 Hello, everybody. Welcome to our celebration of Alice Walker's new children's books. Sweet people are everywhere. We are so excited to be here today for our conversation and we'll get started as soon as all of our guests make it into the space. Just give it one little second. So glad to be here with you all in community today. Again, welcome friends. I'm Shawna Sherman pronouns she her program manager of the African American Center broadcasting from San Francisco public libraries main branch. And we are honored to be here in with our distinguished guest today author Alice Walker in conversation with Dr. Cheryl Davis. Today we are celebrating Alice Walker's new children's book sweet people are everywhere. Before we get started. I want to acknowledge that we are here in San Francisco, where we are on the unseated ancestral homeland of the raw my tush aloney, who are the original inhabitants of the San Francisco peninsula, and continue to live work and play here today. As the indigenous stewards of this land, and in accordance with their traditions, the raw my tush aloney have never ceded lost nor forgotten their responsibilities as the caretakers of this place, as well as for all the peoples who reside in their traditional territory. We wish to pay our respects by acknowledging the ancestors, elders and relatives of the raw my tush community, and to affirm their sovereign rights as first peoples. We asked you that you consider where you were watching from today. Please find more information on indigenous lands through the link in the chat. Before we get started, I want to thank our partners in this program tra publishing and the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. And again before we get started I just have a couple of brief announcements. If you're in the Civic Center on the third floor of the main library please come through the African American Center. We're hosting an exhibit called owed to us a celebration of black hair. It includes images and writing illustrating a broad array of hairstyles with a little bit of history sprinkled in. It is also there's also a companion exhibit at our fifth Fisher Children's Center at the main library hope to see you there. On the sixth the African American Center will be hosting author Kenan Norris. He'll be live at the library as well as online in conversation about his new book, or about his book The Confession of Copeland Cain. And then next day on November 7, we will be hosting another live streaming event here at the main library, welcoming Kimberly Cox and Marshall and Steve Wasserman on making revolution. Last but not least we're having a busy, a busy week that first week in November. On November 10, we are thrilled to host Kevin Simmons and Bay Area poets in a discussion of his new book, the monster I am today, Leon Leon team price and life inverse. Now for our main event and what you've all been waiting for I'm sure I'm so privileged and odd to be in this space with a group of sweet people with our featured guests Alice Walker who will be in conversation with Dr Cheryl Davis appointed by Mayor Edwin Lee Dr Cheryl Davis is the Executive Director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. Previously, Dr Davis was executive director of collective impact, a community in a community based nonprofit organization in San Francisco's western edition, where she has no magic magic zone and the Ella Hill Hutch Community Center. Director Davis is a passionate advocate for radical racial equity and educational opportunities, and as the creator of the everybody reads program. Alice Walker who needs knowing introduction really is a distinguished author and activist who has written dozens of books including novels poems essays short stories and children's books. She was the first African American woman to win a Pulitzer prize for fiction for her novel, the color purple, which also won the National Book Award in 1983. More than 15 million copies of her books have been sold, and her work has been translated into more than two dozen languages. As an activist, Walker focuses on inequality poverty and injustice. Now, without any further ado, welcome Alice Walker and Cheryl Davis. Thank you, Shana. Appreciate the introduction and really also want to thank Christie and chief librarian Michael Lambert for this opportunity to be in conversation with Alice Walker. Today, I was a little bit jealous because when she said Alice Walker. She said it would such sass. It's, I know I don't not deserve the sass and charisma that came from that just saying the name Alice Walker just feels special and for me to be able to talk to you is even more exciting and humbling and just amazing so thank you so much miss Walker for talking with me today. I'm so happy to be talking with you. Yeah, we were talking before we came on just about the rain and how wonderful the rain is today so how long we've been rain dancing. Yes, yes. So I'm excited to be able to this is a special day for me the rain and Alice Walker so I was making note when Shana was going through and she was talking about all the things that are coming up in the library I thought it was appropriate when she was saying making revolution I feel like you are making revolution continue to make revolution. And now you're bringing it it again yet again and I wonder if you have any library stories of your own like going to the library and if there's anything revolutionary in your mind or just special about the library. Oh, I would love to tell you a story about the library and my little hometown of Eatonton Georgia. I didn't know they had one. It took me 50 years to find out that there was in fact a library because we were not permitted to go to it. So how would I know. However, 50 years later, my town gave a huge celebration for me, and they took me to the library that they had kept hidden for all those years. And guess what else, they have