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In this episode of the Be the Bridge Podcast, Latasha Morrison interviews author, speaker, and Bible teacher, Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young. Her recently released picture book, Kailani’s Gift, celebrates family, Filipino heritage, and dance while showing the importance of perseverance and cultural expression. Dorina shares about her journey as a writer, and they discuss how children’s books can serve as tools for racial justice. Dorina also shares her personal experience with grief.
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Executive Producer – Latasha Morrison
Producer – Sarah Connatser
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Not all views expressed in this interview reflect the values and beliefs of Latasha Morrison or the Be the Bridge organization.
*this was transcribed by Spotify and has not been checked for errors
0:02
Welcome to the Be the Bridge podcast.
Be the Bridge exists to empower people and culture toward racial healing, equity, and reconciliation.
Latasha Morrison founded Be the Bridge in 2016 to foster needed dialogue and brave spaces and to give people the tools to pursue racial justice.
0:22
We provide resources and community to do just that, and this podcast is one of those resources.
You’ll hear interviews hosted by Latasha and our team, conversations about current events, and encouragement for your racial literacy journey.
Thank you for listening, subscribing and engaging in this important work.
0:43
Well, I tell you, the British community, we just being in this space, having a podcast, you get to meet so many different voices, just different people that are doing just a lot of different things.
0:59
And being a writer myself, being an author, I come in contact with a lot of authors, writers, speakers, ministers, practitioners, all the things.
And in this space, you know, a lot of times you cross cross paths with people and especially being both of us are underwater.
1:18
Brooke, I’ve just discovered that.
And and I actually got to meet this person that we’re about to interview at my books launch in Nashville.
She just happened to be there in Nashville, although she’s from California.
1:35
So I am so glad that we have Dorina Lazo Gilmore Young who has a Master of Fine Arts in Children’s Literature and a passion for multiculturalism and I don’t know if I’ve met anyone with the Masters of Arts in Children’s Literature, so this is going to be great.
1:53
She is a writer, speaker, former news reporter and a foodie.
Her children’s book, Cora Cooks Cassette, received the Picture Book of the Year award and the Asia Pacific American Librarians Association.
Dorita is a self-proclaimed glory chaser who meets God as she runs trails through mountains or near the ocean.
2:16
Dorina and her husband, Sean, are raising three daughters in Central California.
Kailani’s gift is her new children’s book.
We’re going to give you all the information on how you can follow Dorina.
I’m just grateful to have her on here and for such a time as this because I was just telling her that I’m looking to do a children’s book also.
2:35
And here she is the master at it.
And so I am so grateful to have you here and to join the Beater Bridge community.
And I know you have a lot of things about yourself, you know, like this not in the bio.
2:53
So if you could just tell us a little bit about who you are.
And I really want to know a little bit more about you just on these trails in California, you know, because the first thing I’m thinking, I’m like, Lord Keeper, don’t let no mountain lions, you know, all the things.
3:10
So tell us a little bit about who you are and just the work and multiculturalism that you’re doing.
Well, thank you, Latasha.
This is a joy to be here.
Honestly, I have sat under your teaching from afar for many years, your books, your speaking.
3:26
And so it’s so sweet to just be able to sit down for conversation today.
Yes, I live in Central California.
I grew up in Chicago, and I am from a multiracial family.
So my dad’s side is Filipino, Chinese, Polynesian, and my mom’s side is Italian.
3:47
And so very much, I claim that identity as being mixed race.
And it’s something that I actually write about quite a bit too.
But in this season of life, I am a teacher.
So I’m a writing teacher at the local high school.
I help out with the newspaper there, and then I am working on writing books for kids and for adults.
4:07
And then I do some speaking, preaching, that kind of thing.
I really enjoy communication and in all different forms.
And for fun I do like to run.
I’d like to run on the trails and here in Central California there’s lots of lakes and we’re close to Yosemite National Park.
4:24
And so just being outside in God’s creation is for me healing and it’s inspiring.
So that’s the little trail bit.
But in general, I love to travel.
I love to travel across the US and to different countries and I do some podcasting and and talk about God’s glory through travel and food.
4:43
Oh wow.
OK, so you like to travel.
What is what would you say is the best state when you talk about being a foodie?
What is the state that you like to go to where you can really be a active foodie?
There.
