We Are Here Lit! Have two books to feed your Soul, Identity & Heritage!
The People Remember by Ibi Zoboi and Illustrated by Loveis Wise, create a bridge for young people to understand the connection between us, our heritage, and Kwanzaa, beautifully. Your Legacy: A Bold Reclaiming of Our Enslaved History by Schele Williams reframes our history by claiming 'while our ancestors’ freedom was taken from them, their spirit was not'. This book shares our determination and brilliance IN SPITE our circumstances. Purchase the titles from your local or online Black bookstore or pick them as from your local library and share a read-aloud with a young person with these insightful, empowering titles. Links to your local library and bookstore are located in the bio! Theo, the main character of The Wishing Tree by author Meika Hashimoto and illustrator Xindi Yan, wishes his town could see and experience the magic of Christmas.
A magical pine tree helps him show how special Christmas can be. 🌲 This heartwarming story about the beauty of togetherness also provides holiday cards for readers to make a special wish on their own wishing 🎄. What do you wish for this holiday season? One of the best-uncovered historical events we’ve come across is the intriguing life of Yasuke, the Black Samurai. Jesuit historical resources mention Yasuke. Today we want to share two books giving context to an African in Japan during the 16th century.
Book titles: Turner, Jamal, and Lista, César R., illustrator. Yasuke : the Legend of the African Samurai. United States]: Griotscape Press, 2020. Print. The age range for this graphic novel is from about 3rd through 6th grade Imhotep. The Black Samurai : the Story of Yasuke. Place of publication not identified]: Mr. Imhotep, 2021. Print. This title is an upper elementary through high school level book. Use the following book to compare with the Netflix series to learn more about this historical figure. Check out the following books at your local library or independent Black bookstores, links to both in the bio. The following titles in this post build student identity, engagement, and literacy practice in classrooms.
How can these ideas be transferred to libraries and community literacy programs? Both books by Prof. Muhammad and Educator Escoto Germán provide methods literacy advocates and librarians can use to connect young people's cultural identities to history and center children's voices in the literacy and learning process. Librarians can also use these titles to enhance outreach and relationship building with diverse patrons. Both books can provide strategies to ground diverse programming and collection building. What were some of the things you've picked up and used from these books in your practice. Titles: Muhammad, Gholdy, Love, Bettina L., writer of foreword, and Scholastic Inc., publisher. Cultivating Genius : an Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc., 2020. Print. Germán, Lorena Escoto, and Paris, Django, writer of foreword. Textured Teaching : a Framework for Culturally Sustaining Practices. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2021. Print. Authors JR Ford and Vanessa Ford and beautiful Illustrations by Kayla Harren, present the story of a child who has always been a boy, but the world saw him as a girl. Calvin’s supportive family helps him as he anxiously gets ready for the first day of school as himself.
The authors of this story are nationally-known advocates LGBTQIA+ rights for transgender youth and parents of a transgender child. Black transgender and gender non-conforming people face some of the highest levels of discrimination of all transgender people according to a new analysis released in the research report called Injustice at Every Turn: A Look at Black Respondents in the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. In Black Lives Matter, there is no hierarchy. Race and gender equality go hand in hand for Black LGBTQIA+ people. This post also has picture books providing information about gender identity and pronouns from the brilliant Author and Illustrator Maya Gonzalez. It is important to acknowledge all existence and ALL of our humanity within the Black community. Stephen Costanza’s book King of Ragtime: The Story of Scott Joplin shares the stunningly illustrated story of the King of Ragtime.
This biography shares Joplin’s life as you learn about his musical beginnings, mis mother supporting his craft, studying music in college, and publishing his first song ‘Maple Leaf Rag.’ An American composer and pianist, Scott Joplin laid the groundwork for Jazz, another American music form created and grounded in African-American culture. This is a great resource for music teachers, teaching history, art and culture. It is also awesome for art teachers as an example of gouache & collage artwork. Check out this book from your local library or purchase it from your local Black bookstore, links in the bio If you’ve used this title in instruction or library storytime, share your strategies and thoughts. We’d love to hear other ways to use this beautiful book This book has dense text giving detailed information about Scott’s life. "How do we think about high-quality instruction and high-quality text to shape positive life outcome trajectories?"
-Prof. Alfred Tatum The new publication, Teaching Black Boys in Elementary Grades: Advanced Disciplinary Reading and Writing to Secure Their Futures, is available from Dr. Alfred W. Tatum. At a critical stage in literacy development, Tatum's book details the expectations and rigorous practices across disciplines to reinvigorate the alignment of intellectual tradition with young Black males. The book also includes a multidimensional model of reading and writing, student writing samples, multidisciplinary lesson plans, and more. |
AuthorSWE ARE HERE will provide you book reviews, discussions, news, and programming about literature and literacy by and about Black males. This site will also feature vlog conversations on topics related to the promoting literacy and voice for Black boys and young men. Archives
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