The Heart of a Black Man

Maligu Buns has how the knowledge you want, my league, but has how to knowledge you needlig But yet they have out of books that.

The whole wild world?

What up read maligue Buds?

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to Malik's Bookshelf, bringing a world together with books, culture and community. Hi, my name is Malik, your host of Malik's Bookshelf. Well, Hey, this was a big and explosive week. I'm gonna do a recap of what went down this week. It was all about Malik Muhammad and his new book that he helped co author called The Heart of a Black Man, Inspiring Stories of Triumph and Resilience.

The book is a compilation of.

Thirty authors from around the world, mostly from America and wrote inspiring stories of triumph and inspiration.

My chapter from Devastation to Elevation. It's my story.

And this week on June tenth, we hosted a book signing and me along with four other authors, was going to host a book signing at Malik Books.

Now.

I have been excited throughout the week.

I have promoted this event throughout the week and one of my featured interviews this week was with the iconic Travis Smiley I had an opportunity to go on KBLA fifty to eighty radio and talk about the heart of a Black man, inspiring stories of triumph and resilience. But most importantly, I had an opportunity to talk about my chapter from Devastation to Elevation with Tavis Smiley, and that

Eighty talk radio.

He's un apologetically progressive, and I was excited and nervous at the same time. But on this episode, I'm on a feature that interview with Tavis Smiley. I'm excited to air that interview because I've never sat down with such a progressive activist for blacks and social justice that used to put on a conference called the State of a Black Emergency, that's always trying to make a difference in the black community and to elevate.

The black community.

He made this used investment in talk radio because our voice matters.

He has a ton of content now that he.

Distributes throughout the world through his podcast. So I got the applaud that he's one of the giants among us who's standing up and trying to do something and advocate something that can bring about a universal change for the better in America.

So I got a chance.

Malik Mohammed had a chance to sit down with the iconic Tavis Smiley, and I got to feature that interview. Now, we did the interview just before my explosive book SIGNI that I hosted here at Malik Books, and I was so excited. I mean, listen, listen, and I got to give my kudos. I got to give my hat off to April whom made this day so beautiful and amazing and incredible just down to the detail. It was my first ever book SNI. I've always hosted events for authors

But this weekend I was able to be.

On the other side of the table, not as a bookseller, but as an author. That was incredible to experience because I never sat down on the other side of the.

Table and was an author.

So I, for the first time in thirty years as a book activist helping everybody else promote the book, was able to finally sit on the other side of that.

Table and be featured as an author.

Co author Malik Muhammad wrote a chapter called From Devastation to Elevation in the inspiring book called The Heart of a Black Man Story inspiring Stories of triumph Resilience, So that that event was incredible was amazing.

I mean, we.

Brought in, uh well, April brought in Alisa Willis, who has a gift, a party planning gift, a decorating gift. She's so artistic, she just a family member, so just so talented, and she decorated this thought so amazing, so incredible. It just made the energy and the aura and the Amians, you know, just take off on a whole nother level. We get it up for this book signing. Now I don't get we don't we feature a lot of books

Happiness and humility.

Now on my chapter from Devastation to Elevation is incredible because in a few words, I tell a great detail about me. I make myself a vulnerable I make myself I open up personal.

You know, I.

Share things because it's through the pain of what we went through yesterday to allow us to glory.

And greatness of today.

I open up some of that on that Typics Final Interview, which you know, I get real personal about some things you know, and I'm sharing to my audience.

On Malik's bookshelf something.

About me that you're just not aware of that happened to me, and I share some of that in the details of my book the chapter. Now, look, you can go to melikbooks dot com. You can get your own personal copy and it will be signed. Any book that you buy at malikbooks dot Com for the Heart of a Black Man will be signing autograd by truly Malik Mohamed And when I'm a dude. Now, like I said, I have a chapter, but I want to evolve that chapter into a feature book, a memoir so I can

While I'm very personal and vulnerable in my.

Book, I can write the details and I could talk about the details of these incidents and so I'm looking forward to writing my full on feature book. I haven't come up with the title yet, but I think that this is from devastation now is an excellent, excellent outline to blossom into a feature book about me.

Malik Muhammad.

