Welcome And June Milestones

Steph 0:22

Step into the lit live. Live girls lit dark now.

Tasha 0:28

Hey, bookish baddies, and welcome back to another episode of Black Girls Mill Podcast. It's your girl Tasha here.

SPEAKER_06 0:35

And I'm Les, star and staff.

Tasha 0:39

Yay yo, it is June. This is episode three of season two. This month we are celebrating all things black excellence. Jules team, y'all know we're here for it. Our book this month is a great man theme. So you see us in our roaring 20s. We doing it, we doing it. But another big deal this month is the day before, nope, the day after this episode drops, my baby sister will be getting married. So I want to give her and um her wife a little shout out. I'm so excited.

Star 1:06

Congratulations.

Tasha 1:08

I'm gonna be maid of honor. Not mother. Oh yeah, maid of honor.

Steph 1:11

Oh, hold on, matron.

Tasha 1:13

Yeah, it is mature. Well, matron sounds old. Y'all know I'm really literary.

Steph 1:18

Then if you're maid, ooh out.

Tasha 1:21

Just call me the HBIC. That's what I'm going back to doing. Not at all. We got you. We got you. We can go there. That's my official title. Got it.

Steph 1:30

Received.

Lex 1:32

All right.

Tasha 1:32

Let's go ahead and tell the people, tell the people we drink Alex.

Lex 1:36

Thank you. Also, you know what I also remembered? It's my birthday in June. I will be 30. It's my 30th birthday. 3030. I am out of my 20s. I have to stop claiming that now. So a lot of things in June.

Steph 1:52

What are we doing, girl?

Lex 1:54

My honeymoon, actually.

Steph 1:55

I mean that you know that's between y'all two, but you know, don't forget about us little people over here. We

Yah Yah Cognac And The First Toast

Steph 2:00

want to celebrate too.

Lex 2:01

Anyways, the liquor. Let's talk about the liquor. Yayah! Do y'all see this awesome bottle up here? Yaya. It is a black-owned cognac bringing fresh energy to a classic spirit. The name Yahya means good, good, and that's the vibe for the first sip. It's a VSOP cognac made in the cognac region of France, and it's been aged for five years. So they took their time when they made this. It's easy to drink, it's great, chilled. So we tried to chill y'all's shots today. So hopefully it goes down smooth and easy. But it is created by founders rooted in nightlife and culture. Yaya has built is built to make cognac feel less intimidating and more inclusive. Because y'all know how they say cognac is a grown man's drink. This is everybody's drink. It's an everybody's drink, right? In short, Yaya Cognac blends French craftsmanship with black ownership and modern culture. Proof that luxury can both be refined and approachable. So let's approach these shots.

Steph 3:16

I'm always here for something approachable.

Tasha 3:18

The bottle, oh yes, you you know what? The packaging and the it comes with this cute little package, like a little chilled bag. And you can hold cigars in the pack and on top. The top is designed to hold a cigar. That's like the shape of it, designed. So you know we got little cigars.

Steph 3:36

We don't really smoke them like that, but if we wanted to, we could right. The look, it goes well. It got the flow of it all. Yeah, maybe we'll start smoking. Right. And the bag, the bag, you chill your yaya in the fridge, and then when you're ready to go, this special bag, we just pop it in there, keep it chilled wherever you go, ready to go. This is super cute. It's very cute.

Star 3:57

The world is yours. Make it better. That's what it says around there. The world is yours. Make it better.

Tasha 4:04

I love this cognac so bad because I want to buy so many more bottles. Right.

Star 4:07

Support. Support.

Tasha 4:08

So let's let's see if we like each other.

Star 4:10

This is super cute. The packaging is super cute.

Tasha 4:12

Come on now. Let's let's hope it comes through. Like to the approachable con.

SPEAKER_06 4:19

Yeah. That is so good. And it's later. So we can say very good. That's very good. That is awesome. That is really good.

Star 4:26

That's good. I can smell that it was good before I even tasted it.

Tasha 4:30

Like you like you don't need any mixer. Like you could really just chill.

SPEAKER_06 4:35

I'll be getting this for the case. I will be purchasing this.

Tasha 4:38

I might and be smoking a cigar. It's sitting on me.

Star 4:41

You know, this is a chocolate. A chocolate cigar with this would be. This is what they what the kids do. Is it these two fingers or these two? No, it's the middle.

Steph 4:53

Whatever the kids is doing. It's that. It's sign language. That's wrong. It's sign language. So it means ate. So that means you ate that.

Star 5:02

Yes. So not so not T.

Steph 5:05

No, no. Oh, ate. Look at us learning.

The Great Mann Plot Setup

Steph 5:10

That's so cute.

Lex 5:10

I didn't know.

Steph 5:11

Okay, now we're about to get into this author since we learned something new today, everybody. Good job. So we read The Great Man by Kira Davis Lurie. The Great Man is a historical novel that reimagines the themes of the great Gatsby within the rich and often overlooked world of black affluence in the 1940s, Los Angeles. It blends glamour, ambition, and social tension into a story about identity, class, and belonging in post-World II America. At its center is Charlie Tremel, a young black veteran arriving in Los Angeles in 1945 after serving a segregated military. He's searching for direction and stability and finds himself drawn into the thriving black community of West Adam Heights, also known as Sugar Hill, where success, culture, and possibilities seem within reach in ways the rest of the country often defined. Charlie's new life quickly expands. He moves into a living boarding house, a lively boarding house, begins a career at a black-owned insurance company, and experiences a sense of freedom absent in the Jim Crow South. But the most powerful influence on Jim on him is James Reaper Mann, a mysterious, wealthy figure known for his lavish parties and larger-than-life persona. Reaper's world is intoxicating. His gatherings attract prominent black entertainers like Lena Horne and Hattie McDaniel, symbolizing a rare space of Black excellence and celebration. As Charlie grows closer to Reaper, he becomes entangled in a complex relationship shaped by admiration, curiosity, and underlying secrets. At the same time, external pressures mount, while residents, resentful of the growing black prosperity in Sugar Hill, push back through legal and social means, culminating in a racially charged court case that threatens to dismantle the community's hard-won success.

Ratings And A Dense Read Debate

Tasha 7:14

All right, okay, black history. Well that's supposed to. Okay, here we go. Ray and time. Remember, we have chairs if we love it. Sit if it's our three stars. Babysit if we was not loving, it was okay. And then send it back the dreaded one star review.

