THROUGH JULY 16th.

YOU'LL FIND MORE ON THAT ON OUR WEBSITE.

>>> IN HER NEW BOOK, FRANCESCA ROYSTER DESCRIBES THE MOMENT SHE KNEW SHE WANTED TO BE A MOTHER, AND THE TRANSCENDED EXPERIENCE WATCHING A MOTHER HOLDING HER SLEEPING CHILD ON AN AIRPLANE.

BUT THE DePAUL UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS PAT HOLDING HER OWN CHILD OF A QUEER BLACK WOMAN IN THE 40s WAS A LITTLE BUMPIER THAN THAT BEAUTIFUL MOMENT.

IN THIS MONTH'S BLACK VOICES BOOK CLUB SELECTION, ROYSTER RELATES HER EXPERIENCE OF BECOMING A MOTHER THROUGH A LENS OF HER OWN FAMILIES HISTORY.

THE BOOK IS CALLED CHOOSING FAMILY , A MEMOIR OF QUEER MOTHERHOOD AND BLACK RESISTANCE, AND, OF COURSE, FRANCESCA ROYSTER JOINS US NOW.

THANK YOU.

SO THE IDEA OF CHOSEN FAMILY IS ONE THAT IS, OF COURSE, FAMILIAR TO MANY LGBTQ PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY, AND YOU CREATE YOUR OWN FAMILIES HISTORY TO DEMONSTRATE THAT IT'S A WAY MANY BLACK FAMILIES HAVE COME TOGETHER OVER THE YEARS.

TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR GRANDMOTHER IN PARTICULAR.

>> SURE.

WELL, IT TURNS OUT SHE WAS MY GREAT-GRANDMOTHER.

SHE WAS SOMEONE WHO CAME UP FROM LOUISIANA, FROM NEW ORLEANS, WITH HER MOTHER, AND ENDED UP REALLY RUNNING A BOARDING HOUSE IN BROWNSVILLE IN THE 1930S AND '40S, AND ACTUALLY , UP UNTIL , YOU KNOW, THE '60S.

AND I'M REALLY INTERESTED IN THAT IDEA OF CHOSEN FAMILY AS ONE THAT IS ABOUT CONNECTIONS , ABOUT MAKING A WAY OUT OF NO WAY, ABOUT PLAYING TO YOUR STRENGTHS AND MAKING HOME WITH THE PEOPLE WHO NEED IT.

SO THAT BOARDINGHOUSE WAS SOMETIMES WITH STRANGERS OR NEAR STRANGERS, DISTANT RELATIVES OR SOMETIMES, ACTUALLY, WITH MY OWN MOTHER.

SO IT WAS A WAY OF OPENING UP HOME.

DIFFERENT KINDS OF RELATIONSHIPS.

>> TO THAT POINT, YOU KNOW, YOU USE THE WORD QUEER TO DESCRIBE THE FAMILY THAT YOU WERE RAISED IN, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS WHAT WE WOULD CONSIDER A NUCLEAR FAMILY.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHEN YOU CALL A QUEER?

>> WELL, I THINK ABOUT THE WAY THAT BOTH OF MY PARENTS HAD A STRONG NETWORK OF FRIENDS WHO CAME IN AND REALLY HELPED, HELPED US, HELPED OUT IN TIMES OF CRISIS.

MY MOM IN PARTICULAR REALLY LEANED HARD ON HER FEMALE FRIENDS, AND SO WE HAVE LONG, LONG TIME KIND OF AUNTIES AND UNCLES AND PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN A PART OF OUR LIVES .

WHO FOLLOWED MY SISTER AND I AS WE'VE GROWN.

AND I THINK THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT.

AND ALSO, YOU KNOW, THINKING ABOUT BOTH OF MY PARENTS IN TERMS OF HOW IMPORTANT THEIR FRIENDSHIPS ARE AND COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS HAVE BEEN FOR THEIR OWN SUPPORT AS WELL.

MY DAD FAMOUSLY SAID THAT HE FOUND MANY, MANY DIFFERENT MOTHERS OVER THE COURSE OF HIS LIFE, AND SAID HE REALLY BELIEVES IN THAT IDEA OF FINDING THE PEOPLE WHO CAN MOTHER YOU AND NURTURE YOU.

>> WELL, THINK ABOUT THAT.

THAT CAN BE KIND OF TYPICAL IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY, RIGHT?

AND THE FAMILY THAT YOU KIND OF CREATE.

BUT IN THE BLACK FAMILY, BEN, YOUR ADOPTION STORY AS WELL, IT IS A TYPICAL FOR MEMBERS OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY TO ADOPT OUTSIDE OF THE FAMILY.

>> YEAH.

