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DeVon Franklin’s 2022 is stacked, to say the least. Franklin is releasing his new book “It Takes A Woman” with the audio platform Audible. According to the summary, the audiobook is about “one family’s true story of hope, faith, and resilience, honors the sacrifices of a remarkable village of Black women as experienced through the eyes of a Black man. It’s also a universal celebration of the power of women to alter and enrich the lives they touch.”

If that wasn’t enough, DeVon, along with Gospel legend Kirk Franklin will produce a new drama entitled “Kingdom Business” starring Yolanda Adams, Michael Beach, and more. The producer, best-selling author, and motivational speaker come to the Get Up Church to give us exclusive details on both projects.

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Erica Campbell: You just dropped a new audible book called “It Takes A Woman.” Tell us what inspired you to release this project.

DeVon Franklin: It’s actually called “It Takes A Woman.” I know, everybody says it takes a village and I believe that but I believe it takes a woman. And this book, the audiobook is all about, you know how the women in my family stepped in to help raise me and my brothers after my father died when I was nine years old. So it’s a little bit of a memoir, it’s a little bit of, you know, Book of Wisdom. But most importantly, it really captures the voices of black women. And so my mother’s voice is on it. She’s 70. And then five of my great aunts are still alive. The youngest is 76. And the oldest is 96. And all of their voices are on this book, it takes a woman and it’s one of the most, you know, I think powerful things I’ve ever done.

EC: Wow. Well, I actually have it, thank you for sending it to me, I’m super excited. Because I have amazing women around me. There’s no paperback version of this book, Why did you decide to make it an audio-only book?

DF: Well, you know, I think part of especially in the black community, you know, one of the things that have kept us alive and thriving is our oral tradition. Telling our stories, passing those stories down from generation to generation. And so being able to do that and use technology and partner up with Audible, I just felt like this particular book was best suited for audio. So you can really hear, it’s almost like a story, you know, it kind of listens like a movie, you know, and I really wanted the listener to just come into a conversation. That’s how it feels I didn’t want someone to be reading with sometimes feels a little bit, like a little distant from it. I wanted to listen to it to feel like they’re at a dinner table conversation with me and my family, and they get a chance to take it in and participate with us.

EC: I love audiobooks. So thank you for that. You say this was an “emotion” project. Why was it so emotional for you? And what will we learn from it?

DF: You know, it was emotional for me because this is the first time I’ve talked to my mom and my great aunts about the death of my father. You know, when I was nine years old, my father died of a heart attack at 36. And he was an alcoholic. And so this you know, in talking with my mother, especially about how they fell in love, you know what went wrong, her hope that he would one day, you know, come back to us and he didn’t. All of that, you know, unpacking her feelings her regrets her hopes same with all of my that my aunt so it was just so emotional because everybody was so transparent. And when you listen to what I’m you know, people tell people from all over the world are hitting us up saying they cry when they listen, they laugh, and that the book really represents the experience of life, which is from tragedy to triumph.

EC: Wow, that is so amazing. Not only do you have your new book out, but you also have a new TV series coming to BET Plus. Please tell us about “Kingdom Business.” Oh my gosh.

DF: Well, listen, you know you you are Queen of Gospel. So you know, this show is probably gonna be very interesting for you to watch because it’s all about you know, it’s almost like “Empire” but that in the world of Gospel music. And so you know, Yolanda Adams stars in it along with Serayah (McNeill) and you haven’t seen this side of Yolanda Adams. She brings it okay, this she likes to act and brings it. Wait until to see her character Donita Jordan!

EC: Oh, are people gonna be mad DeVon? Are they gonna be mad? Just tell us now

DF: Oh, oh yeah, they’re gonna you’re gonna be throwing stuff at the screen, like, you know, because it’s just it’s this deep. It’s basically about, you know, Yolanda plays the queen of the gospel in this show is Serayah plays this young rising star who is threatening her reign. And, you know, you can’t come against the kingdom, you know that you come against the kingdom, it’s gonna be a problem because the name of the line this church and her record label is First Kingdom Records. So they do her and her husband is played by Michael Beach, do everything they can to protect the kingdom. And, you know, it gets really really interesting very quickly, and I’m excited about the show. It comes out on BET Plus on May 19, all eight episodes drop on May 19. And then air on BET during the summer but yeah, this is a brand new show. It’s never anything in the world of gospel music. Like this ever been done. Never been done in Kirk Franklin is producing with me along with Dr. Holly Carter. And Kirk has done eight original songs. So every episode there’s an original song from church, along with Warryn Campbell, somebody you know. He’s is our composer and he did a lot of music for us as well and we just have all an all-star cast and team in order to bring this show to the world.

EC: I’m so excited, but I’m a little bit nervous. So you know people are going to binge-watch. So Are y’all preparing for season two already?

DF: Well, you know, BET lets us know when they give us the green light for season two. So we have to wait and be patient and keep going. And hopefully, you know the numbers will be such that they will give us either too quickly.

EC: All right, y’all. Can you hear it in his voice? We need everybody to stream and watch and stream and watch. So we get more “Kingdom Business.” How about that? We are talking to the amazing DeVon Franklin this morning. His new audible original book, “It Takes A Woman” is available now. Wherever you get your books, please follow him on social media at DeVon Franklin. We just love you and your ministry so much. If you could encourage someone today, what message would you leave with them?

DF: You know, I would leave with them. The process of just letting go. So often the things that we worry about are things out of our control. And sometimes we just say you know what, Lord, I’m letting this go. And I’m going to accept where I am. I’m going to accept when I am. And I’m going to accept that everything that’s happening for me is exactly what I need right now. There’s no good there’s no bad everything here is to help me become who you called me to be and go where you want me to go. So I say thank you. Everything that’s happening in my life right now. Whether I prayed for it or not. If it is here, it’s a gift. It’s a teacher. And I say thank you.

EC: That sounds like purpose to me.

 

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DeVon Franklin Talks ‘It Takes A Woman’ & ‘Kingdom Business’  was originally published on getuperica.com