huge photographs of my parents on the walls. Really. Where'd they get the pictures were they just because it's a small town. Well no my sister had a museum, and she had these, you know, beautifully framed photos of our parents. And that's what I saw and it was very moving because we had love to read his children, but no one read the word of us to us about there being a library somewhere. Well, I just was thinking as you were talking about that I'm originally from Texas but I grew up in the Bay Area but spent my summers in the south and so when you say that about like having access to I know my mother was in segregated schools and had to walk past the white schools so didn't have access to the library and things like that. A lot of the poems and books and stories I learned I actually learned as part of a black history month program in church right like that's where I learned to read. Well, I was very fortunate because I learned from listening to my ancestors and my parents. Especially my parents and grandparents who could tell a story. Not only that, we were living right in the middle of the Burr Rabbit area, where all the animals told stories constantly and so we just overheard a lot of good things. Wow, that I hope we don't lose the Burr Rabbit stories and the connotation and can you say more I mean some people maybe are not familiar with the Burr Rabbit stories. When you're living in the country and this was true of the Cherokee and the creek lived you know there before we did. You notice the animals and you notice how they behave and so you make up stories about them and this is what happened. So we learn all kinds of stories about how you play dead if somebody's trying to kill you. There's like water out of a muddy log. I mean, it's just, there's really a lot to be said for growing up in a world where nature is still alive. This was the greatest gift I could ever have received to be with ancestors and, you know, and present, you know, old people who actually understood that you know the interrelatedness of life. I mean, these stories, I mean they seem to be coming out of thin air, but I loved it. I was a very lucky child. Yeah, that is in that sense I really didn't need the library and I love the library and I will, you know, always try to sustain libraries, but I also understand that the world itself was a library. I'm fortunate to have the stories from the ancestors and to sit and hear that, that story be just told and kind of strung together in real time. So I guess, well, as we're talking about storytelling, I have to admit that I don't think I really got the full essence of Brear Rabbit and those stories until the people could fly that book I don't know if you're familiar with it and all of the stories but we have a wonderful story to do now and I wonder if you'd be willing to read your story. A little bit and they'll put it up on the screen if you're so inclined to read. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. That would be awesome. Sweet people are everywhere. Oh yes, sweet people are everywhere. Sweet people are everywhere. Brian who's getting a passport. This was a young friend who was getting a passport. Some of the people in Turkey are very sweet. Some of those in Afghanistan are very sweet. Some of the people in the United States are very sweet in Canada to some of the people are sweet. In Mexico, which I love, you will definitely find sweet people. There are sweet people among the Zulu in South Africa. And every language group in Africa has some sweet people in it. There are sweet people in Iceland. And in Russia, there are many sweet people in Korea. There are millions of sweet people in China. There are sweet people in Japan. If the sweet people were the leaders in historically warring countries, they would treat each other much better. There are sweet people in Congo. There are sweet people in Egypt. And sweet people in Australia. Many sweet people are in Norway. Numerous sweet people are in Spain. There are many sweet people in Ghana and Kenya. And sweet people also in Guam and the Philippines. There are sweet people in Cuba. Many sweet people exist in Iran. There are sweet people in Libya and Colombia. Sweet people are in Vietnam. Sweet people exist in England and Myanmar. Sweet people for sure. And there are sweet people for sure in Ireland. Sweet people are in France. Sweet people are holding on in Syria. They are doing the same in Iraq. Some sweet people live in Venezuela. Many very sweet people live in Brazil. There are sweet people in Israel. And there are sweet people also in Palestine. Actually, in almost every house on the planet, there is at least one very sweet person that you would be happy to know. Sweet people are everywhere. We are lost if we can no longer experience how sweet human beings can be. Being sweet, they must not be disappeared. Promise me never to forget this. No matter how far you go, no matter who sends you. And there is our world. Very touching and so appropriate on a rainy day to have a story read to you. I feel like I should be curled up on the couch saying, read it again, read it again. That is just so straightforward and simple and very clear the message you're trying to send to young people. I think some would consider a very challenging time. What is that message of sweetness that you hope to convey? I hope to convey the reality that just as you have sweet people for instance in your family, in my family I had all these aunties who used to come and visit. They were always good for several quarters and also some perfume. And then they tell you something that you never forgot like out of the age because they loved you. And these people exist all over the world. They're absolutely the same in that way. So we all know sweet people. And what I was doing was encouraging this young man, Brian, who was going to China. And he's a musician and he was going to be away