Navigating the Intersections of Black and Afro-Latinx Identities

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[00:00:45] Hi y'all feeling? Hi y'all feeling? I am so amped up. So pardon me. No, not

[00:00:53] pardon me. I'm amped up today. I am amped up for a lot of reasons. One, to see your

[00:00:58] faces here means a lot to us. Just a little bit about MahoganyBooks. By show of hands,

[00:01:03] how many are familiar with MahoganyBooks? Any of you? Okay, good. I see a few who are

[00:01:07] not. I love that. So my husband and I created MahoganyBooks about 16 years ago. And at

[00:01:12] that time we were in our one bedroom apartment in Alexandria, Virginia thinking about how

[00:01:17] do we make Black Books accessible? I grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Blocks from Black

[00:01:22] Wall Street. And let me tell you guys, how many of you? Let me see by show of hands. Are

[00:01:25] you familiar with Black Wall Street? A lot of hands. I grew up blocks from Black

[00:01:30] Wall Street, maybe about a couple miles actually. I never knew Black Wall Street

[00:01:33] was there. It was never taught in my schools. Look at your eyes. Some people are

[00:01:37] like what? It was never taught in my schools. It was never taught that these

[00:01:42] entrepreneurs, these thought leaders, these innovators, these amazing Black

[00:01:47] people lived blocks from my home for a lot of different reasons. And so when

[00:01:51] we talked about starting MahoganyBooks, my husband and I, we said we never wanted

[00:01:55] that to be for somebody else. To not know our history, to not have access to those

[00:01:59] books. And so Black MahoganyBooks was born from that space. How do we make

[00:02:04] Black Books accessible no matter where you live? Just because I lived in Tulsa.

[00:02:07] Now people who live in Tulsa can order Black Books. So I just wanted to make

[00:02:11] sure you guys know where, why you're here, who you're here for so to

[00:02:15] speak and understand the mission that's important to us. So every time we

[00:02:19] host these events, it means something deep to me. It means something deep

[00:02:23] because you all took time out of your day to join us. This conversation is going

[00:02:27] to be powerful. You all are in for a treat not just with one author but with

[00:02:30] two authors. So first of all, give yourselves a round of applause. It's

[00:02:33] a, it's a, what is it a flesh warning or something? But I just want to

[00:02:39] say thank you because this means something to me that you guys come

[00:02:42] out and make space to join us. So thank you for joining us. So let's

[00:02:46] get into it. Y'all did I come to hear my about MahoganyBooks? I am excited

[00:02:50] to bring up our first author who makes space, who is someone dear to me. Her

[00:02:57] name is April Ryan. She's, yes, I hear you go ahead. Yes, yes. Yes. The

[00:03:05] amazing April Ryan. Wow, it's been 27 years. White House correspondent,

[00:03:10] the longest running Black woman at the White House. Who is there? Yes.

[00:03:15] What? Yeah. Give that up. Yes. And so I always think about her and the

[00:03:22] questions that she asked that represent everybody's waving like, Oh, it's

[00:03:25] April. Uh, I think about the questions that she asked. Go ahead. Yes. Yes.

[00:03:32] Representing. Yes. And she's someone very dear to me. Also, we have her

[00:03:37] book here. It's called Black Woman will Save the World and Anthem. And we

[00:03:40] also have at mama's knee back there. So you guys are in for a treat to

[00:03:43] have both books signed, but she's been in the game a long time. Is that Mike

[00:03:47] working? Let's see. Check one. Don't get us started. Okay. So anyway, I just

[00:03:53] want to make sure you all had a moment to

[00:03:57] isn't working. Now we may have to switch that Mike.

[00:04:03] My mic sounds nice. Check one. Yes. That's it. That's it. That's

[00:04:10] it. I see who's in the house today. So anyway, wait a minute, wait a minute.

[00:04:14] For those of you who don't know, raise your hands. Okay. You didn't know,

[00:04:18] you know what? Oh, Salt and Pepper. Google it. Salt and Pepper. Google it.

[00:04:26] Yes. We love us some old school hip hop. We're gonna go old school

[00:04:29] hip hop. We love to play dance. They don't know. You know, okay. I

[00:04:36] gotta say, listen, I gotta stay focused when this sister is in the room. She's

[00:04:40] someone dear. She is very dear to me as a personal friend, but also just as an

[00:04:44] amazing writer as an amazing person who is in our culture, making sure our

[00:04:48] voices are heard on the front line when a lot of people trying to quiet our

[00:04:51] voices. This sister right here makes sure we're her. So give it up for

[00:04:54] that as well. Yes. She bad. She bad.

[00:05:00] And so I also have the pleasure. I got mics and phones, but I also have

[00:05:03] the pleasure of bringing up this amazing woman today, the amazing Natasha S.

[00:05:08] Alfred. Yes. Her book.

[00:05:10] Stand it for her. Yes.

[00:05:12] Let's stand up. Yes. Award winning journalist. Yes. Welcome.

[00:05:18] It is a pleasure to have Natasha here. It's a pleasure to close out the

[00:05:22] formal part of her tour so far. I know more cities will be coming. But

[00:05:26] to have her here in DC and to talk about this, her story in American

[00:05:30] negative. Thank you so much for being bold for writing this book for making

[00:05:33] space here for us at Mahogany books to share your story. So please give it up

[00:05:37] for Natasha Alfred and April Ryan.

[00:05:43] First of all, good afternoon, everyone.

[00:05:48] Okay. I came all the way from Baltimore, Maryland in the rain to

[00:05:54] love it to this event, this auspicious event this afternoon. And I'm gonna

[00:05:59] do this again. I'm sounding like you look again. Again. I'm an again woman.

[00:06:06] Good afternoon.

[00:06:09] That's the part because it's important that you are engaged in this because

[00:06:13] at a portion of this conversation, you will be asking questions. I'm into

[00:06:19] an interactive experience and I'm into especially in this town, Washington DC

[00:06:26] as we're in this crazy political climate with the American Negro. We need

[00:06:32] to talk about her life and things that are going on. So first of all, how

[00:06:38] many of you know Natasha from just friends?

[00:06:44] Okay, I see so many familiar faces. My heart is so full. Don't be a shame.

[00:06:49] Raise your hand high. How many of you know her from the Rio?

[00:06:53] Yeah, Rio fan. Rio fan. How many of you know her from CNN?

[00:07:00] Okay. All right, cool. But either way, today we're going to let you know

[00:07:06] about who Natasha Alfred is. She's an amazing woman with an amazing story.

[00:07:12] And do you how many of you have the book?

[00:07:15] All right. So for those of you who have the book, we're gonna be turning

[00:07:18] the pages. Yeah, we're gonna read today. We're gonna read. We're gonna

[00:07:21] have a reading. We're having a conversation, etc. So Natasha, welcome

[00:07:26] to DC. This is a dream come true. I just have to pause and like process

[00:07:31] this because I used to watch you on television. And the idea that

[00:07:34] we're sitting here together and you're interviewing me about this

[00:07:37] book after you've inspired me for so many years, you've spoken up

[00:07:41] for all of us and rooms where we needed to be represented. So thank

[00:07:45] you for taking the time and being there for me as a sister and a

[00:07:48] co worker. So thank you. Give it up for April. Thank you.

[00:07:56] As a sister and a co worker, I had to say thank you to because we

[00:07:59] have been in battle and you I'm not going to get into the battle,

[00:08:01] but we've been in battle on the same side. And we've had to

[00:08:05] support one another when tears are flowing. But I salute you, my

[00:08:09] sister, because you've gone through so much. And you still

[00:08:12] shine no matter what just like you. Thank you. All right.

[00:08:14] Well, game piece game. Yes. So

[00:08:18] now we're going to this book. I want to get to know who you are.

[00:08:23] You are a daddy's girl. And you're a mama's girl, you are a

[00:08:28] kid who grew up from parents who will come from two agrarian

[00:08:33] families sugar cane and Puerto Rico. Close to San Juan. And

[00:08:41] then oranges in Florida. And now you are here. Harvard graduate

[00:08:47] in Princeton. Child mother, CNN commentator and griot marquee

[00:08:55] talent. Talk to me about the American Negro and what it took

[00:09:01] to get you to this place because you did not come from a

[00:09:04] Silver Spoon. I didn't. And this story for me is about the

[00:09:10] American dream. We right now as a country are experiencing

[00:09:15] frustration because we've sold people the American dream. And

[00:09:19] yet people are saying I don't see a path for myself. You told me

[00:09:23] that this was possible if I went to school, if I got the

[00:09:26] degree, if I took on the student loan debt, and yet

[00:09:28] there's a gap between expectations and reality. And

[00:09:32] so what I've always struggled with was this idea that I

[00:09:35] was a success story coming from Syracuse, but I wasn't

[00:09:41] satisfied with being the exception. Does that make

[00:09:43] sense? This idea that just because a few people got

[00:09:47] through and made it, that means that everything is working

[00:09:50] as it should that didn't work for me. So I wanted to tell

[00:09:54] this story to say this is how it happened. These were

[00:09:57] the people that showed up for me. This was the way that

[00:10:00] we were able to bend the system in my favor, but also as

[00:10:04] a call to action to say how do we do this for everybody? So

[00:10:07] that is part of the motivation for writing the book. And you

[00:10:10] start off on the very first page, I'm a daughter of

[00:10:13] Northern migrations. What does it make you feel like in

[00:10:17] this moment as we're still trying to deal with an issue

[00:10:21] of migration that really goes to the heart of the

[00:10:26] Browning of America? And you are that twice. So talk to

[00:10:33] me about that. Your feelings. Well, I always say I come

[00:10:36] from two people who didn't ask to be Americans, if that

[00:10:39] makes sense. African Americans who we built this

[00:10:42] country, but we didn't ask to be here. And Puerto

[00:10:46] Ricans who were inherited after the Spanish American

[00:10:49] War in 1898, who also didn't ask to be here. People

[00:10:53] who had a whole culture, a whole country and America

[00:10:57] came in right in a very paternalistic way and said

[00:11:00] you're citizens, but it's for our benefit. We're

[00:11:03] going to give you the cheap paying jobs. We're going

[00:11:05] to take resources from the island, the sugar, the

[00:11:08] gold. And so to be those two people at the intersection

[00:11:13] of that, you grow up in this country and you say, wow,

[00:11:16] okay, this is what it means to sort of be at the

[00:11:19] bottom of the social hierarchy. Why is it that

[00:11:21] all the Puerto Ricans and African Americans kind of

[00:11:24] live together? Right? We tend to be in similar

[00:11:26] neighborhoods. We tend to go to the same schools.

