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Watch When They See Us | Netflix Official Site

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Five teens from Harlem become trapped in a nightmare when they're falsely accused of a brutal attack in Central Park. Based on the true story. Watch trailers & learn more.

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Advance Opening Theater Buyouts

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By providing my contact information above and pressing the Submit button below, I agree to be contacted directly via emails, texts and/or telephone calls by a Warner Bros. representative regarding Advance Opening Theater Buyouts for the Just Mercy motion picture. Message and data rates may apply. Consent not required to make a purchase. Texts may be sent via auto-dialer. For text messages, text STOP to stop, HELP for help

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Please complete the form below and a representative will contact you shortly. By providing my contact information above and pressing the Submit button below, I agree to be contacted directly via emails, texts and/or telephone calls by a Warner Bros. representative regarding Advance Opening Theater Buyouts for the Just Mercy motion picture.

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Reconstruction: America After the Civil War

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Henry Louis Gates Jr. presents a vital new four-hour documentary series on Reconstruction: America After the Civil War.

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The Hate U Give (2018) ⭐ 7.5 | Crime, Drama

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Dear White People | Netflix Official Site

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Rivalries, romance, identity crises: College was already full of drama. Now this elite school is in for a real wake-up call. Watch trailers & learn more.

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In this thought-provoking documentary, scholars, activists and politicians analyze the criminalization of African Americans and the U.S. prison boom. Watch trailers & learn more.

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Won 1 Oscar. Another 92 wins & 170 nominations. See more awards "

Storyline

African-American teen sweethearts Fonny and Tish are ripped apart when Fonny is wrongly arrested for the rape of a Puerto Rican woman because of the machinations of a racist cop. While seeking justice for Fonny, a pregnant Tish relies on her Harlem community, including her sister, mother Sharon and future mother-in-law.

Taglines:

Trust Love All the Way

Details

Release Date:

25 December 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

If Beale Street Could Talk

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$224,476, 16 December 2018

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$20,572,691

Company Credits

Technical Specs

See full technical specs "

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Tish is waiting on a subway platform where the 1960s-style enamel column plates say that the station is 135th St (probably on the 8th Ave line rather than on the Lenox Ave line). However, the mosaic on the wall above the tracks features a capital 'B' -- suggesting that filming may have taken place in the now-closed-off part of the Bowery station on the Nassau St line. See more "

Quotes

[first lines]
Tish Rivers : You ready for this?
: I've never been more ready for anything in my whole life.
See more "

Connections

Referenced in Empire: Without All Remedy (2019) See more "

Soundtracks

That's All I Ask
Written by Horace Ott
Performed by Nina Simone
Courtesy of The Verve Music Group under license from Universal Music Enterprises
See more "

User Reviews

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If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) - IMDb

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Directed by Barry Jenkins. With KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Teyonah Parris. A young woman embraces her pregnancy while she and her family set out to prove her childhood friend and lover innocent of a crime he didn't commit.

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7 wins & 20 nominations. See more awards "

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:

Storyline

Collin (Daveed Diggs) must make it through his final three days of probation for a chance at a new beginning. He and his troublemaking childhood best friend, Miles (Rafael Casal), work as movers and are forced to watch their old neighborhood become a trendy spot in the rapidly gentrifying Bay Area. When a life-altering event causes Collin to miss his mandatory curfew, the two men struggle to maintain their friendship as the changing social landscape exposes their differences. Explores the intersection of race and class set against the backdrop of Oakland.

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language throughout, some brutal violence, sexual references and drug use | See all certifications "

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Patrick encourages Miles and Colin to stare into each other's eyes, Miles demurs by comparing their relationship to Calvin & Hobbes. Rafael Casal and Daveed Diggs previously portrayed Calvin & Hobbes in a series of live-action videos called "Hobbes & Me," which were posted to Casal's YouTube channel. See more "

Quotes

: You are a convicted felon, Mr. Hoskins. You are now that until proven otherwise. Prove otherwise at all times.
See more "

Crazy Credits

AND TO ALL THE BAY AREA LANGUAGE ORIGINATORS, RAPPERS, POETS, HUSTLERS, PYMPS, PATNAS, MAINS, SIDES, OGS, DOPE FIENDS, BUYERS, SUPPLIERS, MOVERS, SHAKERS, HIPPIES, PARKIES, SQUARES, MARKS, NOODLES, J-CATS, CUTTIES, CUZOS, BRUH BRUHS, LIL BRUHS, BIG BRUHS, UNCLES, BIG HOMIES, AUNTIES, CITAS, GRAND CITAS, MOMMAS, CAPTAIN SAVE A HOES, RIDE OR DIES, DAY 1S, OLD HEADS, YOUNG BLOODS, BOPS, BEEZIES, BABAS, UMIS, KINFOLK, MACS, ETC. - GAME RECOGNIZES GAME See more "

Soundtracks

Talk to Me
Written by Anthony Hamilton & Kelvin Wooten
Performed by Anthony Hamilton
Published by Ola's Boy Music & SteyGrean Music
Courtesy of Anthony C. Hamilton LLC
See more "

User Reviews

Details

Release Date:

27 July 2018 (USA)

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$338,999, 22 July 2018

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,006,989

Company Credits

Technical Specs

See full technical specs "

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7 wins & 20 nominations. See more awards " Cast overview, first billed only: Collin (Daveed Diggs) must make it through his final three days of probation for a chance at a new beginning. He and his troublemaking childhood best friend, Miles (Rafael Casal), work as movers and are forced to watch their old neighborhood become a trendy spot in the rapidly gentrifying Bay Area.

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"How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion": Peggy McIntosh at TEDxTimberlaneSchools

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Let's get to the root of racial injustice | Megan Ming Francis | TEDxRainier

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The power of privilege: Tiffany Jana at TEDxRVAWomen

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Schools across the country are adopting social-emotional learning (SEL) standards as an approach to creating school communities that are safe and positive climates for learning, as well as a foundation to set students up for success in school and in life. In theory, this is a step in the right direction - we want schooling spaces where students, families, educators, school staff, and all those who come into contact with the school building feel safe, affirmed, and supported. We want schools that foster emotional support between students, staff, and communities, where there's a trust-building approach rather than school hardening, and we want restorative justice, rather than the policing, punishment, and criminalization of Black and Brown students.

However, these SEL conversations, practices, and curricula are too often based on white, cisgender, patriarchal norms and values which further enact emotional and psychological violence onto Black, Brown, and LGBTQ+ youth of color, in particular. The current narrative around SEL is that students must manage and regulate themselves and their emotions, conform and constrict their identities, and not express their fullest, most authentic selves. As school districts begin to devise plans for back-to-school, we must re-examine how we talk about and teach SEL.

While visiting classrooms in a middle school this year, I perused how every classroom had the same print-out displayed on the wall. The poster detailed the five core competencies of SEL, as defined by CASEL - self awareness, self management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. As an example of social awareness, the signs read, "Keep your hands to yourself and don't take other people's property." While social awareness should be about unpacking bias, having critical dialogue about social issues, and collectively crafting justice-oriented solutions, this white-washed version, as Dr. Dena Simmons reminds us, made me wonder: whose social norms are we abiding by and adhering to?

In Dr. Monique Morris's newest book, Sing a Rhythm, Dance A Blues: Education for the Liberation of Black and Brown Girls, Morris tells the story of Esperanza, who as part of the EMERGE program in Oakland, California, was scheduled to speak at a national conference on Chicana/Latina girls in the...

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When SEL is Used as Another Form of Policing

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Schools across the country are adopting social-emotional learning (SEL) standards as an approach to creating school communities that are safe and positive climates for learning, as well as a...

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Ibram X. Kendi’s Antiracist Reading List (Published 2019)

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Ibram X. Kendi on books to help America transcend its racist heritage.

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Hailed by Toni Morrison as "required reading," a bold and personal literary exploration of America's racial history by "the single best writer on the subject of race in the United States" (The New York Observer) #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER | NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNER | PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST | NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST | NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review * O: The Oprah Magazine * The Washington Post * People * Entertainment Weekly * Vogue * Los Angeles Times * San Francisco Chronicle * Chicago Tribune * New York * Newsday * Library Journal * Publishers Weekly
In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation's history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of "race," a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men-bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?

Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates's attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son-and readers-the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children's lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.
Praise for Between the World and Me
"Powerful . . . a searing meditation on what it means to be black in America today." -Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"Eloquent . . . in the tradition of James Baldwin with echoes of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man . . . an autobiography of the black body in America." -The Boston Globe

"Brilliant . . . [Coates] is firing on all cylinders." -The Washington Post

"Urgent, lyrical, and devastating . . . a new classic of our time." -Vogue

"A crucial book during this moment of generational awakening." -The New Yorker

"Titanic and timely . . . essential reading." -Entertainment Weekly

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Between the World and Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates

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In Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation's history and current crisis.

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White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack 

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White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack 

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homepage

"One of the most influential books of the last 20 years."
-Chronicle of Higher Education

"Two years after Obama's election, Alexander put the entire criminal justice system on trial, exposing racial discrimination from lawmaking to policing to the denial of voting rights to ex-prisoners. This bestseller struck the spark that would eventually light the fire of Black Lives Matter."
- Ibram X. Kendi, The New York Times

"[ The New Jim Crow] transformed forever the way thinkers and activists view the phenomenon of mass incarceration."
-Slate

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homepage "One of the most influential books of the last 20 years." -Chronicle of Higher Education "Two years after Obama's election, Alexander put the entire criminal justice system on trial, exposing racial discrimination from lawmaking to policing to the denial of voting rights to ex-prisoners.

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When Layla F. Saad ran a free month-long Instagram challenge during the summer of 2018, she had no idea it would become an international cultural movement.

Thousands of people from around the world were galvanized by the #meandwhitesupremacy challenge, examining and owning responsibility for the ways in which they uphold white supremacy.

Over 80,000 people downloaded her guide to the movement, Me and White Supremacy Workbook in the space of just six months. And now, that guide is a NYT, USA Today, WSJ and Amazon bestseller.

Me and White Supremacy: A 28-Day Challenge to Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor leads readers through a journey of understanding their white privilege and participation in white supremacy, so that they can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on black, indigenous and people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too. The book goes beyond the original workbook by adding more historical and cultural contexts, sharing moving stories and anecdotes, and includes expanded definitions, examples, and further resources.

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Over 80,000 people downloaded her guide to the movement, Me and White Supremacy Workbook in the space of just six months. And now, that guide is a NYT, USA Today, WSJ and Amazon bestseller.

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Parents and other caregivers are seeking resources to help them hold children through the current, terrible wave of racialized violence, which is exacerbated by the tensions and vulnerabilities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. As scholars, writers, and parents who use books to connect with our children and spark conversations with them, we've developed this book list to help engage the broad range of emotions and needs of diverse children in our multiracial society. In some cases, we've highlighted worthy, albeit lesser-known titles. Some are older books, some are newer, and a few will publish later this year but are available for pre-order now. This list skews heavily towards #ownvoices books and is arranged alphabetically by title.

Please use these books to help you do the work of making the world a safer, more equitable place for all children.

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20 Picture Books for 2020: Readings to Embrace Race, Provide Solace &...

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As scholars, writers, and parents who use books to connect with our children and spark conversations with them, we've developed this book list to help...

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Select the parts of your Learning Plan you'd like to print. If your Tasks or Strategies have PDF handouts, they'll need to be printed separately. These are listed on the left side of each Task or Strategy page.

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11 Anti-Racist Accounts That Are Worth Following

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11 Anti-Racist Accounts That Are Worth Following

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Google, Twitter and Instagram are free, which means there is no excuse to stay silent, uneducated, and uninformed in 2020. Diversifying your feed, and point of view, is as easy as tapping a button. To highlight profiles that are doing good work, Variety consulted with media and industry experts Akilah Hughes, Ashley Reese, Peyton Dix, Yassir Lester, and Zoe Samudzi to come up with a list of accounts that are creating and sharing anti-racist content.

Bree Newsome
Bree Newsome is a Black female artist who made headlines in 2015 when she lowered the Confederate flag outside the South Carolina capitol building. Her tweets about structural racism and white power structures are educational, wise, accessible and resourceful.

Everybody who didn't know is seeing America as it truly is right now. Can't provide resources for the pandemic but has all the resources at the ready to murder civilians in the street and teargas anyone who objects.

- Bree Newsome Bass (@BreeNewsome) May 29, 2020

Check Your Privilege
Check Your Privilege, founded by Myisha T. Hill, is a guided journey that deepens your awareness to how your actions affect the mental health of Black, Brown, Indigenous, People of Color, or BBIPoC. Right now, the account is offering a Summer "Saturday Skool" series. Each day, participants will be led by a guide, coach or educator in the anti racism space.

Ebony Janice
Ebony Janice is a womanist scholar, author and activist who does community-organizing work, most specifically around black women's body ownership as a justice issue. She is also the founder of Black Girl Mixtape, a multi-platform safe think-space that centers Black women in the form of a lecture series, a podcast, and an online learning institute. Her feed is an amalgamation of resources, wisdom, memes, skin care tips and must-read book recommendations. Check out her podcast here.

Ethel's Club
Ethel's Club is an online social and wellness club dedicated to celebrating people of color. In June, the organization is hosting free virtual group healing and grieving sessions for Black people around the world. The events will be led by licensed Black therapists.

Equality Labs
Equality Labs is a South Asian technology organization dedicated to ending caste apartheid, gender-based violence, Islamophobia, white supremacy and religious intolerance. The group sits at the intersections of organizing, community-based research, socially engaged arts and digital security for South Asian religious and cultural minorities. The group's Instagram account shares posts about workshop offerings, surveillance information, and ways to help grassroots groups. Follow them on Twitter here.

Kelly Hayes
Kelly M. Hayes is a queer Native author, organizer and educator. Her work focuses on transformative justice, and she has led direct action workshops for young people, social justice groups and other intergenerational audiences. Her Twitter account shares crucial information for organizers and protestors as well as historical and educational resources.

No White Saviors
No White Saviors is a Ugandan advocacy campaign dedicated to disrupting traditional power structures between the Western world and the African continent. It will tell you why that service trip you might be taking this summer is "trash" and educate you on neocolonialism while using its platform to amplify Black voices and share resources.

That 10 day mission or service trip you are taking this summer to #Uganda #Honduras #Nepal #Cambodia or #Haiti is trash and we are going to give you 8 reasons why:

1) You aren't qualified. You have no relevant or useful training, experience or specialization.

- No White Saviors (@nowhitesaviors) June 29, 2019

Rachel Cargle
Rachel Cargle is a public academic, writer and lecturer who explores the intersection of race and womanhood, guides conversations, encourages critical thinking and nurtures meaningful engagement with people all over the world. In 2018, she established The Loveland Foundation after raising over $250,000 for therapy for Black women. Recently, she went live with InStyle's Peyton Dix for a conversation on racism and active and consistent allyship. Watch it here.

R29 Unbothered
Refinery29's Unbothered vertical is made by and for Black millennial women. Its Instagram posts are both celebratory and educational and champion Black voices, Black art and Black women.

Strong Black Lead
A group of Black executives at Netflix created Strong Black Lead, a vertical whose social channels on Instagram and Twitter are dedicated to publicizing and promoting Black talent and creators. They also produce Scottie Beam and Sylvia Obell's bi-weekly podcast " Okay, Now Listen," which covers everything from what they're binging to what's blowing up their timelines.

