in students.
And when you silence those voices, when you take away those books, you are doing a disservice to students.
We need folks to feel...
We're good to go.
Needed.
We need those voices.
I just get frustrated thinking about the idea of books being banned because it's what changes people's identities and their agency.
When you're able to read a book, you're able to become more of yourself.
It's so necessary to have those voices and I hope that we're able to fight that and prevent banned books and censorship because we need that in schools.
We need books.
In just a bit, we'll be taking your questions for Ms. Edom.
Here, our number for Republicans, 202 -748 -8001.
For Democrats, 202 -748 -8000.
And for Independents, 202 -748 -8002.
Now, some students may be encountering a situation similar to what you described in the excerpt that you read, where the books that they're encountering in the classroom might not resonate deeply for them.
How did you...
Yeah, well for me it was really about like following my curiosity.
So I would go into libraries, I would talk to the librarian, I would just kind of follow what... I think?
There are adults in their life that might tell them, "Oh, no, you're not supposed to do that." The idea is building your son's sense of agency.
You need to make your own choices, especially when it comes to literature, because it's out there.
You can't hide from the world, and it's important for kids to understand that they have choices, and they can read things that allow them to build their own sense of self.
I'd like you to read another excerpt from your book where you write about your first experience reading Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Are Watching God and how difficult that was.
Yeah.
It was a leap for me, reading -wise.
A decidedly adult book that Oprah had recommended on her show that was filled with the kind of vivid, difficult language that forced me to slow down and take each sentence in small bites.
There was a rigor to this book that I hadn't experienced before.
It was the first time I had really noticed or thought about the voice of a book, and it wasn't an easy voice for me to understand.
You also said that you often misread things.
So what do you say to people who want to see books like Hurston's removed from curriculums simply because they say kids may not be experienced enough to properly understand them?
Well, that's the second part.
Being able to have a conversation You also describe your experience reading James Baldwin and what his words meant to you when you were trying to understand the beating of Rodney King, George Floyd's death.
Can you explain a bit about that?
You know, I have two younger siblings and I was just so, so...
Protective of them.
And reading James Baldwin allowed me to give context to their experience, understand what they were going through as young men, understand the level of racism that we encounter in the country as young black boys.
And it just gave me a grounding to give them enough nurturing and support so they could feel proud of who they were and feel just very confident as young black boys in the world.
Now, even when you wanted to read these books that you found through your own research, you found that some of the books in your own curriculum, as I understand it, were taught differently, even when you did get them.
Can you lay that out for me?
Yeah, you know, the thing is, everyone has a different understanding of literature.
The way that some teachers taught William Shakespeare or even James Joyce, they're all different, you know?
But it was the questions and the conversations that followed that allowed me to have a better understanding of them.
And I like to encourage young people to do the close readings, to read in between the lines, to ask questions.
There's no question that it's off -bounds.
It's really about going further into the text and having citations and fact -checking and building your sense of critical analysis.
So that's what I, you know, the things that I had to continuously read.
Okay.
Let's go to your calls now.
Let's hear from Tom in Fort Myers, Florida, on our line for Democrats.
Good morning, Tom.
Good morning, ladies, and happy holidays to you.
Enjoying the conversation.
So you just mentioned in their eyes are watching God.
Zora Neale Hurston.
We're good to go.
Thank you so much.
For people who aren't familiar, how would you describe Zora Neale Hurston and her work?
Oh my goodness, Zora Neale Hurston, she is just a beautiful, vivacious writer.
Her words come alive on the page and you are pulled into the story.
So anyone encountering her work for the first time will just feel this beauty.
The way that she writes, it's lyrical, it's full of just beautiful visuals, and I think that everyone should read her work.
It is life -changing.
All right, Mary is in Wisconsin on our line for Republicans.
Good morning, Mary.
Yeah, hi.
Public school had a book by Maya Angelou, Why the Caged Bird Sings, and my daughter started reading it, and she was like, wow, I'm not reading this book.
I don't care what grade I get.
And she didn't, because of the sexual abuse.
And she was traumatized by even seeing that on a written word that she didn't tell me about it until two years later.
Oh, wow.
Because I had started talking to her about stuff that I was, why all these books were being banned.
And she said, Mom, I didn't care what I got for this grade.
But to traumatize a child, to have them see that, it's just awful.