for the first time. He was going to be away for the first time. He was going to be away for the first time. To really understand that when he got there, even though the people seemed so far in, and of course, you know, Chinese, if Johnny was his foreign in a way, but they're also not, you know, that he would see aunties and children and, you know, everybody being pretty much the same. And also that they are distinct. Mostly from their leaders. And we must really help our children to see that no matter who is in power, the people are regular people trying to exist. And be happy. Oh, I really appreciate that making that distinction, the separation between the faces you see more prominently and the people who are actually living and being. I laughed when you said about the aunties and the quarters, because I definitely can have flashbacks of that. And when you talked about trying on the lipstick, I had this flashback when I, when I first got the book, I thought about sweet people everywhere. And I actually had this thing about sweetness and thought maybe initially before I turned the book that was going to be about food and all the different places. So I appreciated the, the, the focus on who the people are and the sweetness of people everywhere. But it also made me when you talked about that, I had this flashback and I don't know if you're, if you had this experience of the peppermint candies that the aunties kept in the purse with the, and the perfume was in their purse and then the candies tasted like the perfume and the sweetness, but those sweet acts of kindness that exists. And just kindness itself is sweet. Yeah. That is really what I'm thinking about, you know, that wherever you go, you will always find people who are kind. You know, who are thoughtful and who would help you if they saw you struggling somewhere. And this is just the reality. And one of the sad things is that we are led to be fixated on a leader of people who, and the leader just may be insane. I mean, he could be perfectly crazy. And then we're, we're led to think that all the people are like him and, and they're not. So that is what I wanted to tell this young person that you are going to place whoever's leading it, whoever is leading China at the time is just a leader. I mean, he may be good, be good, bad or indifferent, but the people that you will interact with are not the leader. You know, they're, they're just like you pretty much. Right. And the kindness and that piece of it and, and did Byron hear you or did he come back from China and say, you're right. No, this is one of those, those things of life that we get used to eventually, although it's hard. I have not seen him since he got back. Right. And I don't even know if he's ever seen this time. Oh, wow. And the person I know and the person who introduced us, I keep trying to get her. And he's disappeared. So, so it's all, that's how life is. Yeah. Yeah. The exploration of that and the growth of young people. The other thing you talk about kindness is everywhere. The illustrations in the book are amazing and the art. And I feel like art is also symbolic and transit, you know, transit across cultures and experiences. And the artwork is beautiful in the book. Children want to see, they want to see the difference. And they want to see the similarities. So you can show children that people look or dress really differently. But there they are, you know, strumming the same guitar that you have or blowing the same flute or doing the same jump rope. You know, it's, it's, it's, it should have been all along very easy and simple. To make people understand that we're all human beings, just like all the oceans of water. For some reason. And, you know, we know many reasons. Usually, you know, economic and craziness. But these things are kept. So, not hidden exactly, but, but, you know, the children often have some difficulty understanding why things are like this, you know. So I'm going to hit a couple of the questions that are popping up in the chat as well. One is, is this your first kids book? Love the color purple on big screen listening, watching from watching from San Francisco Bay Area. I think this is my fourth or fifth children's book. The one before it, before it was, why is war never a good idea? Why war is never a good idea. Because I'm very interested in, in, you know, helping children. I mean, I'm a grandmother. And I care very much about, you know, my grandson and grand people. And I want them to really think about as little kids, you know, I want them to really think about, you know, some of these areas that they do not want to be programmed into like going to war. And often not making it back, making it back in a terrible situation. So that was one. And another one was there is a flower at the tip of my nose smelling me. Because my sense of life basically said, just as we smell flowers, as we look at the natural world, as if it is dead, it isn't, it's alive. And it's responding to us constantly. And then I did one about Langston Hughes. I mean, I, you know, I knew Langston just before he died. He was very good to me. And I wanted to write a children's book about him so that our children would not miss out on him as I had done. I didn't, I didn't know him until practically until I met him. And this is, this is just not right. Well, I mean, I will just say as a lover of Langston Hughes, and I feel like I probably, people who know me, I carry the book with me and give out copies everywhere I go of Dreamkeeper. And I feel like it's so much of what you're doing in general, but specifically with this book is really getting to the heart of people when I think about, I just was reciting this to someone this morning about mother and son, right? Life for me ain't been no crystal stair. Really this idea that there are challenges, but that we, we press on, it's the same semblance of what you're, you're saying