{"id":35084,"date":"2018-07-02T23:32:06","date_gmt":"2018-07-03T03:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=35084"},"modified":"2023-08-14T22:30:03","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T02:30:03","slug":"ala-annual-conference-2018-considering-all-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=35084","title":{"rendered":"ALA Annual Conference 2018 – Considering ALL Children"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The final session I attended at ALA Annual Conference 2018 in New Orleans before catching my flight was ALSC\u2019s Charlemae Rollins program, with the title: \u201cConsidering All<\/em> Children: A New Ideal in Evaluating and Engaging Around Books for Youth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The speakers were Margarita Engle, Dr. Debbie Reese, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, and Jason Reynolds. The moderator was Edith Campbell.<\/p>\n

In the introduction by Nina Lindsay, we learned that a character in a picture book is four times more likely to be a dinosaur than a Native American child.<\/p>\n

Ebony Thomas<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Stories matter. Lived experiences matter.<\/p>\n

[She referred to the book Stories Matter: The Complexity of Cultural Authenticity in Children\u2019s Literature<\/a><\/em>, by Dana L. Fox and Kathy G. Short. ]<\/p>\n

Do we really give all stories the same weight? Do all stories matter?<\/p>\n

A perennial attack: What really matters is whether children can read.<\/p>\n

But if they can\u2019t see themselves in books, what is their incentive to read?<\/p>\n

She referred to a TED talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: \u201cThe Danger of a Single Story<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n

Children are impressionable; the stories they hear matter.<\/p>\n

Children are vulnerable; the stories they hear matter.<\/p>\n

The statistics on multicultural literature have not moved enough.<\/p>\n

Is diversity enough? What do children learn about non-white children?<\/p>\n

Look at an article \u201cThe Metaphors We Read By<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Remember there\u2019s no such thing as objectivity in children\u2019s literature.<\/p>\n

Dr. Debbie Reese<\/strong><\/p>\n

She called her talk \u201cThe United States of Whiteness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe the people\u201d wasn\u2019t talking about people of color.<\/p>\n

The Little House books represent making America great. Consider ALL children.<\/p>\n

This criticism is not new; social media makes it more visible.<\/p>\n

William Apess, a Pequot man who lived 1798 to 1839, wrote A Son of the Forest<\/em> in 1829. When he was four years old, he was placed with a white family. When he was six years old in school, he learned to dislike who he was. When he was eight years old, he saw a white man with darker skin, and he was afraid.<\/p>\n

We believe books can inspire us. But who is \u201cus\u201d in that sentence?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only good Indian is a dead Indian.\u201d is quoted three times in the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. Arguments in favor of the books say, \u201cThey were a product of her time.\u201d and \u201cThat\u2019s what they thought back then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Native people did not<\/em> think that back then.<\/p>\n

18 books published since 2011 have characters in the books talking about Little House on the Prairie.<\/em> In 2003, CNN reported a POW in Iraq saying, \u201cWe were like Custer.\u201d American Sniper<\/em>, by Chris Kyle, uses \u201cinjun\u201d and \u201csavage\u201d over and over.<\/p>\n

Whiteness in \u201cWe the people\u201d said \u201cnot you.\u201d Whiteness in stories shapes how we view the \u201cother.\u201d What is whiteness in the US doing to children in 2018?<\/p>\n

Margarita Engle<\/strong><\/p>\n

She called her talk \u201cThe Nature of Cages.\u201d<\/p>\n

This week, we\u2019ve watched images of caged children. We don\u2019t know their names.<\/p>\n

Own voices \u2013 It looks different from the inside.<\/p>\n

She has a project \u2013 \u201cBridges, not Walls: Poetry for Peacemaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

How can we speak of peace when we\u2019re angry? Children are the only possible peacemakers of the future.<\/p>\n