[00:11:29] And that is again because of that racial and

[00:11:31] social hierarchy. So I thought it was important to

[00:11:34] write a book that brought those two histories

[00:11:37] together, that said this is the shared history

[00:11:40] that we actually have that nobody wants to talk

[00:11:42] about. This is what it means to sort of overcome

[00:11:47] the tensions that people assume exist between

[00:11:50] Latinos and black people, which again, those

[00:11:53] terms are even problematic because Latino is

[00:11:56] such a big umbrella term and there are black

[00:11:58] people under that term. So what does it mean that

[00:12:00] even in media, we keep saying Latinos and black

[00:12:04] people as if they're completely separate. We

[00:12:06] continue to erase people. So the book tries to

[00:12:10] retell history and sort of fill in those gaps

[00:12:13] that we don't know. And for me personally,

[00:12:16] learning about the plantation that my family

[00:12:18] came from in Darlington, South Carolina,

[00:12:21] that came because of this book, learning about

[00:12:24] the orange groves that my family used to run

[00:12:26] in Florida. I mean, all of that came from

[00:12:28] writing this book. So the call to action for us

[00:12:31] too is to do the work to understand our

[00:12:35] family history and our belonging in this

[00:12:36] country because I think some people just

[00:12:39] want us to think, okay, you know, you came

[00:12:42] over here and your history started with

[00:12:44] slavery, but there's so much more to that.

[00:12:47] And so that is part of the story of the book.

[00:12:50] Your father was a staunch black man who

[00:12:54] was very much into rights, fist pumping,

[00:12:57] et cetera, Malcolm X pictures. And your mother

[00:13:00] was there with him, but she also believed in

[00:13:03] quesaneras as well. How did this marry in

[00:13:06] your home? Two strong communities. How did

[00:13:10] it marry because your quesanera wasn't

[00:13:13] in the Catholic Church. It was in a black

[00:13:15] Baptist church, which you know, how did

[00:13:18] that I mean, how did it marry throughout

[00:13:20] your childhood and even into the day?

[00:13:23] So I say in the book, it was the blackest

[00:13:25] quesanera that you've ever seen because we

[00:13:27] were playing Jay-Z and Lil Mo and we had

[00:13:32] chicken and rice. You know, like that's what

[00:13:35] we had. But that is the blending of

[00:13:38] culture and it's so funny because there's

[00:13:41] so many people who sit at this

[00:13:42] intersection who are not just Afro

[00:13:44] Latino but specifically African American

[00:13:47] and Puerto Rican. And so that is just

[00:13:48] an example of that. But I'm going to

[00:13:50] read a short passage to start us off

[00:13:52] today. And this is me and my mother

[00:13:55] having an argument in the car because

[00:13:58] even though I'm supposed to be both of

[00:14:00] these cultures, what I find is that I'm

[00:14:02] meeting a world that's not allowing me

[00:14:04] to be both. And so if you want to read

[00:14:07] along, this chapter is called Mother

[00:14:10] Tongue. And with Page. And this is on

[00:14:13] page 20. I love this.

[00:14:19] I know we're reading, we're reading

[00:14:21] this together. It's amazing. Actually,

[00:14:23] I'm going to start on page 21. So this

[00:14:27] is called Morenita, that paragraph.

[00:14:31] The first paragraph? Yep, right at the

[00:14:33] top. Morenita, Morenita, men have named

[00:14:38] you. Not Latina. Morenita. Negrita,

[00:14:43] Chiquita de Estados Unidos writes poet

[00:14:46] Tracy Morris. Morena is Spanish for

[00:14:49] black girl sometimes referring

[00:14:51] specifically to the medium brown skin

[00:14:53] women of any black ethnicity, including

[00:14:55] Afro-Latinas or African American women

[00:14:58] specifically. It could be a compliment

[00:15:01] or curse. Mommy could not entirely help

[00:15:05] me interrogate my Morena status in

[00:15:07] society, my negritude as she did not

[00:15:10] fully understand her own. She hadn't

[00:15:13] learned much about slavery in Puerto

[00:15:14] Rico or the black Puerto Rican leaders

[00:15:16] like Marco Scioro who had revolted

[00:15:19] and fought for freedom on the island.

[00:15:22] She just knew that she and we had

[00:15:23] African blood in our DNA. She knew

[00:15:26] that she had been called Negrita by

[00:15:27] her own mother, supposedly a term of

[00:15:30] endearment, but one that marked her as

[00:15:33] the most black adjacent in her family

[00:15:35] despite her mixedness. It would be

[00:15:38] women like Aunt Sin and Mrs. Harper

[00:15:40] from Saturday Academy who would model

[00:15:42] black womanhood for me. We spoke

[00:15:45] the same language. Mrs. Harper always

[00:15:47] put together pristine and

[00:15:49] presentation and confidence. She smelled

[00:15:51] good and wore Afro-centric printed

[00:15:53] shawls and dresses that complimented

[00:15:55] her coiffed short salt and pepper

[00:15:57] hair. She bought me my first Essence

[00:15:59] magazine subscription as we sat in her

[00:16:01] office after Saturday Academy one day.

[00:16:03] Oh, you don't have Essence at home,

[00:16:05] sweetie? Write down your address.

[00:16:08] Through Mrs. Harper's lessons and the

[00:16:10] lessons of other women of Saturday

[00:16:12] Academy such as Jackie Robinson, the

[00:16:14] first black female news anchor in

[00:16:16] Syracuse, I would come to develop an

[00:16:18] idealized version of black womanhood

[00:16:21] that he get equated to regality,

[00:16:23] community, leadership and wisdom.

[00:16:26] And so it would be no surprise that

[00:16:27] around this time in life as I turned

[00:16:30] 13 a primary ethno racial identity

[00:16:33] started to form a black American one.

[00:16:37] I'm black, I'd say defiantly, not

[00:16:40] interested in explaining myself to

[00:16:42] anyone anymore or having to defend

[00:16:44] my multi-ethnic background.

[00:16:46] You are not just black.

[00:16:48] Mommy snapped when she heard me refer

[00:16:50] to myself as such on a car ride

[00:16:52] almost 10 years after our last

[00:16:54] incendiary road trip.

[00:16:56] I'm the one that gave birth to you.

[00:16:58] You are Puerto Rican and your

[00:17:01] African American.

[00:17:02] Normally Demure, she was now worked

[00:17:04] up. Well, people don't see me that

[00:17:06] way. I retorted stubbornly.

[00:17:09] So I'm not trying to convince people

[00:17:10] about it. Our voices tangled and

[00:17:13] climbed over each other, leaving us

[00:17:14] both gasping for air during the

[00:17:16] argument.

[00:17:17] Voy a latte un buño.

[00:17:19] Don't get smart, Natasha.

[00:17:21] To me, saying I was black was not

[00:17:23] about downplaying my Puerto Rican

[00:17:25] roots, but about rejecting a system

[00:17:27] that seemed to have rejected me

[00:17:29] by default.

[00:17:30] I didn't look like the Latinos people

[00:17:32] expected to see in America.

[00:17:34] It seemed like everyone else had

[00:17:36] gotten a clear memo and

[00:17:38] not only was it fairer skin that

[00:17:39] made you Latino in America,

[00:17:41] but the ability to speak Spanish

[00:17:44] and I'll stop there.

[00:17:53] We hear say it loud.

[00:17:54] I'm black and I'm proud, you know,

[00:17:57] we hear so many things about our

[00:17:59] pride as black black people.

[00:18:00] And in early age, you recognized

[00:18:03] what you looked like

[00:18:06] and you fought with your mother

[00:18:08] about that. How long did that

[00:18:09] fight go on about how you

[00:18:11] identify yourself?

[00:18:13] I would say it lasted for at

[00:18:16] least five or six years because

[00:18:17] what happened was,

[00:18:19] you know, I was growing up in a

[00:18:20] segregated town.

[00:18:22] This is the northern rust belt.

[00:18:24] So Syracuse, New York is very black

[00:18:26] and white. Puerto Ricans kind of

[00:18:27] like what is that?

[00:18:29] And so you had to choose

[00:18:31] if that makes sense. People saw

[00:18:33] you as black or they saw

[00:18:35] you as white or when they thought

[00:18:37] of Latino, they thought of Mexican,

[00:18:38] right? They hadn't quite figured

[00:18:40] out, you know, the difference

[00:18:41] between nationality and ethnicity.

[00:18:44] And so we thought about this

[00:18:46] because my mother was telling me

[00:18:48] you're both, but the world was

[00:18:50] showing me something different.

[00:18:52] And so I think it's it's almost

[00:18:55] what you think about biracial

[00:18:56] kids. You think about, you know, a

[00:18:58] black father and a white mother.

[00:19:00] In my case, my mother isn't white.

[00:19:03] So she understands people

[00:19:05] of color to some degree, but she

[00:19:06] doesn't understand what it means to

[00:19:08] be black.

[00:19:09] And so as much as she wants me to

[00:19:11] feel included, I'm saying, well,

[00:19:13] why do when I look at the Latina

[00:19:14] magazine, everybody's white.

[00:19:16] Why is their hair all straight?

[00:19:18] You know, when I go to that side

[00:19:19] of the family, I'm not the pretty

[00:19:21] one traditionally, right?

[00:19:24] It took me a long time to see

[00:19:25] myself as beautiful because the

[00:19:27] standard of Latino God

[00:19:29] wasn't one that made room

[00:19:31] for someone like me.

[00:19:32] So as much as my mother wanted

[00:19:34] me to accept that I could be

[00:19:36] both, it took a long time

[00:19:38] for me to find my people, April,

[00:19:39] if that makes sense.

[00:19:41] And I found my people with

[00:19:42] Afro Latinos.

[00:19:43] And that's the journey you see

[00:19:45] in the book.

[00:19:46] And you're not alone.

[00:19:47] There are Afro Latinos out here

[00:19:50] that she would think, oh, they're

[00:19:51] just light skinned black people.

[00:19:54] Let's talk about Sonny Haasden

[00:19:56] on the view.

[00:19:58] Yes, Sonny and she did something

[00:20:00] wonderful for you. Can you

[00:20:01] read that? Yeah.

[00:20:02] She wrote the

[00:20:04] The One Blur by Have in my

[00:20:06] book.

[00:20:08] Sonny said in her searing

[00:20:10] debut Al Ford smartly in

[00:20:12] candidly examines what it means

[00:20:13] to be black and Latina in America

[00:20:15] and interrogates identity, class

[00:20:17] and race and success

[00:20:19] on her terms.

[00:20:21] American Negra is required

[00:20:22] reading for anyone longing to

[00:20:24] understand the intricacies of

[00:20:26] intersectionality in this

[00:20:27] country and be inspired

[00:20:29] in the process.

[00:20:31] I'm honored that she wrote that

[00:20:32] for me. And Sonny is deep.

[00:20:34] I mean, she's the only example

[00:20:35] I had of somebody who was

[00:20:37] right at that intersection as

[00:20:38] well.

[00:20:40] So she understood what it was

[00:20:42] like to be invisible in one

[00:20:44] culture, welcomed and sort of

[00:20:46] accepted as black in another

[00:20:47] culture.

