Resources for Fighting Racial Injustice

The Children’s Book Guild of Washington, DC supports members in creating and sharing high-quality children’s literature that reflects the diversity of our world.

We offer this list as a resource. Please research each organization carefully, as they are not all 501(c)3 status, and we are not in a position to vet or make recommendations.

Organizations supporting diversity, equity, inclusion, and racial justice:

An Open Book Foundation (member organization)

An Open Book Foundation connects Washington DC-area students with authors, illustrators, and their books to nurture a lifelong love of reading.We support educational justice by building equitable access to interactive literacy enrichment and high-quality books.

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Building Bridges Across the River 

Building Bridges Across the River (BBAR)

provides residents East of the Anacostia River access to the best-in-class facilities,

programs and partnerships in arts and culture, economic opportunity, education,

recreation, health and well-being.

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First Book (member organization)

First Book believes that education is the best way

out of poverty for children in need. First Book aims to remove barriers to quality

education for all kids by making everything from new, high-quality books and

educational resources to sports equipment, winter coats, snacks, and more – affordable to

its member network of more than 475,000 educators who exclusively serve kids in need.

 Las Musas Books Las Musas is a collaborative of female and female-leaning Latina

writers who amplify and support the work of all Latina writers so that it is clear that there

is, in fact, room for all stories and that the stories they are writing only begin to scratch

the surface of what represents the Latinx community. The Las Musas Collaborative helps

lift every single voice in solidarity and provides a broader understanding of Latinx

diversity to young readers thereby building  a more just and empathic world.

Learning for Justice (previously Teaching Tolerance ):

Learning for Justice's mission is to help teachers and schools educate children and youth to be active participants in a diverse democracy. Our program emphasizes social justice and anti-bias. The anti-bias approach encourages children and young people to challenge prejudice and learn how tombe agents of change in their own lives. Our Socialustice Standards show how anti-bias

education works through the four domains of identity, diversity, justice and action.

MIGIZI

MIGIZI acts as a circle of support that nurtures the development of Native

American youth in order to unleash their creativity and dreams – to benefit themselves,

their families and community. MIGIZI was founded in 1977 as Migizi Communications,

Inc., with a goal of countering the misrepresentations and inaccuracies about Native

people in the media. Today, First Person Productions is a multimedia training effort for

Native youth aimed at providing state-of-the-art storytelling skills, enhancing self-esteem

and improving academic performance. Additional MIGIZI efforts address youth needs in

jobs, culture, leadership and more.

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NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund 

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. is America’s premier legal organization fighting for racial justice. Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that

fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans. LDF also defends the gains and

protections won over the past 75 years of civil rights struggle and works to improve the

quality and diversity of judicial and executive appointments.

Nature Generation (member organization)

The Nature Generation (NatGen) is an environmental nonprofit that inspires and empowers youth to make a difference. We reach our nation’s youth through innovative environmental stewardship programs in literature, science and the arts.

Reading Partners

Reading Partners's mission is to help children become lifelong readers by empowering communities to provide individualized instruction with measurable results.

Read Your World (formerly Multicultural Children’s Book Day)

Read Your World is a non-profit whose mission is to ensure that every child has access to diverse and inclusive children’s literature. By providing a wide range of books that reflect various cultures, identities, and experiences, we aim to foster literacy, empathy, and inclusivity in young readers. We believe that every child deserves to see themselves in the stories they read and to understand the world through the perspective of others.

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Shout Mouse Press (member organization)

Shout Mouse Press is a nonprofit writing and publishing program dedicated to amplifying underheard youth voices. From writing workshops to book publication to public speaking, we support young people as they tell their own stories and act as agents of change.

Social Justice Synergy

Through the creation of a shared language, Social Justice

Synergy enables and empowers practices and policies grounded in social justice to work

towards transformative change.

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Teaching for Change 

Teaching for Change provides teachers and parents with the tools to create schools where students learn to read, write, and change the world. By drawing direct connections to real world issues, Teaching for Change encourages teachers and students to question and re-think the world inside and outside their classrooms, build a more equitable, multicultural society, and become active global citizens.

The Conscious Kid

The Conscious Kid is an education, research and policy organization dedicated to reducing bias and promoting positive identity development in youth. We partner with organizations, children’s museums, schools, and families across the country to promote access to children’s books centering underrepresented and oppressed groups.

The Pauli Murray Center For Social Justice

The Pauli Murray Center lifts up the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, a twentieth-century human rights activist, legal scholar, feminist, author, poet, Episcopal priest, labor organizer, an mutiracial Black, LGBTQ+ community member. Center programming in history, education, arts, and activism seeks to advance justice and equity.

The Story Gift Project (member organization)

Even in a digital age, books are still treasures. For those who don’t often have the privilege of having a book of their own, or who too seldom have the pleasure of holding a book in hand rather than merely seeing a fleeting, flickering image on-screen – Joy Jones has created The Story Gift Project. The Story Gift Project has collaborated with the National Home Library Foundation and

World Book Night. We have donated over 600 books to Ballou Senior High School, H.

D. Woodson Senior High School, Richard Wright Public Charter School, Maury Elementary School, Hart Middle School, Richard Wright Public Charter School, Psychiatric Institute of Washington, and Saint Elizabeths Hospital.

Turning the Page (member organization)

Turning the Page links public schools, families and our community so that, together, we can ensure students receive valuable educational resources and a high-quality public education.

We Need Diverse Books: We Need Diverse Books™

Grassroots organization of children’s book lovers that advocates essential changes in the publishing industry. Our aim is to help produce and promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people.

Books, Articles, Videos & Podcasts supporting diversity, equity, inclusion, and racial justice:

Resources from Guild Members:

"Kwame Alexander on Children’s Books and the Color of Characters" by Kwame Alexander, NYT (Aug 2016)

Resources from Past Guild Presenters:

“The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf,” a TEDx Talk by Grace Lin (Jan 2016)

My Sisters’ Voices: Teenage Girls of Color Speak Out, a collection of essays by young

women of color by Iris Jacobs

Resources from others:

Africa Access Review (Children's Africana Book Awards)

American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL)

Diversity Baseline Survey (Lee & Low Books)

PEN America: Emerging Voices Fellowship

#PUBLISHINGPAIDME Spreadsheet

Research on Diversity in Youth Literature (RDYL)

"The Apartheid of Children's Literature" by Christopher Myers, New York Times (Mar15, 2014)

The Open Book Blog (Lee and Low)

"Who Can Tell My Story? by Jacqueline Woodson, The Horn Book (Jan 1998)