Cultural Curriculum Chat with Jebeh Edmunds

Season 4 Episode #30 Little Leaders & Little Legends by Vashti Harrison Book Review

• Jebeh Edmunds • Season 4 • Episode 30

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Can the vibrant stories of Black leaders instill a greater sense of joy and accomplishment in our hearts? This week, I take you through the exuberant world of Vashti Harrison's "Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History" and "Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History," celebrating Black history with a focus on the inspiring contributions and joy that these figures have brought into our lives. As educators and parents, it's crucial to elevate our teaching of Black History Month by highlighting these positive narratives, ensuring that our lessons are engaging and deeply connected to the remarkable individuals who have shaped our past and present.

With fervor, I dive into why Harrison's works are must-haves in every classroom and home library, emphasizing the importance of supporting BIPOC artists and authors. Her books, including the Caldecott Honor-winning "Big," allow us to revisit the pride in our shared history and provide an invaluable resource for fostering inclusive education. Tune in for a discussion that's not only enlightening but also celebratory, as we recommend more enriching reads that weave the diverse cultural tapestry we all share. Join us for a journey that promises to be as informative as it is uplifting.

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Speaker 1:

Hello everyone, welcome back to the podcast. I am so excited that you are back here with us today and if you are new to the podcast, welcome. I am your host, jeba Edmunds, and I love all things multicultural education. So you're going to hear on my podcast interviews by BIPOC authors and allies of our community, as well as books that I love to review that are written in the perspective of our BIPOC people and people of all cultures and all walks of life, and I also sprinkle in some really great inclusive workplace strategies for you as well. So for today's episode, I am so excited to share one of the books that I reviewed on season four, episode 21,. Just one this year's 2024 Caldecott Honor book, and the book that I reviewed was Big by Vashi Harrison, and she just received that honor a couple days ago when I'm recording this podcast. I'm so excited to share with you that. So if you haven't heard my book review about Big, please go into the podcast library and look up season four, episode 21,. You'll get all the details about this amazing book and well deserved honor, and this should also give you the hint, friends, for Black History Month. I am also going to be reviewing her other two books Little Leaders Bold Women in Black History and Little Legends Exceptional Men in Black History, also written and illustrated by the Vashi Harrison.

Speaker 1:

Now, so many of us, when we are trying to get our materials ready to teach Black History Month, a lot of us fall into the trap of those two pillars in our history slavery, civil rights movement and so many of us educators neglect to focus on Black joy. We neglect to focus on more than those four people that we talk about every single year, and so this episode for you today is to open up your minds to more contributors in our society in the past and, of course, in the present and when. I love about these two books that Vashi had created is to give you that launching pad to know wow, each book has over 40. Individuals that had contributed to our black history. So this should always, always give you the power to read and educate yourselves, as well as your students, so many of us people of color, when we are in your classroom sitting at your desk, we kind of feel a little hunched over when we are discussing Black History Month and some of you might be wondering but why? This is a month to commemorate the contributions of African Americans in our society and in history.

Speaker 1:

But for people, in our perspective, I call it like rubber-necking, because kids will be looking at the one or the very few kids of color in the class and there's a lot of shame with that. There's a lot of feeling, that finger pointing, that oh yeah, it's your month, so here we go, and a lot of the material that is being brought to our students. Yes, it is important to teach, but it can wait. It doesn't have to be every February. Us history should be taught all year long, same as Black History Month. So when we are focusing our efforts on Black History Month, let's focus on the joy, let's focus on the contributions that have been made, without that fear and that shame that so many of us face, because when you perpetuate that, you perpetuate more stereotypes, you perpetuate more microaggressions towards your Black and Brown students every February. So that's just not too sense. But take it to the bank, because a lot of us have been shouting it from the rooftops. If you do have a slavery lesson or you do have a scoping sequence for this February, leave it out. We can talk about slavery next month. Let's focus in on the celebratory acts of these amazing people in our society Vashi has amplified and highlighted in her books.

Speaker 1:

We're gonna start with Little Leaders, bold Women in Black History. Now, as you can see, with her book, she has an introduction. I highly recommend that you read it first before you start, and then every chapter is just a couple pages of each individual, but she has over 40 different individuals, and what I want you to do with both books each individual that you read doesn't take more than five minutes. So I would really implore you to take the names of each person in both books, and I want you to create your own PowerPoint or your own Google slide, a slideshow, and I want you to use it every single year. Okay, and I want you to get a picture of their real photograph. All right, so then, when you are reading the book to your students, they can connect the real photograph of that individual that you're reading. And what I also want you to do is, once you are done reading the excerpt of the person, I want you to have one student in your class to raise their hand of something new that they learned about that person. So I want them this will engage them enough to really be those detectives, those new fact detectives, and they'll raise their hand when you pick on a new individual to share with the class. Yes, I know, I've been an educator for many years. There might be some kids that don't want to raise their hand, and that's okay.