Oh goodness, you’re going to be asking me hard question.
5:00
Stay OK.
Stay our country.
OK.
Stay our country.
I just.
I mean, you know, you travel.
I want to.
I want to stay our country.
If you were a foodie that you’re like, you must go here.
Yes.
Well, OK, if I got to choose another country, it will be Italy.
Italy is by far hands down like the foodiest foodie place of the foodies.
5:23
OK, OK, OK, so.
Amazing.
From the marketplaces to the little Gelato shops to the fancy restaurants.
And of course, I’m biased and I mentioned before my mom is Italian, so I grew up with making the homemade Italian food.
But here in the US, oh goodness, there are so many places.
5:43
You know, one of my favorite places actually is Portland, OR.
I love the foodie stuff that they have.
They have some great restaurants up in Portland specifically and, and in that area.
And I would go back there in a heartbeat to eat.
6:01
OK, OK, great.
Now you talk about you, you mentioned because looking at your name, you wouldn’t know.
And I so I know and I’m very mindful trying to make sure that asking someone, OK, where are you from?
6:18
What state are, you know, like that if someone doesn’t tell me, I don’t ask them because first of all #1 is not any of my business unless they want to share that information with me.
And that’s just a good bridge building tip, you know, just to know like why do you have to know that?
6:34
Like, you know, why do we have to know that unless it’s but some people will share it because we can just other people so well, so that’s just a free tip.
You know, if you can’t make out someone, ask yourselves, why is that important for me to know?
6:50
Because we can do things.
But she shared with us that Dorina shared with us that she has a her dad is Filipino with Polynesian in Chinese.
And so some people may get a little confused about the Polynesia.
Can you explain that as people are listening, you know what the Polynesian where that comes in?
7:10
Yeah, good question.
So the Philippines are a actually whole group of islands that are in the Pacific, and that’s predominantly where my family is from.
My grandparents immigrated from the Philippines to Hawaii.
7:27
But when we talk about Polynesia, there’s all of these different islands that are the Polynesian islands that are there.
And so we’re probably most familiar with Hawaii because that is part of the United States now, right?
But there’s also, you know, Tahiti and Samoa and some of the other islands.
7:43
So I have some of that blood in me.
We’ve done some of that research in our ancestry.
Predominantly my dad is Filipino, but then we also see in the Philippines there’s so much blending of cultures.
So there’s a Chinese influence, there’s Spanish, Portuguese influence, there’s the influence of the Polynesian islands.
8:02
So we we’ve gotten to be able to trace a little bit of that heritage.
And then we know from my mom’s side that her parents emigrated from Italy.
So I do have that blend of of cultures and I consider it an opportunity, especially because I have 3 last names to share about my cultural background.
8:24
So people ask me all the time and I don’t mind because it’s part of my story.
It’s part of who God made me.
Yes, it’s a little bit cumbersome sometimes to say three last names, but it is part of God’s glory story in me.
Yes.
And I, we didn’t miss the African roots because I saw that too.
8:43
So yeah.
My daddy was very proud of that.
We did the ancestry thing, you know, and it was like, I think 1%.
We have some African roots and.
Yeah, that’s right.
It claimed it all and you see how 1% and she has claimed it all.
8:59
It is in her bio.
I love that.
I, I have some, one of a white friend of mine that was lit when I lived in Allston.
She had gotten her, she’d done her ancestry DNA and just trying to mark down some things as far as health and different things.
9:16
And I, I remember seeing her son and her son like had this hair that was curly and like he could make it Afro.
And I was just like, interesting, like, wow, you know, we, but we all come in so many different flavors and just difficult.
9:32
So it’s just, you know, you never know what DNA is going to do.
But when she did her DNA, what you looking at her, you would never be able to tell.
But she has 6% African American in her, just like looking at me, you know, I’m like 7% European.
So, you know, so DNADNA does some interest, some beautiful things.
9:53
And like you said, this is the story of me and I love you said you consider your mixed race a gift.
And I think that’s something in this time to really say, say that where you know, where sometimes the culture is trying to add a stigma to that.
And we, we understand that this is how God has made you and all those different cultures and countries and languages and all those things that God made that and, and, and, and I think we need to remember that and make, make sure that we are not other in people or thinking we are reducing someone because they are of misracious.
10:31
Thank you for sharing that with us.
