Get diverse books into UK Primary Schools
*** Let's make books in Primary Schools more racially diverse and representative! ***
Black Lives Matter. But black characters are not represented in books found in primary schools across the country.
"Children are born into a world that has systemic racism, and they're born into a culture that harbours racists attitudes and racist ideologies and those ideologies seep into everything. If someone is harbouring certain racist attitudes, it's something that they are learning from their parents, schools, the media and the culture."- Sarah Gaither, assistant professor psychology and neuroscience at Duke University.
When my niece went to Primary School in 2014, her Primary School in London didn't have any books in their classrooms that showed girls like her- mixed-race (half Polish, quarter Indian, quarter Filipino). How did the girls and boys in her class feel when they couldn't see themselves represented in the pages of the books? Where none of the heroines or heroes in the stories looked like them, or their mums, or dads or siblings?
As Vashti Harrison writes, "This kind of representation, in the books they’ve been assigned to read in school or the ones that they curl up with at night, offers children a reminder that they matter, and that there’s a place for them in this world".
We need books in classrooms that affirm children's beliefs that they belong and that people that had the same skin colour as them have achieved great things.
"Representation matters at such a deep level for people of colour because there’s been so little diversity and nuance to the images of us in the mainstream."- Vashti Harrison
What do I want to do?
Raise £10,000 to send bundles of diverse books to Primary Schools in the UK.
Each bundle will have between 20-25 books, containing books worth £5-15.
I don't want to use Amazon to buy the books, as I also want this campaign to support black-owned independent bookshops. Some of the ones I have come across are New Beacon Books; Round Table Books; No Ordinary Bookshop.
If you know of any others, please email me at [[email redacted]]
Receipts for all purchases will be provided so that you can see that every penny is being spent on books and being sent directly to schools.
Why do I want to do this?
The UK education system has been defunded in recent years, with teachers frequently buying books and resources for their classrooms out of their own pockets.
Why is sending books representing all black, Asian and other minorities to Primary Schools so important?
"Babies as young as three months can distinguish faces by colour, and 3-year-olds are fully capable of understanding racial categories, and even the hierarchies that come with them."
I want children to see themselves in the books that they find in school.
Goal timeframe: July 2020
I would love to us to reach the fundraising goal by the end of July 2020, so that I can order and distribute books during August 2020 (working with the schools to make sure that they are open of course), for the books to be in the classrooms, ready for when Primary Schools reopen in the Autumn Term.
Eligible primary schools- all Primary Schools are eligible.
If you are a teacher or work for a Primary School, please complete the following form: https://forms.gle/XqoZLaGYuN6VC4pu9
I will select the chosen schools using a random generator to ensure fairness.
The more money we raise, the more schools we help and the more children we teach
If you are a publisher and would love to donate or help in any way shape or form, please email me at [[email redacted]] to discuss.
Diverse book physical donations- if you have any books that your children are no longer reading and would like to donate to this campaign, please email me at [[email redacted]] to arrange. I will disinfect all books upon receipt due to COVID-19.
Current booklist includes:
- Can You Smell my Socks? By J Christin Fields
- Mega Magic Hair Swap by Rochelle Humes
- All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold
- Lailah's Lunchbox: A Ramadan Story by Reem Faruqi
- Lucy's Umbrella by Sarah Madden
- Happy In Our Skin by Fran Manushkin
- Please, Baby, Please by Spike Lee
- It's OK to be Different: A Children's Picture Book About Diversity and Kindness by Sharon Purtill
- Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison
- Books from the Little People, Big Dreams series
- Riley Can Be Anything by Davina Hamilton
- Hair Love by Matthew Cherry
- Momma, Did You Hear the News? (Talking to kids about race and police) by Sanya Whittaker Gragg
- The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad
- Where are you from? By Yamile Saied Méndez
- Not Like The Others: A Hidden Picture Book About Diversity by Jana Broecker
- Bippity Bop Barbershop by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley
- My Two Grannies by Floella Benjamin
There are many more fantastic books available & I will continue diversifying this list!
***Thank you for donating to this fundraiser & let's make schools in Primary Schools more racially diverse and representative! ***