in terms of kindness and hope, right? And also it's what makes us beautiful. This is a, this is a deep teaching that life will give you, if you will sit still, you know, that the, the no crystal stair, you know, there is a stair is not crystal, but you climb it. And when you climb it to the top or wherever you're going, there's a possibility that you will find yourself in a beautiful place of fresher air. Yes. Yes. And if I could make another correlation, because another one of my favorite ones is what happens to a dream deferred. And I think sometimes if we're, we're not able to look for the sweetness or find, if we're only focused on, as you say, the negative and someone wants to remind us that, you know, leaders can be he or she or they, right? But when we look at leadership, it doesn't always mean that that's the agreement or that the, you know, popularity doesn't always mean equity or that, you know, loudest voices with. Well, also popularity can be bought and sold. And so it takes discernment from each person, you know, to see behind the facade, to not get tricked into voting the people that, that, you know, not worth it. It's good for children to start understanding that they can discern, you know, they can go by their feelings. They have feelings and often really great intuition. Yes. Yes. And let's see. Amora just wants you to know, just wants to say hello and she loves you very much sending full moon blessings. And then Amelia, who is supposed to be on vacation is joining and wants to say in a different way. I mean, you know, I mean, when we have seen so much of the not so sweet side of things in recent times, it's important to remind young people there is still sweetness in the world. So just wants to thank you for that. Oh, you're so welcome. And also remember that there's sweetness in yourself. Yes. You know, and that should be nurtured, especially in times like now. When, when, you know, life seems so, so dire. Yeah. I mean, I mean, I think we need to be careful about that and just try to, you know, to know how we can, you know, you know, how we can all spur some of those conversations like those self affirmations, right? The, the finding sweetness in yourself or being able to tap into that. And again, I'm going to drive you crazy with Langston Hughes referrals. Cause I'm also like I too sing them like that is him. You know, I too sing America like affirming himself and saying like, I belong here. I'm special too, right? three of them, I think maybe, maybe more. You know, Du Bois always said that he had eight. But anyway, you know, so yeah, I mean, you, you were here. And the world is yours. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here. And this land is your land, as I think somebody saying. And yes, honor that and be happy in that. Yeah. I want to just also acknowledge and pause here to say like you, you celebrate young people and, you know, at different stages of this, I was like intrigued to see that Michael Tubbs, former mayor of Stockton, won like the Alice Walker essay contest, had the opportunity to sit down and talk to you about his essay. Yeah. Oh yeah. And he's written a wonderful book. Yes, I saw that too. So I think next month. Yeah. And what's interesting is that it goes full circle to me in terms of like sweet people are everywhere because his essay was about meeting his father for the first time in jail, right? Yes. And, and, you know, you talk about sweet people everywhere across the globe. But this idea that, you know, sweet people are everywhere, right? Whether rich, poor, incarcerated, formerly incarcerated, not that they're still space for people to be, you know, kind to each other or to be to have the moments of sweetness. There are some people in prison who are very sweet, you know, and I really hope that, you know, we understand that and really keep holding that you're holding that vision because so many people are incarcerated wrongly and suffering and they should be out here with us. And we need them. I mean, we need their sweetness. We need them beside us. Pretty amazing. And so I saw, I'm waiting for the book. I saw your, your kind of comments on the book and how great it is. I'm looking forward to reading Michael. But it's called the deeper the roots. You remember the other part of that? The sweet of the berry. Well, you know, I'm laughing because, you know, my, you know, you talk about sweet people are everywhere in every household and it just makes me think about colorism to write within communities across the board. And we have a rainbow of blackness in my, my childhood home. And, you know, that that phrase played around different ways. Yeah, and we're so fortunate. We're so fortunate that we learn to be tribal, you know, without being racist. I mean, it's a wonderful thing. Yeah. Yeah. And being able to explore that. And I appreciate I'm looking at the cover of the book, even just the rainbow of people on there. And I know you're doing some things with Crayola and being able to have children, you know, have color crayons that represent that. They have made some crayons that are, you know, for everybody's color, everybody's shade of whatever. And that is so wonderful. So the children, when they're coloring can no longer think, well, it's got to be black, white, red, you know, it can be all the colors that we are. And we are wonderful colors. I mean, just oh, the rainbow of us. Yeah. Well, it's interesting because this Linda Richardson gets, see, she's sharing puts this is a wonderful book, especially at this time of hate and confusion everywhere. It's a must read. Have you tried to get the book in the schools or our communities? Can we see this book in the school district here in San Francisco? And that's Linda and I see Ralph Remington from the Art Commission, Cultural Affairs director for the Art Commission is here. And you know, I think that we definitely want to make