Books. Rap. Friendship. Sudden loss.
When I went to Mississippi on my Journey I met a man whose fight to be truly alive was a fight to bring his love of reading to people who looked like him. He himself admits that “I don’t fit the stereotype of Southern Black men.” His love of reading was what he channeled to bring himself out of a suicidal state of being. He surrounded himself with others who loved books and added value to their experiences with literature.
It was through his recognition that he wanted to be accepted among peers who looked like him that he began his Hip Hop and Books club in 2007. His love for literacy pervades every part of his humanity and he wants to share the books that reach people wherever they are.
The same was true of his relationship with his friend Carl Watts. Carl was a friend who did not read, until Cyrus built a community of readers around rap. I asked Cyrus to chat with me today about his friend who left us quite unexpectedly last week.
Dafna: Cyrus, thanks so much for chatting with me today. I feel we have become good friends since we met in Pearl, MS and I’ve asked you to chat today about a recent post on your wall about a friend you recently lost. Let me first say that I am so sorry for your loss. Would you please share your friends story?
Cyrus: Thank you, Dafna. You know, one saying I try to include in my posts each day is this: ‘YESTERDAY is gone. TOMORROW is not promised. All we have is TODAY.’ In this case, that was how it was for a friend of mine named Carl Watts. He died on last Fri. after suffering a heart attack. He was only 31. We had been together that day preparing for an author visit coming up over the weekend. Two hours later he was gone.
Dafna: How did you meet Carl?
Cyrus: That is a strange story in itself. We practically lived less than 10 miles away from each other most of my life, however, we didn’t really get to know each other well until about 4 years ago. My first cousin was killed in a car accident at that time, and Carl and him were good friends. Carl then started taking to me because the two of them did music together, and he knew I worked with my cousin in promoting his music. It was just like that. From that point onward we wouldn’t go 2 days without talking to each other.
Dafna: What was Carl’s involvement in your Conversations Book Club?
Cyrus: Funny you should ask, Dafna. Carl was not involved in the book club or books period until I began the urban division called HIP HOP AND BOOKS in 2007. That was when a great deal of those in the hip hop community in Mississippi and LA started to watch what we were doing and begin to participate. That book club got him to reading. In fact, if you look at his last post on his Facebook before he passed, he was talking about the book he was reading by an author he met in 2008 who was coming back in April of this year.
Dafna: Tell me about that. What was the impetus to start that group?
Cyrus: Well, it’s no secret that I don’t fit the stereotype of most southern black men. I had to deal with that from blacks and others. The urban community was leery of me because I looked and talked so different, but I knew that they could benefit from books they could relate to. In order to get their trust and attention, I had to reach out to someone in that community that believed in what I was doing that could also encourage others. That person was Corey “C-Murder” Miller, whose book DEATH AROUND THE CORNER had been published in Dec. 2006. He and I became friends and he brought me on board with his team to handle his PR. I then started to use him to get others to see that no matter what you look like or come from, books can unify all of us. That was really the beginning of my “street cred.” Books did that.
Dafna: How did you meet C-Murder?
Cyrus: Another funny story. I had been told about his book, but like many I judged him initially and said that it was probably just another rapper’s attempt to make money, not really to educate. Boy was I wrong. The book resonated with me on many levels. I emailed him on Myspace, and he contacted me the very next day. Less than a month later we were having regular phone conversations.
Dafna: Did Carl connect with this group right from the beginning?
Cyrus: Not at first. It wasn’t until we were able to bring C-Murder to Mississippi and have him talk about his book, the importance of reading and what books had done for him that people like Carl took notice. After that, Carl began to ask me about other books like Cee’s that he might be interested in. Like I told you during your visit with us in Pearl, Dafna, I think it is our responsibility to find people’s interest and feed it. That is what we had to do with Hip Hop and Books if we wanted to get some in the urban community reading.
Dafna: Describe Carl, what did he love, what was his passion, how did reading change him?
Cyrus: Carl was a true survivor. The odds were against him in many ways. He stuttered, developed kidney trouble and even had seizures, but music was his passion and he pursued it. In fact, when he rapped, you would never know of the speech impediment. It was as if his music was his first language.
I think reading showed him that you don’t have to be a one-note. He saw other rappers doing something different: similar to what athletes do—- diversify. He and I talked about that a lot. In fact, the day he passed, I told him that he needed to write his story.
I have found out since his death that his family didn’t know half of what he had accomplished or done with his music and pursuing his dream. In fact, Dafna, on Tues. they asked me to be a part of the eulogy at the funeral to tell people about what his life was like over the past few years.
Dafna: That must have been very challenging for you.
Cyrus: The truth is I didn’t want to do it. I’m not good around people showing a lot of emotion, Dafna. Because of my own challenges, I have hardened myself to a degree where I don’t let things really get to me. It’s hard, though, to see others grieve, and so though I was going to be at the funeral, I had no intention of saying anything.
What changed my mind, though, was the fact that it would be a disservice to those in attendance not to know the full man. They didn’t know his whole truth, and I think that is important to see him for what he has achieved.
Dafna: What would you like Carl to be remembered for?
Cyrus: As someone who made the most out of each day. A man who wanted something better for himself who wasn’t going to allow others and his own shortcomings to stop him. That is the Carl Watts I got to know.
Dafna: What did you want him to write about in his book?
Cyrus: His journey. How his physical ailments had stumped him but not stopped him. I wanted others to know that he was a father who loved his daughter and his family. He lost his mother the week before Thanksgiving in 2009, and that was his biggest fan.
I wanted others to know that he also had fans who loved him for his music.
Dafna: Will you consider writing his story?
Cyrus: Hmm. Dafna, that is something I have not thought about, but now you’ve put it in my mind. I wouldn’t rule it out.
Dafna: What would his family want others to know about Carl?
Cyrus: I think that he was a father, a son, a sibling and friend.
Dafna: How did Carl change you, Cyrus?
Cyrus: He showed me that you can do whatever you want to— all you have to do is believe.
Dafna: What do you want people to take a way from this chat?
Cyrus: I think the most important thing is to not judge a book by its cover. Just because you think someone doesn’t have something in common with you, doesn’t mean you can’t work together to make a difference. That is what Carl and I tried to do.
Dafna: Thank you Cyrus for sharing about Carl. I think many can find strength through knowing about his life. Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Cyrus: Thank you, Dafna, for the great opportunity. Continued success to you, and to your readers, I hope they will take advantage of every opportunity to make a difference in the world around them.
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You can learn more about Cyrus by watching the video interview I conducted with him here: http://www.50in52journey.com/states/Mississippi1.asp And please visit www.cyruswebb.com. There you will find Cyrus’s most recent articles, book reviews,etc.