Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to Rebloom, a podcast about change, creativity, and coming back to yourself. We are Lori and Jamie, and this is a space for honest conversations with people who felt that quiet nudge to realign, whether that's in their work, their creativity, or their everyday lives.
Speaker: Each episode is a conversation about becoming, about listening closely, making shifts, and finding your way back to what matters. So if you are in a season of change, you're questioning or starting again, we are really glad you're here.
Speaker: Lori, we are going, we we say this every time, but this is going to be the most magical conversation for our listeners. I teared up several times. I got goosebumps a bunch of times.
Speaker: I, i oh man, the words from this man and the way he tells a story and the way he tells his story. It's so inspiring.
Speaker: if If this episode doesn't encourage everyone to not only bloom, but to re-bloom, I don't know what will. You are all in for a treat with this amazing conversation with Pommie Alexander today.
Speaker: Thank you.
Speaker: Well, hey, my friend, Lori, how are you? Jamie, good to hear you again. good good to hear you. Actually, I get to see you and really exciting. I'm still in Chautauqua. My friend got to visit me this summer and i have had the most magical summer. Just I cannot believe summer's almost over, though.
Speaker: I know, but we're both getting ready to leave the country like next week. You're going to England, I'm going to France. so I'm going to go teach in England. Cannot wait. ah My first international retreat over there. And I'm so excited.
Speaker: woo woohoo and Actually, I'm doing it with Jan Ford, who we interviewed a little earlier. She was amazing. That's great. And I'm teaching in France.
Speaker: And it's a little retreat I kind of created for a couple of my friends who are widows, promised their husbands to travel and be creative. So it's gonna be this for them.
Speaker: So special. Well, let's jump right in because we have the most amazing guest today. um One of the beautiful things about Chautauqua is that you meet incredible people. And I have been fortunate enough to meet Kwame Alexander, who has become a dear friend, and he is just fantastic. But let me tell you a little bit, tell our listeners a little bit about Kwame. He's written over 40, 45 books. um He is an Emmy Award winner. He is a Newbery Medal winner. And he's had a television series. He maybe even has a Broadway musical in production. He's in a he's done some incredible, incredible work throughout his career. He's a writer. He's a poet. um
Speaker: He's just an amazing guy. And I am so excited to hear about his beautiful career and the pivots along the way. So welcome Kwame. So good to be here with Jamie and Lori. You all are indefatigable. Yeah.
Speaker: Oh, that's quite a word that word. Get the Webster's. Look it up when you get home Well, you definitely are a word guy. I was so glad to meet you when I was there this summer and hear you speak and in the amp. yes Your words were really inspiring.
Speaker: Thank you. Thank you, Lori. This is a magical place. And I think for me, this summer place, I keep coming back to it because of the people. yeah Every year it's someone else who becomes like a real authentic, meaningful, significant part of my life. And and what a joy it has been to to to get to know you, Jamie.
Speaker: Yeah, she's she's pretty wonderful. Well, we've had we've had our paths have crossed in some funky ways this summer and fun ways, to say the least. But um yeah, so let's let's kind of dive in. Lori loves to ask this question, so I'll set her up. Go ahead, Lori.
Speaker: Well, I'll ask it a little differently this time. Usually I ask, what was Kwame like as a little boy? But I'm curious about what role books played for you as you were growing up.
Speaker: Books were a reward and punishment in my home. Whoa. Explain. My parents were extremely bookish. My father was a logophile and a verbal maniac.
Speaker: And he words meant were everything to him. Books were everything. My mother taught writing. um I grew up... you know, having to read the dictionary and the Funk and Wagnall's encyclopedia. And that was my father's, it wasn't his request. It was his demand.
Speaker: And so books were really functional. Words were functional for him. On the flip side, my mother made them fun. i grew up with her reading poetry to me.
Speaker: Lucille Clifton, Nikki Giovanni, Langston Hughes, Dr. Seuss. Like she performed at dinner and at bedtime. She made the words come off the page. So it' was a really interesting sort of um ah evolution of this sort of love-hate relationship I had with books.
