ALICIA KEYS’ KEYS SOULCARE: 5 Stunning Visual Books for All Ages

We are so excited to have been featured as a favorite book by Alicia Keys amongst four other titles with empowering messages for kids and adults alike!

NEW YORK TIMES WIRECUTTER: 14 Antiracist Books for Kids and Teens Recommended by BIPOC Teachers and Librarians

Teaching children about racism is one of the hardest and most essential things any parent or educator can do. If you’re struggling with where to start, you’re not alone. In this extraordinary moment in history, many parents on our (mostly white) staff have also been thinking and learning about how important it is not just to identify racism but also to actively teach ourselves and our children to confront our own biases and fight racism within society. Books can be a place to start these conversations, so we asked nine teachers, librarians, and booksellers—all Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC)—for their reading recommendations. IntersectionAllies is among the books they have personally taught and shared, the ones they know have made an impact on kids.

PBS: How to Use Children’s Books to Talk About Race and Racism

To help children become an ally: Try reading IntersectionAllies: We Make Room for All to begin a conversation about standing up for friends and classmates with school-aged children. Then try this activity created by a teacher in the P.R.I.D.E. Teacher Cohort:

Ask your child what they would do if they saw a character in the book being made fun of, or called names, or bullied. Have your child write out a sentence or draw a picture about how they can be an ally and who they can be an ally to. Dr. White says this can help children begin to understand that while they might sometimes feel like they don’t have a lot of power, they do!

Ms. Magazine: Ecofeminism is Intersectional Feminism

How can we work together while being mindful of our different vulnerabilities and access to power? How can we honor the perspectives of the communities most affected by environmental issues? How might we include the Earth in our understanding of allyship? Intersectional feminism can help us answer these questions. In fact, IntersectionAllies demonstrates what answers might look like in a concrete way.

ABC NEWS: 10 Diverse Children’s Books to Teach Kids about Racism and Representation

As protests continue across the country, and across the globe, in the wake of George Floyd's death, a conversation has been ignited in America about how to teach kids to fight racism from an early age. Experts have said these conversations can happen in an age-appropriate way, starting early and by using books that are a great way to dive into these complex, important issues.

HEALTHLINE: Anti-Racism Resources for Parents and Kids

At Healthline Parenthood, we’re committed to sharing resources that are helping us better educate ourselves around anti-racism, so we can be better for our children. Together, let’s start the conversation at home and be conscious of the powerful messages — from our words and our actions —we are teaching our children. This journey comes with challenges, and perfectionism is not the goal. But there’s plenty of guidance to help you while you do your best to be the change this world needs. This list of books, podcasts, movies, and more is meant to help you and your children, no matter their age, keep this dialogue going, so we can amplify the voices of black parents and children. We will continue to add to this list to make it an even more comprehensive resource.

KATIE COURIC: A Detailed List of Anti-racism Resources

Journalist Katie Couric compiled a list of resources  they believe will be helpful during these frightening and frustrating times. Protests raged across the world this weekend over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man in Minneapolis. But tensions over the deaths of other black Americans like Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor were mounting just before Floyd’s death. Additionally, the coronavirus pandemic is disproportionately killing black Americans, which researchers attribute to “social conditions, structural racism, and other factors.” All these stories require not only our attention but a deeper understanding of systemic racism and implicit bias. Understanding begins with all of us looking inward, reflecting on our own attitudes, and of course, having difficult conversations with family and friends. IntersectionAllies is proud to be featured.

BOOKLIST: Reading for Change: Booklist Recommended Antiracist Titles for All Ages

Since the May 25 murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department, the world’s seen many days straight of protest, of resistance, of demands for change, of work—hard work. And this work can look like many things: enduring the tear gas and rubber bullets of police at rallies; running supplies to communities where they are currently unavailable; researching and donating to bail funds and community aid organizations; amplifying Black voices, organizations, and businesses; having uncomfortable conversations with loved ones and colleagues. It can, of course, also mean reading.

NPR: Children’s Book Tackling Tough Issues

NPR’s Lee Gaines interviews IntersectionAllies: We Make Room for All co-author Chelsea Johnson on the process and thinking behind the book for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day episode of The 21st.

