Omar Epps

My league has how the knowledge you want.

My league has how the knowledge you need.

Cheat they have all the works that the whole wild world Wunner read mylague.

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to Malik's Bookshelf, bringing a world together with books, culture and community.

Hot.

My name is Malik, your host of Malik's Bookshelf.

Now, I hope you enjoyed that last segment that was put on by the Park Village book Fair with earth Lessa.

So that was the last episode.

I hope you enjoyed it because because the event was electric, it was fire, the community came out. But hey, that was just part one. See, we had another heavy hitter that came out at the Lambert Park Village book Fair, and that.

Is Old Mar Epps.

And you know, Omar is an award winning director, he's actor, a writer, he's you know, it's been in the industry for a long time. I mean, we all know him in love and basketball. We all know that he played on this show. It was a medical show and I'm just like trying to remember off the talk of my head. But it was a hit and it was a really smart doctor that I.

Just can't remember.

Us.

So let's move it on anyway, he played on that and you know that was a long running mini series on television and the other Omarty worked on a lot of different projects. I don't need any further introduction. The brother,

Hills Crenshaw Plaza mall. And it was just a very.

Engaging and community event that uplift the spirit of writing.

As you will know the two books.

And I don't know if I mentioned this early because I'm just talking right now I don't know if I mentioned.

Look the two books that Omar.

Epps wrote, it's called Nubia the Awakening.

That's the first one.

The second in addition, just came out called Nubia The Reckoning. So Omar's gonna talk about, you know, the process of how he came up with this idea and concept of Nubia, and he's gonna going deep about the character and what you can expect from reading such a fantasy and adventuroust type book. So I'm gonna let him do the talking. I don't need to do the book review when I interview. When I get interviews of people talking.

About that books, that's like a book review. They could do it better than I could.

Do it, right, So I'm just gonna let the conversation with Erica Jay moderating Omar Epps.

Speak for itself. So enjoy this next episode.

I appreciate the artist for your consistency, and I think this is like eighty seven. You know, that's amazing in itself. But stay tuned and enjoy this episode of Omar Epps in Conversation at the Lamark Park Village book Fair twenty twenty three, hosted by Elite Books.

Okay.

Our moderator for this event is Erica Kendrid.

So she asked Omar the first question was tell the artists about Nubia, and that's the fantasy book that he created, Nubia Awakening, Nubia Reckoning. So that's the first question and then from there the conversation flowed and Erica Kendred will continue to moderate this segment in conversation with Omar Epps.

Great question.

Nubia is basically, it's a coming Today story that follows three displaced teenagers who as they become adolescens, they have magical powers that start to sprout that are directly connected.

To their lineage. But they haven't been told that.

From their their parents and their families because Nubia the place is an is an island nation that was once a utopia and their ancestors had to flee there, so they thought the powers were destroyed alone with the island. And so these kids find themselves and what I'm calling New New York trying to figure it out, figure out what's going on, and so the reckoning, so that's the basis of it, and the awakening is obvious. Their powers

That the world presents.

That's a great explanation.

I've heard a couple of people whispering that it's very similar what it reminds them of or it takes them back to Black Panther.

What are your thoughts about that, because clearly that was a juggernaut.

And we'll get.

To like the vision that you have for the saga because it's amazing, But what do you think when folks compare it or you know, put it next to the high seat.

Of something like a Black Panther.

I love it because I mean one as a compliment to this room for.

All of it, but three for me.

You know, I actually originally had the idea for this about twenty years ago. It just took me this long to activate and actually do it and sit down and write, which is really hard to do. And I never wrote a book before either, which is why I'm so fortunate to have my co pilot, Clarence A. Haynes who was an incredible writer. So it's it, you know it. The story wasn't informed.

By anything of black par but you know, uh, you know it.

All looks the same to them, but it's very different.

Once you get into the book, you're gonna be like, this ain't nothing like black family. Why are they talking about? You can't have two black offices. The bland of boxes checked out, you know, that's how they do. But we gonna keep it moving.