Speaker: um because of my parents. And of course, now having written 47 books, um I, you know, my mother's passed, but my father demands royalties.
Speaker: That's funny. Okay, so I have a question. Was there a pivotal book that you had when you were a child? Or were they just all special to you? Was there one in particular that you went, this has changed how I look at the world or my life?
Speaker: um Well, sure. i couldn't articulate it then. Looking back on it, I can say, oh, it's that book and that book. And so there are two books that I know now had a significant impact on me. One was at age three.
Speaker: Well, I'll tell you about the one at age 12 first. At age 12. My father had been collecting books, probably he had about 5,000 in our garage and they were in milk crates, spying out.
Speaker: And I was in charge of sort of making sure they stayed organized. And so this was during the the the period of my life where I found books to be incomprehensible, stayed and uninteresting because of the books my father wanted me to read.
Speaker: The Wretched of the Earth by Franz Fanon, Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire. And so I was just like, this is boring. And plus my librarian and teachers in middle school wanted me to read books that I wasn't interested in, like Tuck Everlasting.
Speaker: And they thought I was a reluctant reader, but I was like, I'm just not interested in the books you're giving me. But I discovered this book called The Greatest. And it was a book, Random House published, I want to say in 1976. And it was a book that was an autobiography edited by an editor at Random House named Toni Morrison.
Speaker: And the autobiography was the autobiography of Muhammad Ali. And it was about 470 pages and I couldn't put it down. And I was like, oh Books can be fun and cool.
Speaker: Like I read it maybe in one or two nights. So that was a pivotal book I know for me, realizing that books don't have to be just work, that they can be fun. You can find that balance of education and entertainment, be inspired, annex and it can still be a page turner.
Speaker: The first book for me is a book called Fox and Socks. And that was at age three. And I had memorized the book. My mother ah bought it for me and loved it.
Speaker: Memorized it, recited it, would run around the house screaming, Fox, socks, Knox, box, Fox in socks, socks in box. And um I went to a school on the Upper West Side called Riverside Child Development Center.
Speaker: And... One day I built a ah castle for my out of wooden blocks to show my mom when she came to pick me up. And this kid in my class knocked over my castle and I was so livid. I was so angry.
Speaker: And i i the only thing I could think to do was to to scream at him as if I was Dr. Seuss. And so I just yelled at the top of my lungs, those were my blocks that you flipped lest you want a quick payback. Better fix my quick block stack.
Speaker: And the kids started crying. And when my mother came to school, the teacher said, Mrs. Alexander, we have a problem. Your son Kwame is arrogant. He intimidates all the other kids with his words.
Speaker: Oh, God. And my mother just looked at her and said, thank you. We teach him to use his words. Oh, wow. What a great story. I love that story. And I- sounds like you were a rapper. Like that was like a really cool rap. If if Dr. Seuss was a rapper, then yeah, so was i Yeah. i love that. And I love, you know, it's interesting, Lori, we've had several guests and it's interesting, the parents who encouraged art or encouraged their children from a young age, and then that and then allowed it to to go. and it's just knowing this now about Kwame about both of his parents and how important books and reading were in your life. So it sounds like not only was it mandated, but it was certainly encouraged. And so did you
Speaker: choose to then go to college to become a writer? Or how did how did the writing start? Well, I'd been reading and writing all my life. Was well read, could write pretty well, just didn't like it very much um because of, you know, um of of it be becoming this sort of this job in my home.
Speaker: um And so when I went to college, I wanted to get as far away from reading and writing as possible. I was done. And and the other part of it, Laurie, is that my my father owned a publishing company.
Speaker: so i And i and i worked for him. And so so books were everywhere. They were they were they were at this they were the center of my life, Jamie. And so i I decided I was going to major in biochemistry and become a doctor, a pediatrician.
Speaker: um And then... And then of course that changed when I took organic chemistry.
Speaker: And then I met a woman on campus who was way above my station and I i wanted to to to convince her to go out with me. And I sort of resorted back to my literary um awareness and and and at that time thinking my prowess and I wrote her a poem.
