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About the author

TAFARI CHARLES

Tafari Charles was born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1980. His parents, Ava and Lincoln, migrated to the United States from Trinidad in the ’70s as children. They met in high school and have been together ever since. Tafari was born on November 22, 1980, at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn, NY. He was three months premature and struggled to survive with the help of doctors, nursing staff, and prayers from loved ones. His mother would later tell him that at the time of his birth, he was so small that he could fit in the palm of her hand. He spent the first couple of months of his life inside an incubator with no physical contact with anyone. Tafari had been fed through a tube, and a needle was stuck in his stomach until he was developed enough to eat through his mouth. Tafari defied the odds and grew into a healthy baby boy.

Tafari grew up in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, during the crack epidemic. His neighborhood was one of the most dangerous in New York. As a child, he would be awakened nightly by nearby gunfire. Life was extremely difficult for most low-income families in New York City. Every day, lower-class people were faced with the dilemma of surviving neighborhood war zones and finding ways to feed themselves and their families. Tafari found an escape from the drugs, gun violence, and poverty through poetry and rap. He can still recall being eight years old and reading his poetry to his mother, Avallina, who was always his biggest fan.

At the age of thirteen, Tafari’s parents used what little savings they had to move Tafari and his best friend/sister, Makeda, who was born on his birthday three years after him, out of the dangerous Brooklyn ghetto to a middle-class suburb of Long Island. Life on Long Island was a culture shock for Tafari because he had never been exposed to many white people before and had little experience with the racism he encountered from his new white classmates and teachers. Life in Brooklyn was extremely difficult, but everyone looked like and treated one another the same.

It was very hard for Tafari to navigate life as the new kid in an environment where the people with all the influence and power treated people of color like second-class citizens. Tafari struggled through the racism and managed to make some friends who helped ease the burdens of feeling like he did not belong.

After Tafari graduated from high school, he attended some college but was unsure of the direction he wanted to take, eventually leaving school and beginning his career as an electrician, working for the same company as his father. He was very proud to be working side by side with his father, who is also his hero.

Right before the start of his career, Tafari’s first son, Tapharye, was born to him and his high school sweetheart. Tafari was so proud of his son that he gave him his name, but he also wanted his son to have his own identity, so he spelled his name differently. Three years after his first son’s birth came the birth of his second son, Hayden. Tafari knew from the very beginning how brave Hayden would be, so he named him after his uncle, who had been shot five times in Brooklyn during the early ’90s while defending himself from being robbed. Uncle Hayden survived the shooting and works at the same company as his nephew Tafari to this day. Tafari’s third son, Aaron, was born three years later. Aaron was given a Biblical name because he was the most righteous of Tafari’s sons. Tafari knew that although Aaron was his last son, he would do great things in life.

Tafari vowed to do his best to prepare his sons for the racism and prejudice that they would encounter as Black boys in America by stressing the importance of discipline and education. Tafari then celebrated the births of his first daughter, Destiny, which he named because she was his first daughter and because of her special birthdate of July 7, 2007, and his second daughter, Nia Simone. A name he gave her in honor of his favorite singer and activist of the Civil Rights Movement, Nina Simone. Nia also had a special birthdate as she was born on February 1, 2016, the first day of Black History Month.

Tafari believes that his life experiences give him the wisdom and validation to write compelling stories about the impact that poverty, poor mental or emotional health, and racism play in the everyday lives of people of color. Tafari’s debut novel, Poison Us Minds, is the byproduct of his lifelong desire to find peace and belonging. He continues to write as an advocate for racial justice and mental health awareness today.