Black is Beautiful

2/7/2020

Black is a Rainbow Color
by Angela Joy ill by Ekua Holmes

Black is a color. Black is a culture.

A picture book blending images and text to describe and define a color, Black is a Rainbow Color is rhythmical verse punctuated with rhyme. The poetry has a singing quality, inviting reading and responding aloud.

It’s a jubilant affirmation of identity. It’s a lyrical homage to history. It’s soul-stirring, thought-provoking. It’s a gorgeous array of colors.

Individuals pictured throughout the pages have a variety of skin tones and physical features. All share a noble heritage.

my color is black.

Angela Joy offers an abundance of resources in the back matter. She begins with an Author's Note, describing the genesis for the book. She realized that her daughter regarded the word Black as simply a color. She wanted to give her daughter a deeper understanding of Black and move the discussion beyond a selection in a crayon box.

A treasure trove of supporting resources includes: playlist of music spanning several decades, annotations explaining the origin for phrases in the text such as "Robe on Thurgood's Back" and "Dreams and Raisins," a few selected poems from Langston Hughes and Paul Laurence Dunbar, timeline of Black Ethnonyms in America, and a bibliography.

Ekua Holmes' vibrant mixed media illustrations feature bold graphic shapes defined by strong black outlines. Each spread contains symbolic images: a caged bird sings on the title page, the shoes of individuals crossing a bridge made from newspaper headlines reporting on the fight for equal rights, stained glass windows glowing with the faces of women who made significant contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. There is much to see, share, and discuss.