I’ve been struggling with what to post lately, so I’ve just been sort of frozen with indecision. Posting randomness as if nothing horrible is happening in our world feels wrong. And disappearing seems strange too. (Especially in light of the fact that silence=being complicit in racism. I went to a local protest, but being silent here still isn’t right. I want to do more!)
I feel like I should be supporting the Black Lives Matter movement in some way, but suddenly pulling out all my Black books and showcasing them seems icky somehow. (I’m very honestly not judging anyone else who’s chosen to do this—for me, it just doesn’t feel right. Instead, I’d rather focus on making sure I’m covering diverse books all the time and be as mindful as possible of that.)
But one thing I DO feel good about doing is spreading the word about Black-owned bookstores and amplifying Black voices where I can.
Check out this list of Black-owned bookstores. I was excited to see this list and buy a couple of books from Semicolon Bookstore in Chicago! They didn’t have a huge number of kids books available online, but I found two that I’d had my eye on for quite a while. I’ll probably be donating both of these to Bernie’s Book Bank when I’m done reading them too, and I feel great about that since Bernie’s supports many diverse communities!
Also, Kwame Alexander, Jacqueline Woodson, and Jason Reynolds organized the KidLit Rally 4 Black Lives. They’ve also posted a fabulous list of resources for the bookish community.
For now, I’ll share those and keep trying to walk that fine line of supporting without being showy about it. At least I hope that’s what this post is doing.
It should go without saying, but Black Lives Matter. It’s sad that the world needs to be reminded of that fact, time and time again.
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