(bright music) - This week on "Curate."

(bright music) - [Kwame] The first rule for me is when I'm writing something for young people, I gotta love it first.

'Cause I figure if I love it, the chances of you loving it are gonna increase.

(bright music) - [Miriam] Artists often see things that other people don't see yet.

- [Curtis] Every project you go into, you get to hear people's story.

You know, they share things with you that is just amazing to be able to learn all these things, so it's pretty special.

- Thanks for joining us.

I'm Jason Kypros.

- And I'm Heather Mazzoni.

Bestselling author and Emmy award-winning producer Kwame Alexander spent most of his childhood in Chesapeake, Virginia.

- His experiences growing up there have shaped his amazing career that includes authoring 42 books.

- Kwame Alexander isn't slowing down.

We caught up with the Newbery Medal award-winning writer on a visit back to his hometown.

(funky music) - I believe that books are amusement parks and sometimes we gotta let kids choose the rides.

(funky music) I grew up in a house where books were reward and punishment.

Books were everywhere.

So from the time I was born, my mother was reading me poetry.

Lucille Clifton, Nikki Giovanni, Langston Hughes, Dr. Seuss.

I was reading it by the age of three by myself.

My mom made reading fun and cool.

(upbeat jazzy music) My mother would sing to us in the mornings while we were getting ready for school.

On road trips, she would tell us stories, African folktales.

Like, she always found a way to make the words come off the page.

She'd put them on the stage.

When I'm with young people, whether I'm writing or whether I'm presenting or speaking or performing, I'm always trying to bring the words off the page and to make them come alive for young people, much like my mother did for me.

(upbeat jazzy music) - [Announcer] We are very pleased to welcome Kwame Alexander.

Grew up in Chesapeake, and he is a multi-award winning author.

- The first rule for me is when I'm writing something for young people, I gotta love it first.

I'm not talking down to them.

I'm writing something that 12-year-old Kwame would've loved and Kwame today would've loved.

'Cause I figure if I love it, the chances of you loving it are gonna increase tremendously.

- [Heather] This is evident, especially when he's sharing his knowledge with young readers.

- So let's take for example, rhyme.

Is rhyme an ingredient that goes into making a poem?

I think so.

I wonder if there was a rhyme that I could give you as an example.

Hmm.

Acoustic rooster sat outside, strumming his bass guitar.

He practiced jazz all summer long so he could be a star.

Exactly.

There is a book that is the most popular and probably the biggest selling book, and the book that got turned into a television show and the book that got turned into a television show that won a Emmy award.

- [Ball Player] Dribble, fake, shoot, miss.

Dribble, fake, shoot, miss.

- [Team] Dribble, fake, shoot, miss.

Dribble, fake, shoot, miss.

- If you don't keep that ego in check, you gonna lose yourself.

- We go hard, just like we always have.

- [Coach] No matter what, you're a net tied together.

- [Ball Player] Let's rock this.

We got this.

- [Crowd] Let's rock this.

We got this.

Let's rock this.

- And the book that millions of kids around the world have read, and that's called "The Crossover."

And that's the book that sort of changed my life.

That was book number 14.

(audience applauds) "The Crossover" was published in 2014, and it's about two brothers who are twins and they play basketball.

And the brothers, one has long blocks and the other has no hair like me, and the brother with no hair, and he bets his brother he's gonna make the last shot in the basketball game.

And if he makes it, he gets to cut off all his brother's hair and his brother responds like this.

"If my hair were a tree, I'd climb it.

I'd kneel down beneath and enshrine it.

I'd treat it like gold and then mine it.

Each day before school, I unwind it.

And right before games, I entwine it.

These locks on my head, I designed it.

And one last thing, if you don't mind it.

That bet you just made, I decline it."

- Why did you wanna become an author?

- I believe the world is not such a beautiful place all the time, and I think we want it to be beautiful.

Right, Jackson?

And I feel like in order for it to be beautiful, we have to imagine it beautiful.

And I feel like in order to imagine it beautiful, we have to have some understanding or experience or connection to what's possible.

There's no better way to open up a world of possible than to open up a book.

And so I thought maybe I can help kids imagine a better world by writing books and feeding your imagination.

- Oh, okay.

- It's the first thing I'd say.

The way we become better writers is by reading.

The second thing I would say is probably something that Nikki Giovanni said to me at Virginia Tech.

I was taking an advanced poetry class with her and I got a C and I was kind of upset.