Speaker: And she went out with me and she would eventually marry me. And so I think the the organic chemistry and the science courses that I really struggled at and this discovery or rediscovery that of the power of words I think, you know, kind of set me on a course to to to really taking writing um serious as a as a vocation and not just an avocation.
Speaker: It's interesting to me, though, that you mentioned to Snell that you were headed towards being a pediatrician. And a lot of the things you're doing now involve children.
Speaker: So can you talk a little bit about that? what Why you're drawn to speaking to children, writing for children, teaching them?
Speaker: Yeah. I mean, the first 10 books were for adults. Yeah. You know, love poems, suggestive love poems. can see You know, thinking of myself, the new Pablo Neruda or E.E. Cummings. I carry your heart in my heart.
Speaker: um And then my two things happened. My first daughter turned 15 and decided that she wanted to date. Hmm.
Speaker: And that was a really difficult thing to hear as a father and to face and to realize that, well, it's going to happen and you got figure out a way to deal with this.
Speaker: And so I wrote her a poem and this would this would probably be the first poem that I would write for a young audience.
Speaker: 10 reasons why fathers cry at night. One, because 15 year olds don't like park swings or long walks anymore unless you're in the mall. Two, because holding her hand is forbidden and kisses are lethal.
Speaker: Three, because school was fine, her day was fine and yes, she's fine, so why is she weeping? Four, because you want to help but you can't read minds. Five, because she's in love and that's cute until you find his note asking her to prove it.
Speaker: Hmm. Six, because she didn't prove it. Seven, because next week she's in love. Again, and this time it's real. She says her heart is heavy. Eight, because she yearns to take long walks in the park with him.
Speaker: Nine, because you remember the myriad woes and wonders of spring desire. And ten, because with trepidation and thrill, you watch your teenage daughter who suddenly wants to swing all by herself.
Speaker: Oh, you're kind of making me tear up. Wow. I mean, and you know, to write that it's what every parent feels. It's what every parent feels.
Speaker: And as their kids get bigger and to put that into words and what did she say when you gave it to her? So I slid it under her door and the next morning she came in my room crying and she said, dad, this is really beautiful. This poem is my Bible now.
Speaker: She said, I'm sorry I'm putting you through this, but I'm still going on a date. And so the other thing that happened was my second daughter was born a year later.
Speaker: And I began to write, read her books and began to write poems for her. So I had this teenager becoming a woman and I had this newborn becoming a ah a kid.
Speaker: And so my sensibilities began to change and I began to write for them and for their friends as a way to help them ultimately elevate their imagination and and become way better human beings than the adults.
Speaker: you know, who loved them.
Speaker: are. This episode of Rebloom is brought to you by Jet Creative, a woman owned creative studio and longtime friends of our podcast. Jet Creative partners with brands and individuals to help clarify their story, strengthen their visual presence and communicate with intention.
Speaker: Their work is rooted in collaboration, care and the belief that thoughtful creativity has the power to connect with people in meaningful ways. We are extremely grateful for their continued support of Rebloom and the conversations we care so deeply about.
Speaker: You can learn more about Jet Creative and their work by visiting the link in our show notes.
Speaker: Okay, so Kwame, I'm curious about the crossover. You wrote that for young people and and i you know even though it has won a lot of awards, it's been turned into a TV series, it took a bit to get off the ground. And you i mean you clearly had some success in publishing and writing, but nobody seemed to did they understand that book. what was what what Tell us a little bit about the origins of that book and what happened.
Speaker: Yeah, so i didn't really set out to write it for kids. it First of all, it was an idea that was presented to me. You should write a book about boy plays basketball, and he has a really cool family, and and and you should write, and he has really good good relationship with his father, and and and the novel should be told in poems. Like, someone literally gave me the idea. It was an editor at a publishing company.
Speaker: who will remain nameless. So don't, ask don't ask Lori. I won't ask. I won't won't ask. um And so when I wrote it, I had no idea how to write a novel for kids in verse.
Speaker: I had no idea. And so I thought I set off to write a novel that I would love to read and that I would have loved to read when I was 12 years old.
