Dayo Kosoko; The most recent collaboration from Simon and Schuster, Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin, is ‘Ain’t Burned all the Bright’
The paintings of Jason Reynolds and artist Jason Griffin date back to college, when the two became productive maximum friends. They collaborated on Reynolds’ first e-book, My Name Is Jason. Mine Too. , and have now teamed up to launch Ain’t Burned All the Bright, an e-book art for kids (aimed particularly at teenagers) that captures what it’s like to be black in America. As the eBook goes on sale today, the two Jasons have combined to share their maximum percentage of memorable pop culture milestones.
JASON REYNOLDS: It’s a tricky question for me because, as many know so far, I wasn’t a great reader as a kid, and while I’m sure I’ve been read books (because I’ve had to be), I don’t really forget a lot of them. But there is one that stands out for a very specific reason: Where monsters live. If I don’t forget this book, it’s because it was the first time I saw and heard the word “mischief. “I don’t know why it gets stuck, but. . . it’s revealing.
JASON GRIFFIN: I enjoyed reading funny facts. For me, the Guinness Book of World Records is a developing favorite: who is the tallest user of all time or who is the fastest user of all time. I can open the book on a random page and receive information quickly. To this day, I prefer nonfiction. I have a tendency to have trouble reading fiction, not because I don’t like stories, but because my mind’s eye starts to run and distracts me from the story.
REYNOLDS: It doesn’t take much to make me cry if I’m experiencing something visual. Books rarely do, yet TV or videos or even some ads knock me down. I literally had to avoid watching This Is Us because it was starting to look like self-flagellation. Also, anything that involves children. . . I’m finished. Or defeated.
GRIFFIN: Reynolds, your honesty is inspiring. I’d like to allow myself to cry more, and I’m running to drop the “men meant to cry” thing. . . because it sucks. And because repressing your feelings, pushing them away, is not healthy. I literally feel my final throat as a defense mechanism to hold back the tears. So it’s been a while since I’ve allowed myself to cry over a TV show, e-book, or movie. But if I can be honest, I’m drowning. all the time, like Reynolds. It can be just an ad, a TV show, a movie, and I’m on the couch holding on for dear life. “Don’t cry. Don’t cry. It’s just a TV show. ” It’s just a movie. ” The last movie that choked me was Christmas 8-bit – I was watching it with my wife and kids and almost got lost. Maybe it deserves to have it.
REYNOLDS: The Black Reign of Queen Latifah. I was 10 years old and it replaced my life because I studied the notes, read the lyrics over and over again, and was led to poetry.
GRIFFIN: Vanilla ice cream, extremo. Jajajaja. Vi this white guy on TV who knew how to dance. I think on Showtime a l’Apollo? My brother and I used to look at him when we were kids and try to copy the dance steps. I think if I could get my hands on the album and pay attention to “Ice Ice Baby” over and over again, it would help me with my dance skills.
REYNOLDS: Yes. It’s been a long time. I think it was Yasiin Bey’s last exhibition in America (at least that’s what he said at the time) at the Kennedy Center a few years ago. The power is incredible, an aggregate of gratitude and pain for the fact that we may never have that opportunity again.
Griffon: Concert? Man, after those last two years on COVID, I feel like it’s even hard not to forget what a concert is. I’ve seen concerts online and I like the series that Swizz Beatz and Timbaland put on Verzuz: I enjoyed the One with Beenie Man and Bounty Killer.
REYNOLDS: Do the right thing, because I think it’s perfect. And for the last few years, I’ve been obsessed with this Wendy movie, directed by Benh Zeitlin, which is a reimagining of Peter Pan. The ultimate inspiring movie, in terms of my narrative creativity, I’ve noticed that in a long time.
GRIFFIN: I love that question. Every time someone asks me what my favorite movie is or what my five most productive movies are, I respond with a question: do you mean the maxim that can be seen?Or a better movie? Because for me those things are very different. The visibility for me usually has a comedy detail, and that adjusts over the years. The one that stands the test of time is The Great Lebowski, by the Coen brothers.
REYNOLDS: Probably the South Side screen. Honestly, I love seeing other black people on TV playing dumb. . . for blacks. That’s how The South Side feels about me. And that doesn’t mean that all other black people find it funny (because it’s nothing), or that other people outside the black network don’t understand the jokes, but this screen and its humorous logo appear separate. to anything outside the doors of their specific cultural context. And I like that. Oh, too, I love Michael Che’s work.
GRIFFIN: Reservation Dogs, a TV series about 4 Native American teenagers who develop on an Oklahoma reservation, is amazing and hilarious. Thank you, my wife, for me!
REYNOLDS: There are books that I’ve studied quite a bit for all things. Books that, for me, have everything in one step. Here are some of them: Sula, through Toni Morrison; Long Division, through Kiese Laymon; Bone recovery, through Jesmyn Ward; May the great global pass through Colum McCann; We want new names, from NoViolet Bulawayo; Another Brooklyn, through Jacqueline Woodson; The Fire Next Time, through James Baldwin, and everything written through Walter Dean Myers. There are MANY others, but this is a start. We don’t even get into all the reference books and dictionaries!
GRIFFIN: As an artist, I can say books that have helped me tell my artistic practice. And I would say without hesitation, without hesitation, that James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time helped me perceive my own fact more than any other book, which helped my artistic process.
REYNOLDS: I think School of Chocolate in Netflix. Me love those kinds of shows, where other people do amazing things with fabrics that I never imagined we could do such things with. Chocolate. O glass. Or stone. Or steel. Or flowers. This is all mind-blowing to me. I think it’s because I’m obsessed with the process.
GRIFFIN: The Great. Incredible period piece that is able to still feel modern in many ways. The writing, the acting, the nuggets of wisdom, all superbly executed and worth watching.
REYNOLDS: The ’70s, which feels fictional to me now.
GRIFFIN: The Matrix — it would be so much easier to just mentally download information, or years of martial arts training, or history books.
REYNOLDS: Oooooh. So many. John A. Williams. John Oliver Killens. NoViolet Bulawayo. Mahogany L. Browne. Zora Neale Hurston (I know we all know her but her SHORT STORIES!) and, in America, Ali Smith. I think she’s just an incredible risk-taker. And I love some of the wonky things she does with language.
GRIFFIN: James Baldwin.
REYNOLDS: Right now… even though it’s been around since 1992, I think it’s important at this moment, I think we should all watch Baraka. It’s a beautiful and much-needed reminder of this precious, precious planet.
GRIFFIN: I think everyone watches shows/movies that broaden their understanding of the world around them. Sex education is a program that can get the most benefits from seeing it. It explores sex and sexuality through individuality, shamelessly and honestly, things. we all think but are too scared or shy to communicate, given its taboo nature.
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