And I went to talk to her and she said, "I can teach you how to write, Kwame, but I can't teach you how to be interesting."

And of course that was, like, I felt a certain kind of way.

I was in my feelings.

But when I look back on it, well, it's some of the best advice I've ever gotten as a creative, as a writer.

If you wanna write something that's interesting, you have to be interesting.

In order for you to be interesting, you have to be interested in life.

So I try to walk through life as a willing participant.

I recommend that everybody who wants to write, whether it's children's books or novels or whatever, walk around as a willing participant in life.

Pay attention to things and to being, you know?

Have something worth writing about.

(gentle music) - [Heather] When he is at home and even when he isn't, one thing Kwame Alexander enjoys is exploring and sharing his family history.

- [Kwame] So this over here, this used to be the mill.

- [Sean] Oh, get outta here.

- [Kwame] Bell's Mill.

- Bell's Mill got his, all right, right, right.

- This is the mill.

- Okay.

- The first Alexanders, my namesake, to come here was James Henry Alexander.

He brought his family to work in the mill.

- [Heather] On this day, joined by his cousin, he visited the family cemetery.

- These are all soldiers, United States colored troops.

You can tell a lot about, you know, a family by visiting a cemetery.

You can learn a lot.

(contemplative music) That's Aunt Jenny.

I didn't know her first name was- - Yeah.

- Fidellia.

- So this gotta be Granny and Granddaddy.

(contemplative music) I am afraid of dying.

I'm afraid of that process of it.

But the flip side of that is, I'm intrigued by this idea, this spiritual notion that I will be reunited with these folks.

- [Sean] Right.

- [Kwame] Because I feel like I got to know them when I was a kid.

I didn't get to really interact with them as an adult.

- [Sean] Exactly.

- I got so many questions.

Everything I write is me trying to imagine and reimagine all of their stories.

And so for me, it's the writing.

That's what keeps me sane and gives me hope.

Books are powerful, man.

Literature can transform you.

It can save you.

It's life giving.

It's life saving.

And whenever I talk about the ancestors and our people, I feel a little bit stronger.

(gentle music) - [Heather] His time back home also triggered memories surrounding his love for jazz, his music of choice when he's writing.

- I came home on spring break sophomore year and I was in my attic at my parents' house looking for something and found this crate of records, Nancy Wilson and Cannonball Adderley, Duke Ellington, Ornette Coleman, Ella Fitzgerald live in Berlin.

That was my introduction to jazz music, these jazz records that my father owned when he was in the Air Force that were just sitting in the attic.

Coincidentally, it was also the moment where I've realized that my dad is probably more than just an academic.

He's probably kind of cool if he listened to these records, too.

And I kind of fell in love with him in that moment, too.

- I'm still awestruck even though his mother and I produced him.

When he was three, I told a group of students at William Patterson College, "We are trying to prove that we can raise him to be the kind of person to make a difference in this world."

And we planned for him to be different, to be concerned about other people, to be helpful.

(funky music) - [Audience Member] How do you choose what you're gonna write next?

- I write what I like and what I'm into in the moment, and what I'm interested in.

Right now, I am writing a movie, but I won't tell you what it's about.

You'll just have to wait and see.

But I'm writing a movie.

I don't know what it's called yet.

- [Heather] And with 42 books under his belt, you can bet that number 43 is coming.

- If I was forced into answering what's my favorite book, my answer's always gonna be, the next one.

(funky music) - [Heather] "WHRO Weekly Edition" is your go-to source for the latest local and regional news.

Join host Doug Boynton for a comprehensive and engaging half hour program that keeps you informed about the stories that matter most to our community.

- Artists have a unique ability to observe and interpret the world around them.

- For Miriam Riggs, a painter and nature enthusiast who has lived on the Eastern Shore for 25 years, art and ecology are deeply connected.

- Her art is inspired by the ecosystems she carefully nurtures.

- And also the people who live within it.

(gentle flowing music) (gentle flowing music continues) - Artists often see things that other people don't see yet because they just look more deeply at the natural environment or whatever environment they happen to be immersed in.

(gentle flowing music) I've been here 25 years.

It is a potentially threatening environment here.

It's a very dynamic environment where things can change quickly because of natural forces beyond my control.

(gentle flowing music) This is a painting depicting the ghost forest that's located at the end of Broadway Road here.

I call this "The Ghosts of Broadway."