Star 7:33

Now I just want to point out for the people. Since y'all can see us now, I just want to point out for the people. The stars are on the fan as well. So it's the cheers, four stars, like the so it's on there as well. So don't mind, Tasha. She just playing with y'all. She knows the system.

Tasha 7:51

I I do know the system. And I say it every single month. I don't know why I fumbled through it right now, but thank you for putting that out, it's the yaya.

Star 8:00

It's the yah y'all. I was just letting people know you was just kidding. That's your sense of humor. So that they, you know, because it, you know, she was just playing with y'all. She knows the system.

Tasha 8:10

I do. All right, let's get to it. Okay. So, right out the box, I'm coming with a high and mighty cheers. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Four stars all day. I was here for it. Amazing historical fiction, but it had so much truth in it too. And I learned like history that I had not known that I never knew before. Yeah. Kira, you did your big one on the desk to love this. All right.

Lex 8:34

I'm going to give it a cheers. I am. I am going to give it a cheers. I giggled because me and this book had a very complex relationship. Speak on it. Speak on it. Um, your hosts here about cuss me out every week because I was having such a hard time.

Steph 8:54

And y'all can guess which host that is. I don't know which host she's talking about.

Lex 8:58

I ended up rereading, I had to reread the book just because it is a dense book. There's a lot going on. There's a lot of characters, a lot, and all of the characters have some sort of developmental plot within the book. So if you even zone out for a second, they've already incorporated like five new characters. So for me, that that was tough. But when I started over, calm down, listen to it again. I really did enjoy this book. I already love The Great Gadsby. It's one of my favorite classics. So this was really a really cool retelling, or rather, another world of Great Gadsby because it kind of picked up where Great Gadsby started, which I'm sure we'll talk about that later. But yeah, cheers for me. It was a beautiful read and I recommend. Yay! Yay!

Star 9:45

I love that for you. I'm so glad that turned around for you. I don't know which co-host was talking crazy to her, but imagine that.

Steph 9:52

Just imagine.

Star 9:53

Just imagine. Out of control. Truly. So for me, it's also a cheers. Definitely cheers. Four stars. This is the third time I've read the book in a very short time period. It started. Tasha and I went to an author talk event. It seems like forever ago now, but it wasn't, it wasn't that. It was a while ago, but yeah, since then, this is the third time now that I've read it. I absolutely loved it. It similar, learned a lot of things that I just didn't know. And especially the whole Sugar Hill area in Los Angeles. I looked it up and it made me feel away because it just it definitely brought up some things. But I'm here for the story. I love the story. The author does is doing something on her Instagram page right now where she's going into further detail about the locations and the people, the real life people that are in the book and a lot of the places. So by all means follow her and check out the story. Definitely.

Tasha 11:00

Okay. All right. All right, Steph. Where are you at, Steph?

Steph 11:04

So I was torn. I was going back and forth for a minute, but I realize it's more of a Steph struggle. So I didn't want to put that on the book because it was going to be a factor in the rating. But it was just like, I can't do that to Kira because it wouldn't be fair to her. So I am going to give it a cheer. Yay. I'm giving it four stars because it was just the view of how we still continue and fight on, just giving you a different perspective on how we lived. The West Coast, like, I'm familiar with the South. I started in the North and came to the South. So I'm more familiar with that aspect of everything. But to look at it from that point of view and their living and the freedom and to just walk around and with your held up high and, you know, you have respect. And so the storyline, everything she was giving me, Charlie, I was like, Charlie's his own man. I could appreciate it. I like Charlie. Charlie could, you know, he was he was paving his path. He was making his way in LA. And it was tough at first for him, but I could I like the lens that she was giving us through his character.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

Definitely. Yeah.

Star 12:15

Oh my gosh, was that another another unanimous cheers? 20 seasons around. Right. Another unanimous tears. Yes.

Lex 12:23

And can we say this is also appropriate because Kira has been interacting with us online. Yes. So we also just love her. We do love her. But it just really, I don't know about y'all, but it helps me connect more with the book because like she has been responding to our posts and looking at things. And so she's just great and her writing is beautiful. Yes.

Star 12:46

Yeah. And Tasha did um Reigning Creativity, did a nice little author gift um package for her that she loved. It was like a cup and I think a journal that um had the cover of the book. So yeah, she's definitely, Kira's definitely our homegirl. Yeah, let's just put it on out there. Like, yeah, she's absolutely a bookish baddie.

Steph 13:08

It is what it is. Like, get into it. Come on and pull up in Georgia. Let us know when you hear. Yeah, like you have to do it. Absolutely.

Tasha 13:16

Right. Well, all right, but let's go ahead

Sidecar Cocktail And Cadillac Lore

Tasha 13:20

and let's jump right in. I do believe I have the first cocktail of the evening. Surprise, surprise. All right. Features crossed. You know what? The hate. You know, I made two little dreams that they were not pleased with, and now it's like all this pressure. But guess what? I did my thing with this one today. It is a traditional sidecar, but I'm calling it Can I sell you a Cadillac? I'm gonna give y'all a little bit of history with this. Okay, come on. Okay, so did you guys know that black people actually saved Cadillac back in 1934? Because the thing was, make sure I get everything right. So General Motors was actually going to discontinue the Cadillac due to poor sales during the Great Depression. But an exec discovered that black people who had not lost their money in the stock market because they didn't have their money in the stock market or banks, theirs was underneath their mattress, right? Because they weren't able to. They actually had money and wanted to buy cars, and nobody would sell the cartail because racism. Dude was like, hey, turns out these people got some money. Let's see if they will buy the cars. And then again, so this is a company that was actually starting to sell cars to black people. They didn't have to have a white friend buy a car for them. They were actually able to get a car and get turns out that black people saved hairline.

Lex 14:34

And that really checks out. Because black people do love a good car. The love of hair cattle.

Tasha 14:39

My uncle had a cattle with some red bonnets. And that was this. So they actually ended up to the point where like actually turned around the whole thing. They were getting ready to go bankrupt, and their sales increased 70% within that year. Literally saved the company. I mean, and Cadillac is a luxury brand now. So cheers to us. Cheers here. Here we don't on this side car, you know, it's made with just some remote, of course, our ya-ya, and some lemon juice, fresh lemon juice, y'all.

SPEAKER_06 15:07

Cheers. Got me a Cadillac, Cadillac. I was thinking.

Steph 15:17

Okay, what jump is? I think you've saved yourself.

