Carole Boston Weatherford
Author
Language
English
Description
Before she raised her lens to take her most iconic photo, Dorothea Lange took photos of the downtrodden, from bankers in once-fine suits waiting in breadlines, to former slaves, to the homeless sleeping on sidewalks. A case of polio had left her with a limp and sympathetic to those less fortunate. Traveling across the United States, documenting with her camera and her field book those most affected by the stock market crash, she found the face of...
Author
Language
English
Description
His white teacher tells her all-black class, You'll all wind up porters and waiters. What did she know? Gordon Parks is most famous for being the first black director in Hollywood. But, before he made movies and wrote books, he was a poor African American looking for work. When he bought a camera, his life changed forever. He taught himself how to take pictures and before long, people noticed. His success as a fashion photographer landed him a job...
Author
Language
English
Description
Four dolls.
Two psychologists.
One landmark court case.
During the first half of the twentieth century, schoolchildren in many parts of the United States were segregated—Black children and white children could not legally attend the same schools. In their so-called doll test, pioneering Black psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark investigated the effects of segregation by presenting children with two Black and two white baby dolls. “Show me...
4) Unspeakable
Author
Language
English
Description
Tracing the history of African Americans in Tulsa's Greenwood district, this book chronicles the devastation that occurred in 1921 when a white mob attacked the Black community. News of what happened was largely suppressed, and no official investigation into the Tulsa Race Massacre occurred for seventy-five years. Sensitively introducing young audiences to this tragedy, Unspeakable concludes with a call for a better future. Please note that you may...
5) Box
Author
Language
English
Description
What have I to fear? My master broke every promise to me. I lost my beloved wife and our dear children. All, sold South. Neither my time nor my body is mine. The breath of life is all I have to lose. And bondage is suffocating me. Henry Brown wrote that long before he came to be known as Box; he "entered the world a slave." He was put to work as a child and passed down from one generation to the next-as property. When he was an adult, his wife and...
Author
Language
English
Description
Negro league baseball players didn't always get the respect that major leaguers received. And yet many, including Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, and Roy Campanella, quickly became standouts in the major leagues after 1947. Others didn't get to prove their mettle in the majors at all, or not until long past their prime. Leroy “Satchel” Paige mixed his blazing fastball with 29 other devastating pitches to win 42 games and...
Author
Language
English
Description
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 7, 1915, Sadie Fagan gave birth to a daughter. She named her Eleanora. The world, however, would know her as Billie Holiday, possibly the greatest jazz singer of all time.
Eleanora's journey into legend took her through pain, poverty, and run-ins with the law. By the time she was fifteen, she knew she possessed something that could possibly change her life - a voice. Eleanora could sing.
That remarkable voice...
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Black History Month - Tweens
Caldecott Medal & Honor Books - Present to 1938
Native American Heritage Month - Tweens
Texas Bluebonnet List 2022-23
Caldecott Medal & Honor Books - Present to 1938
Native American Heritage Month - Tweens
Texas Bluebonnet List 2022-23
Description
The 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma, race massacre was one of the worst incidents of racial violence in our nation's history. On May 31 and June 1 an armed mob looted homes and businesses as Black families fled. The police did nothing to protect Greenwood, and as many as three hundred African Americans were killed, most buried in unmarked graves. No official investigation occurred until seventy-five years later. Weatherford helps young readers understand the...
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Formats
Description
"This picture book biography in verse tells the story of Mary Hamilton, an African American woman and Civil Rights activist, who was found to be in contempt of court when she would not respond to questions from an Alabama judge who used only her first name, while calling white people "Mr.," "Mrs.," or "Miss." The NAACP took her case, which appealed all the way to the US Supreme Court, which ruled in Mary Hamilton's favor." --
11) Me and my mama
Author
Language
English
Appears on list
Formats
Description
In rhyming text, a young child reflects on the many reasons they love their mom.
12) Grandma and me
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Babies Need Words Every Day - ALSC List
Black History Month - Children
Storytime @ Home: Family and Friends
Black History Month - Children
Storytime @ Home: Family and Friends
Formats
Description
With simple rhyming text, a young child reflects on the many reasons they love their Grandmother.
Author
Language
English
Appears on list
Formats
Description
Jesse Owens' mother frequently told him, "Put your best foot forward." So Jesse followed her advice, worked hard, and made his dreams come true as one of the greatest Olympic champions of all time. But it wasn't easy, as Jesse had to overcome many obstacles. Even though World War II hadn't started yet, Adolf Hitler controlled Germany during the 1936 Olympics. He wanted to prove during the games that Germans were a superior "race" to other people of...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Rhyming text celebrates the Harlem neighborhood that successful African Americans first called home during the 1920s. Includes brief biographies of jazz greats Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Sonny Rollins, and Miles Davis; artists Aaron Douglas and Faith Ringgold; entertainers Lena Horne and the Nicholas Brothers; writer Zora Neale Hurston; civil rights leader W.E.B. DuBois; and lawyer Thurgood Marshall.
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Caldecott Medal & Honor Books - Present to 1938
Storytime @ Home: Celebrate Black Authors, Illustrators, Stories, and Experiences
Storytime @ Home: Celebrate Black Authors, Illustrators, Stories, and Experiences
Formats
Description
"As slaves relentlessly toiled in an unjust system in 19th century Louisiana, they all counted down the days until Sunday, when at least for half a day they were briefly able to congregate in Congo Square in New Orleans. Here they were free to set up an open market, sing, dance, and play music. They were free to forget their cares, their struggles, and their oppression. This story chronicles slaves' duties each day, from chopping logs on Mondays to...
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Caldecott Medal & Honor Books - Present to 1938
Children's Books to Support Conversations on Race, Racism and Resistance
Women's History - Tweens
Children's Books to Support Conversations on Race, Racism and Resistance
Women's History - Tweens
Formats
Description
Presents a collage-illustrated treasury of poems and spirituals inspired by the life and work of civil rights advocate Fannie Lou Hamer.
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Children's Books to Support Conversations on Race, Racism and Resistance
Hispanic Heritage Month - More Tween Titles
Social Justice Reading List by BCALA & ALSC (PreK-Gr. 8)
Hispanic Heritage Month - More Tween Titles
Social Justice Reading List by BCALA & ALSC (PreK-Gr. 8)
Formats
Description
Where is our historian to give us our side? Arturo asked. Amid the scholars, poets, authors, and artists of the Harlem Renaissance stood an Afro-Puerto Rican named Arturo Schomburg. This law clerk's life's passion was to collect books, letters, music, and art from Africa and the African diaspora and bring to light the achievements of people of African descent through the ages. When Schomburg's collection became so big it began to overflow his house...
20) Birmingham, 1963
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Describes the feelings of a fictional character who witnessed the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombings in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963.