Speaker: So that was my goal. And. After about 11 drafts and reading a ton of novel novels and verse like Out of the Dust by Karen Hess and All the Broken Pieces by Ann Berg, once once I figured out how to do it, then I just got rejections from publishers over and over. And and essentially they said, nobody's going to read a novel told in poems about basketball.
Speaker: with a boy as the main character. It's just, it's they had cognitive dissonance. They couldn't see it. I saw it. I knew I loved it. And so after about 23 rejections and even one agent, Jamie, who told me that he submitted it to several publishers over the course of a year and a half, only to find out that he never submitted it at all.
Speaker: Oh my God. So it was a lot of, I think it was almost like this test. yeah I think when you're when you're going after this goal, this dream in your life, I think the universe, God, whomever you believe in sets up these challenges and tests to see how much you really will work for it and wait for it.
Speaker: Because if you stop taking the shot, Jamie, it's never going to go in. It's never going to go in. And I think this was me, this was the universe saying, we're conspiring to give you what you want, Carmi.
Speaker: But we're going to see how much you really want it and how hard you're going to work for it and whether you're going to be resilient and persistent. And after five years, I finally got a book deal offer from Houghton Mifflin for the crossover.
Speaker: And then I thought I was going to be rich and never have to work again. And I got the first, you got the advance and it was for $16,500, which was a lot of money, but not enough to be able to to pay the mortgage for four or five months. So I was still going to have to have a job.
Speaker: um And so it was it was test all along the way and challenges all along the way. And and then February the 2nd to 2015 at 716 a.m. My life changed when I got the call saying that.
Speaker: this novel that everyone had rejected, that no one thought kids would want to read, had won the Newbery Medal for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
Speaker: And literally my life changed in that moment. And people think I was sort of a overnight success. And now I'm saying, yes, I never had to go back to work for another person again. i never had to worry about getting a book published.
Speaker: but I'm a 23 year overnight success. It didn't just happen out of a vacuum. There were a lot of struggles. There was a foreclosure. There was a divorce. There was so much stuff that happened, but I just kept shooting.
Speaker: You kept shooting and you kept dreaming. and And, you know, that's the thing that I think when we talk to our listeners too, and we, Lori and I believe in this, if you believe in something so deeply in your heart and you know...
Speaker: that it's the right thing. You're going to, you are, you're going to, you're going overcome everything and and just try to make it happen as, as best you can. But it's hard when that rejection happens. And what did you, when you dug down deep inside your heart and soul, what, what was the thing that kept, kept you going and kept you making it? ha And here it is. Here's, here's, the here's the thing.
Speaker: It's the people around you. Yeah. yeah I mean, you think about you and i this summer yeah without going into details of what happened in the spring. The only way you are able to survive and thrive these moments in your life that are challenging at best and devastating at worst is you have people around you who lift you up. Yes.
Speaker: Yes. Who are there to listen. Yeah. Who are there to smile and say, it's not over. It's going to be okay. No, it's not. And that's just it. Because I think if you believe in something and yeah, we had a, we had a crazy spring and that's how Kwame and I got to be friends. And I, we can't, we can't tell you all about all the particulars, but let's just say it was crazy just because you're successful doesn't mean the no's stop.
Speaker: Right. And I got a big no. And Jamie was there to still say yes. Yeah, yeah. You got to know for now, because I'm a big, well, there's still a possibility. And it's funny, because even before we started this call today, Kwame, I was telling Lori, I go, oh, I got another idea for him. And I was like,
Speaker: ah But, you know, that's just it. I and well, Lori, you heard him say something this summer and you you tell what you heard and then we'll have him talk about that. Well, that's why I was raising my hand, because i heard heard you speak at Chautauqua this summer and you talked about something that happened with the crossover, a big no.
Speaker: And you spoke about how getting a big no, you know, you're sad for a minute, but then there's usually a reason and there's usually a big yes that's going to come along. It just might not be what you expected. So can you talk about that a little bit?
Speaker: um There's been so many no's. Like, is there a particular thing you want me to talk about? um that The show that won an Emmy and then you got a phone call.
