By Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez

Welcome to

 Small Humans, an ongoing series at Mashable that looks at how to take care of – and deal with – the kids in your life. Because Dr. Spock is nice and all, but it’s 2019 and we have the entire internet to contend with.

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Black History Month is often misunderstood as a time to exclusively address contributions made by Black Americans in the past. However, the potential of this month is so much richer than only revisiting historical events. It’s also a great time to evaluate (and push back against) the way Black people are portrayed in media and literature today.

One way to do that, especially for children, is through books. Exposing your children to fiction and non-fiction stories that center Black characters is an accessible method for humanizing Black Americans and highlighting the diversity of Black people’s experience.

Still, it’s not always as easy as taking a trip to the library or bookstore.

While Black and Brown characters in children’s literature are slowly increasing, characters of color are overwhelmingly written by white authors. According to recent data from Lee & Low books, people of color wrote less than 7 percentof children’s books published in 2017. Only about 29 percent of children’s books that featured Black characters that year were written by Black authors.

As a consequence, the few books that include Black protagonists often hint at a “uniform” Black experience or limit depictions of Black life to periods of struggle like slavery and the civil rights movement. To humanize Blackness, we must share stories that allow us to encounter Black characters in everyday life.

With that in mind, the books below remind us there is no typical Black character. Each of these protagonists challenges the idea that Black identity is a monolith.  

1. Rox’s Secret Code

There’s a huge diversity problem in the technology industry. Many can’t wrap their head around a Black woman, let along a Black girl who codes. In this book, Rox not only codes – and loves doing so – she uses it to improve her world. Everything is fine until she gets a bit overzealous on her latest attempt to use artificial intelligence. Let’s just say organization isn’t always a good thing. As the reader follows her story, they are exposed to examples of code and even given an opportunity to code with a link from the story. Rox’s Secret Code helps children visualize Black women as programmers, like those who participate in Black Girls Who Code.

2. A Night Out With Mama

What better way to prepare for bed than with a story written by the amazing Quvenzhané Wallis when she was just 13 years old? Considering it’s about Quvenzhané’s first trip to the Oscars with her mom, A Night Out With Mama is filled with humility. It’s hard not to be moved by such a young girl who’s accomplished so much. 

But the biggest take away is the good sportsmanship it displayed. It’s true, things don’t always go our way, but if we learn to appreciate the journey and remember our loved ones are there for us, we’re winners regardless. In a world that robs Black girls of their innocence and often shows them as “angry,” A Night Out With Mama challenges this stereotype. 

3. Sisters & Champions

Most folks have heard of tennis legends Serena and Venus Williams. But it’s worth revisiting (or learning about for the first time) how their experiences in the tennis world were shaped by their race and growing up in Compton, LA. Their success is all the more noteworthy when it’s placed in the context of the adversity they faced. 

The Williams sisters entered tennis in a time that there were few if any examples of Back tennis players at all. Sisters & Champions covers the unrelenting faith their father had in them, the disbelief the world at large had in their potential, and the highs and lows they faced on the path to athletic success. The message illustrates the Black public figures must possess perseverance to overcome racism (and often sexism) in addition to skill. It also teaches a darn good lesson on the importance of perseverance and pushing on even when things seem tough.

4. What A Truly Cool World

What A Truly Cool World is decades older than the others, but it’s a personal favorite. Have you ever considered a Black image of God? If not, this book will help you do so. Less a religious book than a mythological one, this God is much closer to human than deity. He has a family, angels, and insecurities. We watch as God deals with the highs, lows, and responsibilities that accompany creating his first universe.  

While providing one of few depictions of Black divinity,  it suggests that Black folks are just as capable of leadership and anyone else. It reminds us that beauty takes effort and insecurity doesn’t negate gloriousness! Bonus: It’s written in African American Vernacular English (AAVE). 

5. Hey Black Child

Hey Black Child, is a concise yet motivating ode to Black achievement. Despite its origin in Black theater, it stands well on its own as a call to action for Black youths to discover and harness their greatness. Highlighting the successes of Black children makes this book unique – often Black Americans are referenced on the “disparities side” of data and research. That gives children of all races the belief that Black youth are less capable than children of other races. Hey Black Child is an optimistic reminder that Black youth come from an extraordinary past and are headed for an astounding future.

For more on this story go to: https://mashable.com/article/childrens-books-black-history-month/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29