[00:20:48] But also

[00:20:50] when we think of Latinos, I

[00:20:52] mean, again, we still are

[00:20:54] thinking light skin, wavy

[00:20:56] hair, right?

[00:20:57] That's our conception of Latinos.

[00:20:58] But when I go to Puerto Rico,

[00:21:00] there are people with locks.

[00:21:02] You know, there are people with

[00:21:02] dark brown skin.

[00:21:04] And you know what they're

[00:21:05] facing? They're facing people

[00:21:06] who come to them.

[00:21:08] One immigrant

[00:21:09] agent, he was an ice agent

[00:21:11] approached a Puerto Rican woman

[00:21:12] and asked for her papers,

[00:21:14] assuming that she was Dominican

[00:21:16] and she wasn't actually a

[00:21:17] citizen.

[00:21:18] So even when you're supposed to

[00:21:20] be at home in your culture,

[00:21:22] a racially mixed culture,

[00:21:24] black Latinos are still being

[00:21:26] profiled. And that is the story

[00:21:28] that we have to elevate and

[00:21:29] talk about.

[00:21:30] That is so crazy.

[00:21:32] I just look at people as people

[00:21:34] and if I see you, you look

[00:21:36] like me. I embrace you.

[00:21:37] If you don't look like me, I

[00:21:38] embrace you. It's the heart

[00:21:39] for me. But that's just me.

[00:21:41] Yeah. But you know,

[00:21:43] you and I think about as I'm

[00:21:45] listening to the story, I keep

[00:21:46] thinking about that viral moment

[00:21:48] you had on CNN about race.

[00:21:50] You remember that?

[00:21:51] Oh, it went viral.

[00:21:54] Can you lay the groundwork

[00:21:55] as to what happened and what

[00:21:57] you said? Because as you're

[00:21:58] talking about this

[00:22:00] intersectionality, you were

[00:22:02] viewed, in my opinion, as a

[00:22:03] black person at that time.

[00:22:06] So talk to me, lay the

[00:22:07] groundwork as to that

[00:22:08] situation.

[00:22:09] Well, early in the book, I write

[00:22:11] about being pulled over by the

[00:22:13] police with my family

[00:22:14] and how my father gets

[00:22:16] profiled. But my mother doesn't.

[00:22:18] So even though she's a person of

[00:22:20] color and she's a Latina, when

[00:22:22] we're pulled over by the cops,

[00:22:24] they want my dad's license

[00:22:25] and they're very focused on my

[00:22:26] dad, who is darker skin.

[00:22:29] And so basically what I'm

[00:22:30] saying is that from a young

[00:22:32] age, I see that our

[00:22:34] rhetoric of colorblindness

[00:22:36] is not reality, right?

[00:22:38] And it's not to say that we

[00:22:39] shouldn't aspire to a day

[00:22:41] when race doesn't matter.

[00:22:43] But the material reality in

[00:22:45] America is one where race does

[00:22:47] matter. And we are

[00:22:48] encountering people who want to

[00:22:50] erase history, they want to

[00:22:52] erase data, they want to erase

[00:22:54] facts and say that we are

[00:22:55] somehow, you know, sort of

[00:22:58] being emotional or illogical

[00:23:00] when we bring race into

[00:23:01] conversations. When the data

[00:23:03] shows us, whether you're

[00:23:05] talking about police

[00:23:07] cameras, speed cameras in

[00:23:09] Black neighborhoods or the

[00:23:10] money sophisticated with

[00:23:13] their attacks, they're more

[00:23:14] sophisticated, but it's there.

[00:23:15] It's so true. And so

[00:23:18] what I ask of us to do with

[00:23:20] this book and in general is to

[00:23:22] hold on to our sense of

[00:23:24] what is true because in

[00:23:27] this age of disinformation,

[00:23:29] people are literally making

[00:23:30] their own facts and they are

[00:23:32] gaslighting us on the regular

[00:23:34] about things that we know to

[00:23:35] be true.

[00:23:36] Yeah. So as you were finding

[00:23:39] yourself in this beautiful

[00:23:41] home of two different cultures

[00:23:43] that melded and created a

[00:23:44] beautiful woman, thank you.

[00:23:47] You had a love for an HBCU.

[00:23:51] She wanted to go to who's

[00:23:53] a Howard person over here?

[00:23:55] Oh, Lord have mercy. OK.

[00:23:57] OK, I knew. You can always

[00:23:58] find one. OK, OK.

[00:24:00] I knew I was going to see

[00:24:00] the hands. OK, OK.

[00:24:02] It's like I set myself up

[00:24:05] all the time.

[00:24:06] I'm a Morgan State grad.

[00:24:08] I'm so glad I went to Morgan

[00:24:10] State. Yeah.

[00:24:11] So anyway, it doesn't have

[00:24:14] we had a love for all of you.

[00:24:16] I know it doesn't have that bang

[00:24:18] that H.U.

[00:24:19] You know all that stuff.

[00:24:20] OK, fine.

[00:24:21] She wanted to go to Howard.

[00:24:24] She wanted to go to an HBCU.

[00:24:28] But life sent her a different

[00:24:30] place to have.

[00:24:35] Shout out to all my Harvard people

[00:24:36] in the audience.

[00:24:38] Y'all just as bad as a.

[00:24:42] But she attended high.

[00:24:45] And that's a beautiful thing.

[00:24:47] Thank you.

[00:24:48] And I get the I get

[00:24:50] the.

[00:24:53] The tension about it in your home

[00:24:55] because I think about this

[00:24:57] and I did the same thing.

[00:24:59] I'm a second generation

[00:25:01] Morgan. I I love

[00:25:03] HBCUs and I love my

[00:25:06] university. Got to honor a doctor

[00:25:07] and everything. My mother's on it

[00:25:08] there and everything.

[00:25:10] However, my daughter

[00:25:12] goes to American University.

[00:25:15] Right.

[00:25:16] But she's in

[00:25:18] she's in college April.

[00:25:22] It's still OK.

[00:25:22] Wait a minute.

[00:25:23] You did a good job, mom.

[00:25:25] She's in school.

[00:25:26] I mean, I mean, no,

[00:25:28] I got her in there and I'm

[00:25:29] proud that she's there.

[00:25:30] Stop y'all.

[00:25:32] No, but I'm proud that she's there.

[00:25:34] I'm going to tell you why

[00:25:36] because Dr. King didn't just

[00:25:38] want us in our own spaces.

[00:25:41] He wanted us every place.

[00:25:43] So there's a space and a place for

[00:25:45] everyone and everything.

[00:25:46] As I laugh and joke about Harvard

[00:25:49] and Howard, these are

[00:25:51] two exceptional schools

[00:25:53] in this nation. Top 100 schools

[00:25:56] and my daughter is in a top 100

[00:25:58] school. You should be proud.

[00:25:59] I am. You are.

[00:26:00] But if the focus is on the tension

[00:26:02] about you and have,

[00:26:05] talk to me about that from the book.

[00:26:07] Well, OK, so.

[00:26:10] And you come from humble beginnings.

[00:26:11] That's right.

[00:26:12] And this is what I want people

[00:26:14] to understand really quickly

[00:26:16] about what you said for the Harvard

[00:26:18] alums who are in this audience.

[00:26:19] We know there are people

[00:26:21] who would love nothing more than

[00:26:23] for us to stop applying to take

[00:26:25] this moment of anti-D.I.

[00:26:28] Energy and to go elsewhere

[00:26:30] because all it does is create more

[00:26:32] space for them to come in.

[00:26:34] They don't have to worry about

[00:26:35] resistance. They don't have to worry

[00:26:36] about meeting our needs.

[00:26:38] Right. So my message is that

[00:26:40] we should always have a choice.

[00:26:42] Right. We should always invest

[00:26:44] in black institutions, but we

[00:26:45] should always give people a choice.

[00:26:47] It's too easy to say just don't

[00:26:49] apply to these schools.

[00:26:50] And what I wanted was resources.

[00:26:54] I went to an underfunded school

[00:26:55] district left less than 50

[00:26:57] percent of students graduated

[00:26:59] from there.

[00:27:00] And I just wanted to go to school

[00:27:01] once in a place that gave me

[00:27:03] everything that I needed.

[00:27:04] That was all I wanted.

[00:27:06] And you were a good student.

[00:27:08] You worked hard.

[00:27:09] Even when you made your father

[00:27:10] mad, you said some curse words

[00:27:13] you knew in your vocabulary.

[00:27:14] But you wanted to appease him

[00:27:16] and yourself at the same time.

[00:27:18] Yeah. So this the scene that

[00:27:20] I will read for you is when

[00:27:22] I actually get in and

[00:27:24] this is on.

[00:27:27] Let's see.

[00:27:28] This is on page 94.

[00:27:30] The chapter is called Golden Ticket.

[00:27:33] And the reason why I'm reading

[00:27:34] this scene is because I want people

[00:27:36] to understand that a lot of us

[00:27:38] make assumptions when we hear

[00:27:40] that somebody went to a certain

[00:27:41] school about what their story

[00:27:43] is or what their background is.

[00:27:45] But in my case, it wasn't

[00:27:47] what you would think.

[00:27:47] We always see people celebrating

[00:27:49] when they get into college.

[00:27:51] It was a little different for me.

[00:27:52] So I'll read this part for you

[00:27:54] starting at the paragraph that says

[00:27:56] after school. Follow along.

[00:28:01] After school, I headed to our house

[00:28:03] on Garfield Avenue.

[00:28:05] I got in.

[00:28:06] I got in.

[00:28:07] I got in.

[00:28:08] I repeated to myself trying

[00:28:10] to make it feel real.

[00:28:12] The high of the news was still

[00:28:14] fresh on my ears.

[00:28:15] The disbelief just as strong.

[00:28:17] Daddy was sitting in the rocking

[00:28:18] chair underneath our family photos

[00:28:20] in the living room watching TV

[00:28:22] when I got home.

[00:28:23] I prepared myself to tell news

[00:28:25] that can only be delivered once.

[00:28:28] Daddy, I said the words

[00:28:30] jockeying and pushing each other

[00:28:32] down to get out of my mouth.

[00:28:34] What he asked, slightly annoyed

[00:28:36] at the interruption.

[00:28:39] I got into Harvard.

[00:28:40] I was breathless, beaming with

[00:28:42] pride.

[00:28:43] Daddy paused for a second,

[00:28:45] slanted his head to the side

[00:28:46] and looked at me.

[00:28:47] His dark sunglasses covering

[00:28:49] his eyes.

[00:28:50] Harvard,

[00:28:52] his face twisted up like he just

[00:28:53] tasted a cup of rancid milk.

[00:28:56] Why the hell would you want to go

[00:28:57] there?

[00:28:59] My excitement crashed and

[00:29:00] evaporated into a thousand

[00:29:02] small pieces, like a plate of

[00:29:03] China knocked off a table.

[00:29:05] I should have known that he was

[00:29:07] unimpressed by these

[00:29:08] institutions.