Lex 15:20

Yes. Tasha redeemed herself. Which thank God because I need her to let the hurt. I'm giving Tasha cheers, y'all. Four stars, four stars, four stars.

Star 15:28

Because the comeback queen, baby. Because yeah.

SPEAKER_06 15:32

We are so bad.

Star 15:33

Yes. You redeemed yourself with this one.

Tasha 15:36

Thank you.

Star 15:36

Oh my god.

Tasha 15:38

Whoo! Oh I gotta ask a question now. Oh, I'm sipping on this. I gotta ask a question. Okay. So good.

SPEAKER_01 15:45

It is a very good. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_04 15:48

Cheers. Cheers to Tasha. Cheers. Cheers, Tasha. This is gonna be an interesting.

SPEAKER_07 15:53

Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 15:53

It is. I don't know, Tasha.

Professionals Versus Entertainers Then And Now

Tasha 15:56

Let's the book talks about some of the conflicts between the actors like Hattie McDaniels and then the professional black people. So again, in the book, you know, these were all wealthy, you know, well-to-do black people, but there was this sort of divide between the ones that were, you know, college educated, professionals, you know, bankers, things like that, lawyers, versus the ones who were like actors and actresses and entertainers. There was this whole little conflict between them. And so the professionals, quote unquote, often look down on how the actors made their money. So you think about movies like why the name of the movie. Gone with the win again. Uh you know, we had black people playing slaves or different roles like that and stuff. And so they look down on them. So my question is do you think that we still see similar conflicts among black people today? So when we look at entertainers, so they're again, they're all wealthy. So we look at Cardi B versus somebody I'm talking, somebody who oh Oprah. Oh that's an interesting entertainment to, but not me. Okay, I'm okay.

Lex 17:06

Maybe like a Cardi B.

Tasha 17:07

Maybe like Bing Crom Rockaball, okay. Lawyer Bank Rapa, yeah. This, yeah, okay, that would have been a better example. I probably should.

Star 17:13

Um, doctors. We have a lot of doctors and just doctors and lawyers, dentists. There's a lot of black dentists, especially here in Atlanta.

Tasha 17:20

Well, yeah, like in Atlanta, yeah. Atlanta Strada, where you see like both sides, like a lot of entertainment, um, also a lot of professional black people. So do we still see that sort of difference, like or judging from one side to the other, or for me, I would say no living in Atlanta.

Steph 17:40

Living where we live, I would say no, because I see us everywhere, Starr said, in regards to the professionals, like my doctor, Dennis, like everybody, you know, going to my real estate agent, going to the car dealership. Like we have people in all of those areas now where it's a norm for me. It's not the exception. So if I lived in another city, my answer would probably be different. But because I live here, I can say no, and I've been here for over 20 years. So my view has changed on how it was. And it was just like you're we're everywhere. And it's very promising, it's very encouraging. Like from the luxury vehicles to the homes you have to your friends, it's just endless. Is there still issues? Yes. But for me, I can say that I'm not necessarily viewing them in a negative way because we're everywhere and we're all just trying to have that American dream.

SPEAKER_06 18:39

I was I disagree, but I was gonna take it a whole other place. Yeah, me too, I think.

Star 18:45

So go ahead.

Tasha 18:46

I do think though, that there is still some of that separation of, okay, well, where's your money from? Thing. Now again, I mean, I'm not one of the the uber wealthy people, so I mean, I really don't know how they move, but I do think that there is still nothing. Some sort of yeah, you know, like that little stigma. And like, okay, yeah, you know, well, we're all we're all wealthy, but I do think there is a sort of debater, and I mean, oh, classic surgeon, or I'm I'm a lawyer, I'm I'm a Supreme Court justice, you know, this, that, you know, versus well. Yeah, I'm a movie star, I'm a rapper.

Steph 19:20

You know, I I think there there is probably like a still look a little bit of if I was in that, if I was in that setting, I probably would feel it. I guess the settings that I've been in, I don't put myself in that situation where I have to feel that way. So anywhere that I go, yes, there are people there that might have more money or might, you know, whatever, but I know who I am and what I can bring to the table, you know, whatever that may be. And I still have class, and it doesn't matter with the class, but for me, I think I get it. I I receive it, I hear you, but I think sometimes, well, am I in that setting for me to feel that way all the time? And I have to say, no, I'm not.

Lex 19:57

Okay. What do y'all say? So this may or may not just take us on a separate tangent. Um, but just I don't know. So I don't, I don't think I can pinpoint, I think I'm more on the side of stuff as far as like especially living in Atlanta, you see black people doing everything. And I know that was new for me coming from Utah, where you you barely even see a black person walking down the street, yeah, let alone owning a multi-million dollar home. But something that I did want to kind of land on with this conversation is the idea of separation in general, like finding ways to have the haves and have nots. And I think that is something, especially within the black community, we always do naturally, no matter what the topic is. So, like something that comes to mind, and it did briefly come up in the book, is colorism. So we are all black, right? But if you are fair skinned, there is a prestige that comes with that. Whereas if you are darker skinned, it is lesser than. And I think we also find it in like the African versus African-American debate as well. So just like this idea of like us as a people finding ways to still have a haves and have nots within our own is something that you see a lot outside of class. So there's always which is interesting to me. But yeah.

Star 21:27

But I think it's so to that point, like I think it's mental conditioning, though. So you so to go back to this to start at the question, you know how I feel about people being judgmental. Hell yeah. People are judgmental. Yes, we're all judgmental, especially the older people. They judgmental as hell. I think it has gotten a little bit better where it success is success at the end of the day. And I think we are, to Steph's point, where we are in the country being. In the metro area, right? Geographically in the country, we see all of the things. So we can acknowledge, and we've talked about it, especially me and Lex. And yes, because we're from the West Coast, we talk about it being very prominent here in this area and seeing us doing well and that being the norm, right? So that, but everybody doesn't, that's not everybody's daily experience. So for those that don't experience that on a daily basis, absolutely, I think there's still a little bit of that separation, that classism, even made up classism, right? Because at this point, like I said, it's you're successful or you're not, but what is success, right? If we're talking just financial success and a certain tax bracket or a certain number in the bank or a certain net worth or what have you, then okay, yes, right. But that I think that's always going to be a thing to Lexus' point. Like there's always going to be some separation because mentally, and I think it's the mental conditioning, I have to put myself above. Because if if nobody's above, right, again, I don't think it's real. I don't think that's a real thing. I just think that we've been mentally conditioned for so long that we create it where it doesn't even exist anymore. You see what I'm saying?

