Celebrating Women’s History All Year Long
Women’s History Month is an opportunity to celebrate the important contributions of women in the past, present, and those leading us into the future. This recognition is important because in white supremacy culture, a patriarchal system is set up to de-value the work, contributions, and inherent humanity of women in addition to leveraging power and control over women in every aspect of our lives. Moreover, because white supremacy culture is based on the core belief of white superiority (both racially and culturally), the most impacted women are Black Women, Indigenous Women, and Women of the Global Majority. More still, are women who do not conform to the imposed gender binary within white supremacy culture. To be clear, when I say WOMEN, that includes both cis and trans women.
Anti-Women/Anti-Trans rhetoric and legislation are rampant in the United States right now; from the number of Anti-Trans legislation targeting trans women and girls, to anti-abortion laws that criminalize everyone with a uterus (Women, Non-Binary People, Trans Men, and everyone in-between), to the banning and censorship of books and art forms like Drag (even though many Drag performers being cis men).
The scale is not unsurprising given the systemic nature of white supremacy, its laws, and its culture. As educators and parents, we have an opportunity in the child’s earliest years to combat these absorbed ideas all year long.
This month at The PEACE Program, we are celebrating Women from the past and present, focusing on uplifting Black and Indigenous, Queer and Trans Women in politics, social justice, law, motherhood, education and more.
Join us at https://join.thepeaceprogram.org/
Children's Books:
Books are essential to the child’s linguistic development. They are also an important space for children to see the world through someone else’s experience. In the sea of possible books to choose for children, however, there are ways to find high-quality literature and one of the best places to start is by finding books with children’s authors and illustrators. It might sound obvious, but there are a fair amount of books in the children’s section that do not have an author or illustrator listed. Talented authors and illustrators are out there creating wonderful stories for children who will want to hear them again and again (and thus make it a good literary experience). So, both the author and the illustrator matter. And because books offer this essential space to see the world through someone else’s experience, representation is a key factor in a good children’s library. And thus, we need to interrogate our book selection and book purchasing for maximum authentic representation.
“Books about white children, talking bears, trucks, monsters, potatoes, etc. represent nearly three quarters (71%) of children’s and young adult books published in 2019.”
Due to systemic racism (and sometimes interpersonal racism), books by Black and Indigenous authors and/or illustrators make up a very small percentage of published books (in 2019, this was just 5.7% compared to 83.2% of books by white authors and illustrators) and only 11.9% of books in 2019 even featured a Black primary character. And even worse, many books that feature characters who are Black, Indigenous, and of the Global Majority are still written and illustrated by white authors and illustrators. And this is a serious problem in the fight against white supremacy because of the racist history of white people creating “caricatures” of Black, Indigenous and People of the Global Majority in cartoons and other illustrations that feed into violent stereotypes and continuous oppression. Your book selection matters to the child and to supporting Black and Indigenous authors!
Support Black-Owned Businesses:
Purchase from local Black-Owned Bookstores. Google Black-Owned Bookstores near you. Then, go to Bookshop.org to find that bookstore and purchase your books from them online.
Places to Get Book Recommendations from Black Creators:
About The PEACE Program
Our Montessori Masterclass lives into our values of self-reflection, self-care, responsiveness to being/becoming Anti-Bias / Anti-Racist, and a deep commitment to the whole child within the whole family. We offer a holistic program meant to provide inclusive, practical, and supportive guidance for parents & educators from birth to six.
