Since there was more interest in my Diversity Conversation post than I expected (and because I do not consider myself an expert on this topic), I thought it might be helpful to provide a more comprehensive list of outside resources. I’ve compiled links to resources for anyone who would like to further their personal education on diversity and the diversity conversation!
I will be updating this with more links as they come to my attention.
***My request to you if you’ve come here to learn more about the diversity conversation in kidlit (especially if you are not part of one, many, or any of these marginalized communities). Please keep an open mind and be ready to be wrong. It’s important to overcome any internal biases that might have been picked up along your life (whether consciously or subconsciously). One of the reasons systemic racism and harmful stereotypes have permeated our world is because we can’t overcome these internal biases because we don’t see how insidious they can really be.***
Also, if you’re here, it’s probably because you want to learn. The BEST way to do that is to follow all the people who wrote these resources in the first place. And to support the authors who are creating diverse content. Buy their books! (Link to my diverse Goodreads books list: HERE)
Basics/Textbook definitions:
how cis/het/straight is presented as the “norm” in our society.
defacto treatment of marginalized
microaggressions that happen daily
Some Baseline stats about publishing:
Publishing industry is overwhelmingly white and female, US study finds (The Guardian)
Diversity Baseline [in publishing] Survey 2019 Results (Lee & Low)
Publishing Statistics on Children’s/YA Books about People of Color and First/Native Nations and by People of Color and First/Native Nations Authors and Illustrators
Here are resources to learn from about diversity in kidlit:
American Indians in Children’s Literature
Twitter list of Diverse writers
(it is in NO way comprehensive, but feel free to follow any and all of them!)
Okay let’s go more in-depth shall we?
Writing With Color provides Blogs – Recs – Resources
They also provide Writing With Color – Featured Research Guides
People of Color to Publishing: We’re Not Okay by An Afro-Latina in publishing (Publisher’s Weekly)
‘A Conflicted Cultural Force’: What It’s Like to Be Black in Publishing Interviews by Concepción de León, Alexandra Alter, Elizabeth A. Harris and Joumana Khatib (New York Times)
Why We Don’t Italicize Spanish – Daniel José Older
The Year in Hyphenates by Kim Fu
How to be anti-racist & revamp your way of thinking
Do You Have “Advantage Blindness”? by Ben Fuchs, Megan Reitz, John Higgins (Harvard Business Review)
Implicit Bias (resources) UCLA
Holding up the Mirror: Recognizing and Dismantling the “White Savior Complex” by Janine Guarino (Medium)
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh
The White-Savior Industrial Complex (The Atlantic)
Racism against white people doesn’t exist in America, and here’s why it never will by Karen Fratti
Some Marginalized Authors are nice enough to storify conversations and threads:
Violence Against Black Women in Publishing: The Harm Women of Color, Particularly Black Women, Face When Pushing For Diversity (compiled L.L. McKinney)
Justina Ireland on Worldbuilding & Appropriation (by Justina Ireland)
YA: “The Total Experience” Diversity in YA With Beth Revis, C.J. Omolulu, Lydia Kang & Malinda Lo. (compiled by Ava Jae)
How about some videos too?
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