DIY MFA Radio · Gabriela Pereira

446: Exploring Social Justice Topics in a YA Thriller – Interview

·57 min·5 clips

A journalist uncovers a high school's secret homecoming queen system that inspired a murder mystery about race and justice.

This episode of DIY MFA Radio features an interview with debut author Jamada Emil about his YA thriller, *The Black Queen*. Host Lori Walker speaks with Emil, a journalist and member of Crime Writers of Color, about weaving social issues into a genre narrative. The conversation explores how Emil's background in journalism and personal conversations informed the novel's development. *The Black Queen* centers on Nova Albright, the first Black homecoming queen at Lovett High, who is found murdered in a slave cemetery. The prime suspect is her white, wealthy rival, Tinsley McArthur, due to a viral video where Tinsley drunkenly said she should have killed Nova. The story is told through dual perspectives: Tinsley, who seeks to clear her name, and Duchess, Nova's best friend and the daughter of a Black police officer, who is determined to prove Tinsley's guilt. Emil explains the premise was inspired by a real, racially charged homecoming queen system a coworker experienced in Louisiana. He initially considered a plot where a Black girl was accused but flipped it to explore a white suspect confronting her privilege. Key social topics integrated include racial disparities in the criminal justice system, police brutality, and internal family conflicts about race and politics. A pivotal insight came from conversations Emil had with white friends during the 2020 police reform protests, where they described arguing with racist family members; this directly shaped Tinsley's character arc. Emil also drew on off-the-record talks with Black police officers about being viewed as "traitors" by their communities, which informed Duchess's storyline. He aimed to present these heavy themes accessibly for teens by grounding them in the characters' personal stakes, like school diversity initiatives affecting student life. Balancing the thriller elements with social commentary required subtlety to avoid feeling "preachy," using the inherent tension of a justice system with racial disparities. Creating authentic teenage female voices, especially for Tinsley, involved consulting female friends for details and observing his niece and contemporary music for slang. The interview maintains a conversational and educational tone, focusing on craft and authorial intention. This episode would greatly interest writers of YA or thriller fiction, especially those looking to incorporate social issues into their work, and readers curious about the creative process behind contemporary, issue-driven mysteries. Listeners seeking a purely craft-focused discussion without socio-political context might find less relevance.

As heard by us

A grounded craft talk about family politics, voice, and how conversation becomes fiction.

Jamada Emil links the character's arc to ordinary talk: friends, family dinners, and blunt run-ins with racism. The strongest part is the way it treats craft as a set of choices, from voice to reading widely to the pressure inside a character's home life.

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Why you'd press play

For when you want craft advice wrapped around a novel interview and real family politics.

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