February 10, 2024 • 32 mins
Grammy-winner, Emmy-winner, and Oscar Winner Common comes Malik Books at the Westfield Culver City Mall to kick off the inaugural Black History Month Celebration!
He signed copies of his book And Then We Rise: A Guide to Loving and Taking Care of Self!
Plus, Malik reviews the books Grandma's Hands by legendary musician Bill Withers, and "You So Black" by Theresa Tha S.O.N.G.B.I.R.D.
Email Malik@MalikBooks.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
My league, Buns has all the knowledge you want. My
league has all the knowledge you need.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Leg Yeah, they have all the books that the whole
wild world one up read league. But this is the
first time I'm using a new mic. Dad is all right,
trying to get a little bit more savvy, doing a
little bit.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
More than I have been doing.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
So I got a little mic here, it's picking up
the sound got a new system, got a soundboard.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Well.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Anyway, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to Malik's Book Show, bringing a
world together with books, culture and community. Hi, my name
is Malik, your host of Malik's Book Show.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Man.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I had a wonderful weekend. It was explosive. If you
listen to my podcast for the last several.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Weeks, then you know.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
We have of the community event, the inaugural Black History
Celebration right here at Westfield Covid City Mall. I partnered
with the Mark Park Village Book Fair. We partnered and
our sponsor was Westfield Covid City Mall. Malik Books was
the host, the producer was Cynthia ex Him from the
(01:23):
Lamark Park Village Book Fair and the mall was the
sponsor Westfield Covid City and it.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Was lit this weekend at the Westfield Mall. I mean,
people came out, people rocked. Man.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Words can't express how wonderful the event was, how electric
the event was, how.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Moving and touching, and community the event was.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Words can't express the months and months of planning that
took place to allowed and to make this such a
wonderful and community and family event. It kicked off with Transfiguration.
(02:14):
That's a school where they promote music and song and.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Playing drums and other things.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Creative school where we enhanced children's ability to be creative
and innovative. Well, anyway, these kids wore our stand. They
beat that drum and they went around the mall and brought.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
The spirit of our.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Ancestors and the spirit of our community by beating that
drum all.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Up and down the Westfield coavi All.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
They kick off the inaugural Black History Celebration at the
Westfield Covid City Mall, hosts by Malik Book and produced
by La Merk Park Village Book Fair.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Oo.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
We them kids told this mall up with them drums,
and they did an encore performance and a prelude to comment.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Who was our headliner for this event?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
He was our headliner featuring his new book, and then
we rised a guide to living and taking care of yourself.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
So we kicked off with the.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Transfiguration the kids who sang and played the drums, but
they played Glory a prelude and a honor to Comment
where they performed Glory common one I believe many awards.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Comment is a.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
An Enemy winner, an Oscar winner, a Grammy winner, and.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
A Golden Globe winner.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
And he was at Malite Books and he was the
He was the headliner, that is for our inaugural Black
History celebration.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
That was such a.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Blowout event, over the top event, a magnificent event. And
after the transfigure out, after the kids performed, then we
had this organization called Shine and they were all women
beating that drum, dancing to African music and drums and
(04:37):
teaching kids in the community some of the spiritual movements
in our culture. And that was a fun, festive part
of the event, an interactive part of the event, and.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
It brought community together.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
It had all types of people trying to do some
of the ancient and traditional movements in our dance in Africa.
And so them women told it up, them sisters did
the dong Dong Dong dinging too all right, just like
the kids sang glory and beat them drums. They told
this mall up. Then we had poets like Teresa the.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Song Bird and Chandra Bruchannan. Teresa performed her poem called
You So Black.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
That's right, You So Black? That was incredible. What else
Sandra got up? Now, I don't know the name of
her poem, but she wrote a book called Black Indians,
so she porms.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
She's an award winning poet, Sondra Buchannan.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
It was the honor to have her before, as well
as Teresa the Songboy, who her book is called You
So Black.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
And we gave away both of the books to the community.
By the time they left, we were out of them.
And we gave away a lot of books. That was
one of the highlights of the event. We gave over man.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
I don't even know, but I started with two thousand books.
We gave away a game. I might have brought two
boxes back. Whoa Boy, Oh Boy? So we gave away
a lot of books.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
We gave away all the authors who did story time,
we gave away they Boy. We had Corey Weathers who
performed and She is the daughter of the musical genius
Bill Weathers, and she the daughter had the gifts as
well as him. And she came to sing and brought
(06:38):
praise and joy and the music. And we had her
book called Grandma Grandma's Stories. It was a very touching
and moving.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Production and show an event in celebration.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
So she performed and we gave away her books, Grandma Hands.