Survived and Punished
Survived and Punished is a national volunteer project aiming to end the criminalization of survivors of domestic and sexual violence. The coalition organizes to de-criminalize efforts to survive domestic and sexual violence, support and free criminalized survivors and abolish gender violence, policing, prisons, and deportations. The group tweets out information and analysis as well as offer critiques and interrogations of current power structures.

This is rich coming from the gov of a state with one of the world's largest prison systems, who collaborates w ICE to ramp up deportations and detention & ignores clemency requests from survivors of domestic and sexual violence. We are outraged at YOU & your anti-Black policies. https://t.co/Lx6gEHLNQo

- #SurvivedAndPunished (@survivepunish) May 30, 2020

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11 Anti-Racist Accounts That Are Worth Following

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Google, Twitter and Instagram are free, which means there is no excuse to stay silent, uneducated, and uninformed in 2020. Diversifying your feed, and point of view, is as easy as tapping a button.

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Contact

Email: seelearning@emory.edu

The SEE Learning program is a part of Emory University's Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics. To Learn more about the center please visit us at CCSCBE.

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Stand Alone SEE Learning Resources - SEE Learning

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Contact Email: seelearning@emory.edu The SEE Learning program is a part of Emory University's Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics. To Learn more about the center please visit us at CCSCBE.

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Bryan Stevenson’s Frustration with the George Floyd Protests

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Bryan Stevenson’s Frustration with the George Floyd Protests

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The past weekend saw the start of an uprising in dozens of American cities, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets for peaceful protests and violent encounters with the police. The proximate cause was the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed, handcuffed African-American man, by a Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin. In Minneapolis and other cities, police in riot gear have responded aggressively to protests and looting, pushing and shoving protesters and using an arsenal of crowd-control weaponry. In Louisville, a black restaurant owner was shot dead, under circumstances that remain unclear; in Brooklyn, social media captured an incident in which police officers drove into a crowd of protesters.

On Sunday, I spoke by phone with Bryan Stevenson, a civil-rights lawyer and the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, a human-rights organization that challenges convictions, advocates for criminal-justice reform and racial justice, and created the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, in Montgomery, Alabama, which honors the victims of lynching and other forms of racial terror during the Jim Crow era. Stevenson, who was the subject of a Profile, by Jeffrey Toobin, in 2016, is also the author of a memoir, " Just Mercy," which was made into a feature film last year. During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, Stevenson and I discussed the roots of police violence in both slavery and Jim Crow, how to change the culture of policing, and the frustration and despair behind this week's protests.
What has been your biggest takeaway from the past week?
We need to reckon with our history of racial injustice. I think everything we are seeing is a symptom of a larger disease. We have never honestly addressed all the damage that was done during the two and a half centuries that we enslaved black people. The great evil of American slavery wasn't the involuntary servitude; it was the fiction that black people aren't as good as white people, and aren't the equals of white people, and are less evolved, less human, less capable, less worthy, less deserving than white people.

That ideology of white supremacy was necessary to justify enslavement, and it is the legacy of slavery that we haven't acknowledged. This is why I have argued that slavery didn't end in 1865; it evolved. Next month will be the hundred and fifty-fifth anniversary of when black people gathered to celebrate the end of slavery: Juneteenth. They believed they would receive the vote, and the protection of the law, and land, and opportunity, and have a chance to be full Americans. They were denied all of those things because this ideology of white supremacy would not allow Southern whites to accept them, to value them and to protect them, and so, immediately after 1865 and the Thirteenth Amendment, violence broke out. We are going to be releasing a report next month on the horrendous violence that took place during Reconstruction, which blocked all of the progress.

So, for me, you can't understand these present-day issues without understanding the persistent refusal to view black people as equals. It has changed, but that history of violence, where we used terror and intimidation and lynching and then Jim Crow laws and then the police, created this presumption of dangerousness and guilt. It doesn't matter how hard you try, how educated you are, where you go in this country-if you are black, or you are brown, you are going to have to navigate that presumption, and that makes encounters with the police just rife with the potential for these specific outcomes which we have seen.
How do you think our current era of criminal justice and policing is a continuation of that past?
I think the police have been the face of oppression in many ways. Even before the Civil War, law enforcement was complicit in sustaining enslavement. It was the police who were tasked with tracking down fugitive slaves from 1850 onwards in the north. After emancipation, it was law enforcement that stepped back and allowed black communities to be terrorized and victimized. We had an overthrow of government during Reconstruction, and law enforcement facilitated that. Then, throughout the first half of the twentieth century, it was law enforcement and police and our justice system that allowed people to be lynched by white mobs, sometimes literally on the courthouse lawn, and allowed the perpetrators of that terror and violence to engage in these acts of murder with impunity. They were even complicit in it. And, as courageous black people began to advocate for civil rights in the nineteen-fifties and nineteen-sixties, when these older, nonviolent black Americans would literally be on their knees, praying, they were battered and bloodied by uniformed police officers. That identity of violence and oppression is not something we can ignore. We have to address it. But, rather than address it, since the nineteen-sixties, we have been trying to distract ourselves from it and not acknowledge it, and not own up to it, and all of our efforts have been compromised by this refusal to recognize that we need to radically change the culture of police.

Now, the police are an extension of our larger society, and, when we try to disconnect them from the justice system and the lawmakers and the policymakers, we don't accurately get at it. The history of this country, when it comes to racial justice and social justice, unlike what we do in other areas, is, like, O.K., it's 1865, we won't enslave you and traffic you anymore, and they were forced to make that agreement. And then, after a half century of mob lynching, it's, like, O.K., we won't allow the mobs to pull you out of the jail and lynch you anymore. And that came after pressure. And then it was, O.K., we won't legally block you from voting, and legally prevent you from going into restaurants and public accommodations.

But at no point was there an acknowledgement that we were wrong and we are sorry. It was always compelled, by the Union Army, by international pressure, by the federal courts, and that dynamic has meant that there is no more remorse or regret or consciousness of wrongdoing. The police don't think they did anything wrong over the past fifty or sixty years. And so, in that respect, we have created a culture that allows our police departments to see themselves as agents of control, and that culture has to shift. And this goes beyond the dynamics of race. We have created a culture where police officers think of themselves as warriors, not guardians.
Do you think this situation with the policy today has a specific purpose, and what is it?
It does. But the purpose was possible because of our unwillingness to recognize the wrongfulness of this racial hierarchy. Even the abolitionists, many of whom fought to end slavery, didn't believe in racial equality. So, if you embrace white supremacy, then you are going to use black people and exploit black people and deny black people opportunities, because it advances that purpose. And a lot of white supremacy wasn't even "purposeful." What was the purpose of banning interracial marriage? What was the purpose of banning black people from coming into restaurants? It was about maintaining racial hierarchy, and that presumption or narrative that black people are dangerous, that black people can't be trusted, that black people have to be controlled. And if it didn't have an economic value, that didn't mean that it wasn't purposeful. The purpose was to sustain that hierarchy.

So you take a history like that, and then you combine it with a culture like the culture of policing that we have created, where people are taught to fight and to shoot like soldiers. When the government equips police departments like they're equipping the military, we undermine healthy relationships between the police and the community. We don't train them to deëscalate, or deal with people suffering from mental illness or the complexities and anger and frustrations of poverty. And then we bring them in, often to places where they don't live. We view the police as an occupying military force. That kind of culture gives rise to the violence that we see.

It is possible to create a police department where people think of themselves as guardians. Their commitment is to protect and serve even the people they are arresting. The best police officers will tell you that their job is to make sure that the person who may have just committed a crime is safely encountered, that they keep that person safe, but that is not the way most police officers are trained. And we facilitate it by protecting the whole institution, so no one in this country can tell you how many people were killed by the police last year, because we don't require that data. People have been trying for two decades to mandate the disclosure of that kind of information, and there is this institutional resistance. And that's a larger problem-the way we have insulated these institutions from reform.
Should the protests be oriented toward a specific agenda, and, if so, what should that agenda be?
I don't think it would be fair to ask protesters to solve the problems created by this long history. In many ways, protests are a reaction of frustration and anger to the unwillingness of elected officials to engage in the kind of reforms that need to happen. The protests are a symbol of frustration and despair. I think the answers have to come from elected officials. We can change the culture of institutions in this country. We have done it time and time again. In the nineteen-seventies and nineteen-eighties, if you look at the laws, there was hardly any punishment for people convicted of driving while drunk. We tolerated it. Even though it was catastrophic, it wasn't something we saw as a priority. Then Mothers Against Drunk Driving began lifting up new narratives, and all of a sudden the political will shifted. We created a new culture, and we now take stronger steps.

Regardless of the wealth or affluence of the offender, we do more. That is a cultural shift that has made death from drunk driving much less frequent than it was fifty years ago.

With domestic violence, it is the same story. In the nineteen-sixties, a woman who called the police could not expect that her spouse would be arrested. The police would come and pull him outside and tell jokes. There was a sympathy for the frustration that led to violence. And then we began changing that narrative. Women and victims of domestic violence started lifting their voices, and the political will changed. And today we have a radically different view of people who engage in domestic violence. Even our most prominent athletes and celebrities, if accused credibly, are going to be held accountable in ways that weren't true even ten years ago. That is a cultural shift. And we are in the midst of a cultural shift about sexual harassment in the workplace. There is a different tolerance level. In New York, people need to take tests to make sure they can recognize sexual harassment.

We have not engaged in that kind of cultural transformation when it comes to policing. Now, we have the tools. We know how to do it. I spent several months on President Obama's task force on policing, in 2015, after we had a period of riots. We have forty pages of recommendations. That can change the culture of policing. It begins with training. It begins with procedural justice, and policies, and changing the way police officers are viewed and opening up communities.

Do you think the Obama Administration did enough on this issue, especially before 2015?
No one has done enough. But this is not a federal problem alone. I am critical of the current Administration shelving all of those recommendations, withdrawing from lawsuits where police departments had been sued, and signalling that we do not care about this anymore. But I also don't believe that excuses what mayors and governors and local officials have failed to do. You don't need a White House to engage in culture change at your police department. That can be done in cities and communities and states. These reforms need to happen locally. The federal government can and should be playing a bigger role in incentivizing these changes. But anyone looking to the White House and the Presidency exclusively is not going to get it. I also think that, if we allow another five years to go by with no meaningful reform, then we have to stop talking about Washington. Every mayor and governor in this country has a blueprint for changing culture in policing and making things better. Whether they do it or not is the harder question.
You are saying this can't come from the top alone-but, having someone at the top of the system who talks about shooting people and tells police to get tough, how much does that worry you about the future, even knowing how bad the past has been?
Yeah, I think any time we reinforce this idea that police officers are there to control and dominate and menace, that they should be unapologetic and feared and ready for battle, we are reinforcing the culture and the dynamic that has given rise to so much distrust. It's not good for public safety. It is not even good for officer safety, and it is certainly not good for creating the kinds of healthy communities that most of us want to live in. It's the wrong model. It's like someone coming along and saying, "Doctors don't need to care for their patients, or talk to their patients, or be polite, or be respectful, or show any interest. They have skills and knowledge, and their job is to treat, and anybody who is asking for more than that is too much." That mind-set will cause a lot of people to die. They will not get the health care that they need, and doctors will not be successful because it's the wrong culture for helping people get the cure and treatment that they need.

The same is true for public safety. You can go to other places in the world and see evidence of this everywhere. And we have even done it here. There are police departments in this country that have radically changed their relationship to the community. Camden, New Jersey, fifty years ago, was just a boiling pot, and things would blow up all the time, and relationships between police and community leaders were fraught with tension and conflict. And that has changed radically because of leadership and engagement.

Many of these protests this week have had more white people than the protests five years ago. How do you think that is or is not likely to change the movement?
To be honest, it's not that hard to protest. It's not that hard to go someplace. And it doesn't mean that it's not important. It doesn't mean that it's not critical. But that's not the hard thing we need from people who care about these issues. We need people to vote, we need people to engage in policy reform and political reform, we need people to not tolerate the rhetoric of fear and anger that so many of our elected officials use to sustain power. We need the cultural environments in the workplace to shift.

Black people in this country have to live this very complex existence when they live and go to work and go to school in these spaces which are largely controlled by white people. They can't really be their authentic selves. That means that there is this tension and there is this challenge, and at some point you get overwhelmed by that. And when these incidents of police violence take place, and people are killed, literally, on video, right in front of you, and the perpetrators are staring at you, you get angry and you want to express that anger.

It's not just anger over what happened to George Floyd or Breonna Taylor or Ahmaud Arbery. It is anger about continuing to live in a world where there is this presumption of dangerousness and guilt wherever you go. I'm sixty years old and have been practicing law for thirty-five years. I have a lot of honorary degrees and went to Harvard. And I still go places where I am presumed dangerous. I have been told to leave courtrooms because the presumption was that I was the defendant and not the lawyer. I have been pulled out of my car by police who pointed a gun on me. And I can just tell you that, when you have to navigate this presumption of guilt, day in and day out, and when the burden is on you to make the people around you see you as fully human and equal, you get exhausted. You are tired. And I would argue that the black people in the streets are expressing their fatigue, their anger, and their frustration at having to live this menaced life in America. And that is not the same thing for white people who are supporting them. It doesn't mean that white people shouldn't be supporting them, but I don't think it's the proper focus of what many of us are trying to give voice to.
Criminal-justice reform has become a bipartisan issue, but it often seems to be spoken of as being distinct from police brutality and police reform. How important is it to bring police reform into the broader context of criminal-justice reform?
I think, for many of us, it has always been at the center of it. Changing the way we police, prosecute, judge, and punish is the essence of criminal-justice reform.

I think people use the phrase "criminal-justice reform" in a pretty lazy way. Modifying the federal sentencing parameters at the edges, so a very small percentage of people in federal prisons might get reduced sentences, is not meaningful criminal-justice reform. Ninety per cent of the prisoners in the United States are in the state system. That is not impacted by what the White House or any President has done. [ The Obama Administration amended federal sentencing guidelines in order to reduce the sentences of people convicted of nonviolent drug crimes. In 2017, Jeff Sessions, who was then the Attorney General, overturned those reforms.] The real meaningful reform would have been implementing the task force's recommendations, changing the way we think about police and prosecutorial accountability, mandating the data disclosure that would allow us to evaluate the nature of this problem. And, when you don't do those things, everything else you do is going to be compromised.

We had the so-called War on Drugs that was carried out against black and brown people, because the law-enforcement agents that were the people carrying out that war saw black and brown people differently. That's a policing and prosecutorial problem. The immunity we have created to shield people from accountability is a barrier to shield people from any effective reform. That includes sentencing and all these others things, because, if prosecutors can withhold evidence and wrongly convict people, and police can abuse people and coerce confessions, then nothing else we do at the sentencing or policy level is going to be effective. And that has to change.

Race, Policing, and Black Lives Matter Protests

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Bryan Stevenson on the Frustration Behind the George Floyd Protests

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Isaac Chotiner interviews Bryan Stevenson, the Equal Justice Initiative founder, civil-rights lawyer, and author of "Just Mercy," about the culture of policing and the frustrations behind protests of the killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery.

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Structural and systemic racism, white supremacy: these are heavy, thick, ubiquitous, like the tule fog we have out here in California. Driving through tule fog is hard and demands persistent attention to keep moving forward. But sitting still on the roadway still is no option either.

If we are on a journey through that fog, we have help. Scholars, teachers, and activists working in together through networks such as #BlackLivesMatter and #educolor, have been working to create resources and update reading lists for educators to use both in their teaching, and perhaps more significantly, in our own journey toward anti-racism. Given that the majority of public school educators are white women, many of these resources are tailored toward that audience: a generous gift. We don't need to wait for a workshop or call on our colleagues of color to facilitate our journey. We can just get started...

