Thank you Real Dads Network for sponsoring this Episode!!!

The Real Dads™ Network creates a culture where Black fathers are actively involved in the parenting process, and are portrayed and viewed as exemplary role models by society.

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Gil Scott-Heron is one of the forefathers of rap and  was recently inducted into Rock and Roll Hall Fame. My guest Malik Al Nasir was a protégé of Gil Scott Heron and he  just released his memoire entitled Letters To Gil, Malik Al Nasir’s profound coming of age memoir – the story of surviving physical and racial abuse and discovering a new sense of self-worth under the wing of the great artist, poet and civil rights activist Gil Scott-Heron.

Born in Liverpool, Malik was taken into care at the age of nine after his seafaring father became paralysed. He would spend his adolescence in a system that proved violent, neglectful, exploitative, traumatising and mired in abuse. Aged eighteen, he emerged semi-literate, penniless with no connections or sense of where he was going – until a chance meeting with Gil Scott-Heron.

Letters to Gil will tell the story of Malik’s empowerment and awakening while mentored by Gil, from his introduction to the legacy of Black history to the development of his voice through poetry and music. Written with lyricism and power, it is a frank and moving memoir, highlighting how institutional racism can debilitate and disadvantage a child, as well as how mentoring, creativity, self-expression and solidarity helped him to uncover his potential.

Available on Amazon

Letters to Gil: A Luminous Memoir of Racism, Life in the Care System and the Power of Discovering Music under the Mentorship of Gil Scott-Heron – with a Foreword from Lemn Sissay https://www.amazon.com/dp/000846443X/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_VV2P4S8FRYQFSM7V5FE8

Follow Malik Al Nasir on IG: https://instagram.com/malikandtheogs?utm_medium=copy_link