Anti Racism Picture Books

Anti Racism Picture Books

"I wanted to sprint away
After him and ask
'Is that all you see
When you look at me?'"
When Andrea Theodore was a child she experienced racism in her
school's curriculum. Thirty years later when her daughter was in
school the history of slavery was still being taught in a way that
overlooked the humanity of slaves, the formidable strengths that
enabled them to survive in a system where they were considered to be
mere property, and left their young descendents feeling diminished and
less than. Luckily she was able to write History of Me and get it
published.
The girl protagonist of the book is the only brown person in her
class. Everyone looks at her when they discuss Black history events.
White girls whisper, giggle, and point at her. A boy makes a very
cruel remark.
Interspersed with her story are glimpses at the lives of her
ancestors: the great-great-grandmother who was born in slavery and
died young, the great grandmother who was only able to go to school
through third grade, the mother who grew up in the segregated south.
She grows up to be a doctor and then sees her daughter having
similar experiences.
Erin K. Robinson's vibrant illustrations are a perfect setting
for the text. The backgrounds are simplified and nondistracting. The
focus is on the people, whose posture, gestures, and facial
expressions vividly and eloquently convey their emotions.
In her author's note Theodore says:
"Rather than feeling shame, as I did for many years, I hope that
descendants of those enslaved can understand the rich legacy that is
theirs...What happens when you are proud of where you come from? You
are free to be who you are and become who you are meant to be. This
is my hope for my own child and for all children."

Maggie Tokuda-Hall's Love In The Library introduces young
readers to the concentration camps 120,000 Japanese Americans were
incarcerated in after Pearl Harbor for the crime of having Japanese
ancestry. Text and Yas Imamura's illustrations portray the harshness
of the conditions they had to live under. In the first picture the
protagonist walks by a barbed wire fence and a sentry armed with a gun.
Tama works in the camp's library. She doesn't know if she'll
ever leave Minidoka. Her books and the stories in them help her
escape from and manage the constant uncertainty and anxiety.
George comes to the library every day, returning a big stack of
books and taking out another. He can't possibly read them all.
Maybe books aren't what he really wants to check out.
Tama and George were the author's maternal grandparents. In her
author's note she ties this shameful chapter in America's history ties
in with the present.
"...The racism that put my grandparents into Minidoka is the
same hatred that keeps children in cages on our border. It's the myth
of white supremacy that brought slavery to our past and allows the
police to murder Black people in our present. It's the same fear that
brings Muslim bans. It's the same contempt that creates voter
suppression, medical apartheid, and food deserts. The same cruelty
that carved reservations out of stolen, sovereign land, that paved the
trail of tears. Hate is not a virus; it is an American tradition."
Stories like that of her grandparents, who found love in the
midst of desolation, give her hope and the strength to fight for a
better future.
"Because if we can fall in love, if we can find our joy, if we can
find that miracle despite all of these truths--
What else can we do?"

Some children in activist families (like mine) start marching in
front and backpacks and strollers. For others Tessa Allen's Sometimes
People March is a great introduction. It shows young readers ways
they can contribute to causes they believe in.
There's nothing generic about Allen's lively water colors.
Pictures are linked to very specific causes. At the end there's a
chronological listing of important movements.
Sometimes People March is a good introduction to activism for
children coming into awareness of the challenges produced by the world
as it is now.

I think most of us are at least vaguely aware of the indigenous
peoples' fight to protect water, the source of all life, from
corporate greed.
Carole Lindstrom's We Are Water Protectors gives younger readers
an indigenous perspective. A little girl learns from a grandmotherly
looking woman of the importance of water to all living creatures and
the Earth itself and the dangers posed by the black snake. She
becomes determined to join the fight.
Michaela Goode's illustrations are sophisticated and powerful
images to ponder on rather than just skim through. A pregnant woman
with a very visible fetus sits in a ring of stars which is encircled
by a ring of flowers. An Earth set against a background of stars is
encircled by a ring of highly detailed creatures. Juxtaposed with
those almost dreamlike images, the black snake is ugly and menacing.
We Are Water Protectors is a great way to introduce younger
readers to one of the most important issues in today's world. It's a
must acquire for school and public libraries.

On a purrrsonal note, I've got just one more work day before spring
break. I am so looking forward to the slowed down pace and the chance
to spend more time with Tobago, do a little baking, read and write
more, and plan the interactive presentation (my first!) I'll be doing
in the Dirigo Leadership Conference in three weeks. (Jules)
Nine whole days I don't have to share my Jules with the world. (Tobago)
A great big shout out with wishes for a happy, restorative, and safe
vaca goes out to our fellow Black Bears. In Dean Dana's words, let's
refill our gas tanks to power us past the end of semester finish line.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway








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