
Letters to Gil
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Narrated by:
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Malik Al Nasir
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Gil Scott-Heron
About this listen
Exclusive content in this audio edition includes interviews between Malik and Benjamin Zephaniah, Jalal Munsur Nuriddin, and Rod Youngs as well as musical and lyrical performances from Gil and Malik.
Letters to Gil is Malik Al Nasir’s profound coming of age memoir – the story of surviving physical and racial abuse and discovering a new sense of self-worth under the wing of the great artist, poet and civil rights activist Gil Scott-Heron.
Born in Liverpool, Malik was taken into care at the age of nine after his seafaring father became paralysed. He would spend his adolescence in a system that proved violent, neglectful, exploitative, traumatising and mired in abuse. Aged eighteen, he emerged semi-literate, penniless with no connections or sense of where he was going – until a chance meeting with Gil Scott-Heron.
Letters to Gil will tell the story of Malik’s empowerment and awakening while mentored by Gil, from his introduction to the legacy of Black history to the development of his voice through poetry and music. Written with lyricism and power, it is a frank and moving memoir, highlighting how institutional racism can debilitate and disadvantage a child, as well as how mentoring, creativity, self-expression and solidarity helped him to uncover his potential.
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Critic reviews
"A searing, triumphant story. A testament to the tenacity of the human spirit as well as a beautiful ode to an iconic figure." (Irenosen Okojie)
This is a story that is the real ‘underdog did good ‘. From a childhood of torment in the care system of the northwest of England , to the self discovery and journey with his lifelong mentor Gil Scot Heron, this book is a wonderful mosaic of a black man’s journey coming to terms with his past , and forging a meaningful future . Loved the acoustic touches throughout the book.
Tenacity , Resilience and Inspirational
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Great Book! Must read!
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interesting Journey
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The byline of this book is “A Luminous Memoir of Racism, Life in the Care System and the Power of Discovering Music Under the Mentorship of Gil Scott-Heron” with a photo of the author and Gil on the cover together. Like the author, I am deeply moved by Heron’s work so an opportunity to hear more about the man is very appealing to me I also fully expected to hear some of Nasir’s story as well.
However, the amount of Gil to Nasir ratio was much smaller than I anticipated from the byline and photo. This is mostly Nasir’s story and, as an added bonus, he very competently reads the text himself and you get to hear his poetry and samples of his music. His story is interesting, BUT I expected to learn a bit more about Heron and ultimately did not and ended up feeling a bit disappointed by the end because of those expectations.
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