ABCs of Black History: Stay Engaged and Connected While Working Anywhere

I love every aspect of this book! I bought this to support our Kwanzaa celebration and to help educate my children and myself on our history. Cover to cover it provides beautiful rich pictures that my kids and I can't take our eyes off of! The text is in kid and adult friendly language that helps to educate and emower our knowledge and appreciation for our culture. I am an elementary teacher and will be recommending this for my school's library and my classroom! Well done!

Since The ABCs of Black History has been the subject of a complaint filed by a parent of two students at Bob Graham Education Center in Florida, I decided to read the book myself to see what all the “hullabaloo” was about. I am an avid reader of history, and am interested in what is available for students to explore, especially at the elementary school level.I have several concerns, some minor, some not so.Several historic inconsistencies are contained within the book. Two pages are in part devoted to the Black Panther Movement (see the letter “P”), as well as Malcolm-X. Both are depicted strictly as benevolent, despite possible links to violence, both external and internecine.In reference to the heroic achievement of Jesse Owens at the 1936 Munich Olympics, Adolf Hitler is described as having declared that “white people were superior to everyone else”, when in fact, his ire was reserved for nearly everyone not of the Aryan race, as attested to by the slaughter of 6 million Jews and possibly 500,000 Roma, the vast majority of whom were white.Kamala Harris is described as the “first woman, the first woman of color, the first Black person, and first South Asian American to be elected vice president of the United States”. Barack Obama is described as the “first African-American” to be elected president. No mention is made of his white mother.“R is for rise” shows pictures of various black athletes. Curiously absent is Jackie Robinson, who arguably had the most profound impact on professional sports, and a uniquely outsized influence on American Culture and mores. He is briefly described near the end of the book.“Q is for Queens” highlights several historical black women including African Queens. Notably absent is a section depicting black kings. I certainly would have included a picture of Nelson Mandela, a giant of an African hero. I am also unaware that it was conclusively proven that Nefertiti was black. Curiously, the heroine Rosa Parks is omitted from this section of the book, in favor of Michelle Obama.A “Terms and Figures” section in the back of the book provides further explanation to the lettered sections. A short section on James Baldwin describes his sexual orientation (“he was a gay man”.) Likewise, the inclusion of Marsha “Pay No Mind” Johnson, a “transgender activist,” but minor historical figure, I assume reflects the presumed liberal bias of the author, and may not be appropriate for the intended audience of young children.These are all minor critiques of a book which attempts to introduce children to an immensely important topic. But my strongest objection to the work is the feeling it lent to this adult reader, and which may negatively influence its audience of naïve impressionable young readers.Nowhere in the book is a white person described in a positive manner. The section “M is for March”, depicts the various black protest movements throughout the years extending from the Civil Rights Era to today, with emphasis on Black Lives Matter. The demonstrators are all black. Not pictured is a single white person anywhere in the book taking part in any demonstration, nor is there any mention of any white person or group who may have devoted his or her life to Black Freedom and Equality, such as the Abolitionist Movement, John Brown or Abraham Lincoln. Very little is described of the Underground Railroad. No mention is made of the cause of the American Civil War and it’s horrific casualties, and its contribution, however incomplete, to the eventual abolition of slavery and black injustice. Sadly, in this book, black people are presented as a people apart, segregated, separate. A wall is drawn about black people, a wall erected between “us and them”. After reading this book, one would never know that white people also walked across that bridge in Selma, or that Martin Luther King, Jr. was not just a hero to African-Americans, but to us all. It is an incomplete lesson of black history.

This book is excellent. It includes a lot of unknown/ hidden facts and information about history. The images are beautiful and engaging for young readers.

I like the colorful pages ,the thought provoking content, easy to read for my young grand daughters.

She enjoyed reading on her own!