Compassion is the seed of peace. Listening leads to compassion.<\/p>\n

Most Latino characters in children\u2019s books are written by whites. Avoid assumptions and stereotypes. Don\u2019t sprinkle in characters with Hispanic names but no background. \u201cWe\u2019re real people, not characters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Latinx people have countless reasons to be in the US. \u201cIn other words, we\u2019re complex.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBridges reach. Walls separate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Words must be honest. Assumptions aren\u2019t honest. <\/p>\n

Ignorance is a wall; knowledge is a bridge.<\/p>\n

Marketability isn\u2019t a good reason to choose your story.<\/p>\n

Her books are about people left out of history.<\/p>\n

Jason Reynolds<\/strong><\/p>\n

He recently spoke at a business conference, where they kept saying, \u201cNumbers don\u2019t lie.\u201d That may be true, but that does not mean that numbers tell the whole truth.<\/p>\n

If that were true, he wouldn\u2019t be here today. Numbers say black boys don\u2019t read.<\/p>\n

Ask proper questions. Is it that black boys don\u2019t have books to read?<\/p>\n

Obese people who live in food deserts don\u2019t hate to eat!<\/p>\n

Jason Reynolds writes three books a year because he\u2019s terrified. He knows at any given moment, it can all go away. He was taught to work twice as hard to get half as much.<\/p>\n

Why do we have to write about black pain? \u201cI wish we didn\u2019t!\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a cost that comes with working as a writer.<\/p>\n

He believes in Humility, Intimacy, and Gratitude.<\/p>\n

His books are for everyone, but he writes with black kids in mind.<\/p>\n

Your job is to write timely work. \u201cIf you\u2019re teaching Ghost<\/em> 40 years from now, we\u2019ve failed.\u201d Create springboards.<\/p>\n

Black and brown kids don\u2019t need our salvation. Thank them for coming into the library.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s dangerous to eliminate adults. Show kids: There might just be adults who care.<\/p>\n

Panel Discussion<\/strong><\/p>\n

EC:<\/strong> We need stories. Not just with diversity sprinkled into them. What does it mean to be American? Kids need to know they\u2019re real<\/em>. Diversity has become a checklist.<\/p>\n

What does it mean to decolonize children\u2019s literature?<\/p>\n

First, acknowledging that there were advanced nations here before the U.S.<\/p>\n

A stance of humility is key. Be constantly learning. What criteria would the people you write for use in judging books?<\/p>\n

ME:<\/strong> Poetry is a good way to connect with young people. When she reads poems to kids, they read poems back.<\/p>\n

JR:<\/strong> He\u2019s writing for kids like the one who wrote to him who had committed a murder.<\/p>\n

Just be a human being! Actively work to be empathetic every day.<\/p>\n

He wants to be honest<\/em>. Kids connect to honesty and authenticity. Kids always know when adults are BS-ing.<\/p>\n

False question: Who can decide what\u2019s \u201cliterature\u201d? When stories don\u2019t look a certain way, they\u2019re dismissed.<\/p>\n

ME<\/strong>: Her fiction is seen as nonfiction and vice versa.<\/p>\n

[Here the recommendation was made to donate to REFORMA\u2019s Children in Crisis Project<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

Poetry is inviting for reluctant readers.<\/p>\n

DR<\/strong>: Decolonizing means acknowledging your ignorance and going beyond it.<\/p>\n

ET<\/strong>: Think about the white viewer gaze. <\/p>\n

Become more precise in your geography. \u201cAmerica\u201d is many places and countries.<\/p>\n

Why should people who have no incentive care about any of this? We are all interdependent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The final session I attended at ALA Annual Conference 2018 in New Orleans before catching my flight was ALSC\u2019s Charlemae Rollins program, with the title: \u201cConsidering All Children: A New Ideal in Evaluating and Engaging Around Books for Youth.\u201d The speakers were Margarita Engle, Dr. Debbie Reese, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, and Jason Reynolds. The moderator […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[207,419],"tags":[394],"class_list":["post-35084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conference-corner","category-conf-corner","tag-alaac18"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35084"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42746,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35084\/revisions\/42746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}