It starts out with large pine trees that are still very much intact, and yet as the road goes lower, you can see certain trees dying back on the edge of the woods because of the saltiness of the soil.

I didn't know what I was seeing when I first moved here.

I just thought, oh, that's pretty.

That's very sculptural.

And now I realize more what it's about.

(ominous music) This is called the ghost forest activity.

They're just aligned in the way that they're falling down because they will have roots that draw toward the fresh water and toward the landmass and shorter roots heading toward the salt water.

It's just too salty for big trees to grow anymore.

And that's just it.

Pine trees in the distance, they will be the next front of trees to go.

(contemplative music) It's a viable ecosystem, but it's changing.

Before, I never saw the red-headed woodpeckers, for example.

Now, there are so many insects in the dead trees that the red-headed woodpeckers like to come in and hang around here, too.

My pond, it started out actually as kind of a depression, a natural drainage area.

And I did get a permit and dug it out deeper because I saw the potential for making a little ecosystem there.

I've always loved small aquatic animals like turtles and frogs specifically.

They're just my thing.

(gentle music) This is a hand painted 10 by 12 foot floor cloth.

It depicts a lot of the creatures that live in and near my pond.

And this in particular are four frogs looking together and you can kind of see their faces there.

And here's a couple of tadpoles placed in that design.

(gentle music) This is a flood zone.

So the pond, which started out as a freshwater pond and had many freshwater aquatic animals in it, is now changing over as we've had more frequent salt water overflowing into the pond.

(gentle music) When I saw a blue crab in my pond, I thought, this is weird.

A blue crab is a salt water animal.

How can they be living in my fresh water pond?

And I realized then the salinity of the pond must be up pretty high.

We had about a foot of water, flood water, on the property at that time.

This land dwelling turtle couldn't walk fast enough to get out of the flood water.

I found it just floating around and I guess it just didn't know what to do.

I thought that really says something about the plight of these upland animals being overcome by the salty flood waters.

What do they do?

Can they survive?

(gentle music) During a major storm, it could have as much as two or three feet of water in the yard.

I would like to try to live here as long as possible.

The house has been raised up four feet from its original foundation.

I have my propane tank anchored down so it won't flood away.

And the studio, too, is built out of the predicted flood hazard zone.

I don't wanna be foolish.

In the meantime, I consider it sort of adding relevance to my work that I'm willing to suffer some inconvenience in order to document the changes in the wildlife, document the changes in the landscape, document the challenges that are required for people to live here and maybe be able to pass on some advice for those who are interested about how not to panic, but to live more sensibly and more in harmony with nature.

We're going to have to adapt if we wanna survive.

(gentle music) - [Jason] For another fascinating look at life on the Eastern Shore, watch WHRO's documentary "Against the Current."

- Welcome to "Curate Presents."

I am Kayda Plus and I'm here with Curtis Boggs.

How are you, Curtis?

- Doing great.

- I know you've been working on some things since the last time we spoke.

- You know, I'm just finishing up a documentary on the 1967 Ford GT40 Mark IV.

- Okay.

- And I had the privilege of working with a team that's doing continuation cars.

So they're building new ones, but they're built exactly like they were in '67.

Most people know that story from "Ford v Ferrari."

That story ends at 1966.

This is the '67 car that won Le Mans by, I think it was 36 miles over second place.

Now, I have a racing background and I remember this car.

The GT40 is one of the most famous race cars in history.

You know, I hate to make it personal for me, but it's such a privilege to hear all these people tell that story.

It's pretty special.

- As a documentarian, what do you feel your role is in society?

- I hope that I can impact people and help their lives in some way.

That's why most of the documentaries I do, I like to kind of lean towards, you know, the personal and emotional impacts of whatever we're talking about.

- Nice.

Speaking of, there's another big documentary that you're working on now, right?

- Fighting Gravity was big in the, you know, in the '90s, early 2000s, a fantastic ska band from Richmond.

I was all about that.

So they were doing a big show in Richmond, Brown's Island show, and they wanted somebody to do some video on it so I suggested doing a documentary.

- It seemed like everything just fell into place like it was supposed to.

(upbeat funky music) - [Curtis] I followed one of their fans.

- [Kayda] Okay.

- This lady Julie, and she's been to just about every show from 30 years ago to today.

She shows up early to the shows.

She makes sure she's front row.

Everybody in the band knows if they look down front, she's gonna be right there.

- [Kayda] Yeah.

- For people to follow a band for, you know, 30 plus years like that- - Long time.

