All of us at The Winged Pen stand in solidarity with the Black community and their pursuit of justice. Black Lives Matter.
Recent events have taken a toll on all of us. While we will try to continue to post about kidlit, writing, and the writing life, we all felt very strongly that we needed to direct our audience toward those voices that need to be heard most right now.
So this week, we wanted to highlight Black authors, resources for those wishing to respond, and events calling attention to this crucial issue:
Indivisible has a comprehensive guide on how to show your solidarity with Minneapolis, including educational resources, places to donate money, and direct actions you can take to support protesters and those working for change.
Interested in doing more anti-racist reading? Powell’s books has a good starter list of important reads for doing this crucial work. And they’ve got one for kids– and adult kidlit readers – too.
Looking for shorter, but no less powerful, reads? The Paris Review has unlocked some of their Writers at Work interviews with Black authors, including James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Claudia Rankine, and more.
We Need Diverse Books is a fantastic resource for anyone wanting to see children’s publishing become more diverse and inclusive and give all children the chance to see their lives reflected in the books they read.
Malala Yousafzai tweeted this infographic of places to donate in this moment.
The kidlit community is holding a Rally for Black Lives on June 4, 2020 on Facebook live @TheBrownBookshelf from 7pm ET to 8:30. The first 45 minutes will be directed toward young people and the second 45 minutes will be directed toward parents, educators and librarians.
For more books by writers of color, check out The Winged Pen’s Windows and Mirrors series.
And here is a brief and incomplete list of Black authors to follow on Twitter.
Courage.