Episode 42: Attica Locke

The World is Filled with Lightning

In 2019, The New York Times asked Attica Locke what moved her most in a work of literature. Attica’s response came back with one word: Wisdom. The New York Times rightly knew who to go to for this question. Attica is a five-time published, New York Times bestselling author. If you’ve yet to read one of her crime and suspense filled novels but have watched an episode of Empire or Little Fires Everywhere (or her upcoming Netflix Limited Television Series From Scratch produced and written with her sister Tembi Locke), you have had a glimpse into the worlds that Attica creates through the magic of her imagination and her pen. Her office is filled with awards for her creativity. When Attica writes, Hollywood and New York take notice, because something good is about to happen.

But when Attica sits down to write, there are no critics in the corner applauding (this is no waking ritual of a 17th Century monarch). No studio executives rushing in to read and then approve the latest edits. It all begins with Attica showing up to face an empty Microsoft Word Doc, a flashing cursor, and an idea. An idea of what could be. 

Showing up is a recurring theme in Attica’s journey as writer and human. The act of being present, taking up space and trying – even in the face of doubt – are essential ingredients for living. She says, “Your ability to then be additive to the lives of others, starts with you being able to show up for yourself.” Before I can give to others, my cup must first be full. 

In our conversation, Attica and I both show up and struggle together through the most challenging questions of our times as we contemplate what the world is and what it could be: Will this democracy last? Can black people afford forgiveness? Can we defeat the illusions of scarcity that Attica identifies as the central question of crime in her work? Our conversation is funny, sometimes raw and tear filled, but mostly it is the dialogue between two life-long friends who spend an hour together in fellowship as the world around us is filled with lightning. 

Attica sums it up in the final moments of our conversation, “The thing I care about on planet earth is kindness. Kindness. Kindness. And recognizing peoples’ humanity.”

Now that, Attica, is wisdom.