Only Public Radio Nerds Could Appreciate This

Tom Hall is Maryland Public Radio royalty. And I am a self-proclaimed public radio nerd. Just think about it. Public radio allows everyone the equal opportunity to learn a lot about many different things for free.

Information is power.

Wait! I can hear it now. I am definitely a geek. But I get it, honest.

I believe my passion has more to do with the fact that I'm an 80's baby. I was raised on Reading Rainbow, 3-2-1 Contact, and Sesame Street.

To me, Maryland Public Television was like cable before cable. It is where you could get exclusive content for a growing mind.

So, of course, when a PR friend hooked me up with an interview with WYPR, I started hyperventilating!

Tom Hall hosts What Are You Reading? a show where authors and others recommend books they enjoy. On the fourth Friday of the month at 4:44 p.m., during "All Things Considered," Tom finds out what's on bedside tables of authors and loads the titles onto e-readers across Maryland and beyond.

Tom sat down with me, and I hit him with what was on my shelf. I want to share these books with you as well.

First, we have James Baldwin's book, The Fire Next Time.

James Baldwin had a mind that made the pain of Black America's struggle explicitly clear and precisely direct. He had a way of distilling complexity. Like, who does that?! In 2018, James Baldwin became my refuge after leaving a 16-year career as a Black female corporate executive with three children, a mortgage, and no job waiting. I was full of conviction, spinning in various directions, and exhausted.

James Baldwin became an uncle in my head; through his words, essays, and YouTube clips, he gave permission for the fire that burned inside of me.

In James Balwin's non-fiction, "The Fire Next Time," he examines the consequences of racism. It was written in 1963, and it still mirrors our modern-day reality. I once heard an audio version in which Maya Angelou (my shero) recorded James Baldwin's conclusion. I listened to her rolling voice as she read, "God gave Noah the rainbow sign. No more water, the fire next time!"

The second book is Oludara Adeeyo's Self-Care for Black Women: 150 Ways to Radically Accept & Prioritize Your Mind, Body, & Soul.

Two years ago, I was introduced to this book by an attendee of a "Black Mothers Meet-Up" I hosted on behalf of the Baltimore Family Alliance at the Black Genius Art Show Gallery in Baltimore. It was one of the most rich, raw, and relatable conversations I could have ever imagined, and the need for "radical self-care" and "letting go of learned behaviors" rang out loud and clear.

Oludara's book touches on topics of the black woman's psyche and experience that we often underestimate and overlook. Every woman deserves to heal, and "Self-Care for Black Women: 150 Ways to Radically Accept & Prioritize Your Mind, Body & Soul" is a significant first step.

After enjoying these two books, you have to pick up mine, “That Part! What Some Know But Won’t Tell You About Motherhood”. It combines both themes of James Baldwin and Oludara in a funny and honest West Baltimore bow.