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We’re all in this together

Over the month of February, the CCBC Listserv has had a very involved conversation around diverse children’s and young adult literature and, among other things, how to support what’s out there, how to understand the nuances involved in artistic creation, and how to encourage more authors and illustrators to create/publishers to produce.

The lovely Sarah Hamburg—we don’t know her personally but can only assume the loveliness because of her thoughtful and truly lovely suggestion—put to the group to think about ways in which we can not only continue to keep this conversation going, but moving forward through action and activism. She asked the listserv contributors to put on their thinking caps and come up with ways in which to 1) put their words into actionable goals as well as to 2) think of other organizations and people involved with increasing the representation in kid lit that are already moving the needle with their presence and behavior. Well, that’s at least what the responses were about to her question:

What does/would activism on these issues look like to you?

Below is the living/breathing document that Sarah put together on the CCBC Listserv for all to comment on and add their thoughts to. It has truly already started much conversation as this document lives on many blogs with thoughts being contributed across the web. Below are just a sampling of the ones we’ve seen so far:

Elizabeth Bluemle’s PW Shelftalker Column—“Money, Meet Mouth”

Edi Campbell’s Sunday Morning Reads Post

Uma Krishnaswami’s Blog Post—“From a Joint Discussion, Belonging to Everyone: Diversity in Children’s and YA Literature”

Lyn Miller-Lachmann’s Blog Post—“It’s All Good! How You Can Create Diversity in Publishing”

American Indians in Children’s Literature—“CCBC-Net Action Items”

Thaddeus Andracki’s Blog—“Taking Action to Make Children’s Literature Better for People of Color”

Be sure to check out the comments under each listing and feel free to place comments here as well as we all work towards a more inclusive children’s book industry.

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I don’t know if I’m at all the right person to do this (in fact I’m sure I’m not), but as the conversation winds down I hope it’s okay to draw together the responses to the question about activism, and add some other possible thoughts/questions as well. Please step in if I’ve left anything out/ not hit the mark, or to take over!

Many of the ideas focused on personal activism:

  • Actively buying books representing a diverse range of voices
  • Committing to ongoing challenges (Crystal Brunelle mentioned The Birthday Book Challenge, Diversity on the Shelf Challenge, and Latino/as in Kids’ Lit. Challenge)
  • Recommending and promoting diverse books to others when and wherever possible
  • Asking for them at bookstores, schools and libraries; using social media in those efforts and to draw attention to issues of representation
  • Writing reviews on Amazon, B&N and Goodreads
  • Stepping out of personal comfort zones to make connections and advocate on these issues

For writers and illustrators, people also suggested personal activism would include:

  • Stepping out of artistic comfort zones
  • Consciously considering questions of representation, audience and perspective in one’s work (including whether the perspectives and voices of people of color tend to be explored/presented in a heavy context)
  • Soliciting and listening to feedback from members of the communities one is writing about when going outside one’s own culture
  • Considering questions of cultural bias and representation while conducting research and evaluating sources

The same considerations hold true for those publishing, buying and using books with children, promoting books to parents and teachers, creating library and bookstore displays… etc. including whether those books receive the same quality and quantity of promotion, and whether they are somehow held apart from other books.

Many came back to the importance of smaller presses in making space for new voices.

  • Cinco Puntos Press
  • RoadRunner Press
  • Lee & Low Books
  • **Post others you know of in the comments!**

Lyn Miller-Lachmann talked about visiting smaller presses at conventions to order books and create buzz. Jason Low talked about “liking” Lee & Low on Facebook and using social media to promote them and their titles, and purchasing their books through independent bookstores. Are there other ways people can actively support small presses, or that smaller children’s publishers can perhaps share resources to further cross-promote with one another? (Some consortium, such as an umbrella website?)

People also mentioned the importance of writers’ events and conferences:

Is there a way to facilitate more outreach to events such as these, and also encourage more inclusion/ promotion of writing for children at those events?

Along with such conferences, people talked about the possibility for individual outreach to writers/ artists who are working in other areas, but who seem like they might be suited to the children’s book field (like Debbie Reese introducing Eric Gansworth to Cheryl Klein.)

It’s exciting to see new businesses forming, like:

Are there other ways people could help promote them?