And your parents help you to see, I hear you talk about building bridges across cultural lines.
And I could imagine the blending of Italian and Filipino.
Like, what was that like growing up in a household, you know, with your dad being Filipino and your mom being Italian?
10:53
Yeah, well, they definitely came from different worlds.
My parents did raise me that being mixed race was kind of a superpower.
Like it was something to be proud of, something to celebrate.
I would say probably the the most common way that that would manifest in our home is through food.
11:10
I like to talk about food.
I’m a foodie.
But also it’s a cultural thing.
And this is actually one of the ways that Italian culture and Filipino culture are similar, that our hospitality is by making abundant food and welcoming people.
11:25
So if that’s welcoming people from the neighborhood or from church after, you know, service on Sunday, or my parents were always, you know, just so gifted in the, in the sense that they would welcome people maybe who didn’t have family in the area.
So we grew up in Chicago, but all of our family was in California.
11:44
And I didn’t move out here until after college.
So we just made those people our families and still to this day, my parents, you know, are in touch with and care for people as if they’re family and they’re from all different countries, all different backgrounds.
So that hospitality through food and blessing people through food is something that’s really important to us.
12:05
Yeah.
And I know just even your story is going to bless so many different parents here in that that are raising children, you know, with all different backgrounds, whether they, you know, children they birth or children that they’ve adopted transracially.
Also a part of be the bridges that we really embrace this method of reaching back and and coming alongside.
12:30
So we feel that it’s really important as we invest in the next generation to continue this work on like, you know, this work will stop.
Like we are here today because someone invested in us, because someone built a bridge that we can walk on right now.
12:46
And I don’t take, you know, I am grateful for all the hard work that of those that have come before me, our ancestors, the groundwork they’ve laid so that we can do this work.
Now, as a mother and a children’s book author, how do you see children’s books as being an essential part of this work of racial justice?
13:07
You know, children’s books are so powerful.
And here’s the thing, It’s not just for kids, but for adults.
Because parents, guardians, librarians, teachers, all of those are engaged when you’re reading a book with a child.
And it’s really an opportunity to reach into some of those things that you were mentioning are just values for be the bridge to to look at our history.
13:33
So for example, one of my books, Cora Cooks Ponset, that you mentioned, it’s about a little Filipino girl, Filipino American girl, who’s growing up and she’s learning how to make this traditional Filipino noodle dish.
But while she’s learning it from her Mama, she is hearing these stories about her grandpa who was a cook for the Filipino farm workers in Central California.
13:57
And my dad was a farm worker for some of the time of his life.
And I got to hear some of those stories of what that was like for him.
And so it was an opportunity in this book, even though it’s fiction, to share a little bit of that that history, which I think is important for kids, you know, And as I was growing up, there were so few books, in fact, I couldn’t even think of one that were about Filipino American kids.
14:21
So one of my favorite books was called 9 Days until Christmas, which was actually about a little Mexican girl, but because of her brown skin and her culture, that was really celebrated in this book.
It was a book that I was really attracted to.
And so when I then became a writer, I was like, I want to create something where, first of all, kids who are Filipino American can see themselves celebrated.
14:45
But then secondly, if you’re not from that background, you can learn to appreciate it.
Like all Asian Americans are not a monolith, just like all African Americans are not a monolith.
And so by even celebrating that nuance that, you know, everybody loves noodles, but the Filipinos make noodles in this way with these ingredients mixed in, that was my heartbeat and writing that book.
15:08
And I think it’s so important.
So as a teacher and as a Mama and as an author, children’s books, both the illustrations and the stories, are this opportunity to teach, to engage, and also to celebrate the heritage that God has given us.
15:23
Yeah.
In our Be the Bridge with our Cross Cross Cultural Bridge building, we always tell parents to look at the books that are on your shelves.
Look at the books, the toys that you buy your children, crayons, all of those things.
Are they representing the big story in the big picture of God, you know, and you know, and so examine those things and if all your all the books in your your children’s reading library, if they all look the same, you know, considered, you know, diversifying those with toys, dolls, all of the things.
15:56
And I had this one mom tell me, she said she did that, you know, you know, as it relates to books, but also so dolls.
And she noticed something.
She noticed that her daughter would play with the white dolls, but she would never play with the brown dolls or the brown Barbies.
