Finding My Voice

on this episode. It brings out the creativity and it allows me to reimagine, you know, myself and what my vision is. But one of the things that I know for certain that I want to make a significant part of this podcast is inspiration because we all need it. We all needed and so I did a piece called No More Excuses and it's not that long, but yet it has a lot of power to the punch I mean, and I think that it's inspirational. And today we need to move people in a way so that we can

all be successful. And because we all come from you know, different backgrounds, live in different communities, but we also have different circumstances and we all have issues that we all have to deal with. So No More Excuses is a piece I done that I think it's inspirational and motivational, so that's gonna be featured on this episode. Also on his episode is an interview that I did with a young lady who wrote the book Life I Swear and

her name is Chloe do S Louis Winso. So she wrote this beautiful book about black woman intimacy, healing and spiritual growth. So I had a chance to talk with her before we did an event at Malik Books hosting her UM back in December. So I had a chance to talk to her um and get her thoughts about her book, and I want to share that interview on

this episode. Also, you never know who's in the hood, in the community, in the neighborhood, so Jimmy gen Lewis popped up at LA Books and I was able to get on the spot eight you a nice conversation with him. So I'm gonna have that as part of this episode

as well. And lastly, I am I'm doing. I'm gonna do a book review and the book that I selected the discuss in the book review is The sixteen nineteen Project, a new origin story offering a profound, revealing vision of the American past and present a dramatic expansion of a groundbreaking work of journalism. So I'm gonna do a book review on the sixteen nineteen project, and so sit back enjoy the new episode. Key here is when the key here is when. The key here is when no more excuses.

You can focus is on winning or you can focus on excuses. Excuses will not lead to success. Excuses would not help you win. What helped you win and be successful is focused on how to be great, how to overcome, how to be successful. Stop dwelling on the excuses, Stop dwelling on what keeps you down. You need to change your reality and you can only do that if you're focus on winning, Get up and win, no more excuses.

This episode's featured interviews with Chloe Dose Louis Renzo, who wrote a book called Life I Swear, Intimate Stories from Black women on identity, healing and self trust. Chloe is a congrelease of American writer, mother, and advocate for women whose work is driven by disclosure on identity and healing. Chloe is the producer and hosts of a podcast called Life I Swear, same title as the book Chloe's book explores nuances and insights around intimate topics of identity, mental wellness,

and healing. Told you the lens of women from Black DIESP. Her career in communication has advanced diverse and inclusive storytelling and organizations addressing education, property, and mental health. I'm pleased to have this interview with you today. Welcome Chloe, and let's get right into your timely book life. I swear book um is a part memoir. So I have my own if you've looked through it a little bit, I have my own essays woven into it as well, um,

and so it makes it a part memoir. Um. But I also have invited twenty five other black women to share their stories. All those stories are very diverse, UM, but I think I was able to kind of organize them in a thoughtful way that into themes where each of our topics kind of overleapt with each other around identity, healing and self trust. Um. It started off, the intent of the book really was for my myself to do

some processing of my own stories, um. And so in that in that way, it's been very um therapeutic for me to kind of pour into my own stories. And I think it's important also, UM, look at multiple stories under one umbrella, because it allows us to see how complicated and diverse and textured we are. Um, I have women who represent many corners of the Black diaspra and um and yeah, it's it's been beautiful. That's just the conversations that have come out of many of these Yah, beautiful,

thank you. Yeah. I love the pictures, uh, filled with so you know, beauty and emotion and passion in the pictures. They are tasty. Then you know, I have a creative mind, and I didn't want it to just be just a regular book that you flipped through, but one that you really take your time with. So I think it a coomplished that. Yeah, where did the idea come from? Just myself? I think I love photography of them a photographer before, and so I wanted it to be I love layouts,

shot the pictures. I didn't shoot the pictures, but I definitely designed the inside pages. M yeah, and definitely some of the photo shoots. Yeah. So so what you had, you had the podcast, you was doing the interviews, and then you got the idea because you have the podcast life I swear right, And then it kind of parlayed into a book. The book actually parlayed into a podcast. Okay, the other way, right, Um isn't what most people assume. But um, the book par laid into a podcast, which

is them. Um. I was just in conversation with a lot of the women for the book, and then I started to really want to capture the stories in commerce like conversations that could be accessible to other people. Um, And so I thought to do the podcast after I got to do the book, though the podcast obviously came

