Ellington Brown: 0:23

Welcome to Speak Up with Rita Burke and Elton Brown Rita and I. Usually interview Our guests, Today, the table is turned.Rita is an interviewee. I am so excited to have a conversation with the both of you. How are you doing? I hope you guys are doing well. Had a good morning?

Rita Burke: 0:43

Thanks for asking. I am doing well, especially given the fact that I was out early this morning enjoying. Nature and getting my vitamin"N". So yes, I'm fine. I've had a good morning so far.

Elton Brown: 0:59

That's good. I'm really excited to talk about your book. I like Being Me, but before we get there, we wanna know the importance of your quote. Now, if you guys have two quotes, one from Mr. Burke and one from Ms. Rita. And so Rita's is, if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. How does that affect you daily Rita?

Rita Burke: 1:39

That's an interesting question and fascinating quote Elton. I didn't write that. I'm borrowing it from one of my favorite authors, Tony Morrison. And of course she says, and she encourages people and invites people to empower and to free the people in your life, the people in your tribe if you are free. And it's interesting that be, before I read that quotation, I was living my life by that adage. So if I had an opportunity to help someone move up, rather than them moving up by their bootstraps, I would give them a little pull, a little push, a little tug to get on with their lives. So if in any way, by encouragement, by offering something, by offering a book, by suggesting a book, by being an ear to listen to someone. I believe that I was attempting based on what Tony Morrison says, to free and to empower the people in my tribe, in my sphere, in my world. I trust that answers your question,

Elton Brown: 2:53

Definitely answers my question, and I'll have to agree. This quote is one to live by. Mr. Burke goes by the quote, When spiders unite, they can tie up a Lion.

Ellington Brown: 3:09

The visual just blows me away when I hear that. To me, this reminds me of being a team player because it takes more than one spider to tie up a lion. What is your Perspective on that quote?

Sam Burke: 3:23

It's a quote that it's always at the back of my mind. It's always a part of how I move. It's an African proverb and much the Caribbean, where you have Proverbs that gives wisdom, guidance, if you will, through life. When I think of that proverb, it just says so much to me because really what it's talking about is uniting, it's unity. It's coming together. You're stronger. When you are together, and many times I don't have any individuals feels that strength, I don't have any power, I can't do this. How can I do this? But whether it's not, whether it's in a company, whether it's on a team. Community just by coming together, you can do great things.

Elton Brown: 4:25

I have to agree. It's amazing how these two quotes, they go hand in hand with one another, Rita us talking about how to empower individuals and you talk about how when Spiders unite so both of them have to do with coming together, having that power in order to move forward. I wanna thank you guys for those quotes. I think they're both amazing. Okay, let's get to some good stuff. The how and when did you guys meet and when did you guys come to Canada?.

Sam Burke: 5:06

Hmm, hmm.

Rita Burke: 5:07

Sam is best at responding to that, so I will just acquiesce and let him..

Elton Brown: 5:15

Okay. Sam, it's all yours.

Sam Burke: 5:18

I would say that's not fair, but life is not fair.

Elton Brown: 5:23

There you go!

Sam Burke: 5:24

How did we come together? It's a long story, but I'm good to shorten it down.

Elton Brown: 5:30

Thank you.

Sam Burke: 5:31

So we had this very good friend, at least I had a very good friend and it was her 21st birthday and she had a birthday party to celebrate her birthday.

Elton Brown: 5:42

Okay.

Sam Burke: 5:43

And so I went to this party, it was time to go home, et cetera, was minding my own business, and then she came to me and said, you need to go over and talk to my friend, because my friend really likes ya. I'm thinking. Really? Okay. All right.

Rita Burke: 5:59

Notice as match making.

Elton Brown: 6:02

Yes. Uhhuh!

Sam Burke: 6:04

So I went over to talk to this friend, and this friend started to annoy me because I wanted to know my friend's name and he's her friend's name and I couldn't get a name.