Okay, So the topic of this today for your session is supposed to be about capturing the imaginations of the young adult reader or the young adult writer.

So how do you want your YA.

Readers to be inspired by or to be kind of captivated by, uh, the recording?

That's a great question. The in essence, I I wrote a book that I.

Wish existed when I was fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, those those pivotal years where you know, escapism is good sometimes because it can ignite your imagination and they can give you the wherewithal to work through current circumstances.

So all of the parallels to the now were intentional.

So the story takes place one hundred years from now, but there are a lot of parallels that I'm finding pleasantly that.

A lot of young readers are like.

Wow, I kind of feel like I relate to this character and what they're going through and so forth and so on, and I really want them to take away.

I want all readers, but especially.

The young readers, to take away the notion of unity. It's supremely important to us because no matter what we accomplish individually, we can't move forward as a collective if we're not unified.

And that's one of the main things in the book.

As the Nubians fire themselves, you know, tribalism, but then there's inner tribalism, but at the end of the day, they all have to come together in order to progressed the.

Nubian's for me, Yeah, go ahead, We're glad for that. And I will say that that was very artfully done and.

The writing is beautiful. When she was doing the briefing of what the book.

Is about, one of the adjectives she used was fast paced, and it is. I got the book this week and I looked up and I was already on page seventy. So those are y'all that And there are a.

Lot of us these days especially with social media and the internet.

You know, we don't want to sit down and actually open a book because sitting still is like I don't even remember the last time I did that, But take my word for it, you will look up and be like, I'm like four or five chapters, then it's worth it, Okay.

So you make a point to dig deeply into the.

Human experience, and you like to say it transcends time, because yes, this takes place in a dystopian uh space a.

Hundred years from now, in the year twenty ninety.

Eight, So that's like whoa already, But a lot of the things like you just mentioned are relevant to today's time. So first and foremost, I wanna know what inspired that.

Journey, cause that's huge.

I mean I can't I can't think about what I'm gonna be doing next week, but to that's a hundred years from now.

See what was that inspiration?

What inspired me?

There was?

I'm I consider myself a history buff, and the more and more that I study ancient culture, the further back I go, the more parallels I see.

And when you take off the coding of the.

Isms, right, classism, racism, and sexism, all of those things.

You just see humans doing with h humans humany, you know, always dealing with the few, trying to control the many, you know.

To t we have these these I guess the the quality of our species seems to transcend time.

So for me imagining a world one hundred years from.

Now where all of these environmental cataclysms that we're in fear about have already taken place, it's still gonna be people here after that. So what are they dealing with? What's that young generation dealing with it? And you know what will sort of skip the boundaries of time that they're presented with, you know, different set of circumstances, but kind of the same set of problems.

Right, So it just came naturally at that part.

Okay, So in terms of building the world, what inspired you creatively to do this stunny, stunningly visual job.

I mean, it was like, so it also is, like he said.

New York, it's literally also supposed to be New York. Like, you know, our man is from Brooklyn, so he paid homage to his hometown. But I mean, I live in New York for eleven years, and I was like, it still feels like what it's like now, But it was not It was I mean the words the scriptors gorgeous and something.

That it's like, Okay, we're.

Talking about seawall has been torn down, and this is the Rabbits Lower East Side and this is the sky High City and.

It's gorgeous and technology is taken over. Okay, y'all feel me, y'all gonna get into this.

Oh how did you like get inspired to create something so visually studying and we get that you're an artist, but I mean this was next level?

Thank you. That was just a lot of I wanted every particle of air type of reason.

You know, in telling stories, designing plots and characters, you know a lot of times it's just.

Like yeah, then they just had on some Adidas for me. I'm like why. It's kind of how I've I've approached my career.

As an actor. I'm very very detail. It could be no wasted space. Everything, every motion has a purpose. So with the book, with that in mind, that that's sort of how I attacked well, what does the world look like?