16:16
And so, but there was something to teach because you know what 85% of what children learn, they learn from their parents.
And so sometimes you’re cueing your children in a way that you don’t realize it.
So what you read, what you watch, who your friends are, they’re watching all of those things.
16:34
But the mom says she went in there to play with her daughter.
She was very intentional.
And she decided, said, I want to play with this doll.
And she kept choosing every time she would play with her daughter, she kept playing with the brown doll.
And then after a while, the little girl started playing with the brown doll and you know, and so the mom created that.
16:55
So just even with books, books are a pathway, you know, to, to understanding and to, to really pull what you would say the fear of, of, of difference.
And I think books have a powerful way to do that.
17:13
Like, just imagine what children are going to learn about Filipino American people just from your book.
And I wanted to talk about this one.
It’s so cute.
And I wanted to in this book.
What would readers expect to learn about Filipino American culture from Kailani’s?
17:33
Yeah, I love the way that my illustrator, her name is Lenore Bontagal, she’s Filipino American, how she incorporated all these cultural details that are in the illustrations of this book.
And so when people open it, it is our universal story about a little girl learning to dance.
17:51
And this specific dance is it’s challenging, it’s hard.
And so she’s learning how to use her gifts, how to develop her gifts.
I think that’s relatable for everyone.
But then you’re also learning some specific things about Filipino culture.
So this dance is called the tanning cling.
And it’s special because you jump between these bamboo poles.
18:10
So you’re going to see that in the illustrations, the Mama is, you know, cooking up some food in the kitchen.
And so there’s mention of the adobo chicken that she’s making, the lumpia, which is the egg rolls.
And so you’re you’re learning about those cultural details.
18:26
And then one of my favorite spreads is near the end of the book where the girl is actually dancing for her grandparents 50th wedding anniversary.
And you see the crowd and Lenore was so great at just making that such a diverse crowd.
And so for me it was like, I mean, I actually did go to my grandparents 50th anniversary and I remember being there with my cousins and we have so many mixed race marriages and families.
18:52
And you know, different costumes or different clothes that people are wearing that are in the spread, different dance moves.
Like you see all of that in there.
So some of it is in the words, but even more so in the background in those pictures.
That just helps to do the two things.
19:09
One is normalize.
The second is for kids who are curious to learn about a culture that is different from theirs.
Yeah, I and I remember, you know, reading this in gym when I was in elementary school doing the with the bamboo sticks.
19:25
I remember doing that, but had no idea that it was something from Philippine American tradition.
But just think of that element.
If I was taught that, you know, I remember learning about, you know, we played German dodgeball when we were in in school too, but that was another culture that we were learning about and how with play and reading that we can teach kids to be more open and more welcoming of people with differences.
19:51
And so I think this is just an excellent way to do that.
And I, you know, when we think about this generation is our future, you know, and you know, you’re dealing with the millennial generation who was the most racially diverse than any other generation ever.
20:08
And just think about like from their children.
What’s going to happen?
So we’re going to have more books and, you know, more blending and all these great stories and there’s nothing to be afraid of, but it’s something to look in awe of.
To me, it’s because I see the beauty of this diverse God that we worship, that not one nation or tribe can make up the totality of who God is.
20:32
It takes every nation and tribe.
And so when I, when I see, you know, I was just in the elevator with some women and one lady was from Puerto Rico.
And I, I don’t remember what the, where the other lady said she was from, but she was trying to get information.
She was going into the parking garage and she wanted to make sure she was going the right way.
20:51
And she was having some issues communicating.
I think the lady from Puerto Rico, she, she started speaking Spanish to her and they were speaking that, you know, and you could tell the lady was like, OK, good.
Like I can, you know, I can understand this.
And so she was telling her how to get there.
And I was just, you know, I was just sitting there on the elevator, listen, listening.
21:11
And I was, I was like, wow, you know, and, and then I said, I’m going to the, I told him where I was going.
And she said, oh, I’m so sorry.
They were apologizing for speaking Spanish.
And I said, no, it’s beautiful.
I said, you speak your language.
I said, I love it, you know, and just because I don’t understand it like I should, you know, I’m not offended when you know, and the lady looked at me and she said thank you.
21:34
She was.
So, you know, she just had the smile on her face because I told her your language is beautiful.
And I told him I just returned from the, and you know, and so they were, we just started talking and just opened up just on the elevator, on the elevator ride.
