Can you tell me about a time where you brought someone forward that just was not like you felt was important to the story, but was mistrustful? And like what what did that experience feel like for you to get them on?

I have a terrible story, actually, of something that I reported for two years that didn't actually ever come out.

It didn't run.

It was a guy who worked for a major company in Maryland, and he was discriminated against.

He was driving in the car with his training supervisor.

And he was a black guy.

Supervisor was a white guy.

wants to tell you where to go.

How will people be able to participate? And why is that interaction so important to you?

So we're going to open the phone lines.

You're going to be able to call in and hold us accountable.

Please do it.

We want to hear from you.

We're also going to be having conversations on social media.

And YouTube and, you know, just opening this thing up so everyone can play.

Who are some of the guests that you're going to be having on and what are you going to be talking about with them?

What are you most looking forward to about this festival?

Um, so definitely locking in with community and talking to kids and being able to, um, to read and share the power of literature and how it transformed me.

But also that conversation with Kendi should be really good.

It'd be a good preview for some of the things we'll be doing when we launch the engagement.

Those deep conversations that sometimes people are scared to have.

How has reading shaped your own lives and were you big readers as kids?

So, no, I wasn't a big reader as a child, and it was by design.

But we know that young people lock in and get addicted to stories that speak directly to them and their experience.