I am your girl, Tia \u201cMz. Konnoisseur\u201d Hamilton. I am the owner and founder of many things\u2026 Myself<\/em>. I found and own myself. I think that\u2019s important for people to know who they are and what they\u2019re doing, and what their purpose is. So, I found that, and I own that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But when it comes to business, I\u2019m the founder and CEO of State vs. Us Magazine<\/em><\/strong>, Urban Reads Bookstore, WMSKonlineradio.com, and RTO (Renewal Transitional Organization). That\u2019s my transitional housing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m originally from Brownsville, New York. Although I\u2019ve been out here (Baltimore) since I was a child, I\u2019m definitely New York, all day. Nothing has ever left my roots inside of me and how I get down. So, I attribute that in a lot of ways to how I move because \u201cus\u201d New Yorkers don\u2019t play. We get to it and we\u2019re not sitting around waiting for somebody else to give it to us either. We pay to play. We pay our way, and we motivate all the way through the process. I\u2019m just me!<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n How did you go from being an incarcerated woman to being a bookstore owner? And how did you come up with the idea for the bookstore?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s easy! I do what I want to do. My magazine State vs. Us Magazine<\/strong> is the reason for my bookstore. <\/strong>I came out with that because no one wanted me in their space, Downtown Locker Room, City Guards. Like, I name these people on purpose because it\u2019s important we understand that we gotta stop playing with each other and we gotta support each other, and instead of giving me an opportunity or at least a callback, I never got any of that. So, it\u2019s important that I let you know, I gotta call you out on your bull because had you given me that opportunity, it could have been a situation where you could\u2019ve been eating with me and not just Barnes & Noble. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I was intentional about where I wanted this magazine to be, and in those spaces, they didn\u2019t give me the opportunity, so I opened up my own store because of that. I was already under a distro deal, so I was able to get in Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Canada, and all of that. Listen, I get it, but I wanted my hood though. I wanted to be with my urban people. And being at Barnes & Noble and all of that didn\u2019t do that. So, I opened up a store and put my own book on the shelf. That\u2019s when Urban Reads was birthed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tell us about your award-winning bookstore, Urban Reads Bookstore?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s litty!<\/em> Urban Reads is the hub for black authors. The hub for the community. The hub for literacy. It\u2019s the hub for us. People ask all the time; how can I get my book placed in there\u2026 be black<\/em>. But now I\u2019m doing something further. Now, just because you\u2019re black I gotta force you into the business side. First, I was like if you have a book, send me your book. But now I\u2019m looking at the quality of these books. Now, I\u2019m looking at how these books are formulated and formatted, non-edited, and not selling, and no marketing and none of that behind it. Now, I gotta force you to do business the right way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So, I started in January this year, and let me tell you this is why I do this because black people, we wanna do so many things but we don\u2019t want to sit down and learn what the hell we doing. See, I make this look easy. Ain\u2019t nothing about what I do easy. People think, open up this store and it\u2019s all good\u2026 no. So, now, I\u2019m forcing authors to have a EPK (electronic press kit) and a bio for their book. To learn how the profit margins work. To learn that your book should have a spine with your words on it so people can know what it is. There\u2019s different levels to this. And before January, it was easy to get somebody, a local author\u2019s book in here. Now, I\u2019m finding it hard. I ain\u2019t did a contract all year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And guess what, I\u2019m okay with it because if you don\u2019t have it together, you can\u2019t be a part of what I\u2019m doing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So, I\u2019m holding authors accountable in what they\u2019re doing. But we gotta be thinkers. We gotta be researchers. We gotta do better. We gotta be more intentional in what we choose to do, and we gotta learn that accordingly without attitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then, we got the literacy camp where we are going to teach these babies how to read and cut the check. We\u2019re going to be having a reading and financial literacy program starting this summer. We\u2019re going to start with late elementary and early middle school ages because America is on a seventh and ninth-grade reading level but Black America is on a third and fourth level. Who am I to have a bookstore and not attack that? Ain\u2019t no other bookstore attacking that. This is an issue. Sixty percent of people who go to prison are illiterate; that\u2019s not good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Photo Credit: state Vs us<\/p>\n\n\n\n You have a magazine called State vs. Us Magazine. Tell us about your magazine and its mission.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n My ex had hit me up; the one who sent me to jail. Ten years went by, he hit me, wrote me to give me the apology I\u2019d been waiting for. So, I wrote him back and told him call me. I shouldn\u2019t have done that but we see where it got me with this magazine. When he hit me, he wanted something from me, he was like, \u201cI want to do a magazine.\u201d I told him if I\u2019m going do a magazine it\u2019s gotta be on my terms. \u201cWe gonna talk about what\u2019s really going on, the wrongful convictions, and the problems in the system.\u201d He ain\u2019t want to do that so I disconnected him. He worked on the first magazine with me, after that, I deaded him. I financed everything and took care of the paperwork. He didn\u2019t want to do the plan, he just wanted to be ghetto, and that\u2019s not what\u2019s needed today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, what I\u2019m doing is what\u2019s needed, and it\u2019s been proven because I\u2019m responsible for four men being home from prison due to my magazine; three releases are due to the interviews and one is due to my connections for clemency. I\u2019m archived in the Schomburg for Black Culture and Research in Harlem, New York. They are actively researching on my magazine right now. So, everyone I release, they get. I have spoken at Columbia University, Yale, UCLA, Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn. It\u2019s relentless. I\u2019m about to do my second year in a row at the National Association for Public Defenders Conference. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Because we gonna stop playing with black and brown people and as long as I\u2019m here with my voice, my legacy Is gonna live after this. And it\u2019s gonna speak to the testament of what we gotta do in this prison reform. So, that\u2019s what my magazine does, it\u2019s changing lives. I\u2019m on four prison catalogs. I\u2019m in Canada and the UK. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ll be moving my magazine out of Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million and all of these spaces because I have my own store. And to stay independent and keep the overhead down, I chose to remove that and go independent on the distro side and do my own distribution, and it\u2019s been working. I\u2019m selling magazines and I\u2019m changing lives. It\u2019s in almost every federal and state prison all over this country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m the voice of the voiceless and through my magazine, they get a voice. The only thing I edit is the grammar, they keep their story and their voice alive because they tell it how they want to tell it. If we allow the system to do that, it\u2019s going to get changed. And these men and women are proving their innocence through the magazine. This is why when people read it and write them, next thing you know, they\u2019re home, or they use it in their court case. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Like right now, the recent issue that just came out, we\u2019re working on Anthony Green. He\u2019s a wrongfully convicted college student. The person who admitted to the crime, the judge denied his testimony. And one of the GTTF (Gun Trace Taskforce) from the corruption cops for Baltimore City was on the case. For that alone, this man should be released. It\u2019s not a game, it\u2019s a lot of work to be done, and that\u2019s what State vs. Us Magazine is doing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019re very involved with doing community work and activism. Describe what you do.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I take care of everybody. I\u2019m your favorite book dealer. Listen, I ran these streets right and I tore these streets up for a long time. And I can\u2019t possibly imagine being here on Greenmount, I\u2019m here intentionally though, but I can\u2019t imagine being here with literacy in the palm of my hands, and a voice, and a brain with logic and understanding of all walks of life that I\u2019m not gonna attack this. It makes no sense for me to be sitting here every day and just worry about myself. Philanthropy don\u2019t work like that. Being in these streets, I\u2019m on the front line. If somebody calls me and it\u2019s time to go, it\u2019s time to go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I go into these prisons and I talk to these dudes and I show them my magazine; they be mesmerized. So, I go in there and I tell them, \u201cListen to me. This is the same grind, a different product. If you ever ran a block, you\u2019re a supervisor but if you run the whole organization, you a CEO. It may take longer but you ain\u2019t over your shoulders, and you\u2019ll be legal, and your empire\/wealth is stronger. And wealth ain\u2019t always about that green, the dead presidents. Wealth is about knowledge. Wealth is about that brain. Wealth is about logic. Wealth is about common sense. Wealth is about how you help and serve your community.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n My wealth\u2026 I\u2019m wealthy. Period! Your child is my child. So, when I go in these prisons, they get it right. Them dudes and them women be like, \u201cbring her back.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Give some words of encouragement to anyone who may be struggling with turning their life around?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Find yourself, man. If you don\u2019t want to research what you doing, research yourself. Find that first. If you gotta get therapy, which everyone needs, go get that. In our communities, we scared of that therapy word. Call it something else if that\u2019s what makes you feel better but you gotta go get that because you gotta start loving on yourself. It\u2019s no way you can love on anything for you, for your kids, for your family, your friends, or for anything or the world. You can\u2019t have empathy for anybody unless you have empathy for yourself, within yourself, and loving on yourself. And researching yourself and realizing who you are. The moment you realize who you are, it\u2019s game! We gotta stop worrying about what people think. Y\u2019all gotta check on your strong friends too. And if you gotta take a day, take a day! And find yourself a mentor too. My circle is filled with millionaires and billionaires. You are who you\u2019re with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What have you learned about yourself through your struggles that have helped you in life?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m dope as hell in real life, lol. Yeah, ain\u2019t nobody doper than me. I never lose, I either win or I learn<\/em>. –Nelson Mandela<\/strong> And that\u2019s what makes me dope. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s next for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Continue to be lit. I got a temp agency that\u2019s about to open up. I\u2019m hiring felons; I\u2019m getting them employed. I got my transitional housing coming. I have a lot of things in the pipeline. Just know the year 2022 is for alignment. It\u2019s a lesson in every day that I post. Y\u2019all just keep watching! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Where can people follow you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Urban Reads Bookstore: Instagram<\/a> \u2502Facebook<\/a> \u2502Twitter<\/a> \u2502Website<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n State vs Us Magazine: Instagram<\/a> \u2502Facebook<\/a> \u2502Twitter<\/a> \u2502Website<\/a> \u2502Email<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n She accepts books for donations (gently used or new) & monetary donations <\/p>\n\n\n\n CashApp: Urban Reads Bookstore (write book donation in comments)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Featured Image Credit: @swaggedoutshotsphotography<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/wOX5Kx_7IvZw-oz78eSsrWo_ab2dzzI1Z-M52pHIzzBocl4RQQFtiVJ7Z3aSSkDhhIn2Nr-qp6qofrnJY6wSTkjv6sXi0Wv8QvVssTSJLxfzq932OTpKJqtSzABlk_PILMTHTq-O\")
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