into the world before the book. I say, I say right, because imagine it took you quite some time to put together all of these essays and collaborate with so many other women to bring it into what you first you pitch how um it's Harper columns. You pitched them for the idea. You just had what I outline at one time, or you had the whole manuscript outline. I had a proposal that had, um, some of my own essays and maybe maybe maybe I had one of my own essays

and two essays from other women. But it didn't It wasn't a fart sell. They really loved it immediately, So UM, you know, they were my first and only kind a station I had with the publisher. Oh that's great, that's great, But a lot of people don't share that kind of story now they shopping from publisher to publisher exactly. It was just time for this, and then I also published. I also pitched it to them right in March, you know, and that was right after George Floyd and I book.

That timing wasn't um on accident, you know right right? Is everything elevate more black voices at that time? Yes, yes, it's Facebook. A month prior, maybe they would have said, no, I don't know what timing is everything. I know that the timing you know, for us was on point. Um. We we benefited from the social justice movement. It took place. Don't pandemic ourselves. Um, you know, we became you know, nationwide,

we started shipping international as well. It's domestic. So we found our way on the Open Book, listed in all kinds of different people's lists, and the people, you know, they just um responded in a unifying way that it's been a while since I've seen such a thing. And you know, you know, support local business, support small business, you know, support black owned and all of these things just kind of all wrapped around that whole social justice movement,

and so timing is everything. So it's no accident. Uh, you know, it was it was it was destiny. Absolutely, it was meant life. I swear. How did you come up with that title? Um? It's kind of just one of those things that you know, we're saying that people say that, that women saying when they're together, life girl, I swear, And it's like that, like, man, I mean all this journey, I'm tired, exhausted by the journey. It's

just all encompassing of um, of your reflections around life. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I see that. Okay, Okay, there was a connection. I wasn't sure, you know, but there is. Yeah. It's been a good journey and I'm excited. The Leak Books is my last in person event for the years, so I feel like really able to acale after this event has been Uh your book came out in November and so it's almost two months now. Yeah wow wow? And uh,

what's all the cities you toured so far? Besides that Lady with Populations club, I was also in Oakland, Denver, Atlanta, New York, in d C. Oh, that's outstanding. Yeah, it's interesting because I wasn't sure if I should do a book in person book tour, but because of but of in person was needed at the time. Yes, yes, yes, this has been a great overview and now I have a completely different and refreshing view of the book. It's one thing, yeah, you know, reading it and browsing, throwing,

it's another one. I get a chance to talk to the author of Life I swear Chloe, so you know, you definitely gave me more insight to your book. And um, and we're looking forward to a robust, exciting and energetic event coming up. I'm excited to meet you in person and so um Chinese gonna do the moderation and um, this is just you know, we're looking forward to hosting you at Malik Books. And ain't always when you get

Jimmy Geane Lewis and Malik Books. So you know, you know, I got Malik's Bookshelf podcast, so you know what, I got to get on to say a few a few things. I heartreadio royn c Krest production. I was doing book reviews for and for about a year and he spend office getting your own podcast or ron c Kress hooked me up with a podcast called Melik's Bookshelf Now and you stepped into the community, and I love to talk about the community. It's called Malik Bookshelf building the world

through books, culture and community. You're in the community now. We don't get all this all the time. So you know, I mean, we have to keep the we have to keep the identity going. And the only ways to keep you know, to keep selling the true story of who we are that I's gonna be forgotten, forgotten. We can't let it before we let it go. Yeah, we have to fight. Yes, yes, yes, Any projects you like, did you can share that you're working on right now? Yeah.