Here is a small selection of resources, many of which are themselves collections that are frequently updated and expanded. There's always something new, and if you have recommended additions, please share them

Teaching for Black Lives: A recent book from Rethinking Schools with perspectives, background information, curricular ideas and lesson plans.

Black Lives Matter at School: A range of resources, including collections of Lesson Plans.

DC Area Educators for Social Justice Resources: Teaching resources by grade level

Marginal Syllabus: Marginal Syllabus, in partnership with NWP and NCTE, makes available articles about teaching and learning relevant to anti-racism, cultural responsive teaching, and social justice available for online reading, annotation, and discussion as well as organizing recordings of visits with the authors.

Stamped: Racism, Anti-racism, and You: The book, for you and your students, with an excellent Educators Guide.

Resources collected by Educolor: a list of books, movies, articles, and websites.

Seeing White: a podcast. There are other podcasts as well listed on the Anti-racism Resources list.

Your Kids Aren't Too Young To Talk About Race: From the blog Pretty Good with a focus on young children, development stages, and parents.

Anti-racism Resources: Google doc with links to resources, videos, podcasts, and also organizations.

Resources for White People to Learn and Talk About Racism: From Fractured Atlas, an organization for activist artists.

75 Things White People Can Do For Racial Justice: Blog post on Medium with a diverse mix of educational, political, and personal actions.

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Structural and systemic racism, white supremacy: these are heavy, thick, ubiquitous, like the tule fog we have out here in California. Driving through tule fog is hard and demands persistent attention to keep moving forward. But sitting still on the roadway still is no option either.

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Racial Equity Resource Guide

View all materials organized by their primary area of focus. You can add materials to your current Resource Guide, bookmark a resource to save for later and share any valuable information or tools with friends and colleagues on email or social media.

Directory of Materials

Build a New Resource Guide

Start with a blank slate and create a new Resource Guide. Any existing materials in your cart will be removed. You can return to your existing Resource Guides at any time.

Pre-Made Resource Guides

Want some help getting started? View our list of pre-made Resource Guides and select one that fits your mission and goals.

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Racial Equity Resource Guide View all materials organized by their primary area of focus. You can add materials to your current Resource Guide, bookmark a resource to save for later and share any valuable information or tools with friends and colleagues on email or social media.

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Racial Equity Tools Glossary

Words and their multiple uses reflect the tremendous diversity that characterizes our society. Indeed, universally agreed upon language on issues relating to racism is nonexistent. We discovered that even the most frequently used words in any discussion on race can easily cause confusion, which leads to controversy and hostility. It is essential to achieve some degree of shared understanding, particularly when using the most common terms. In this way, the quality of dialogue and discourse on race can be enhanced.

Language can be used deliberately to engage and support community anti-racism coalitions and initiatives, or to inflame and divide them. Discussing definitions can engage and support coalitions. However, it is important for groups to decide the extent to which they must have consensus and where it is okay for people to disagree. It is also helpful to keep in mind that the words people use to discuss power, privilege, racism and oppression hold different meanings for different people. For instance, people at different stages of developing an analysis tend to attach different meanings to words like discrimination, privilege and institutional racism. Furthermore, when people are talking about privilege or racism, the words they use often come with emotions and assumptions that are not spoken.

Many of the terms in this glossary have evolved over time. For example, given the changing demographic trends in the United States, the word "minority" no longer accurately reflects the four primary racial/ethnic groups. The terms "emerging majority" and "people of color" have become popular substitutes. Also, the terms used to refer to members of each community of color have changed over time. Whether to use the terms African American or Black, Hispanic American, Latinx or Latino, Native American or American Indian, and Pacific Islander or Asian American depends on a variety of conditions, including your intended audiences' geographic location, age, generation, and, sometimes, political orientation.

SOURCE: Project Change's "The Power of Words." Originally produced for Project Change Lessons Learned II, also included in A Community Builder's Toolkit - both produced by Project Change and The Center for Assessment and Policy Development with some modification by RacialEquityTools.org.

The main source for each definition is noted with its term below. Some definitions are paraphrased or updated. If you plan to use a couple of the terms in your materials, we encourage you to keep the SOURCE citation(s) that we have listed for them.

You can download a PDF version of this glossary . Please feel free to share the RET Glossary PDF or post a link on your site. We request that you use the following citation: Racial Equity Tools Glossary, MP Associates, Center for Assessment and Policy Development, and World Trust Educational Services, July 2022.

For guidance on evaluation terms in particular, see .

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Words and their multiple uses reflect the tremendous diversity that characterizes our society. Indeed, universally agreed upon language on issues relating to racism is nonexistent. In this way, the quality of dialogue and discourse on race can be enhanced.

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A picture book that captures the confidence, pride, and magic black and brown boys feel at the barbershop.

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Sonia Sotomayor: A Judge Grows in the Bronx / La juez que creció en el Bronx

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Before Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor took her seat in our nation's highest court, she was just a little girl in the South Bronx. Justice Sotomayor didn't have a lot growing up, but she had what she needed -- her mother's love, a will to learn, and her own determination.

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We March has 599 ratings and 155 reviews. Mariah said: This was a good story with great illustrations. The only problem was the lack of language in this ...

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14 Children's Books Starring Trans or Gender-Nonconforming Kids - The Seattle Public Library

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14 Children's Books Starring Trans or Gender-Nonconforming Kids by lin_thompson - a staff-created list : Celebrate Pride month with these picture and chapter books about kids who are transgender or gender-nonconforming. Looking for more LGBTQ+ reads for children? Check out the Children's section of the BPL's inaugural We Are Pride booklist: http://www.bpl.org/pride/.

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I couldn't play on the same playground as the white kids. I couldn't go to their schools. I couldn't drink from their water fountains. ...

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Based on the New York Times bestselling book and the Academy Award-nominated movie, author Margot Lee Shetterly and illustrator Laura Freeman bring the incredibly inspiring true story of four black women who helped NASA launch men into space to picture book readers!
Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden were good at math... really good.

They participated in some of NASA's greatest successes, like providing the calculations for America's first journeys into space. And they did so during a time when being black and a woman limited what they could do. But they worked hard. They persisted. And they used their genius minds to change the world.

In this beautifully illustrated picture book edition, we explore the story of four female African American mathematicians at NASA, known as "colored computers," and how they overcame gender and racial barriers to succeed in a highly challenging STEM-based career.
"Finally, the extraordinary lives of four African American women who helped NASA put the first men in space is available for picture book readers," proclaims Brightly in their article "18 Must-Read Picture Books of 2018." "Will inspire girls and boys alike to love math, believe in themselves, and reach for the stars."

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Hidden Figures - Margot Lee Shetterly - Hardcover

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Based on the New York Times bestselling book and the Academy Award-nominated movie, author Margot Lee Shetterly and illustrator Laura Freeman bring the incredibly inspiring true story of four black women who helped NASA launch men into space to picture book readers! Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden were good at math...

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A Child's Story About Racial Injustice

Member/Affiliate Price: $12.74

Free Shipping

For individuals in the U.S. & U.S. territories

A Minneapolis Children's Theatre Company Original World Premiere Production

A NEW YORK TIMES and #1 INDIEBOUND BEST SELLER

American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom's Top 10 Most Challenged Books

A Little Free Library Action Book Club Selection

National Parenting Product Award Winner (NAPPA)

Emma and Josh heard that something happened in their town. A Black man was shot by the police. "Why did the police shoot that man?" "Can police go to jail?"
Something Happened in Our Town follows two families - one White, one Black - as they discuss a police shooting of a Black man in their community. The story aims to answer children's questions about such traumatic events, and to help children identify and counter racial injustice in their own lives.

Includes an extensive Note to Parents and Caregivers with guidelines for discussing race and racism with children, child-friendly definitions, and sample dialogues. Free, downloadable educator materials (including discussion questions) are available in the additional resources tab.
From the Note to Parents and Caregivers:
There are many benefits of beginning to discuss racial bias and injustice with young children of all races and ethnicities:

Research has shown that children even as young as three years of age notice and comment on differences in skin color.

Humans of all ages tend to ascribe positive qualities to the group that they belong to and negative qualities to other groups.

Despite some parents' attempts to protect their children from frightening media content, children often become aware of incidents of community violence, including police shootings.

Parents who don't proactively talk about racial issues with their children are inadvertently teaching their children that race is a taboo topic. Parents who want to raise children to accept individuals from diverse cultures need to counter negative attitudes that their children develop from exposure to the negative racial stereotypes that persist in our society.

Order the companion books, Something Happened in Our Park: Standing Together After Gun Violence and Something Happened to My Dad: A Story About Immigration and Family Separation.

Marianne Celano, PhD, ABPP, Marietta Collins, PhD, and Ann Hazzard, PhD, ABPP, worked together for over two decades as Emory University School of Medicine faculty members serving children and families in Atlanta. All three psychologists have been involved in community advocacy efforts focused on children's behavioral health and social justice.

Dr. Celano and Dr. Hazzard have developed and utilized therapeutic stories in individual and group therapy with children and teens. All three authors valued story-time with their children, who taught them important lessons about what children need from adults.

This is their first picture book for children.

Jennifer Zivoin has always loved art and storytelling, so becoming an illustrator was a natural career path. She has been trained in media ranging from figure drawing to virtual reality, and earned her bachelor of arts degree with highest distinction from the honors division of Indiana University.

During her professional career, Jennifer worked as a graphic designer and then as a creative director before finding her artistic niche illustrating children's books, including Something Happened in Our Town, Did You Hear?, and A World of Pausabilities.

She lives in Indiana. Visit her website.

This book helps children grapple with one of the most disturbing and troubling issues in our society today, police shootings of people of color, and helps them to identify and counter racial injustice.
- Mommy Poppins

This beautifully written and illustrated book tackles a difficult subject with grace, helping families share conversations about racism and discrimination.
- What's Up Moms

This book provides the necessary framework for talking to children about racial injustice.
- Women's Day

Written by three psychologists, this is a great educational resource for parents... how to talk to children about race and racism and trauma, how to identify and counter racial injustice.
- Vogue

Does an admirable job showing two families' reactions to a police killing... important for library collections.
- School Library Journal

This is a difficult subject, and I think this book handles it well. The language is age-appropriate and gentle. The illustrations are beautiful, and the message is positive: kids can start a "better pattern" by including kids who are different than themselves.
-Five Star Review, San Francisco Book Review

Something Happened in Our Town respectfully and honestly deals with a paramount social problem, and is worthy of the highest recommendation for public, school library, and family picture book collections.
- Children's Bookwatch

This story will open up the doors to some important and heavy issues that children are exposed to in today's society. Issues of race, discrimination, stereotypes, racial profiling, entitlement...
-Lulu's Book Journey

Right now, parents are looking for more children's books that accurately depict the world their kids live in today. They also want a book that helps them discuss the tough issues that they would otherwise feel uncomfortable talking about. This is that book...The lesson of compassion and tolerance will touch anyone's heart...This beautifully depicted picture book is a must for parents, teachers and librarians a like.
-cup of tea with that book, please

In this beautifully written and illustrated children's book, children were learn about racial injustice as it happens today.
-Medium

Beautifully written and illustrated...I give [it] five out of five stars!
- Medium

Provides an unflinching look at how families can and should talk about racism...Explores the roots of racism in America, the importance of actively fighting for social justice, and how kids can respond to the prejudice and exclusion that creeps into their classrooms... Whatever this discussion looks like in your household, it's just a first step.
-Mashable.com

Recognizing World Day of Social Justice (PDF, 3.7MB)

Anti-Racism Resources for Children and Adults (PDF, 122KB)
Lists of books for young children about resisting racial bias, advocating for civil rights, accepting oneself, and valuing diversity; books supporting racial pride for children of diverse ethnicities, resources for multicultural families, anti-bullying books, resources about community violence, and resources about racial injustice for older children; resources for parents; and resources for teachers.

Read Aloud Tips for Educators (PDF, 76KB)
Specific ideas for educators when readingSomething Happened in Our Town to a group of children, including a sample introduction and possible discussion prompts at various points in the book.

Educator Resource Guide (PDF, 53KB)
Benefits of addressing race and racism in the classroom, preparation tips, story extension activities, and additional resources.

Contact Magination Press

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A Child's Story About Racial Injustice Member/Affiliate Price: $12.74 Free Shipping For individuals in the U.S. & U.S. territories A Minneapolis Children's Theatre Company Original World Premiere Production A NEW YORK TIMES and #1 INDIEBOUND BEST SELLER American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom's Top 10 Most Challenged Books A Little Free Library Action Book Club Selection National Parenting Product Award Winner (NAPPA) Emma and Josh heard that something happened in their town.

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"The most important work of pedagogy I've read in ten years...Dr. Emdin's humane, and more importantly, effective practices, filled me with great hope and excitement to keep engaging with the community in which I teach."
-John Warner, Inside Higher Ed

"Teaches the unlearned lesson that a hip-hop people's critical perspective must matter in order for authentic teaching and learning to take place, but more importantly the book offers a bigger case for colleges to make room for other hip-hop scholars."
-Dr. Andre Perry, The Hechinger Report

"Dr. Chris Emdin...inspired me to become fearless while teaching for social justice."
-Bryan Mooney, contributor PBS NewsHour's Education Lounge

"As the cries to recognize the relevance of Black lives in this country grow louder...Emdin's advice about how to more effectively serve students (people) of color is a reminder that recognizing their humanity is a critical first step."
- Diverse: Issues in Higher Education

"A brilliant, blistering, and bracing call to arms for those who teach and learn in urban America....Emdin reminds us that the children and young people who throng our urban schools are worthy of every attempt to sharpen their minds and prepare them for a satisfying life far beyond the classroom. If you're looking for the revolutionary meaning, and imaginative transformation, of teaching for the real America, you're holding it in your hands! Christopher Emdin is Jonathan Kozol with swag!"
-Michael Eric Dyson, author of The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America

"Essential reading for all adults who work with black and brown young people...Filled with exceptional intellectual sophistication and necessary wisdom for the future of education."
-Imani Perry, author of Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip-Hop

"A compelling and accessible road map for anyone (not just white folks!) teaching twenty-first-century urban youth. It also confirms Emdin's reputation as one of the most important education scholars of our generation."
-Marc Lamont Hill, author of Beats, Rhymes, and Classroom Life and Distinguished Professor of Africana Studies at Morehouse College

"This volume is a powerful dance of teaching and art. It engages both the art and science of what teachers must do to be successful with all students. It is simultaneously lyrical and analytic, scientific and humanistic, a work of the heart and the mind. It belongs in every teacher's library!"
-Gloria Ladson-Billings, the Kellner Family Distinguished Chair in Urban Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison

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For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood... and the Rest of Y'all Too by Christopher Emdin: 9780807028025 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

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"The most important work of pedagogy I've read in ten years...Dr. Emdin's humane, and more importantly, effective practices, filled me with great hope and excitement to keep engaging with the community in which I teach."-John Warner, Inside Higher Ed "Teaches the unlearned lesson that a hip-hop people's critical perspective must

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This article was updated on June 2, 2020.

But tensions between the police and black communities are nothing new.

There are many precedents to the Ferguson, Missouri protests that ushered in the Black Lives Matter movement. Those protests erupted in 2014 after a police officer shot unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown; the officer was subsequently not indicted.

The precedents include the Los Angeles riots that broke out after the 1992 acquittal of police officers for beating Rodney King. Those riots happened nearly three decades after the 1965 Watts riots, which began with Marquette Frye, an African American, being pulled over for suspected drunk driving and roughed up by the police for resisting arrest.