It's called Grandma Hands. We gave away those books. It
was written by Bill Wethers, and she performed and danced
and signed books.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
We just had a festive event.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
We had our brother, he's been on the news spent decades.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
His name was Jay Jackson. He was our host. He
dine it such a wonderful job.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
And we had this phenomenal jazz band did a couple
of sessions and this the they were they are called
the Musical Jazz Band, is called the Charles Small Thrill
(07:48):
Jazz Band, the Charles Small Thrill Jazz Band. And they
lit the roof off with their live entertainment, so that
it it.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
That's a lot of the activation.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
We had the La Sparks and Sparky was here. We
had the vice president Natalie White of the sparks. She helped,
She was our children ambassador. She handed our books. It
was just a festive event and we had Black History
activity books and pencils and erasers and pens that we
gave out. It was just man a family affair. But
(08:23):
at three thirty we had to kick off the comedy
event inside Molik Books and that was electric. I mean,
at that point we already knocked the balls off, you
know what I'm saying. We knocked the ball out the
park with the Black History and not Revented took place
(08:46):
downstairs Center Court. We we hosted all the activities and
at three point thirty we were gonna host Common Assymnuly.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
But we already knocked the ball out the ball park.
Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
If thousands came out for the Black History celebration downstairs.
Now we got comment and who that line was wrapped
around this mark we had brother came in, had a business, Pierre.
He has a shade butter and skincare business. He said,
(09:18):
he been here fourteen years. He said, I've never seen
a line that long, and he been here fourteen years.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Man.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
We moved over four hundred books and then we rise
a god to living and taking care of self. Come
and signed at Milip Books for four hours to make
sure he personal lives and took photo ops.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
With the community came out to see him.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
He's a Grammy winner, he's an Oscar winner, he's a Golden.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Globe winner, and he's a Emmy winner. And he was
at mal Books.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
For four hours signing his new book, And Then We Rise,
a god to living and take care of yourself. An
explosive book, a book that talks about health and wealth,
both mind and body. And the bottom line is, like
he said, you know our Mia Angelo has a book
(10:21):
called Steal Our Rise and Steal Our Rise all right.
The idea of his title of this book came from
Maya Angelo.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
And Then We Rise is a book that starts with self.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
A book that meaning that make changes in your life.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
You can make a difference in your life.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
By starting how you think and how you eat, and
how you talk to people and how you move in
and out of society. And his book is just a
guy to living and taking care of yourself. Now, you
can't change and you can't rise until you first rise
within yourself. You can't help nobody until your first help yourself.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
So his book is just a common sense book.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
That's right, common sense book to teach you how to
love yourself and take care of yourself. And you've got
to deal with the mind and the body and the
spirit in order to do that. So his book is
a simple guy to help you, to help you to
make changes in your life that can elevate your life,
(11:41):
that can make a difference in your life, and then
we can all rise together.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
We can all do together more than.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
We can do by ourselves. And so I love books
like this because it's a lot of trauma in the community.
It's a lot of mental trauma in the community. It's
a lot of things that are self inflicted.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
The need to change.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
We need to get out of our own way to
make a way and make a change. Sometimes when I
hear the problem, I want to hear the solution. The
solution is what we all must focus on, because we
all know the problem, but we need to know what
(12:29):
we can do to make a change within ourself and
then make a difference beyond ourselfs. But pick up a copy.
We just still got some signed copies that Malie book.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
I mean, we took over them all. This event was electric.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
These people waited, They waited patiently come and sign these books.
That he signed the books and personalize them. Sometimes I
seen them write a.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Whole page work for words.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
That's how devoted and dedicated and honorable he was doing
this book signing.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
He took time and care and attention. You know, I've
done a lot of book signings and this was record breaking.
I mean record breaking.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Amazing, I mean phenomenal turnout. I mean I couldn't have
done this without our team in partnership. I couldn't have
done this. This happened because of the partnership between Elite
Books and the Lamrick Park Village Book Fair Cynthia Exell,
(13:35):
who's been hosting community book festivals for over twenty years,
and together we've been planning different events. This was I
believe our third event where we'll work together. I couldn't
have done this, couldn't have happened, this record breaking book
(13:56):
signing could not have happened without her producing and being
part of this. And she's a ah A a great partner.
She is ah a great producer, and she's gifted at
what she does. And I've witnessed the phenomenal way that
(14:18):
she is able to curate these kind of platforms and
we were able to put on a the first ever
s Black History celebrator in Westfield. I mean, this is
a major company and they've never had in any of
these Westfield I don't believe a w uh a Black
History celebration, So I think this was the first time.
(14:39):
And me and Cynthia collaborated with the ma All as
our sponsor and it came out magnificence.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
The mall.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
We you know, out of our meetings and what have you,
came over with the idea about.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
These big banners.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
You know, we had a phenomenal team. Kudos to everyone
to participate. We had does these banners put up that
came out of the meetings that was Straortinard. They gonna
be here all that.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
We have some activation that's gonna be here all month long.
Like the banners they say I am Black History.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
You know, those are are gonna be up in center
courting them all all month along with these boards that
uh there's these big walls, not boards.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
These big walls is rented acts Interactive.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
These walls and there's two of them, and they talk
about Los Angeles, they talk about certain iconic locations in
Los Angeles.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Because we in LA.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
So the board is beautiful photo I mean photo ops
bomb uh.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Got king on one side with the crown you know, black.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
History where you take photos and it's beautiful. On the
other side of the wall, it's an interactive board that
basically you put yarn around one you put yarn around
different words like freedom, equality, justice, reform, resilience.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
It's all kind of beautiful interactive words.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
So you start, you know basically, you know, you said
you projecting yourself and what your desire is and where
you see yourself in the future. It's like you making
black history. And that's what I like about it. It's like,
you know, what kind of history are you making? You know,
and what kind of history do you want to make?