[00:29:10] Despite all his encouragement to

[00:29:11] get an education, he was also

[00:29:13] still holding out hope.

[00:29:14] I joined the military as he had.

[00:29:16] Oh boy.

[00:29:18] It's the number one school in

[00:29:20] the country, daddy.

[00:29:21] It's really hard to get in.

[00:29:22] It was my reach school.

[00:29:24] Oh, OK.

[00:29:26] Well, that's good.

[00:29:28] He muttered and went back to

[00:29:29] watching TV.

[00:29:31] I was zero for one, but I still

[00:29:33] had one more shot with mommy.

[00:29:35] Maybe as a college educated

[00:29:37] woman who helped me fill out the

[00:29:38] fast sun, taking me to

[00:29:39] Saturday Academy, she would

[00:29:41] understand just how big a deal

[00:29:43] this was.

[00:29:44] About an hour later, I heard

[00:29:45] the wooden door creak signaling

[00:29:47] she was home.

[00:29:49] Mommy.

[00:29:50] I got into Harvard.

[00:29:52] I got in.

[00:29:53] She looked at me with the

[00:29:55] exhausted eyes of a woman who

[00:29:57] worked a long day, carrying

[00:29:58] too many bags that were too

[00:30:00] heavy with not enough help,

[00:30:01] still trying to figure out what

[00:30:03] she'd order for dinner that

[00:30:04] night.

[00:30:06] That's good, Tasha.

[00:30:07] But if they don't give you

[00:30:08] the money, you can't go.

[00:30:09] We'll just see what happens.

[00:30:11] She said dropping her big purse

[00:30:13] onto the chair.

[00:30:15] Mom, I protested.

[00:30:17] Really?

[00:30:19] Tasha, that's great.

[00:30:20] But I just got home from work.

[00:30:21] Let me take a look at everything

[00:30:22] first.

[00:30:23] I quietly stomped off to my room.

[00:30:26] Unlike with daddy, it was safe

[00:30:27] to be mad at mommy to show her

[00:30:29] I was mad.

[00:30:31] Some people can never live up

[00:30:32] to their parents' expectations.

[00:30:34] In my case, I had exceeded

[00:30:36] expectations and it didn't seem

[00:30:38] to make a difference either way.

[00:30:41] Yet I was still deeply torn.

[00:30:42] What about Howard?

[00:30:43] Did it even matter that I

[00:30:44] still wanted to go?

[00:30:47] You're not seriously going to

[00:30:48] turn down Harvard, right?

[00:30:50] What decision is there to make?

[00:30:52] Asked Mr. Little, my favorite AP

[00:30:54] history teacher who didn't

[00:30:55] sugarcoat anything and said

[00:30:56] exactly what he thought at all

[00:30:58] times.

[00:30:59] Mr. Little had worked in Syracuse

[00:31:01] schools forever and was a

[00:31:02] graduate of them too.

[00:31:04] He knew what this admission

[00:31:05] represented and how it defied

[00:31:07] the low expectations people

[00:31:09] often had of city school

[00:31:11] grads no matter the color

[00:31:12] of their skin.

[00:31:14] I mean, I may still go to

[00:31:16] Howard, I said digging in.

[00:31:18] It's a good school and I got

[00:31:19] a full ride.

[00:31:21] I didn't like the implication

[00:31:22] that because I'd gotten into a

[00:31:24] richer school, a wider school,

[00:31:27] it was somehow better or better

[00:31:28] for me.

[00:31:30] My HBCU dream was so deep,

[00:31:32] a chance to be affirmed in

[00:31:33] ways that I hadn't been thus

[00:31:35] far in my entire education

[00:31:38] in this snowy segregated town.

[00:31:40] But as I looked at Mr.

[00:31:41] Little's bewildered face,

[00:31:43] his unfiltered words pierced

[00:31:45] the defense I put up.

[00:31:47] He was right, I figured.

[00:31:49] People like me could never

[00:31:50] turn down the opportunity to go

[00:31:52] to a place like Harvard.

[00:31:53] I got in a golden ticket like

[00:31:55] the one Charlie wanted so badly

[00:31:57] for Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

[00:32:00] There were some people like

[00:32:01] Veruca Salt who could easily

[00:32:02] have bought their golden ticket

[00:32:03] into college and did.

[00:32:06] Some people like Violet with

[00:32:07] their accolades and perfect

[00:32:09] test scores had the resources

[00:32:11] to increase their chances.

[00:32:13] Kids like Augustus Gloop had

[00:32:14] everything given to them.

[00:32:15] So a college admission was just

[00:32:17] another delicacy.

[00:32:19] And some like Mike TV with

[00:32:20] their smarts knew the ins and

[00:32:22] outs of places like these with ease.

[00:32:25] I was no poor kid without

[00:32:26] shoes on my feet like Charlie,

[00:32:28] but it did seem I had extremely

[00:32:30] good luck not taking this

[00:32:32] admission seat seemed ungrateful.

[00:32:35] If I wanted to change my and

[00:32:37] my family's life,

[00:32:39] I didn't have a right to turn it

[00:32:40] down.

[00:32:41] And that's that section.

[00:32:45] So it's a lot, right?

[00:32:47] There's layers, there's layers.

[00:32:49] If as your parent, I would have

[00:32:50] sent you to Harvard and I would

[00:32:52] have said you always have a chance

[00:32:54] to go back to get your PhD or

[00:32:56] your masters at Howard.

[00:32:57] They have a great, great

[00:33:00] masters in PhD.

[00:33:01] Well, master's program.

[00:33:03] And, you know, I don't know

[00:33:05] if they have a great master's

[00:33:07] program in media.

[00:33:07] I don't know if they have a PhD.

[00:33:09] I don't know yet, but I'll find

[00:33:10] do you know from HU?

[00:33:12] OK, you don't know.

[00:33:13] OK, all right.

[00:33:15] But I would have said something

[00:33:16] like that. But let's move quickly

[00:33:18] because I know people have

[00:33:19] questions and comments

[00:33:21] because this has been such a rich

[00:33:22] conversation thus far.

[00:33:24] But let's move into now.

[00:33:26] OK, you've graduated Harvard.

[00:33:29] I'm looking at my career path.

[00:33:32] You've come from this.

[00:33:34] You go to here and now where do

[00:33:36] I go? How do I do this?

[00:33:38] How did your parents factor in

[00:33:39] again when it came time to

[00:33:41] find that career path?

[00:33:44] So I won't give away too much

[00:33:46] of the book because there is a

[00:33:47] reason why I make a certain

[00:33:49] decision coming out of school.

[00:33:51] I go and I work in the corporate

[00:33:53] world, which is something that a

[00:33:54] lot of people do coming out of

[00:33:56] places like Harvard or the Ivy

[00:33:57] League. My motivation was

[00:34:00] more than just money.

[00:34:01] It was really about security.

[00:34:03] And I think the message

[00:34:05] of sharing that chapter is

[00:34:07] that too often there are young

[00:34:09] talented black people and we

[00:34:11] think that just by sending them

[00:34:13] to a school, we've done enough

[00:34:14] for them. But what happens is

[00:34:16] they get into the institution

[00:34:17] and they don't know how to

[00:34:18] navigate it. And that was the

[00:34:20] case for me.

[00:34:21] So even though I wanted to be a

[00:34:23] journalist like April Ryan, there

[00:34:25] was no journalism major at

[00:34:26] Harvard.

[00:34:27] So what did I do?

[00:34:28] I imitated the people around me

[00:34:30] and what were they doing?

[00:34:31] They were going to finance.

[00:34:33] They were going to consulting.

[00:34:34] They were going to hedge funds,

[00:34:36] a word that I didn't even know

[00:34:37] what that meant when I went

[00:34:39] off to school.

[00:34:40] So I went and I did that and I

[00:34:42] knew this is not for me.

[00:34:44] And you read about how I

[00:34:45] figure out how to leave.

[00:34:46] And then I go and I become

[00:34:48] a teacher.

[00:34:49] And some of my students are in

[00:34:51] the audience right now.

[00:34:54] Where the students raise your

[00:34:55] hand? I see them.

[00:34:57] Right there. Waving with

[00:34:59] enthusiasm.

[00:35:01] Was she a good teacher?

[00:35:03] All right, all right.

[00:35:05] Would you tell me if she was

[00:35:06] bad?

[00:35:10] You know, but in all

[00:35:11] seriousness, I love

[00:35:13] teaching. I love those children

[00:35:15] right there. They're not children

[00:35:16] anymore. But that's what you're

[00:35:17] doing now, though.

[00:35:18] And that and that is that's what

[00:35:20] journalism was to me.

[00:35:21] But I'll tell you why I left,

[00:35:22] though, because I was

[00:35:24] so frustrated with the system.

[00:35:26] Right?

[00:35:27] You recruit young people, you

[00:35:29] tell them to become teachers

[00:35:31] and then you hand them

[00:35:33] a broken system.

[00:35:35] I'm getting a student who

[00:35:36] reads at a first grade level

[00:35:39] and I'm being told they have to

[00:35:40] read, you know, they're an

[00:35:42] eighth grader basically.

[00:35:44] How as a 23 year old was

[00:35:46] I supposed to navigate that?

[00:35:48] It was almost too much pressure

[00:35:50] and I felt like I was failing

[00:35:51] them every single day.

[00:35:53] As much as they felt like I was a

[00:35:55] good teacher, I felt like I was

[00:35:57] failing them, right?

[00:35:58] So that experience

[00:36:00] led me to go into education

[00:36:02] policy because I thought to

[00:36:03] myself, we can change the system.

[00:36:07] We OK?

[00:36:08] I know the cricket is going.

[00:36:09] Is anybody want to?

[00:36:10] Anybody want to help?

[00:36:12] Just get the phone.

[00:36:13] Anybody want to help them out?

[00:36:15] OK.

[00:36:16] But you know, but I'm going to tell

[00:36:17] you, I know I'm trying to go

[00:36:19] deep with you.

[00:36:20] I'm trying to go deep with you.

[00:36:21] I didn't want to go deep with the

[00:36:23] cricket going.

[00:36:24] Natasha, I didn't want to interrupt

[00:36:26] you. I'm telling you, everybody's

[00:36:28] looking around at each other.

[00:36:29] There's a bunch of looking at me

[00:36:30] and then she finding where it's

[00:36:32] coming from. I'm like, oh,

[00:36:33] that's OK. I'm getting ready to

[00:36:34] walk. But anyway, it takes a

[00:36:36] village and the cricket is gone.

[00:36:37] So we're good.

[00:36:38] Amen.

[00:36:39] OK. Listen, I in some

[00:36:42] parts of it, I found

[00:36:47] don't be ashamed.

[00:36:47] Just take the phone.

[00:36:48] If you don't, somebody helps them

[00:36:50] out. Yes.

[00:36:51] Because I'm going to tell you, I'm

[00:36:52] not good.

