Tag: racism

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Back to school — and everyday life — with SAY THEIR NAMES. Join us!

Every day in America someone is killed by police. Many of those killed are unarmed. A disproportionate number, of course, are Black, Latino, and Native American. Children are among the many victims. In the fall of 2022, it was announced that three Philadelphia police officers would stand trial for a shooting that killed 8-year-old Fanta Bility as she was riding in a car they mistakenly thought carried a criminal suspect.

An NPR investigative report in 2021 by Cheryl Thompson suggests that lack of accountability, and fear-driven policies by police departments, are key reasons the number of killings remains steady.

Even with, and perhaps because of, this depressing trend, authors are producing works for children and people of all ages to help us imagine news ways forward.  And we’re doing it with faith, hope, love, peace, power, and positive Identities, or as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called it, “somebodiness.”

As a children’s book author, I’ve spent the past year sharing SAY THEIR NAMES with more than a thousand children, parents, teachers, librarians, and adults from many walks of life and diverse racial and ethnic heritages.

They’ve read with me, sang with me, cried with me, and been willing to enthusiastically spread the word about the importance of saying their names. I hope, as the magnificent Illustrator Adrian Brandon, Reycraft Books, and I celebrate the first book birthday of SAY THEIR NAMES, that you will support us. You can support us by buying books, posting about your experience with it, and inviting us to read, speak, and sing this country, this world, into a new day where we no longer, prematurely, have to say their names.

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NEWS: George Floyd Protests Inspired Picture Book from Child’s Perspective

News Alert – June 6, 2022

Picture Book from a Child’s Perspective inspired by George Floyd protests
“Say Their Names” is about imagining and working toward love-inspired change

Contact Caroline Brewer, caroline@carolinebrewerbooks.com, or Eileen Robinson, Editor, Reycraft Books, at erobinson@reycraftbooks.com for more information

Washington, D.C. – Reycraft Books and D.C. Author Caroline Brewer have announced the cover reveal and promotional launch of Say Their Names, a new 32-page picture book written from a child’s perspective. “I wrote Say Their Names because of my 20-year-educational journey with children,” said Brewer, a literacy activist, former elementary school teacher, and author of 13 books. “ I know children are suffering and being traumatized by police violence and racial violence – as studies have shown – along with all others in their communities. I wrote it because children have been leading and engaging in protests movements all over the world, especially in recent history, and I wanted to center them and their voices as part of our healing work and conversations.”

“I wrote Say Their Names from a child’s perspective because children give us the gifts of their imaginations. I wrote the book because imagining is one of the most important technologies that humans possess, and challenges such as police and racial violence require powerful imagining to defeat,” Brewer added.

Brewer, who wrote a children’s book in 2005 in honor of a friend’s son who was killed by police, noted that Say Their Names emphasizes this one powerful act,  “because saying their names is a ritual observed by communities the world over and is an important cultural ritual for African Americans; because remembering helps keep loved ones alive and assists in the healing process; and because this book, more than anything, is about imagining and working toward a future free of police and racial violence.”

Say Their Names is published by Reycraft Books and due out August 22, 2022. Media can contact the author or publisher for a digital ARC and more details.  Say Their Names can be PRE-ORDERED here.

Follow Caroline Brewer on social media here:
facebook.com/carolinebrewerbooks *** instagram.com/carolinebrewerbooks ***  twitter.com/brewercaroline

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Five Things You Should Know About Barack Obama: A Hip Hop Tale

In honor of President’s Day and the need to learn about presidents 365 days a year

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Five Things About Barack Obama:

A Hip Hop Tale of King’s Dream Come True

In a nutshell: The artwork is a conversation starter; it has 60 sets of rhyming words (sure to send any child’s vocabulary and comprehension soaring); you can teach  more than a dozen English language learning skills; it’s full of surprises, including fun facts about animals; and opportunities to learn about social activism and politics in ways that are very cool. (To purchase, click here.) Continue reading “Five Things You Should Know About Barack Obama: A Hip Hop Tale”

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Black Joy! Books that empower children with love of self, strength, and ingenuity

Black children are beauty, intelligence, ingenuity, resilience, and spontaneous joy, peace, power, and so much more. So in that spirit, I offer the following books that are devoted to true and positive identities of black children and adults. I offer books that are in some ways Afro-futuristic, embodying parallel and fiercely optimistic tales of who we are, who we want to be, where we’ve been, where we’re going, and how we plan to get there, against the backdrop of racism, oppression, rising, uprising, and rising again. These are tales of how we and others have found ways to stay lifted and to lift up others even in the deepest, darkest, and even hopeful times like… now. Enjoy!
Kara Finds Sunshine on a Rainy Day is a picture book about hope, healing, and discovering heroes around us and within, as experienced by 9-year-old Kara, whose plans for a fun-filled day get disrupted when it rains cats and dogs. Her mom responds by sharing rhyming stories about historical figures and ordinary people, of a wide variety of races and backgrounds from across the globe (including Rosa Parks, Cesar Chavez and Andre Trocme) who found or made “sunshine” in difficult times. This special edition, illustrated by children from the Harlem School of the Arts, was written to support children and families who survived the devastating Hurricane Katrina in 2005. A child psychiatrist has called Kara Finds Sunshine “a voyage to resiliency.” A cultural historian suggests it’s a powerful education in the “habit of love.” (This book includes an extensive parent and teacher guide and comes with FREE downloads.)
Barack Obama: A Hip Hop Tale of King’s Dream Come True is a picture book is a humorous, satirized and fictionalized account of the presidential campaign of Barack Obama. Its swift-moving rhymes, rhythm and drama entertain while educating children about one of the most important events in world history and the social movement that made it possible. The brightly-illustrated 32-page book ultimately reveals President Obama’s powerful connection to the enduring legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement he so honorably and courageously led. (This book includes an extensive parent and teacher guide and comes with  FREE downloads.)
Darius Daniels: Game On!  – An anti-racist verse novel about identity, black boy joy, family, community, disabilities, moral questions, told movingly through more than 10 forms of poetry.Darius Daniels: Game On! is a middle-grade rhythmic novel about an 11-year-old boy, a video game, and a great and scary adventure the boy cannot escape – until he hurts somebody. D was his name, you see, and he was on the Edge. Family and friends on one side, Getting together at his home. Him on the other, sometimes feeling alone, In a game world that made his head swirl. Jammed up his brain and rained Karate chops and knocked him for a Loop. He didn’t see it coming that Morning. Should have been a warning, but No. Oops. (This book comes with FREE downloads and opportunities and numerous Language Arts learning standards applications.)
Click here to learn more: https://carolinebrewerbooks.com/books/