(16:31):
So that board was very powerful. That wall that is
was very powerful, and just out of the meetings and
plannings these types of things came about. The mall sponsored
those walls, and it's just incredible. And words can't express
how explosive this event is. Words cannot express how interactive
(16:58):
and how it electric and profound and phenomenal this event was.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
I mean, we took oh the mall you hear me
upstairs downstairs.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
It was explosive. It was a sight to see and
it was diverse. There were people, you know, it wasn't
just black folks that showed up to the Black History
celebration or the common headline event. The people that showed
up was diverse. We had white, we had Asians, we
(17:33):
had his Spanish. Hey, this was a phenomenal or well
organized event. It was beautiful to see a melting pot
come in honor because Black history is not just one
month thirty days. It's three hundred and sixty five days
a year. And the contributions of Blacks in America are
(17:58):
second to none.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
It is what helped make America the.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Mightiest and greatest nation on the planet, the nation this
envy upon all nations. What happens so black people are
part of this country, in the history of this country.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
And that's why books exist. Because our voice.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Matters, the total African American experience of pride and joy. Well,
we give voice to the voice, and we give voice
because our voice matters. And this last Saturday, our voice
was amplified.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
It was a beautiful celebrity event.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
We had a wonderful time and we hope to continue
to do more in the future. So that's what this
segment an episode it's all about.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
It's about Black history at is finest.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
And I was able to send Year was able, and
our perspective teams was able, and Common was able.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
To make his start history at the Wells Westfield Coobe
City Mall.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
So hey, I'm gonna talk about some maybe some other
things on this podcast, but that's my segment in terms
of Black history at his finance.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Isn't this an amazing and beautiful day and celebrate Black history?
And we got Black history coming in Belief Books today.
He's a Gravy winner, he's an Oscar winner, he's a
Golden Glove winner, he's a Grammy winner, and he's League
books today. And we're going to bring him out today
(19:49):
with a thunderous round of appause because we're gonna show
him that Los Angeles love.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
Can I get you to do that? Let's go, Let's
bring it up. That's not shut it up, great out, that's.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
For sure.
Speaker 5 (20:10):
Yeah, y'all, what's up, y'all? What's up? La Believe Books to.
Speaker 6 (20:27):
All my people out here in the LA area of
West Coast, I got supreme love.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
For you, y'all.
Speaker 6 (20:35):
This has definitely been one of my homes in the
place that I respect my people in love and my
people come out and I love to touch down with
my people from LA And honestly, since the days of
the nineties, this used to be a place called Unity
that I used to get to perform at Unity with
Bigger be God.
Speaker 5 (20:53):
Bless his soul.
Speaker 6 (20:54):
I had some of the best performances and best connections
with people out here in LA.
Speaker 5 (20:59):
So thank y'all for being with me on this path.
Speaker 6 (21:03):
Because now I'm writing books and expanding and you all
are still here and we're growing and expanding. New people
are getting in tune with with what I'm about. It
is not just only music, it's other things that we do.
And this book is really a testament and an expression
of what I want to give to people in my life,
and that's love and inspire people and to lead them
(21:25):
to being their better self. So I'm super super excited
and geek that y'all got the book those that have it.
If you're coming with records too, I appreciate you supporting the.
Speaker 5 (21:36):
Music and moving post or whatever. We got a few things, but.
Speaker 6 (21:44):
Overall, I'm just glad y'all here and I'm very grateful
to Beleeve Books for supporting us and supporting black literature
and brown literature and supporting our people because our messages
belong to everyone.
Speaker 5 (21:59):
But but we.
Speaker 6 (22:01):
Need a platform to give it and we I supported
Elite Books because they support us.
Speaker 5 (22:10):
Thank you, brother. I appreciate y'all. Were about to get
it started. Let's go, y'all.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
We went down, still going down. We still got half
of the people still love it. That's how love. The
biggest event hosted that Belie book, a book signed exclusive
Breathing Me and you took your time.
Speaker 7 (22:30):
Brother.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
You showed everybody love.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
You showed people man.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
It's all about the community. And greatly appreciate that I
had went out. I went outside multiple times and to
thank you for your patience. Thank you for your patience.
He's really attentive and personally. I just seen him write
a whole page on people's book. He and just signing it.
Speaker 5 (22:49):
He's showing love at.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Belief Books, and I just appreciate you, brother. This is
appreciate you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 5 (22:56):
I appreciate you, brother, Joe, than what you're doing this daily.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
Man.
Speaker 8 (22:59):
People need books, they need like to get this literature,
all the stuff that these.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
Writers put on and were putting in.
Speaker 8 (23:06):
You getting it giving it to them and they got
a place to come.
Speaker 5 (23:10):
I feel like it's dead.
Speaker 8 (23:11):
So man, it felt like this felt really good man,
to see this linking people coming out. It's just really
supporting this book stock to know that the business coming through.
Speaker 5 (23:22):
Maliks were good, ud many.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
You know, you help make my job easier because you
make yourself available.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
This is an amazing brother tour that you put on.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
But you know, we have to make books exciting for
our next to next generation.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
And you you're doing that.