sure that we get the book in the hands of young people and that they're able to do more with that and also get those multicultural crayons. Have you done anything with other? I know you're doing one thing to try and push the crayons out and get the books out. Are there other efforts to get the books to young people? Well, you have to talk to the people who do that. I write the poem, you know, I give it over and then I talk like this to people. Yeah. But I don't really do any marketing. I never think about it. Well, that is good. Well, we will, we will work with people, Linda, to get the word out about that. Nate Ford says, what are your fears for our children? They are being very, very much damaged by, you know, the restrictions on their breathing, for instance. I don't know if he's talking about COVID. But I think that I worry about that a lot. And just the sense that they are growing up being more fearful, you know, of life and of nature. And this is a great loss to us, you know, as humans. Yeah. No, I couldn't agree more when we were talking earlier. I was saying, I'm worried that I've grown up, grown up too much to splash in puddles, right? That's experience for young people to just be out in nature and get a little dirty and learn from that. And I think we can, you know, kind of try harder to put them in nature, you know, to take, I mean, I still splash in puddles. I still, well, I'm out here in the deep woods. So I can do that. And I know that this is something that our children need. They need, you know, wildness. They need the natural world, not so much, you know, high-rise living, which is, I think, destructive to them, to their spirits. Well, what's ironic is that, you know, you don't know Nate, but Nate actually is a Rec and Park director. And he spends his days getting young people outside and playing. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Aditi has, how do you incorporate what you know about small children as an adult in your writing process? How do you understand and translate for yourself their curiosities and innocence? Because I was a child. And not only that, I'm still a child. You don't necessarily ever not be a child. I mean, unless you just, you know, see something wrong with it. And I never did. You know, I was bigger and I, you know, was careful that I didn't get wrong over by a bus. But keep your child self. I was going to ask, like, do you think that's part of this, this encouragement of the book too? It's this childlike wonder or just accepting, you know, like that maybe we look for that sweet person to believe that it exists and not to kind of become our hardened adult selves? Well, just know that they're there. You know, you may go to a country, for instance, and it may seem very, very scary and foreign. And I've traveled a lot. And I have to say, after all these travels, I can say that everywhere I've gone, I have found people, you know, I mean not every single one, of course, but there's always been somebody or some bodies who took me in, who looked after me, who, you know, fed me, who introduced me to whatever was of interest, you know, and they did this because that's who they are, you know, just kind people. Yeah, I think that that's the piece and hopefully as more and more folks can read the books and get them read that and have the discussion. I mean, I think that's the other piece, what we're doing here to have the discussion with the children after you read to them. When you, when you, when the ancestors told stories to you, did you interrupt? Did you ask questions? Did you talk about it afterwards? Yeah, well, why was he so big? And whose foot was that? You know, and are you sure? I mean, I don't see, you know, yes, of course, you talk back. But if you're alone, you just talk back to yourself. Godhood never ends. It doesn't have to, you know, it doesn't have to. And I think that's part of the reason people, when they get old, they forget a lot. Yeah, I mean, just, just forget the stuff. You have the last, you know, 40 years. You can go back to where you were really curious and really thrilled, you know, about stuff. Well, I think my, I have, I tell people all the time, I think I still have a kindergarten mind. I taught kindergarten for a decade. And so every time I think about something, I always have that, you know, what, what would happen if I did this in the class? Like I say things sometimes and I go, oh my gosh, if I was in a classroom, the kids would start laughing hilariously because just makes no sense to say those words together, you know. So I think it really do, if you're not in that space, you really do have to push yourself to keep that childlike wonder. Well, I actually, I don't think I've ever had to push. I have it. I mean, I've had it since birth. I just think we live in the most incredible place, Earth, that there is. I mean, I'm sure some of the planets are, you know, probably okay, but you know, who cares? I'm happy here. Well, I mean, what do you say to a young person? And maybe you've already said it, as you've talked about, like no, it's there or looked forward to see it when they've had, I think about yesterday, I mean, I had a really great day and then I let two not so sweet people by the time I got home, I had forgotten all the other sweetness I experienced. So thankfully I practiced this moment of gratitude at the end of the day every day to write down the good things that happened or celebrate. But what do you say to someone who's like, today was bad and everybody's bad meditation. I've been meditating for so many years. And I'm, you know, sometimes I slacken. But just having it in my medicine bundle, you know, as for days like that, you know, you just go and find a quiet place and you just sit there and let all those mean people and whatever they've said and done, just slide off. And you stay in a place where you connect with what is kind and what