KidLit Rally 4 Black Lives: Anti-Racist Resources for Children, Families, and Educators

KidLit Community for Black Lives

“We who believe in freedom cannot rest.”

-Ella Baker

Thank you so much to all who joined us for the KidLit Rally 4 Black Lives, created and coordinated by Kwame Alexander, Jacqueline Woodson, and Jason Reynolds.  Please share your reflections on social media with the hashtag #KidLit4BlackLives.

The Rally recording is currently available on our YouTube channel.

The Brown Bookshelf remains committed to the ongoing work of amplifying and celebrating Black voices, of rejecting white supremacy, and empowering young readers. It continues to be “our collective mission, therefore, to promote understanding and justice through our art; to bolster every child’s visceral belief that his or her life shall always be infinitely valuable.”  Strive for equity and engage in the work of liberation. Use our site in your home, classroom, and library to find just a small fraction of the incredible number of stories by Black creators from all across the Diaspora. We feature picture book, middle grade, and young adult titles in all genres. Share the many different creator stories, titles, and multimedia resources in our 28 Days Later archives.

As Walter Dean Myers wrote, “There is work to be done.” We are sharing the resources listed below, and invite you to do the work, every day, and move toward justice.

The time is now. It is a matter of life and death.

The Conscious Kid

The Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners

The African American Children’s Book  Project  (read our interview with the founder, Vanesse Lloyd-Sgambati, here.)

We Need Diverse Books

Here Wee Read

Fare of the Free Child Podcast

1619 Podcast

Race Forward/Colorlines

Color of Change

Just Us Books (read our Q&A with founders Cheryl and Wade Hudson here, and watch Just Us’ new YouTube series, “Just Us &”.)

The National Visionary Leadership Project

Black Youth Project 100

Zinn Education Project

Teaching for Change

Teaching Tolerance

National Museum of African American History & Culture

Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility

Black Children’s Books & Authors

Kweli Journal (read our conversation with founder Laura Pegram here.)

Helping Kids Rise

Rethinking Schools

Array 101

Clear the Air

Disrupt Texts

Cynthia Leitich Smith’s Cynsations

CrazyQuiltEdi Blog

Organizations to Donate to:
Black Lives Matter

The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund

Black Visions Collective

ACLU Of Minnesota

Dignity and Power Now

Books:
We Got This: Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be (Heinemann) by Cornelius Minor

Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension (Heinemann) by Sara K. Ahmed

Teaching for Black Lives (Rethinking Schools) ed. by Dyan Watson,
Jesse Hagopian and Wayne Au

Libraries, Literacy, and African American Youth (Libraries Unlimited) edited by Dr. Pauletta Brown Bracy, Sandra Hughes-Hassell and Casey H. Rawson

20 thoughts on “KidLit Rally 4 Black Lives: Anti-Racist Resources for Children, Families, and Educators

  1. WONDERFUL event. I am sharing the video recording with many folks. I do have one thing to add. Please take a look at the St. Louis Black Authors and their Belive project. They have created bookrooms with murals by black artists and stocked with books by black authors- including some written by the local group. The first such room was created at the Ferguson Community Center. Please do have a look at this wonderful and innovative project! They have opened several additional sites since the Ferguson opening. Julius Anthony is an author, poet, and creator of this project. http://stlblackauthors.com/

    1. Thank you for watching the rally and sharing the recording. Your project sounds amazing! Thank you for letting us know about it. We’ll be sure to check it out. Do the book rooms feature Black children’s books too? Thank you for your important work.

      1. Just visited your site. Love that your work is focused on children’s books. Thanks again for reaching out. You’re on our radar now.

  2. At the end of Jason Reynolds’ segment, he listed black female authors, instructing us adults to write down the names. But, he listed them so fast, there was just no way to write them all down! Could you please include that list here? Thank you – and thank you for the inspiring event. This country’s children are in good hands with all of you on their side.

  3. Incredible Rally! Powerful, insightful, inspiring, painful and so incredibly appreciated! I am looking to put together a community reading project and host a book talk/conversation within our community late summer/early fall to provide a similar platform for thoughtful conversation, meaningful dialogue, engagement and mindful action.

  4. Thank you so much for putting this on! It was really amazing to be a part of, and I’m so excited to share it with my colleagues, students, and families. Will the recording be linked directly on this page, or will it be posted elsewhere on your site?

  5. I think it was very important when the young girl spoke of wanting more books that show a black ballerina, a black astronaut and young black people doing things that represent them in strong positive ways. We need to read with our children books like these in addition to the valuable books about the struggles people of color face.

  6. As a white teacher /librarian, I feel it is my responsibility and duty to educate myself. I need to be a more aware and LISTEN to those of color, for I cannot ever put myself in their situations/lives. I need to be better! This rally has motivated me to learn more.

  7. Is a recording of the event available? It was such a great and impactful event. Should be shared.

  8. As one of many white school librarians, I am thankful to be a lifelong learner, and to strive to understand the lives and life experiences of others. Thank you for providing this wonderful forum to share the powerful words, illustrations (and music) of so many KidLit authors, poets, illustrators, and musicians.

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