So I don't know why anyone would suggest a book by Maya Angelou.
Well, I think it's a great opportunity to connect with your daughter and talk to them further about the challenges sexual abuse is a real thing that many people encounter.
You know, I think a lot of the books need to be age -appropriate, of course, so it's, you know, depending on how old your daughter was, it is something that requires explanation and context to the story, so hopefully it's something that, you know,
brought you and your daughter closer together to explore just the reasonings it was challenging for her.
But I do understand that not everyone is able to encounter the work at a certain age.
It is, they're difficult topics, of course.
This is one of the things that is brought up quite often around these conversations of book bands that some of the material dealing with sexual topics or abuse or even different types of relationships are not age appropriate for different kinds of children.
How do you navigate that conversation while still exposing Yeah, and again, forgive me if I'm repeating myself, it's just the adding the conversation, the context, the nuance to these stories.
It's not simply having the student read it alone.
It's really allowing them to be in conversation and build a curiosity and have a firmer understanding of what these stories mean and the value of them.
They're going to be hard topics, but it's required, it's, you know...
It builds their self -esteem, their confidence, their understanding of the world.
The world is a difficult place.
Sexual abuse does exist.
Different identities do exist.
Racism exists.
And we can't chill young people from the realities of the world.
And books could be a great tool to enter these conversations in a safe space where there are some guide rails there and some boundaries.
So if they do have curiosities or they feel uncomfortable, they can come to a trusted adult and work through them or their trusted teacher and have a better understanding.
My brother's lives would indeed be shaped a certain way because they were black and for no other reason.
And my own life had already been formed by the expectation that black women could and should move the earth to protect the black men in their lives.
Because we were the only ones who cared enough to do so.
When I read Baldwin's words, I saw Rodney King's broken face.
And I suddenly understood the anxiety the brutal incident had triggered in me.
Can you talk about how the conversation with your brothers, and in your own experience, your family, was shaped from kind of parsing what was a pretty traumatic experience through what you were reading?
Yeah, so with my siblings and my family, again, I'm a first -generation American, and our family has encountered numerous challenges, but because we had books and each other,
we were able to communicate these ideas in a way to say that, This isn't the only thing that defines us.
We can work through these things.
We can talk together.
We can have a safe space to find a sense of solace.
I'm so grateful for the works of James Baldwin and Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou because they offered me great comfort and they provided a model for me and my siblings to see that how we could perform in the world,
how we can continue to have joy and hope despite the challenges of racism and other things that we encountered.
It's not simply something that just happens.
You have to really...
Let's get back.
Hi, I can understand what your stories you talk about.
One time when I was like 11 or 12 years old, my teacher read to us the autobiography of Malcolm X.
And I saw some of the same problems I was dealing with being in the special ed classroom.
And later on when I had to stay home for over a year because of The aid I had,
I read some Langston Hughes and also she read me Ernest Hemsway and she read to me the book The Longest Day.
Great history book.
And I also been getting into a lot of history books.
Like when I went to school, I read a lot of books on Vietnam.
And I think books do tell stories.
And I think like one of the things I got from Ernest Hemingway and also from Langston Hughes, they're very interesting stories.
And one time I was in my high school, I read Ball Four.
Oh, wow.
This is so encouraging.
Yeah, John, it sounds like books really guided you through what was a challenging period in your life.
Yeah, I mean, it's beautiful to witness the joy that people, you know, the memories you have.
I can remember the books I read in certain moments of my life, and similar to what he was saying, you can just remember the joy that you experience when you have a beautiful story.
Joe is in Rhode Island on our line for Republicans.
Good morning, Joe.
Yeah, hi.
Mm -hmm.
Mm -hmm.
Yeah, I got to high school in 10th grade.
We had an English teacher who was great.
She had us actually read instead of just reading the words.
She had us try to understand what we were reading.
And she dissected, among other things, Moby Dick practically line by line.
And, of course, it wasn't a sea story at all, but it was an allegory.
And she had us ask out parts from different books in the class, and we went through Macbeth also.
She didn't waste any time, but what she did was she started the term off with a history of how words came into being as a Latin and Greek basis for a lot of our words.
She was etymology, I think that's what we call it.
She was such a terrific teacher.
Later on, she became a college professor at Ithaca College.
