Tyler Merritt: The Summer That Changed My Life

Actor and activist Tyler Merritt has been known over the years for a number of things. He’s in shows like “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” and “Outer Banks”. He’s created viral videos like “Before You Call the Cops” and “Walking While Black” (viewed by over 60 million people worldwide). Me? I’m a Collection Development Manager in a library, so if I know about him, it’s because of his books. Let’s put it this way. If I face out his memoir I Take My Coffee Black: Reflections on Tupac, Musical Theater, Faith, and Being Black in America, it gets checked out that day. I suppose it was only a matter of time before he thought about doing a picture book.

A Door Made for Me was released just yesterday and stems from a moment in Tyler’s childhood when he encountered blunt racism knowingly for the first time. It was the summer that changed his life.

Today, I have the honor of premiering a video in which Mr. Merritt speaks about that moment, in a video geared towards educators:

Big thanks to Nicole Banholzer for allowing me to premiere this vid. As I mentioned before A Door Made for Me was released yesterday. Kirkus has called it “A tender tribute to the power of family in bolstering children making their way in an often unkind world.” Take some time. Give it a look.

Filed under: Videos