I'm a criminal justice researcher who often focuses on issues of race, class and crime. Through my research and from teaching a course on diversity in criminal justice, I have come to see how the roots of racism in American policing - first planted centuries ago - have not yet been fully purged.

Slave patrols

There are two historical narratives about the origins of American law enforcement.

The first slave patrols arose in South Carolina in the early 1700s. As University of Georgia social work professor Michael A. Robinson has written, by the time John Adams became the second U.S. president, every state that had not yet abolished slavery had them.

Members of slave patrols could forcefully enter anyone's home, regardless of their race or ethnicity, based on suspicions that they were sheltering people who had escaped bondage.

The more commonly known precursors to modern law enforcement were centralized municipal police departments that began to form in the early 19th century, beginning in Boston and soon cropping up in New York City, Albany, Chicago, Philadelphia and elsewhere.

Police corruption and violence - particularly against vulnerable people - were commonplace during the early 1900s. Additionally, the few African Americans who joined police forces were often assigned to black neighborhoods and faced discrimination on the job. In my opinion, these factors - controlling disorder, lack of adequate police training, lack of nonwhite officers and slave patrol origins - are among the forerunners of modern-day police brutality against African Americans.

Jim Crow laws

Slave patrols formally dissolved after the Civil War ended. But formerly enslaved people saw little relief from racist government policies as they promptly became subject to Black Codes.

For the next three years, these new laws specified how, when and where African Americans could work and how much they would be paid. They also restricted black voting rights, dictated how and where African Americans could travel and limited where they could live.

Reverberating today

For the past five decades, the federal government has forbidden the use of racist regulations at the state and local level. Yet people of color are still more likely to be killed by the police than whites.

The Washington Post tracks the number of Americans killed by the police by race, gender and other characteristics. The newspaper's database indicates that 229 out of 992 of those who died that way in 2018, 23% of the total, were black, even though only about 12% of the country is African American.

Policing's institutional racism of decades and centuries ago still matters because policing culture has not changed as much as it could. For many African Americans, law enforcement represents a legacy of reinforced inequality in the justice system and resistance to advancement - even under pressure from the civil rights movement and its legacy.

In addition, the police disproportionately target black drivers.

When a Stanford University research team analyzed data collected between 2011 and 2017 from nearly 100 million traffic stops to look for evidence of systemic racial profiling, they found that black drivers were more likely to be pulled over and to have their cars searched than white drivers. They also found that the percentage of black drivers being stopped by police dropped after dark when a driver's complexion is harder to see from outside the vehicle.

This persistent disparity in policing is disappointing because of progress in other regards.

There is greater understanding within the police that brutality, particularly lethal force, leads to public mistrust, and police forces are becoming more diverse.

What's more, college students majoring in criminal justice who plan to become future law enforcement officers now frequently take "diversity in criminal justice" courses. This relatively new curriculum is designed to, among other things, make future police professionals more aware of their own biases and those of others. In my view, what these students learn in these classes will make them more attuned to the communities they serve once they enter the workforce.

In addition, law enforcement officers and leaders are being trained to recognize and minimize their own biases in New York City and other places where people of color are disproportionately stopped by the authorities and arrested.

But the persistence of racially biased policing means that unless American policing reckons with its racist roots, it is likely to keep repeating mistakes of the past. This will hinder police from fully protecting and serving the entire public.

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The racist roots of American policing: From slave patrols to traffic stops

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Half a century after the federal government voided Jim Crow laws, the criminal justice system still discriminates against African Americans.

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This blog post is part of Build Your Stack,® a new initiative focused exclusively on helping teachers build their book knowledge and their classroom libraries. This post was written by guest author Ryan Douglass.
I recently put out a call on Twitter for recommendations for books starring Black boys in stories without police violence and got an outpouring of suggested titles.

While police brutality disproportionately affects the lives of Black youth, it's important to affirm Black boys outside the context of this trauma, so they may feel represented in stories of joy, triumph, and escapism. Books, as tools of empowerment, can strengthen the self-esteem, morale, and cultural education of kids who feel limited by the harsh realities of racism.

The following books center Black boy heroes in a variety of genres and highlight the immense diversity of their experiences.
MIDDLE GRADE
Clayton Bird Goes Underground
by Rita Williams Garcia

Clayton feels most alive when he's with his grandfather, Cool Papa Byrd, and the band of Bluesmen. He can't wait to join them, just as soon as he has a blues song of his own. But then Cool Papa Byrd dies, and Clayton's mother forbids Clayton from playing the blues. Clayton knows that's no way to live. Armed with his grandfather's brown porkpie hat and his harmonica, he runs away from home to journey through New York City subways and to Washington Square Park, in search of the Bluesmen, hoping he can join them on the road. Rita Williams-Garcia crafts a powerful and heartfelt novel about loss, family, love, and the power of music.

The Owls Have Come to Take Us Away
by Ronald Smith

This story of an alien-obsessed biracial boy growing up in a military base is a perfect intro to sci-fi horror for kids aged 8-12. On a camping trip with his parents, Simon goes through an experience that he believes to be an alien abduction, which may be real, or just the product of the overactive imagination of a kid who loves fantasy, role-playing games, and is the target of bullies and his father's scorn. The Owls Have Come to Take Us Away is a poignant look at mental health and toxic masculinity wrapped up in a story about aliens.

The Great Greene Heist
by Varian Johnson

Jackson Greene assembles a crack team to ensure the school president election is won fair and square, and not by Keith Sinclair's connections with the principal: Hashemi Larijani, tech genius; Victor Cho, bankroll; Megan Feldman, science goddess and cheerleader; Charlie de la Cruz, point man. Together they devise a plan that will bring Keith down once and for all. Yet as Jackson draws closer to his ex-best-friend and Keith's opponent, Gaby de la Cruz, he realizes the election isn't the only thing he wants to win. The Great Greene Heist has political intrigue, a motley team of supporting characters, and a charming and clever hero.

King and the Dragonflies
by Kacen Callender
Twelve-year-old Kingston James is sure that when his brother unexpectedly passed away, he shed his human skin to become a dragonfly, and live by the bayou in their small Louisiana town. As grief transforms his family, King finds it hard to talk with his best friend, Sandy Sanders. Days before he died, Khalid told King to end their friendship on suspicion Sandy might be gay. Then Sandy goes missing, and King finds him hiding in a tent in his backyard. He agrees to help Sandy escape from his abusive father, and the two reignite their friendship as they build their own private paradise down by the bayou among the dragonflies, forcing King to confront questions about himself and the reality of his brother's death. King and the Dragonflies takes a poignant look at a boy coming to terms with his sexuality in the aftermath of his brother's death.
YOUNG ADULT
Fake ID
by Lamar Giles
Nick Pearson is hiding in plain sight. In fact, his name isn't really Nick Pearson. He shouldn't tell you his real name, his real hometown, or why his family just moved to Stepton, Virginia. And he definitely shouldn't tell you about his friend Eli Cruz and the major conspiracy Eli was uncovering when he died, or about how Nick had to choose between solving Eli's murder with his sister, Reya, and "staying low-key" like the Program said to do. But he's going to tell you-unless he gets caught first. Fake ID is a fast-paced mystery thriller that explores the complicated family dynamics of a clever, resourceful kid living in the witness protection program.

Opposite of Always
by Justin A. Reynolds
When Jack and Kate meet at a party, Jack knows immediately he's falling-hard. But then Kate dies, and her death sends Jack back to the moment they first meet. Jack isn't sure if he's losing his mind. Still, if he has a chance to prevent Kate's death, he'll take it. Even if that means believing in time travel. However, when one choice turns deadly for someone else close to him, Jack learns his actions are not without consequences. Author Justin A. Reynolds delivers a heartfelt contemporary time travel novel about the choices we make, the people we choose, and the moments that make a life worth reliving.

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager
by Ben Phillippe
Norris Kaplan is a clever, cynical French-Canadian teen who just moved to Austin, Texas. Faced with a new high school, Norris begins cataloging everyone he meets-Cheerleaders, Jocks, Loners, and the Manic Pixie Dream Girl-just to amuse himself. But then those labels become actual people. Liam, who makes it his mission to befriend Norris, Madison, who is so nice it must be a trap, and Aarti, who might be a real love interest in the making. Soon Norris realizes it might be time to stop hiding behind his snarky opinions and start living his life-along with the people who have won his heart. This quirky, hilarious tale is about finding friendship and belonging where you feel like a fish out of water.

All Boys Aren't Blue
by George M. Johnson
Journalist and activist George M. Johnson's YA memoir-manifesto All Boys Aren't Blue takes stories from his childhood, adolescence, and college years to show readers how they can fight for themselves or be allies for others in the struggle for equity and equality. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea-marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young adult memoir weaves a powerful narrative about the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys today.
Ryan Douglass is an author, freelance writer, and former writing tutor from Atlanta, Georgia. He has written about race, literacy, toxic masculinity, and media representation for The Huffington Post, Atlanta Black Star, Everyday Feminism, LGBTQNation, and Medium, among others. His debut novel is a Get Out-inspired YA thriller due from Penguin/Putnam in the summer of 2021. Find him on Twitter @ryandouglassw.

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Build Your Stack: Affirming Black Boys outside the Context of Police Brutality - NCTE

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This blog post is part of Build Your Stack,® a new initiative focused exclusively on helping teachers build their book knowledge and their classroom libraries. This post was written by guest author Ryan Douglass. I recently put out a call on Twitter for recommendations for books starring Black boys in stories without police violence and got an outpouring of suggested titles.

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Also available as an e-book.
Miel is as strange and confounding as the day she spilled out of the water tower and arrived in town. With roses that burst out of her wrists, she's more than a stranger to everyone but Sam, the one boy brave enough to greet her from the water tower and take her into his life. Their intimate bond, years in the making, is tested when the town's Bonner Sisters lose their ability to seduce all the boys in town and turn to Miel's captivating roses to retain their power.

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LGBT - Young Adult Books with Transgender Characters

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Also available as an e-book. Miel is as strange and confounding as the day she spilled out of the water tower and arrived in town. With roses that burst out of her wrists, she's more than a stranger to everyone but Sam, the one boy brave enough to greet her from the water tower and take her into his life.

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More than 100 carefully selected lists of multicultural and social justice books for children, young adults, and educators. When you find a book at this site, please purchase it here. Our titles are linked to Bookshop. A portion of your book purchase helps sustain our work. New Releases Activism and Organizing Africa Afro-Latinx American Indians Arabs […]

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More than 100 carefully selected lists of multicultural and social justice books for children, young adults, and educators. When you find a book at this site, please purchase it here. Our titles are linked to Bookshop. A portion of your book purchase helps sustain our work. New Releases Activism and Organizing Africa Afro-Latinx American Indians Arabs […]

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Ta-Nehisi Coates on discussing racism directly, honestly

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Clint Smith: How to raise a Black son in America | TED Talk

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As kids, we all get advice from parents and teachers that seems strange, even confusing. This was crystallized one night for a young Clint Smith, who was playing with water guns in a dark parking lot with his white friends. In a heartfelt piece, the poet paints the scene of his father’s furious and fearful response.

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Speak Up!
Six Steps to Speak Up

Be Ready.

You know another moment like this will happen, so prepare yourself for it. Think of yourself as the one who will speak up. Promise yourself not to remain silent.

"Summon your courage, whatever it takes to get that courage, wherever that source of courage is for you," said Dr. Marsha Houston, chair of the Communication Studies Department at the University of Alabama.

To bolster that courage, have something to say in mind before an incident happens. Open-ended questions often are a good response. "Why do you say that?" "How did you develop that belief?"

Identify the Behavior.

Sometimes, pointing out the behavior candidly helps someone hear what they're really saying: "Janice, what I hear you saying is that all Mexicans are lazy" (or whatever the slur happens to be). Or, "Janice, you're classifying an entire ethnicity in a derogatory way. Is that what I hear you saying?"

When identifying behavior, however, avoid labeling, name-calling or the use of loaded terms. Describe the behavior; don't label the person.

"If your goal is to communicate, loaded terms get you nowhere," said Dr. K.E. Supriya, associate professor of communications at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and an expert in the role of gender and cultural identity in communication. "If you simply call someone a racist, a wall goes up."

Appeal to Principles.

If the speaker is someone you have a relationship with - a sister, friend or co-worker, for example - call on their higher principles: "Bob, I've always thought of you as a fair-minded person, so it shocks me when I hear you say something that sounds so bigoted."

"Appeal to their better instincts," Houston said. "Remember that people are complex. What they say in one moment is not necessarily an indication of everything they think."

Set Limits.

You cannot control another person, but you can say, "Don't tell racist jokes in my presence anymore. If you do, I will leave." Or, "My workspace is not a place I allow bigoted remarks to be made. I can't control what you say outside of this space, but here I ask that you respect my wishes." Then follow through.

"The point is to draw a line, to say, 'I don't want you to use that language when I'm around,'" Bob Carolla, spokesman for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. "Even if attitudes don't change, by shutting off bad behavior, you are limiting its contagion. Fewer people hear it or experience it."

Find an Ally/Be an Ally.

When frustrated in your own campaign against everyday bigotry, seek out like-minded people and ask them to support you in whatever ways they can.

And don't forget to return the favor: If you aren't the first voice to speak up against everyday bigotry, be the next voice.

"Always speak up, and never be silenced out of fear," said Shane Windmeyer, founder and coordinator of Campus PrideNet and the Lambda 10 Project. "To be an ally, we must lead by example and inspire others to do the same."

Be Vigilant.

Remember: Change happens slowly. People make small steps, typically, not large ones. Stay prepared, and keep speaking up. Don't risk silence.

"There's a sense of personal disappointment in having not said something when you felt you should have," said Ron Schlittler, acting executive director of the national office of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.

Carolla put it this way: "If you don't speak up, you're surrendering part of yourself. You're letting bigotry win."

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Whatever situation you're in, remember these six steps to help you speak up against everyday bigotry. In any situation, however, assess your safety, both physical and emotional. There is a risk, and that must be acknowledged as you make your own choice to Speak Up!

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Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning (SEE) 101

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Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning (SEE) 101

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Courses: SEE 101

SEE 101 is the first step on your journey towards bringing Social, Emotional, and Ethical Learning to the youths you serve. This orientation course is designed to give you an introduction to the SEE Learning program. SEE 101 is organized into 7 modules. Each module introduces key components that will be important for the implementation of the SEE Learning curriculum into your educational setting.

The 7 modules include:

1. Introduction: Welcome to SEE 101

2. Empowering Students

3. Exploring Awareness, Compassion, and Engagement

4. Understanding the Curriculum

5. Fostering Capabilities within Students

6. Fostering Capabilities within Yourself

7. Conclusion: Embarking on the SEE Learning Journey

To begin, register or log in.

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SEE 101 is the first step on your journey towards bringing Social, Emotional, and Ethical Learning to the youths you serve. This orientation course is designed to give you an introduction to the SEE Learning program. SEE 101 is organized into 7 modules.

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"Black girls are not often at the center of the stories we read. Monique Morris's work is a wonderful exception. Her passionate book explains how the real world-specifically schools-ignores, misreads, and mistreats us. This much-needed book is so important because it shows how Black and Brown girls, with the help of the teachers and people who love them, can write new stories that replace the fiction about our worth, our abilities, and ourselves."

-Marley Dias, founder of #1000BlackGirlBooks and author of Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You!

