Gabrielle Union has found the freedom to express herself.
In her new book “You Got Anything Stronger?” She even reveals how she forgave her husband and former NBA player Dwyane Wade after fathering a child with another woman. It is a sequel to her 2017 best-selling memoir, “We Will Need More Wine,” which was a collection of essays about her childhood in Nebraska, including a powerful account of the rape at gunpoint in college.
At 48, Union learned the power of her voice and her vulnerability, she said. She will be in Houston on Friday to speak to Rev. Mia Wright about her book at the Fountain of Praise Church. The event is presented by the Kindred Stories and Metamorphosis Conference bookstore in Houston.
“I really struggled to add a date in Texas to the book tour and there have been some setbacks,” she said. “I thought it was really important. And you guys, I mean, you made me look like Yoda, so I appreciate the support. “
Union, who married Wade in 2014, began her acting career in sitcoms in the 1990s and had a breakout film role in Bring It On in 2000. She has written two children’s books, a hair care line, Flawless by Gabrielle Union, and a production company I’ll Have Another Productions, which is turning George M. Johnson’s best-selling memoir “All Boys Aren’t Blue” into a TV series.
She spoke to the Houston Chronicle about her new book, motherhood, and finding her own voice.
Q: Why did you want to write another book?
A: I had a lot more to say. I had been through a lot more that I definitely knew I had to share and wanted to share. I was healed enough to speak about it effectively and effectively. After this pandemic and everyone was so isolated, I knew it was time to write the follow up and try to just create more community by sharing some of my challenges and joys in my life and hope that other people can see it even reflected on the page.
Q: Was the writing process easier this time?
A: It was easier because I was less afraid. I wasn’t tied to the same fears as the first. I wasn’t so motivated by the reaction, but by the truth and radical transparency.
Q: How has motherhood changed your outlook on life?
A: As a mom raising two daughters, I want to raise black girls to off-center white comfort and off-center the needs of patriarchy and toxic masculinity, asking who you would be, what kind of dreams you would have if you were to get away with it would separate things. For me that is freedom. As a mom who desperately wants this for my daughters, I realized that maybe I should start with myself. So I hope to inspire more people to find out what freedom means for them, to seek and live it.
Q: Motherhood is so much fun on social media. Are you having as much fun as it seems?
A: I am very privileged and happy that I have really funny and fun children. They just aren’t that challenging every day, all day. I have a lot of help too. So it might not have been fun if I was alone or felt like I was underwater, but with a lot of help, a very large village and my family nearby and in the house, I can find some humor in some aspects of the Upbringing I probably wouldn’t find funny if I was alone.
Q: Why is it important for you to speak up on issues like racism in Hollywood and women’s rights?
A: There is still so much to fight against, so much to push back, so much to uncover and illuminate and reveal. To move forward, you have to look back and be accountable … But first we have to address the real damage, and that requires people to have their say. And I don’t mind being open, and I just hope it inspires more and more people to join the fight.
Q: Do you think things will change?
A: If enough of us come up and band together, if we all get up together, they can’t turn us all off. And only in this way will there be a noticeable change. We’re still so geeked about celebrating the first black here, the first Asian woman that or the first Latinx man. That makes me feel ashamed. I crawl. We still have premieres in 2021. We all have to rush forward and say, ‘No, one is not enough.’ And we don’t take it anymore, and this younger generation certainly isn’t taking it. The call for real change, significant change, tangible change is now.
Q: What keeps you up at night
A: The Texas ban on abortion. It’s like something out of the “Handmaid’s Tale”. It’s illogical. It’s not based on science and it sends everyone back. Under the pretext of being family friendly, it’s scary. And now it’s the blueprint for a number of other states, and it keeps me up at night.
Q: Are there any Roles that you will not take?
A: I am not offered problematic roles in which people have strong negative opinions. Whatever the reason, I’m just never really put in that position … This phase of the game is more about how comfortable I feel with, say, nudity?
Q: Do you mind nudity for an acting role?
A: I generally have no problem with nudity. In real life we are naked. There are many things that other people find offensive or uncomfortable that don’t even mean anything to me, like sexuality and nudity or other controversial issues. I know some people say, “But you are a mother now, what would your daughter think?” And I hope my daughter knows that adults have sex.
Q: You looked fabulous at the last Met Gala. Did you have a good time?
A: This year’s Met Gala was a little different for a thousand reasons, and I was alone. I didn’t have a date. I haven’t been physically with a friend or the designer (Dutch designer Iris van Herpen) who was unable to travel out of her country because of our country’s COVID travel problems. So it was a rather lonely experience, and I’ve never experienced Met like this before. I had a lot of fun after that, hanging out with Regina King and Queen Latifah and going to Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz’s party and eating pizza and chilling out. That was a lot of fun, that was a lot of fun.
Q: What is surprising about you?
A: I am not just one thing. I think some people say, “She is that advocate. She is a rebel. She’s a basketball woman or whatever. ”But I think people would be surprised that I have a lot of joy and laughter in my life. That i’m funny. That there is a lot of joy in the book and that it is not just about difficult topics. So they can see a little more of the fullness of my life, not just a part.
Q: Are you a prankster at home?
A: I am a great storyteller. No jokes as such. I’m a funny commentator on most things, but I leave the jokes to the comedians.
Question: What do you enjoy?
A: My family. To see my family make their dreams come true, live the dream and be free. And to feel so loved and supported by them gives me a lot of joy.
joy.sewing@chron.com
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