And so it just, it opens up opportunity.
21:52
And so when you think about, there’s one of the things that you did in your book, which I love is you created this glossary of, of words that can you describe a few of the words from the glossary and why you included it?
I love that because that is also going to expand a child’s mind and a parent’s mind.
22:12
Yeah, this is in both of my books, in Koracuk’s Ponset and also in Kailani’s Gift that we used a little glossary in the back.
So one thing that’s interesting about the Philippines is that there are more than 200 different dialects that are spoken in this country because there’s so many different islands.
22:30
But one of the most commonly spoken languages is Tagalog.
So my grandparents were actually from two different parts of the country, spoke Ilicano and Besayant.
But Tagalog was that common language that they spoke.
And I wanted to include some of those words because I did not grow up speaking that language.
22:50
But my grandparents would often kind of intersperse in their conversation in English with some of these words.
And as I was growing up, it’s like, OK, well, we’re talking about Ponzi.
Well, that’s a noodle dish that we make or the the Mestisa, which is a traditional dress worn by women in the Philippines.
23:09
And you can see examples of that in my book.
So it’s important to me to, first of all, teach people how to pronounce the things and then second of all, to be able to introduce them.
So it’s not like, oh, what’s that weird thing that she’s saying?
But this is a part of the celebration within the family.
23:26
And especially because my grandparents even immigrated, like I said, through Hawaii.
So they even incorporated like Hawaiian words in some of the things that we would talk about.
Language, I think, is such a beautiful way that we can really celebrate different cultures.
23:42
And like you were talking about with Spanish, seeing the beauty in it, even though you didn’t understand what those women were saying.
Yeah.
Because I know it matters to them and it’s it’s important.
It’s a part of their culture.
And I know what culture connects you to.
And so although those are two different countries that they were from, their language connected them in a in a moment where she’s confused, someone was able to give her direction and connect with her in her in her in her connection way, you know, and I think that’s that’s beauty in that.
24:15
There’s nothing threatening about that.
And I think just even with your book adding this, I think it’s so brilliant that you added these glossary words.
And we do that with be the bridge and, and words that we want people to understand, want people to know and how we use it within our organization.
24:35
We have a glossary of terms, you know, that I think is important because some of the things that divide us is not having a common language.
And So what you did here was you created a, a point of unification in the sense where you gave people a language, a common language that they could pull from and, and remember, you know, technically, you know, and then she did, she did it phonetically.
25:01
Y’all like that is for me.
And, and I love it.
And, you know, and then I will remember what that, you know, I don’t have to call it the bamboo stick dance, you know, but it actually has a name.
And I think that’s beautiful.
25:17
And I think we make our kids smarter and brighter and broader when we introduce them to to various cultures.
And we see that as it relates to, we want our kids to experience of different things, different foods, different countries.
25:33
But sometimes we have things right here in our own country that we can expose our children to, to teach them and to allow them to respect and honor those of from a different culture.
The other thing you open up about, I’m going to kind of switch lanes a little bit here because you, you talk about you have three last names and I wanted you to tell me a little bit more about why you have three last names.
26:01
Yeah, thank you for asking.
So Lazo is my maiden name, my Filipino last name.
And so it was very important to me to keep that name because I do write about that culture, right?
So it’s recognizable to folks that are from the Philippines or have Filipino background.
26:17
But I have two last names because my first husband, his last name was Gilmore.
So his first name, Eric Lee, Good Southern, you know, two names smashed together, Eric Lee.
And his last name was Gilmore, which we love to to call ourselves the Gilmore Girls.
26:34
I’ve got three daughters.
And so we call each other, we call each other the Gilmore Girls.
But my first husband, his background was Scottish.
And we were married for 11 years, and then he went to heaven after a short battle with cancer.
26:50
And I thought about it later because now I’m remarried to a man named Sean Young.
And so Young is my second last name there because I wanted to honor both of my husband’s.
Gilmore is the name that connects me to my children and it’s the name that is part of that redemption story of grief in my life.
27:11
And young is the redemption.
I I like to call him my Boaz.
So for anybody who knows the Bible, you know the story of Ruth and Boaz.
And so Sean came into my life kind of like a Boaz and he’s actually Chinese American.
So when you look at the name young, it’s, it’s one of those names.
