Kimberly Latrice Jones (born 18 March 1976) is an American author known for co-authoring the book ''I'm Not Dying with You Tonight'' and for the viral video ''How Can We Win'' published during the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests, riots, and demonstrations against police brutality that began in Minneapolis in the United States on May 26, 2020. The protests and civil unrest began in Minneapolis as Reactions to the mu ...

''I'm Not Dying with You Tonight''

Jones co-authored the

young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

book ''I'm Not Dying with You Tonight'', published in August 2019, alongside Gilly Segal, whom she had met through a young adult writing community. The pair began writing the book following the

2015 Baltimore protests On April 12, 2015, Baltimore Police Department officers arrested Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African American resident of Baltimore, Maryland. Gray's neck and spine were injured while he was in a police vehicle and he went into a coma. On Ap ...

as they became interested in exploring teenagers' perspectives on such events. The book, set in a fictional neighbourhood of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, follows two teenage girls, one black and one white, whose perspectives are challenged during a night of racial tension and riots in their city. The book alternates between their perspectives, with one written by Jones and the other by Segal. Jones says that "rotating between two first-person points of view enabled us to dig deeply into each girl's character."

Paste Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to: Science and technology * Adhesive or paste ** Wallpaper paste ** Wheatpaste, a liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water * Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves as ...

magazine listed ''I'm Not Dying with You Tonight'' as one of the best young adult novels of August 2019, describing the story as "explosive" and "not to be missed". In their review,

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

called the book "timely" and "accessible," but felt the characters and their arcs weren't fully realised.

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

gave the book a negative review, citing unresolved and messy story arcs. The book was a finalist for an

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. The over 40 ...

in 2020. Film rights for the book were secured by Autumn Bailey-Ford in June 2020.

''How Can We Win''

In 2020 Jones was in

interviewing protesters taking part in the

. While doing so, she recorded a video talking to the camera about

racism in the United States Racism has been reflected in discriminatory laws, practices, and actions (including violence) against Race (human categorization), racial or ethnic groups throughout the history of the United States. Since the early Colonial history of the Uni ...

which subsequently went viral online. In the 7 minute video, Jones uses a ''Monopoly'' analogy to explain the history of racism and its impact on

black Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, and contests the dialogue around the protests, arguing that commentators should be discussing the reasons people were rioting, not what they were doing. The video was shared online by celebrities including

Trevor Noah Trevor Noah (born 20 February 1984) is a South African comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He was the host of ''The Daily Show'', an American late-night talk show and satirical news program on Comedy ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

, and

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. ( ; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and ...

, and shown at the end of an episode of ''

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver ''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver'' (often abridged as ''Last Week Tonight'') is an American news satire late-night talk show hosted by comedian John Oliver. The half-hour-long show premiered in the end of April 2014 on HBO and currently has ...

'' in the week after its publication. It has been viewed more than 2 million times on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. Following the video's release,

Henry Holt and Company Henry Holt and Company is an American book-publishing company based in New York City. One of the oldest publishers in the United States, it was founded in 1866 by Henry Holt (publisher), Henry Holt and Frederick Leypoldt. The company publishes in ...

signed a deal with Jones to publish two books, one of which will expand on the topics outlined in the video. She subsequently signed a deal with

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios, operating under the name Warner Bros. Television (abbreviated as WBTV; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division), is an American television production and distribution studio and the flagship studio o ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Kimberly American women novelists American writers of young adult literature Living people 21st-century American women 1976 births American women writers of young adult literature