Actor and author Taye Diggs talks about his book “Why?” (VIDEO)

NEWSY’S CHANCE SEALES: For many families, talking about being black and brown in America today — and in the past — can be very difficult. Taye Diggs, who stars in films like ‘The Best Man,’ ‘How Stella Got Her Groove Back,’ ‘Brown Sugar,’ and on stage, ‘Rent,’ is also the author of ‘Why?’ – a conversation about race. Mr. Diggs, thank you for being here.

TAYE digs: Thank you for hosting me.

SEALS: This book is very much inspired by that moment – ​​real life. Are they based on real conversations you’ve had?

EXCAVATIONS: Similar. Similar conversations. I was inspired to write this because of some of the discussions that me and my 12 year old son had and during those conversations. I was struck by the idea that sometimes in life — and this is one of the reasons I decided to write the book — as a parent, sometimes the answers to some of the questions that have been asked are not tied to a tiny little colorful book. Sometimes it’s not about right or wrong or black or white or up or down. Sometimes the answer to these questions can be uncomfortable and there isn’t necessarily an answer, or no answer that will make either party happy and I wanted to experience that in this book. You know what I mean? I’m sure kids around the world were watching what was happening here in America during Black Lives Matter and wondering what the deal was. And I wanted to do my best to give an accurate representation of at least my point of view and how it applies to my son as well.

SEALS: Well, I wonder how you got there because the kids in your book, they get these really succinct answers, you know, from these really wonderful grandparents and parents to questions that whole textbooks have been written about , you know. What is your process for distilling this? Because these are such complex subjects.

EXCAVATIONS: I mean, I don’t want to do any woo woo here, but I really feel like sometimes, you know, the words kind of come to me and, and I write them down. People can choose to believe what they want, but that’s how I know something’s supposed to be going through me – when I don’t think about it much and it comes out and it’s one of these situations. I owe a lot to the style of writing that I used, to my mother and the way she read me and… She always read me books that had a certain rhythm. And I like that, you know, some of the little phrases, they kind of come back, you know, almost like the chorus of the song. So, you know, it all lends itself to my writing and specifically to this book.

SEALS: I was going to ask you about the music because to me when I read this it has a melodic quality. Like I said, many of us, the first time we met you was on the Broadway hit of the 90s and we can’t forget your voice. And I read this book and I almost feel like I’m listening to these refrains, you know, that keep coming up and, you know, “We’re doing this because we need to.” We really need it. It seems it was intentional.

EXCAVATIONS: 100%. Yeah, like I said, I was raised in a very musical family and it became part of me, part of, you know, my relationship with my kid and now part of this writing. It’s just a language that’s comfortable. With my other books, there’s more of a kind of upbeat, happy rhyme scheme. And I was very that – if you could compare that to the music – it was more, as you said, rather melodic and deep, you know what I mean? As opposed to a kind of optimism and a staccato.

SEALS: You have other books, Taye. And I’ve read a ton of children’s books. I must say that I have two toddlers at home and they really memorize them. And with most of these books – and we have a lot of them in my family, which focus on different families, can face discrimination. We have two fathers in my family, you know, and we want them to be proud of themselves, ready for the world. But most authors, they play the possibility and the good in the world. But in this book, you focus on the injustices. The preface calls them simple and stimulating conversations. Why did you choose this approach?

EXCAVATIONS: Honestly, I was just trying to be as honest as possible. I was just telling someone else that as a person, I lean more towards seeing the bright side, seeing the positive side, trying to be positive. But I think in the world we’ve come to a point where that doesn’t necessarily work. And for us – I think, this is just my opinion – to really get to the bottom of some of these issues, it’s going to have to get a little uncomfortable. And I think we’ve avoided that for a long time. And I think, you know, for me, I wanted to include my kid in this discussion where “It’s the truth” and instead of saying what’s going on – whether it’s good or bad – let’s try to figure out why. And that seems fair enough to me.

SEALS: I notice you keep saying “That’s how I see it”. That’s how I wrote it. Why is it important to tell you this? Is it because you have the impression that there is a multiplicity of points of view?

EXCAVATIONS: I do. Yes… I think part of us growing together as a community is being able to accept other people’s points of view, whether we agree with them or not. Just to respect them. And you know, I try – I often fail – but you know, I try to be very aware of, ‘It’s just my way of seeing things and other people have different points of view.’ And I think we’d be a little better off if we were able to accept other people’s uses and perspectives more.

SEALS: You talk about perspectives and that’s kind of the height of the book and I wanted to read just a bit of it and really understand here.

A child asked the family — finally, all the elders got together and they asked, ‘Why are these buildings burning?’ And the family responds, ‘Well, baby, when you’re tired of screaming and not being heard, when you’ve cried so many tears from hurting yourself, when you’re screaming for help and you continues to be ignored, when we walk and walk and march but don’t really move. When all this happens, sometimes buildings have to burn. Buildings are burning for us. The anger burning these buildings is us.

Word must glue on. I guess that was intentional. What do you mean by buildings must to burn?

EXCAVATIONS: I just feel like that’s what’s happening in the world, you know. As you can imagine, this can get tiring because that’s how the world works. I mean, you take a dam and you fill it with water and you know, after a while, if you don’t take care of that dam, the water will burst. You know, like dealing with my son. If I’m busy with work and he keeps asking me to play with him, I’m going to see him behave differently around me. And I feel like that’s what’s happening in the world. With the pandemic, with Black Lives Matter, with ozone – we kind of have to deal with these situations or we’re going to face deeper issues on a deeper level. And I think that’s what’s happening right now.

SEALS: It seems to me that you’re trying to get us to talk about things that are really hard the way they are and really hard to talk about. At the end we see the family praying for peace and they say ‘What do we do?’ and they pray. And even visually it becomes lighter and brighter. Personally, I pray every day. I like that, you know, the prayer is in there, but I also wonder: Do you have any ideas of what we can do for ourselves and our communities?

EXCAVATIONS: I think I’m seriously talking about these problems without having the idea of ​​fixing them at the moment, you know. Without the idea of ​​’In this conversation, what can I say that will make you feel better?’ I don’t think it’s – I think we literally have to get our hands dirty and talk about how we really feel and start there. Other than that, I don’t know. But I think desire is a good thing and I think it can start there.

SEALS: It’s awesome. And if somebody makes a mistake somehow, I heard somebody say that we should try to assume that somebody has a good heart or, you know, good intentions, that those things are so difficult. And you say the conversation should happen. Is it okay to make a mistake in the process if you’re really trying to learn?

EXCAVATIONS: I feel like that’s part of it. We talk about our feelings. There should be no errors, you know what I mean? I’m trying to make the connection with Walker. No one can tell you what you are feeling is wrong because it is your feelings. If you have a problem with the way I feel, that’s on you. So we have to, I think on all sides of the situation, be open and listen without letting our own ego get in the way. So if you say something that makes me feel a certain feeling, okay, I respect that. Now that makes me feel a certain way. That is not an error. That’s how you feel. I feel like that. Do we want to talk about it? Well, let’s talk about it, you know what I mean? But you know, it’s really hard for people to move on if they’re afraid of making mistakes. The only way things can get better is if people make mistakes.

SEALS: The book is ‘Why?’ So many people would be too scared to tackle such important topics and you dive into it. Taye Diggs. We appreciate your time. Thank you very much.

EXCAVATIONS: Thanks dude. It’s good. It’s good. I appreciate it.