is good and who you are, rather than who they are. I mean, because actually, you know, they are who they are, but they don't have to be you. And when you carry them, you make them you, you know, you know, temporarily. And who wants to do that? None of us. None of us. No. Alejandra says, I love your hupeel blouses. Connecting from Southern California with ancestors from Vera Cruz. What is your connection love to Mexico, as you mentioned, while reading sweet people are everywhere? Well, long ago, before I wrote my longest novel, I had a dream about people making beautiful things in somewhere where the people were speaking Spanish. So long story short, I hired my daughter's Spanish teacher, teach me Spanish. I mean, I'm not at all fluent. I can get around, but that's it. And I moved there, you know, thinking I would just, you know, work on this book and then come back. And it's been 30-something years. And I'm still there a lot of the time in the winter, because it also helps my, you know, my health. But yeah, I mean, I love to be where people still can make the beautiful things that their ancestors made. And this, of course, you know, is just a piece of something sewed on to something, because people no longer, you know, make whole pieces of beautiful things that they used to make. Wow. Dear Alice, what advice do you have for someone, me, really wanting to write a book and having no experience doing so, especially living in an environment that is stress inducing when moving isn't much of a possibility? Well, it depends on how much you want to write the book. I mean, if you have the book and you and you want to express it, there will be a way if you really want it. I mean, I'm sure there are other things you want to do and you manage to do them, right? Mm-hmm. You know, a book is like anything else. And also if you think of your work as gifts, you know, that you give to the collective and also a sort of community thing with your ancestors, somehow life, in my experience, will really support you. And the key, though, I think is discipline. You have to be extremely disciplined. It's absolutely imperative that you have your own place to live. You see, the nuts and bolts of writing in which, you know, I really love to share because people get, you know, you're a writer and it's like you're living on air. Well, you don't. You actually work. You work hard in teaching or, you know, I was just reading Chester Himes' one of his books and he spent a lot of his time, you know, being a waiter, cleaning up an automap, you know, in New York City. I mean, so the thing is the passion of wanting to create what is basically a gift, like any other gift you want to be. You know, as perfect as you can make it. So you make your environment as supportive of you as you can. I think that that's the thing, too, to really cherish it like a gift and pour into it and enjoy it, right? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And also the characters who come, the people really, who come are so interesting. I mean, they keep you laughing. I mean, some of the things, I mean, most people, you know, know about the color purple, but, you know, in all of my books, there are all these things that happen that are really magical. So in the middle of the night, for instance, you think you've done everything you could do on the page for a day and you're tired, but there you are in the middle of the night and some character just comes out of nowhere and says, well, but what about so-and-so? And you think, oh, shut up. I'm trying to say, no, no, no, no, no. What about, you know, and then there you are. So you're in the middle of this wonderful process of creating something out of nothing. You create, I mean, you can say, well, you're creating it out of the voice that you're hearing, but what is that? I mean, it's magical. It's magic. It's like the people who make things like this. I think this kind of work is just seems to have been done by magicians. But I think that that is to back to your point around childlike wonder too, right? Like that you don't close off those inspirations that when you were a child and you're like, you're mixing something in your imaginary pot. Yeah, it's the same. Really, it's the same. And I wish more people had that because it makes it so joyful. I mean, it is such a happy thing to create something out of nothing. I mean, it's just, it's just incredible. And then at the end of it, you actually have something you have a book. You actually have, you know, you have a book that's solid. It's solid because this comes out of, you know, wherever. Yeah, I love that because the one of my favorite things was to when I was teaching kindergarten to like have the young people have the kids draw something and then tell the story behind it. And you just, you know, and you're like, all of that came from that scribble. Exactly. Yeah. And just building on that. So just, I appreciate you saying that. And I do just want to give a shout out. I know Ms. Marshall had put on there, she was excited to see us talking and wanted to put a plug for if you're going to any schools, she had schools recommended for you to go to and talk to. So if you ever visit schools, she's got schools for you. Well, get us through the pandemic. Tamara has a very important issue that you bring up as aunties and uncles. We, parents need to find the time and space to give our kids those relationships. As you say, they so offer so much, they offer so much wisdom and advice into the world of our children, all those different voices and people and experiences. Okay, I would say make aunties and uncles out of whoever is at hand. And I think that's a tradition, actually. I mean, I am all for us trying to gather our, you know, families and ancestors. And that's wonderful. I'm, you know, skip gates, yay. But, you know, by now is kind of challenging. So I say that there are aunts, I think