[00:36:53] You will. Everybody knows on my

[00:36:55] job, I'm technologically

[00:36:57] challenged. They laugh at me.

[00:36:59] You get it? Yes.

[00:37:00] And they laugh at me. They think

[00:37:01] I'm trying to be funny, but I'm

[00:37:02] not. But it's OK.

[00:37:03] It takes a village.

[00:37:04] It takes a village.

[00:37:05] But listen, when it comes to

[00:37:07] this profession,

[00:37:09] my dad and

[00:37:11] I felt I felt you in that

[00:37:13] and a lot.

[00:37:14] This whole book, I saw a lot of my

[00:37:16] parents. My parents are gone on to

[00:37:18] glory.

[00:37:19] And with my dad,

[00:37:21] you know, before he died, he had

[00:37:23] dementia and he was very

[00:37:25] ill.

[00:37:26] And I didn't have a chance to

[00:37:27] reconcile with him.

[00:37:29] You are doing it now.

[00:37:31] And I love that for you.

[00:37:32] I don't want to give away

[00:37:33] things, but she is.

[00:37:35] But I thought about I had a

[00:37:36] very strong father too.

[00:37:38] And he did not want me to get

[00:37:40] in this career that I'm in now.

[00:37:43] I know, right?

[00:37:45] He said to me, he said, April,

[00:37:47] you're not going to get paid.

[00:37:49] You're going to he thought I was

[00:37:49] just going to go off and be like,

[00:37:51] I don't know how many of you from

[00:37:52] Baltimore, but we used to have

[00:37:53] like a little black radio.

[00:37:55] I did once work at James Brown

[00:37:57] Radio W.E.B.B.

[00:37:58] Getting paid $5 an hour

[00:38:00] and those checks, the salaries,

[00:38:02] the salary checks would bounce.

[00:38:04] You know, he thought I was going

[00:38:05] to be on like these little

[00:38:06] small stations. No, I'm

[00:38:08] and I worked to prove him wrong

[00:38:10] like you did, you know, in your book.

[00:38:12] So it's just you got to read this.

[00:38:14] It's so wonderful.

[00:38:16] And and pass it forward for Mother's

[00:38:18] Day gifts and and all sorts

[00:38:20] Christmas gifts by Christmas gifts

[00:38:22] now, you know, you know,

[00:38:24] Kwanzaa gifts, you know, what have

[00:38:26] you? But seriously, you will find

[00:38:28] yourself in this in some parts

[00:38:31] talking about whoever your guardian

[00:38:33] or your parent was or the person

[00:38:36] who was that ear above

[00:38:38] you to help you sort through.

[00:38:39] You find yourself in this book

[00:38:41] and it's just so amazing.

[00:38:43] But I want to get to we talked

[00:38:45] about you and your parents back and

[00:38:47] forth, but I want to get to the

[00:38:48] piece about healing with you and

[00:38:49] your parents because, you know,

[00:38:51] your mother wanted you to identify

[00:38:54] partially as Puerto Rican

[00:38:56] and you were like, I'm black

[00:38:57] and I'm proud because that's

[00:38:59] what people saw. And then there

[00:39:00] are other things, you know,

[00:39:01] you are you're a wonderful

[00:39:03] person, but you were a smart

[00:39:04] mouth kid back in the day.

[00:39:05] Very stubborn, stubborn

[00:39:07] and you use some curse words

[00:39:08] too. And your dad got I know,

[00:39:10] right? Your dad got upset

[00:39:13] and you work those things out.

[00:39:15] And I know you care so much for

[00:39:17] your parents to this day.

[00:39:18] So tell me how you're working

[00:39:20] through all of that being a

[00:39:22] child and now being adult

[00:39:24] to to make them see that you

[00:39:26] are that person that loved

[00:39:29] them all the way through.

[00:39:31] Well, writing this book was

[00:39:33] healing for our family because

[00:39:34] I think a lot of people in

[00:39:36] this audience can relate to

[00:39:38] there are things that you've

[00:39:39] never said out loud to your

[00:39:41] parents because you might be

[00:39:43] afraid because culturally, we

[00:39:45] just don't do that.

[00:39:47] Right? We don't ask questions

[00:39:48] about what happened or share

[00:39:50] our feelings about what

[00:39:51] happened. And for me, a big

[00:39:55] theme in this book is tension

[00:39:56] with my father over what he

[00:39:59] wants me to do, whether it's

[00:40:01] you know, going to the

[00:40:01] military instead of going to

[00:40:03] college or just in general

[00:40:05] expressing my opinion.

[00:40:08] But there's something that

[00:40:10] happens in the book with his

[00:40:11] health, which right now he's

[00:40:14] actually fighting. He's in the

[00:40:15] hospital getting a stem cell

[00:40:17] transplant because he has

[00:40:18] cancer and and she's been

[00:40:21] with him every step of the

[00:40:24] way. Yeah. And it was those

[00:40:26] conversations going to the

[00:40:27] hospital where I would

[00:40:28] interview him for the book.

[00:40:30] And the book gave me a good

[00:40:31] excuse to have conversations

[00:40:33] with my own father that I

[00:40:34] was afraid to have or I

[00:40:36] didn't have an opening to

[00:40:37] have. And it was so healing

[00:40:39] because I understood him as a

[00:40:41] person. I understood the

[00:40:43] mistakes that he made with a

[00:40:45] lot more empathy as an adult.

[00:40:48] And so the book was again, a

[00:40:50] good excuse. But he read the

[00:40:55] book and having him read the

[00:40:58] book and say this is a good

[00:41:00] story. You have my blessing to

[00:41:02] tell it. That changed

[00:41:04] everything in our

[00:41:04] relationship. Amen. Amen.

[00:41:07] Well, it's bringing many of us

[00:41:09] to tears. I know for me,

[00:41:13] before my father died, he

[00:41:15] died during all of this crazy

[00:41:17] mess with the last president.

[00:41:18] I'm not going to say his name.

[00:41:20] Y'all know you said, you

[00:41:22] know that. Well, if y'all

[00:41:24] don't show up, he'll be the

[00:41:25] next president. So she said

[00:41:26] that I didn't because they

[00:41:28] not gonna come after me for

[00:41:29] that one. Because who child

[00:41:32] is looking though? I know

[00:41:34] but and he's talking about

[00:41:35] retaliation. But I'll never

[00:41:36] forget before my father passed

[00:41:38] away and he the week before

[00:41:40] he passed away, he had

[00:41:41] clarity. And he said to my

[00:41:43] aunts, what's the FBI saying

[00:41:45] about all of this? And he was

[00:41:47] concerned. And the day before

[00:41:50] he died, he knew my name and

[00:41:51] knew my face. And I was

[00:41:52] just thankful. So you know,

[00:41:54] I mean, working through these

[00:41:56] books are cathartic. They

[00:41:58] really are so there were

[00:41:59] people who I called who I

[00:42:00] hadn't spoken to in years to

[00:42:02] ask for their blessing,

[00:42:03] because generally as a writer,

[00:42:04] a new writer, I don't want

[00:42:06] somebody to open up a book and

[00:42:07] say she wrote about that. And

[00:42:09] she didn't ask you talked

[00:42:11] about me. Oh, right. So I

[00:42:13] called pretty much almost

[00:42:14] every person. There are

[00:42:15] a couple of people who I

[00:42:16] didn't reach out to. And

[00:42:19] there are stories we tell

[00:42:20] ourselves about what happened

[00:42:23] or our relationship to

[00:42:24] someone or we feel shame or

[00:42:26] we feel anxiety. And that

[00:42:27] person has let it go.

[00:42:29] Sometimes we're carrying

[00:42:31] baggage that we should have

[00:42:32] let go. And so through writing

[00:42:34] this book, I was able to

[00:42:35] reconnect with people and

[00:42:36] realize maybe our relationship

[00:42:39] isn't so bad, right? Or that

[00:42:40] thing that happened, they

[00:42:41] forgave me for that. Or that

[00:42:43] thing that happened, I

[00:42:44] should forgive them for

[00:42:45] that. And even if you

[00:42:47] don't write a book in this

[00:42:48] audience, my message to you

[00:42:51] is to think about what

[00:42:53] stories you're telling

[00:42:54] yourself that you need to

[00:42:55] tell differently. The good

[00:42:57] thing about writing a memoir

[00:42:58] is that it marks time.

[00:43:00] You're making meaning of your

[00:43:01] past, but also so you can

[00:43:03] move on to what's next. And I

[00:43:05] think that whether you

[00:43:06] write a book or not, we can

[00:43:07] all do that in our lives.

[00:43:10] Journal or something if you

[00:43:12] don't want to write a book,

[00:43:12] but I think we all have a

[00:43:15] story. Before we go into

[00:43:17] questions, how many of you

[00:43:18] got questions? Start thinking

[00:43:19] if you don't. Okay, good.

[00:43:20] I'm glad. Okay, we got

[00:43:21] the audience questions is

[00:43:22] the best part for all of

[00:43:23] this. So please, please ask

[00:43:25] questions. So get your

[00:43:26] questions ready. What is it

[00:43:27] that you want this group

[00:43:30] to know about this book?

[00:43:32] Most importantly, American

[00:43:34] Negro, American Negro.

[00:43:38] So I wrote this book because I

[00:43:40] wanted there to be an American

[00:43:43] success story that centered a

[00:43:44] young black girl. We often

[00:43:46] think about the American

[00:43:48] dream again, we keep hearing

[00:43:49] it and hearing it, but I

[00:43:50] wasn't seeing a story that

[00:43:51] centered a young black girl

[00:43:53] and so many people who I'm

[00:43:54] looking at in this room have

[00:43:55] very similar stories of

[00:43:58] again being the exception,

[00:43:59] being the, you know, the smart

[00:44:01] one, the high achiever. But I

[00:44:03] also wanted to complicate that

[00:44:05] notion and to say that just

[00:44:06] because a young person has

[00:44:08] good grades, it doesn't mean

[00:44:09] that they're not struggling

[00:44:10] internally. They might have

[00:44:12] depression, they might have

[00:44:13] issues with self confidence.

[00:44:15] And so we need to take down

[00:44:17] the mask and sort of disrupt

[00:44:19] this concept of what success

[00:44:21] looks like to make sure that

[00:44:23] we're raising young people

[00:44:25] who actually love themselves

[00:44:27] and are not just seeing their

[00:44:30] value in their productivity,

[00:44:32] their achievements and what

[00:44:33] they can do. And so I wanted

[00:44:35] people to know not just me for

[00:44:37] the sake of knowing me, but so

[00:44:39] many people like me who we may

[00:44:41] be successful on paper, but it

[00:44:43] was a struggle to get what we

[00:44:44] have. And it was also a

[00:44:46] struggle to love ourselves.

[00:44:48] And so that's the call to

[00:44:49] action for all of us. And I

[00:44:50] really hope this story inspires

[00:44:52] you if it doesn't inspire you

[00:44:53] personally that you will find

[00:44:54] someone in your life who's

[00:44:55] inspired by it.