"Not many, if any, books detail how to uplift and heal Black and Brown girls in real time in ways that are loving, focused on thriving, and practical, but Monique W. Morris has done it. Through rich and vivid storytelling backed by data and research, Morris gives us a pedagogical road map to our own humanity as educators by way of empowering Black and Brown girls. Each chapter helps the reader find their song, so they can sing a rhythm for our girls."

-Bettina L. Love, author of We Want to Do More Than Survive

"With Pushout, Monique Morris brought the world to its knees and widened our eyes to see how systems have been designed to wrong our most vulnerable and brilliant young people. In Sing a Rhythm, Dance a Blues, she takes us on a deeper journey and offers us a way to reimagine schools and a path towards real solutions. The book has a simple elegance that is accessible and engaging, that is matched with ferocious truth telling and powerful narratives from real people on the front lines of the war against Black girls. I read it, felt something deep inside, read it again-and then again. It is one of those books. It hooks you, then teaches you, then offers you a path towards solutions. A masterpiece."

-Christopher Emdin, author of For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood

"Monique Morris's vision for our girls is powerfully expansive. She's an inspiration to me and to all of us working to unleash their infinite potential."

-Beverly Bond, celebrity DJ and founder of Black Girls Rock!

" Sing a Rhythm, Dance a Blues is a brilliant and beautiful book. Drawing on rigorous scholarly analysis and deep engagement with the narratives of educational stakeholders, Morris articulates a lucid and audacious freedom dream for Black girls. Like an African rhythm, the book speaks to our souls and our feet, daring us to reimagine the world and demanding that we radically reshape our policy and practice. Like the blues, Morris's writing is compelling, honest, and raw, but brimming with hope. Anyone interested in the lives of Black girls must read, recommend, share, study, and teach this text!"

-Marc Lamont Hill, BET correspondent and author of Nobody

"Morris is a force and a light, and this book invigorates the soul. It should be required reading for all teachers and it's essential reading for anyone working to create a world where girls and women are truly liberated and loved."

-Susan Burton, founder of A New Way of Life and author of Becoming Ms. Burton

"This beautiful book fills me with hope that our schools and our society can learn to nurture the tremendous untapped potential of Black and Brown girls. Through compelling and powerful stories, Dr. Morris shows how to support girls facing huge challenges to succeed as students, as artists, or as activists-and at loving themselves."

-Naomi Wadler, activist and advocate for gun control

"Monique Morris is a personal shero of mine and a respected expert in this space."

-Ayanna Pressley, U.S. congresswoman

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Sing a Rhythm, Dance a Blues | The New Press

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Wise Black women have known for centuries that the blues have been a platform for truth-telling, an underground musical railroad to survival, and an essential form of resistance, healing, and learning. In her highly anticipated follow-up to the widely acclaimed Pushout on the criminalization of black girls in schools, Monique W.

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pushout: the criminalization of black girls in schools

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african american girls - social conditions

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discrimination in education - united states

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ethnic minorities & multicultural studies

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social science / discrimination & race relations

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social science / discrimination & race relations

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ethnic minorities & multicultural studies

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Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools

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Fifteen-year-old Diamond stopped going to school the day she was expelled for lashing out at peers who constantly harassed and teased her for something everyone on the staff had missed: she was being trafficked for sex. After months on the run, she was arrested and sent to a detention center for ...

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Dr. DiAngelo is Affiliate Associate Professor of Education at the University of Washington. Her area of research is in Whiteness Studies and Critical Discourse Analysis. She is a two-time winner of the Student’s Choice Award for Educator of the Year at the University of Washington’s School of Social…

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Read 11.3k reviews from the world's largest community for readers. Raw, captivating, and undeniably real, Nic Stone joins industry giants Jason Reynolds an...

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The first time Tupac is shot, D Foster walks into the lives of Neeka and her best friend. From that point on, no one's world is ever the same. D Foster lives with her foster mom who lets her 'roam' while Neeka and the narrator aren't even allowed to leave their block. But the three soon realize they have a lot in common - including their love of Tupac - his lyrics, his life, the way he keeps on keeping on and this helps them move through the years between 11 and 13 in search of their Big Purpose even as the narrator's brother is wrongly accused of a crime and gets sent to jail and D's absent mom keeps disappointing her.

Where it takes place:

In Queens, New York.

Where I wrote it:

Mostly here in Brooklyn.

Why I wrote it:

I think Tupac was an amazing activist and I wanted to create a story around his story. The more I wrote, the more there was to say - about Tupac and about the girls.

Awards

Newbery Honor Medal

2009 Josette Frank Award

Categories Posted on Middle grade/Young adult titles

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The first time Tupac is shot, D Foster walks into the lives of Neeka and her best friend. From that point on, no one's world is ever the same. D Foster lives with her foster mom who lets her 'roam' while Neeka and the narrator aren't even allowed to leave their block.

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All American Boys by Brendan Kiely and Jason Reynolds is a book about two teens—one black, one white—grappling with the repercussions of a single violent act that leaves their school, their community, and, ultimately, the country bitterly divided by racial tension.

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Hot new releases and under-the-radar gems for adults and kids.

In a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.
Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people...

In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal's office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.

Separated by distance - and Papi's secrets - the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered.

And then, when it seems like they've lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.

"Acevedo's free verse poems for each girl share an easy cadence and thoughtfulness, yet each girl's perspective is clear: Camino is strong but fearful of the dangers that threaten her life and hopes; Yahaira's anger is palpable, but so is her tenderness and love for her girlfriend Dre....Memorable for its treatment of grief, depiction of family ties, and lyrical strength, expect a well-deserved high demand." Booklist

"Returning to verse, Acevedo subtly, skillfully uses language and rhythm to give voice to the sisters' grief, anger, and uncertainty; Camino's introspective openness; and Yahaira's tendency toward order and leadership. Raw and emotional, Acevedo's exploration of loss packs an effective double punch, unraveling the aftermath of losing a parent alongside the realities of familial inheritance." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

"Tackles family secrets, toxic masculinity, and socio-economic differences with incisive clarity and candor...Every line is laced with betrayal and longing as the teens struggle with loving someone despite his imperfections. A standing ovation." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

Elizabeth Acevedo is the author of The Poet X, which won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, the Michael L. Printz Award, the Pura Belpré Award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, and the Walter Award. She is a National Poetry Slam champion and holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Maryland. Acevedo lives with her partner in Washington, DC. You can find out more about her at www.acevedowrites.com.

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In a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives. Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic.

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Staff recommendations, guest essays, and curated reading lists.

Hot new releases and under-the-radar gems for adults and kids.

I'm not going to lie: I didn't know if Angie Thomas could do it. After the massive success of The Hate U Give, I figured, Her next book will be good, and I will like it, but I don't know just how good it will be. Surprise, surprise. Her next book, On the Come Up, is excellent. Maybe it's excellent because it felt so personal to me. I also grew up in a single-parent household, one where it was sometimes a toss-up to whether groceries were going to be in the fridge or if an eviction notice would be on our door when I came home from school. Bri, the main star of this novel, is also a lot like me too. She's frustrated with her school situation, and when she calls it out, people call her aggressive, which is the number one label that Black women of all ages get when they dare to speak their minds. I rooted along with Bri when things went her way, and I screamed when they didn't. On the Come Up is a wonderful, wonderful, WONDERFUL book. You're going to love Bri as much as I do, and let me tell you one thing: I will never doubt Angie Thomas again. Recommended By Katherine M., Powells.com

Ambitious in scope, On the Come Up could easily buckle under the weight of all it explores - as could its 16-year-old protagonist - but Angie Thomas is too good a writer to let that happen. This is an urgent, authentic novel, full of heart. Recommended By Tove H., Powells.com

This is the highly anticipated second novel by Angie Thomas, the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling, award-winning The Hate U Give.

Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri's got massive shoes to fill.

But it's hard to get your come up when you're labeled a hoodlum at school, and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. So Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral...for all the wrong reasons.

Bri soon finds herself at the center of a controversy, portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. But with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri doesn't just want to make it - she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be.

Insightful, unflinching, and full of heart, On the Come Up is an ode to hip hop from one of the most influential literary voices of a generation. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; and about how, especially for young black people, freedom of speech isn't always free.

" On the Come Up truly shines in its exploration of Bri's resilience, determination, and pursuit of her dreams. In this splendid novel, showing many facets of the black identity and the black experience, Thomas gives readers another dynamic protagonist to root for." ALA Booklist (Starred Review)

"With sharp, even piercing, characterization, this indelible and intricate story of a young girl who is brilliant and sometimes reckless, who is deeply loved and rightfully angry at a world that reduces her to less than her big dreams call her to be, provides many pathways for readers." Horn Book (Starred Review)

"This honest and unflinching story of toil, tears, and triumph is a musical love letter that proves literary lightning does indeed strike twice. The rawness of Bri's narrative demonstrates Thomas' undeniable storytelling prowess. A joyous experience awaits. Read it. Learn it. Love it." Kirkus (Starred Review)

Angie Thomas made her debut with the #1 New York Times bestselling, award-winning novel The Hate U Give. A former teen rapper who holds a BFA in creative writing, Angie was born, raised, and still resides in Jackson, Mississippi.

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This is the highly anticipated second novel by Angie Thomas, the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling, award-winning The Hate U Give. Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle.

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Until the last few years, finding YA books with disabled characters could be a real challenge. Not only were they few and far between, but those that did exist could too easily fall into representing disabled characters as either helpless or inspirational (or both all at once). Few #OwnVoices stories were being told, and few recognitions went to showcasing the books that told stories of disabled characters well, meaning those that did often fell under the radar. It wasn't until 2003 that a specific award was created for honoring disability representation in books for young readers, thanks to Katherine Schneider. She began the award because it was a librarian who changed her life as a young blind person and helped her find books-and she wished to pay this forward for future generations. It's in part thanks to her work, as well as the work of champions of inclusivity, that finding YA books with disabled characters has become a bit easier.

The work isn't done, of course. Some disabilities are showcased more than others, and there are absolutely still books that offer representation that does more harm than good. As more #OwnVoices authors share their stories, though, we're being treated to dynamic, well-rendered characters living incredible stories where they get to be the hero-and not "just because" they have a disability.

Find below 20 outstanding YA books with disabled characters. Although not all of these books are #OwnVoices (in part because unless an author is forthright in sharing something personal about themselves, you can't always verify disability), they offer a solid array of portrayals of living with a disability. Fiction and nonfiction are included, as are as many genres as possible. But because of the short nature of the list and desire to offer as wide an assortment of disability experiences as possible, not everything is represented here. Instead, consider this an introduction to finding some of the best books out there featuring disability in YA books.

Although mental illness is absolutely a disability, I've limited inclusion of the books featuring those characters in this list. YA books about mental illness continue to be a passion of mine as an author/editor of one myself, and the list linked to will bring you 50 recommended titles.

This list is limited to YA books, but a couple of other books I cannot recommend enough for YA readers include CeCe Bell's middle grade graphic novel El Deafo, a thoughtful and beautiful comic about being Deaf, and Keah Brown's adult memoir in essays The Pretty One -we do not see enough people of color with disabilities having the opportunities to tell their stories and share their voices, and hopefully this book brings more of those much-needed stories to readers.

A couple of additional resources that will serve readers well when it comes to understanding disability and the importance of #OwnVoices in telling disability stories include Disability in Kid Lit (which hasn't been updated since early 2018 but remains a rich resource) and the regular #CripLit chats hosted by Alice Wong and Nicola Griffin as part of the Disability Visibility Project.

Disabled Characters in YA Books

This memoir follows Kamara as she experiences total upheaval from her small town in Sierra Leone when rebel attackers descended. Though she tried to flee, she never made it to the neighboring town. Instead, she was captured and had her hands cut off. She escaped and survived, making her way to Freetown, hoping to find a a way to freedom. The book is about how she made her way from such a tragic situation to living in Toronto and how it is she navigates her new life without her hands.

This voice-driven novel follows Macy as she navigates her own tumultuous home life-one with an inconsistent mother, a father in prison, and a younger brother in the foster care system because of repeat CPS visits-with understanding why it is her best friend has been pulling away from her. These are teens living hard, hard lives and still managing to get up every day and go through the motions, much as it leaves an impact on them physically, emotionally, and psychologically. Macy has a psychological, potentially neurological, disorder that impacts her daily life and the relationships with her best friend and family.

Told in dual timelines, this story follows a girl named Sophie who everyone believes is the reason that Mina, her best friend, died. Sophie is a recovering drug addict and rumors are she set up the drug deal that went bad and led to Mina's death. But Sophie knows that's not the truth, and she and Mina shared a secret no one could know. This thriller features not only a bisexual main character, but Sophie struggles with chronic pain as well as challenges relating to her addiction.

In this historical story about a romp through Europe by notoriously roguish Monty, we're accompanied on the adventure by best friend Percy, who lives with epilepsy. This trip is about Monty and avoiding responsibility to be thrust upon him by his disapproving father, and it's also about the deep crush Monty nurses for Percy.

This book goes quite a bit down into the backlist, but it's one readers will want to revisit-or pick up for the first time. Sam sets out on a cross country trip as he works to discover more about his family, about his future with romance, and about where and how his inherited Tourette's Syndrome, which came to be part of who he is. This character-driven novel is humorous, as much as it's a look at a disability too easily mocked in popular culture.

Burcaw's first memoir-in-essays will have you rolling with laughter as he shares his exploits, his awkward situations, and his life with spinal muscular atrophy with honesty. Once you discover his voice in this book, make sure you pick up the second memoir-in-essays he wrote called Strangers Assume My Girlfriend Is My Nurse.

Stories about the teens who don't leave their hometowns after high school fascinate me, as it's such under explored territory. Vanna never planned to get stuck in her small New Mexico town, but it happened-and that was before her father was diagnosed with Huntington's Disease. The disease, which has the potential to be genetic, is now something Savanna considers as a possibility for her future, as she helps to take care of her father and carve a life for herself.

When Zayneb, who is the only Muslim in her school, is suspended for confronting her teacher, she heads to Qatar for an early spring break at her uncle's home. She's going to try out being a nicer version of herself. Then she meets Adam, who has just been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. He's keeping the diagnoses a secret from his father, who is grieving the death of his mother.

When Viola returns home from a trip abroad, she's finding herself becoming extremely light-sensitivity. She's diagnosed with an allergy to the sunlight, and her parents immediately go into overdrive, shielding her away from any potential exposure. This even means screen time is limited-a big challenge, especially when she begins to fall for Josh. So she'll do the only thing she can think to do: rebel.

Though this book falls more closely to middle grade than YA, I've included it because it deals with something so rarely seen: synesthesia. Mia, the main character, sees color, hears color, and reads color. She's kept this a secret, but when she can no longer hide what's going on, she learns this mingling of her senses has a name.

Marcelo, the main character, has an autism-like disorder that isn't named directly in the book but is rather shown to the readers through his actions, thoughts, and behaviors. Although he's always attended a special school, the summer after his junior year, his father insists he get to know "the real world," and forces Marcelo to work in the mailroom at his law firm. It's here Marcelo not only makes friends, but uncovers a real world problem that he needs to solve.

Maggie lost her sight six months ago, but rather than desire the pity of her classmates, she instead cranks up the notch on being rebellious-until a school prank goes too far and she ends up with her very own probation officer. Where she believes her future has been taken from her because of this, suddenly, when she's able to see again, even if it's just one person, it helps her understand that she still has a big, bright future ahead of her. Except, when she discovers the real reason she's able to see this boy and only this boy, she has to pull that belief even further to the forefront of her mind.

