CHESAPEAKE, Va. – World-renowned author Kwame Alexander, who spent much of his childhood in Chesapeake, is celebrating the new Disney+ series based on his critically acclaimed novel, “The Crossover.”
“I was supposed to be special. I was supposed to do something that mattered,” Alexander said while reflecting on his ancestor, Sgt. March Corprew, who escaped slavery to fight in the Civil War against the Confederacy.
Watch: Afro-Union Civil War soliders and sailors honored at Chesapeake memorial
Alexander, who graduated from Great Bridge High School and, later, Virginia Tech, joined News 3 anchor Jessica Larche for a conversation about his success at the Afro-Union Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Memorial in the Bells Mill community in Chesapeake, where his great-great-grandfather is buried.
“When I think about the land that I’m on, where we are,” said Alexander, “I feel like I’m responsible for continuing that legacy, that mission.”
Alexander honored his ancestor in his award-winning book “The Undefeated,” where he writes, “This is for the unafraid. The audacious ones who carried the red, white and weary blues on the battlefield to save an imperfect union.”
Alexander’s father, Dr. Curtis Alexander, is an author and historian, and oversees the memorial celebrating their ancestor and several other Black Civil War heroes.
“We’re sitting under history,” Dr. Alexander exclaimed. “You’re sitting where at least seven Afro-Union Civil War soldiers sat and commiserated and talked about the war.”
“I think that’s the metaphor, too,” the younger Alexander said. “When you’re sitting under history, you have a responsibility to stand up […] and spread your branches and live what’s possible.”
Kwame Alexander expanded his reach when he wrote his novel “The Crossover,” a novel in verse about two Black brothers who play basketball. When more than 20 publishers turned it down, he leaned on advice from his father to never lower his goals – wisdom he included in the book.
“Always shoot for the sun,” Alexander wrote. “Don’t be ruled by other people’s limitations of what you can become.”
When a publisher did greenlight “The Crossover,” massive success followed, including the 2015 Newbery Medal for the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children.
“When the book came out, sold millions of copies, [and] became a New York Times Best Seller, I got a call from [my dad] saying ‘Where are my royalty payments? You used my words!’”
Dr. Alexander accompanied his son to taping of the Disney+ adaptation of “The Crossover” in New Orleans, and was there to walk the “orange carpet” in Hollywood for the premiere.
“I like to think if you can create a writer, my parents did it,” said the younger Alexander, reflecting on his father’s work as an author, and his late mother Barbara’s legacy as a folklorist. “My mother used to read me stories and sing songs and read poems to me.”
Kwame Alexander’s career is soaring, but he said he’s grounded and grateful to those who came before him and paved the way.
“Books are a way to open a world of possible, and certainly my world was opened here [in Chesapeake],” he said.
Kwame Alexander's memoir, his latest project, is set to be released on May 23, 2023.
