Before I became a mama I knew that I would one day raise children with books deeply embedded into the foundation of who they are. Fast forward nine years and 100 plus books that are either written by or depict people of color sitting on their bookshelf, and I would say that my husband, family, and I have done well in setting the foundation for our tribe of suns.
Let’s go back to before there were four boys that called me mommy--when I was mommy to one little person that looked to me for most of his entertainment and education. We were still relatively new to the state of Georgia and had made a temporary home in Marietta. One of the things that we enjoyed were regular trips to the library. I figured making our way to story time at the nearest library branch would be a great way to get our little guy around toddlers his age, while stimulating what we hoped would be a great love of books for him.
The day had arrived, and we were ready to make our way to story time. So, if you’re like me, you remember what it was like in school being the only black person in a room full of white classmates. Story time was college all over again (that is college BEFORE I became an African American Studies major). No big deal! We found ourselves a spot on the carpet with the other moms and their little ones and waited for story time to begin. We made our way through several books about animals and some nursery rhymes and story time was over. I browsed the picture books, peeking up every few seconds to ensure my son was not pulling books off the shelves, as the other moms chatted about their child’s latest milestones. We checked out our books and went home. We returned several more times to check out story time, but eventually only came for the books.
It didn’t take long to realize that this library branch was seriously lacking in its selection of books that contained children of color as the protagonist. Before motherhood became my reality, I never gave much thought to how much extra effort would have to go into finding books that could take black and brown boys and girls on journeys in their minds. When it came time to make it happen, I was ready and willing to get the job done, thus our ever-growing library of OURstory, not HIStory began.
Every child deserves to see themselves within the pages of a book. A lack of diversity in books for children and teens has been a longstanding problem faced by many parents, educators, librarians, etc. However, finding literature for children, tweens, and teens with the main character as a black or brown person, or that were written and/or illustrated by a black or brown person has gotten easier in recent years. That is due in large part to online retailers, self published authors, social media, and word of mouth. There is still a significant need for more, in my opinion. The Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education keeps statistics on the number of books published by and about Africans/African Americans. In 2015 the CCBC received 3400 books. Of those 3,400 books, only 107 were authored by an African or African American. 270 were about Africans or African Americans. Disparity much? I’d say so.
Here are 3 reasons why I buy black books for my children.
1. It builds their self-esteem.
In a world that demonizes black and brown people, both young and old, I have found that speaking life into our babies is paramount in building their self-worth. Reading a book that showcases people with a similar likeness can give them a glimpse into who they could become while offering them a sense of validation. In recent years literature encouraging little black girls to love their hair the way that it grows out of their scalp **gasp** has been on the rise. These books can be so affirming for the minds and spirits of our babies.
2. They can see themselves
A big challenge faced by our babies is the limited mindset of authors that only want to portray us as certain characters. Characters that don’t begin to show how nuanced our journeys as people of color are. We are and have always been doctors, scientists, artists, engineers, and teachers. The little people in our lives should see that. Books can help us find ourselves. Slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, and other historical subject matter has its place in the fabric of who we are, but it is not all we are. Our babies need to be able to see themselves in the experiences of the characters that they read about.
My oldest son soared through the Clubhouse Mysteries Series by Sharon Draper. When I stumbled upon the series and saw the names Ziggy, Rashawn, Jerome, and Rico—aka ‘The Black Dionsaurs’ I knew we were cooking with grease. Not only was I immediately drawn in by the characters, but so was my son! He couldn’t put the book down the first day. It arrived around 4 in the afternoon and he was done before dinner! We were able to have real dialogue about the story as it unfolded. I was just as intrigued as my little guy to see what would happen next. We, as parents, grandparents, teachers, etc. can control the narrative on what black and brown people can do and be when we give our children books with characters that look like their auntie, best friend, and neighbor.
3.Supporting OUR people sharing authentic narratives is a lesson for my children!
http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/2014statistics.asp
Supporting authors telling our truths from a real, lived experience keeps our culture progressing. It keeps US alive! So much of our history gets whitewashed and stolen because we aren’t telling our own stories at a greater rate than others are telling it. There are an insane number of books being written about black people by people that are NOT black. Don’t get me wrong. There are titles in my boys’ collection of books that feature black characters that were written by white authors. Snowy Day is a favorite of mine. It can be done. One problem lies in others using our culture as a means of profiting and being blatantly disrespectful of the same said culture. 'AB to Jay Z' (which I will not link) is all about hip hop culture but written by an egregiously irresponsible and racist couple. I will not knowingly support anything by them. When I make conscious efforts about who I support with my dollar, I teach my boys how to keep the black dollar circulating through black and brown hands longer. These life lessons are some of what future Black Wall Streets are made of! Books written by us and for us don’t just benefit future generations of our people. These books give children and adults of other cultures a reminder that the stories of black and brown children are vital.
To learn about some organizations working toward ensuring there is diversity in children’s literature check out We Need Diverse Books and The Brown Bookshelf.
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