This school year can be different.

This back-to-school season, provide a child with a book that reflects their race and culture.

John.

We have less than 30 days to raise $10,000 in order to put books written by Black authors into the hands of NYC public school students. Our children deserve an education that reflects and empowers them, and we can make a difference going into 2020. In this season of giving, will you chip in $10 to support our kids?

Black New York City public school children are about to complete yet another semester in school without having read a single book containing characters who look like them, live like them, or have similar experiences. Without curricula to reflect them, our history and childhood experiences are being erased.¹

John, last year, in response to over 20,000 Color Of Change members taking action, the New York City invested $23 million to provide implicit bias and culturally responsive practice training over the next four years. And this year, thanks to you, NYC has adopted a formal definition for “culturally responsive education.”² We won’t stop fighting until we have a curriculum change, but that doesn’t mean our children have to wait.

Of the 42 authors in the Mayor's Pre-K for All curriculum, there are zero Black writers, and of the 121 in the Mayor's 3-K curriculum, only three are Black - while 109 are white.³ Children cannot be what they cannot see - will you join Color Of Change to provide them with books that provide a world of possibility and potential?

John, your donation could make a huge difference in a child's life. Here’s how:

For children in Grades K-2, your $10 contribution would give children copies of Black All Around, a book that reflects their race and culture.

For children in Grades 3-6, your $10 contribution would give children copies of Richard Wright and the Library Card, a book that will supplement their education and promote literacy.

For children in Grades 6-8, your $10 contribution provides children with copies of Dear Mrs. Parks, a historically and culturally accurate book that will remind children of our history.

Racism and bias in schools constitutes a national crisis, and more work needs to be done to ensure that culturally responsive education policies and curriculum are implemented — not just defined.

You can make a difference this school year by gifting a book that will provide cultural enrichment and the joy of reading to a New York City elementary school student.

Until justice is real,

--Jade, Rashad, Arisha, Amanda, Evan, Johnny, Future, Eesha, Samantha, Marcus, FolaSade, and the rest of the Color Of Change team

References:

“Chronically Absent: The Exclusion of People of Color from the NYC Elementary School Curricula,” NYC Coalition for Educational Justice, February 20, 2019, http://act.colorofchange.org/go/141864?t=10&akid=39447%2E4731121%2EOG7dOL
“New York City Adopts ‘Culturally Responsive’ Education in Schools,” The Wall Street Journal, August 1, 2019, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/181557?t=12&akid=39447%2E4731121%2EOG7dOL
“Diverse City, White Curriculum: The Exclusion of People of Color from English Language Arts in NYC Schools,” NYC Coalition for Educational Justice, December 4, 2019, http://act.colorofchange.org/go/222669?t=14&akid=39447%2E4731121%2EOG7dOL

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