And I went to a very run -down inner -city school, but you could learn a lot there with teachers like that.
And I think books, unfortunately, are being pushed aside by digital input.
You know Joe raises a really interesting point that I'd love to hear you talk about which is you know this shift from
You know, I am a huge fan of audiobooks.
I think that when you're listening, when you're reading, it's important to think about accessibility.
And so that is another way that makes books accessible.
You know, there's incredible apps like Libby at the public library.
The thing is, when we think about technology, there are e -readers, there are so many ways for young people, for adults that engage with literature, that we need to open that up and allow people to see that there's just great ways to engage with work.
If you're reading, you're reading.
I think that's the most important part of it.
So yes, it's challenging that maybe there are other...
We're good to go.
Oh my goodness.
So I'll go with the second question first.
I think?
The top three books I would recommend, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, absolutely.
I would also recommend a new book by Edwidge Dandecat called We're Alone, which explores, it's a collection of essays that explores just a variety of different topics, but it's beautifully written.
And then the last...
I think it's great.
More contemporary writers, more often their debuts.
It's their first book coming out in the world.
Most recently, we were reading a work by Jasmine Ward.
She's not a debut writer, but we wanted to support her when her new book came out, Sing, Unburied Sing.
And right now we're getting ready for the new year.
So we're looking at books at the top of 2025.
So one of the books that we're excited to read is James by Percival Everett.
And do your book selections skew towards fiction, non -fiction?
We try to do a mix of everything, so we'll do some genre selections, we'll do a little romance, some non -fiction, contemporary literature.
We try to do a little bit of everything.
Okay, let's get back to your calls.
Rick is in Youngstown, Ohio on our line for Democrats.
Good morning, Rick.
Good morning, ladies.
How we doing?
Good, thank you.
The reason I'm calling...
Oh, I understand.
You're referring to our previous caller who mentioned that her daughter was quite disturbed by what she read in the book.
Okay, go ahead, Rick.
Yeah.
Do you think that Donald Trump is severely mentally ill?
Number two.
Well, let's go back to number one.
I personally think so.
I've disliked him for 38 years, and the current nominees he has...
So, Rick, I do want to keep the topic focused on the books here, but I understand.
Do you mean in terms of Trump's perspective on book bans or something else?
Well, okay, let's go to book bans.
It's 2024.
Are you not surprised at how many books are being banned and burned and removed from libraries?
That should be of a real concern for you.
And that's all I got for today, ladies.
Absolutely.
I am incredibly concerned about what's happening with book bans and the nature of just...
Again, censorship in schools.
And so I'm doing my best to support individuals that are advocating for, you know, more diverse books and, you know, just diversity in schools and allowing people to really exercise their First Amendment right,
which is...
So necessary for anyone that is learning in our public schools today.
They need to learn how to advocate for themselves and continue to learn about media literacy, how to analyze the text that they're reading, how to continue to give context to the word.
It's so essential and it's encouraging to hear the conversations we're having this morning to see that everyone has a very strong viewpoint on how we should be conducting these things and how we should prevent
Good morning, and how are you ladies this morning on this cold morning here in Alabama?
I love books, and I go back and I've read two books by Mara Angelo.
Oh, yes.
I mean, they have helped me.
I've learned a lot from those books.
Frank, can you say a little bit more about how those books have helped you?
At what points in your life did they really matter?
Well, back in 1958 when I started elementary school, I didn't read that much.
And then as I grew, And went in the Marine Corps and started really opening my eyes up to things.
I started reading a lot.
And oh, how they have helped me, helped me.
And I just had to get up and call the day because there's some books out there that go deep into the soul.
And that's the reason, my reason.
I'm so glad that y 'all really let me get into this conversation this morning.
And once again, Thank you.
And it's so just heartwarming to hear just how books impact everyone and their memories that last forever.
It really can change your life and your perspective on the world.
So beautiful to witness.
Tim Castleman on X asked if you'll comment on the writings of Thomas Sowell.
Have you ever read any of his work?
Oh, actually, I have not, unfortunately, but I would love to.
I'm going to add that to my reading list and continue.
Okay.
Herb is in High Point, North Carolina on our line for Independence.
Good morning, Herb.
Good morning.
Thank you very much for taking my call.
Good morning.
Good morning.
I just wanted to know if she's familiar with Claude Brown's book, Man Child in the Promised Land.
