fi rm beliefs, who are highly educated and satisfi ed with our jobs, who are doing
what we always dreamed of doing with our lives—we still have much to learn. I
hope as readers take in SLAY they feel encouraged in knowing they’re not alone
in navigating what identity means and which facets of their identity they want to
keep and which they’ve maybe grown away from.Can you talk about striking a balance between the book’s exploration of
huge issues and its more intimate focus on your protagonist’s growth?
Actually, those go hand in hand. Th e huge issues Kiera encounters enable her to
grow into the strong black woman she wants to be. Kiera becomes a new person
aft er navigating how she feels about code-switching, using slang, going to a histor-
ically black college, reading only books by black authors, engaging in social media,
calling the police, supporting black men unconditionally, fi tt ing certain stereo-
types, and explaining black culture to white people. Th is is a position many people
of color fi nd themselves in—deciding which parts of our culture make up who we
are and which parts aren’t part of our lives and then being okay with lett ing go.What do you hope readers take away from the novel? I hope readers take
away that they are the heroes of their own stories. No one else gets to defi ne
exactly what it means to be black for you. Whatever music you listen to, whatever
movies you watch, whatever hobbies you have, whatever gender you are, there is a
place for you in the black community. You are needed, and you are loved.ON THE COME UP: WOMEN WHO SLAY
Saturday, Nov. 23, 12 p.m.
MDC Live Arts LabKARIBA PHOTOGRAPHY
D
ebut author Britt ney Morris
hits the ground running with
her YA novel, SLAY (Simon
Pulse), which stars 17-year-old Kiera
Johnson, an honors student and
gaming enthusiast. In secret, Kiera
is a skilled game developer and the
creator of the secret online role-play-
ing platform SLAY, in which black gamers adopt Nubian
identities. When a teenage player is murdered following a
confl ict that erupts within the SLAY universe, the game is
targeted as a violent source of, according to a troll stalking
Kiera, “anti-white discrimination.” Here, Morris speaks
about the SLAY space and writing a book that explores
race, identity, and the oft en toxic world of social media.How would you describe SLAY and what it rep-
resents to Kiera? SLAY is a virtual Nubian utopia where
black people worldwide can play online and be themselves
without fear of the white gaze. To Kiera, it represents a space
where she doesn’t have to be the “black culture expert”—
unlike at her school of mostly white students—and where
she doesn’t have to question her own racial identity.Th e story seems to explore aspects of people’s
identities—what they show the world, what they
conceal, what they show some but not others. How
do modern readers navigate these issues them-
selves, particularly through social media? People
usually show the best of themselves on social media.
Between fi lters, tuning, and bright, exciting text, it’s prett y
easy to feel like everyone has it together but you. But the
truth is we’re all on a journey to fi gure out who we are.
Even those of us who are secure in our bodies, who haveBrittney
Morris
Wants You
to Be the
Hero of
Your Own
Story
“ Whatever music you listen to, whatever movies you watch, whatever
hobbies you have, whatever gender you are, there is a place for you in
the black community. You are needed, and you are loved.”FICTION BY MATIA BURNETTMorris’s YA debut about
an online gaming world
tackles race and racism
head-on18 MIAMI BOOK FAIR