People have also started an amazing array of blogs, websites and tumblrs that focus on aspects of diversity in children’s books. These include:

In addition, people asked that “diversity” be an inclusive idea, and not limited to one group or set of groups.

Along with these existing or already mentioned avenues for activism, I had a few other possible ideas based on issues people have raised. Some may well already exist in some form, and if so please excuse my ignorance! I also don’t know if some may feel segregating rather than inclusive, or otherwise problematic— but here they are:

(All initiatives mentioned below would include leadership in design and implementation by people from the communities in question. Elsa and others, I didn’t feel like the right person to know where/ how to include Muslim/ Arab Americans in different contexts— so if you would like to adjust categories please do.)

  1.  School Library Journal/ Horn Book…etc. might create a regular column, written by a Native, PoC, and/or LGBT, and/or Muslim, and/or disabled contributor, which might discuss issues regarding children and books in different communities, or highlight reviews of recent books by people from those communities, or discuss collection development/ classroom use issues related to problematic books, or be published in a bilingual format, or simply be a space always kept open for additional voices from less-represented communities.
  2. Development of a course within the Massachusetts 5-college area, in conjunction with the Carle Museum, for Native college students/ students of color to study illustration and writing for children.
  3. Outreach to a group like 826, with centrally-organized workshops about writing/illustrating led by people in the children’s book community.
  4. A group within SCBWI for Native artists/ people of color to meet and speak about issues in the field specific to their communities, and provide resources and networking opportunities.
  5. A subsidized (with some form of community grant?) internship at one of the children’s publishing divisions or literary agencies for a person of color or Native person.
  6. Some form of organized mentorship program for aspiring authors/ illustrators.
  7. A bilingual division of something like Net Galley, featuring bilingual books, and other books by Latino/a writers and illustrators.
  8. A group made up of members of publishers’ marketing departments, convened to study marketing strategies and approaches, with leadership that includes, outreach to, and input from members of different communities.
  9. Some e-publishing/ print-on-demand initiative or business, focused on bringing back out-of-print titles by people of color.
  10. Also, something like the New York Review of Books Classics, which would bring back into print/ reissue/ highlight classic children’s books by people of color— including international titles. (Or, actively petitioning the NYRoB children’s collection to include more such titles— do they currently have *any* books by people of color on their list? I couldn’t find them.)
  11. Concerted outreach at events like Bologna to find and acquire titles by international authors of color/ indigenous authors for publication in the US.
  12. Something like the PEN New England Discovery Award (which recognizes the work of unpublished children’s writers, and provides an opportunity to have that work read by an editor at a publishing house) that would be national, and would recognize work by unpublished Native/PoC writers. It could include a specific category for nonfiction.
  13. Inclusion of Toni Morrison’s book Playing in the Dark (and Zeta Elliott’s article “Decolonizing the Imagination”) on the reading list at MFA Programs focused on writing for children, with a curriculum that includes more lectures/ discussions about race, writing and the imagination— not just in the context of discussion about writing outside one’s own culture.
  14. Focused outreach as part of recruitment initiatives for MFA in writing for children programs (perhaps writers’ conferences like those listed above would be one good place?) and promotion of existing opportunities like the Angela Johnson Scholarship.
  15. A centralized resource for parents/ teachers that would look at still-read classics and more contemporary books, and examine different responses/ perspectives on those books related to representation. This might include strategies and perspectives on classroom use. (A sort of “critical engagement” resource, with different perspectives- like that of Debbie Reese’s American Indians in Children’s Literature.)
  16. More inclusion of issues related to representation/ cultural bias in reviews of current nonfiction and fiction titles.
  17. Some central website to publish/ promote lists of recommended titles (such as the Top 100 Books by Indigenous Writers, Recommended Books regarding the Middle East, Lee & Low’s Pinterest pages, and the many other lists of recommended books shared here…) There might also be the possibility of compiling and promoting new lists, based on the needs and interests of those who work with children. Maybe individual titles from the lists could be highlighted on a rotating basis as well.
  18. Lobbying and activism on related issues, such as funding for public schools and libraries, and support of those institutions (as well as businesses like independent bookstores) on the local level.
  19. As Malinda Lo asked for, greater inclusion of PoC/ Native/ LGBT/ Muslim/ disability community voices at the head of these discussions.
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