[00:44:57] Can somebody get me some tissues

[00:44:59] because I'm seeing people crying

[00:45:00] and this gets me upset.

[00:45:02] Hand me some tissues.

[00:45:05] It is.

[00:45:07] How many have you been touched

[00:45:08] this afternoon?

[00:45:10] Thank you for coming out in the

[00:45:11] rain.

[00:45:12] Like thank you.

[00:45:14] I'm just amazed.

[00:45:15] I'm going to cry after

[00:45:17] because

[00:45:19] it's not often that you leave

[00:45:20] a city and you come back years

[00:45:22] later and people remember you,

[00:45:23] you know, enough to spend

[00:45:25] their afternoon with you.

[00:45:26] So this is truly a blessing to

[00:45:27] me. And this is the last stop.

[00:45:29] I've been on the road for weeks.

[00:45:31] So this is the last stop before I

[00:45:32] take a rest.

[00:45:34] And this is the perfect note.

[00:45:35] There's a person I'm seeing.

[00:45:37] I'm not going to say anything,

[00:45:38] but at the end I'm going to hug

[00:45:39] you hard because I feel you.

[00:45:41] I feel you. I feel you.

[00:45:43] Thank you.

[00:45:49] Come here for a minute.

[00:46:01] All right. So for those who

[00:46:02] have questions,

[00:46:04] raise your hand.

[00:46:05] Young man. Yes, your first.

[00:46:07] I have a microphone here.

[00:46:09] Speaking to the mic because we are

[00:46:10] recording, OK?

[00:46:11] In questions, not a summary.

[00:46:14] I'm just joking.

[00:46:19] Hi. Hello.

[00:46:20] Thank you so much for your beautiful

[00:46:22] words. I'm really excited to get

[00:46:24] into all of your words.

[00:46:25] It's thank you for one.

[00:46:28] My question is about labels

[00:46:30] specifically and dealing with

[00:46:32] labels.

[00:46:34] Just a little bit of context.

[00:46:36] I have been in courtship

[00:46:38] with someone that I've asked to be

[00:46:40] my girlfriend. She said, no, I'm on

[00:46:41] trial. It's OK.

[00:46:43] I was going to say congratulations.

[00:46:44] When you still on trial, she said no.

[00:46:47] She said no and you still on trial?

[00:46:48] No, just like there's just more

[00:46:50] courtship to go on.

[00:46:51] There's still more work to do.

[00:46:52] I get it. I respect it.

[00:46:54] Personal things, personal things.

[00:46:56] But she is

[00:46:58] she is.

[00:47:00] She has been dealing with the fact

[00:47:01] of her blackness and her

[00:47:02] whiteness.

[00:47:03] And there are times when she goes

[00:47:06] into thinking about things

[00:47:08] that she learns from her white

[00:47:10] side of her family as well as her

[00:47:11] black side of her family and trying

[00:47:13] to maneuver around all of those

[00:47:14] labels. And sometimes she's like,

[00:47:16] I would just want to throw it into

[00:47:18] the trash. And then there's times

[00:47:19] when she's like, I feel all of

[00:47:20] those things.

[00:47:21] So my question for you is

[00:47:24] when it comes to labels, when it

[00:47:25] comes to you labeling yourself and

[00:47:26] it comes to the world labeling

[00:47:28] of you, what do you do when you

[00:47:30] just feel tired?

[00:47:31] Like what do you do? How do you

[00:47:33] get up in the world and be like,

[00:47:34] I actually get to choose how to

[00:47:35] define who I am? Like what

[00:47:37] is the has been that process for

[00:47:38] you? Is it just the book or was

[00:47:40] there something that you just had a

[00:47:41] moment in your mind?

[00:47:42] Or is it still hard for you to deal

[00:47:43] with today? I'm wondering about

[00:47:45] your feelings on labels.

[00:47:47] Well, that's a beautiful question.

[00:47:48] Thank you for asking it.

[00:47:50] I had gotten tired of people

[00:47:52] asking me a few things.

[00:47:54] Why don't you speak Spanish?

[00:47:57] But you do it beautifully.

[00:47:58] Well, thank you. I'm not fluent.

[00:48:00] But I talk about why I don't

[00:48:02] in the book.

[00:48:04] What are you because depending

[00:48:06] on where I go, people see a

[00:48:07] different thing in DC.

[00:48:09] I'm Ethiopian and New York City.

[00:48:12] I'm Dominican.

[00:48:13] I'm Dominican in New York.

[00:48:15] Are you Dominican in New York?

[00:48:16] I am Dominican.

[00:48:17] I'm Dominican sister.

[00:48:19] OK.

[00:48:20] I can't speak Spanish, but I'm

[00:48:22] Dominican.

[00:48:24] In Brazil, I was seen as

[00:48:26] like I'm from Brazil.

[00:48:28] So having people project

[00:48:31] on you what they think you are

[00:48:32] can be exhausting.

[00:48:33] Having people question why you

[00:48:34] don't know something that can

[00:48:36] be exhausting.

[00:48:36] And so I wrote this book to

[00:48:38] reclaim my story to say

[00:48:40] I'm not ashamed.

[00:48:42] The reason I don't speak Spanish

[00:48:43] is because my mother had to

[00:48:44] carry a dictionary in school

[00:48:46] to learn English and her

[00:48:48] teachers made her feel bad

[00:48:49] about making mistakes.

[00:48:51] And she was told that if I

[00:48:52] was bilingual, I would be

[00:48:54] confused and she didn't want

[00:48:56] me to struggle.

[00:48:57] And like a lot of families,

[00:48:58] she let that language go.

[00:49:00] She talked to me, but let

[00:49:01] me speak in English to her.

[00:49:03] So I understand it, but I

[00:49:05] respond in English.

[00:49:06] I mean, that's not just a

[00:49:07] Puerto Rican thing.

[00:49:08] That's something that happens

[00:49:09] to a lot of people who

[00:49:11] assimilate and feel that they

[00:49:12] have to lose their culture to

[00:49:14] be American.

[00:49:15] Right.

[00:49:16] So this story is about reclaiming

[00:49:18] and saying I'm not ashamed of

[00:49:19] these things. This is who I

[00:49:21] am. I'm not going to pretend

[00:49:22] to be something.

[00:49:24] I'm also not going to deny

[00:49:25] what I am to try to make it

[00:49:27] easier because there's also a

[00:49:28] part where I perm my hair

[00:49:31] and I say, look, I'm just

[00:49:32] African-American.

[00:49:34] But even that is a denial of

[00:49:36] my roots and my history.

[00:49:38] So this book

[00:49:40] is my reclamation

[00:49:42] and my hope is that

[00:49:44] generally it creates a portrait

[00:49:46] that helps the world understand

[00:49:48] people like me so that they

[00:49:50] aren't questioned, but also that

[00:49:52] we understand each other better

[00:49:54] because let's be very real.

[00:49:55] African-Americans are so

[00:49:57] accepting because we had no

[00:49:59] choice because of slavery,

[00:50:01] because of rape.

[00:50:03] You know how many children who

[00:50:04] are walking around with their

[00:50:05] master's blood in their bodies,

[00:50:07] right? The families that were

[00:50:08] broken apart, who

[00:50:11] mothers who watch their children

[00:50:12] be sent off to different

[00:50:13] plantations. So your idea of

[00:50:15] family and community is

[00:50:16] different when that's your

[00:50:18] history.

[00:50:19] And you can be more accepting

[00:50:21] and welcoming because you have

[00:50:23] to create community.

[00:50:24] You have to redefine family.

[00:50:26] And so I think this is an

[00:50:27] opportunity for us to think

[00:50:29] about who we are, what

[00:50:30] community looks like, what

[00:50:32] family looks like and maybe to

[00:50:33] broaden that.

[00:50:34] So for the person who is in

[00:50:36] your life, I encourage her to

[00:50:38] not be afraid to investigate

[00:50:40] her history and also to rewrite

[00:50:42] it for herself.

[00:50:43] I'm going to say something to

[00:50:44] you. She may say yes when you

[00:50:45] take this back to her

[00:50:47] because, brother,

[00:50:50] I don't know. She said no and

[00:50:52] you still trying. You're a

[00:50:53] good one. I'm going to sign

[00:50:54] her book.

[00:50:57] You are a good one.

[00:50:58] I'm going to sign a book for

[00:50:59] her. That's going to seal the

[00:51:00] deal.

[00:51:02] OK.

[00:51:03] And you better let us know.

[00:51:05] You better DM us and we're going

[00:51:07] to put it on here. But let me

[00:51:08] say, come on in.

[00:51:09] Hey, did you see my

[00:51:11] my teaching colleague?

[00:51:12] My former teacher.

[00:51:14] All right, that's fine.

[00:51:14] But she's going to come in here

[00:51:15] and disturb the.

[00:51:16] No, no, no, no.

[00:51:17] That's a problem.

[00:51:19] Yes. All right.

[00:51:21] I love it. I haven't seen

[00:51:24] some of these faces I haven't

[00:51:25] seen in years. Some of these

[00:51:26] people helped me when I was

[00:51:28] a baby teacher.

[00:51:29] I didn't know what I was doing.

[00:51:30] She's disruptive.

[00:51:31] I don't know if she's no.

[00:51:32] She's just left.

[00:51:33] But anyway,

[00:51:35] girls, sit down.

[00:51:37] Oh, wait, but did I just sit down

[00:51:38] to somebody? You sound like a

[00:51:40] teacher right now.

[00:51:41] I sound like Trump.

[00:51:43] Oh, yeah.

[00:51:44] Oh, sorry.

[00:51:46] OK, I know.

[00:51:47] But let me say this.

[00:51:47] And I'm going to put all jokes

[00:51:49] aside. This is

[00:51:51] this has been so amazing.

[00:51:52] It has been. Can we do we have

[00:51:53] one more question?

[00:51:54] I got nervous.

[00:51:56] We got this young lady here

[00:51:58] and then this man in front of

[00:51:59] her, Ramonda, and then we're going

[00:52:01] to go back to this gentleman

[00:52:03] and then the gentleman in the blue.

[00:52:04] But come on, Miranda, come on down

[00:52:06] Oprah before we but as she's

[00:52:07] going down.

[00:52:09] Here's what I want to say.

[00:52:10] I am sick and tired of labels.

[00:52:12] We check every box.

[00:52:15] Are you this?

[00:52:16] Are you black?

[00:52:17] Are you African American?

[00:52:19] Do you have Latina?

[00:52:20] It's also what happened to

[00:52:22] personhood? Just being a person.

[00:52:25] Then do you have a learning

[00:52:27] difference? Do you have any?

[00:52:28] We are you check a box so much.

[00:52:30] What does it mean in the long

[00:52:32] run? What about who we are just as

[00:52:34] people communing together?

[00:52:36] But we didn't ask for that, April.

[00:52:38] You know, I hate it.

