I had a completely different idea about this blog post. I really do want to talk about Dr. Seuss and the six books that will no longer be published at the direction of Dr. Seuss Enterprises. Why we must ask, is there a controversy when the images created seventy or eighty years ago are harmful, promote traumatizing stereotypes, and have no place on our school library shelves or in our world today?
Instead, though I am just gushing over the Rhode Island Center for the Book's afternoon with Jason Reynolds.
The Center for the Book made a bold choice with Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi. This is not a history book as Reynolds states quite clearly at the beginning of the book. While many people are leaning into the challenges and discomfort of anti-racism and doing the work to be disruptors of the status quo, many others have objected, even going so far as introducing legislation here in Rhode Island banning the teaching of books and ideas about racism as a construct. This piece of legislation has been tabled for the moment but is concerning as folks are pushing back, once again, against a narrative that doesn't suit their view of the world or themselves.
This is my very long-winded thank you note to the RI Center for the Book for choosing this important book and inviting us to hear Jason Reynolds speak about it.
Last spring, the Librarians blogged about impactful viewing. listening, and reading. At the time this is what I said about Stamped:
"Having just read Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi's Stamped: Racism Antiracism and You I had to come to grips with the truth. Racism was ingrained in all of the founding documents by white founding fathers who wanted to protect a system of slavery that dehumanized a race of people encoding it in perpetuity. I had a second awakening. The idea that institutions are and must be complicit and have perpetuated systemic racism in this country has never been made so transparent to me."
Have I acted on these reactions to Stamped? That is a future blog post for reflection but hearing Jason Reynolds talk about the book, and the challenges he faced writing it was inspiring. He added another dimension to the importance of this book and the ongoing work of anti-racism. Jason Reynolds is so honest and accessible. He is transparent about his writing and himself as a writer and each statement or response to a question was thoughtful and eye-opening. He is as exceptional as his books and on this afternoon especially his book Stamped. He gave listeners permission to work on their anti-racist stance and not feel responsible to change the minds of folks who are not open to discussing the challenges presented in this book. When asked the reason he included a meditative moment of breathing in the epilogue he said that people reading the book will feel uncomfortable and that he does not want to do harm to any young reader. While he feels that it's important to challenge their thinking it is also important to make them feel safe as they meet this discomfort. He dropped so many pearls of wisdom it was hard to keep track. Reynolds addressed the idea when asked about which novels should be taught in schools that it's not about what book is taught but how it's taught. His response was that novels like To Kill a Mockingbird must be taught with transparency and direct challenges to stereotypes and racist tropes.
This is my very long-winded thank you note to the RI Center for the Book for choosing this important book and inviting us to hear Jason Reynolds speak about it. I'm certain it made many young readers across the state recommit to their anti-racist work because he just gets them! For those of us who are not his intended audience, he made us think and recommit as well, bringing our anti-racist work to the forefront of our minds; the work of a lifetime. So, Center for the Book, thank you very much!