Speaker 7 (23:39):
Man.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
You're an activist.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
You're talking about health, trauma, you're talking about community, You're
talking about the things are important, you know, and you're
making yourself a belt.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
That's a wonderful day.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
And coming to your Milie books brother, and representing our
community where you live, you know, mind, body.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
And soul. That's what your book is about. Then we
wrote and.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
I love like you said, you start yourself myself and
it wr rise together, rise as a community.
Speaker 5 (24:07):
As a community of people.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Absolutely and in the world, in the world, and.
Speaker 7 (24:11):
I love your campaign. Make one change that we get
voice to the voiceless. Listen for the years keeping us
off the show Man.
Speaker 8 (24:25):
Now we on the show, we get to reading man,
and we just want to be reading good, good material,
just reading books.
Speaker 5 (24:34):
We deserve it, whether we choose to listen to them
or read. That is, I don't do reading so much
in that elevate.
Speaker 6 (24:42):
Hey, I appreciate y'all love.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Well the event this week with so spectacling.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
I got another picture book that I want to feature
on this podcast.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
This young lady.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Father is the name Bill Weathers, and he wrote this
book called Grandma Hands, and it's a devotional book that
depicts pictures of the relationship between the grandma and himself,
Bill Weathers.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
So the thing is is that you never know who
gonna make an impact in your life.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Well, Grandma Hands is a book that takes you on
the journey on how caring and loving and how touching
Grandma is towards her grandchildren. It impacted Bill weather. Now
Bill weather is an award winning artist. Now he have
moved on to the transitional place where the other ancestors
(25:44):
are now. But Bill Weathers is an award winning musician
and artists. And his book Grandma Hands is a book
that he's left as well as his music to humanity
and had a special relationship with my grandmother, and this book,
Grandma Hands, is a olive brands to all the grandmothers
(26:09):
who've touched many of us throughout our adulthood and childhood.
Bill Wathers loved his grandmother and he wrote a song
just as I Am about the impact that his grandmother
had on him. So it's only natural that that progress
(26:29):
into a book called Grandma Hands to show that connection,
that relationship. So the illustrations are outstanding, which are very
important in picture books because we want to capture the
imagination of our children. As I said earlier, children are
(26:51):
one hundred percent of our future. And books that give
honor to our grandmother to us, I think are very
important because we stand on the backs and shoulders of
the of our ancestors, of our grandparents, of our parents,
(27:12):
and so we need to honor them for the role
that they play is that they've raised children and now
they're raising help raising the grandchildren and the next generations
and beyond. So Grandma Hands is just a beautiful book
written by Bill Weathers.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
You would love it.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
I recommend it. It's available and well all books are sold,
but Malik Books had it. Malikbooks Dot com so I
would love for you to support our movement, our mission
and his books like this.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
That I think are very important. Now, we had his daughter,
Corey weathers at Maliite Books well at the Westfield Kovid
City Mall.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
She was part of the Black History Inaugural celebration this weekend.
She was part of She did a whole performance where
she sang and devoted songs of love and elevation to
our community. And I just, you know, I can't say
(28:17):
enough about the outstanding performance Corey Weather made at our
inaugural Black History Celebration. And we gave out this book,
Grandma Hands, to the community.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
You know, it's part of our book giveaway.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
She was available to sign the book for the community
and it was just a very very very wholesome electric event,
as I stated earlier in this podcast. So pick up
a copy of Grandma Hands. New year more book reviews
(28:51):
My first of the year twenty twenty four, and it's
going to be a book by Teresa the song on Board.
She's an award winning poet. She was nominated for a Grammy.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
The book is called You So Black.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
So that's the title of the book, You So Black,
And I'm Not a poet.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
I'm not a song singer or what have.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
You, but she is and she performed that heck out
of this her poem called You So Black, and the
center around a book now, so you know the illustrations
that represent and depict black children, black adults, and so
(29:39):
many different professions and walks of life.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
You So Black.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
It's a beautiful children's book, a picture book.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
That allows the reader to appreciate.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Your blackness, to love your blackness, and be proud of
your blackness. Some of us suffer from trauma from being black. Well,
this book You So Black, It's going to help your
child realize the power of being black. Black as the
stars at night when the sun is gone, Black is
(30:15):
the top soil of the planet Earth, Black as midnight,
but beautiful and beloved and extraordinary being black. And this
children's book, You So Black, by Teresa the song Bird,
is a book that can help along the way teach
(30:37):
self esteem, love of self, and appreciation of who you are,
what you are and your ancestors as well as your parents.
This is a great book because representation matters, and we
need to have books to teach the love of self,
(30:59):
the love of who you are and being black and
being in America and being that this is Black History Month,
and we was grace with Teresa the song Bird to
participate at this year Black History celebration we at the
Westfield Mall. That's just just a timely books on time
and it is a book to help elevate our youth,
(31:23):
our children, because children are one hundred percent of vote
of our future. Let me say that again, children are
one hundred percent of our future.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
So pick up a copy of You So Black by.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
Teresa the song Bird. We have it at Malik books
dot com, but it's sold wherever books are.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
We gotta signed copies though, at Milieu Books COO come through.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Thanks for listening to Malik's Bookshelf where topics on the
shelf are books, culture, and community.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Be sure to subscribe and leave me a review. Check
out my Instagram at Malik Book. See you next time.
