Below, Cullors tells EW about the books of her life.
My favorite book as a child
The Giverby Lois Lowrywas probably my favorite book.
My fourth grade teacher, Ms. Goldberg, introduced me not just to reading but thejoyof reading.
Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
I was a very outgoing child [laughs] and she really taught us how to be leaders.
I would write questions for people and then give out candy to the kids who got them right.
I was like, I need to read everything by these folks.
Grand Central Publishing
The book I read in secret as a kid
There was a book calledThe Spirit of Africa.
I pretty much hid anything that was related to African or indigenous spirituality.
I can’t even…
Seriously, I don’t think I can think of one.
I need to find a good laugh-out-loud book.
An author that changed my life
Octavia Butler.
For me, reading it, it was just, like, a mind-blown emoji.
I’m not sure how to translate that another way [laughs].
It was about vampires racism and authoritarianism, and power and control, in the vampire world.
A book that should be required reading
Octavia Butler’sParable of the Sowershould definitely be required reading.
The high school I went to had its required readings but not a framework for discussing those readings.
