Reading and Talking About Racism at Home and in the Classroom

Reading and Talking About Racism at Home and in the Classroom

Videos

Jason Reynolds

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Jason Reynolds is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many books, including When I Was the Greatest, Boy in the Black Suit, All American Boys (cowritten with Brendan Kiely), As Brave as You, For Every One, the Track series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and Lu), Long Way Down, and Look Both Ways. He is a two-time National Book Award finalist; the recipient of a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, and multiple Coretta Scott King Honors; and the winner of a Kirkus Prize, two Walter Dean Myers Awards, and an NAACP Image Award, among other honors. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Ibram X. Kendi is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities, and the Founding Director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research. He is an Ideas Columnist at The Atlantic, and a correspondent with CBS News. He is the author of many books including Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction, and three #1 New York Times bestsellers: How to Be an Antiracist; Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, co-authored with Jason Reynolds; and Antiracist Baby, illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky.

Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul is an educator, author, and the co-founder of the Institute for Racial Equity in Literacy. She is the Director of Diversity and Equity at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University. As a former middle school English teacher, Sonja developed curriculum that centered the work of racial literacy in K-12 schools. She leads presentations at educational conferences and works with educators around the world providing professional development on antiracist reading and writing instruction. 

Rachelle Baker is a multi-disciplinary artist from Detroit, Michigan. She is the artist behind many the covers of New York Times and Indie bestsellers including Grown and Furia, as well as the illustrator of Shirley Chisolm is a Verb by Veronica Chambers (Dial/PRH) and Making Our Way Home: The Great Migration and the Black American Dream by Blair Imani (Ten Speed Press/PRH). Her work has been featured in the New York Times, New York Magazine, Netflix, and Entertainment Weekly, among others.

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Ibram X. Kendi

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Ibram X. Kendi is a #1 New York Times-bestselling author, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University, and the founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. He is an Ideas Columnist at the Atlantic and a correspondent with CBS News. He is the author of five books, including Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction; the New York Times bestsellers How to Be an Antiracist and Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, coauthored with Jason Reynolds; and Antiracist Baby.

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Jewell Parker Rhodes

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Dr. Jewell Parker Rhodes is the New York Times bestselling author of several books for youth, including Ghost Boys; Black Brother, Black Brother; Paradise on Fire; and Treasure Island: Runaway Gold. She is the recipient of many distinguished awards and honors, including the Coretta Scott King Author Honor, the Green Earth Book Award, an NAACP Image Award nomination, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, and the Octavia E. Butler Award. Rhodes is the Founding Artistic Director of the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing and Virginia G. Piper Endowed Chair at Arizona State University. She invites you to connect with her at jewellparkerrhodes.com.
 
Kelly McWilliams is the mixed-race writer of the young adult books Agnes at the End of the World, Mirror Girls, and Your Plantation Prom Is Not Okay. She’s written for Time, Publishers Weekly, and Bustle among other outlets. Mirror Girls, about biracial twin sisters growing up under Jim Crow, was a Target Book Club Pick and Barnes & Noble monthly pick, and her debut novel was a finalist for the Golden Kite award. She lives in Seattle with her family. Find her at KellyMcWilliamsAuthor.com. 

Briana Mukodiri Uchendu is an illustrator, a visual development artist, and a first-generation Nigerian American. Her work is inspired by her interests in folklore, film, and animation and her passion to highlight voices that usually go unheard. Briana is a graduate of Ringling College of Art and Design, where she majored in illustration. She is the illustrator of The Talk, A Coretta Scott King author honor book. She currently lives in her hometown of Houston, Texas. You can connect with her at mukoart.com

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Andrea Davis Pinkney

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Andrea Davis Pinkney is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of nearly 50 books for young readers, among them The Red Pencil and A Poem for Peter, as well as several collaborations with her husband Brian Pinkney, including Sit – In and Hand in Hand, which received the Coretta Scott King Book Award.

Brian Pinkney has illustrated numerous books for children, including two Caldecott Honor books, and he has written and illustrated several of his own books. Brian has received the Coretta Scott King Book Award for Illustration and three Coretta Scott King Book Award Honor medals.

The Pinkneys have been named among the "25 Most Influential People in Our Children's Lives" by Children's Health magazine. They live in Brooklyn, New York.

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Vashti Harrison

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Vashti Harrison is the New York Times bestselling creator of Big, which was awarded the 2024 Caldecott Medal, a Coretta Scott King Book Award Author Honor, and a Coretta Scott King Book Award Illustrator Honor, in addition to being a National Book Award finalist. Vashti is also the #1 New York Times bestselling creator of Little LeadersLittle Dreamers, and Little Legends, and the illustrator of Lupita Nyong’o’s Sulwe (for which she received a Coretta Scott King Book Award Illustrator Honor), Matthew A. Cherry’s Hair Love, Andrea Beaty's I Love You Like Yellow, and Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic’s Hello, Star, among others. A two-time recipient of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work for Children, Vashti lives in Brooklyn, New York, and invites you to visit her online @vashtiharrison or at vashtiharrison.com.

