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Supporting #blacklivesmatter and anti-racism
Scottish Book Trust works to bring the life changing magic of books to everyone in Scotland. We believe books are tools for fighting injustice. We know books have the power to improve lives and to offer respite. Access to books must transcend oppression when these systems are not yet eradicated. The foundations of all our work rest on the principles of equality.
We support #blacklivesmatter and are committed to doing more. We are committed to embedding equalities thoroughly, to educating ourselves and making changes. We understand it is more important to do the work, than make a statement. We know our actions must speak louder than these words. We know that this must be an ongoing process.
We will use our platform to support and amplify anti-racist voices, black readers and writers and organisations fighting for equality. We will use our resources and materials to educate and inform.
Here is some of our existing work that explores and supports anti-racism, which may be helpful at this time.
If you would like to deepen your understanding of the UK context, here is our 2018 Book Week Scotland Akala event (requires Facebook account - part 1 from 27:00(this link will open in a new window), part 2(this link will open in a new window)), co-programmed by @Lighthousebks(this link will open in a new window) and @edincarib(this link will open in a new window).
If you’re looking for resources to support secondary school aged children, please see below:
Show Racism the Red Card Scotland(this link will open in a new window) partnered with Scottish Book Trust to produce a learning resource on challenging racism in secondary school(this link will open in a new window). This resource can be used in conjunction with Scottish Book Trust’s Authors Live events, for example Authors Live: Kwame Alexander(this link will open in a new window), which includes a reading from The Undefeated, a poem and picture book about black history. Other Authors Live events which explore racism include events featuring Nikesh Shukla(this link will open in a new window), Bessora and Sarah Ardizzone, and our Unheard voices panel with Alex Wheatle, Anni Cameron and Dave Hook.
Our Malorie Blackman learning activities(this link will open in a new window) explore Noughts and Crosses and the civil rights movement, originally created to support our Authors Live event with Malorie.
And for younger children:
We recommend picture books from the Little People, Big Dreams series as a way into conversations about #blacklivesmatter and anti-racism for very young children, particularly the titles that cover the lives of Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, Martin Luther King Jr and Harriet Tubman. These books are also available in board format with simpler language.
Other titles that may be useful for families include Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman and A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara.
These books lists offer further suggested reading for children and teens:
- Anti-racist books for children and teens(this link will open in a new window), by Aimee Felone for The Guardian
- Anti-racist books for kids(this link will open in a new window) from Citadel Youth Centre, shared by Edinburgh Libraries