Yes, I am.
Great.
That's a book that inspired me many years ago.
You know, autobiographies are the books I like because they give me a personal insight to somebody's mistakes and failures.
So, Herb, for folks who aren't familiar, can you give us a little bit of insight about this book and why you chose it?
Well, I just look at it, it's a guy that overcame a lot in his life, and you know, that's what we do in life.
We have ups and downs, but we can overcome them.
You know, you look at Trump.
Trump's a guy that's had a lot of ups and downs, and think about a book about Trump.
Thank you.
These, you know, all of these books that, as you said, everyone has a story.
You know, everyone has a story.
And it's important for us to allow people to have access to those stories and, again, not to ban them, but to be in conversation and to build our curiosity and to be able to give context to the story and the history.
It's so important that history continues to guide us throughout these conversations because It motivates so many things, especially with young people trying to figure out their way in the world.
They can cite things.
There's scholarship.
There's the Library of Congress.
There are all these stories and memoirs that we have that, again, serve as models for future generations.
Speaking of history, there's a question from Someone who texted us this question, would you please discuss Zora Neale Hurston's skepticism towards school desegregation?
Oh, well, you know, unfortunately I don't have a citation right in front of me, so I don't want to misquote, but that was one of the incredible things that I really appreciate about Zora Neale Hurston.
She was radical during her time period and had some really robust ideas on desegregation and how African -Americans should present themselves in the world.
And there definitely were, I would say, disagreements between certain things and ideas.
But again, it was welcomed, this idea for her to be, to say that, you know, perhaps this isn't what...
Hello.
Yeah, you know, I haven't called in in a great while, but listening to this about black books, books period.
I come from a neighborhood in Detroit.
People don't realize it's been majority white from the creation of the city of Detroit.
Even when the '67 conflicts, it's going, yeah, it's called white flight and some black flight.
This neighborhood in southwest Detroit from Corktown is more famous in the southwest, back to the city limits southwest.
And I went to school where there were very few Blacks.
I now live in a part of Southwest where this majority of Blacks are trying to actually change the name to Africantown because World War II veterans built it.
But the first books I started reading, and I must say my ex -wife, a best friend today still, was married 40 years.
She'd eat books.
I started to read was Donald Gorn.
And Donald Gorn was back during the Black...
We're good to go.
I think?
A teacher.
Well, there's two white teachers in my life.
One who took me to in the summer school in the fourth grade where her grandson come to the back to our neighborhood.
It was, like I said, multi -ethnic, majority white, but more blue collar.
It was a blue collar community.
And one in high school where I had been kicked out of three high schools and was finally allowed back in the southwestern because I would skip so much more so.
Yeah.
And Alex Haley, show how old I am, was doing an app search, was going into the Reader's Digest, I guess he had a contract with them, and he was putting them on albums, you know, sections of it, and putting them in the library.
So one day she brought me, and the speed was 78, and she brought me an album, and she had me listen to it.
So I brought it back once I heard the first album, and I asked, is there another one?
She said, he hasn't put one out yet.
But I was going back to her class to get that next album.
So, Otis, I do want to give Ms. Edom a chance to respond because what Otis is talking about is finding literature where he could find himself in it.
Yes, absolutely.
You know, the words that keep coming up again and again is just that one unforgettable teacher that introduces you to the book that changes your life that allows you to see yourself reflected and it is essential for All people,
especially young black boys, to see themselves identified in the stories so they can relate, they can grow, they can, again, ask questions.
And I was so adamant about having those stories for my two siblings so they could see themselves reflected in the stories.
And I did the same thing.
I was constantly looking for myself reflected in literature so I could, again, build my self -confidence.
There's an interesting comment here that we received from Mary B. in Boston who recommends "Yellow Wife" by Siddiqui Johnson and says, "Wish I read books like this when I was young.
I would have had the empathy I had after the diary of Anne Franks in high school." Oh, yes.
I'm very fond of historical fiction, and the book she mentioned, I'm also familiar with that.
She is a phenomenal writer.
Can you talk a little bit about that book, what it's about?
Yes, so it takes place during slavery, and the woman is finding herself in...
Oh gosh, I can't recall the exact plot.
That's okay.
But The Yellow Wife is...
It's historical fiction.
Yeah, it's historical fiction.
