Cleyvis Natera

Welcome to The Moth.

I'm Cleves Natera.

I'm a Moth storyteller, I'm a teacher, and most importantly for this episode, I'm a writer.

This week is Banned Books Week, and to honor that, we'll be sharing stories about censorship, courage, and the importance of the written word.

I'll talk a bit more about why this week is so critical later in the episode, but let's start with a story.

Mohammed bin Kulayf told us at a Houston story slam where the theme of the night was, appropriately enough, books.

Here's Mohammed live at the Moth.

That was Mohammed bin Kulayf.

Originally from Riyadh, Mohammed lives in Montrose, where he helps first-time buyers navigate Houston's wild real estate ride.

A former bartender and newspaper writer, he loves stories, loud dinners, and the quiet magic of helping people feel like they finally belong.

At The Moth, we think that storytelling is important, that it connects people, that stories should be heard.

It's kind of our whole deal.

And this Banned Books Week, we hope you'll reflect on how easy it is for stories to be unheard.

As a writer myself, I first learned about the power of language as a young child.

I immigrated to the United States at 10 years old, and my father stayed behind in the Dominican Republic.

This was back in the late 80s, when no one in my immigrant family had long-distance calling in our Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City.

Once a month, my family and I would walk a few blocks to the closest calling center and call my father.

Each of us kids only had a couple of minutes to speak, and I felt this incredible obligation to make those few words count, to help my father, who had never traveled to the United States,

understand this new place, see it alongside with me to help me make sense of it.

Over the years, I think about those conversations as the first seeds of my passion for storytelling.