aunts and uncles are everywhere, you know, and grandparents are everywhere and send kin, you know. So I, I, you know, it's just, just a slight shift of the mind. And you can see that and feeling it. Yeah, it's funny. I was talking to somebody one day and they were like, this is my auntie. I was like your real auntie or your community auntie, you know, building that space, you know. Angela says, Ms. Walker, thank you for your share and reading of a book of the book. Less a question, but more an observation that moved me. The simplicity of your message shown between conflicting groups. For example, one of the wonderful illustrations pairs the sweet people of Israel with the sweet people of Palestine on a soccer field, using a visual, using a visual of sport to make your point makes sense to me sport being competitive, but ultimately win or lose. The teams come together and show respect as well as appreciation. Yes, absolutely. We have to remember that people, you know, countries are at war. Usually their leaders cause all of this. But we must remember that wherever people are, there are some sweet people there too. And in fact, in Israel, I have some incredible sisters and brothers who I stand with as we try to help unravel this disastrous course of history in that area. And then on the Palestinian side, of course, I have people that I love and support. Yeah, those are really, I mean, I think that that is a really huge piece of all of this just being able to move through that. You know, just because we have disagreement doesn't necessarily negate the sweetness of everyone, you know, on an individual. And just think about us, you know, all the wars that, you know, we have this country, not we, but you know, the people who badly run it. Think about all of those wars and how if it were left to us, what would we drop on people instead of bombs? I know what I would drop. I would drop bicycles. I would drop cakes. I would drop soups. I would drop oh, beautiful clothes. You know, I mean, if I could do that, that's what I would drop. I would not, it wouldn't occur to me to drop a bomb. And it should not occur to anybody to drop a bomb or to drone anyone. It just should not even be in your mind. There are so many more questions that I know we're not going to be able to get to them. So I'm trying to move through. Claudia says, true honor to see your lovely face sharing your sweet, brilliant wisdom. Dr. Scott, Carolyn Scott, oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear. You have ushered in a lovely, calming, peaceful and sweet spirit with the reading and conversation. Brother Jamil says, could you speak about the role of ancestral veneration in your work, along with the storytelling traditions of African griots, and if that has any flu influence on your work? Oh, absolutely. Oh, my God. Well, I grew up in the deep south in Georgia, where storytelling and the griot, you know, meant something. We didn't know what to call in the griot, but you know, there were a couple of griots wandering around telling tales who we adored. Often they told these tales accompanied by guitar, because that was one of the things, you know, that our people could kind of get away with. I feel always in the company of ancestors, always. In fact, so much so that I resisted having my DNA, is it called DNA? Is that thing, you know, the ancestry? I resisted. I just said, you know what, my ancestors, if they're anything like me, they probably don't want to be found. So I didn't, you know, but I'm going to, because I'm just out of curiosity, but not because I didn't feel them already. I mean, I can't help but feel that they're there and they're supporting me, you know, and I'm so thankful. Yeah. Same thing. I was, but after my mom and dad did it, I was like, I guess I'm already in there. I might as well do the DNA. Kevin says, what inspires you about our children or what hopes do you have for them? Well, I just had my niece just sent me a photo of her son, who's 10 years old, and he was getting ready to go to school. This is in Alabama too, and he had colored his hair green, and it was just so unlike anything I expected. I was at his birth, but I haven't kept up with him since, you know, much, but just the spontaneity and the daring and the, you know, the so black in a way to just think, okay, it's tough, but I'm gonna color my hair green, you know. I mean, it's just, you know, and be and have an attitude. I mean, it's just so refreshing. Yeah. My son came home with hot pink hair during the pandemic. Yeah. Martinique says, I too just want to share an appreciation and a hello from Cleveland. As a high school student, I wrote a slam poem and mentioned Alice Walker and what she has done for the youth. Thank you for creating this space. It's so warm. John Henry says, how do we keep our kids believing in our community leaders and adults when there are so many failures in community also in homes and families? Find the ones who didn't fail. Yeah. They're more of them, actually. Yeah. And some of them are historical, you know, so this will help you, you know, read. You're never without just exactly the forces and the intelligence and the wisdom and the humor. You're never without these people and what they bring. So just they're there. I mean, never doubt it. Right. So shift again, that piece you talked about shift. So shift the focus to the ones that are doing it that haven't failed. Exactly. No, there's no, listen, there's no point now. Now, for instance, well, probably shouldn't bring up our Kelly, but people, you know, the people who are not good for us, just give them no, no energy, you know, I mean, they're doing okay. However, they think of life, you know, and their vision, that's what they want. But it's not what you want. So you shift your attention, your energy and your thoughtfulness to places that sustain you, you know, not places that make you feel bad about