I picked New York because I'm worn to raise it. You know, if I was going to raise it, it would have.

Been hit it because that's one place on this earth, I know, like the back of my hand, you know. So in sort of redesigning the geography of New York.

It just came second nature. Of course. You know, here's gonna be water here. So that's all in the water up highs where humans have fused with technology, where the rich people are. That's the Beverly Hills, New York, you know, in the book, and just.

Reimagining the actual geography and giving it reason and purpose so that as the readers reading it, it feels like they're watching it, you know, even though it's just words on the paper, it's something that is so hopefully the words are so visceral that you can literally see it.

Okay, that man smart this world?

Y'all hurt that this the road, and.

I will tell you it is. Now for those of y'all that are like, I'm an La girl, or you know, I'm from Detroit, but I'm a Chicago girl, even though, like I just said, I lived in New York City, you don't have to have ever even have visited it. So like right away he gives you a math like a map for reference.

How is that?

Like I can't do that?

Out of mama.

I'm like y'all don't.

Know Sam here.

Well, like you get a whole map. Okay, So I wanted to say that because sometimes we feel like, oh, well, I won't be able to relate to it because of this reason or that reason.

Definitely not.

Were there any contemporary issues or any mobile issues happening, or like, I know you're a history but so you you researched the hell lot of like the human story, but like contemporary things happening on a domestic or global level that impacted your pan when you were crafting the story.

I don't know if it impacted it.

But we basically wrote the first book then the Lockdown in COVID like we we had been having discussions.

I was meeting with the publishers. Okay, oh wait a minute, stay in the house, and my co writer was.

Was stuck in Germany at the time. Yeah, so that's how we wrote the first book.

You know, there was a lot of uh, me calling him, I don't know what the hot in New York.

I know it was three in the morning for him, and he was like, can you wait a couple.

Of hours, And I'm like, no, I got this straight idea. What do you think about this? So we just you know, we had the time to really sit down and and and get it out. But it didn't.

That didn't I think if anything that inspired us in terms of where we were going in relation to the climate changed to him.

Cause that's a big backdrop of the book.

Yeah, Cause again the geography is so like obviously affected. So I mean that's pretty much it. I mean, you know, life is going to life, So every day there's something. I think in order for the story to train saying, we had to stick to our guns of what we thought was the right narrative.

To tell me because I was reading and I was like, what has this man been.

Through to put this on the way? Like some of it is as.

Hard as to but it's still delicious and beautiful and that's very.

Difficult to a tank.

So who else there?

Okay?

Uh?

Y'all about literature, it often explores important.

Things, and this book, like he.

Already mentioned, explores classism, elitism, racism, sexism, all theisms, even immigration. Uh, how do you navigate the societalisms in the story.

And then the follow up to that is like, what.

Message do you want young readers to take as it relates to all of the ism that you pointed out are clearly still very relevant today and they were a hundred years ago and properly will be in another.

Hundred hopefully not well, hopefully they'll change.

We just attack them from an organic standpoint.

In the book, I always feel like stories tell themselves and all you have to do is listen and be a conduit and.

Let it come out.

So the idea is like, if you could think in your head that every character in the book represents a human emotion and that's sort of their personality.

That's the simple way to look at it.

And so how would that person be if they are impat or if they're aggressive, or you know, whatever that human emotion is. That's how that individual would deal with that ism. And then I guess the challenge is, okay, giving.

Them an obstacle to attain whatever that goal is. You know, the person who wants to overcome fear. Why do we do that in the book?

And so that hopefully it's a journey, right and hopefully everyone finds a character that they can live through vicariously and sort of a is a representative of them, and now they're rooting for.

That character in the book.

And again, ultimately, how do all of these characters come together as a unified force.

Who was your favorite character to right?

For me, it was a character named Luzochi, who he represents love but he doesn't know that and he's an.

Awkward you know, being a teenage is awkward, like real awkward.

