Let’s Talk About Race
By Ali Teague
On May 25th, a Minneapolis man named George Floyd was killed while in police custody under the suspicion that he used a counterfeit bill. Shortly after, protests erupted across Minneapolis as part of the Black Lives Matter movement, which have now inspired protests in over 75 US cities and other countries around the world, including our own valley. There was a peaceful protest in Vail on June 3rd where close to 500 people marched in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
These events have sparked conversations about race across all social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Now these conversations are happening in our homes. Why are all those people protesting? What does “Black Lives Matter” mean? How can I be a better friend to my black friends? These are big, important, and often difficult questions to answer, whether you are asking them yourself or a child in your life is asking them of you. A quick google search looking for the answers brings back an overwhelming number of books, articles, tweets, speeches, and YouTube videos.
Large organizations like the American Library Association (ALA) and the American Booksellers Association (ABA) have put out statements in the previous weeks condemning racism and violence against all people of color, and standing in solidarity with people of color in their communities.
Like the ALA and the ABA, The Literacy Project believes in the power of representation and amplifying melanated voices. We believe in not only the power of education, but also the right of access to educational materials. We value the diversity of our valley and the community members we serve through the literacy programs that we provide. We believe that black lives matter.
As literacy-based organizations The Literacy Project, the Bookworm of Edwards, the Eagle Valley Library District, and the Vail Public Library have teamed up to curate book recommendations for children, teenagers, and adults.
These curated book lists include non-fiction books that cover black history, important black figures, and activism, as well as #ownvoices titles (books written about diverse characters by authors from that same diverse group) that illustrate the black experience. Alongside linking these lists to The Literacy Project website, we will be periodically posting a “Book of the Day” highlighting one of the books from these lists on our social media accounts (Instagram and Facebook).
We hope that the books on these lists, as well as additional resources (linked below), will help build empathy in adults, teens, and children alike, while also supporting compassionate and informed conversations about race. We all have a duty to seek out answers to the big questions in order to make the world a safe place for everyone, no matter the color of their skin.
Book Lists:
Children’s Books (0-12 years old)
Young Adult Books (12+ years old)
Other Resources:
ALA recorded webinars and other resources used to talk about race
Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) defines microaggressions and implicit bias
A month-long guide created by activists Breanna Wallace and Autumn Gupta on how to be a better ally
Left Bank Books bookstore shares some anti-racist resources via Facebook
Loyalty bookstore hosts an anti-racist book club
News anchor Chris Thomas from ABC10 talks about the harmful nature of the phrase All Lives Matter (content warning: includes some footage of George Floyd's death)
Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) archived articles that cover a wide range of topics including current events, history, and author profiles
Research on racial inequality by the Urban Institute
Instagram accounts from Antiracist activists like Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, Rachel Cargle, Layla Saad, Rachel Ricketts, and the Antiracist Research and Policy Center