We Are the Change: Words of Inspiration from Civil Rights Leaders
introduction by Harry Belefonte

Have you picked up a book and without cracking it open, knew that it was going to be something extraordinary? That was my initial response to We Are the Change: Words of Inspiration from Civil Rights Leaders. ​The case features embossed lettering  and Dan Santat's illustration of a John Lewis quote. We may not have chosen the time, but the time has chosen us.

Sixteen remarkable artists lend their talents to this project. Each illustrator selected a  a Civil Rights leader's inspirational words. Art is reflective of the message and unique to the artist's style.  Each illustrator's personal consideration of the quotation is included.  Images and text are compelling and profoundly moving.  The volume, inspired by the work of the American Civil Liberties Union, echoes a commitment to human rights. Harry Belafonte offers a thoughtful introduction.

Companion Resources

Anthology of poetry, essays, and art reflects and honors the ongoing struggle for justice, equality, and respect.

Barack Obama and "We are the change" Looking for opportunities to be involved in meaningful change? Try this site.

Mommy Sayang by Rosana Sullivan

Aleeya and her mother live in a small Malaysian village, a kumpung.  Their days were filled with simple joys: chickens, kittens, hanging out laundry, watering the vibrant red hibiscus.  Indoors, there is quiet time for mommy's daily prayers, Aleeya's crayoned drawings, and stories under the mosquito net. They prepare a variety of tempting dishes and enjoy sharing meals with family and friends. Little Aleeya and Mommy sayang, always together. Insh'Allah, I will always be by your side.

Meet the Author/Illustrator

Rosana Sullivan is a storyboard artist with Pixar Animation Studios. She worked on several Pixar movies including The Good Dinosaur, Coco, and Incredibles 2. Her picture book is part of Pixar's Artist Showcase series.

The Gift of Ramadan by Rabiah York Lumbard ill by Laura K. Horton

It's time for Ramadan, a month-long religious holiday honoring the revelation of the first verses in the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad. It is a time for prayer and refection, study of the Quran, and helping the poor. It may be best known as a period of fasting, going without food and drink from sunup to sundown.  Sophia is excited as her family prepares to begin observing Ramadan and decides that she will observe the traditional fast. "Count me in!"  she joyfully exclaims.  She quickly discovers that what sounds wonderful in theory is difficult in practice. She must awake and eat a meal before sunrise, ignore her rumbling tummy, and resist her brother's chocolate chip cookies.

Alexis York Lumbard aka Rabiah York Lumbard is an American Muslim living in Qatar with her husband and three daughters. The author of several picture books, she is currently pursuing an advanced degree in creative writing.

Laura K. Horton is a freelance illustrator with a degree in illustration & animation from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. She is currently residing in Finland, working on an advanced degree in game design and production.

Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America
edited by Ibi Zobio read by Bahni Turpin and Ron Butler

Short stories by Justina Ireland, Varian Johnson, Rita Williams-Garcia, Dhonielle Clayton, Kekla Magoon, Leah Henderson, Tochi Onyebuchi, Jason Reynolds, Nic Stone Liara Tamani, Renée Watson, Tracey Baptiste, Coe Booth, Brandy Colbert, Jay Coles, Ibi Zoboi, and Lamar Giles explore what it means to be a contemporary teen as experienced through the lens of racial identity: self acceptance, coming out, parental expectations, friendships, dating, loss. Bahni Turpin and Ron Butler alternately narrate these seventeen obsidian gems. Their nuanced performances in Black Enough: Stories of Being Young and Black in America give added meaning to the term #ownvoices.

Listen Up

Butler reads a portion of Black Enough by Varian Johnson. You can hear the voice of a young man raised in an affluent white community, trying to fit into a very different culture in South Carolina. ​Note the exchange between the high school debater and his Nigerian mother in Tochi Onybuchi's "Samson and the Delilahs." Listen to Bahni Turpin read Ibi Zobio's introduction to the anthology  and a brief snippet of Renée Watson's "Half a Moon​."

Forward Me Back to You by Mitali Perkins

Kat, skilled in the art of Brazilian jujitsu, is brutally assaulted in her school’s stairwell by a popular member of the basketball team. She escapes, but the incident has scarred her, leaving her wary of men and emotionally shattered. When she reports the assault, her attacker pleads a convincing defense, denying her accusation. School becomes unbearable due to the constant presence of her assailant as well as the questioning looks and snide remarks from fellow students. A family friend arranges for her to leave her California home and live with an understanding friend in Boston. Robin, the adopted son of wealthy, well-connected Boston parents, is completing his high school senior year. His father plans his life trajectory beginning with a college education. Robin feels unsure and unsettled, with questions regarding his birth and subsequent adoption. Guess everyone has a backstory. ​They make us real, even if they make us cry.

Piece of Cake

There is a lovely scene where the Asha House residents surprise one of the volunteers with a birthday cake. In turn, each girl feeds the honoree a piece of cake, while telling her something they admire about her. I like this tradition and will continue it by sharing some virtual bites of cake with Ms. Perkins.

A Personal Perspective

​“People who are adoptive parents know that they aren’t a hero or a villain. They are just a parent.” Mitali Perkins, mother of adopted twin brothers, shares her perspective on adoption and the adoption triad: birth mother, child, and adoptive parents. Read her Huffpost opinion piece and her recent interview with Lakshmi Gandhi in an NBC news report.

