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[Music]
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almost from the time we are born we are
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told stories these stories teach us
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about everything in the world and
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children from a very young age form
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opinions about people places and even
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animals based on these stories they
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learn bunnies are good and wolves are
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bad and that it's probably not a good
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idea to walk through the deep dark woods
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to Grandma's house alone but what
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happens when you don't see yourself
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represented in these stories how do you
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define your sense of place and belonging
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just imagine growing up seeing yourself
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in books represented in books and maybe
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not you literally but you a Filipino
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child growing up in the u.s. a child
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with two moms a child in a wheelchair
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just imagine if the marginalized in our
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society are the characters of mainstream
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children's literature growing up I
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didn't see myself in books the only time
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I saw someone that looked similar to me
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would be books about India not America
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and in these books the kids spoke a
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language I didn't know and practiced a
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religion I wasn't familiar with just
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imagine if every child in this country
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sees themselves represented in books
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imagine the impact that could have for
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their sense of self in place and
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belonging inclusion and empathy imagine
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a world where all children's from all
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backgrounds see themselves in American
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literature I am a graded to this country
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when I was five years old I'm the one
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sitting in the chair the little chubby
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girl this is my home I belong here I
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grew up learning about America and
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Americans through the books I read I
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read many of the classic children's
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literature of the 70s and 80s Judy Blume
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books are you there God It's Me Margaret
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Hardy boy is Nancy Drew Charlotte's Web
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great books all
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they didn't have anyone that looked
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remotely like me finally happened for me
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it finally happened in the year 2000 20
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years after I immigrated to this country
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I saw myself in a book an author had
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captured my experiences as an immigrant
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with conflicting cultures and the
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struggles to assimilate she was sharing
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my stories
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there was actually a book about a female
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Indian immigrant living in Boston where
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I was living at the time it blew my mind
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I couldn't believe it
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I finally connected with a book and this
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was not these characters were not token
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diverse characters or overused
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stereotypes of Indians and immigrants
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these characters would eat Indian food
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at home in American food at work they
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would speak one language to their
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parents and speak English to their
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friends these characters straddled the
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line between two worlds like I did it
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took 20 years for me to see my place in
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America cemented through these stories I
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finally was part of the story in that
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very same year in the year 2000 my niece
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Grace was born and I started searching
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for children's literature that would
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resonate with her I couldn't find
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anything there were books about little
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brown kids in India a country she had
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never been to playing with elephants and
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peacocks and as a child growing up in
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the suburbs of New York City
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the closest she would get to these
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exotic animals would be at the Bronx Zoo
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where were all the books about little
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brown kids being kids playing soccer or
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playing dress-up
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this is when my passion for it see
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having children see themselves in books
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started I had that amazing connection
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with a book and I wanted others to have
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it as well this is when I started
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researching children's literature and
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through my research I came across window
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and mirror books in 1990 routine Sims
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Bishop wrote an essay titled windows
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mirrors and sliding glass doors the
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essence of her writing is that there are
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books that are windows they give you a
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glimpse into another world real or
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imagined there are books
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through a child's imagination that
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allows you to step through that window
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as a sliding glass door and become part
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of the author's world and when the
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lighting is just right you can see
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yourself reflected in that world all
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these iterations of the window are very
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important as a child reads these books
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they can see through a window book
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another world another culture another
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way of life and learn to respect and
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appreciate these different worlds and
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through a sliding glass door they get to
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step through and become part of the
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journey empathize with the characters
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and become vested in the outcome and
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when that window turns into a mirror
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they see themselves reflected in the
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bigger world part of something they get
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a sense of place and belonging we need
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to see more books with diverse
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characters we need to see representation
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in media movies we need to change the
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default settings of literature we need
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to do this because we are a diverse
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nation the the US Census Bureau has the
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excuse the US Census Bureau has that the
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40% of the US population currently
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identify as non-white and as of 2017
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over 50% of all children under the age
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of 5 belong to a minority population
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here in the New Haven Unified School
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District we're Union City is part of
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ninety three point nine percent of our
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children belong to a minority population
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I love the diversity that we have here I
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love that my kids think it's normal for
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friends to speak Mandarin and Farsi and
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Tagalog and hindi and Spanish but
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unfortunately the books do not reflect
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this diversity as of 2015
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73.3% of all children's books published
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in the US to pick mainly white
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characters we need to see more cultural
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diversity social economic and ability
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diversity in the books that our children
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read in 2017 I started a young authors
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writing program the goal of this program
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is for children to see themselves as
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authors and to see themselves
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represented in books I encourage the
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children to write about anything that
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they wanted with one caveat they had to
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include themselves in the book and these
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books are now part of the Union City
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Library collection these books are about
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robot dogs and fairies and a trilogy
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about searching for a llama unicorn and
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although there's a great variety in the
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books that the children wrote there's
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one thing that is consistent the
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characters are children of color but it
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is not about the color of their skin or
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their ethnic background these characters
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just happen to be african-american and
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Chinese and Latino we need to see more
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books that feature children of color not
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about their foreignness I'm currently
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writing a book and in this book the main
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character is trying desperately to get
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out of going to his swimming lessons on
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Saturday morning and this main character
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loves video games minecraft fortnight
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he's a Cub Scout and he has an annoying
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little brother and this character
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happens to be Indian American and we
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placed him as a normal part of our
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community not someone who needs who is
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unusual and needs an explanation this
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character is based on my older son and
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this book will be relatable to many and
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a picture book and a window book for
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some we need to normalize the presence
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of people of color in the workplace in
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education in literature we need to see
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people of color in the boardroom but if
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children from an early age do not see
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themselves in these settings we will not
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have a pipeline of diverse qualified
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candidates for these positions from a
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very early age we tell kids you can be
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anything you want you just have to study
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hard and work hard but do not
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underestimate our children they are very
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smart and when they don't see characters
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like themselves as architects or
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engineers or scientists or teachers they
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may not pursue those careers story is
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define us stories help connect us to the
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bigger world and we need more stories
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that are published about all the
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diversity in our communities there is a
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path to publishing and that path starts
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when someone feels inspired to write a
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book but also feel that they have the
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permission and right to do so
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from an early age overt and subliminal
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messages tell you that you cannot be an
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author you may not do so just imagine a
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world where children of all backgrounds
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see themselves represented in children's
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books whether their background goes back
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to England or Egypt whether they speak
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Spanish or Swahili at home whether they
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are differently abled or loved someone
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different than society expects them to
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whether they have two dads or a single
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mom whether they live without all the
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material goods others may have
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representation matters there are a
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million stories out there and we do not
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need to keep telling the same story I
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challenge everyone to share your story
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with a child your story matters and it
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could change a life there are stories
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that need to be told what is your story
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thank you
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[Music]
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you
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[Music]