Ye oh yeah, it was you all your te fault too big to start going? Is you know you like dude like my son now he's fifteen, he's like taller than me.

Voice is changing, and I'm like, look at you do.

Cute kid, but it's an awkward time because you you don't you're confident in like certain things, and then the world just seems so big.

So it was really it was important to me to tell the story from that mindset because the beautiful thing about that young mindset is like they're just sponges.

They're just soaking.

Up all the information and it's like and they also most young kids are still fearless. They haven't been tainted by experience yet, so they really and that to me is inspiring because life starts kicking all of us in the button and we're just like, all right, then you just press the button, we.

Get the day over it.

And they still have that, you know, they're still invigorated by life. And I think that we should all find that in ourselves, find those things that help us remain childlike not child dish. There's a difference, you know, and so that's why it was important to me to tell the story from that mindset, so that the young.

Reader could take what they take and remix it and put it into their.

Actual lives and hopefully, you know, be better afforded.

Woo.

Okay, So my favorite character Donna Cloud Don Cloud, I did be there.

Men shout out to Clarence.

You know.

I feel that my favorite character was to Vary and are related to her. So when you say you get behind a character and you champion that character as they go through their obstacles and develop and grow and evolve, I look.

Like right there with her. And I also like si okay, okay, let.

Me go down.

She fell out. She's the warrior the movies, and you know she's a young female finding herself.

A father was a general in the Nubian all me ands she she took ads.

Okay, So that's what I want you to do.

I want you too, cause I don't wanna start talking about character without y'all having just a glimpse into you.

Know what we're talking about.

So the four main characters, if you could just give a little bit of a backdrop, you don't have to tell as much as you want about them, but if you couldn't, should.

Do seven absolutely.

So I just mentioned Uzzochi, and so you have Uzochi, you have Lang Show their cousins, and Lyncho, though he's moving, he's sort of the.

Let's think of it this way. Uzochi's more MLK.

Lyncho's more meltin early Melboure like Detrey Red Merlin. And then you have Zuberry, who's sort of the great area in between.

She's also moving. And then there's another character named Sandra, and she's sort of a hybrid because she is actually the.

Daughter of Praising. Crasin is the bad guy. That's he's the bad guy in the book.

He's sort of the new president again.

Geographically it's all changed, so there's no more like Burroughs in New York. It's just try state East, try to State West. You know, he's trying to take over all of that. And Sondra is his daughter, and with your well, I can't give too much away because I'm working on book three, but there's some things to discover about her.

And then you know, I heard these working on book three, so that is literally one of my questions.

Congratulations on that. That's huge. I don't know if y'all know.

Are there any aspiring writers in that room?

Yes? Okay, perfect. So it is really hard to write, as you know, if you're trying.

To do it or you're doing it, but to then have somebody stand behind your story, your craft, your artistry and say I believe in this, and then take it to all of the mostly white folks to say this is good enough, which is essentially.

What they do as they look for a reason to say no, I've been in this game a long time.

That's what they're doing. They are trying to find out if it fits on their roster. Sorry, this is just not a good fit for what we're looking for at the time. That's like the form letter you'll get back if they reject you. They're looking for a reason to say no. It is so incredibly hard, and it doesn't matter if you're a Hollywood anyway, or if you're somebody who was a cheerleader for some team, or if you're just coming out of grad school with your MFA and you're tonted.

You've got all these great ideas.

So with that being said, he's working on his third novel, well, his fourth book, but his third.

That's right, his third novel. Let's give him around of applause for that huge, huge Okay.

So I feel like he's given us some really good tippits about the book and we've kind of learned about the four main characters. So now my question to Ohm the artist is who would be on the soundtrack for Nubia the recommend O.

That's a that's a good one right there. Well, my youngest daughter definitely. She's a single song writer.

Go ahead, that's.

Acts so beautiful. Stand up, stand up, let's shut up. I'm sorry.

So I guess because she would be on that half die. My wife would go, I'll just know, wife, you'd be on it, But I would, you know.