And this idea of, again, going to history to tell beautiful narratives, to create an idea of the identities of the young people that were during that time.
There's just so much to be told when you're able to cite history.
Anita is in Schenectady, New York, on our line for Democrats.
Good morning, Anita.
Good morning.
I just have a quick comment.
I appreciate your program so much, and I just wanted to share a quick story.
My daughter, who's a total grown -up now, when she was in 12th grade had an amazing English teacher who assigned the novel Beloved.
But she was so sensitive, and she contacted all the parents.
And let us know that there's difficult material in the book and invited us to be part of a book club with our children, which she did after school and not only discussed the book with the kids and the parents,
but provided snacks and time to talk and it was life -changing.
I still feel emotional just thinking about what a beautiful experience that was and what a lovely, wonderful woman.
I'm going to hang up and listen on the TV because my phone is running out of... Electricity and I can't find a plug, but thank you so much.
Thank you.
I'm so happy to hear you had that experience with your daughter because those are the things that make a world of difference.
A teacher that is considerate and kind and opens the door for parents and children to connect with one another and have these memorable experiences.
And that really, again, supports young people as they continue into the world to have a safe space to ask questions and have these, at times, difficult conversations.
This is the ideal circumstance, I feel like, for teachers to come together with parents and have great dialogue.
James is in Brooklyn, Connecticut, on our line for independence.
Good morning, James.
How y 'all doing?
I'm just calling because it's funny, I saw y 'all.
I normally don't call.
But when I first started raising my kids, I had to do it by myself.
My wife passed away and I had to take over the school and everything.
And I didn't like the dead skin on the leaves, so I went and I bought them, guess what?
Moby Dick.
She was just talking about Moby Dick.
And we read Moby Dick five times.
Wow.
It was amazing of how much my children learned how to speak and learn, you know, the vocabulary of the English language.
So, you know, it's something about reading that enlightens a child to help them.
And they both got degrees, too.
So, you know, I mean, I'm so happy and proud about them, because I didn't know if I did the right thing, because being an African -American, they expect you to, you know, read more African -American books and things like that.
I had done reading Marcus Aurelius, George Washington, Marvel addresses, and I think that if we go back to the basics to learn some...
Thank you.
Well, it's incredible to hear your experience reading Moby Dick with your children.
That is absolutely wonderful.
And I agree with you.
I feel like classical education, civics education should be a priority in schools.
Again, it teaches students how to communicate with one another and think about big ideas and how they, in fact, impact the whole world.
You know, we're not in a silo.
I mean, one of my favorite books right now is The Iliad by Emily Wilson, which is a translation.
And I think all these classics, I talk about the experiences I had reading William Shakespeare and, you know, Little Women and all these books that are part of the literary canon.
And I think they stand, you know, they stand their ground in this beautiful way when it comes to literature, as well as Moby Dick.
Margaret is in St. Augustine, Florida on our line for Republicans.
Good morning, Margaret.
Hello.
Before I ask my question, I have two other authors to recommend if you had not read.
Thomas Sowell, and that would be Robert Woodson, and I think he's still alive.
And then also Walter Williams.
But no one should read 1619 without getting Robert Woodson's edited book.
But my question is, when you said about being a first generation immigrant, I quick looked it up.
And I'm curious what your experience is with the difference in culture between What we might call African Americans that are from Nigeria and the Barbados and Jamaica and so forth,
from our heritage African Americans here.
Foundational, I think, is the word that they're using now.
I know that Oprah gave up on her charity here in America and went to Africa to put her school.
Because some of our, we need to get rid of racism.
How do we do it?
And a lot of our affirmative action programs went the wrong way.
Do you notice the difference in culture between foundational Americans, some of them, and people from other countries like yourself?
So, again, I'm first generation.
Both my parents immigrated here from Nigeria, but me and my siblings were born here in the U .S.
And I think one thing that is really important to note is the black diaspora, the idea that blackness is global throughout the world.
So a lot of the ideas that are...
A spouse here in the U .S. are also happening in the Caribbean, in Nigeria.
This idea of, you know, identity is vast.
And as a young person growing up, I attended a historically black college.
I went to Howard University.
And it was, you know, grounded into us the idea, again, of the black diaspora, that blackness is global and what we're learning here in the U .S. is not.
It's too far different from what is happening overseas.