27:28
It’s kind of common in the US, but you don’t necessarily know that the cultural background.
Likely when his family came into the US it was YUNG, which is more of the Chinese spelling that was changed.
But I want to honor him too.
27:44
And so that’s why I do take the extra time to write 3 names out, because it is so much an expression of God’s redemption in our lives.
I love it.
That’s so beautiful.
That’s really beautiful.
And yeah, when I saw the your last name Young, I was wondering, I was like, oh, they probably changed the spelling to Americanizing it a little bit.
28:06
And so there’s a lot of last things that are like that, you know, but that story is a part of it.
And you have such a story in your name.
You know, what is something that has helped you?
There’s a lot of people that are walking through grief right now.
You know, what is something that has helped you as you journey through your season of grief?
28:28
And we know grief is not just a season, this as long as never ending in some aspects.
So what is something that helped you through it?
Yeah, this is actually something I’ve also written quite a bit about as I became a widow when I was young in my 30s.
28:45
It’s been 10 years now since my husband went to heaven, and my daughters were ages 2, five and eight when their daddy died.
And so they were really young.
And so not only was I navigating my own grief, but I was navigating grief with these little babies who are trying to understand why their daddy wasn’t there anymore.
29:01
And this seems probably simple, but I think one of the the most profound lessons I’ve learned in the last 10 years is that we have permission to grieve.
You know, a lot of times in different cultures and certainly in my cultural background, grief was for a time, it was for, you know, three days or for six months or whatever.
29:21
There was like this designated time, which is not a bad thing.
But then it was kind of like, well, you got to move on with your life.
And sometimes I think we were taught that grief was something to stuff down, to hold in, that we should apologize for our tears.
And what I learned as a mother of girls who are all three very different personalities, is that I needed to give myself permission to grieve in front of and with my daughters.
29:48
And I also needed each of them to have permission to grieve in the way that God guided them.
So, you know, for one of my daughter’s, that meant being very open about her emotions.
And when she was sad for my youngest, she loves to sing and she’s a worshipper.
30:04
And so she would sing these songs that was kind of like these lament songs of missing her daddy and asking God questions.
And then my oldest is a little bit more, you know, reserved and responsible.
But she loved to look at pictures of her dad.
And so instead of being like, no, don’t do that or no, we’re not going to talk about that.
30:24
I realized early on that I needed to give those girls permission.
And I think all of us need to give ourselves permission even to make space for grief because our gut responses typically to kind of push it aside, but then it starts to do some hard things within our bodies and within our souls if we’re not willing to face it.
30:43
So good.
Thank you for sharing that.
You know, as we come to an end of our conversation, I wanted you know, you live in California, you like to go on trail walks and runs and all of the things you know, where do you see God at work in in California?
31:02
What you know, this is where God has caused you to live in this season.
Where?
Where do you see God at work in California?
Well you mentioned this in my bio but I call myself a glory chaser and I am not after my own glory.
I am always chasing and looking for God’s glory.
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And one of the things in California it’s I feel like so easy to find God’s glory is because we live in this beautiful landscape.
So I can be to the ocean in a couple of hours, I can be at the National Park in an hour.
Even just right out, you know, my backyard, there’s a little trail that I can walk through the trees and near the water.
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And there’s something about the way that the Holy Spirit meets me when I’m outside, when I’m breathing fresh air, when I’m moving my body.
In fact, it’s been part of my healing through my grief journey has even been to do that, to run on trails and to be able to talk to God and that there’s something beautiful and supernatural that I think happens in that.
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So while I see God in in culture and food and travel and all those things we’ve been talking about, I’m also always looking for him in creation.
Yeah, yeah.
And I think you have a book called Chasing God’s Glory, which is another one that I want to hold up for everyone to see.
32:19
And I think you’re explaining what glory is in this this book.
So these are some, I mean, beautiful illustrations.
I love when I get children’s books to really share these with my family members, you know, because a lot of times I’m exposed to so many different authors that, you know, they wouldn’t know about.
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So I like to share these.
I have a two of my goddaughters are expecting little girls.
And so I was like, Oh, I could I have a lot of books to share, you know, and so it’s excited.
You know, before we leave, could you tell, you know, one of the things we do hard work and this work is complex and layered and, and difficult and a lot of times painful, but we always lean into the hope of this work, you know, hoping God, you know, foremost, you know, what is giving you hope right now?