And I have a lot of things that I've dealt with. I have a lot of things that I went through. I have a lot of things that I experienced. I have a lot of different worlds, you know, you know, just outline on some of those things are the fact that I was Alympian, right, the fact that you know, you know, I mean, came from.

The streets of Oxen Hill in Maryland.

The fact that the things that I have went through, and growing up in the inner city at a time when things were so voluntile, going to sc usc getting the full scholarship running in the Olympics, guns.

Poured out, people plotting to kill me.

You know, incidents that happened when I was ten years old that affected me in a way that caused a ripple effect and trauma in my life that I wasn't aware of that I was affected by, but I had to address instead.

Of bearing it under.

You know, whatever we experienced and whatever we try to hide or whatever we try to, you know, try to overcome, and it's hard and difficult for me to talk.

So when I'm talking about this incident.

Sometimes I do a lot of because you know what, it's real tough for me to make myself a vulnerable But I'm gonna talk about those things on the interview with Tavia Smiley.

Okay, so I'm gonna say that for that, but stay tuned and.

Enjoy because this is just my intro about what you can expect on this segment. But I say a lot in the interview with Tavis Smiley, and I hope that is an olive branch to a lot of people who've also experienced the same thing to open up because you be surprised what I found out is discovered. It's a lot of people that have went through what I went through. So hey, enjoy this episode and reach out to me at real Malik Muhammad at gmail dot com after you

It has an effect and you need to address it.

So reach out to me at real Malik Muhammad at gmail dot.

Com and to share with me your walk and your journey.

And I appreciate it, Thank you and enjoyed this episode.

And now I'm honored to have instudio another brilliant black entrepreneur here in the city of Los Angeles, Malik Muhammad. Since nineteen ninety, Malik Books has served the greater LA community with books.

And cultural gifts.

One of the many afrocentric bookstores, although shrinking in this country, that were part of the black book revolution that's up across the nation during the eighties and early nineties. Malik Muhammad's co owner of Malike Books and one of the co authors of a new text called The Heart of a Black Man, inspiring stories of triumph and resilience.

I'm pleased to have your mom this program. I'm right now, Malik. Good to see you first of our brother, how are you wonderful?

Wonderful, I'm so grateful to be here.

I'm with the iconic ty, I'm.

With the iconic Milite Muhammad.

Let me, let me start with this and let me set all the joking aside and seriously say to you how much I appreciate Malik Books and your support of this station.

You I have supported Malik Books and many of us at this station.

I've supported Malik Books, and it was a beautiful thing when we brought this station online. We're moving, as you know, toward our second anniversary on Juneteenth, just a few weeks from now and a few days from now. In fact, not weeks or days from now, we'll be celebrating the second anniversary of this black talk radio station, the only one west of Mississippi. But it means something to me personally.

That that right there man touched my heart. I appreciate that, and you know I did it out of love. I did it out of community. I did it out of you know, progressiveness. You know, this is an iconic talk radio is very important. Our voice matters, and I appreciate man. I was heartfelt. Thank you Man.

I mean every word of a brother, every word of it.

I appreciate you for your support of our effort, and we will, of course continue to support the good work that's.

Being done in Elik Books.

I mentioned a moment ago that you were You guys came online, as many other bookstores did during that period of you know, the eighties and nineties.

When when it was booming for us.

Terry McMillan had movies everywhere, and it was it was a great time. Walter Walter Molesey had movies everywhere, Denzel and Cheetle and Yeah Mouse, I loved everybody loved the movie.

Right, so many was.

There's a lot going on then. Since then, none of these black bookstores have sort of fallen off.

What is it like?

Let me ask you right quick, what is it like being the owner, the co owner of a black bookstore right now in America?

I think that it's important, it feels surreal, it feels very necessary, very you know, important, because our voice matters, and just having a bookstore in the this year, at this time, I think, you know, has helped make a difference in our in our movement upward. I mean, you know, I called it.

The Black book Revolution because.

We made a difference in getting product and books and greeting cards and other kind of We were like a distribution center for so many black entrepreneurs across America who can create but didn't have distribution, and we were our.

Outlet to help elevate our voice.