Amara and Nolan are never alone and never apart from one another. Every time Nolan blinks, he's transported to another world-Amara's mind-where he has felt powerless. But when he learns he can potentially control her mind, which brings with it not only anger and frustration for Amara, but potentially dangerous consequences for both of them. Both main characters are physically disabled in this science fiction book.

Told in alternating voices, this story follows Autumn, a popular girl wrestler who struggles with a learning disability that makes reading hard, and Adonis, a shy boy who has no legs and uses a wheelchair. Adonis is a great reader, and he knows he can help Autumn out...just as he also knows that she'd be a great help to him with his biggest secret.

Bo has a reputation and a family that has one, too. But she doesn't care what anyone thinks of her or of them. Agnes is a by-the-rules girl who never stays out late and believes that her parents are just being protective because she's blind. Despite how different the two girls are, they become fast friends-and when Bo shows up in the middle of the night desperate to run away from her life (and the police), Agnes joins her.

When she moves halfway across the country before her senior year of high school, Maya is upset to be leaving her Deaf school for a public one. While Maya has set huge goals for herself, including going into the medical field, her new teachers don't have the same beliefs in her as she does. Beau, student body president, becomes smitten with Maya, learning ASL so he can pursue her, and while she's hesitant about their relationship, she lets herself get involved. Given the chance for a cochlear implant, Maya passes it by-leaving her relationship with Beau strained, as he cannot understand why she'd make such a choice.

Told in verse, this book follows Veda, who is a classical dance prodigy in India, on her way to fame. But when she's in an accident that leaves her as a below-knee amputee, suddenly her life is in a tailspin. Can she dance again? But she carries onward, starting back at the beginning, until she meets Govinda, who helps her reconnect with her life, with him, and with the world around her.

There are very few characters in YA-and in fiction more broadly-who have Crohn's Disease, so Frank's novel in verse is a much-needed look at the illness (side note: my upcoming YA anthology, Body Talk, due out in Fall 2020, features an essay from author Kara Thomas about living with this challenging, painful disease). Told through the voices of Chess and Shannon, this novel in verse is about two girls dealing with Crohn's Disease, one who has been working with the illness for a long time and one who, after an unfortunate incident with a boy she was beginning to like, is newly diagnosed.

This much needed, vital anthology featuring disabled characters by disabled authors includes stories from authors like Keplinger, Stork, and Duyvis named above, but also Heidi Heilig, Dhonielle Clayton, Kayla Whaley, and more.

Julia sees a slur about her best friend on the wall of her school, The Kingston School for the Deaf, and she decides to cover over it with graffiti. But her "best friend" tells on her, causing her to get kicked out of the school. Her parents decide to send her to a mainstream school in the suburbs, where she's the only Deaf student. Wanting to find her way, Julia decides to take up graffiti again anywhere she can. Then she discovers there's someone else tagging her work, and suddenly, there's a turf war.

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20 Must-Read YA Books with Disabled Characters | Book Riot

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Until the last few years, finding YA books with disabled characters could be a real challenge. Not only were they few and far between, but those that did exist could too easily fall into representing disabled characters as either helpless or inspirational (or both all at once).

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Think Inclusive | The Official Blog of MCIE

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One in four adults live with a disability, yet disabled representation in children's books is far too sparse. In a study (2014) conducted by Donna Sayers Adomat and published in Disability Studies Quarterly, she found that reading and discussing children's books that feature disabled characters in the classroom led to more positive interactions:

Ms. Schild related how, before the unit, students were resentful of a classmate with developmental disabilities who had an aide to help her; the classmates thought that she was receiving unfair privileges. After the unit, they understood why she needed assistance. One boy with autism, who was usually quiet and withdrawn during class time, participated actively in the book discussions and could identify with some of the characters in the stories. At one point he said, "That's like me. I have autism-a little bit." A parent noticed changes in her daughter: "She doesn't say, 'Oh, I changed,' but I notice a big difference in her attitude when we go out and see someone in a wheelchair. She'll go up and start talking to that person, and she won't complain about the kids in her class with ADHD anymore."

These types of interactions and outcomes demonstrate why it's essential to read children's books featuring disabled characters and to make sure that both school and home libraries are stocked with these books. It's also vital to discuss the books afterward, as the study notes, children often speak about disabilities utilizing societal stereotypes and attitudes. Adult guidance and discussions can help create more positive and realistic attitudes about disabled people.

I am a disabled mother, so I know how important it is to have disabled representation in the children's books my daughter and I read at home. One tendency I've noticed in these children's books is for authors to portray characters with easily identifiable physical disabilities, like wheelchair use. While this is excellent, I wish I saw more instances of invisible disabilities, like my own.

These ten children's books portray many types of disabilities and from many perspectives. Some are told by a child with a disabled mother, relative, or classmate. Some are about a disabled child or adult and their day-to-day living, and others reveal a unique, fictional story that doesn't relate to the child's disability. These are just as important, for it's essential to show children that disabled people can have fun and adventures and full lives of their own.

10 Children's Books With Disabled Characters

For many, disability shows itself as chronic illness and exhaustion. This is the case for Aleeya's mother in Mommy Sayang, Rosana Sullivan's debut picture book. The story is based on Sullivan's childhood, of her life growing up in a small Malaysian village, or kampung, and the loneliness she felt when her mother became ill and could no longer play with her. Though this is her debut picture book, Sullivan illustrates and directs for Pixar and has worked on many of their shorts, so she's experienced in creating short tales for children. Her illustrations are sweet and engaging, just like the prose.

This picture book is about kite battles during the festival of Basant; fighting bullies with kindness, and also features a wheelchair user as one of the main characters. I love books that feature disabled characters having adventures and fun in a story not defined by their disability. Our lives are not defined by our disability, even when it's something we think about every day. This may be my favorite book on the list.

The Baby Loves Science board book series explains scientific concepts in toddler-friendly ways. The Sight and Hearing books feature blind toddlers, glasses-wearing toddlers, and toddlers who need hearing implants. Whether your toddler experiences sight or hearing difficulties or not, they're very likely to meet other children who do. This is a great way to explain these types of differences in a scientific way.

Most children will have experiences with disabled elderly as their grandparents and great grandparents age. According to the Center for Disease Control, elderly who require home health care are more likely to have depression than those who don't. This is the case with Fern's grandmother, Nanna. When Nanna becomes a wheelchair user, she becomes depressed, and she no longer does the things that once brought her joy. So Fern decides to try and capture some joy for her Nanna, but that's more difficult than she thought. This book is magical. Illustrator Isabelle Follath uses color to show the impacts of depression visually and also the vibrancy of joy. The illustrations pair perfectly with Corrinne Averiss's sweet and hopeful prose.

This book never says that Charlotte is autistic, but those who have or are experienced with autism will recognize and relate to Charlotte and her need for quiet. No matter where she goes-at home, school, even the park-Charlotte feels overwhelmed by the many noises that surround her. After her dog escapes the leash one day, Charlotte learns how to find a quiet place inside herself, a place to return to when she feels overwhelmed.

"I know I'm not an ordinary kid" opens R.J. Palacio's picture book about the loneliness of looking different than other children and the bullying that often accompanies that. The child in We're All Wonders finds comfort in the friendship of Daisy, his dog, and in his imagination. The simplicity of the prose makes its message of kindness and acceptance even more poignant. Of all the books on this list, this one made me the saddest, though it does end on a hopeful note when another child offers his friendship. This picture book is based on R.J. Palacio's middle-grade novel Wonder.

Many people with disabilities aren't born with their disabilities. The Deaf Musicians tells the story of a jazz piano player who is kicked out of his band when he becomes deaf. He despairs at losing his passion, but he soon discovers that music is still a part of him, and he forms a band of deaf musicians on the subway. As with all the books by Pete Seeger and Paul DuBois, the jazzy prose sings, just as the illustrations by award-winning illustrator R.Gregory Christie do.

Donna Jo Napoli is a prolific and award-winning children's book author. What you may not know about her is that she's also a linguist who specializes in sign language and activism for deaf children. Hands & Hearts tells the story of a mother and daughter's fun day at the beach, and each page of sparse prose is accompanied by a sign, with a total of fifteen signs. The watercolor illustrations are soft and lovely, perfect accompaniments to the text. The signs are illustrated in a sidebar on each page spread.

Looking after Louis shows how inclusive classrooms are advantageous for both disabled and non-disabled children alike. Louis has autism and doesn't speak on his own or participate in class activities like the protagonist, a little girl, and fellow student does. When Sam, another classmate, plays soccer with Louis one day, a whole new world opens up for Louis, and all the children learn a bit more about communication, joy, being human, and that breaking the rules is allowed in certain circumstances.

In Not So Different, Shane Burcaw answers all the frequently asked questions he gets about being disabled with humor and honesty. These are the kind of questions adults are too polite to ask, but that children with their bluntness certainly will, like "What's wrong with you?" and "How do you eat?" Burcaw has spinal muscular atrophy. In addition to writing, he's also the president of a nonprofit he created, Laughing at My Nightmare, which promotes positivity and kindness and provides medical equipment grants for people with muscular dystrophy. This book is quite funny, and the photographs are pretty hilarious, especially the sections with Shane and his non-disabled brother getting into mischief.

These ten children's books are essential for classroom and home libraries alike. While there are other children's books featuring disabled characters, I do wish more stories were published and that disabled representation more closely matched the reality of disabled life and the number of disabled people who live in the United States.
(This post contains affiliate links)

Margaret Kingsbury writes about disability representation, fantasy, science fiction, and fairy tales for Book Riot, The Bronzeville Bee, Star Trek, and more, and she's co-creator of Baby Librarians where she, a friend, and their children write about the children's books they love. Her fairytale fiction has been published in Nonbinary Review, Devilfish Review, and Expanded Horizons, among other places. She lives in Nashville, TN with her husband, daughter, and their many, many books. Find out more on her website and follow her on Instagram @babylibrarians or Twitter @areaderlymom

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Representation Matters: 10 Children's Books With Disabled Characters | Think Inclusive | The Official Blog of MCIE

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One in four adults live with a disability, yet disabled representation in children's books is far too sparse. In a study (2014) conducted by Donna Sayers Adomat and published in Disability Studies Quarterly, she found that reading and discussing children's books that feature disabled characters in the classroom led to more positive interactions: Ms. Schild related how, [...]

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Part 1

This Matter of Culture Chapter 1

I WONDER IF we have ever asked ourselves what education means. Why do we go to school, why do we learn various subjects, why do we pass examinations and compete with each other for better grades? What does this so-called education mean, and what is it all about? This is really a very important question, not only for the students, but also for the parents, for the teachers, and for everyone who loves this earth. Why do we go through the struggle to be educated? Is it merely in order to pass some examinations and get a job? Or is it the function of education to prepare us while we are young to understand the whole process of life? Having a job and earning one's livelihood is necessary - but is that all? Are we being educated only for that? Surely, life is not merely a job, an occupation; life is something extraordinarily wide and profound, it is a great mystery, a vast realm in which we function as human beings. If we merely prepare ourselves to earn a livelihood, we shall miss the whole point of life; and to understand life is much more important than merely to prepare for examinations and become very proficient in mathematics, physics, or what you will.

So, whether we are teachers or students, is it not important to ask ourselves why we are educating or being educated? And what does life mean? Is not life an extraordinary thing? The birds, the flowers, the flourishing trees, the heavens, the stars, the rivers and the fish therein - all this is life. Life is the poor and the rich; life is the constant battle between groups, races and nations; life is meditation; life is what we call religion, and it is also the subtle, hidden things of the mind - the envies, the ambitions, the passions, the fears, fulfilments and anxieties. All this and much more is life. But we generally prepare ourselves to understand only one small corner of it. We pass certain examinations, find a job, get married, have children, and then become more and more like machines. We remain fearful, anxious, frightened of life. So, is it the function of education to help us understand the whole process of life, or is it merely to prepare us for a vocation, for the best job we can get?

What is going to happen to all of us when we grow to be men and women? Have you ever asked yourselves what you are going to do when you grow up? In all likelihood you will get married, and before you know where you are you will be mothers and fathers; and you will then be tied to a job, or to the kitchen, in which you will gradually wither away. Is that all that your life is going to be? Have you ever asked yourselves this question? Should you not ask it? If your family is wealthy you may have a fairly good position already assured, your father may give you a comfortable job, or you may get richly married; but there also you will decay, deteriorate. Do you see?

Surely, education has no meaning unless it helps you to understand the vast expanse of life with all its subtleties, with its extraordinary beauty, its sorrows and joys. You may earn degrees, you may have a series of letters after your name and land a very good job; but then what? What is the point of it all if in the process your mind becomes dull, weary, stupid? So, while you are young, must you not seek to find out what life is all about? And is it not the true function of education to cultivate in you the intelligence which will try to find the answer to all these problems? Do you know what intelligence is? It is the capacity, surely, to think freely without fear, without a formula, so that you begin to discover for yourself what is real, what is true; but if you are frightened you will never be intelligent. Any form of ambition, spiritual or mundane, breeds anxiety, fear; therefore ambition does not help to bring about a mind that is clear, simple, direct, and hence intelligent.

You know, it is really very important while you are young to live in an environment in which there is no fear. Most of us, as we grow older, become frightened; we are afraid of living, afraid of losing a job, afraid of tradition, afraid of what the neighbours, or what the wife or husband would say, afraid of death. Most of us have fear in one form or another; and where there is fear there is no intelligence. And is it not possible for all of us, while we are young, to be in an environment where there is no fear but rather an atmosphere of freedom - freedom, not just to do what we like, but to understand the whole process of living? Life is really very beautiful, it is not this ugly thing that we have made of it; and you can appreciate its richness, its depth, its extraordinary loveliness only when you revolt against everything - against organized religion, against tradition, against the present rotten society - so that you as a human being find out for yourself what is true. Not to imitate but to discover - that is education, is it not? It is very easy to conform to what your society or your parents and teachers tell you. That is a safe and easy way of existing; but that is not living, because in it there is fear, decay, death. To live is to find out for yourself what is true, and you can do this only when there is freedom, when there is continuous revolution inwardly, within yourself.

But you are not encouraged to do this; no one tells you to question, to find out for yourself what God is, because if you were to rebel you would become a danger to all that is false. Your parents and society want you to live safely, and you also want to live safely. Living safely generally means living in imitation and therefore in fear. Surely, the function of education is to help each one of us to live freely and without fear, is it not? And to create an atmosphere in which there is no fear requires a great deal of thinking on your part as well as on the part of the teacher, the educator.

Do you know what this means - what an extraordinary thing it would be to create an atmosphere in which there is no fear? And we must create it, because we see that the world is caught up in endless wars; it is guided by politicians who are always seeking power; it is a world of lawyers, policemen and soldiers, of ambitious men and women all wanting position and all fighting each other to get it. Then there are the so-called saints, the religious gurus with their followers; they also want power, position, here or in the next life. It is a mad world, completely confused, in which the communist is fighting the capitalist, the socialist is resisting both, and everybody is against somebody, struggling to arrive at a safe place, a position of power or comfort. The world is torn by conflicting beliefs, by caste and class distinctions, by separative nationalities, by every form of stupidity and cruelty - and this is the world you are being educated to fit into. You are encouraged to fit into the framework of this disastrous society; your parents want you to do that, and you also want to fit in.