My league, Buns has all the knowledge you want. My
league has all the knowledge you need.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Leg Yeah, they have all the books that the whole
wild world one up read league. But this is the
first time I'm using a new mic. Dad is all right,
trying to get a little bit more savvy, doing a
little bit.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
More than I have been doing.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
So I got a little mic here, it's picking up
the sound got a new system, got a soundboard.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Well.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Anyway, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to Malik's Book Show, bringing a
world together with books, culture and community. Hi, my name
is Malik, your host of Malik's Book Show.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Man.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I had a wonderful weekend. It was explosive. If you
listen to my podcast for the last several.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Weeks, then you know.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
We have of the community event, the inaugural Black History
Celebration right here at Westfield Covid City Mall. I partnered
with the Mark Park Village Book Fair. We partnered and
our sponsor was Westfield Covid City Mall. Malik Books was
the host, the producer was Cynthia ex Him from the
(01:23):
Lamark Park Village Book Fair and the mall was the
sponsor Westfield Covid City and it.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Was lit this weekend at the Westfield Mall. I mean,
people came out, people rocked. Man.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Words can't express how wonderful the event was, how electric
the event was, how.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Moving and touching, and community the event was.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Words can't express the months and months of planning that
took place to allowed and to make this such a
wonderful and community and family event. It kicked off with Transfiguration.
(02:14):
That's a school where they promote music and song and.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Playing drums and other things.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Creative school where we enhanced children's ability to be creative
and innovative. Well, anyway, these kids wore our stand. They
beat that drum and they went around the mall and brought.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
The spirit of our.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Ancestors and the spirit of our community by beating that
drum all.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Up and down the Westfield coavi All.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
They kick off the inaugural Black History Celebration at the
Westfield Covid City Mall, hosts by Malik Book and produced
by La Merk Park Village Book Fair.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Oo.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
We them kids told this mall up with them drums,
and they did an encore performance and a prelude to comment.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Who was our headliner for this event?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
He was our headliner featuring his new book, and then
we rised a guide to living and taking care of yourself.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
So we kicked off with the.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Transfiguration the kids who sang and played the drums, but
they played Glory a prelude and a honor to Comment
where they performed Glory common one I believe many awards.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Comment is a.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
An Enemy winner, an Oscar winner, a Grammy winner, and.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
A Golden Globe winner.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
And he was at Malite Books and he was the
He was the headliner, that is for our inaugural Black
History celebration.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
That was such a.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Blowout event, over the top event, a magnificent event. And
after the transfigure out, after the kids performed, then we
had this organization called Shine and they were all women
beating that drum, dancing to African music and drums and
(04:37):
teaching kids in the community some of the spiritual movements
in our culture. And that was a fun, festive part
of the event, an interactive part of the event, and.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
It brought community together.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
It had all types of people trying to do some
of the ancient and traditional movements in our dance in Africa.
And so them women told it up, them sisters did
the dong Dong Dong dinging too all right, just like
the kids sang glory and beat them drums. They told
this mall up. Then we had poets like Teresa the.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Song Bird and Chandra Bruchannan. Teresa performed her poem called
You So Black.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
That's right, You So Black? That was incredible. What else
Sandra got up? Now, I don't know the name of
her poem, but she wrote a book called Black Indians,
so she porms.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
She's an award winning poet, Sondra Buchannan.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
It was the honor to have her before, as well
as Teresa the Songboy, who her book is called You
So Black.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
And we gave away both of the books to the community.
By the time they left, we were out of them.
And we gave away a lot of books. That was
one of the highlights of the event. We gave over man.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
I don't even know, but I started with two thousand books.
We gave away a game. I might have brought two
boxes back. Whoa Boy, Oh Boy? So we gave away
a lot of books.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
We gave away all the authors who did story time,
we gave away they Boy. We had Corey Weathers who
performed and She is the daughter of the musical genius
Bill Weathers, and she the daughter had the gifts as
well as him. And she came to sing and brought
(06:38):
praise and joy and the music. And we had her
book called Grandma Grandma's Stories. It was a very touching
and moving.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Production and show an event in celebration.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
So she performed and we gave away her books, Grandma Hands.
It's called Grandma Hands. We gave away those books. It
was written by Bill Wethers, and she performed and danced
and signed books.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
We just had a festive event.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
We had our brother, he's been on the news spent decades.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
His name was Jay Jackson. He was our host. He
dine it such a wonderful job.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
And we had this phenomenal jazz band did a couple
of sessions and this the they were they are called
the Musical Jazz Band, is called the Charles Small Thrill
(07:48):
Jazz Band, the Charles Small Thrill Jazz Band. And they
lit the roof off with their live entertainment, so that
it it.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
That's a lot of the activation.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
We had the La Sparks and Sparky was here. We
had the vice president Natalie White of the sparks. She helped,
She was our children ambassador. She handed our books. It
was just a festive event and we had Black History
activity books and pencils and erasers and pens that we
gave out. It was just man a family affair. But
(08:23):
at three thirty we had to kick off the comedy
event inside Molik Books and that was electric. I mean,
at that point we already knocked the balls off, you
know what I'm saying. We knocked the ball out the
park with the Black History and not Revented took place
(08:46):
downstairs Center Court. We we hosted all the activities and
at three point thirty we were gonna host Common Assymnuly.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
But we already knocked the ball out the ball park.
Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
If thousands came out for the Black History celebration downstairs.
Now we got comment and who that line was wrapped
around this mark we had brother came in, had a business, Pierre.
He has a shade butter and skincare business. He said,
(09:18):
he been here fourteen years. He said, I've never seen
a line that long, and he been here fourteen years.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Man.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
We moved over four hundred books and then we rise
a god to living and taking care of self. Come
and signed at Milip Books for four hours to make
sure he personal lives and took photo ops.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
With the community came out to see him.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
He's a Grammy winner, he's an Oscar winner, he's a Golden.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Globe winner, and he's a Emmy winner. And he was
at mal Books.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
For four hours signing his new book, And Then We Rise,
a god to living and take care of yourself. An
explosive book, a book that talks about health and wealth,
both mind and body. And the bottom line is, like
he said, you know our Mia Angelo has a book
(10:21):
called Steal Our Rise and Steal Our Rise all right.
The idea of his title of this book came from
Maya Angelo.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
And Then We Rise is a book that starts with self.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
A book that meaning that make changes in your life.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
You can make a difference in your life.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
By starting how you think and how you eat, and
how you talk to people and how you move in
and out of society. And his book is just a
guy to living and taking care of yourself. Now, you
can't change and you can't rise until you first rise
within yourself. You can't help nobody until your first help yourself.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
So his book is just a common sense book.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
That's right, common sense book to teach you how to
love yourself and take care of yourself. And you've got
to deal with the mind and the body and the
spirit in order to do that. So his book is
a simple guy to help you, to help you to
make changes in your life that can elevate your life,
(11:41):
that can make a difference in your life, and then
we can all rise together.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
We can all do together more than.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
We can do by ourselves. And so I love books
like this because it's a lot of trauma in the community.
It's a lot of mental trauma in the community. It's
a lot of things that are self inflicted.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
The need to change.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
We need to get out of our own way to
make a way and make a change. Sometimes when I
hear the problem, I want to hear the solution. The
solution is what we all must focus on, because we
all know the problem, but we need to know what
(12:29):
we can do to make a change within ourself and
then make a difference beyond ourselfs. But pick up a copy.
We just still got some signed copies that Malie book.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
I mean, we took over them all. This event was electric.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
These people waited, They waited patiently come and sign these books.
That he signed the books and personalize them. Sometimes I
seen them write a.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Whole page work for words.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
That's how devoted and dedicated and honorable he was doing
this book signing.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
He took time and care and attention. You know, I've
done a lot of book signings and this was record breaking.
I mean record breaking.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Amazing, I mean phenomenal turnout. I mean I couldn't have
done this without our team in partnership. I couldn't have
done this. This happened because of the partnership between Elite
Books and the Lamrick Park Village Book Fair Cynthia Exell,
(13:35):
who's been hosting community book festivals for over twenty years,
and together we've been planning different events. This was I
believe our third event where we'll work together. I couldn't
have done this, couldn't have happened, this record breaking book
(13:56):
signing could not have happened without her producing and being
part of this. And she's a ah A a great partner.
She is ah a great producer, and she's gifted at
what she does. And I've witnessed the phenomenal way that
(14:18):
she is able to curate these kind of platforms and
we were able to put on a the first ever
s Black History celebrator in Westfield. I mean, this is
a major company and they've never had in any of
these Westfield I don't believe a w uh a Black
History celebration, So I think this was the first time.
(14:39):
And me and Cynthia collaborated with the ma All as
our sponsor and it came out magnificence.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
The mall.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
We you know, out of our meetings and what have you,
came over with the idea about.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
These big banners.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
You know, we had a phenomenal team. Kudos to everyone
to participate. We had does these banners put up that
came out of the meetings that was Straortinard. They gonna
be here all that.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
We have some activation that's gonna be here all month long.
Like the banners they say I am Black History.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
You know, those are are gonna be up in center
courting them all all month along with these boards that
uh there's these big walls, not boards.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
These big walls is rented acts Interactive.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
These walls and there's two of them, and they talk
about Los Angeles, they talk about certain iconic locations in
Los Angeles.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Because we in LA.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
So the board is beautiful photo I mean photo ops
bomb uh.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Got king on one side with the crown you know, black.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
History where you take photos and it's beautiful. On the
other side of the wall, it's an interactive board that
basically you put yarn around one you put yarn around
different words like freedom, equality, justice, reform, resilience.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
It's all kind of beautiful interactive words.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
So you start, you know basically, you know, you said
you projecting yourself and what your desire is and where
you see yourself in the future. It's like you making
black history. And that's what I like about it. It's like,
you know, what kind of history are you making? You know,
and what kind of history do you want to make?