I kind of reverse engineer things.

So I'm more meaning like, I'm more open.

I don't really unless something is like bothering me and I can't unsee it, you know. I usually I'm open, and I'm I love collaboration, you know what I mean.

I find there's a lot of worth than.

That because we can only see things from our lens and and again, like something has to be nagging me, barking.

Now it has to be this person. You know, I can't unsee that otherwise I'm just open.

And then you know, it's the greatest stories of democracies.

So the musical story to this would would be no different. I mean, hopefully the.

Best of the best, whoever that may be, and that's discovered or undiscovered.

I'm just more open to those possibilities.

But all of that coming down the line with MOVIEA. So, going back to one of your first comments about Black Panther.

The same way people see that is how.

I see this so film, television, animation, video game, the whole ki kaboodle.

The big difference is this is ours, that's theirs. I mean, but that's marvel IP, this is us IP. It's a difference.

So he said hours at Hucks, I just want to scoop a little closer case somebody get this picture, like I'm part of what and how this is something huge seaw I'm trying to sell you, okay, y'all.

Plat Okay, thank you very much, y'all have people.

I love y'all.

Okay, So I'm gonna produce the album. So this is who I see on the album, all right? I saw because you.

Gotta pay, you know, am you love to New York City obviously for so many different reasons. But I see l Pool j I see most deaths, though I also.

See and this is like so random, But I see Eric B and rock him like I see.

And she's can so.

Much slack right now. But I see Mauren Hill like I see it. I've heard it, and why'd you get it?

Slacker?

Okay? That ain't eating here?

Okay, okay, your don't.

Sometimes, just like your characters, we have to grow and evolve, and Lauren has for whatever reason.

Right, I'm not even gonna speculate. People talk about all the reasons.

Why, for whatever reason, has chosen not to step that part of the game up.

People like me, so I've been for the years old. Next year people like me go up to her, thank.

Y'all, think y'all, I love the im black people like me who's love to her? And I cannot stay up until one o'clock.

In the morning anymore? Right, So if you tell me the show started at hey, why am I.

Talking about this morning? I agree with you.

I agree with you, but I look at it from a slightly different lens.

Okay, go ahead, Lawrence.

Lauren's whatever her right or if that's even the right word, whatever that is is not with the people.

It's not with you can support her. It's with the institution of the business.

Because the flip side to it is this woman went dining and one out.

She's one out here. But that's all you need.

How many people gonna sell ten million records in a whole career, So to still get treated on the business and as she's been treated this whole time, would make anybody a little aggy, you know, again, not towards the people. So to me, I look at it like, well, yeah, she got paid like she deserved to be paid.

She he showing up on top, not.

Matter tell her.

It's the flip side, that's right.

I'm just saying, I go night night at nine o'clock, and it's a part of the experience we don't say to That's why I'm trying to say, like I thought I took my melantoni.

Come on, I say, I feel like I just I can't do this.

It's like, oh the family barbecue, who shows up on team.

Over because you're not in football here a the same.

Time you say poll and breaking our shows, Uh Jamison.

To get younger event the.

Okay only you got a p said I'm coming, aren't you?

Okay, I'm part you never a fair way from there.

I said time, Hi everybody, I'm a elite from Elite Books.

And you know, one of the things that is part of our brand and our mission is children of one hundred percent of our future. And so my question is to Omar is because he wrote a book that's a ya and he grew up without a father, and I just want to know how is important how books like the target our young and our youth.

How important are books like that going forward? Because we have a lot of distractions our youth with telephones, video games. You know, some read, but a whole lot don't. So how important is writing books for young and our youth important?

That's a that's a great question.

Salute to you, by the way for being a store worth of the fun.

And as they say, fighting the cript fight.

I choose to look at it like this, Well, every generation is beset with new challenges, right and so.

Right now one of the big challenges is attention. Our attention is being pulled in so many different places.