A few things that are going to come out sometime this year. I have a couple of movies with boost Willis that will come out one fourth of July called Fourth Night, and then the other one is Devil's Night, which would be for for Halloween, for Halloween, two separate movies. Yeah, Fortnight, Fourth fourth Night for now not the Game, not the Game now. And then another movie is Assassin Club, which is like an action flick that I did in in Italy this year. So you know, you're gonna have enough

things going on for me this this year. We're looking forward to it. Yeah, absolutely looking forward to for an African from festival because you know this is me for me, you know, yes, yeah. Do you have you published in I'm not well, not yet, not any plans soon come. Yeah. A couple of things, especially in regards of Haiti. Yeah, yeah, imagine about a couple of things I'm working is that

there is something that's Haiti personal to you. Okay, you know I did a movie about sin Belt, you know, which is right, one of the greatest heroes that that not just Haiti has, but the water has had. So yes, yeah, you know a lot of people don't know about him. When the companies wouldn't have done had in the first Black Republic to fight and win the independence four against

Napoleon Bonaparte, don't talk about that. They don't talk about that because of Haiti, you know that, And that sent a ripple effect all do Europe and all do America, South America and America exactly, and that's why Louisiana musa Yes, right, the wist Louisiana would have still been French by now, and it goes on because of the Haitian revolution. Absolutely so yeah, absolutely, all right, Well, thank you brother for sharing. Appreciate it. Yeah, I'll catch you soon. Thank you, care

you too. My book review for this episode is the sixteen nineteen project The New Origin Story by Nicole Hannah Jones. Now we're coming into Black History Month, and that is something that's celebrated every year in America and throughout the Caribbean. It was founded by Carl G. Woodson, who was an educator and a very intelligent human being who created and came up with Black History Week. We called it the Negro History. We we don't go by that no more.

So it turned into the Black History Week, now the Black History Month, and it's something that's celebrated every year in America to celebrate our culture and our contributions to not just America but throughout the world world. And so black history is just not a American thing, but it's a world history. And black history just just just didn't start with slavery, and many of us got hooked on that falsehood it is, that's just it. It's a falsehood.

Black history did not start with slavery. Black history started with world history. The oldest bones they found in the world in Africa was a black female. They call her Eve and and she's going back what for mallion years. So black people contributions are shown and seen and study and taught all over the world, significant achievements, enormous achievements, great achievements. But a lot of black people were not aware of this because of the origin of the American

sin and that slavery. But black people didn't start with slavery. But this book that I want to discuss in this book review, the sixteenth nineteenth Project, is just not a book that focuses on slavery, because it talks about the past, but it also talks about the present, and it talks about the elevation and achievements and the just the overwhelming success that black people have had despite slavery, despite oppression,

despite discrimination, despite racism. We have achieved the normous success in America that has been part of the greatness of America. And so this book is a book that talks about not just slavery, but it talks about so much more. Now on the code the creator of this book, but she also has so many other representations in this book, people who are enormous incredible writers, poets and journalists and so forth. You can find the words on race by

Dorothy Robinson. This book, Khalil Jabril Mohammed wrote on the sugar, on sugar, the history of that, Michelle Alexander on fear you know, Matthew Desmond on capitalism, Jamila Bowie on politics, Martha Joe's old citizenship, Carol Anderson on self defense. It's a lot more. I mean, the book addressed inheritance, medicine, church, music, healthcare, traffic, progress, all of that is discussed their poems in this book. This book is inspirational and it's a hot topics in

a number one New York Times bestseller. And on top of that, it's been a lot of controversy over this because a lot of people don't want to talk about the origin of America's sin. It's not like racism stopped just because we were black people were free. It's not. It's not the discrimination oppression stopped just because of emancipation. And so this is a hard subject, but it's a subject matter that has to be addressed because we need to be on the same page and stop, you know,

tiptoeing on what is the elephant in the room. We have issues that divide us, and this book is a conversational piece that helped bridge that got and to celebrate the glory and achievements of black people. And so I'm loving this book. The New Origin, the sixteen nineteen project reaches into every part of contemporary marcan society, from politics to music, to diet to traffic, the citizenship, the capitalism, the religion, and our democracy itself. Nicole is a Pulicer

Prize winner. She's a journalist who wrote for the New Yard Times magazine. She's one of a tremendous amount awards. So I think that ain't We're going into Black Issue month, you know, And I think that this book is a great conversation piece to, you know, to celebrate the part what is part of American history. We can't change the history. We can only accept the reality of the history and

learn from the history. And this book is a good book to look at and have that conversation and talk about the elephant in that room and then learn about great achievements that have come about since slavery that we should celebrate as being part of America. So that's my book review for the day. Thanks for listening to Melik's Bookshelf Where topics on the Shelf our books, culture and community. Be sure to subscribe and leave me a review. Check out my Instagram at Melik Books. See you next time.