In a touching display of familial collaboration, Judge Regina Mincey and her son Antonio McMillan Jr. have embarked on a literary journey that not only celebrates their bond but also aims to inspire young readers across the country. Their children’s book series, “Adventures of Mommy and Me,” launched on Mother’s Day 2024, stands as a testament to the enduring strength of family connections and the importance of representation in children’s literature.
Judge Mincey, a prominent Fulton County judge respected throughout Atlanta’s legal community, and Antonio, now in his 20s and a civic-minded HBCU graduate, have created a series that makes the justice system more accessible to Black children while honoring the resilience of single-parent households. Their first book centers around a memorable Take Your Child to Work Day experience when young Antonio witnessed his mother’s courtroom prowess.
In this exclusive Q&A, the duo shares insights into their creative process, the impact they hope to make, and the journey that led to their publishing success.
What inspired you to turn your experiences into a book series?
Antonio McMillan, Jr.: I always knew that I wanted to write a book as a young kid and growing older I didn’t know what book would take precedence, would it be a children’s book or something for people in their 20s, like my age. So I decided the children’s book would be the best idea to put forth first in the series. What inspired it is the series of events me and my mom have been through.
This time period of the book is right around the time that my parents got a divorce. So it’s kind of just me and my mom, and we did a lot of things, a lot of adventures, went on a lot of trips. I would like to say she didn’t let me feel left out or left behind. She had to pick up the ball and keep the ball rolling, and know that sometimes she got to play the role of mom and dad, even though my dad was still in my life, but I was predominantly with my mother. So I wanted to coin that experience and it came out on Mother’s Day 2024.
My goal at the beginning of the year was to get it out on Mother’s Day and give her flowers in the form of a book, and not only just one book, it’s a series. So we plan to do 10 books in the series. This is the first one, it’s about taking your child to work day, and we have nine more other books that kind of coins the experiences that we had as mother and son.
Regina Mincey: Again, just being mom, newly divorced, as an attorney, I was a private practice at that time, I decided to apply for a job and took a job as a prosecutor. And some people say that was crazy. Very busy, very demanding job, especially in Fulton County, largest counties. I would take him to work with me, sometimes out of necessity, sometimes out of my own internal scared straight program, that you’re going to work with me to see what I do when kids make bad decisions or the wrong decisions, and not so much as that, you just don’t think about it when you’re surviving, and so I packed my briefcase, packed his book bag, and we’re going in on a Saturday to catch up on work. Not knowing that he was cataloging and kind of saving those memories.
As a single mother and a judge, how did you balance motherhood and the demands of public service?
Regina Mincey: The balance was again, always on roller skates, always working, always had the briefcase. Even to this day, I have two cell phones, some people may have more than two. But I tried to balance with the weekends, taking him on adventures. We would go to the zoo. He rode the Amtrak, the two of us rode the Amtrak from Atlanta to DC one month in the summer. And we went, I think for seven or eight days. And then we took another bus after we got to DC to New York.
And so I would try to take him on trips and tours that were adventurous but fun, but also seeing all the sites in DC. I went to law school at Georgetown. So again, I was showing him where I went to law school. He would go to Kentucky some summers to visit my moms, grandmother. And she would take him around to the sites in Kentucky, the Muhammad Ali Center, the baseball back factory there. So he has a lot of memories that again, I didn’t always think a whole lot about them, but he is wanting to put them in a series of adventures and books regarding a mother and son, our love for each other, our affection for each other, and show that while I was maybe giving him an adult’s for life, I was also saying it could be fun.
How do you hope that the Adventures of Mommy and Me will influence the way Black children view the justice system?
Antonio McMillan, Jr.: I would like to hope that the impact that this book has in that aspect is just showing representation and impact, especially in our black and brown community, actually seeing people who look like you, who have these jobs, we’re not in law and order, we’re not on Judge Judy. This is my mom, this is her life. So I think the impact and you’ll see, and the readers will see from this book, it still to this day has me in amazement, just knowing this is my mom, but she’s also doing her civic duty.
She’s in the courtroom, she’s in the community, she’s doing things, she’s a prosecutor, but not only just putting people away, but also showing empathy and creating an impact. She has stories where people come up to her and they’re like, oh, I remember you, you put me away, but you taught me a lesson and I haven’t been back to jail. So, okay, good, that’s what we like to hear. But also showing for me as well, showing that if you make bad decisions, there are consequences for that. As well as, also to know that you get a second chance in life, sometimes you do, sometimes mistakes happen or things happen, but you do have a chance to get back on the right track.
What age group is your book geared toward?
Antonio McMillan, Jr.: Yes, so our book is geared towards the ages five to eight years old.
Regina Mincey: So we’ve read and had readings to older groups. And when we do read, they want to know about the entrepreneurial side.
Antonio McMillan, Jr.: How long did it take to write the book? So they want to know more so the business idea, the business aspect. I mean, we asked them to be honest to, read it to you. I know you’re a little older, but we still read it to them. But also just showing them what you can do with your story, then we go into, what do you want to do? Career aspects. We kind of gauge it towards that, but more the entrepreneurial spirit about starting your own business. But our younger kids, they’re very excited, they think we’re famous. You guys wrote this book! This is you and this is your mom! They’re not used to that representation.
How do you hope that the Adventures of Mommy and Me contribute to a broader movement around Black literacy and representation?
Antonio McMillan, Jr.: I think that’s a really loaded question. That’s good. I just hope that it just shows the family bond, not just mother and son, but it can be mother. Whatever it is, just the family unit and the strength and the family. And knowing that sometimes your mess could turn into a message, some of the painful moments, maybe your divorce was painful, but it turned into a purpose.
And through the literacy, I think that’s a great window in having them because like my mom said, the value of reading a book is not as high these days, but even when our book were intentional, it’s not sold as an e-book. You have to pick up a physical copy whether it’s a softback or a hardback. And I think for me as a kid, I used to love reading series. So I wanted to create that for the new generation.
Where can people find the book?
Antonio McMillan, Jr.: So our website is www.adventuresofmommyandme.net, and so on our website, you’ll have a little more about us, our story, different interviews we’ve done. You can purchase the book through our website. Email us if you want a signed copy and we can ship directly to you or meet you in the Lennar area. If not, you can buy it off Amazon or www.barnesandnoble.com or some other online sites if you just search it. But Amazon and Barnes and Nobles were like the main two online sites. Walmart.com is what people can choose to pick up the book because it’s in the Sparks Network as well.
We also have our Instagram page which is called the Dentures of Mommy and Me. So it’s the A &M symbol, adventure of mommy and me. But you’ll see us when we do, two of us with our book and try to post things on our page as well.
Regina Mincey: We both are HBCU grads. And he wasn’t trying to go to an HBCU. I kind of pushed him a little bit there as well. So we also love our HBCUs and want to encourage people to consider them. You won’t regret it.
Antonio McMillan, Jr.: Our story is very Black and historic. We have Atlanta, HBCUs, mother and son, single mother at that time.
