What do you want the readers to take away from the book?
So my main intention was for Black girls and Black women to remember who we really are. And within that, allowing all of us to remember who we really are. So how does that pertain to what I put in the book? There’s so much African history and African spirituality that is demonized, I wanted us to really remember who we are.
What was your favorite part of writing this book?
Oh, my gosh, the favorite part for me was the historical figures, almost coming to tell me that they want to be in the story. I was writing one night and wrote the part, which is still in the book that Harriet Tubman gives a 2-year-old a tincture to fall asleep. I [didn’t] know if I want[ed] to put that in there because I [didn’t] know if Harriet Tubman was an herbalist. And so I was deciding to take that part out. But in the morning, I had to go to a sales meeting at this restaurant and at the end of our meeting, this woman who wasn’t a part of the meeting came up to me and said, “Did you know that Harriet Tubman was an herbalist?” I was like, “Why did you just say that to me?” And she was like, “Well, you know, it’s African American History Month, and I just read it and I just felt like I was supposed to share that with you.” And I was like, “Thank you, Harriet. I will keep it [in the book].”