(16:31):
So that board was very powerful. That wall that is
was very powerful, and just out of the meetings and
plannings these types of things came about. The mall sponsored
those walls, and it's just incredible. And words can't express
how explosive this event is. Words cannot express how interactive
(16:58):
and how it electric and profound and phenomenal this event was.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
I mean, we took oh the mall you hear me
upstairs downstairs.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
It was explosive. It was a sight to see and
it was diverse. There were people, you know, it wasn't
just black folks that showed up to the Black History
celebration or the common headline event. The people that showed
up was diverse. We had white, we had Asians, we
(17:33):
had his Spanish. Hey, this was a phenomenal or well
organized event. It was beautiful to see a melting pot
come in honor because Black history is not just one
month thirty days. It's three hundred and sixty five days
a year. And the contributions of Blacks in America are
(17:58):
second to none.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
It is what helped make America the.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Mightiest and greatest nation on the planet, the nation this
envy upon all nations. What happens so black people are
part of this country, in the history of this country.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
And that's why books exist. Because our voice.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Matters, the total African American experience of pride and joy. Well,
we give voice to the voice, and we give voice
because our voice matters. And this last Saturday, our voice
was amplified.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
It was a beautiful celebrity event.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
We had a wonderful time and we hope to continue
to do more in the future. So that's what this
segment an episode it's all about.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
It's about Black history at is finest.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
And I was able to send Year was able, and
our perspective teams was able, and Common was able.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
To make his start history at the Wells Westfield Coobe
City Mall.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
So hey, I'm gonna talk about some maybe some other
things on this podcast, but that's my segment in terms
of Black history at his finance.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Isn't this an amazing and beautiful day and celebrate Black history?
And we got Black history coming in Belief Books today.
He's a Gravy winner, he's an Oscar winner, he's a
Golden Glove winner, he's a Grammy winner, and he's League
books today. And we're going to bring him out today
(19:49):
with a thunderous round of appause because we're gonna show
him that Los Angeles love.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
Can I get you to do that? Let's go, Let's
bring it up. That's not shut it up, great out, that's.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
For sure.
Speaker 5 (20:10):
Yeah, y'all, what's up, y'all? What's up? La Believe Books to.
Speaker 6 (20:27):
All my people out here in the LA area of
West Coast, I got supreme love.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
For you, y'all.
Speaker 6 (20:35):
This has definitely been one of my homes in the
place that I respect my people in love and my
people come out and I love to touch down with
my people from LA And honestly, since the days of
the nineties, this used to be a place called Unity
that I used to get to perform at Unity with
Bigger be God.
Speaker 5 (20:53):
Bless his soul.
Speaker 6 (20:54):
I had some of the best performances and best connections
with people out here in LA.
Speaker 5 (20:59):
So thank y'all for being with me on this path.
Speaker 6 (21:03):
Because now I'm writing books and expanding and you all
are still here and we're growing and expanding. New people
are getting in tune with with what I'm about. It
is not just only music, it's other things that we do.
And this book is really a testament and an expression
of what I want to give to people in my life,
and that's love and inspire people and to lead them
(21:25):
to being their better self. So I'm super super excited
and geek that y'all got the book those that have it.
If you're coming with records too, I appreciate you supporting the.
Speaker 5 (21:36):
Music and moving post or whatever. We got a few things, but.
Speaker 6 (21:44):
Overall, I'm just glad y'all here and I'm very grateful
to Beleeve Books for supporting us and supporting black literature
and brown literature and supporting our people because our messages
belong to everyone.
Speaker 5 (21:59):
But but we.
Speaker 6 (22:01):
Need a platform to give it and we I supported
Elite Books because they support us.
Speaker 5 (22:10):
Thank you, brother. I appreciate y'all. Were about to get
it started. Let's go, y'all.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
We went down, still going down. We still got half
of the people still love it. That's how love. The
biggest event hosted that Belie book, a book signed exclusive
Breathing Me and you took your time.
Speaker 7 (22:30):
Brother.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
You showed everybody love.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
You showed people man.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
It's all about the community. And greatly appreciate that I
had went out. I went outside multiple times and to
thank you for your patience. Thank you for your patience.
He's really attentive and personally. I just seen him write
a whole page on people's book. He and just signing it.
Speaker 5 (22:49):
He's showing love at.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Belief Books, and I just appreciate you, brother. This is
appreciate you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 5 (22:56):
I appreciate you, brother, Joe, than what you're doing this daily.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
Man.
Speaker 8 (22:59):
People need books, they need like to get this literature,
all the stuff that these.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
Writers put on and were putting in.
Speaker 8 (23:06):
You getting it giving it to them and they got
a place to come.
Speaker 5 (23:10):
I feel like it's dead.
Speaker 8 (23:11):
So man, it felt like this felt really good man,
to see this linking people coming out. It's just really
supporting this book stock to know that the business coming through.
Speaker 5 (23:22):
Maliks were good, ud many.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
You know, you help make my job easier because you
make yourself available.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
This is an amazing brother tour that you put on.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
But you know, we have to make books exciting for
our next to next generation.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
And you you're doing that.