yourself. Yeah. Leticia put first what an honor to hear you and see you and learn from you. And then she asked, what are your thoughts about cultivating a love of reading in our homes? How do we reignite the love across generations? Turn off television. I, I, you know, there is such a thing as limiting TV. And I have gone years when I only had two hours a week of it. And now that I'm older, I, you know, can watch more than I do. But I understand that it's pernicious. I mean, there's, there's something that's very dangerous to us. And also I, I have this feeling that if we're not very careful, we will lose books. And there's a reason why this writer whose name is not coming to the fore. But someone wrote about the Fahrenheit, what is it Fahrenheit 451? I think it is about a time when the books will be burned. Now, our books may not be burned exactly, but they'll just become obsolete. So we need to be very careful about that, because then we will be completely dependent on television and that medium for everything we get, all the information we get. And it can be programmed in a way that books are not. Well, a couple more, I know they're going to tell me to, to wrap it up. But Sidney says, I've known you for 60 plus years and you look younger than ever. Thanks for this event. Sidney, you need glasses. And also I don't mind looking my age, you know, and I don't mind getting old. I mean, it is such a, you know, and that's one of the great things about having, you know, old people in your life, you know, like grandparents. I fell so in love with my grandfather, honestly, I mean, he just was so beautiful, you know, the older he got. And you really should cultivate in yourself an appreciation for how you yourself will become, you know, it's not good for the spirit to always want it to be stuck somewhere like in the 40s. Well, I have to ask this one because Christine beat me to the question. Christine said, will you be my auntie? Yes. Absolutely. And then Sidney wrote back and said Ray Bradbury, it wrote Fair Night 451. That's right. Let's all read that again. And then Marina said, books will always be with us. Alana said, thank you so much of what you're sharing is speaking to me as an advocacy for the arts and education to explore literacy through interactive holistic and meaningful ways. Marina is also with you on limiting TV time. Let's see. I know we don't have enough time for this one, but I do just wanted to Ralph ask, have you ever felt the need to leave this country like Baldwin, Richard Wright and others? Well, I spend, you know, winters in Mexico, part of winters is getting so that I actually love being here more. But yeah, I have. Interesting. So I'm just trying to see, you know, there are a lot of thank you for sharing you. Can I just say this though? I was very active in the civil rights movement and lived for seven years in Mississippi working, you know, doing various things there. And though it almost drove me under the floor, there's a way in which I think when you are a southerner in this country and you stand your ground, whatever happens, it tends to make this your country. I mean, it really, there's a way in which you see some of the ways that your your activism actually transformed something. And one example I'll give you really quickly is that I was very depressed and sad about how much we had not been able to change the South. And then one day I went home to Georgia and I was driving through the countryside and I stopped at a peach stand because we grow peaches there. And I bought some peaches from a little white boy. And when I paid him, he said, thank you, ma'am. And I knew that there was a chance of transformation. And as long as there's a chance of transformation, I think I will be here. That is so beautiful. And I think that's that's the takeaway from the book, right. And it also, again, my last Langston Hughes referral as we close up is that hold fast to dreams, right, for if dreams die. And I think that that what you just said speaks to that to me, right, that we believe in transformation, that there's still hope and that if we can see the sweetness and kindness, if we can find those people that represent that, we can stay hopeful. And we ourselves are always transforming, you know, and we are, I mean, I just, do you have one more minute? Yeah, I have all the time in the world. Because I said this because there's a new book by Honoree Fanon Jeffers called The Love Songs of Debbie E. B. Du Bois set in the area where I was born actually a lot of it. So reading this incredible novel, you know, helps me to understand even more deeply that holding your place, you know, knowing where you where you come from and knowing your people and honoring them by actually doing the work of getting to know them is a way of rooting yourself in such a way that it will take a lot to uproot you. I mean, that is like I'm trying to let that seep into my soul because so much of who we are when you talk about that ancestral piece, so much of like that experience. And even you talked about the passing down of story, but the passing down of song, the passing down of the sense of overcoming is huge around the transformation. No, we're very beautiful, but it's taking us a long time to actually get that. You know, we will though. Well, we're one step closer. Thank you so much through and because of this book, we can see the beauty in ourselves and hopefully begin to see it in others. Thank you so much, Ms. Walker for talking with me today. Yes, wow, what a wonderful conversation. Thank you, Ms. Alice Walker. Thank you, Dr. Davis. I know I'm going to be shifting my focus on all the to find all the sweetness around me today. And thank you again to TRA Publishing for getting sweet people everywhere into the hands of children everywhere. This is the end of our program. Find us on sfpl.org and on our YouTube channel. Goodbye, everybody. Bye.