Juneteenth Q&A With David Reddick, Author of “Two Dogs and God”

 

BPL PR Director Roy Williams with Author David Reddick,  a vendor at the 2024 Steel City Jazz Fest 

Birmingham, Ala. - Over the weekend, while attending the 2024 Steel City Jazz Festival in Linn Park, I sought a vendor to buy some shirts for Father's Day and Juneteenth. I found the perfect one in David E. Reddick, buying both a Father's Day shirt and a Juneteenth T-shirt for me and my son, Royce. 

As a published author myself, I was excited to learn that David is also an author. I got three of his books:

 • "Two Dogs and God"

• "The Good Little Leprechaun" 

• "The Spiritual Side of Goal Setting - Why and How It Works"

Reddick, 46, is from Anniston, close to my hometown of Jacksonville, Ala. That happens to be my mother Pearl Williams’ hometown. He is a graduate of Jacksonville State University, which is where I graduated and met my wife, Patrice. Reddick is a telecommunications field engineer who writes books and does public speaking in his free time. 

In a Q&A, Reddick shared his thoughts on why Juneteenth is so important to him and the important role fathers play today. Reddick also talked about how he got involved in selling T-shirts and what inspired his books. 

Reddick also shared a powerful testimony that inspired his book "The Spiritual Side of Goal Setting: Why and How it Works." While in the U.S. Navy several years ago, Reddick was involved in a near-fatal motorcycle accident. It left him unable to walk unassisted for three years and put his life in a downward spiral. God brought him through it and his book shares advice for others on how to overcome challenges we face in this journey called life. 

BPL: Wednesday, June 19 is Juneteenth national holiday. Why is Juneteenth so important to you?

 Reddick: Juneteenth is a celebration of when the last slaves were informed that they were no longer slaves, six months after they were already set free. To me it is a representation of the human condition. Christ set us free over 2,000 years ago, but if we don't convey that fact to our thoughts, words, actions, and expectations we will continue to be free people living our lives in bondage. 

In my book "The Spiritual Side of Goal Setting (Why and How it Works)" I give tools and strategies to help everyone experience freedom in their personal lives. This is part of a series that I'm working on called "The Spiritual Side Of: Series." Each book will be another aspect of growth for the human condition.

BPL: My son and I love the Juneteenth T-shirts I bought from you. Describe them and what inspired you to choose these to sell at the festival? 

Reddick: My reasoning for the shirt was to inspire people to ask questions. I made them colorful and memorable. Placing the year on the shirts I'm hoping young people will remember it. Next, I'm hoping that when they are bored in history class and hear that slavery was abolished in January 1865 it will make them ask "Then why do we celebrate in June?" 

BPL: Just got through reading your short children's book "Two Dogs and God." I love how you use this story of a man and his two dogs as a modern-day parable about the importance of dedicating time to your relationship with God. Briefly describe what the book is about.? 

Reddick: Two Dogs and God came out in May 2024 and can be purchased on Amazon.com at:  https://rb.gy/038iz4 This book is a modern-day parable about the importance of dedicating time to your relationship with God. It’s the story of a man and his two dogs. One dog was trained as a guard dog. This dog protected the home and the owner. The other dog was playful and carefree. 

The playful, carefree dog caused the man to begin to neglect the guard dog. When the man realized that he was neglecting his guard dog, he also realized that he had been neglecting his relationship with God. This story will help your child realize the importance of balance in their personal and spiritual lives.

 BPL: What inspired you to write this story? Reddick: "Two Dogs and God" is a dream I had. I felt as though it was God's way of letting me know that I needed to spend more time on my spiritual life so I wrote it down. One day it hit me, "That's a book!" That's when I found an artist to illustrate it. 

BPL: Is it personable - do you have dogs yourself? 

Reddick: I have an 11-year-old Great Dane named Goliath. The Great Dane in the book was created from photos I sent the artist of Goliath as a puppy and as an adult. 11 is quite old for a breed of dog that large, so I call him a grumpy old man, but he has been with me for a long time and through a lot of ups and downs in life. 

BPL: Hope you had a great Father's Day. As you know a lot of Black fathers are spoken of negatively. Talk about why Black Fathers are so important and what we must do to counter the negative stereotype about Black Fathers. 

Reddick: I don't have kids. I'm divorced, but when I was married I wrote "The Good Little Leprechaun." My goal was to have something available for my children that they could always go to glean information and life lessons. Children weren't in the cards for us, but I could share this story with the kids I mentor in my community.