Many of us probably remember a favorite children’s book from when we were younger, the characters in those stories and maybe some of the lessons we learned in those books still stick with us today. Odds are, though, the book you’re thinking of probably didn’t tackle intersectionality. 

AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION: Making Sociology Pubic: Teaching Allyship to Children

In this piece for the Asia and Asian American Section of the American Sociological Association, we discuss the initial wonder around IntersectionAllies in the academy. As the only children’s book of its kind, many didn’t know what sort of reception the book would receive. Colleagues skeptically asked us, “how do you expect children to understand this difficult material?” As sociologists used to teaching undergraduate-level students, we understood those questions. But, our hopes were validated as soon as we stepped foot into the classroom, and the success of IntersectionAllies should be taken as encouragement for other academics to cross the gates of the Ivory Tower and make sociology public.

WABE RADIO: LaToya interviewed on “Closer Look”

LaToya Council joins “Closer Look” in studio for a conversation about the importance of teaching children about “making space” for others. Council will be reading and signing the book alongside authors Chelsea Johnson and Carolyn Choi at Charis Books And More on Sunday, Oct. 27, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

WHOLE FAMILY RHYTHMS: An Introduction to Intersectionality

CLC was pleased to contribute to Whole Family Rhythm’s digital magazine, “Modeling Critical Consciousness in Early Childhood,” where we discuss how to begin, even in early childhood, to raise critically conscious children. In creating IntersectionAllies, we drew from ethnic studies and feminist standpoint theory to foreground the experiences, voices, and knowledge of children themselves. In our interview, we encourage parents to “do the work” by raising thoughtful children, who will grow up prepared and motivated to make room for others.

GOOGLE TALKS: Intersectionality in the Workplace

CLC was honored to be a special guest on Google Talks, introducing IntersectionAllies in partnership with Google’s Black Employee and Intersectionality Resource Groups.

LITERARY HUB: 10 Books You Should Read this July

IntersectionAllies makes Lit Hub's list of 10 Books You Should Read This July with high praise! Of our book, Lucy Kogler says, "If ever a book belonged in every pediatrician’s office, clinic, daycare, shelter, classroom and home, this is it. Introducing the revolutionary concept of “making room” as a means of inclusion as opposed to “tolerance” and “respect” (which while meaningful don’t actually make a case for interpersonal relationship) makes this a stunner of a primer in how to incorporate entirety."

DIVERSE BOOKFINDER: An Interview with the Authors of IntersectionAllies

In Diverse BookFinder’s ongoing efforts to inform caregiver thinking about multicultural picture books and book selection, BookFinder published an interview with us. We describe out thought process behind the book, and why we think it will change the children’s book landscape. We are proud that the characters in IntersectionAllies: We Make Room for All represent many cultures, and that we show children heroines who are of color, poor, non-binary, and from the Global South. At the same time, we believe that multicultural representation alone is not enough. IntersectionAllies contributes to the picture book world by moving beyond symbolic portrayals of diversity to instructive portrayals of intersectional activism. A focus on the latter gives young readers the tools to advocate for themselves and others in the real world.

TIME: Open Pages, Open Minds

TIME Magazine featured IntersectionAllies in its June 17, 2019 issue, alongside other children’s and young adult books that are “Opening Minds.” TIME says of IntersectionAllies, "Diversity takes center stage in this welcoming introduction to intersectional feminism, a joyous affirmation of how we are all connected.”

BOOKLIST ONLINE: Book review of IntersectionAllies

Booklist says of IntersectionAllies: “The concept of intersectionality, widely known in academia but less so in children’s literature, is here broken down with ease and clarity…Cheerful, vibrant illustrations depict a diverse population standing together in solidarity, be in on the playing field, in a gender-neutral bathroom, or at a protest rally.”

PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY: Book Review of IntersectionAllies

Publisher’s Weekly calls IntersectionAllies “A welcoming resource for conversations about equality and social justice that shows readers how identities are made up of a myriad of influences.”