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Jay Coles

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Jay Coles is the author of Tyler Johnson Was Here and a graduate of Vincennes University and Ball State University. When he’s not writing diverse books, he’s advocating for them, teaching middle school students, and composing for various music publishers. He resides in Indianapolis, Indiana.

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Brandy Colbert

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Brandy Colbert is the critically acclaimed author of the novels Pointe, Finding Yvonne, The Revolution of Birdie Randolph, and Stonewall Award winner Little & Lion. Born and raised in Springfield, Missouri, she now lives and writes in Los Angeles.

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Sherri Winston

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Sherri Winston is the author of President of the Whole Fifth GradePresident of the Whole Sixth GradePresident of the Whole Sixth Grade: Girl CodeThe Sweetest SoundJada Sly, Artist & SpyThe Kayla Chronicles; and Lotus Bloom and the Afro Revolution. She lives with her family in Florida.

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Zetta Elliott

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Zetta Elliott is an award-winning author of forty books for young readers. Her first young adult poetry collection, Say Her Name, was nominated for the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award. Her picture book, A Place Inside of Me: a Poem to Heal the Heart, was a Caldecott Honoree and named a 2021 Notable Poetry Book by the National Council of Teachers of English. Her poetry has been published in We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices; New Daughters of Africa and The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South. She lives in Chicago, IL. Her website is zettaelliott.com.


David Anthony Geary is a transdisciplinary artist working in a variety of mediums, for the last 25 years incorporating painting, printmaking, collage, assemblage, sculpture, and photography into his practice. His artistic training took place in New Orleans, LA at Xavier University. David's work has been featured several times in Starbucks store designs nationally, including the flagship Reserve Roastery. His Great Migration series is on permanent exhibition at the University of Chicago. He has also designed historical city landmarks in Chicago, such as the Ida B. Wells Memorial Marker and the Great Migration Suspension Bridge Marker. This is David's debut picture book. For more information visit: http://www.davidanthonyart.com.
 

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Walter Mosley

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WALTER MOSLEY is one of America’s most celebrated writers. He was given the 2020 National Book Award’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, named a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America and honored with the Anisfield-Wolf Award, a Grammy, a PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award, the Robert Kirsch Award, numerous Edgars and several NAACP Image Awards. His work is translated into 25 languages.  He has published fiction and nonfiction in The New Yorker, Playboy, and The Nation. As an executive producer, he adapted his novel, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, for AppleTV+ and serves as a writer and executive producer for FX’s “Snowfall.”

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Karyn Parsons

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Karyn Parsons is best known for her role as Will Smith's cousin Hilary Banks on NBC's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. After leaving acting behind, Karyn has gone on to found and produce Sweet Blackberry, an award-winning series of children's animated films, to share stories about unsung Black heroes in history, featuring narration from stars such as Alfre Woodard, Queen Latifah, and Chris Rock. The videos have been screened on HBO and Netflix, and enjoyed by schools and libraries across the country. She is the author of Flying Free: How Bessie Coleman's Dreams Took FlightHow High the Moon, and Saving the Day. Karyn lives with her family in Providence, Rhode Island.

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Bryan Collier

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Bryan Collier has illustrated more than twenty-five picture books, including the award-winning Trombone Shorty, Dave the Potter, and Knock Knock: My Father’s Dream for Me, as well as City Shapes, and Fifty Cents and a Dream, and has received four Caldecott Honors and six Coretta Scott King Awards.  He lives with his wife and children in Marlboro, New York.

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Oge Mora

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Oge Mora graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in illustration. When not painting in her studio, Oge is in the kitchen cooking her late grandmother’s recipes. Her first picture book, Thank You, Omu!, was a Caldecott Honor, a Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent illustrator award, an Ezra Jack Keats illustrator award, a New York Times Notable Book and Editors’ Choice, and a Junior Library Guild selection. Her newest picture book is called Saturday. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island, and invites you to visit her website at http://www.ogemora.com.

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Sharee Miller

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Sharee Miller is the author and illustrator of Princess HairDon't Touch My Hair!, and Michelle's Garden, all published by LBYR. She is also the illustrator of The Shai and Emmie series written by Quvenzhané Wallis and Nancy Ohlin and Sam's Super Seats,by Keah Brown. She lives in Jersey City with her spouse, son, and two cats, Pumpkin and Spice! 

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Bell Hooks

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bell hooks is a world-renowned cultural critic, feminist theorist, and distinguished author and professor of English at Berea College. She has written several acclaimed children's books including Be Boy Buzz, Skin Again, and Happy to Be Nappy, all illustrated by Chris Raschka.
 
Chris Raschka is the Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator of The Hello, Goodbye Window and A Ball for Daisy. He also received a Caldecott Honor for Yo! Yes? and has written and illustrated numerous books for children, including several titles by bell hooks: Happy to Be Nappy, Skin Again, and Be Boy Buzz. A 2012 nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award, he lives in New York City.

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Ronni Davis

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Ronni Davis lives in Chicago, where she copyedits everything from TV commercials to billboards by day, and writes contemporary teen novels about brown girls falling in love by night. She is the author of When the Stars Lead to You. You can visit her at ronnidavis.com, and follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @lilrongal.

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