- That's amazing.

- It is.

That is definitely amazing.

All right, so where can we see this documentary, this "Fighting Gravity" doc?

- The current version of it is on my YouTube channel.

The YouTube channel is thepowerofmusic.

The extended version, we're in discussion with WHRO, which, it'll be shown someplace there.

- All right.

Well, here's a clip of the "Fighting Gravity" documentary.

(upbeat rock music) (upbeat rock music continues) - [Narrator] "Fighting Gravity," an iconic American music collective hailing from the heart of Richmond, Virginia, originating as a spirited ska ensemble.

Boy oh boy.

The band evolved by seamlessly weaving together an eclectic tapestry of genres, including reggae, rock, and of course, ska.

Born amidst the vibrant atmosphere of Virginia Tech, Fighting Gravity emerged with their inaugural album, "Boy O Boy" in 1991.

Over the years, Fighting Gravity has left an indelible mark on the music scene, releasing a total of 11 albums, culminating in their final masterpiece, "blue sky & black" in 2006.

- I'm David Triano.

I play guitar for Fighting Gravity, you know, since a long time ago.

'85 probably.

Yeah, '85 we started practicing.

'86 was our first gig.

And then, you know, just been hanging out since.

We took a long break.

About 20 years we didn't play, I guess.

And then now we're doing a few shows every once in a while.

Dave and I started the band at Tech and started, you know, making up songs 'cause we couldn't learn anybody else's.

We were like, not good at all.

Like literally, Dave bought a bass for 50 bucks from a guy on the hall 'cause our bass player got put in jail.

And so Dave joined up.

- [Curtis] Where is Dave now?

I'm getting the true story.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The first bass player I was rehearsing or practicing with, he threw a empty beer off the top of a building in downtown Blacksburg, and it landed and hit a cop in the head.

And he, yeah, or a full beer, I can't remember.

But he got thrown in jail for assaulting a cop.

He didn't know.

He wasn't trying to.

He just, I don't know.

Honestly, I've never told that story, but anyway, so Dave lived down my hall.

We got him a bass and we pretty much learned how to play music together.

I mean, neither of us knew what we were doing.

(upbeat rock music) After a few years at Tech, we were like, we're gonna move to Richmond and we're gonna hit the big time, you know?

So we all dropped outta school and moved to Richmond and our parents were freaking out, you know, but we were like, but we're gonna work really hard.

And they're like, you're gonna work really hard?

Yeah, we're gonna hang up flyers on telephone poles, you know, sold my car, bought a UPS truck and a PA. You know, we just, yeah, living the dream.

But instead of hitting the big time, we had time on our hands.

So we actually finished up college at VCU.

I met Chris and I met Schiavone, and James was in another band.

Oh my gosh, Schiavone.

I met him at a Sam Goody's record store.

(upbeat music) - I am Schiavone McGee.

My friends and fans know me as Vons.

Been in the band since 1987.

The band actually started at Tech like in 1983 or four.

Then they moved to Richmond.

They moved to Richmond.

And Dave was, I think they had a different singer.

They had a different singer, but he stayed at Tech.

And then Dave started singing and then Tree started singing.

And then I was working in a record store, Sam Goody, back in the day.

And I didn't know he was in my store, but I was singing.

I was singing ♪ Generals and majors are hard ♪ I was singing that song and I was singing it loud.

I was like, no one was in the store.

It was first thing in the morning.

Turned around and he's like, "You wanna be in a band?"

I was like, "Who are you?"

And I said, "Sure."

Came to the audition.

Literally, it was like a half a song.

They're like, "You're in."

- What I've most cherished about the experience of being in this band is we've always been free to seek those moments and those spaces that, especially on stage in a live, you know, idiom, that if somebody feels, let's take a right, everybody by and large is like, cool, let's go right.

Let's see where we end up.

We'll get back on the highway at some point, but you know, let's take this detour.

Maybe there's a nice view.

And generally, you know, over time, we know each other well enough to find the view, which is pretty cool.

It's a good feeling, like you said.

- Well, unfortunately our time together has come to an end.

- Well, that's the bad news.

However, the good news is we'll be back with another new episode before you know it.

- God, I love your positivity, Heather.

- Well, you know, that's what I'm here for, Jason.

- Yeah, well in that case, we'll see you next time on "Curate."

(bright music) (bright music continues) (bright music continues) (bright music continues) (bright music continues) (bright music fades)