Speaker: Oh, Laurie's bringing up oh my beast, my heart. oh Yeah. um Yeah. And it goes back to this idea that I don't care how many, how you you how used to getting yeses you become or how used to the success you you you feel. It just, the no's never stop.
Speaker: The no's are going to continue to come. I've learned to embrace the no's.
Speaker: Even though I'm sad, even though i cry, i no longer doubt that the yes can come. There was a time when I was writing the crossover and trying to get it published where I was like, OK, maybe this just isn't going to work.
Speaker: I did not think it was good, but I thought maybe I doubted that it may get published. I no longer doubt the things that I dream and want. I know they can happen.
Speaker: um and it And it's because I've had so many challenges and no's and the yeses have eventually come that I kind of believe the yes is going to come. And that may be a bit arrogant or super confident, but I ultimately know the yes is going to come. It just meant, as you said, Lori, it just may not come how you envision it.
Speaker: But yeah, I mean, in the same day, November the 4th, 2023, got two calls from i got two calls One was um the call that said we had been nominated. The crossover TV series on Disney Plus had been nominated for two Emmy Awards.
Speaker: um Best Original Teen Show and Best Writing. Just wow. My first show, i got nominated for two Emmys. And that was maybe I found out at maybe three o'clock, 303.
Speaker: And then at 3.30 p.m. I got the call from Disney saying they were canceling the show. And so like, how do you juxtapose those two things? How do you live in that reality?
Speaker: And then I would go on, we would go on and win an actual Emmy. Like we would win the Emmy a month later. um And all all I can think is, again, that i don't know if everything happens for a reason. I don't know if that's the thing, but I do know that um if it's for you,
Speaker: and you work hard and you're resilient and you're persistent, it will be for you, it will happen. It may not happen how you want it,
Speaker: but it's going to happen. And so I got those two calls in the same day and I cried and I ate Ben and Jerry's ice cream. And and and then I smiled and said, you know, i i was i I said a prayer to my mom and I was like, can you believe this? I got two Emmys. And and I remember crying and calling my dad and saying, can you believe they canceled the show?
Speaker: And he laughed. I was like, why are you laughing? He's like, you need to listen to your own keynote lectures. i was like, what do you mean? This is, this is, um you got to embrace the nose, Kwame.
Speaker: You got to embrace those and say yes to yourself. You got you got ah a book published that nobody wanted to publish. You won a Newbery medal. It changed your life. You got a TV show made about that book. You made a bunch of money from it. You got to employ 200 people. You got two Emmy nominations.
Speaker: Don't block your blessings. I love, I love the don't block your blessings. That's, and you know, the other thing is as you said it, and you started to talk about reason and people talk about friendships, that there's a reason, a season and a lifetime.
Speaker: And, you know, I think that's even about the projects or the things that we do. Sometimes there's a reason we do something and there's a reason for a no. Sometimes there is a season for it. It's, it, it, it happens. It's got a life. And sometimes things do last a lifetime, not often,
Speaker: But, you know, it's interesting that no of that TV show has now opened a door for a Broadway show. So let's swing into that. Hello. Hello.
Speaker: Right. This is it. This is it. Oh, I'm loving this conversation. If you all are a listening, just make sure you listen, continue to listen to this podcast because this, this blooming, like I'm feeling the bloom right now. rebloom i'm feeling the re-bloom. Yes. Yes. um So maybe about a year after the Emmy and, and, and, and the cancellation of the show,
Speaker: i was ah I was at my house. i was writing with a friend of mine and and she said, Kwame, there's a i I visit a lot of schools before COVID. I went to 200 schools a year and share stories and read books and and sign books and do do the whole thing and sign foreheads and, you know, forehead do my literary. I mean, some kids are like, can you sign my forehead, my sneakers?
Speaker: um But there were some schools who couldn't afford me for me to come. And so I would do this thing called Kwame showed up where I surprised students. Oh, I love that. I'll get a letter in the mail or i'll there's a school who can't afford me to come and I'll just show up.