I THINK, YOU KNOW, IT'S FUNNY, BECAUSE I THINK WE'RE OFTEN SO BUSY KIND OF SURVIVING THAT ADOPTION AND SOME OF THE , THAT OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD FAMILY ISN'T REALLY THE ONE THAT'S THE FIRST THING THAT OCCURS TO US.

OFTEN, I THINK, IN TIMES OF CRISIS, WE HAVE STEPPED IN TO TAKE CARE OF THE PEOPLE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, OR TAKE CARE OF PEOPLE IN OUR OWN FAMILIES.

I THINK THERE'S ALSO SOMETIMES THE TRADITION OF THE STATE, AND JUST KIND OF NOT, NOT UNTIL RECENTLY , KIND OF BEING IGNORED BY SOME OF THE AGENCIES THAT DO ADOPTION.

AND SO I THINK WE'VE, AS A CULTURE, HAVE OTHER WAYS OF KIND OF TAKING CARE OF EACH OTHER'S CHILDREN , LOOKING OUT FOR EACH OTHER .

SOMETIMES IT'S TEMPORARY, YOU KNOW, FOR SUMMER, FOR A YEAR OR A COUPLE OF YEARS, OR, YOU KNOW, FOR A SEASON, AND SOMETIMES IT'S REALLY TO BE INVESTED IN THE LIVES AND MAKING SURE THEY GET THEIR EDUCATION.

>> YOU TALK ABOUT HOW YOU AND YOUR WIFE HAD TO RECKON WITH THE TRAUMA THAT IS INHERENT IN ANY ADOPTION.

HOW MUCH OF THAT HAD YOU CONSIDERED WHEN YOU BEGAN THE PROCESS?

>> IT WAS REALLY SOMETHING THAT WAS UNDERNEATH THE SURFACE , YOU KNOW?

IN TERMS OF THINKING ABOUT , ESPECIALLY AS WE WERE WRESTLING WITH WAYS OF ADOPTION , THINKING ABOUT WHAT IT MEANT, FOR EXAMPLE, TO STEP IN IN A FOSTERING SITUATION.

I REALLY THOUGHT ABOUT THAT , THAT, TO ME, BECAME MUCH MORE CLEAR.

BUT I DIDN'T REALLY THINK ABOUT IT IN TERMS OF, YOU KNOW, RECKONING WITH OUR OWN GRIEF, RECKONING WITH OUR BIRTH FAMILY'S GRIEF, AND REALLY WANTING TO HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH A FROM BIRTH FAMILY, ACKNOWLEDGING WHAT THE PROCESS OF ADOPTION, THE IMPACT OF THAT.

AND THEN, YOU KNOW, MY CHILD'S OWN GRIEF AS WELL.

LIKE, THE WAY THAT EVEN, YOU KNOW, PROVIDING A LOVING, REALLY KIND OF WIDE RANGING FAMILY , THERE ARE WAYS THAT SHE'S HAD TO WRESTLE WITH THE REALITIES OF BEING ADOPTED , AND ALSO THE PRESSURE OF TALKING TO PEOPLE WHICH SHE DOESN'T NECESSARILY WANT TO ABOUT ADOPTION AS WELL.

>> THERE ARE A LOT OF NUANCES ABOUT ADOPTION THAT MANY FOLKS UNDERWEAR UNLESS YOU'VE GOT SOME OF RELATIONSHIP OR EXPERIENCE WITH IT AS YOU HAVE.

YOUR DAUGHTER IS 11 NOW, AND AT THE END OF THE BOOK, YOU SAY TO YOUR DAUGHTER THAT THIS BOOK IS FOR HER.

WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS WILL BE LIKE FOR HER TO READ ONE DAY WHEN SHE'S READY?

>> WELL, I'M HOPING THAT SOME OF THESE STORIES ARE FAMILIAR TO HER, BECAUSE SHE'S COME WITH ME TO BOOK READINGS, AND SHE WAS THERE WHEN I LAUNCHED THE BOOK, YOU KNOW, IN CHICAGO.

AND, YOU KNOW, SHE'S REALLY, I THINK, TAKING IN THE FACT THAT THIS IS A STORY THAT'S VERY PERSONAL TO US, BUT IT'S ALSO A STORY FOR A LOT OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF PEOPLE.

SO I HOPE THAT WHAT SHE FEELS IS A SENSE OF PRIDE, AND JUST A REINFORCEMENT OF THE DEEP LOVE THAT WE HAVE FOR HER, AND THE FACT THAT, YOU KNOW, WE WENT THROUGH A LOT IN ORDER TO CREATE OUR HOME FOR HER.

>> BECAUSE OF YOUR LOVE FOR HER.

>> YEAH, ABSOLUTELY.