Speaker 1:

You can have a little post it on their desk and pick a post it to read out loud of a new fact that they learned. It's doable. You can do this at transition time. You can do this right after your morning meeting and have a new person to talk about. What I would also implore you to do to keep pace is to have little leader in the morning and maybe a little legend in the afternoon, but I think you should have two people each day. But, jebe, there's like 28 or 29 days In February. How am I gonna get this done? Sweethearts, you can keep reading the book past February, all right, we're not gonna be like Grover in that there's a monster at the end of this book. Don't turn the page. Come on now. All right, we can do this.

Speaker 1:

I used to always joke with my colleagues that, yeah, I'm still black all year long, so we can still talk about history all year long. You know what I mean. So when we are reading this book, have your Google slide, have your PowerPoint of each person and then, if you want to older elementary students, have a person in your class who wants to read out loud, read it to the class. Usually, when my students want the opportunity to do that, I give them the book ahead of time to practice in the hallway so they feel a little more courageous in front of their peers. Just another little tidbit so we've got the likes of Phyllis Wheatley. We also have Mahalia Jackson, nina Simone, raven Wilkinson, florence Joyner, dominique Daz oh my gosh, everybody wanna be Dominique Daz. When we saw her in the Olympics they even had little bangs, just like Dominique Daz. So you've got plenty of really incredible women that are featured in this book.

Speaker 1:

You might not have heard of Mary Eliza Mahoney or Rebecca Lee Crumpler. These are some amazing authors, musicians, athletes, change agents. This is just a wonderfully written book. She also has really cool facts that you might not have read or learned about before, and that's why I want your students to be in tuned to who these individuals are. When you are reading this book. I want you to show your enthusiasm, because I know you probably don't know half of these names either. So that's the exciting piece about it. These are the names and the change agents in our society that, no fault of your own, didn't even learn these names when we were also in school. So you are also being engaged as a learner, as well as your students.

Speaker 1:

Now looking over at the little legends Exceptional Men in Black History. The same thing comes here, where you're going to have lots of new names that you probably haven't heard of before. Again, like I said before, read the introduction, educators, and then start reading along with your students. We have, of course, benjamin Bannaker, great Inventor, surveied Washington DC. Harry Belafonte, hollywood star as well as a civil rights activist. We have Eddie Mabo. We have Jacob Lawrence, artis. Andre Leon Talley, fashion Icon I want you to look into.

Speaker 1:

At the end of each of the books, you have more little leaders to follow and more little legends. So here's another scoop. I want you to continue to do, educators. I want you to, after you're done reading both of the books and sharing the facts, I want you to challenge your students by having them find a leader and a legend in the African-American community that they can go ahead and research. But here's a challenge they shouldn't be the people featured in the book. Huh, mic drop right. So, trust me, there's way more that will give them the task to further do their biography component for their standard.

Speaker 1:

And what I love about Vashti again, she has some great resources to continue reading, watching and listening. On the back of each of the books she's got books that she suggests, she's got videos and all kinds of multimedia resources for you films to watch and she also has the ratings there. So, as an educator you know and websites to continue research. Now these websites have been vetted for good research tools. There's so many wonderful tools and resources out there. A lot of us educators I've been there be like I do not have time to do the extra research. But to get started, I implore you to get these two books to get started on furthering your Black History, us History facts with your students.

Speaker 1:

I didn't get paid by Vashti to promote her book. I'm just a huge fan. Okay, I did not get paid by publishers to review these books. They're just books that I have used in my classroom settings. They are also books that I want you to search and find and, of course, amplify and support these BIPOC artists and authors that I bring to you every single week, super excited for you to dive into these books. You can find Little Legends Exceptional Men in Black History and Little Leaders Bold Women in Black History, written and illustrated by Vashti Harrison, wherever books are sold Now. Be sure to go back into my season four, episode 21, where I talk about her book Big, and you will get all the nuggets of why that is also one of my favorite books. Thanks again, and I will see you here same time next week. Bye-bye.