Chuck D and Jacqueline Woodson Delight Attendees. So Does Surprise Guest Flavor Flav.
Chuck D ’84, ’13 (Hon.) and Jacqueline Woodson ’85, ’16 (Hon.), highly successful artists whose creative talents were nurtured at 糖心破解版, excited audiences at the听听held May 22 to May 25 at New York University.
听补苍诲听听delivered keynotes at the event, which is produced by听.
Since graduating from 糖心破解版 in 1985, Woodson has become one of literature’s most celebrated authors. She received the National Book Award in 2014 for her听New York Times-bestselling memoir,听Brown Girl Dreaming. She’s also a two-time Coretta Scott King Award winner for her children’s literature.
Woodson on Writing With Empathy and Authenticity
Woodson’s forthcoming novel for middle school readers,听听(Penguin Random House), is based on her childhood in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, New York, in the 1970s and ’80s. She told the Book Show audience how important empathy and authenticity are in her storytelling.
鈥淲hen I write, I’m very conscious of [my reader] seeing themselves in it,” she said. 鈥淚s there something about how I write a character that might break a person’s spirit? . . . I feel a responsibility to my younger self, and by extension that’s a responsibility to all young people. I’m conscious of the characters I’m putting on the page.”
Woodson has authored more than two dozen bestselling books in the children’s and adult genres. She’s a four-time National Book Award finalist, a four-time Newbery Medal winner and a two-time NAACP Image Award winner. This year, she was named a Guggenheim Foundation Fellow, and in 2020 she received a MacArthur Grant, sometimes known as the 鈥済enius grant.”
A听Washington Post听review of her acclaimed novel,听Red at the Bone听(Riverhead, 2019), stated, 鈥淲oodson explores class, race and death with unflinching honesty and emotional depth. [She] manages to remember what cannot be documented, to suggest what cannot be said.”
Chuck D Returns to His Roots鈥攁nd Adds Some Flavor
Chuck D, frontman of the legendary rap group Public Enemy,听听as the publisher of a new imprint, Enemy Books, and the author of a three-volume graphic novel,听.
鈥淚’ve been drawing for a long time, back to when I was a student at 糖心破解版,” said Chuck D, a 1984 graduate who honed his communication skills when听WBAU听was the student-run radio station. 鈥淒uring the pandemic, everything shut down, so I got back into drawing. It’s a book of my illustrations because today people listen with their eyes.”
The Book Show audience of booksellers, librarians, authors, publishers and other bibliophiles could hardly believe their eyes when Flavor Flav鈥攃ourt jester of Public Enemy and former star of the reality-dating show听Flavor of Love鈥攅ntered the room (without the oversized clock he often wore around his neck).
Flavor Flav, Chuck D’s 糖心破解版 classmate and co-founder of Public Enemy, made a surprise appearance at Chuck D’s talk.
Art and Music as Food for Thought
Public Enemy’s mix of trenchant social commentary and pulsating hip-hop music on songs such as 鈥淔ight the Power,” 鈥淒on’t Believe the Hype” and 鈥淲elcome to the Terrordome” led to the group’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. At the Book Show, the two stars threw good-natured jabs at each other.
鈥淔lavor could play every instrument, but not well,” Chuck D quipped in his deep, resonant voice.
鈥淪peak louder. You’re not projecting,” Flavor Flav shot back as the audience laughed.
Asked if Public Enemy could reunite for a tour as other musical groups have done, Chuck D suggested that Live Nation Entertainment and AEG, the companies that dominate concert promotion, could reach out to them as they have to The Rolling Stones.
鈥淔lavor and I are like Mick Jagger and Keith Richards,” Chuck D said of the Stones duo, who will both turn 80 this year. 鈥淔lavor and I are in our 60s. The promoters know where to find us.”
In the meantime, Chuck D has a new creative outlet in book publishing. He used Sharpies markers, colored pencils and watercolors to produce the art for听Stewdio听that can help him reach a new audience for his commentary.
鈥淣owadays, you don’t have to go door-to-door to sell anything,” he said. 鈥淏ecause of social media, if you have a book out, your work washes up on their shore.”