As a puppet theater, BBMT’s audience consists - mostly - of children and their families. As the world has entered into an essential moment of racial justice, we are faced with the challenge of how to speak to these hard topics with kids and with our selves. To aid those conversations, we’ll be shining a light on resources that are better able to speak to this moment.
This list is by no means exhaustive and there is still tremendous work to be done. Do you have more suggestions? Please let us know!
Web Resources
National Museum of African American History and Culture: “Talking About Racism” web portal to help people explore issues of race, racism, and racial identity.
Sesame Street and CNN present “Coming Together: Standing Up to Racism”: a town hall for kids and families
Browse a list of recipients of the Coretta Scott King Award from 1970 to present here. This award recognizes outstanding books for young adults and children by African Americans that represent the African American experience.
Social Justice Resources from the Children’s Community School
Free People Network: A community-oriented project that uses media and trainings to challenge and encourage social justice-minded people to explore privilege and power in their relationships with children. Listen to the podcast here. And listen to a TEDx Talk about the process of unschooling here.
Instagram Accounts
@hereweeread : A Diversity & Inclusion Expert dedicated to “helping you find diverse books, educational products and raise curious kids”
@diversereads : Book recommendations from a “Teacher in love with children's books and advocate for the ‘other’”
@thetututeacher: Watch her video explaining racism to her kindergarten class here.
Organizations
Social Justice Books: A Teaching for Change Project : a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide teachers and parents with the tools to create schools where students learn to read, write and change the world. Be sure to explore their Guide for Selecting Anti-Bias Children’s Books here.