Lex 23:30

And I think to that point, even historically, when you think about in school for me, we talk, I'm an African-American studies minor, um, was one of my studies in undergrad. And something we talked about a lot is the debate between Booker T. Washington and WEB Du Bois. And I think it also talked, like touches on what Starr just said about like just this social condition of just like made up like standards. Because we know that W.E.B. Du Bois was like, get a degree, the top 10%, these things. And Booker T. Washington was like, no, trade, skill. But even then, still you see the skills tip. Because if you have a college degree, even though if you're just as successful without that, but I have a college degree. And so there's still this like again, the have and have nots idea, even within an oppressed community. That part.

Tasha 24:29

Yes. Yeah, I think too, even like in the book, it really was like about like with entertainers. It was like the professionals were so they was they were more upset about like it was that sort of thing like, oh, well, you out here like checking a job in for the man in order to get your yeah, in order to get your money.

Lex 24:48

And your part may even get cut. So where you view in the movie.

Tasha 24:54

They were messed to the so you didn't they really keep like looking down. But I do still as that's that's why I feel like there is still like that sort of thing, like, well, okay, you got your money, but how did you get your money? How did you get your money? How do you get? I mean, that so we're we're giving a certain level of respect depending upon how your money was made. And it's kind of like, well, it's does it matter how it was made, or like, hey, or that I'm here, I'm or I have a seat at the table. I did what I had to do in order to get a seat at the table, but they're like, but at what cost did you get at the table? And so there's always those conversations.

Steph 25:23

It's all that judgmental part. Yeah, it's the judgmental part because it's not a good thing. It's the judgmental part because it's just like, no, stop.

Star 25:29

Can we just all be successful? And here's the thing, you're all regardless of how you come into your success, you're shucking it, you're shucking and jiving for somebody. Like, I don't care what anybody says. Like, somebody made a comment in my presence probably about nine months ago, and I don't like her to this day because of the comment that she made. Like, it just didn't sit well with my spirit.

Tasha 25:53

I can't imagine you're not liking somebody. Imagine.

Star 25:56

So off, right? It just, but, but it ties. Shut up, Tasha. It ties so well into this conversation because I'm gonna tell you what she said. She's an entrepreneur, she is a business owner, and she basically made a comment as if those who opt into the corporate structure and get up and go to work for somewhere are less than the entrepreneurs. And I'm like, the audacity of you. But here's the thing, right? Not for nothing, but I can understand that being your mentality when in the corporate structure you were down here since we creating levels, right? Now we're creating levels. So when you're in the corporate structure, if you're entry level, right? I can understand why you don't feel like that. I can understand for whatever reason, right? Whatever the reason, whatever the reason may be. Correct. But I can imagine that you're you would feel differently at an entry level than those of us who may or may have not made it to an executive level. No shade, right? But watch your mouth. But these are the things. These are the things, right? The view is different from your cubicle in my office. Like that, don't get it twisted. It looked a little different, but you know, and I hate that again, I hate that we have to do that because we don't. Like, and that's at the end of the day, there's enough going on outside of the community, right? Right, right, where we should just be able to celebrate the successes. We should be able to celebrate our successes. I don't care what I don't care. So if I did OnlyFans, you would be cool. Girl, yes. I'm right, y'all.

SPEAKER_06 27:41

Be honest.

SPEAKER_07 27:42

Let me listen.

Star 27:44

Now, what I will say is that Jeff, I did not approve this because I'm not that friend. But what I am saying is that if your husband approves, I absolutely will not pass any judgment. And if you need a manager, we can discuss a fee. Thanks. And I'm here appreciate you.

Steph 28:05

I appreciate you, girl. Hello. Good morning.

unknown 28:09

I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_06 28:10

Girl, Steph, take us to the next drink question. Okay.

Lex 28:14

I was about to go off on the feet picks.

Tasha 28:16

What said OnlyFan? I did not know where the conversation was going. Steph, take us to the next, take us to the next step.

Lex 28:21

Wait, no, I have to say it. Hold up. I don't know. I be I be in the trenches of TikTok, okay? Like in the midnight hour. So me and my husband, we were scrolling, because we scroll every night and show each other videos of if we're not sitting laying right next to each other. Anyways, there was this lady on DoorDash. And okay, so she, when she would drop people's food off, her feet would be in the picture. Because you know how sometimes in the food delivery they have to send a picture to prove like where, so her feet would always be in the picture and she would get extra tits. Like she noticed when her feet were in it, she was getting like $40, $50 tits. So she had all these pictures of like her little white toenails next to a McDonald's back. And she was like, got a $40 tip. I said, smart bitch. You know what? So that the feet just reminded me of that. Because get your money. Get your money.

Steph 29:23

Get your money.

Star 29:24

Get your money.

Steph 29:25

You have to find that out, Tasha. Let us know.

Star 29:27

And if your feet, and if listen, and if your feet pics put you in the room with the celebrities and the professionals, then you eight.

Steph 29:36

Eight.

SPEAKER_07 29:37

Eight.

Steph 29:40

Okay. On to this next. Anyway, next question,

Gold Coast Glow And Hattie McDaniel

Steph 29:44

next discussion, and next cocktail. The Gold Coast Glow is the next cocktail that we'll be doing. Because of the champagne in the cocktail being added to the cognac, we're gonna discuss Hattie McDaniel's parties that supplied champagne and being in California. Hattie McDaniel was the first black person to win an Academy Award. McDaniel wins the Best Supporting Actress Award for her portrayal of an enslaved woman in the film, Gone with the Wind. McDaniel has worked as a singer, songwriter, comedian, and actress, and is well known as she was the first black woman to sing on the radio in the United States. In the Gold Coast Glow is a little bit of simple syrup and some of our yaya cognac, and then you top it off with a little bit of champagne to get your drink.

SPEAKER_06 30:38

Little sparkle. Let me a little sparkle.

Steph 30:41

Cheers. Yes. I'm your champagne girl. I'll find some mix.

Lex 30:46

That tastes very golden. I can't describe it, but it tastes golden. It's a little sweet. I like it.

Steph 30:52

But uh it enhances the sweetness from the cognac because the cognac is a little sweet as it is.

SPEAKER_06 30:57

It's sweet. Yo, this yaya is not sick, but it's good.

