TWELVE
The police killing of George Floyd and the
resulting protests have inspired a much-
needed national dialogue about race and
diversity. But if you’re not sure how to
initiate conversations about anti-Black
racism, police violence and the right to
peaceful protest with your kids, books are a
great way to break the ice.

These children’s books about race,
selected by Jennifer Rothschild of Arlington
Public Library, offer a jumping-off point
for families to discuss current events.

PRESCHOOL BOOKS
DAVID STUCK
‘BLACK IS A RAINBOW COLOR’
by Angela Joy,
illustrated by Ekua
Holmes In this joyous
celebration of all the
ways black is beautiful,
a young Black child
explores the world
around her as well as
the history and culture of her people.

It encouraged me to know that we weren’t
the only parents who wanted our chil-
dren to witness so many people from all
walks of life standing in solidarity against
racism. We stayed for just 30 minutes because I
didn’t want to prolong our possible expo-
sure to COVID-19. During that time, I
only feared for our safety once. I felt there
were some people walking too close to my
children, so as my husband led us, I stood
closely behind to prevent anyone from
touching them.

Overall, the protest was a good
experience, and I’m glad that I brought
my children. When they’re adults and
people talk about the protests of 2020,
I want them to be able to say that they
participated, too.

I also wanted to show them that despite
racism and the evil in the world, there are
16 Washington FAMILY JULY 2020
still more people for them than against
them. My hope as they grow and mature
is that the experience helps them to be
politically aware and involved so they can
stand against injustice. n
Rev. Lauren Harris (Twitter: @revlaurelj) is an
itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal
Church. She serves at New Life Laurel, a
church plant of Reid Temple A.M.E. Church
in Laurel, MD. She works for the Baltimore-
Washington Conference of The United
Methodist Church. She is the proud mother of
two children, one on the autism spectrum. She
blogs about her life as wife, mother and minister
at throwupandtheology.com and has been
published in Sojourners magazine, Gospel Today
magazine, The A.M.E. Church’s Christian
Recorder, and Modern Loss.

‘HANDS UP’
by Breanna J.

McDaniel, illustrated
by Shane Evans
A Black girl shows all
the ways she raises
her hands—to reach
a book, to worship, to
answer a question in
class and to join in a protest march.

‘DON’T TOUCH MY HAIR’
by Sharee Miller
Aria loves her soft and
bouncy hair, but so does
everyone else. People are
constantly reaching out
to touch it, even though
she doesn’t want them
to. How can she get
them to stop?