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Oh, that’s such a, it’s such a good and a big question.
You know, I am actually so hopeful in that people are willing to read books about kids from different backgrounds like we’ve been talking about.
I’ll be honest with you, Latasha, it’s been years that I had doors shut for me when I would come with these story ideas where I would talk to agents and editors who are very complimentary and encouraging about my writing.
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But they would say, oh, you know, this is a story about a Filipino girl.
Like, I don’t know if we can really market it.
I don’t know if it’s like too niche.
And so there’s a gap if you look at the years my Cora book came out and then the next one, Chasing God’s Glory, came out like 12 years later.
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And, you know, God had other plans for me.
And so I’m not complaining about that.
He was using me in other ways and other writing projects.
But there are a lot of years where I was feeling sad.
I was feeling rejected because I realized the Lord had given me these stories to tell.
But there’s this whole thing in publishing that’s also about, you know, marketing and how we can sell books.
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And it’s an important part of it.
So now I feel like there is a door that is open.
And I want to encourage people that we need to tell our stories, especially people of color, AAPI, women who have stories to tell.
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It’s important.
Our stories do matter.
And so I’m so encouraged by the interest that I see.
Even last week, I was in Long Beach and I was doing an event where the whole bookstore was full of Filipino American families who were thanking me for writing this new book.
35:00
And they’ve been waiting for the book.
And even, you know, people from different backgrounds who are so curious and like you said, buying the books for for the baby showers and for the Christmas gifts.
And that is giving me hope.
I feel like God asked me to continue to persevere in publishing.
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And now I’m getting to see those glimmers of light, and it gives me hope.
Yeah, well, we’re grateful that you continue to persevere because your words are needed, Your your books are needed and your voice is needed.
And it matters.
It does matter.
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And you know, like I, like I stated, this millennial generation is the most diverse generation.
They are having children.
Even some of the old Gen.
Z, they are now having children.
So what was it is not, and that’s some of the fear of what our country is, is, is feeling this despair of change.
35:54
And I think this work, your work is really important because it helps really remove some of those barriers and, and if people lean into it, give them a deeper understanding of different cultures and, and within our country.
36:10
So I am grateful and I’m also grateful to Water Brook.
You know, Water Brook is doing a fabulous job.
That is the publisher that I’m with.
I’m a publisher that you’re with.
And this is not, they’re not paying me for this.
I’m not, you know, but I one of the things when I came on, I wanted the conversation I had.
36:30
I don’t want to be your only like brown author, you know, like, you know, and sometimes, you know, we don’t always just because it’s a brown person doesn’t mean that they want to write in that in that vein.
But I have I love what they’re doing with children’s book.
36:45
They sent me this big old box of children’s book and they’re so different.
I’m like, wow, kids today are blessed.
I didn’t have any of these things.
And they just have so many different types of book and illustrations when you see yourself.
37:01
And I think there is room for that when we look at not just our country, but even within other countries too.
So I’m so grateful for you and on the work that you’re doing.
And we’re excited to to read more because listen, we have a lot of families and parents that are that listen to our podcast and you know, they’re always looking for content for their children.
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Like how do I make sure that my child’s life is not homogeneous?
This is how I grew up and I don’t want this for my children.
Kids are so open.
And so, you know, racism is learned.
It’s taught, you know, they’re not born like that.
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So the the earlier you start exposing them to differences, you know, I think this is important even in our African American community.
I would want my child to read about a Filipino American also, you know, to to understand that culture.
37:56
So thank you so much for joining us on the Be the Bridge podcast.
Thank you, Latasha.
Thank you for the good work that you’re doing.
Thank you and we we will put all the information books website how you can stay in contact with Dorina and good luck on your you know, just praying blessings over you on your writers and retreat that you’re hosting.
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I’m so grateful for you and how you’re leading others in this work.
Thank you.
Thanks for listening to the Be the Bridge Podcast.
To find out more about Be the Bridge and what we offer, visit bethebridge.com.
Partner with us in this work at bethebridge.com/give.
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Connect with us on social media and remember you are not alone in your pursuit of righteousness and justice.
Latasha Morrison is the executive producer, Sarah Connatser is the producer, and transcripts are done by a wonderful team of volunteers.
Thanks for listening.
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