And I've really focused on that.
The idea of identity is vast and it allows you to, it contains multitudes.
And so my being of African descent doesn't, you know, devoid me from understanding the black American experience.
I think if anything, it allows me to appreciate it even more.
And being of African descent just allows me to have a greater Thank you.
Can you talk maybe about some of the differences in the literature that you can bring in from those two experiences because you have many black authors talking about the legacy of slavery and how that's showing up in lives both in fiction and non -fiction whereas maybe some more recent immigrants might refer to the legacy of colonialism in their work.
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean there are two distinct paths but again they converge.
They come together in so many ways.
The color We're good to go.
Teresa is in Washington, D .C. on a line for Democrats.
Good morning, Teresa.
Oh, good morning.
I was surprised that you got to me so quickly.
Yes, I love listening to this.
I just wanted to throw this in.
When I was a kid, my mother used to read to us all the time.
So I kind of lived my life in the library, and I just loved it.
But I think also it's very important that young people, young children, read the classics.
Not only of African American, which I just, I mean, I discovered an area in our library that was nothing but black history.
It was fantastic.
The classics are very important, too.
Books by Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Candide, for instance.
These are books that help you to understand life.
They're beyond racism.
One other thing I wanted to say, oh, books are very important, but today, since so many young people are visually stimulated,
I think looking at documentaries regarding history and The world is very important.
And by the way, Chinua, whose book, Things Fall Apart, I have a lot of African books here from Nigeria.
And those are the things that I wanted to talk about.
But the emphasis on documentaries is very, very important to get them.
One other thing, I just want to interject this in quickly.
I've been working with Nate, which is the All right.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I absolutely read a lot of classics growing up.
A lot of the books that you mentioned, you know, Walt Whitman and Ernest Hemingway, Ralph Emerson.
There were just so many things that, again, shaped my understanding.
And the key piece that you mentioned that is so important is the analysis.
Being able to not only read the work, but have a further...
Hannah is in North Carolina on our line for Democrats.
Good morning, Hannah.
Good morning, how are you?
It's so nice to hear you talk about my favorite subject, which is blacks and books.
Well, I have a story to tell, make it short.
I grew up in North Carolina, rural North Carolina, and I graduated from a segregated school.
And my first introduction to black poets and writers was through, not through our curriculum, because we had the classics, we were required to read the classics, but we had nothing.
Nothing in terms of black writers.
But we had young teachers that had gone to Hbcus in North Carolina and so they bought their own books, poems, to us and presented them to us.
We were required to Recite them, like Lansing Hughes, mother to son.
But later on, I found my favorite author, and I think she's at the top, is Zora Neale Hurston.
And I thought that what she did was she presented herself not as a feminist, but a womanist.
And I saw how I identified with strong black women, and in her book, Men and Mules, I noticed how she sat around with men,
and she talked.
She was out of her place, so to speak, and I didn't know anything about her interactions in the North with some of the writers of her time.
But the reason that they didn't really understand that Zora Neale Hurston came from a community of black people who had their own schools, they had their own identity,
and what she did was she came north and she interacted, but she made sure that she was able to write her story,
and her story Which was one that I could identify with.
And one other thing was I have a younger sister who's 15 years younger than I am.
And she went to...
So, Hannah, we're just about out of time for this segment, and I want to give Ms. Edim a chance to respond to your points before we have to let her go.
Yes, Ms. Hannah, it was so wonderful to hear, just like your love for Zora Neale Hurston, and it just shows how timeless her work is.
So many callers today have mentioned Zora because of the power of her words.
And I also want to, you know, shout out...
Langston Hughes, his work, that poem that you mentioned, Mother to Son, is actually what opens up my book because so much of my writing is a dedication to my son and providing him a map of sorts when it comes to literature and legacy and allowing him to understand Black history.
And so I feel like every one of the callers have echoed the importance of literature, the importance of showing up for these conversations, to be in dialogue, to really understand The power of words in telling your story.
And it's so incredible to hear just all the beautiful, beloved memories of teachers, the teachers over time that have really influenced readers and allowed them to see themselves in work.
Well, thank you so much.
Glory Edom is the author of Gather Me, a memoir in praise of the books that saved me, and also the founder of the literary platform Well Read Black Girl.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for having me.
This was wonderful.
We're good to go.
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