Star 31:02

Oh, it's still good. I'm gonna finish this one. I do love it. This yaya is fire, please. I understand. But I the simple syrup, did you put simple syrup? Yeah, take it. You don't need it. You don't need it. Don't need the simple syrup. The yaya is sweet enough. Yes.

Steph 31:18

Because that caramel so if you do make it at home, two ingredients champagne and some ya. Chocolate. Top your yacht with some champagne and that's yummy. It is. Yeah. Yeah. So let's get into the next question.

Postwar LA And The American Dream

Steph 31:34

How does setting the story in post-World War II Los Angeles reshape the American dream narrative? And I would use the narrative of Charlie because he was the main character.

Tasha 31:47

For me, I feel like putting it in because it's showing how he's coming from the South, putting it in California, that is a whole different story. Because again, it's like a California is almost its own different, like it's its own country. Like there's a couple different places I feel like are there are their own. I feel like hey, Florida be having its own. It's not really like the South is different. I feel like New York is its own culture. And I feel like California is its own culture. Like those are like three places where I'm just like headed their own thing. And so I think when you took it to California, it allowed definitely for certain freedoms that were not have been certain freedoms and conversations that would not have even been an option in the South at that time. Because if I mean, you know, even if you know like a little bit of history, World War II, Vietnam, I was at all the boards, you know, where people that look like a black, black and round people over there fighting and then came home and was being treated like trash.

Steph 32:47

Still, still still for a war that we came to help y'all.

Tasha 32:51

We was over there, we just fighting, and we were fighting. It was a whole thing. Hey, we hey, we all we all hey, go America, but then you come home and they're like, oh no, but you black, but you still go America. You're still like that's what it was. So the thing about California, California definitely has a lot more freedoms than and people as it and you're able to be be more, be wild, be different. Even now I feel like it's liberal. Yeah, super liberal. And so I think like this the story had to be in order for it to come out like way to be, I feel like California was the the setting for it.

SPEAKER_01 33:34

I would agree. Or New York. It could have been New York in the North too. Yeah. On the segregation. To a degree, yeah. I think that's why in California, yeah.

Lex 33:45

But I I think to Tasha's point, like, yes, I do think that LA allowed for a version of the American dream to be possible for black people. But again, I want to emphasize version of because I know again, as Star said, we're from the West and moved to the South, transplanted to the South, if you will. And in living in both areas, I will say that racism still exists in both, it just looks different. It's by a different name, really. Um so, yes, even though you're in the West or even the North, where it seems like it's progressive and integration, racism is still there covertly. So it may not be I'm calling you the N-word, I'm doing all these things, but it's oh, why are you here? It's the microaggression, the microprogression. I'm bringing down the value of our neighborhood. Oh, I don't feel comfortable. Oh, I'm clutching my purse because a white a black person is walking next to me. And that is still racism. But in the South, you're seeing like openly, it's more openly, it's overt, it's more blatant. And so I think like that is also a discussion to be had, like the differences in trying to navigate both of those areas, and almost I would say it's a little is different in the West because you don't know who your friends are, you don't know who's for you because they're gonna smile in your face but call you the N-word when they get home. I think we saw Charlie like navigating that, like, okay, they may not do what I'm used to in the South, but it's still here, it's just strategically placed as roadblocks.

Steph 35:41

Like the white lady when she came back and told exactly, like strategically placed. But what were you doing the whole time before that? Getting down.

Lex 35:50

Yeah, so it's it's it's different, but it's still there.

Tasha 35:54

It is like it's still like covert racism be the one to get you. It is, yeah. And even I said, speaking like, you know, microaggression, because again, y'all know I grew up an air first child, you know, again, similar, you know, a lot of times I was the only one. And like and I look back now on things that I let slide or things that I did. Did you have to think about it? And I did this point, like, you know, just not in my head, like in Kiki through that, oh okay.

SPEAKER_04 36:16

I look back now, I'm like, did she just I just I wish I would have.

Tasha 36:21

I wish I had, I wish that the confident Tasha that I am now could go back and some of the times I just you know had to like Kiki and smile my way through, so be like, girl, first up, I do, I wish I could go back, but I was I was just trying to survive like again, it was the world that I was in, it was all I knew. But looking back at it now, I'm just like the racism and like and the microaggression was like it was a real thing, like she really not in the idea. I just have like little moments that pop up. I'm like, she really says such and such. I wonder why she was okay with that.

Lex 37:03

And also you have those epiphanies as you grow, and you're like, wait a minute, but that's not okay, or you don't have the language to describe it, but once you do, you're like, okay, this is what I experience.

Star 37:16

It definitely exists. The racism, it's you know, it exists, it's a thing. And um, but shout out to Tartell, man. Like that dude. Are we moving, or you got more to say? No, I think I'm good. I think y'all covered what needed to be covered. I think so too.

Steph 37:32

I mean, it, I mean, yeah. The West Coast, I think him going out there, it was just, I think it's eye-opening, and it's like you can start afresh to a degree. And so I think it was a nice setting for Charlie to experience because coming from the South, like I just did a whole war, and then the disrespect that I still have, and then y'all knock my tooth out.

Lex 37:55

Like, but even the things I experienced in childhood.

Steph 37:57

Oh, definitely that. Definitely that.

Lex 38:00

People getting lynched in the streets daily, and then I'm living here, and people are like, la-dy-da.

Steph 38:05

Right. You want life insurance? Let's buy some life insurance. But yeah, it's it was just more liberal, liberal out there. I think it just gave you more hope through the eyes of them. Marge, Margie, Marguerite, she was a little aloof for me. You know, the fantasy world, girl, I can't. But I I could receive her.

Tasha 38:31

She was she I there's something to be said for having grown up in an oppressed south and then moving.

Steph 38:40

But she still had that imagination from then. She had it from a young age, she just continued on. And I but got her.

Lex 38:49

Now it's I I would argue, even like earlier than that, though, for her, because she talked about how I don't know if it was her, if it was Charlie, but they had talked about how her parents, down to her name, her parents named her Marguerite for a reason. Right because they didn't want her to have an N-word name. We wanted a name that commanded respect. That is that mentality was instilled in her from the minute she came to this. But that's still my name.

Star 39:21

My mom didn't know. That is why my son, we had that conversation when I named my son. We had that conversation.

Steph 39:26

My mom said the same thing. I mean, being from the Caribbean, she was just like, I wanted to give you a name where they can't say to determine my nationality just by my name. And I was like, All right, lady, good girl. But I could see why, because of the stereotype. Like the first thing when they see a name on a resume, and if they don't like it, they just swipe right, swipe left, like whatever.

