By Natasha T. Brown
Author R. Kayeen Thomas is an author, poet, journalist, hip-hop artist, and social justice advocate out of Washington, D.C. In February Thomas received an NAACP Image Award Nomination for Outstanding Debut Author for his novel Antebellum, published by Strebor/Simon & Schuster. On April 16, Thomas’ third novel The Seven Days will be released and available everywhere books are sold, including online. This book is a prequel to Antebellum; both novels force readers to evaluate the important lessons lost and gained from African American past.
Save the Date for The Seven Days-Antebellum Book Release Party from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on April 30 at Busboys and Poets (14th& V NW), hosted by the Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton.
Thomas creates compelling and thought-provoking novels important to the African Diaspora by juxtaposing today’s hip-hop culture with daunting realities of slavery and the mindsets associated with both. Learn more in his own words:
OnStage: Many people are becoming authors. In such a competitive industry, how did you secure your book deal?
Thomas: I actually self published my very first book, Light: Stories Of Urban Resurrection, during my junior year in college, so I am well aware of the self-publishing struggle. I've heard some people establish themselves as a "published author" as opposed to just an author, but I don't know how much of a difference that makes to ordinary people. I try and set myself apart a couple of ways - first revealing my publishers (Strebor Books/Simon & Schuster); making known my NAACP Image Award Nomination for Outstanding Debut Author, and also talking about my other artistic endeavors.
My book deal was actually a bit providential. After graduating from Carleton College, I taught for five years at various grade levels from elementary to high school. It was during my last year of teaching that I was working on Antebellum, and it just so happened that my publisher, Zane, had a child in my English class. One day she reached out and wanted to come present to the students for career day. I brought what I had finished of Antebellum, which was about half of it, to school that day, and asked during lunch if she wouldn't mind taking a look at the manuscript. She agreed, and a few days later she contacted me to let me know that she really liked the work and she wanted to publish it. The rest, as they say, is history.
OnStage: Describe what inspires you to write and how do you choose your topics?
Thomas: I am always inspired by the black community. Our triumphs, our struggles, and our issues as a people are almost always the source of inspiration behind my works. Once I have an issue that I know I want to focus on, I try and find a way to approach it from a creative, out-of-the-box perspective. My end goal is to always come up with an entertaining story that makes you think about the issues that inspired it.
OnStage: Antebellum is your most popular novel yet. Explain the premise of the novel and what you are hoping to achieve with its readers?
Thomas: Antebellum is about a rapper whose given name is Moses Jenkins, but his stage name is Da Nigga. Through a series of events, Moses is transported back into the antebellum slavery period, and forced to experience slavery firsthand. He then returns to the present day, with all of his memories intact, and has to figure out how to continue to live his life in the context of what he went through. Essentially, he has to learn how to continue being a rapper after knowing what it was like to be a slave. My goal with this book is to provide an artistic bridge between the hip-hop generation and the civil rights generation, while also challenging the hip-hop generation to consider its past, even while it’s making money in the present. If that happens, maybe we can change our future.
OnStage: Do you feel that there is a disconnect between today's hip-hop culture and the Civil Rights generation? If so, what exactly is the disconnect and what causes it?
Thomas: I believe the disconnect between the hip-hop generation and the civil rights generation is due to a couple of factors, but none of them are more dangerous than the myth of post-racialism. We live in a society today that is doing its best to convince us that racism and discrimination is a thing of the past, and that it doesn't really exist anymore. We look at instances of racism as isolated and detached from our existence. The Civil Rights generation knows better. Many of them still remember segregation, marching, and being called the n-word. And even though every generation has a "heathen complex" about the one coming up after it, I believe for the black community it’s exacerbated by the fact that the younger generation is disconnected from its living history. A grandfather can sit in the same room with his grandson and have to stomach the fact that his life experiences have no bearing on his offspring. This, above anything else, is what causes the disconnect.
OnStage: You have a novel publishing this month. What is it called and what is it about?
Thomas: My novel publishing this month is entitled The Seven Days. It's a sort of prequel to Antebellum, in that it tells the story of one of the characters that is introduced at the end. The premise of the book is that two men unknowingly share a royal African bloodline that makes them susceptible to a condition called The Seven Days, where for that time period one can be possessed with the spirits of their deceased ancestors. Both of the men are black, so their deceased ancestors are slaves, and when one of them gets possessed, the chaos that ensues threatens to consume them both.
OnStage: You mentioned earlier that you have additional artistic endeavors. What else are you involved in besides being an author and how will you build on your platform as a published author?
Thomas: I wear many hats outside of being an author. I am a playwright, poet, hip-hop artist, director and producer (and I'm sure I probably left something out). My goal is to use my success as an author to infiltrate different industries, and eventually establish myself with multiple different artistic mediums. In short, my goal is to be a renaissance man.
It was such a pleasure to speak with Mr. Thomas. After reading Antebellum, I know its prequel The Seven Days will be another amazing work. Please visit R. Kayeen Thomas online to support his work, and meet him in person on April 30 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. for the book release party, located at Busboys and Poets at 2021 14th Street NW, Washington, DC, 20009.
Watch Thomas’ rap about Antebellum below:
Natasha Brown is a writer and founding communications strategist of Think Brown INK, a creative think tank and communications agency, focused on social responsibility branding for artists, entertainers and entrepreneurs. Follow her on Twitter @NBrownINK or @TBINatasha or her company @ThinkBrownINK.