Elton Brown: 6:17

Oh my goodness!

Sam Burke: 6:18

There would be three young women. We were playing games, and according to them, they were the Supremes, Mary, Diane, and Cindy. And so I couldn't get her name and I'm thinking, But if this person likes me or want me to talk to her, how come you won't share your name, et cetera. That's bad enough. And then, okay, What about your phone number? No, I can't get the phone number either, but I can get it. The person who was celebrating a birthday. So it started off with this, pour my hair out and, but anyway, we overcame all that and here we are, 53 years later. 53 years later. Oh my goodness. Well, you guys are great together. I'd love seeing you together. It makes my heart warm just to see you two a together. I'm gonna ask you guys about your bookstore. So I know that you had a bookstore in Toronto. Your bio talks a little bit about that, but what I wanna talk about is what do you think the feeling that bookstore imparted not only to the two of you, but to your patrons?

Rita Burke: 7:36

It's interesting that you asked that question, and I find it fascinating primarily because when you're in it in the real time, you don't experience or you don't know. I didn't know the significance of that bookstore. Now, 20 odd years later, I realized that we were making a huge impact on the Black and Caribbean community in Toronto, in Ontario, in Canada, around the world, to be honest. Now we started that bookstore. We opened our doors on the 20th, two zero of August, 1994 with books in the shelf artwork gifts. And I still remember our first customer. Now over the years, Elton, this business Metamorph size, it evolved into a community center where we were having events like book launches, like book signings. We were having people from all over the world coming to our store to purchase. To purchase and also to do their readings or do whatever it was that they did. Poetry, poetry readings. We had on Mike, we had

Sam Burke: 8:55

science club,

Rita Burke: 8:57

a science club,

Sam Burke: 8:58

science and computer for the kids, and just so many other things. It was really a hub.

Rita Burke: 9:03

It was a hub for a community. Of course, when we were in the middle of it, we didn't realize that, and it's fascinating that we're doing the interview with you today and we're talking about our book club, talking about a store which is now online. But I've attended a number of interviews on the cbc, on the television to talk about Berks, to talk about Kwanza, to talk about a variety of things. Interesting. Back then when it happened, I didn't see the significance, but now in reflecting it was truly an amazing experience.

Elton Brown: 9:39

Wow!

Sam Burke: 9:40

And just to add to that, Toastmasters originated out of Berk's Bookstore, and that was seven years ago.

Elton Brown: 9:45

I didn't know that! That is amazing. Okay, so before we go any further, now that we've talked a little bit about you personally, and now we've talked a little teeny bit about the bookstore, let's just dive right into the bio.

Ellington Brown: 10:01

I don't know about anyone else, but I am salivating, Rita and Sam Burke have been educators at the secondary and post-secondary levels for over 3 decades Their purpose is to curate and connect books to people, and people to books. In a 1994 reader and Sam started an Afrocentric bookstore in Toronto, Canada. The bookstore morphed into a hub, which is something that Rita was just talking about, which promoted and supported authors, artists, and events that contributed to the development and enrichment of Toronto's black and Caribbean community. The Berk's can be found online at www dot. Ilikebeingmebooks all one word dot com. Sam and Rita believe that books should tell the black story authentically and that illustrations should accurately reflect the black experience. The Burks books have recently released a children's book I Like Being Me, and it's accompany workbook. I like being me is a compelling ode to all children. It uses poetic rhythm and boldly colored illustrations to invite readers to be joyful and competent in their skin. I like being me is an extended affirmation that subtly and profoundly encourage readers to self affirm and embrace and respect differences. That is the high and the low of the Berks! So now with, now that we've got that part of it out of the way, I wanna go back to the bookstore And I know for a fact that there wasn't gentleman who, if it wasn't for the bookstore, he would not be where he is today as a podcaster, and his name is Dr. Vibe. I would like to take two minutes just to talk about how do you see, or how did you see the transformation happen? For Dr. Vibe by coming to your bookstore.