Lex 39:48

Or even a name like Hattie, like in the book. Yeah, we knew that's a typical black name, black mammy slave name.

Tasha 39:57

And you should think that, but that is still a thing. It's still a thing. And I mean, it's hard because I feel like where we're at now, we are we're trying to rent a place where we want to hold on to so much of our culture and be like, hey, this is us, we're not ashamed, we're unapologetic for who we are as being African American in this world, but at the same time, still wanting to be like, okay, well, I don't want my child to not get the job because his name is such and such. Because he got one too many accents in his name. Mars. Yeah, too many R's. Well, his Jamar. Yeah, like too many as a law. But here's the thing, come on.

Star 40:40

And here's the thing, we've and we have talked about this, like we've addressed it before and we've talked about it, right? Um, what that looks like here, and why I appreciate being here geographically, because it is good luck not hiring one of us. Good luck, everywhere. We're everywhere, and not for nothing.

Lex 41:01

Steve, or we can be a Taiwan.

Star 41:03

Yes, like navigating both worlds. You know, like at the time where I did make the decision to move here, I literally I was like, okay, God, what am I staying in Cali? Am I going to Georgia? What's going on? Because I was job hunting. And it was literally every time I got an interview in Cali, I would get an interview for a position here. And I was like, ooh, what's going on? But the difference being, when I interviewed in California, I felt less confident. I felt like I was being interviewed as a part of the process. When I came here for my interviews and I was being interviewed by black women in leadership, black men in leadership positions, I felt more confident in that. So again, that's I think that is the difference, and that's the uniqueness of this area geographically, right? It's like we're here. So good luck not hiring one of us.

Lex 42:00

And honestly, this is a perfect segue into cocktail number three.

Sugar Hill Mule And Wearing A Mask

Lex 42:05

So go ahead and mix the pour the whole ginger beer. So, cocktail number three is what I like to call the Sugar Hill Mule in honor of Sugar Hill that was in the book. So, the Sugar Hill Mule is named after a utopian-like black society, just like this book. And that's what Sugar Hill was. But we see as the book progressed that Sugar Hill wasn't as polished as we thought it was. It had there was racism there, like we just talked about. There were struggles, there was some shit going on in Sugar Hill, and we know that everybody was on pens and needles. And I think that goes back to our conversation about Charlie and how he got there, and he was like, Oh my god, like very this is a utopia for black people, but then we learn and it's not. So the Sugar Hill mule is like that. It is a French mule, which I didn't know there was such a thing as a French mule, but all that means is there we took out the vodka and added cognac, and that makes it French because we know cognac is a French drink. Fancy. Um the question that I have as we sip this cocktail is in the great man, aspiration often looks polished on the outside, but complicated underneath. So as you sip this French mule, it's sharp, refreshing, but deceptively strong. And I think we've all understood the strong of this yaw. Do you think society rewards authenticity or performance? And does success require wearing a mask, or is it survival or surrender?

Steph 43:55

Cheers.

Lex 43:56

And is wearing a mask survival or surrender? Are we selling? It out. All right, let's taste this mule and let's see what we got going.

Tasha 44:03

Oh, you know what?

SPEAKER_06 44:06

It is good.

Lex 44:08

So we know we love y'all y'all.

SPEAKER_06 44:09

Okay, sorry, sorry, sorry. Absolutely love y'all y'all. The lit came out.

Lex 44:17

Or performance. Is it a mask? Okay, so wearing the mask, because we know when we're kind of like put our white voice on. So you talk about yes. Is that survival? Okay, so yes. But is that survival or is that a sellout? No, it's it's necessary surrender.

Star 44:36

It's definitely not a sellout.

Steph 44:38

I don't want to, I don't want to say it's a I don't want to use the word surrender because I feel like everybody does it. I feel like everybody does it. I don't care what culture, what what race you are, everybody does it to a degree because you still have to show up. You cannot be 100% authentically yourself.

Lex 44:55

So it's performance then.

Steph 44:56

Always.

Lex 44:56

Because I mean, and we just talked about the names and why did we do that?

Steph 44:59

Correct.

Lex 45:00

So our babies could get a chance.

Steph 45:02

Correct.

Lex 45:03

So is it survival or is it surrender? I don't like the word surrender because surrender.

Tasha 45:08

I mean, because it's like it's necessary, but that's the same. I don't like survival, but it's that's the same thing. But I do feel like, yes, do I have to go out here and do like the whole little cold switcher thing? Yes. Has it very well helped me because I do know how to move and speak through whatever different situation I've been, all different people, because I definitely was raised amongst a lot of different people. Am I able to move through really any environment? Like, hey, whatever we're doing, Tasha got you. Like I hey, I gotta be hey, your homegirl Tosh, or I gotta be Natasha, whatever I gotta be, I got it.

Lex 45:42

But I feel like if you talk to members of the Black Panther Party, they'd be like, Why aren't you being hired as Rashid instead of Joe? Because that's not that I agree, but that's what they would ask.

Tasha 45:54

Like let's let's keep it above. Like, you gotta do what you gotta do in order to make survive. Okay. I agree.

Lex 46:00

No, I agree. I think it's a survival tactic. I think it's a survival tack.

Steph 46:04

I mean, I mean, it is, it's it's always necessary to but Charlie did it. But here was the thing: Charlie was just like, do I change my voice to not sound like a southern person, or do I put on that code switching voice? Because Terrence, Margie's husband, was just like, you know, are you gonna go out and talk to them like that, basically in a nutshell? And was just telling him in a way, are you gonna change your voice or change the way you're talking? Or was it Anna? It was one of them that advised him to do that. But with even with Charlie, Charlie was like, I'm still gonna be myself is. Right.

Lex 46:36

Because he talked about how like they would learn all these big, they would read the dictionary and learn all these big words. So yeah, I'm gonna use this word like onomonopoeia, but I'm gonna say it in my country ass accent. And he did. So that you understand that just because I sound like this doesn't mean I'm ignorant. Correct. But the same thing too.