Speaker 7 (23:39):
Man.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
You're an activist.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
You're talking about health, trauma, you're talking about community, You're
talking about the things are important, you know, and you're
making yourself a belt.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
That's a wonderful day.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
And coming to your Milie books brother, and representing our
community where you live, you know, mind, body.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
And soul. That's what your book is about. Then we
wrote and.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
I love like you said, you start yourself myself and
it wr rise together, rise as a community.
Speaker 5 (24:07):
As a community of people.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Absolutely and in the world, in the world, and.
Speaker 7 (24:11):
I love your campaign. Make one change that we get
voice to the voiceless. Listen for the years keeping us
off the show Man.
Speaker 8 (24:25):
Now we on the show, we get to reading man,
and we just want to be reading good, good material,
just reading books.
Speaker 5 (24:34):
We deserve it, whether we choose to listen to them
or read. That is, I don't do reading so much
in that elevate.
Speaker 6 (24:42):
Hey, I appreciate y'all love.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Well the event this week with so spectacling.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
I got another picture book that I want to feature
on this podcast.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
This young lady.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Father is the name Bill Weathers, and he wrote this
book called Grandma Hands, and it's a devotional book that
depicts pictures of the relationship between the grandma and himself,
Bill Weathers.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
So the thing is is that you never know who
gonna make an impact in your life.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Well, Grandma Hands is a book that takes you on
the journey on how caring and loving and how touching
Grandma is towards her grandchildren. It impacted Bill weather. Now
Bill weather is an award winning artist. Now he have
moved on to the transitional place where the other ancestors
(25:44):
are now. But Bill Weathers is an award winning musician
and artists. And his book Grandma Hands is a book
that he's left as well as his music to humanity
and had a special relationship with my grandmother, and this book,
Grandma Hands, is a olive brands to all the grandmothers
(26:09):
who've touched many of us throughout our adulthood and childhood.
Bill Wathers loved his grandmother and he wrote a song
just as I Am about the impact that his grandmother
had on him. So it's only natural that that progress
(26:29):
into a book called Grandma Hands to show that connection,
that relationship. So the illustrations are outstanding, which are very
important in picture books because we want to capture the
imagination of our children. As I said earlier, children are
(26:51):
one hundred percent of our future. And books that give
honor to our grandmother to us, I think are very
important because we stand on the backs and shoulders of
the of our ancestors, of our grandparents, of our parents,
(27:12):
and so we need to honor them for the role
that they play is that they've raised children and now
they're raising help raising the grandchildren and the next generations
and beyond. So Grandma Hands is just a beautiful book
written by Bill Weathers.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
You would love it.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
I recommend it. It's available and well all books are sold,
but Malik Books had it. Malikbooks Dot com so I
would love for you to support our movement, our mission
and his books like this.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
That I think are very important. Now, we had his daughter,
Corey weathers at Maliite Books well at the Westfield Kovid
City Mall.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
She was part of the Black History Inaugural celebration this weekend.
She was part of She did a whole performance where
she sang and devoted songs of love and elevation to
our community. And I just, you know, I can't say
(28:17):
enough about the outstanding performance Corey Weather made at our
inaugural Black History Celebration. And we gave out this book,
Grandma Hands, to the community.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
You know, it's part of our book giveaway.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
She was available to sign the book for the community
and it was just a very very very wholesome electric event,
as I stated earlier in this podcast. So pick up
a copy of Grandma Hands. New year more book reviews
(28:51):
My first of the year twenty twenty four, and it's
going to be a book by Teresa the song on Board.
She's an award winning poet. She was nominated for a Grammy.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
The book is called You So Black.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
So that's the title of the book, You So Black,
And I'm Not a poet.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
I'm not a song singer or what have.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
You, but she is and she performed that heck out
of this her poem called You So Black, and the
center around a book now, so you know the illustrations
that represent and depict black children, black adults, and so
(29:39):
many different professions and walks of life.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
You So Black.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
It's a beautiful children's book, a picture book.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
That allows the reader to appreciate.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Your blackness, to love your blackness, and be proud of
your blackness. Some of us suffer from trauma from being black. Well,
this book You So Black, It's going to help your
child realize the power of being black. Black as the
stars at night when the sun is gone, Black is
(30:15):
the top soil of the planet Earth, Black as midnight,
but beautiful and beloved and extraordinary being black. And this
children's book, You So Black, by Teresa the song Bird,
is a book that can help along the way teach
(30:37):
self esteem, love of self, and appreciation of who you are,
what you are and your ancestors as well as your parents.
This is a great book because representation matters, and we
need to have books to teach the love of self,
(30:59):
the love of who you are and being black and
being in America and being that this is Black History Month,
and we was grace with Teresa the song Bird to
participate at this year Black History celebration we at the
Westfield Mall. That's just just a timely books on time
and it is a book to help elevate our youth,
(31:23):
our children, because children are one hundred percent of vote
of our future. Let me say that again, children are
one hundred percent of our future.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
So pick up a copy of You So Black by.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
Teresa the song Bird. We have it at Malik books
dot com, but it's sold wherever books are.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
We gotta signed copies though, at Milieu Books COO come through.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Thanks for listening to Malik's Bookshelf where topics on the
shelf are books, culture, and community.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Be sure to subscribe and leave me a review. Check
out my Instagram at Malik Book. See you next time.
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