BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — A quarter of a century after "Do the Right Thing," actress, dancer and activist Rosie Perez will return to Bed-Stuy on Friday for a book signing and discussion.
Perez's long-titled new memoir, "Handbook for an Unpredictable Life: How I Survived Sister Renata and My Crazy Mother, and Still Came Out Smiling (with Great Hair)," highlights her tumultuous early life and eventual success in the entertainment world and beyond.
In the book the actress, who also starred in "White Men Can't Jump" and, more recently, in the Seth Rogan and James Franco comedy "Pineapple Express," details her abandonment by her schizophrenic mother and being raised by the aunt she thought was her mother until she was three.
When her mother returned, she took Perez from her aunt and sent her to live in a Catholic home for boys and girls, according to a description of the book.
Perez later went on to become a film star, a choreographer for "In Living Color's" Fly Girls and an activist who in 2010 was invited to join President Barack Obama's Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS.
Her story "demonstrates to other Brooklyn families that they can also transcend their circumstances," organizers said.
The book-signing is at Restoration Plaza, 1368 Fulton St., on Friday at 6 p.m.