[00:52:39] I hate it too.

[00:52:40] But here's the other thing.

[00:52:43] We have to have accountability.

[00:52:46] And so if you don't track the

[00:52:48] populations, if you don't

[00:52:49] track, I'm not worried about that.

[00:52:50] When you walk in the door, you see

[00:52:52] my blackness first and then I'm a

[00:52:54] woman. I'm just sick of it.

[00:52:56] We're so where everybody's put

[00:52:58] into groups.

[00:52:59] It takes the humanity out of

[00:53:01] it. And I just hate that.

[00:53:03] But that's just me. I'm sorry.

[00:53:04] No, no, no. And I think part of

[00:53:06] it is stories like this that

[00:53:08] again remind you of the humanity,

[00:53:10] remind you of your family,

[00:53:12] remind you of relationship so

[00:53:14] that you can better understand

[00:53:15] the people who maybe fall into a

[00:53:17] certain category.

[00:53:18] To me in this room, we are all

[00:53:19] like minded. We are one.

[00:53:21] Yes. I don't care what color

[00:53:22] with race. We're here just

[00:53:24] we're here to commune.

[00:53:25] And we're not checking boxes.

[00:53:27] I just I just don't like that box

[00:53:28] checking. But when the census

[00:53:30] comes, I'm a check box.

[00:53:34] Yes, ma'am.

[00:53:35] Yes. I want I'm very proud of

[00:53:37] your success as a young woman,

[00:53:39] but you have so much more living

[00:53:40] to do. Will you consider writing

[00:53:43] a book for the second half

[00:53:45] of your success?

[00:53:47] Yes.

[00:53:49] I think she would.

[00:53:50] She's got a lot.

[00:53:51] She's got a lot on the way.

[00:53:53] I.

[00:54:00] I don't know if I'll do another

[00:54:01] memoir.

[00:54:03] There's a shift that's happening

[00:54:04] within me.

[00:54:06] For a long time,

[00:54:09] when I would get to a place, I

[00:54:10] wanted to get to the next place

[00:54:11] right away.

[00:54:13] And I didn't understand why, like

[00:54:15] why was I like that?

[00:54:16] Like why couldn't I just be happy

[00:54:18] with the thing that I just

[00:54:19] achieved?

[00:54:20] And I'm realizing it's because

[00:54:22] a lot of my self

[00:54:23] worth was contingent on

[00:54:25] performing.

[00:54:27] It was contingent on people

[00:54:28] noticing. It's that little girl

[00:54:30] who's like, I got into Harvard

[00:54:31] Daddy. Do you see it?

[00:54:33] And him not seeing it, not

[00:54:35] giving me the validation I

[00:54:36] needed. So there's something

[00:54:38] about I had a son.

[00:54:39] He's turning three next

[00:54:41] week.

[00:54:42] And when I see him, I want

[00:54:44] freedom for him.

[00:54:45] I don't want the chains of

[00:54:47] Black excellence on him

[00:54:50] where he feels like the

[00:54:51] antidote to fighting racism and

[00:54:53] discrimination is having to be

[00:54:55] twice as good because the truth

[00:54:56] is that's never enough.

[00:54:58] I want him to love himself or

[00:54:59] who he is. So because of that,

[00:55:01] I myself am shifting

[00:55:04] from a performance based sort

[00:55:06] of achievement based kind of

[00:55:07] journey to one that is about

[00:55:09] appreciating where I'm at.

[00:55:11] And this book was the labor of

[00:55:12] love. I'm just going to sit

[00:55:13] in it. I graduate from

[00:55:15] Princeton in

[00:55:16] about six weeks or two months.

[00:55:18] It's coming up.

[00:55:21] Thank you.

[00:55:22] But wait a minute, wait a minute.

[00:55:24] You don't know this journey,

[00:55:26] though, and this journey is

[00:55:28] amazing.

[00:55:29] And I applaud you.

[00:55:30] They don't understand, but I

[00:55:32] applaud you. She is a mother.

[00:55:34] The baby isn't two.

[00:55:36] Not three yet. He'll be three

[00:55:38] next week. He'll be three.

[00:55:39] She's got a knee baby

[00:55:41] and going to Princeton and

[00:55:43] working a full time job,

[00:55:45] writing a book.

[00:55:47] Come on.

[00:55:51] And that's what I know.

[00:55:53] That's not even that's what I

[00:55:54] know. And a fiance.

[00:55:56] That is a job that, you know,

[00:55:58] relationships are work of.

[00:56:00] And then the last piece we didn't

[00:56:01] talk about, but I have Lupus,

[00:56:03] right? So living with

[00:56:05] Lupus is also a full time job.

[00:56:07] And when I got

[00:56:09] the diagnosis, I was so mad

[00:56:11] at God because I was like,

[00:56:12] why would you give me this

[00:56:14] right as my career felt

[00:56:16] like it could take off?

[00:56:17] Right. Why would you give me

[00:56:18] something that requires me to

[00:56:20] slow down and to pull back?

[00:56:22] But I understand now

[00:56:24] that this is with me so I can

[00:56:26] take care of myself because

[00:56:27] the person that existed before

[00:56:29] would not stop for anything.

[00:56:31] My body was just a tool to get

[00:56:33] where I want it.

[00:56:34] I didn't care about my health.

[00:56:36] And so now I'm forced to take

[00:56:37] care of myself and I'm forced

[00:56:38] to say no, and I'm forced to

[00:56:40] reevaluate what matters.

[00:56:41] And that's what I'm doing

[00:56:42] right now. So thank you.

[00:56:48] Good afternoon.

[00:56:49] Stand up please.

[00:56:50] Thank you.

[00:56:52] Thank you for being here.

[00:56:53] Thank you.

[00:56:54] Thank you for hosting.

[00:56:55] So I want to say thank you

[00:56:57] for writing this book.

[00:56:59] I am the son of a black father

[00:57:01] and a Puerto Rican mother,

[00:57:02] so it definitely speaks to me

[00:57:03] and also from Ohio too.

[00:57:04] So Rust Belt connection for sure.

[00:57:06] Oh yeah, it's different out there.

[00:57:07] It was very different.

[00:57:09] So I live in DC now.

[00:57:10] I work in federal service here in DC.

[00:57:13] And so my question for you is

[00:57:16] what keeps you going?

[00:57:17] What keeps you showing up every day?

[00:57:19] I think it's particularly difficult

[00:57:20] in these times. You all alluded to it

[00:57:22] and the air of these politics today,

[00:57:24] it can be difficult or it's easy

[00:57:26] to kind of check out,

[00:57:27] particularly for our generation.

[00:57:29] So I'd like to know what keeps you

[00:57:30] plugged in before you answer.

[00:57:32] Do you feel that you're negated

[00:57:34] from all that you hear because

[00:57:36] of your culture from both

[00:57:38] beautiful cultures intersecting?

[00:57:40] Oh, I think for me,

[00:57:43] I have come to the intersection

[00:57:45] a little differently because I was

[00:57:47] also raised by my abuelita.

[00:57:50] And so growing up speaking Spanish

[00:57:52] was very important to me.

[00:57:53] We'll try and to, I guess, connect

[00:57:55] more to my latinidad.

[00:57:56] And so I really tried to do that

[00:57:59] via with studying abroad

[00:58:01] and learning to speak Spanish.

[00:58:02] But with that being said,

[00:58:04] being in DC or being

[00:58:06] in other places, I'm looked at

[00:58:07] as only being black.

[00:58:09] And so you're in chocolate city

[00:58:11] so you look black, but you are

[00:58:13] you're like well, he's racially

[00:58:16] black and culturally ethnically.

[00:58:18] He's African American and Puerto Rican.

[00:58:19] Yep. So yeah.

[00:58:21] But couldn't he be racially both?

[00:58:23] No, because Puerto Rican is not a race

[00:58:25] and Latino is not a race.

[00:58:26] Free show.

[00:58:27] And so and this is

[00:58:29] this is we didn't get into the history

[00:58:31] because we've been sort of talking generally.

[00:58:33] But this is a political

[00:58:35] strategy to create Latino.

[00:58:38] Right. That's that's a creation.

[00:58:40] You're talking about 20 plus countries,

[00:58:42] different dialects of Spanish,

[00:58:44] different histories to be Mexican

[00:58:46] is not to be Dominican is not to be Puerto Rican.

[00:58:49] And they've created this Latino category

[00:58:52] for political reasons.

[00:58:54] They also one size fits all and it doesn't.

[00:58:56] And also to distance themselves from black people

[00:58:59] because for many to be Latino

[00:59:02] is to be Hispanic.

[00:59:04] And that is European and that is refined

[00:59:06] and that is somehow more elevated

[00:59:08] than the black roots, right?

[00:59:10] Or the black influence.

[00:59:12] And in Puerto Rico specifically,

[00:59:14] they would immigrate.

[00:59:16] They would have European immigrants

[00:59:18] come into mix with the population to make it wider.

[00:59:22] These are the sorts of policies

[00:59:24] that we're talking about.

[00:59:25] So when we talk about Latino,

[00:59:27] that is something that we have to interrogate.

[00:59:29] And I know a lot of people get offended

[00:59:31] because that is part of their identity.

[00:59:33] You know, there's communities,

[00:59:34] there's organizations,

[00:59:36] there's all these things

[00:59:37] that have been built under that name.

[00:59:39] But we have to interrogate

[00:59:40] what's broken about it,

[00:59:41] what's inaccurate about it

[00:59:43] so that we actually can

[00:59:45] move with honesty and integrity.

[00:59:48] That part.

[00:59:49] Now to his question,

[00:59:50] he said, how do you keep going?

[00:59:53] Well, our ancestors

[00:59:56] didn't have the luxury of checking out.

[00:59:58] They're the reason why we're here.

[01:00:00] And if they could find a reason

[01:00:02] to keep going in the face of slavery,

[01:00:05] in the face of Jim Crow,

[01:00:06] in the face of segregation,

[01:00:08] I feel kind of privileged being

[01:00:11] a Harvard grad,

[01:00:12] you know, working in television,

[01:00:14] being like, I'm just too tired.

[01:00:16] It's not to say that the feelings of

[01:00:18] despondency are not legitimate

[01:00:21] because we are living in times of despair.

[01:00:24] You know, we are living in times

[01:00:25] where we're being attacked

[01:00:26] if you believe in spiritual warfare.

[01:00:28] We're being attacked all the time

[01:00:31] with bad news, negativity.

[01:00:33] But I do believe in the power of goodness.

[01:00:36] And that was part of this story

[01:00:38] is when I weave together the story,

[01:00:39] I said there were people who intervened on my behalf

[01:00:42] who did good things for me that changed my entire life.

[01:00:46] What does it mean if we all do that for somebody?

[01:00:49] And so that was the call to action

[01:00:51] that people would read this book and feel inspired

[01:00:53] and say, how can I do this for a young person?

[01:00:57] So that's what keeps me going.

