Black Lives Matter -let's get reading by Juliet Clare Bell

Black Lives Matter

Montecruz Foto/Flickr. Taken from The Princetonian article Black Lives Matter: it must be said

We must do more than just rage about the brutal murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Corey Jones, Oscar Grant, Botham Jean, Sandra Bland, Jordan Davis, Michael Brown, John Crawford, Freddie Gray, Alton Sterling, Terrence Crutcher, Aiyana Jones, Philando Castile, Walter Scott, Sean Bell, Tamir Rice, Renisha McBride, Amadou Diallo, Stephon Clark, Jordan Edwards, Jonathan Ferrell, Atatiana Jefferson, Keith Scott, Trayvon Martin.

For any white people (including writers) who would also like to be the best ally they can be to black people, there are some extremely good posts on how to get better educated. Please read their articles if they apply to you.

Here’s a blogpost by Courtney Ariel who talks about what white people need to be doing, and not doing, in order to be a proper ally: 

For Our White Friends Desiring to Be Allies

Here’s a list of 31 picture books for young readers up to the end of primary school to support conversations about race, racism and resistance. It was curated by critical literacy organisations, The Conscious Kid, an education, research and policy organisation dedicated to reducing bias and promoting positive identity development in youth, and American Indians in Children's Literature:

(c) Malcolm Little by Ilysah Shabazz (Malcolm X's daughter) and A G Ford (2014), one of the recommended books

31 picture books for young readers to support conversations about race, racism and resistance.

And another list by Jacqueline Woodson:

Jacqueline Woodson's recommended books for children (including picture books)

And here's Brea Baker’s blog with her anti-racist adult reading list:

The anti-racist reading list -because allyship can't be proven with a few social media posts

And here's Tatiana Mac's reading list.

And finally, here's a link to support diverse publishing in the UK, which is in crisis:

CRISIS FUNDING FOR INCLUSIVE PUBLISHERS 

As Courtney Ariel says:

“You’re going to make mistakes –expect this. But keep showing up”.

We must keep showing up -and (as someone who talks a lot) do less talking and really listen.

If you have any other links to posts with links to book recommendations for children, please leave them in the comments section below.
Thank you.