Brave Ballerina: The Story of Janet Collins
by Michelle Meadows ill Ebony Glenn

​Echoing the rhythmic quality of dance, Meadows uses rhyming couplets to tell the story of Janet Collins.  The cumulative syntax traces her story from early beginnings to prima ballerina with the Metropolitan Opera House. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1917 and raised in Los Angeles, California, Janet displayed not only talent, but a love for dance. ​ In a time when dance opportunities were limited for a youngster of color, Collins found ways to realize her dream. Whether it was finding teachers or studying and performing other forms of dance including Spanish, Caribbean, and African, she continued to pursue her passion.

Young Ballerinas

Anya’s Secret Society by Yevgenia Nayberg

Anya was born with a dominant left hand. She was also born into a Russian culture that considered the right hand as the "legitimate" hand. Even the word "right" meant not only a direction, but also "correct."  When this resourceful and determined little girl recognized that local norms frowned upon use of the left hand, she taught herself to use her right hand for most activities. Anya was able to master even difficult tasks with this hand. However, there was one activity in which it was impossible to use her right hand: drawing. Her brain could only process and create images with her dominant hand, her left hand.

Anya created a special stratagem to live within the confines of Russian expectations and still express herself: a secret society. She learned that great artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelango, and Rembrandt were left-handed. When she was alone, she would put on a mask and pretend to be in the company of famous left-handed artists. The secret society was the place where she felt that she could safely create. Then life took a surprising turn. Her parents chose to leave Russia and immigrate to America. In addition to all the differences she encountered in this new country, Anya was astonished to learn that left-hand dominance was not considered wrong. Schools were equipped with scissors and desks to accommodate children with either dominant hand. Her teacher did not seem to notice or care which hand Anya chose to use.

Art: A Visual Treat

Going Down Home With Daddy
​by Kelly Starling Lyons ill Daniel Minter

It's time for the annual family reunion. Lil’ Alan along with dad, mom, and sister pile into the family car and head off for a weekend with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and "more cousins than I can count." They meet at the home place, where great- grandma Granny lives. The weekend is spent swapping stories, touring the family's land on a John Deere tractor, worshiping, and feasting on traditional "love-made” food. It’s a joyous gathering. Young Alan worries: what can he share at the night's final ​celebration? He can't sing or recite. He didn't create anything. What will he do? Daddy advises, "Think with your heart." He becomes aware of the connection that family members share with the land. These feelings sink deep into his heart. Eventually Lil’ Alan realizes he has something special to share.

They dreamed on this land as they made a way out of no way...

Carter Reads the Newspaper by Deborah Hopkinson ill Don Tate

Deborah Hopkinson introduces young readers to an important historical figure: Carter G. Woodson. ​Born in 1875, the son of a formerly enslaved father and mother, young Carter grew up hearing the stories of his Virginian parents' struggles. Times were hard for this family. As a result, Woodson left school in his early teens to labor as a farm-hand, garbage collector, and coal miner. He and other West Virginia coal miners were often invited to the home of Oliver Jones, a Civil War veteran. Carter would read the newspapers to Jones and the other miners, researching and answering their questions.

Carter Reads the Newspaper is an excellent introduction to African American History Month. Use this poster with a display of books featuring biographies, historical accounts, historical fiction, and other works by Black authors and illustrators.  Download a copy of the poster featuring an inspiring quote and art by Don Tate.

Under Water by J. L. Powers

After the death of her beloved grandmother, seventeen-year-old Khosi and her nine-year-old sister Zi must face the world alone. Her aunt, accusing Khosi of witchcraft, has stripped the girls’ family home of its contents. They have only mattresses, a cracked plastic chair, and an ancient T.V. Working as a sangoma, a traditional Zulu healer, Khosi abandons her studies in order to support herself and her sister. This should have been her last year of school prior to university. She wanted to study nursing, practicing modern medicine along with traditional healing. Circumstances impel her to break the two promises she made to her grandmother: that she would complete her schooling and that she would not get seriously involved with her longtime boyfriend, Little Man. Tensions rise when her boyfriend becomes enmeshed in the local tsotsi's (gangster) taxi war and the body of a murdered Somali shop owner is left on her property. Destitute, pregnant with Little Man's child, her home destroyed by fire, Khosi knows that she must take her sister and flee.

"What do you suppose Gogo is doing right now on the other side?" Zi asks.
I shake my head. I don't have to suppose. I already know. "She and the other amadlozi are sitting around gossiping about the funeral," I say. "Gogo is laughing about how many people came for a free meal, people who never visited when she was alive."
Zi shakes her head. "That isn't funny,"
...
​"The things that matter to us when we are alive are not so important when we are dead," I say. "Gogo is glad they had a good meal. And she's touched by how many of them brought money to give to us."

Getting Acquainted with South Africa

Introduce students to the history and culture of South Africa and the Zulu People. These resources may serve as a starting point for further exploration.

Hands Up! by Breanna J. McDaniel ill Shane W. Evans

Breanna J. McDaniel takes an expression laden with negative connotations and turns it inside out and right-side up. Each page is filled with positive, self-affirming actions with Hands Up! Meet a little charmer as she lifts her tiny hands to the sun, plays peek-a-boo, and helps get ready for the day. Time passes. Now school age, she reaches up for a book high on the shelf, jumps to grab the basketball, and raises her arms in worshipful praise. There are moments when hands are extended to help her when she falls. The book concludes with a tribute to the power of raising consciousness through hands holding signs of peaceful protest. ​We begin small, but we grow big.  Together we are mighty. High fives all around, hands up!

Dynamic Duo

Together Diggs and Evans have created picture books joyfully celebrating children of color.

Raise Your Hands. Raise Your Voice.