And I feel like it's necessarily important and it is. You know, Malik Books today is like Malik Books two point zero, and it's it's evolved. And today I see that the work that we've done has made an impact because we have people to come and appreciate the fact that only did we still in business, but the work that we're doing as a book activist, because that's what I call it, because it's still of shooting bullets, were shooting.

Books, shooting books. And I love that we're shooting books.

I love it books not bullets, The books not bullets, Malcolm said. From the ballot to the bullet, Malik said, books not bullets. To your point of my distribution. We just played prints and will continue to play prints for the rest of the show. As I said, but this radio station exists. KBLA Talk fifteen eighty exists in part

I did.

And one of the conversations we were before he passed away tragically and untimely for many.

Of us, he said, I got to reframe what I've.

Been telling you for years. I said, what do you mean, said, I've been telling you for years the content is king. It is he said, content is king. But it occurs to me now, Tavis, that distribution is emperor. Content is king, but distribution is emperor. And I want you, Prince said to me, in the next phase of your career. I don't know what it's going to be. You'll figure it out, but find your way to own your own distribution system. You own the content, but own your own distribution system.

Is it?

Not very different?

And that's been the part that.

We have not done as good as we could.

We have to think bigger, and we have to think outside the box distribution. I realized that just by being in business and making all the mistakes I made over the years.

And I see the outlet.

I see the creativity, the imagination that we have as black people, as you know, we can invent, we can create. But the problem is how do we get that to our community. How do we get it out to the market. How do we make that product universal? And I said, we don't have distribution. So you know a lot of people, you know, they use Amazon as the platform to because they got the biggest distribution.

In the world.

You know.

Then you have the outlets like Walmark and Target that we utilize. But we as our distribution because that's necessary. We're gonna move forward and beyond, we have to have distribution and we have to develop that. And we have great minds and geniuses, but that's an area out a place that all of our inventions and ideas and imaginations can be housed and marketed in.

Both wholesale and retail. So we got to come up with distribution.

And I feel like back in the nineties, that's what we in the black book world.

We were like distribution outlets for a lot of.

Up and coming Like it wasn't no black green cards, but they came out and we were the outlet to allow, you know, that new endeavor where you see a picture of a black boy, a black girl or woman or man, this is black on a green card. And then today because history peats itself when you don't get it right, and we see now that in the nineties it was a fall off. A lot of technology came on Amazon care, a lot of things changed.

A lot of black bookstores fell off.

But it resurged again in the twenties twenty twenties because you know, and they call it a different back then in the nineties was called multicultural.

Today they called it diversity equity in the coach, but it's the same thing, you know, so.

We and I think that one of the reasons why history repeats itself, because you got to get it right.

Because we don't have distribution.

Well, I'm glad you're here distribution. I'm glad that we're here KBLA for two years. Thank God for Jesus, we will see this thing can survived into the future. But we at least made it for two years. So we're doing our best. You're doing your best, and I'm glad we're here together, supporting each other. Now when we come forward, I want to talk specifically about the book. He's not just a co owner of the store. He's co author of a book. It's called The Heart of a Black Man,

Oh you know thank you. I still got a little speed in me trying to get out there.

I am straight at this age, he was.

I mean, you think about the eighty four Olympics and all the stars that were on that track, and Malik Muhammad was out there with all of them doing his thing at for Olympics.

We'll do that then other time, and you come on. He is the co owner of Elite Books.

Here in Inglewood, California, and he's also the co author of a new book called The Heart of a Black Man, Inspiring Stories of triumph and Resilience.

Tell me about the book.

Malik been in the game, in the book game for a long time, but now I got a book.

Yeah, I'm a.

Co authore like thirty of us. They came together, collaborated. Talsia Barry, who organized this from Courageous Woman magazine, brought thirty men from all across the nation and she approached me about this, and I said, I had to do it because I've always wanted.

To be part of a published book.

And now I have my chapter from Devastation to Elevation. And what I talk about in the Devastation and Elevation is that you listen. I'm no different than any other you know, black man in America. You know, we all have something in common. We're black, and that we have been targeted as black men. And so I just talk about, you know that the devastating aspects of growing up in America as a black man at that time, a black boy.

And then what I.

