Author Sapphire Gives Birth to ‘The Kid’
On June 11, 1996, author/poet Sapphire gave birth to Precious Jones, the abused, illiterate, obese main character of her gritty debut novel Push. Fifteen years later, her latest literary labor of love has given birth to another unforgettable character.
Her new novel The Kid, released in July, chronicles the life of Precious’s son Abdul. The story paints a poignant picture of the precarious, perilous path Abdul walks in the aftermath of his mother’s death from AIDS.
Currently on an extensive tour to promote the tome, Sapphire admits that the frequent travel can be tiring, but says she nonetheless embraces the opportunity to talk about how her texts give voice to the voiceless.
“I tell myself – as the kids in New York say – ‘I’m representin’,’ says Sapphire. “I’m representing for my book. And it’s not just my book as a commercial product, but it’s my book that represents an African-American AIDS orphan, my book that represents poor people, my book that talks about social issues that a lot of texts are not [talking about].”
Featuring expressive language and heart-wrenching narratives full of soul-searching and struggle, books like Push and The Kid depict the way racism, poverty, and violence affect Black people’s lives, choices and behaviors.
Sapphire’s savvy storytelling recently nabbed the spotlight when Push was adapted for the big screen. The film Precious, starring Mo’Nique, Paula Patton and newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, went on to win numerous awards, including two Oscars.
Much of what motivated Sapphire to tell Abdul’s story was a desire to expose the devastating effects of the AIDS epidemic on African-American children and families.
"We have a whole population of African American children who have been orphaned by AIDS. The dedication in the book is for the 60 million and counting,” she points out. “Abdul is going to have a hard time getting adopted because he is a dark-skinned black boy; [he] has less of a chance of being adopted than a dog or a cat. Hey – that’s a problem in my opinion. That’s something I wanted people to look at.”