Tasha 46:58

I mean, so it kind of goes back to that whole thing when they were like, so like they were looking down, Hattie, like, oh, well, you're right here playing like a mammy, which we know is definitely a racist character. But she's like, Yeah, but I but I got it. I got mine, I got it. Y'all in my house. You see my awesome, like you see, I got I got it, it's on the shelf. But I'm rich, bitch. Right. Right. I mean, right. This is the role, like, yeah, I'm not in blackface or whatever. Yeah, I may play a role that you're not comfortable with, and yeah, and we again is blatantly racist, but do you see my war? You you see the people show you see that as a sellout? Some people do is it a sellout, or is it you like, hey, this is if I am the painting of character in a certain time, like that's the role, that's what I'm doing. And again, once I get my sometimes you have to do stuff to get your foot in the door, you have to do stuff to get a seat at the table. And I and I understand the idea now, you know, hey, well, no, we don't have to be we don't need a seat at your table, we're building our own table. This that's great, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to get a seat at the table. And if I gotta be able to speak to you in a way that you're gonna understand fully, then that's what I'm gonna do. I don't know if that means I'm gonna sell out, if I just know how to move in the world, but it's like the world is not a it's not an all-black world, it's not an all-white world. You gotta be able to move amongst everybody, and I don't care. Like, like Steph said, it's like everyone does it. When you at the nail salon, and sometimes like they have these little side conversations, like everyone does it to some degree. Everybody, but hey, you are gonna have a certain level of comfortability with your own people that you're not gonna have in the world. So you have to, but in the world, you have to move a certain way in order to get along with everybody. So it'll be like it's not a good thing. Period.

Steph 48:49

Period. Like, period. I mean, nobody's ever gonna know you 100%, except hopefully the people that live in your house. Once you step foot outside that house, it's anywhere you go, anywhere you go.

Star 49:02

Now, I will say I I agree with all of that. I'm looking at the question, and I want to make sure that I answer Les question because we all because the way Yaya has taken over this episode and this conversation, I just want y'all to know. We love you, heart. I'm a really backhand. Cheers to Yaya. Um, however, we love the first part of the question being do I think that society rewards authenticity or performance? Currently, given what social media has done to society, right? And the level, there's there's a there's something different that is happening right now, right? That we haven't, we didn't experience. It's not how we grew up, Lex, probably to some extent, but the way we grew up, it was definitely, I think, performance. However, with social media, I do think that there is a lot of society rewarding authenticity. And that is what that's the variable that social media adds to the conversation, right? Because especially, and even now it's another level that we're seeing with the whole AI and all of that. Very quickly, it has shifted from AI AI to nah, like what people want who are yeah, who are you? Like, people want to see the authentic. So I think social media plays a very unique role in where we are right now in society, and that it is rewarding the authenticity. Whatever route you choose is okay. It's going to come with its own challenges, it's gonna come with its own, you know, path or whatever the case. No one greater than the other. It just is, right? It's the different route that you choose. So that's my take on that. And as far as like, does success require wearing a mask, or is it survival? Is it survival or surrender? Yes, it requires wearing a mask. Absolutely. Is it surrender? No, I think it's survival, survival of the fittest. Like, that's always been a thing. Survival of the fittest. Like those who adapt, it's from if you look at National Geographic and all those, those who adapt and those are the ones who continue on. You thrive, sink or swim, dog eat dog, like there's all they're all of these mantras, right? And I think that that's okay. It is absolutely survival. And yes, we absolutely have to wear a mask.

Tasha 51:46

This I will say though, yes, everything that you said, and you know, and all the points we've made, but I will say that I, from my own life, I feel like my greatest successes have come when I've been my authentic self. It may not be what, oh, well, you know, I had a mentor and suggested I did this. Well, you know, hey, to fit in, do this, or yeah. Like, I mean, do I know how to like close and move? Yes. But there is some point where I was like, This is this is Tasha.

Star 52:18

I don't want to do that.

Tasha 52:18

Hey, this who I am, either love, okay. If I don't get the job as Tasha, well, I didn't want the job anyway because when I show up, because again, at some point the mass is going to slip.

Steph 52:29

Yes, but you're not gonna go a hundred percent performative, you're not gonna go a hundred percent not your office.

Tasha 52:34

I feel like there may for a while. I feel like I I was because I was like, I gotta do what I gotta do in order to move through certain spaces. It was not until it took me a very long time.

Star 52:45

COVID, remember?

Tasha 52:47

It took me a very long time, you know. I can't say you to really to find the confidence I have, like to be like the Tasha I am today. I think that took a very long time. Yes, that's that comes with age in the last. I said, like, you know, maybe like 10 years, whatever, where I'm able to be like, hey, I'm going to a job interview as Tasha. Like, because again, it what if if I go there as anybody other than Tasha, y'all hired me, and it's gonna get exhausting for me to be interviewing Tasha at some point. The real Tasha coming out.

Steph 53:18

And it's like, but we have to understand the time that we grew up, the time that we grew up, we did have to be a little bit more performative for our age. We did, but I feel like the current times that we're we have now, you can be more authentically yourself.

SPEAKER_06 53:33

Wait, and that's how the world now.

Steph 53:35

So now, and then with our age comes the confidence. Like when we're younger, when we were growing up too, our confidence was a little shaky with it because in our time, there were still things going on where we could be, we could only go so far.

Star 53:49

And you have to remember too, the way that our parents raised us. Our parents raised us different than we are raising our children. Right. So what our children are exposed to. Yes. So that's very important. Like that, that is a big deal because we are keeping with, like, there are fundamental things that I tell my son and I teach him. But I also am very adamant with him. Like, listen, let me tell you about leverage. Let me tell you about if you're gonna be in the corporate world, this is how you move in the corporate world. It's not, oh gosh, I'm so thank you, thank you. You pick me, like it's not that. It because at the end of the day, like you will die at your desk and nobody will know that you're sitting there dead for days. And they will have your job post-like, absolutely not. So, you know, it's a means to an end. So you decide what your end is, and then it you use it accordingly. But so we parent differently, you know what I mean? So there's you have to account for all of those things across the board. But regardless, is it performative? It's an aspect of performative. Absolutely, yeah.

Lex 55:01

And I think I was gonna add too, because you Steph made a really good point about just the worlds that we live in are different now. And that's not to say that like there's not a lot more, more work should be done, because there definitely is, but like something I thought about immediately was the Crown Act.

Names Hair Politics And The Crown Act

Lex 55:18

And like, even as a little girl, you know, when your your mom is pressing your hair and taming your hair so that you can be presentable for these white people and you can get the jobs, and that's not that's not to shit on the moms that did that because that's what they knew.

Steph 55:37

That's what it wasn't.