Speaker: Oh my God, that's amazing. And I call it Kwame showed up. So this this friend of mine who's a writer, we're writing at my home, and and she says, i got a friend, Kwame, who really wants you to come to her school, and she can't afford it. can you can you Would you mind going? you know And I had done like three or four of them that year, and I was just, I don't have any more time or energy.
Speaker: No, I'm sorry. Sometimes you got to say no to other people to say yes to yourself. yeah yeah And I said, no, that's not going to happen. And she's like, Kwame, come on. It'd be really...
Speaker: I was like, I'm not going, but maybe I can just do a video. She was like, okay, fine. So I did a video for this teacher's class because they had been reading one of my books. I think it was the crossover.
Speaker: It was like a 45 second video and I sent it to the teacher. Well, this kids loved it. The teacher was crying. She was so excited. Yada, yada, yada.
Speaker: Fast forward. The teacher sends me a thank you note. And she says, um by the way, i would love for you to meet my brother. I'm like, okay.
Speaker: um my My brother, Tommy. I'm like, okay. So I talked to my friend who had connected me with this teacher. And I said, yeah, she wants me to meet her brother, Tommy. I'm done.
Speaker: And she's like, you know who Tommy is, right? And I said, no. And she says, Tommy Kale. And I'm thinking like Thomas Kale? Yes.
Speaker: The director of Hamilton. so And so I'm like, okay. So it's not just some random Tommy.
Speaker: was like, okay. And so she connects us and and we text. And he's like, I'm a fan. I'm like, dude, I'm a fan. I've seen it five times.
Speaker: Next time you're in New York, Kwame, let's get together. Okay. So I'm in New York. A couple months later, we try to get together. He's busy. I'm busy. we We just can't make it work.
Speaker: And so the last day, the last morning I'm there, I'm like, okay, let's try one more time. But we can't make it work because I'm heading back to D.C. from New York, and he has to head out of town.
Speaker: So I say, all right, well, um Next time he says, okay, well, where are you headed? And I say, I'm going to DC going home. He says, oh, I'm going to DC because his sister and his family, his mother and father, they live in DC area where I you know sent the video for that for her sister, his sister's school. And he says, I'm going to DC. I was like, oh, cool.
Speaker: I'm like, well he's like, are you taking Amtrak by any chance? I'm like, yeah, I'm on the train. He says, I'm on the train. say So what time is your train? We have the same train time.
Speaker: We meet in the cafe car, Lori. two For two and a half hours. That's the beginning of a friendship and a connection that leads to the crossover now being bound for Broadway as a musical. And so this is what I'm saying about the no's.
Speaker: The yeses are going to come. They may come in these different ways. There's this thing in the black community at the black church. My father was a Baptist minister talking about God. He may not come when you want him, but he's always right on time.
Speaker: And that's what it is. And so, yeah, so now we're going to have a musical at Chautauqua based on the crossover. And in all things are good. If it works out, we'll ah we'll have a Broadway musical.
Speaker: and We got a little preview of that. We got a two-song preview that we did. my God. god Crying. And i I texted Kwame one word after it was all done.
Speaker: Tony. I mean, it was so good. We had Christopher Jackson here singing, which he was the original George Washington. Unbelievable. believable it was ah It was an unbelievable moment. It was probably the the highlight for me of the summer. It was just incredible. It was amazing. It was amazing. And you know that's that's just it. I mean, there's no's, and then the door closes and you think, oh my God, I'm devastated. But the things that you're doing, if you're doing that heart-centered work and you're doing the stuff that you love and you're putting it out there and you... and
Speaker: The yeses find you. The yeses do find you. And, you know, we've we've talked about this before, and I love this Ina Garten quote because she said, you know, her book is be ready when the luck Be Ready When the Luck Happens because she was doing something with Oprah and she said, I'm just lucky. And Oprah kind of hit her upside the head and said, lucky.
Speaker: Stop it. You're not lucky. You've worked really hard. And when the luck happens, you were ready for it. And that is such an important lesson. And, you know, you have worked so hard, Kwame, on your writing and through rejection, through everything, and you never gave up.