[01:00:58] Amen. Can you say abuela?

[01:01:00] What is it? How do you say?

[01:01:01] Abolita. My abuelita.

[01:01:02] Say it again. Abuelita.

[01:01:04] It's like granny.

[01:01:05] Abuela. Say it again.

[01:01:10] Abuelita.

[01:01:11] That's not my mom's story.

[01:01:13] OK, we have two more questions.

[01:01:17] The gentleman in the back,

[01:01:18] the distinguished gentleman in the back

[01:01:20] and then the gentleman in the blue with the T.

[01:01:22] April, I love you.

[01:01:23] No one else could lead the conversation like this.

[01:01:27] I like to inform but yet have laugh.

[01:01:30] We have. This is really how we talk, though, behind the scenes.

[01:01:33] Oh my God, on the morning calls.

[01:01:35] On the morning calls.

[01:01:36] I used to be on.

[01:01:37] But no, we like to we like to inform.

[01:01:40] We like to bring information,

[01:01:42] but we have had tears.

[01:01:43] We've had.

[01:01:45] Like you're in church.

[01:01:46] This has been so beautiful.

[01:01:49] And that's I'm just going to say it.

[01:01:50] It's just beautiful.

[01:01:51] And I thank you all for showing up and coming out.

[01:01:53] Yes, sir. Why the title?

[01:01:56] That's a great question.

[01:01:59] He asked it and sat down.

[01:02:01] Drop the mic. Drop the mic.

[01:02:07] Negra soy.

[01:02:09] Negra, negra, negra.

[01:02:13] A negra is a black woman.

[01:02:16] And what I wanted people to know was that no matter where I went in the world,

[01:02:21] people saw me as a black woman.

[01:02:23] And in Latin America, if you're a black woman walking through the street,

[01:02:27] somebody might call you negra or they might call you more or something like that.

[01:02:32] But it is a compliment or a curse.

[01:02:34] It all depends on how they say it.

[01:02:37] So people say my negrita, which really is kind of weird

[01:02:40] because it translates to my blackie, which is a little you know,

[01:02:43] we don't like my little black girl.

[01:02:45] Like it's a little weird.

[01:02:47] But there are also people who hurl it as a as a curse if they are like arguing with

[01:02:53] with you.

[01:02:54] And what I want people to know is that there is a narrative

[01:02:57] that there are Afro Latinos who just don't want to be black.

[01:03:00] That's just way too simple because I keep meeting

[01:03:04] Afro Latinos who are proud that they're black,

[01:03:06] who've known that they've been black from day one, right?

[01:03:09] Who their countries make it known that they're black

[01:03:12] and that we have a shared experience with them.

[01:03:18] Arturo Schaumburg, if you've walked in Harlem,

[01:03:21] you've walked by the Schaumburg Center for Black Research and Culture.

[01:03:26] He's a black Puerto Rican man.

[01:03:29] How many of us knew that?

[01:03:30] I know I didn't know it for years walking by,

[01:03:33] but he came here from Puerto Rico, was part of the Harlem Renaissance,

[01:03:37] hung out with Langston Hughes, right?

[01:03:39] I mean, these are our people.

[01:03:43] They've been part of the black community forever.

[01:03:46] They've been in the civil rights movement.

[01:03:47] They've gone to HBCUs and so making Afro Latinidad visible was important,

[01:03:54] but also showing that we are more than just people who are black and don't know it

[01:03:58] and that there's something valuable in us knowing and loving our blackness.

[01:04:02] Yeah, the word Negro is black.

[01:04:04] So negra makes sense.

[01:04:06] Yeah. All right.

[01:04:08] And last, what you said?

[01:04:11] Negro also means slave.

[01:04:14] Right. So there's Negro within Spanish, though.

[01:04:17] Right, right. There's Negro within E.

[01:04:19] So it's not it's actually a different word entirely.

[01:04:23] So Negro and Negro and Negra was translated to black.

[01:04:27] But the point is taken that it's hurled as an insult.

[01:04:30] Right.

[01:04:30] And there are people who also will call you slave in Spanish

[01:04:34] and that's supposed to be an insult because it's the same problem.

[01:04:37] Being taught that you were just slaves and nothing more and contributed nothing

[01:04:41] more, that's a struggle that's happening in Latin America right now.

[01:04:44] I'm going to test your news mind.

[01:04:46] Didn't they take Negro off of the census?

[01:04:49] Didn't they just take it off or is it still there?

[01:04:51] I don't know. They just took it off.

[01:04:53] Yeah, I think because that was a big question

[01:04:56] because the age of those who were taking the census

[01:04:59] still remembered the word Negro, not African American.

[01:05:03] So I don't I if it's not off, there was a conference

[01:05:07] the young lady says it was.

[01:05:08] But if it was it's not off, there was a conversation about the word being there

[01:05:12] because it's offensive to some.

[01:05:13] It's very offensive and don't our terms always evolve?

[01:05:16] I mean, we went from colored.

[01:05:18] There's colored Negro, African American.

[01:05:21] Some people don't even like African American.

[01:05:23] They're like, I'm just black.

[01:05:24] So the black incorporates a lot of it does.

[01:05:28] Yeah, yeah, it does.

[01:05:29] But the point is just that our terms evolve over time.

[01:05:33] Well, I'm going to tell you this and I shouldn't.

[01:05:35] But I'm going to tell you.

[01:05:37] So Stevie wanted that night we had that conversation about wanting to talk to Biden.

[01:05:42] He was like African Americans, African Americans.

[01:05:44] He's very so there are some people who are still very much into the words

[01:05:48] African American versus the blank because he was like the blanket is black

[01:05:53] because a lot of people have not in this country who are black

[01:05:57] have not experienced experience or have the lineage of slavery.

[01:06:02] So that's that's that the qualifier, I guess.

[01:06:05] Yeah, yes. Our last question, sir.

[01:06:12] Thank you so much for writing your book.

[01:06:14] Thank you. Can't wait to read it.

[01:06:17] My question is not really a question.

[01:06:19] Just want to get your thoughts on it.

[01:06:20] You mentioned in the shared experiences

[01:06:23] and many of us have that with people around the world.

[01:06:26] So one of your thoughts about the border crisis sort of border.

[01:06:31] The border crisis.

[01:06:32] What is your thought about the border crisis?

[01:06:36] I think this book is even more relevant because of the border crisis.

[01:06:40] And that's because there are political actors who are looking to

[01:06:44] exploit the crisis to divide ethnic groups, right?

[01:06:48] They're purposefully sending Latino migrants

[01:06:52] into African American neighborhoods to cause a fight

[01:06:56] to create a scarcity mindset and say, look, we've been neglected for years.

[01:07:01] We don't have enough resources.

[01:07:02] Why would we share with these new people who are coming in?

[01:07:05] And Fox is more than happy. Fox, what? Fox.

[01:07:09] I call them Fox because they're just like this.

[01:07:12] They're a brand.

[01:07:14] I wouldn't say their news.

[01:07:18] Y'all got that good.

[01:07:20] Yes, and they're sly. Yes, I got that.

[01:07:24] But they're more than happy to exploit it, right?

[01:07:26] And so in this book, you will hear about how African Americans

[01:07:30] and Puerto Ricans in New York City work together, right?

[01:07:34] To demand labor rights in garment factories.

[01:07:38] They work together.

[01:07:41] They work together to go on strike in New York public schools in the 60s and 70s.

[01:07:46] There was the Black Panthers and the Young Lord Party working together

[01:07:51] when they took over a hospital, right?

[01:07:53] Well, the Young Lords took over a hospital, but they had African American members

[01:07:57] and 2000 Puerto Ricans went to the March on Washington at the invitation of Bired

[01:08:03] Rustin. So this is the best of communities coming together

[01:08:08] and recognizing that the person who is oppressing you, it's not each other.

[01:08:14] You're both marginalized and that there's power in unity.

[01:08:18] And so I think we need this message now more than ever

[01:08:21] because our immigration system has been broken for a long time.

[01:08:25] It's not one president who's responsible for that.

[01:08:28] And the rhetoric has shifted.

[01:08:30] They were Democrats who were hostile to immigration for years

[01:08:33] and they were Republicans who were saying we're a city on the hill.

[01:08:36] But what people want us to do is to forget that history

[01:08:40] to exploit it for political purposes and not to fix it

[01:08:44] because there was legislation just put up that could have passed,

[01:08:48] that could have immediately addressed problems.

[01:08:51] And what did Donald Trump do?

[01:08:52] He said, don't let it pass because that's a win for Democrats.

[01:08:56] What about a win for America?

[01:08:58] What about what we need?

[01:09:00] So there are people who are prioritizing politics over advancing

[01:09:03] what's best for our country and hopefully we can change that.

[01:09:06] And I just want to add something simple.

[01:09:08] Yes, there is there is an immigration crisis.

[01:09:12] You're saying a border crisis.

[01:09:15] The whole thing we keep focusing in again, the browning of America,

[01:09:21] the brown people are terrified of it.

[01:09:24] Exactly. Someone very high up in this administration.

[01:09:29] I cannot say who said one of the reasons why people are very concerned

[01:09:33] about the border that's saying more of an influx of black and brown

[01:09:37] versus there are Chinese people, all kinds of people come to that border.

[01:09:41] But it's more black and brown. It's more brown and black.

[01:09:44] Let's say that.

[01:09:45] But one of the reasons why there's a concern

[01:09:47] because there was a report came out, listen to this.

[01:09:50] There was a report that came out that there are less Europeans coming into this country.

[01:09:55] That's concerning to some people.

[01:09:57] Right. 2045, we're supposed to be what we're supposed to be.

[01:10:01] This group, we're supposed to be the majority of this nation, the population.

[01:10:05] There is a fear of the browning of America.

[01:10:07] And lastly, I'm going to leave you on this because this is about her.

[01:10:10] But here's one thing that we're not considering.

[01:10:12] There's a problem at the border, but we are seeing the overstaying

[01:10:16] of visas triple in number and they are not people who look like us that are overstaying.

[01:10:22] So keep focusing in on the border, but yet not doing anything about that.

[01:10:26] Please use your critical thinking when you look at this situation.

[01:10:31] I'm telling you, we're coming up in the next couple of months to vote.

[01:10:34] Please vote and please take a look at really what's going on

[01:10:39] and use your Harvard intellect, even if whatever brain you have is fine.

[01:10:44] Yeah, you know, I'm a little mad at Harvard right now.

[01:10:48] So just whatever brain you want to use.

[01:10:50] But I want to say thank you to my colleague, this woman.

[01:10:54] Welcome to Rio and I'm so thankful for her today.

[01:11:00] And Africa, Nagra, please get this impact by several copies

[01:11:06] for them to people because we need to know what's going on.

[01:11:09] Thank you guys. Thank you so much.

[01:11:12] Thank you so much.

[01:11:13] Wonderful Saturday. We're doing a book signing in the back.

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