I was raised with my father in the home, which positively impacted my view of the world. My father was the kind of person who "said it once," and if he had to tell us something a second time there would be consequences. My mother was the kind of person that would tell us to do something and there was room for negotiations before the consequences. 

Having both parents play their roles taught us two trains of thought. There will be times when we don't have to accept what we are being told, we should negotiate for a more favorable outcome. We also learned that There will be times when there is nothing we can do about our situation. When this happens we have to decide the best course of action to handle the hands we were dealt. 

Having two parents available made it possible for each to perform those critical roles. It is difficult "not impossible" for one parent to come across as consistent in a child's development when they attempt to perform both roles. The whole concept of "a bad father" embeds into the black community the thought process of, " if he isn't good enough, he shouldn't be allowed to be in his child's life."

What this does is deprive the child of the opportunity of balance in their developmental process. There is no such thing as a perfect father, husband, or man. God makes us imperfect on purpose. This is because one of the greatest talents God has ever given mankind is the ability to "Learn from adversity." No matter what race you are, what religion you were brought up in, or what era you grew up in, both parents have done something to both screw their kids up and make their kids better people.

BPL: Is your father still living. I unfortunately lost my dad at age 78 over a decade ago. What impact did your dad have on you? 

Reddick: My father is currently in the fight of his life with congestive heart failure. Please pray for him and that something can be done soon to help his heart regain it's strength. 

BPL: What is the name of your business - what all do you sell besides T-shirts and how long have you done it? 

Reddick: My website is Davidereddick.com  You can find the link to my books there and on Amazon.com. I haven't started selling the shirts and other products on my website just yet, but they will be available soon. 

BPL: I understand you first got into self-publishing with your book "The Good Little Leprechaun" in 2019. Talk about that book and what inspired it. 

Reddick: "The Good Little Leprechaun" (ages 8-12) is a simple yet relatable story that will help give your child the courage to be their best selves. This story shows that there can be a real and tangible benefit to being their own person who is kind, loving, and caring. 

When each leprechaun is born, they are given a pot. It is that leprechaun’s job to fill that pot with gold. Each pot of gold eventually produces a rainbow. The more gold collected the bigger the rainbow will become. 

Typical leprechaun behaviors are to fill their pots weren’t good, but it was the way it was always done. That’s about to change thanks to the efforts of one little leprechaun. The Good Little Leprechaun is the tale of one brave Leprechaun soul who decided to fill her pot by doing good deeds. Her honesty, determination, and tenacity to stand for good will inspire and challenge each reader to want to be a better person.

 The principles applied by The Good Little Leprechaun are the same principles you want your child to apply in his/her own life. This is the book you will want your child to read. Available on Amazon at this link https://rb.gy/mdq754 

BPL: Tell us about your 2023 book, "The Spiritual Side of Goal Setting: Why and How it Works" What inspired you to write it? 

 Reddick: When I was on active duty Navy I was in a near-fatal motorcycle accident. It took me over 3 years to be able to walk again unassisted, and I wasn't able to work immediately after my injuries caused me to be medically discharged. Because of my lack of financial training, I lost everything. I had to start all over in life, not from zero, but in a negative starting point. 

What I couldn't understand was how I could be active in church, an avid tithes payer, a giver, and someone who believed that God can do anything; and yet I was almost homeless and completely destitute. I struggled to get my life back on track and the challenges were even harder because of the bad credit report and the past-due bills. 

Using the tools I talk about in my book, I was able to get my life back, my finances back on track, and finally breathe again. My book is a simple guide that is easily understood by younger readers and can help the next person avoid similar struggles. This book covers the parts of scripture that get left out in far too many sermons and way too many Sunday School Classes. It's the rest of the biblical teachings that don't seem to make it to the sermons when the televangelists talk about the importance of tithes and giving offerings.

BPL: The Birmingham Public Library hosts an annual Local Authors Expo in November. 

Click here to read a blog I wrote about it last year. https://bplolinenews.blogspot.com/2023/11/meet-these-30-authors-at-2023-bpl-local.html 

Any advice for others on how to get started in writing and publishing a book? 

Reddick: My advice is to write as if you are going to throw the book away when you're done. That means to take the stress off of yourself about what you write. Most self-published authors don't start making any money from their books until their fourth book. 

Some don't make any money until their ninth or 10th book. So write because you love it. Don't worry about how many copies it will sell, worry about consistency. Make sure that book two won't hurt your sales once you get book five on the market.

By Roy L. Williams|PR Director, Birmingham Public Library