Speaker: And i i know your time here with us is is shorter than I would love to, but I want to talk about something new that you're doing, which is called One Word at a Time. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Speaker: Yeah, I am a really good pivoter. Is that a word? Yeah, sure. You're a really good re-bloomer. is that Oh, I'm a re-bloomer. You're a re-bloomer. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah. I mean, back before... The Newberry, and which which which gave me an opportunity to have more resources to do to be more strategic and and do more things.
Speaker: I would have, at the beginning of each year,
Speaker: my wife, Steph, My ex-wife, Steph, who's my dear friend, she would, at the beginning of the year, she'd say, Kwame, she'd bring out a whiteboard, write down all the plans, all the things, all the businesses, all the ideas, because I'm a bloomer, a re-bloomer, a post-bloomer, a pre-bloomer. I'm a bloomer. I bloom, sisters. And she was like, Kwame, write down all the things.
Speaker: And inevitably there'd be seven to 10 different projects and I'm going to do them all this year. And she would say, okay, now let's start ranking them ah of of importance, of bringing in revenue, of passion.
Speaker: And we'd rank them one to 10. And then she would cross off the bottom seven. And she'd say, you can only do the top three. Now, the good news is Kwame, once you finish one of those three, and once you complete it, you can bring another one up.
Speaker: It saved Ooh, she's smart. Saved my life. Saved my life. It kept kept me focused. Kept me really focused. and so And so because I am an idea person,
Speaker: um i am constantly moving. and and pivoting to new things. Now, the beautiful thing is that they're all sort of related. They all connect to words.
Speaker: um And so maybe back in 2023, there's an organization called Follett, which provides books to school libraries. They're the largest distributor to school libraries of books.
Speaker: And I had been doing some work with them. And they said, Kwame, we want to have a webinar for schools where you talk to schools about your books. And it was basically a promo for their company.
Speaker: And it's going be a free thing. And they want to be able to promote their services to school libraries. They had 1,600 schools sign up. I said, whoa.
Speaker: And it was incredible. We had a great time. I told stories. I read poetry. i answered questions. You know, I did trivia. It was just, it was almost like a literary variety show.
Speaker: And I got this idea. i said, wow, having just come off of being on the road 200 days a year, I don't want to be traveling so much. Maybe I should do this kind of thing more often.
Speaker: So I started this project called Author Study, where I would do a webinar for schools and schools could sign up and I would charge them. OK, I would charge them a fraction of what it costs to bring me into the schools. And I think it was like three hundred dollars.
Speaker: And the first year of doing it, we did two of them and we had maybe 700 schools. And I said, oh, this is a business business. And so I began to pivot thinking ah about how to build this business. And that evolved into, I think this is a nonprofit because there were so there were still schools who couldn't afford the 300. So i said, well, how do I get the cost down to maybe $100?
Speaker: And so we brought the cost down and we do four author study events. one word at a time, our signature program is called author study, where I bring in authors virtually.
Speaker: I read from a book. I interview the author. i answer questions from the students. And it's $119. And one of the ways we're able to be able to offer that low of a price to these Title I schools and schools that can't afford it we don't have to budget for it, um is through grants and and and donors um and fundraising.
Speaker: And so one word at a time ultimately is about encouraging um young people to read for fun. And how do we do that?
Speaker: We show them that reading is fun. So basically to go full circle, I am bringing my mom into thousands of schools. i am showing I am showing everything I learned from my mom who made me love reading through Fox and Sox and poetry. I'm trying to show that to these teachers and these kids. And and it's it's a labor of love. And it's my way of sort of giving, you know, giving back.
Speaker: I saw an interview of you, I think it was ABC News, and you you said the phrase, i wanted my goal in life is to change the world one word at a time. And i i love i love that so much.
Speaker: Well, I love it. And I love the reading for pleasure and the reading for joy because, and it's interesting because the world is going back to more analog, thank you, God. and we're getting away from the screens and everything. And, you know, certainly whose life, someone whose life has been changed from words at the get-go from your mom and your dad.