Do is is I point out some of the obstacles that I had to overcome in terms of, you know, the community. The devastation is in the community, the gangs, the violence and things like that. Even though I was never in a gang and I was never never was arrested or anything like that, the thing is drugs and all of these elements were still affecting my community and affecting me in some aspect. And so what I talk about is that, hey, you know the times when I

It is amazing with all that you have endured, that you found your way on that track in eighty four at the Olympics, and that you've gone on to establish Molikue Books and now to be a co author with others in this book. When we come forward, Malik just gave you a sense of his chapter My time is Running type, but I'm going to share with you some of the other chapters in this book.

Thirty men writing pieces in this book. A lot of brilliant stuff in here.

I'll again tell you more about some of the other pieces in the book when we come forward on KBLA talk fifteen eight, very tight three minutes here. But I was saying to Malik during that break that his story about what happened to him at the age of ten reminded me of the story of Robert Sylvester Kelly Butter known as R Kelly. There's all kinds of conversation and debate about R.

Kelly. I ain't trying to go into that right now.

What I'm saying is that the part of his story that I think has not been focused on enough is how hyper sexualized he was as a boy, what was done to him as a boy. People say he's a grown man. Now, no excuse. I'm not even debating you on that. I'm just saying, don't lose sight of the fact that when black boys get hyper sexualized at a young age, they either end up like kills in jail because they can't break the cycle, or something happens where

That it was a common thread, a common thing that has happened amongst many of them.

And I was shocked when I.

Opened up to this group of black men and the wellness warrior hill man, he'll that self willos warrior journey to self mastery training and I was shocked there.

I only raised it because you raised it.

I want to follow you in on that because I know a lot of men that happened to as boys and again, in the worst case, are they end up spending thirty years in prison because they can't break the cycle likes or thankfully in your case, you were able to move beyond it. But I know that disturbs. We are who we are. We are the sum told of our life's experiences. And if you start being hyper sexualized as a young black boys that age, anything can happen

And I can tell you one place you can get.

You can get that Milie book important.

You can come this Saturday, five o'clock at Milie Books Westfield Mall were doing the book signing. It's four of us from featured in this book. Co author's gonna be at Melik's at five o'clock. We're gonna be signing. We're gonna be the meet and Greek talking about it. We're gonna make ourselves vulnerable, We're gonna open up and we're gonna talk about these triumph and inspiring resilient stories this this Saturday, June tenth, five pm at Melie Books.

And that's why he owns a bookstore. He knows how to selling Night Man.

Our three year tavispot are when we come forward on KO Talk fifteen.

You know, Milite bookself is all about community, and we're organizing a community event.

That's right.

We're gonna be celebrating June tenth right here at the Westfield Code City Mall this June seventeenth. Let me tell you what we got going on.

We got a fit called Freedom to Read and Write June teenth Celebration.

That's right, Freedom to Read and Write June teenth Celebration this June seventeenth at two to six right here at Elik Books in the Westfield Covid City Mall.

We're taking over the mall.

We're hosting book signings right here at Elik Books with an author named a Nissi Rochelle whom authored five books. But the one we're featuring it's called Juneteenth, a story about June tenth for our youth and our children and adults who don't know. So we're featuring her. She's going to be doing storytime. We're taking over the mall so we also organizing the storytime downstairs in the central court of the mall where she's going to be reading her book Juneteenth.

Now, she got five books.

She founded the organization called Beautiful Minds Publishing, where she focused on self esteem.

And books that lift up love of self.

He's coming all the way from back East and she's gonna be with us on Saturday, June seventeenth to celebrate freedom to read and write June Team Celebration.

Now we got live music taking place.

We got a drum circle and just going back to the live music is three person band and they gonna be jazzing up this mall with songs of inspiration and resilience. Okay, and so we're excited about that. Come through the Westfield Code City Mall. Let me tell you what else we got going on. We got chose O the Bozo, the Clown gonna be doing story time with kids, balloons, bubbles, all of that good stuff, as well as a panel, a panel focusing on publishing, because if you don't write

June teen celebrated from two to six pm. I hope to see you and.

Let me know you came out because you heard Malik's Bookshelf podcast.

Thank you.

Thanks for listening to Malak's Bookshelf, where topics on the Shelf are books, culture, and communities. Be sure to subscribe and leave me a review. Check out my Instagram at Malak Books.

See you next time.