Meet-the-Author Recording with Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon

X: A Novel |

Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon introduce and share some of the backstory for creating X: A Novel.

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Kekla Magoon: Hi, I'm Kekla Magoon, co-author of X: A Novel.

Ilyasah Shabazz: And hi, I am Ilyasah Shabazz, third daughter of Malcolm X and co-author of X: A Novel.

Kekla Magoon: So we wanted to talk a little bit about our writing process and idea for writing a novel about Malcolm X as a teenager.

Ilyasah Shabazz: I thought it was really important to introduce Malcolm to this generation considering the social climate that young people are living in now. And to show the relevance of the time that my father was alive, and then the relevance of Malcolm's adolescent life to today's adolescents.

Kekla Magoon: Part of the journey of adolescence for anyone, right, is sort of figuring out who you're going to become and making choices about the kind of life you want to lead. And this period of time in Malcolm's life was a very painful time and a time when he wasn't necessarily making the best choices because he couldn't see the full picture of what he had to offer. He couldn't see the full picture of his potential. He was confronting a lot of racism and classism and all sorts of challenges from society at large.

And while we all still face those issues, what Malcolm has shown in his life is that if you can sort of fight back against being pushed down by those forces, if you can try to turn it around and try to do something to try to better the community and better society and put your skills to full potential.

Ilyasah Shabazz: Right. And more than anything, it's being able to recognize that you have value and that you have something to give back to society.

Kekla Magoon: I'm going to read an excerpt from X: A Novel.

Harlem, New York, 1945.

Friends tell me trouble's coming. I ease out of the restaurant onto the sidewalk, gun in my pocket. Hand in there, too, keeping it close for good measure. I gotta get back to my pad, and quick now. One foot in front of the other. Keep my head down, hope no one sees me.

A door slams somewhere along the block, and I jump about a mile. A voice calls out, but not to me. I clutch the gun in my coat and scurry on.

How did it all go so wrong? When I first set foot in Harlem, I was a step ahead of everything. I could blend in with the jive cats, swirl the Lindy ladies, let my feet groove, think of nothing but the now. I could close my eyes, and in closing them not be seen. Slip into the seams of the streets and let them swallow me. It was a glorious fit, so seemingly warm.

The slick, savvy streets of Harlem welcomed me. I've made friends here, a life here, a whole world opening up. But now I've messed it all up, in a big- time way. No going back.

This Meet-the-Author Recording with Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon was exclusively created in September 2016 by TeachingBooks with thanks to Candlewick Press.