Add to the Canon

“Intelligence plus character. That is the goal of true education.” -MLK

We need to expand the canon in our understanding and knowledge of Black lives. Below is a selection of books that go beyond Martin and Rosa. These texts should not be isolated to a day and the month of February alone. 

Kids need to see themselves AND people who don’t look like themselves in the media of your home. It’s important to share both the history AND the everyday lives of people who look different than you.

Previous research has shown that...
3-month-old babies may look differently at people who look like or don’t look like their primary caregivers.
9-month-olds use race to categorize faces
3-year-old children in the U.S. associate some racial groups with negative traits.
By age 4, children in the U.S. associate whites with wealth and higher status, and race-based discrimination is already widespread when children start elementary school. 

“Toddlers can’t do calculus, but that doesn’t mean we don’t teach them to count. You can have a conversation with a toddler about race that is meaningful to them on their level. Children are capable of thinking about all sorts of complex topics at a very young age. Even if adults don't talk to kids about race, children will work to make sense of their world and will come up with their own ideas, which may be inaccurate or detrimental.”

Things that are harmful:
*Silence *”Skin color doesn’t matter” *”I don’t see in color” *”We’re all the same on the inside” *”It’s not polite to talk about that” *The “American Dream” and that anybody can achieve anything they want through hard work

Things that are beneficial:

*Honesty *Aware of your own biases *Reflect to identify where people who are different than you are apart of your daily life and next steps*Not knowing all of the answers, but keeping the conversation going ❤️

“Adults Delay Conversations About Race Because They Underestimate Children’s Processing of Race,” by Jessica Sullivan, PhD; Leigh Wilton, PhD, Skidmore College; and Evan P. Apfelbaum, PhD, Boston University, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, published online Aug. 6, 2020