Now, is it the function of education merely to help you to conform to the pattern of this rotten social order, or is it to give you freedom - complete freedom to grow and create a different society, a new world? We want to have this freedom, not in the future, but now, otherwise we may all be destroyed. We must create immediately an atmosphere of freedom so that you can live and find out for yourselves what is true, so that you become intelligent, so that you are able to face the world and understand it, not just conform to it, so that inwardly, deeply, psychologically you are in constant revolt; because it is only those who are in constant revolt that discover what is true, not the man who conforms, who follows some tradition. It is only when you are constantly inquiring, constantly observing, constantly learning, that you find truth, God, or love; and you cannot inquire, observe, learn, you cannot be deeply aware, if you are afraid. So the function of education, surely, is to eradicate, inwardly as well as outwardly, this fear that destroys human thought, human relationship and love.

Questioner: If all individuals were in revolt, don't you think there would be chaos in the world?

Krishnamurti: Listen to the question first, because it is very important to understand the question and not just wait for an answer. The question is: if all individuals were in revolt, would not the world be in chaos? But is the present society in such perfect order that chaos would result if everyone revolted against it? Is there not chaos now? is everything beautiful, uncorrupted? Is everyone living happily, fully, richly? Is man not against man? Is there not ambition, ruthless competition? So the world is already in chaos, that is the first thing to realize. Don't take it for granted that this is an orderly society; don't mesmerize yourself with words. Whether here in Europe, in America or Russia, the world is in a process of decay. If you see the decay, you have a challenge: you are challenged to find a way of solving this urgent problem. And how you respond to the challenge is important, is it not? If you respond as a Hindu or a Buddhist, a Christian or a communist, then your response is very limited - which is no response at all. You can respond fully, adequately only if there is no fear in you, only if you don't think as a Hindu, a communist or a capitalist, but as a total human being who is trying to solve this problem; and you cannot solve it unless you yourself are in revolt against the whole thing, against the ambitious acquisitiveness on which society is based. When you yourself are not ambitious, not acquisitive, not clinging to your own security - only then can you respond to the challenge and create a new world.

Questioner: To revolt, to learn, to love - are these three separate processes, or are they simultaneous?

Krishnamurti: Of course they are not three separate processes; it is a unitary process. You see, it is very important to find out what the question means. This question is based on theory, not on experience; it is merely verbal, intellectual, therefore it has no validity. A man who is fearless, who is really in revolt, struggling to find out what it means to learn, to love - such a man does not ask if it is one process or three. We are so clever with words, and we think that by offering explanations we have solved the problem.

Do you know what it means to learn? When you are really learning you are learning throughout your life and there is no one special teacher to learn from. Then everything teaches you - a dead leaf, a bird in flight, a smell, a tear, the rich and the poor, those who are crying, the smile of a woman, the haughtiness of a man. You learn from everything, therefore there is no guide, no philosopher, no guru. Life itself is your teacher, and you are in a state of constant learning. Questioner: It is true that society is based on acquisitiveness and ambition; but if we had no ambition would we not decay?

Krishnamurti: This is really a very important question, and it needs great attention.

Do you know what attention is? Let us find out. In a class room, when you stare out of the window or pull somebody's hair, the teacher tells you to pay attention. Which means what? That you are not interested in what you are studying and so the teacher compels you to pay attention - which is not attention at all. Attention comes when you are deeply interested in something, for then you love to find out all about it; then your whole mind, your whole being is there. Similarly, the moment you see that this question - if we had no ambition, would we not decay? - is really very important, you are interested and want to find out the truth of the matter.

Now, is not the ambitious man destroying himself? That is the first thing to find out, not to ask whether ambition is right or wrong. Look around you, observe all the people who are ambitious. What happens when you are ambitious? You are thinking about yourself, are you not? You are cruel, you push other people aside because you are trying to fulfil your ambition, trying to become a big man, thereby creating in society the conflict between those who are succeeding and those who are falling behind. There is a constant battle between you and the others who are also after what you want; and is this conflict productive of creative living? Do you understand, or is this too difficult?

Are you ambitious when you love to do something for its own sake? When you are doing something with your whole being, not because you want to get somewhere, or have more profit, or greater results, but simply because you love to do it - in that there is no ambition, is there? In that there is no competition; you are not struggling with anyone for first place. And should not education help you to find out what you really love to do so that from the beginning to the end of your life you are working at something which you feel is worth while and which for you has deep significance? Otherwise, for the rest of your days, you will be miserable. Not knowing what you really want to do, your mind falls into a routine in which there is only boredom, decay and death. That is why it is very important to find out while you are young what it is you really love to do; and this is the only way to create a new society.

Questioner: In India, as in most other countries, education is being controlled by the government. Under such circumstances is it possible to carry out an experiment of the kind you describe?

Krishnamurti: If there were no government help, would it be possible for a school of this kind to survive? That is what this gentleman is asking. He sees everything throughout the world becoming more and more controlled by governments, by politicians, by people in authority who want to shape our minds and hearts, who want us to think in a certain way. Whether in Russia or in any other country, the tendency is towards government control of education; and this gentleman asks whether it is possible for a school of the kind I am talking about to come into being without government aid.

Now, what do you say? You know, if you think something is important, really worth while, you give your heart to it irrespective of governments and the edicts of society - and then it will succeed. But most of us do not give our hearts to anything, and that it why we put this sort of question. If you and I feel vitally that a new world can be brought into being, when each one of us is in complete revolt inwardly, psychologically, spiritually - then we shall give our hearts, our minds, our bodies towards creating a school where there is no such thing as fear with all its implications.

Sir, anything truly revolutionary is created by a few who see what is true and are willing to live according to that truth; but to discover what is true demands freedom from tradition, which means freedom from all fears.

Part 1

This Matter of Culture Chapter 1

Texts and talks of Jiddu Krishnamurti. Krishnamurti quotes. Books about
J Krishnamurti. Philosophy.

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I WONDER IF we have ever asked ourselves what education means. Why do we go to school, why do we learn various subjects, why do we pass examinations and compete with each other for better grades? What does this so-called education mean, and what is it all about?

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How Schools are Spirit Murdering Black and Brown Children

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How Schools are Spirit Murdering Black and Brown Children

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How Schools Are 'Spirit Murdering' Black and Brown Students

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Opinion In February of 2019, a positive behavior support coach who was employed by the district in Madison, Wis., allegedly physically assaulted and ripped the hair out of the head of an 11-year-old Black girl. In the same school district, several teachers and substitutes have been fired or resigned earlier this academic year after reports they used racial slurs in the classroom.

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No one wants to be called fragile. And if you're white, what you feel reading the title of this article may be indicative of the term. "White fragility" refers to white people's low emotional tolerance for discussing topics of race and racism.

The term was coined by Dr. Robin DiAngelo in a 2011 article discussing her experience with white people in anti-racism trainings. She defines it as "a state when even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves."

We've taught similar anti-oppression trainings at tech companies, where we worked as in-house psychotherapists and emotional intelligence educators, and we've struggled with similar challenges. In our experience, when introducing the concept of race and oppression, the first defense is usually a diversion led by the students to the topic of the oppression of red-headed people, the overweight, the disabled, or their own immigrant heritages. We aim to explain to the group how although these experiences, while indeed oppressive, are not comparable to the centuries of enslavement, race-based legislation, systematic incarceration, and unequal wealth distribution that is racism in the United States. The other class favorite is the derailment to a discussion about "reverse racism," where we often defer to comedian Aamer Rahmen's three minute video to resolve. What begins as a workshop often ends up feeling much more like a battle. Facilitators before us have gone so far as to outline specific participation guidelines for these workshops such as "speak from your own experience" (i.e. no playing devil's advocate or using hypotheticals) to nip some of the other common defense mechanisms in the bud and to promote more productive conversations.

What makes race so hard for white people to talk about? For many, topics of race and racism trigger intense emotional reactions for a few reasons:

They're not used to it: As the longtime racial majority in the US, white people experience little, if any, race-based stress. When it is experienced, it's usually only temporary, superficial, and/or by choice. There's a running joke that you can't call a white man anything that particularly insults him at the identity level except for racist or sexist-that joke is about white fragility. Louis C.K. expands upon this in one of his routines, stating that the worst thing you can call a white man is "cracker," but even that harkens back to "a time of owning land and people"-a power position and, therefore, not particularly hurtful. Because white people haven't been fundamentally exposed to race-based stress, they have high expectations for racial comfort. It's not only that whites aren't accustomed to race-based discomfort-it's a novel type of stress that they have pretty much no practice coping with. Words like "low-income," "urban," and "under-resourced" are comfortable because they're terms used by the media to describe "other" people (i.e. non-whites). On the flip side, words like "white," "advantaged," and "privileged," ignite in us an emotional reaction because suddenly the finger is pointed at us-we are suddenly the problem-and we are overwhelmed by feelings of guilt, shame, and blame. When that happens, all emotional hell breaks loose because we just don't have the tolerance to deal with it, and, depending on your personality, tend to either erupt or shut-down.

They don't see it: Often times, talking about race with white people is like talking about water with a fish. Dr. Derald W. Sue (2004) conducted a series of interviews in San Francisco, with some great quotes from white people answering the prompt, "What does it means to be white?" Their answers can be summed up as several variations of: "I don't know, normal?" Whites don't even notice their whiteness-they don't tend to think of themselves as having race. It's awkward, because we all have a race and white is one of them. It's even more awkward when white people say things about envying culture and ethnicity, because they don't see their own culture and ethnicity as anything other than the baseline.

Moral dilemmas: Discussions of racism challenge whites' conception that they're good people, and "privilege" challenges the belief that they are hardworking and deserve everything that they have. When someone says "privilege" we hear "you're undeserving of your blessings," (like this guy) and when someone mentions "racism" we all think we're being called racists! For whites, racial discussions often become (unintentionally) about whether they're good or bad people-moral or immoral. It's the same reason a discussion of sexism lead to the popular "not all men" meme. It's a knee-jerk reaction to derail the conversation, other ourselves, and separate from the system of oppression. When the core of our existence is brought into question, it gets emotional pretty quickly. But these emotional reactions are track-switching-we're no longer talking about the issue of inequality, we're talking about ourselves. When our reality as good and moral people feels threatened, up go the defenses and we stop listening. That "track-switching" process right there is actually a continuation and reinforcement of our privilege-whites get to walk away from the implications of race when people of color don't have that luxury, so let's get real about that for a second.

What can a white person do?

Build tolerance by consciously moving past the good/bad reactionary thinking and learn how to manage feelings of guilt and shame without putting up defenses. Racial conversations are not about you individually, or if you are a good or bad person, racist or not racist. For white people, understanding that racial oppression is not your fault as an individual can be both revolutionary and incredibly helpful. You were born where you were born, your skin is the color that it is, and you grew up how you did, exposed to the media and a society that you had no control over, all of which led you to being exactly who you are today.

We all have biases, regardless of our race, gender, sexuality, class, or religion, many of which are unconscious. The human brain uses split second reactions to make sense of the world using only cues in appearance and behavior, and those reactions are highly socialized by cultural norms and media influences. If you don't believe us, check out the Harvard implicit associations test (IAT) to measure your own.

Society and media have contributed to inlaying some biases you didn't choose to have. Does having biases make you a bad, immoral person? No. Is it good to acknowledge and work to challenge your own biases? Absolutely. Are you "bad" because you didn't know that you had unconscious biases until now? Not at all.

In retrospect, you might realize that some of your learned behavior or speech has been pejorative, supporting a system of oppression, or exclusionary, but that's not a definitive character judgement and recognizing that could be a really valuable moment. We're building awareness here. Try to let go of the good/bad binary, and open yourself up to discussion and possibility that if you're American, you almost definitely have racial biases, and if you're white, add unearned access to privilege to that too. Still with us?

So, while it's not your fault that you were born white, and benefit from white privilege, it is your obligation and responsibility to develop awareness of the ways in which you benefit. Whites can and should acknowledge the past and present of their own racial group-the people who look like you (whether you share a hereditary bloodline or not)-and acknowledge how racism preserves today without the need to call into question your own morality. Individualism here is not to erase history or to negate the fact that white is still part of a racially socialized group. You as an individual are not outside of socialization or messages from society about race in culture. You are not outside unequal wealth distribution by race. No one is.

Resist your defenses and keep listening. There's a role in this system of oppression that you are playing, and the sooner you can tolerate that reality, the sooner you can decrease that participation. Rather than have the fragility and inability to talk about it, why not put on a new attitude and try to accept a few things about you that might not look so hot? In life, there are certain chain reactions at play that lead some people straight to the top and leave others at the bottom. The myth of meritocracy gets in the way of seeing this-we all want to hold onto our story that we're strong, smart, and deserve everything we have. Maybe a white person graduated from Princeton because she was a good student, but it also might be because they had sufficient funds to attend, access to resources to take all those SAT prep courses, and look like the people Princeton has traditionally accepted. Maybe that white person is really good at her job, but they may also have had some connections (from Princeton, perhaps?) that helped get her in the door, not to mention an anglicized surname that may have pushed their resume to the top of the interview pile. Yes, some people get scholarships, take out loans, have at it the hard way, and rise to the top despite many significant challenges, but these are the outliers. So let's let go of the myth of meritocracy, and make way for a more fully encompassing (and validating) truth-that if the former sounds like you, you had the golden ticket-a lot of help (financial and otherwise) to get to where you are today.

Become an ally. The more white people can increase their tolerance for these conversations, they immediately decrease their entitlement and open themselves to the possibility of being allies. When a white person responds to a conversation about race by taking a breath and listening instead of being defensive and trying to prove how "not racist" they are, they are seen as an ally-and allies are easy to spot! There's an understanding in the field that people of color may have a greater access to what it means to be white than white people, just as women have a greater understanding of what it means to be male than men-it's a product of living as a minority. So calm yourself and try to listen, even if only because you look foolish grabbing at straws for an explanation of something much greater than your own small behaviors.

Work to transform the system-not perpetuate it. White people perpetuate the problem by being fragile in their inability to even discuss the issue, by the denial of white privilege and the significance of race. We perpetuate it by being angry when someone "accuses" us of benefiting from racism. Transform the system by understanding how whites have and continue to benefit from it. White people have the power to transform it by accepting the psychological burden that we live in a racialized society. It's heavy, and no one wants to hold it, but maybe, just maybe, we can.

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The scientific way to train white people to stop being racist

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No one wants to be called fragile. And if you're white, what you feel reading the title of this article may be indicative of the term. "White fragility" refers to white people's low emotional tolerance for discussing topics of race and racism. The term was coined by Dr. Robin DiAngelo in a 2011 article discussing...

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Op-Ed: The term ‘people of color’ erases black people. Let’s retire it

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As a black woman, I seek out inclusive spaces because I lack them in my everyday life.

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Culturally responsive texts are not just fiction, and not just for English class. Culturally responsive non-fiction/informational texts are essential to the literacy and VABBing needs of students in content area instruction.

CLICK ON EACH BOOK TO LEARN MORE ABOUT IT AND how to vabb it

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Responsive Non-Fiction - Responsive Reads

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Culturally responsive texts are not just fiction, and not just for English class. Culturally responsive non-fiction/informational texts are essential to the literacy and VABBing needs of students in content area instruction.