Sam Burke: 12:45

Oh, that's such a big topic. Elton, you mentioned Dr. Vib and Burkes. We go back a long way every,

Elton Brown: 12:53

Yes, we know that. We don't talk about the number of years go there. That's something that Rita made sure that we did not discuss.

Sam Burke: 13:01

Right. But I can remember the Saturday afternoons. Mostly in the afternoons with almost every Saturday, he would come by and we would sit and have these deep conversations. While I was framing people's images. I would be, I guess could say multitasking because I'd been framing, but I'd be having these conversations with him, and it covers a wide spectrum at a time. And he would be telling us about books that he had read or that he wanted to read, and he would be finding books on the shells And at that time, I know he was a big fan of, what's his name? George Fraser. George Fraser. And I'm thinking of the minister there in the States, I can't remember his name right now. All of that. And it was in the, again, because it was in the early nineties or there about, It was a time when. Not so much the Internet, but websites and all that were coming in. And I remember one Saturday afternoon in particular, there was someone there who was working on our website and I was there doing what I could in the technological field, and Dr. Vib said to me, You need to be using Google. And I said, Who? And he said, Google. Let me show you. And he went ahead and introduced me to Google. That's how early we were in the technology and all of that. Wow. And the patient who was doing the website, he put into place what Dr. Vibe recommended. Wow. And again, the rest is history because it. An introduction to Google at that point, and then it just kept going because at that time when it come to email, it was Hotmail that was in place, which was a pain in many ways about all the different things. And then that goes back to the idea that when spiders unite, because he came by and he was able to share, we were able to unite in thoughts and envision and all of that and just enrich each other.

Elton Brown: 15:01

Speaking of uniting, how long have the two of you been writing those books?

Rita Burke: 15:07

Well, Elton that is truly fascinating for you to ask that question because I like being me was written, was in its draft, was in its manuscript form, I believe since 2005. Am I correct now? Well, Yeah, Sam sat down when he had nothing to do given the fact that we had a bookstore, but Sam was also one of the best framers in our city, and so people flocked into the store to have their artwork framed. So I don't know where Sam found the time to sit down and write this little story called I Like Being Me. So it was written and shelved. And then I believe it was 2021, perhaps at the beginning or maybe late in 2020, he went to the filing cabinet. You know those old fashioned metal?

Elton Brown: 16:06

Yes, yes.

Rita Burke: 16:08

Pulled it out. And here he had his, I like being me in its rawest, crudes form, and said to me, I wrote this book. You probably don't remember, but here it is. And so together we sat and brought it to what we currently have as the third child or fourth child in our life. I like being.

Ellington Brown: 16:36

Wow! Incredible! So with this book, now we know the vision in terms of when did this book come to be, walk me through the decision. How this book was going to be designed, how this book was going to be laid out.

Sam Burke: 16:53

As Rita pointed out, the book was written and it was, you know, put away, shall we say. So when it was, when we, we went back to the book to pick it up from where we left off with it, we, it was a matter of. How are we going to do this Now, the interesting thing was that when it was written back in 2005, I had met with a illustrator, a local illustrator in Toronto, and we sat down and we decided how it was going to be done and all of that. But life got in the way for away her. And we just continued along our way, so that didn't come into fruition, but when we picked it back up, as Rita pointed out, then we had to, shall we say, start all over again. And so at that point, we then set out to secure an illustrator who could put into place or vision of what we wanted to see. And so at that time, we gave very specific instructions as to what we would like to see, how we would like to see it. And as a result of that, there were many revisions because in the earlier years I was pointed out, I framed pictures, and those pictures were a reflection of us as a people. So it was easy for me to say to the illustrator, This is what we see. This is what we want, this is what we believe. And so fortunately he was able to bring that to life and hence the images in the book. Wonderful. So what has been the response since the book has been distributed? What are people saying? What has been the reviews?

