BOOKS & PODCASTS

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#Repost @theconsciouskid To counter racist socialization and racial bias, experts recommend acknowledging and naming race and racism with children as early and as often as possible. Children’s books are one of the most practical tools for initiating these critical conversations, and can also be used to model what it means to resist and dismantle oppression. Beyond addressing issues of race and racism, this children’s reading list focuses on taking action. It highlights resistance, resilience, and activism; and seeks to empower youth to participate in the ongoing movement for racial justice. Children not only need to know what individual, institutional, and internalized racism looks like, they need to know what they can do about it. These books showcase the many ways people of all ages and races have worked to disrupt racism, and highlight how race intersects with other issues, such as capitalism, class, colorism, and colonization. The majority of books center BIPOC, whose lives and bodies have been on the front lines of racial justice work, yet whose stories often go untold. The essential work of white activists is also included — to underscore that anti-racist work is not the responsibility of BIPOC; and exemplify the ways white people have stood up against racial injustice. We just updated this book list with 41 titles (including recent releases) and it is published to our Patreon page. Patreon is where we post all of our critically-curated book lists. We also did a recent one on 49 children’s books that push back against racist socialization around Black males and our recommended board books for ages 0-3. Our next one is on Black girls. All books can be accessed at the $5 book club tier (or $1 if you are low-Income). Patreon is a platform that enables us to be compensated for our education work and labor. Joining our community there includes increased access to tools and resources that support anti-racist action, racial identity development, and critical consciousness for families, parents, and educators. By joining, you are also making a larger statement about the necessity to center and compensate Black and Brown voices when discussing issues of race.

A post shared by Dan Levy (@instadanjlevy) on Jun 1, 2020 at 2:12am PDT

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Each year, there are more children's books published about animals than Black people. Black representation comprised just 3% of all children’s books published in 2014 and remained at that level or lower in the decades prior. Black people have historically been, and continue to be, underrepresented, misrepresented, or invisible in children’s literature. Anti-Black structural racism and socialization need to be countered with intentional action from birth. This includes surrounding children with positive narratives and images of Blackness. All kids should know Black history and Black contributions, but equally as important are stories of Black kids just being: experiencing joy, being loved, and existing in their full humanity. Children's books can be one starting point for doing this, and should be combined with ongoing education, strategies, and experiences supporting Blackness and Black people. It is important to center critical Black authors when telling stories of Blackness. “Critical" is defined as an understanding of how systems of equity/inequity intersect with ones experience. Critical Black authorship provides cultural intuition and experiential knowledge around Blackness that provides nuanced insight about how to positively support one's racial identity while buffering against institutional racism (Ladson-Billings, 1995; Yosso, 2005). Every one of the following 111 books center Black characters and are written by Black authors. This list is not just about Black people creating our own spaces of knowledge, it's about challenging contemporary objectives of white supremacy. These objectives, dating back to slavery, aim to not only exclude Black people from telling our own stories, but aim to commodify, white-wash, control, exotify, fetishize, and profit from Black racial experiences. Being intentional about centering and supporting empowering narratives of Black people helps to shape understandings and appreciation about Blackness for all children. The full 111-book reading list is posted to our Patreon page (linked in our profile): patreon.com/theconsciouskid #BlackLivesMatter #TeachersOfInstagram #BlackAuthors

A post shared by The Conscious Kid (@theconsciouskid) on Jun 14, 2020 at 4:49pm PDT

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Une publication partagée par Red House Project (@redhouseseries)

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Putting out my memoir was scary. It was the most vulnerable I’ve ever been but I’m so glad I did it. Thank you so much @beardfoundation for the nomination. This definitely took me by surprise. Jaquan, you would be proud we made it this far. #jbfa

A post shared by Kwame Onwuachi (@chefkwameonwuachi) on May 4, 2020 at 4:00pm PDT