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Department of Security and Correctional Science - Kenyatta University Kenya
Political violence often leads to induce chain of psychological phenomena that have direct impact on not only a person's psychological state and, functional capacity but also, interpersonal relationships, and communal relationships. Political violence aims at inflicting collective injury against certain groups thus undermines a collective wellbeing of a people. However, the support services offered to political violence victims mainly focus on individuals guided by trauma informed care with little reflection on culture as a central feature of wellbeing of people. Using the social constructivist theory this article systematically analyzes the importance of healing centred engagement approach that emphasizes on the collective approach on healing of politically instigated trauma for holistic healing. In the article it is argued that political violence is instigates trauma to individuals as well as in a community and well-being of individuals comes from participating in transforming the root causes of the harm within institutions in the community. Therefore there is need for strength based approach that not only supports individuals but also identifies communal strengths that can be used to build resources for healing from political violence. This is based on the understanding that Communities, and individuals who experience trauma are agents in restoring their own well-being, based on restoration of identity and solid sense of meaning making which are communal based. From the discussion it is proposed that healing centred engagement that is politically and culturally sensitive and focuses on assert driven strategies be embraced to replace deficit based mental health models that often drives therapeutic interventions for holistic healing. This will help to encourage reflective thoughts that provoke communal actions couched within humanistic framework that will support development of healthy communities as well as a healthy nation.
Keywords: Political Violence Psychological State, Culture Collective Healing, Healing Centered Engagement

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Healing Centered Engagement: A strength base approach for political instigated trauma.

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Department of Security and Correctional Science - Kenyatta University Kenya Political violence often leads to induce chain of psychological phenomena that have direct impact on not only a person's psychological state and, functional capacity but also, interpersonal relationships, and communal relationships. Political violence aims at inflicting collective injury against certain groups thus undermines a collective wellbeing of a people.

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Fighting against racism is about more than performative empathy; it's about redistributing power. Until that happens, all of this presumed progress is a big white lie.

"This shit reminds me of KONY 2012," one of my friends told me over the phone when describing the latest rise in white people protesting against racial injustice, after the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Tony McDade.

"Kony?" I asked, confused. I literally had no clue who he was talking about.

"Exactly," he said, wisely. "White people will go crazy about this for a hot second and return back to their bullshit."

"Damn."

On March 5th, 2012, a YouTube video produced by a small nonprofit called Invisible Children told the horrible story of Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony. For more than two decades, Kony eluded capture while abducting children by the thousands and using them as soldiers and sex slaves. The 30-minute video became a viral sensation and helped raise $32 million for the white-led nonprofit seeking justice. Major influencers, such as Bill Gates, Rihanna and even Oprah, used their huge platforms to spread awareness. The U.S. government even boosted military operations on the ground.

And then things got bizarre: The buzz died down, and so did the momentum. By 2017, efforts to capture or kill Kony had ceased. Today, Kony is still on the loose as white people set their sights on a new global movement to partake in - namely, the growing fight against racism.

Over the past week, there have been countless attempts by white people (and the corporations they run) to show how much of a damn they give about Black people. Uber Eats is waiving delivery fees for the rest of the year for users ordering from Black-owned restaurants. Wendy's is donating $500,000 to social justice causes. Warner Bros. is offering free rentals of the racial justice film Just Mercy. Elected officials and white protesters are oddly (and undesirably) taking a knee with police officers. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has apologized and admitted the league was wrong all along in not supporting athletes protesting against police brutality.

In Philadelphia, the statue of racist Frank Rizzo finally came down, and his infamous South Philly mural has vanished with it. Local Black bookstores are getting a boost as books on anti-racism are flying off the shelves nationwide. At least one white restaurant owner is going so far as to refuse to serve police officers.

All of this change is happening so quickly. Can it be true? Is racism finally getting a kick in the ass?

Don't be fooled. White people, I still don't believe you.

I've been covering racism and social justice issues for nearly a decade, first in college and now professionally. I remember when the first cycle of Black Lives Matter activism caught the attention of white sympathizers. I will never forget when white people foolishly thought wearing safety pins to telegraph their allyship was a solution after Trump was elected. I've written about all of this over the years for this publication and several others. So understand that my pessimism isn't without deep insight.

The reason all of those previous efforts failed - and that these current ones still feel vapid - is that they don't address the roots of racism: power and privilege.

This week, I've received more glowing reviews and social media follows from white people than I've had in my entire career. I've gained more than 2,000 new followers (and counting) on Twitter and have hundreds of new ones on Instagram. Dozens of them, while well-intentioned, are bombarding me with questions on how they can combat racism, what books to read, and when the next protest will be. I've had to set my phone to do-not-disturb to offset the rapid-fire notifications from white people hitting me up at all hours of the night to emotionally dump their white guilt on me, virtue-signal, over-compliment my writing, or ask me for advice.

Here's a brief overview of the kinds of messages I'm receiving:

"Did you see this [insert very racist thing]? I can't believe people are so cruel."

"Hey, I read your piece. Well done. I was wondering if you could [recommend an anti-racism book, suggest a legitimate protest to attend, and/or fact-check something for them that they can all Google themselves]."

"So, I hope I'm not bothering you [yes, you fucking are], but this racist thing just happened today and I want to know if I could pick your brain on what I should do."

"Hey, how's it going? I just wanted to check in on you and hope you're doing okay" [says white person I haven't spoken to in years].

Translation: White people, I have a life that cannot stop to cater to yours right now.

Use Google, read my extensive previous work on anti-racism, watch Netflix documentaries, take anti-oppression training, or pay for a Black consultant to guide you. But do the work on your own instead of asking Black people to do it for you for free.

Demanding anything more like this from Black people (for free) is called slavery. Eject those plantation politics from your skull immediately.

Dismantling racism is about more than just declaring how very much you are against it; it requires that you actively redistribute the power you have as white people in your daily lives. If you are not invested in decentralizing whiteness in positions of privilege and dominance, then you are not helping. Racism is white supremacy, and unless you're working to eliminate the white power structures in your workplace, government, education, health care, entertainment, nonprofit, tech and corporate structures, you aren't doing anything.

Apologizing isn't enough.

Suddenly checking in isn't enough.

Giving money isn't enough.

Saying Black Lives Matter isn't enough.

Kneeling in tone-deafness with cops damn sure isn't enough, or even good.

But: Relinquishing power and reducing the space you take up in society as white people is good.

Restoring such power to the rightful and worthy hands of Black and brown people is even better. This will require white people to lean into discomfort and reflect on making personal sacrifices. This is what combating racism actually looks like.

There have only been two examples so far that I believe exemplify how society should move forward. Last Wednesday, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that he is slashing up to $150 million from the city's police department and putting it back into Black communities. Actively defunding the police - who have a long history of afflicting Black people - and investing those funds back into the marginalized spaces is what all mayors in America should be doing ( especially you, Jim Kenney). On Friday, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian resigned from the company's board and requested that a Black candidate fill his now-vacant seat. He has also committed to donating to Black causes future monies that he earns from his stock in the company.

Now that's the kind of energy needed to seriously address the level of systemic and racial inequality that's plagued this country for centuries. Anything less is just white noise.

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Fighting against racism is about more than performative empathy; it's about redistributing power. Until that happens, all of this presumed progress is a big white lie. "This shit reminds me of KONY 2012," one of my friends told me over the phone when describing the latest rise in white people protesting against racial injustice, after the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Tony McDade.

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10 Criteria for Choosing Diverse Texts for Your Classroom - Writing Mindset

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Can you hear me clapping? Can you hear me screaming in happiness?

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As educators, it's our responsibility to ensure that every student has access to engaging, relevant texts.

However, with today's changing student demographics, finding culturally appropriate texts can be a real challenge-especially when it comes to meeting the unique needs of English Learner (EL) students. In addition to coming from a variety of cultural and linguistic backgrounds, EL students are often at very different points on the pathway to English proficiency.

How can we best ensure that our school and classroom libraries offer culturally appropriate reading materials for all students, including our EL students?

What are culturally appropriate reading materials?

Geneva Gay, professor of education at the University of Washington-Seattle, uses the term culturally responsive teaching to describe the use of "cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more relevant to and more effective for them." ¹

Similarly, culturally appropriate reading materials-also referred to as culturally relevant reading materials-reflect or incorporate our students' identities, cultures, mindsets, and personal experiences.

What makes finding culturally appropriate materials particularly challenging is the fact that texts that may be culturally appropriate for one student may not be culturally appropriate for another student. Consider this anecdote from Doris Linville:
"When I came to the United States about 25 years ago, I had the opportunity to attend a college that focused on embracing different backgrounds. Funnily, most of my professors viewed me as 'Hispanic'-and that, to them, meant 'Oh! I know someone from Cuba, you should meet each other.' However, while I do speak Spanish, I was coming from Mexico. The only things I knew about Cuba was the name 'Castro' and one dish my grandma cooked once called 'tostones.' "Not all Latino/a or Hispanic students share the same background or experiences simply because they share the same mother tongue (especially when they may speak very different dialects of that language). The same can be said for a student coming from an Asian background or a Middle Eastern country: They have the experience of coming from a different part of the world, but their cultures are quite different from the stereotypes that are too often perpetuated in American media."
"Diversity" refers to more than just our students' native language or place of origin. It also encompasses religious background, race, gender, ancestry, ability, socioeconomic status, family structure, and, in some cases, even legal status. For this reason, we need to consider all our students, as well as their families, when selecting reading materials.

Why are culturally appropriate reading materials important?

We want our students to be engaged as they read and, ideally, to become lifelong readers. Providing them with culturally appropriate reading materials is a powerful way to engage and motivate student readers-and can also contribute to overall reading growth and achievement.

In fact, the research is clear: Students who read culturally relevant books read better and read more. This is likely the result of several factors:

Engagement and motivation. English Learner students, much like their non-EL peers, take comfort in the familiar. When we provide content that is both authentic and engaging, learners of diverse backgrounds can see their culture, experiences, and identities represented and respected. They can also take pride in seeing their heritage and culture taught in the classroom. This feeling then develops EL students' self-esteem and self-efficacy, while encouraging all students to have greater understanding of and respect for the unique experiences and contributions of different cultures.

Vocabulary coverage. Unlike their non-EL peers, who grew up listening to English vocabulary long before they could put those words to paper, EL students often face a double challenge when reading in English. Not only do they have to learn English phonics in order to decode the words on the page, but they also have to learn the meaning of each word-and, in some cases, the meaning itself may be foreign to them. Consider the words gumdrop and lox, which are both fully decodable but may have no meaning to a child who has never encountered these Western foods before.

"Just how much unknown stuff can a text have in it before a reader will declare mental overload! and call it quits?" asks cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham. ² The answer is surprisingly little. While estimates vary, the consensus is that we must already know 95% or more of the words in a text before we will be able to read and comprehend it. As Willingham concludes, "We have pretty low tolerance for reading unknown words."

Culturally relevant texts help ease this burden because they often feature vocabulary terms whose meanings are already familiar to EL students. For an EL student from northern China, vocabulary like gumdrop and lox may be unfamiliar, but foods such as baozi and zhaliang may need little to no explanation.

Background knowledge. Much like vocabulary, texts that discuss familiar topics are easier to understand than texts that discuss unfamiliar ones. When students read about an unfamiliar scenario, they may have to work hard simply to understand what is going on-and they may miss key details or information. Conversely, when students read about a familiar topic or situation, they may not just have an easier time understanding the text-they may be able to connect it back to previous knowledge, enriching their overall understanding of the subject.

Doug Lemov and his colleagues explain it this way: "In reading, the more you know, the more you learn. Educators often refer to this as the Matthew Effect, in reference to the biblical line about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. In reading, [this] means that when you know a little about a topic going in, the text adds more knowledge and detail to your framework-easily and naturally deepening your understanding and building connections to existing knowledge while still leaving you [with] enough processing capacity to be able to reflect on the nature of the ideas in the text." ³

Comprehension and reading achievement. Both vocabulary and background knowledge contribute to a student's literal comprehension. While literal comprehension is not the end goal of reading instruction and reading practice, high literal comprehension is the foundation students need in order to build higher-order thinking skills. In contrast, low literal comprehension indicates that a student may be struggling with more fundamental skills-such as decoding, vocabulary, or background knowledge-and deeper comprehension cannot take place.

Research has shown that students who read with higher literal comprehension also achieve greater literacy gains. Since culturally relevant texts can facilitate EL students' literal comprehension, they may also help boost EL students' overall reading achievement.

How to choose culturally appropriate reading materials

Creating a collection of culturally relevant texts requires a clear strategy for analyzing available materials and identifying those that are the best fit for your students. As Doris's anecdote illustrated, not all Spanish-language books will be relevant to every Spanish-speaking student, just as not all books about Chinese New Year will be appropriate for students coming from an Asian country.

Educators are increasingly using rubrics to identify books that will enrich their collections. Whether you choose to use a rubric or another process to evaluate reading material for cultural appropriateness, we suggest you consider the following factors:

1. Copyright date: How recently was the text written? Is it an older text that might contain inaccurate portrayals of other cultures? Could the story take place in the present? Will students see their current reality reflected in the text?

2. Author's background: Does the author have first-hand experience of the topic, or are they an expert in the field? Are there details about the author's life that will be relevant to students' understanding of and interest in the text?

3. Stereotypes: Does the text accurately reflect the experiences of students and their family members-or of someone they might know from a different culture? Does it feature complex, multi-faceted characters or simple, one-dimensional characters?

4. Overall message: Does the text promote diversity, tolerance, or acceptance? Does the story reflect and/or respect students' personal or cultural values? What are the narrative's key take-aways?

5. Invisibility: Is the text missing key viewpoints or entire groups of people? What students do not see in a text can send a message about who matters and who does not.

6. Language: Does the text use a positive tone? A condescending tone? If specialized vocabulary terms appear, does the text provide enough context for students to be able to determine the words' meaning?

Another factor to consider is the format of the reading materials. Schools are increasingly incorporating digital texts alongside their print collections. In an important sense, digital texts can help us "even the playing field" for EL students.

With a digital reading platform, you can not only provide students with material that's culturally relevant, but you can also guide students to material at the right reading level in English-not too difficult to cause frustration, but also not too easy to induce boredom. Many digital libraries even include interactive tools, such as built-in dictionaries and audio, to further support language acquisition for EL students. Plus, digital platforms can provide anytime, anywhere, any-device access to texts, providing enormous libraries that EL students can access at home as well as at school.

The growing need for culturally appropriate reading materials

It's no surprise that today's K-12 classrooms are more diverse than ever. The number of emerging bilingual children rose to roughly 12 million in 2016, an increase of 1.2 million over the prior 10 years. Roughly one in five school-age children do not speak English at home, and the number of children who speak one language at home and another in school is growing.

As culturally responsive educators working with these diverse learners, it's critical for us to incorporate aspects of their cultures and backgrounds into the curriculum through lessons and texts related to geography, literature, world cultures, the arts, and other content areas. This is especially true for our EL students: As they move toward mastery of the English language, they need the strong support of relevant texts and effective teachers to keep up their forward momentum.

The mix of cultures and life experiences that makes each of us unique clearly needs to be reflected in our students' reading materials. Engaging students in rich, diverse reading experiences is absolutely critical to their success, not only in school but as global citizens in our 21st-century society.
Looking for more strategies to engage your EL students in literacy? Download your free checklist today.
References

¹ Gay, G. (2010). Culturally responsive teaching (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
² Willingham, D. (2017). The reading mind: A cognitive approach to understanding how the mind reads. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
³ Lemov, D., Hernandez, J., & Kim, J. (2016). Teach like a champion 2.0 field guide: A practical resource to make the 62 techniques your own. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

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How to find culturally appropriate reading materials for English Learners | Renaissance

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As educators, it's our responsibility to ensure that every student has access to engaging, relevant texts. However, with today's changing student demographics, finding culturally appropriate texts can be a real challenge-especially when it comes to meeting the unique needs of English Learner (EL) students.

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The award is named after Pura Belpré, the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. The Pura Belpré Award, established in 1996, is presented annually to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth. It is co-sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), and REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking, an ALA affiliate.

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The award is named after Pura Belpré, the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. The Pura Belpré Award, established in 1996, is presented annually to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.