Speaker: But I love that your mom is bringing the fun you're bringing your i love that your mom you're bringing your mom into these classrooms and i love that we can all do something about this and we will have the links for one word at a time if anybody wants to make a difference because ah hundred dollars you can change the kids' lives. And so I've, I talked to Kwame, i I was able to talk to him this summer about it. And I'm like, I'm having a book club challenge. They had the water bucket challenge. I want the book club challenge that we all raise money to help these kids learn how to read because better readers become better creators, become better doctors, better lawyers, better people, better, just all the around better. And they, their worlds open up and we need, we need to have
Speaker: more books and more joyful reading in our classrooms. And that's an incredible gift you're giving to these kids. Incredible. Thank you. Yeah, we have a great team, Tori Bachman, Michelle Jewell.
Speaker: um We had our first gala this year. the nonprofit's only a year and a half old and our gala was virtual. I dressed up in a tux. It was so cool. was so much fun. so we have some really, we have some really good board members and, you know, our goal is to be able to reach a thousand schools every year um and keep building on that a thousand new schools every year and and, and, and help these young people see how wonderful and empowering and inspiring and fun and interesting and cool books are.
Speaker: What was your mom's name? Barbara Elaine Johnson Alexander. move And you've done a little something special for Barbara, haven't you? Yeah. um Some friends of mine, myself built a library in a place called Kofaridra, which is in a town in the eastern region of Ghana, West Africa.
Speaker: And we built a library and a health clinic. And I named it after my mom. Oh my gosh. And I'll be going back for the first time in like six, like eight years. I haven't been there to, um, I'll be going back in November with Chautauqua chautauqua Travels and I'll be able to see the library for the first time in a long time.
Speaker: So that's cool. Oh, your mom is smiling so big. She is. And you know, Kwame, you are changing many, many lives, one word at a time. You have changed my life this summer. I've just loved getting to know you and Lori got to meet you too. and you know, she loves you. And it's just, this has been a really special conversation and, and we cannot thank you enough for talking to us and talking to our listeners and, you know, just talking about the perseverance that we all need to have.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, that's that's the key. can you ah Can you hang in there? Can you keep dreaming? Can you not let other people you know define you? I guess one thing I'll i'll leave on is um the other thing. that My mother and my father say that I was an experiment.
Speaker: And, and, and they, and they, he, my father says they talked and, you know, before she passed and they agreed that it the experiment worked.
Speaker: And when I think back to some of the decisions they made, I can see that. I can see how I was an experiment when, when I was three, my father who had become an academic was a basketball star in high school, college, and the Air Force.
Speaker: And so he would take me to the playground um on the Upper West Side, on Morningside and 112th Street. And he would give me the basketball, put me at the free throw line, and tell me to shoot the basket.
Speaker: Now, the ball was bigger than me. I couldn't make the basket. ah couldn't get anywhere near the goal. And so the playground supervisor knew that. And so he would come over to help out and try to lower the goal so I could hit the ball, make the shot.
Speaker: And my father said, stop. No one lowers my son's goal. whoa He doesn't know he can't make it. and And I think that's been, you know, sort of, you know, my journey is that I do believe I can make it.
Speaker: And
Speaker: And I'm grateful and blessed to have had that, you know, that notion planted so early, that seed planted so early. So now there's only one choice. It has to bloom.
Speaker: bloom You got to reach for that goal. All right. We'd have to ask one final question. um Is there a quote or something that you live by, something that you talk to, you say to people, we put a little quote out there that just, you know, grounds you or you think about all the time, or you say to young people,
Speaker: What's a piece of advice or quote that you say all the time? Asking an author for a quote. Yeah. I'm sure you might have a thousand of them.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. I do have one.
Speaker: I am the greatest. Not because I am better than anyone, but because no one is better than me. Hmm.
Speaker: Okay. I think we need to just close with that, Lori. Thank you, Kwame. Thank you for being here with us and to our listeners, peace, love, and re-bloom. And also remember, you are all the greatest.
Speaker: Thanks for spending this time with us on Rebloom. We hope something from today stays with you. Maybe a thought, a feeling, or a spark of inspiration.
Speaker: And if this conversation resonated, we really hope you'll share it with a friend. We sure are grateful you're here and we'll see you next time.