Lex 55:38

Now we know if the job requires you to shave off your locks, that's illegal. That is illegal, that's illegal, and I think that's just it goes back to what you were saying about how our like things are becoming more acceptable. That's not to say there's not struggles or things are not still there, but that would have never passed in the 60s. Because the fact that you couldn't come up with with dreadlocks that because that's what they call dreadlocks in your head. No, shave that shit off.

Star 56:08

The fact that the Crown Act even had to be a thing is crazy and wild. Because why do you care? Like that's just mad because you can't do it. Yo, it's so crazy the idea and the thought of it. Like, what? Like, I wake up and this is how my hair is naturally, and there has to be a law so that it's okay to be even of the silver prize acts.

Lex 56:30

Well, I'm telling you, like a lot of it was about looking polished and looking professional and not looking threatening to other people. But I'm telling y'all, so that you could progress the movement. It's just what we knew we know. And one thing about black people, we're going to be resilient. Absolutely. And if that's what our parents had to do, our ancestors had to do, we wouldn't be here if they didn't make those sacrifices to make sure we had a place. Right.

Tasha 56:59

I did not know the question, but luckily, thank God my my child knew the question. So when she looked at me for real with all of her little six-year-old, it's just like what?

SPEAKER_06 57:08

Well, six is crazy. She's so what a six-year-old. Like six.

Tasha 57:13

And I finally like, I finally stopped getting a head. I think what's just she was like, she definitely was elementary school. It was about eight. I'm about to be like, okay, well, I guess you're not getting these problems anymore. All right, girl, this girl, all right.

Steph 57:23

When you have when you have a pool, it's yeah, I can see where she's gonna be. Yeah, when you have a pool, it's like why would you buy it if you don't want me to go and buy it?

Star 57:33

And in Florida, and growing up in Florida, it's hot all the time. It's like Cali, like it's all I I didn't have a coat. I didn't have a real coat until I moved here growing up in Cali. Like, you don't need a coat.

Tasha 57:44

Like, girl, what you can go in there for like the three, you can get your hair wet like the three days before your like before your next curve. Like, that's it. Other than that, girl, you just neck neck down. That's the only thing went. She did not have it.

SPEAKER_06 57:58

I'm swimming, I'm swimming, deep diving. Okay, what? I'm swimming. Throw it in throw it is. That is hilarious. Oh Lord, oh ladies, man. What an episode this has been.

Star 58:13

This has absolutely been a good one.

SPEAKER_06 58:16

Cheers to Yaya. This is like the fifth cheers in it.

Tasha 58:22

No, no, but you love her. No, and also cheers to um to Kira, like for real. Cheers to Kira. Yeah, because not for nothing, I love for real. Like I said, um Star. I not had a chance to meet her, and I've been like following what she's doing. Like, she's going through all of these historical neighborhoods in California, and she's like continuing to put out more history that of course we never learned in school or anything like that. I mean, you lived in California and you're like, wait a minute, I drove on that freeway. You they knocked down houses to put that freeway there. It's

Black Wealth History And Final Challenge

Tasha 58:57

just like in the things that we were not taught in, like in our history, and it's astounding, and I love everything that she's doing. Read the book.

Lex 59:05

The book was good, read the book, the book was amazing because we really didn't even touch on the plot for real.

Tasha 59:12

The book was amazing. Yes, the liquor was amazing. Like, hey, happy Juneteenth.

Star 59:17

Yeah, we got just black excellence, black excellence Kira hollow at us when you in here. The next time you're here, girl, come on, we got a seat at the table for you. And we'll give you some ya. We'll give you some ya too. Some ya, all right, stuff.

SPEAKER_01 59:33

But yes, up, girl.

Star 59:37

Before we close, because this is why you know the vibe. We always save space for something to sit with, sip on, or carry into your week. A lit challenge to move you, a tot for thought to ground you, or a memorable quote from the book that lingers like a good sip. I'm gonna keep it a buck with y'all. Normally, I have these, they're pre-written, they're drafted, it's not off the dome. Listen. So, the top for thought, because we did not touch a lot on the plot, the topper thought that I want to leave you with, and what I appreciated most about this book, and why I love it as much as I do, is there's something to be said about the conversation that we we've always been there. A lot of times they like to limit our history to slavery and the slave trade and all that. Listen, that was a part of our history. You were slaves, kids, yeah, like Barack Obama. And now we're here. And there were so many things that happened in between, like we're we are, you know, paying homage to the 1920s, the Harlem Renaissance era, right? You know, arts, just black excellence. So we've always been here. The other thing was the wealth building that has happened historically in black neighborhoods. They don't teach us that. They don't tell us that. Because they tear it down, they tear it down, they build freeways through it, they the levies listen. Heavy on the levies, Bray.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:18

Listen because what the fuck?

Star 1:01:20

Kira. I appreciate Kira writing this book. I appreciate that it inspired me to look into the area. Sugar Hill, real area, another area. Another area, black wealth. Sugar Hill, Black Wall Street. There were a lot of there was an area in New Orleans prior to Katrina. There was an area in New Orleans similar to Sugar Hill and Black Wall Street, where they had built up wealth and this community was destroyed by, you know, what have you. So look into it. Read the book, read the book, follow Kira. She's doing a lot on her page about, you know, going into more depth about the places and the people and the story. So by all means, follow her. Do a little bit more research and all of that. And just know, like, we've always been excellent. We've always been excellent. We have always been excellent. And tap in. Like, that's the challenge. Like, that is the challenge. That's the top for thought, and that's the challenge. Like, tap in to our black excellence, tap into who we are after the slave trade. Cause that is And even after Jim Crow. It it here's all that. Even after Barack Obama. What we're going to do, we are going to survive. Survival of the fittest. We are going to come out on top through all the adversity. So that's it. That's it for this episode. Fine women, fine literature, and fine libations always meet to the words that found you, the poor that held you, and the version of you that showed up to listen. Remember to share us on your favorite social media platforms and make room for someone else at the table. We will be back next time with The Boyfriend by Frida McDaniel. I think. Listen, BGL, we we be hopping genre to genre. We set the book, and then the time comes and we be like, well, we don't want to do that anymore. So that's the book. That's for sure the book. Freedom McFadden, the book of the book. But we know y'all love Freda. Yes, Frida has a lot of books. So that's that's what we'll be next. So by all means, we thank you for showing up and join us next time. And until then, read boldly and sit slowly. Cheers.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:59

Definitely to yaya.