But why right, you know that old saying the easiest place to highest information is in the book. So not only is our attention being pulled, but when I travel around this country, I'm seeing public libraries.

Close a lot of them. Why we already know the answer to that.

So with people like yourself, people like yourself or even myself, we have to just fight the battle where it is.

And the kids that might not.

Read as much as we did will want to as they get a little bit older.

Just left a few more years past.

You're going to have to read some form or something.

Everything ain't on Google, right, you know?

And then they start having kids, and now it hits them in a whole different way.

And not only.

Do they want their kids to read, they got to go revisit some of that stuff that they may have missed. And that's fine, because there will be a generation that comes as bored.

Things are too accessible.

We want to talk to each other again, We want to go to a party and actually interact and not go to a party and everybody is on their phones. That'll happened in due time, but it's of the supreme importance.

You know, for where we're at, we know what.

Time it is because they control the information and the information that you really need.

Is right in there.

So we just got to keep pushing.

You know what's interesting, Marcus Garvey taught about black people establishing businesses for themselves, and our next story is about that.

It sure is.

This past weekend they had the sixteenth annual Lamurk Park Village Book Fair in partnership with Malik Books.

You know that's a black owned bookstore.

Right, that's amazing.

This is gonna be a good story.

Hi, my name is Naimumu Giles with Soaring sankofa News. I'm here live at the sixteenth annual Lamurk Park book and partner with Malik Books. Immediately at this event, we saw mister Malik helping to host the book fair. We caught up with him for a quick interview. I'm live with mister Malik from Malik Books. So, mister Malik, do you own the bookstore?

I'm the founder and co owner.

What inspired you to open a bookstore with predominantly black books.

I had a degree from USC but I didn't have a knowledge yourself. You see, you gotta love yourself to be yourself. You gotta know yourself to do what you need to be successful. And so it's important and representation point. We need to grow up with pictures and books that look like us. And it wasn't a lot of books out there that taught me anything about myself. And so I opened the bookstore to make a difference in our community.

Future, and it's always great to see black people enjoying literacy inspire to read books that we can relate to. Omar Epps shares some insight into his artistry as an author. I'm here today with actor and author Omar Epps, known for films such as Higher Learning, most recently Fatal Affair and My Favorite Love and Basketball. How are you doing today, mister Epps?

I am doing well. I'm doing well. How you doing doing well?

Thank you for asking. So your books are considered fantasy, but it also seems like realistic fiction because it touches some of the truth about the black community experience. Can you share why you decided to make a realistic fiction about the ups and downs of the black community.

Absolutely, that's a great question.

Well, initially, you know, I just had an idea that I was really interested in. I didn't know it was young adult sci fi, Like, I didn't know it was that.

Book like this.

Where do you find the most enjoyment in being an author or an actor?

That's a great question. I find the most enjoyment in being an artist.

I think art is it comes in all different forms and for me to be able to express whether it's through my own creations and words or through other characters that I portray, but art, whether it's film, television, music, dance, fashion, art is the thing that transcends cultural bonds such as language.

How do you hope to impact your audience with this book series?

I would like to impact audiences for I mean hundreds of years to come.

Hopefully.

I hope that the Nubia series inspires a young generation with the notion of not just hope, but the realization of unity, meaning that no matter where we go and what we do in life, we can't accomplish things unless we work together.

Thank you for your time, mister Ibps. This event was so worth it and it is definitely necessary for adults and news. You should check it out next year for the seventeenth annual Book Fair. Back to you, Lilyan Qualley.

Know what's cool about that event? What they focus on making books that show us black people, books that show our history and show it in.

A positive light.

This bookstore is right in our community and we definitely need to support them. That's it for today.

Make sure they're tuning on every other Monday for school news, local news, and so much more. Thanks for watching songs and cover the news a follow news.

Thanks for listening to Malik's bookshelf, where topics on the shelf are books, culture, and community. Be sure to subscribe and leave me a review. Check out my Instagram at Malak Books. See you next time.