Rita Burke: 18:44

Thanks for asking that question, Elton. As I said, Sam is his own biggest supporter and follower, and so Sam looks at it every day and says, I like this. I really like this. I really like this. But that aside, we've had wonderful feedback from people who've purchased the book. People have commented particularly on the illustrations and how inclusive they are because in the first instance we, our intention was to present children in a positive way. We believe very firmly that illustrations in books, in children's books need to rep represent. The way they are in positive ways, and so people have commented particularly on that. But I'll tell you a little story. There's a friend of mine who writes for a newspaper. And I was hesitant to show her the book because she used to be an elementary school teacher as well, and she's really deep. And I thought she would find every flaw in this book. But you know what? She sent me a long email saying how much she likes it, how great it is, it's wonderful, and those kinds of things. So if we've been able to pass her measurement, her yardstick, her barometer, it's okay. I'm not saying it's perfect. But I think we've been able to establish to, to establish, to meet our objective of the book, which was to put something fun and jolly and lighthearted out there for children and families.

Ellington Brown: 20:29

All I can say is as a reader, I have my copy of the book and I find the book to be absolutely delightful and I think. Because of the bold colors. I think that most children will be drawn to it and want their parents to read them this book, not once, Many times. We all had stories that we loved as a child to be told when we went to bed, and they were mostly. Limit it to maybe three or four and you wanted to hear them over and over again. Think this book falls into that category. And while I'm at it, I might as well just give the I S BN number, which is 9 7 8 0 9 8 0 9 9 6 3 0 2. So if you are able to grab hold of that ISBN number, you shall be able to find it. I like being me and that's was put together by Sam and Rita Burke. Beautiful book. Absolutely beautiful. This has certainly been a fascinating conversation between myself and the Berks. And I am hoping that we get to do it again when you produce your next child, as Rita calls them. Is there any last thing that you want to say before we conclude this conversation? Rita, Sam?

Rita Burke: 22:11

I would like to say that the themes in, I like being. Across all cultural and economic borders. It's inclusive. I believe that you mentioned something else and about parents and their children reading. I don't think it's a read alone book. I think parents need to sit with your children and read the book so that they can talk about the themes that are relevant to the child and to the family. So that's my la My final comment,

Sam Burke: 22:47

My comment would be that all that I think about myself is in that book. I like being me, and that's not like a conceited type of a thing. I'm saying that just as I. Just as anyone who reads the book, if you really step back and look at yourself, you should be able to look at a mirror and say to yourself, I might not be. Whatever, whatever. But at the end of the day, I like being me. Now that you brought

Ellington Brown: 23:17

that up. I think that's, that would be a great exercise for children and adults to maybe get up every morning and look in the mirror and just say, I like being me. I like being me. Before going Out and doing anything. Just say and look into that mirror and make that affirmation. Just say it. I like being me, or I love being. Whatever works for you But this book, I definitely would say that not only is this book for children, but I can see where this book could be used for therapeutic reasons for individuals who may need a confidence booster. Yes. And I, and this book could beautifully do that for them without them feeling pressured. Or accused about anything. It's just a very nice book to, to read along with the rhythmatic passages.

Sam Burke: 24:18

And so just to add to that, uh, the way that I'm not gonna say we, I'm gonna say I, the way that I look at that is that book is not only written for children, but for the. In every one of us.

Elton Brown: 24:32

Well said

Sam Burke: 24:34

And so the added bonus to is that can you imagine being in front of a mirror and you put your right hand on your left shoulder, your left hand on your right shoulder, you hug yourself and you say, I like B and b I really like being me. That is so powerful. Yes,

Ellington Brown: 24:51

On That note, I am going to thank you two for being such great conversationalist. I'm hoping that everyone who listens to this podcast will be enlightened and take hold of this book I like being me not only for your children. But for other family members, we're coming up to the holiday season, so this could be a beautiful Kwanza book for a child. and I am going to thank you, and I am going to wish everyone a great evening, and I'm looking forward to seeing the two of you again.