Months ago, I interviewed Katie Meyler, founder of a nonprofit devoted to getting girls off the street and into school in Liberia. I was so impressed by her story, and the magnitude of her efforts to serve destitute girls, that I held onto my notes, intending to write a long feature about her.
The former education reporter in me wanted to collect more data, visit the school, interview students, and see for myself the impact this one passionate woman makes. In short, I wanted to write something that would do Katie’s work justice.
Then Ebola hit and I learned never to put off sharing a good story as soon as I hear it. Below is a Q&A from my call with Katie. (Better late than never!)
Continue reading “How Katie Meyler Fights for Girls in Liberia”Here’s my confession. I buy 90% of my books from Amazon (gulp!), even as I diligently link to Indiebound.org on my blog to spur readers to shop indie. I have not been walking the walk. Blame it on Prime or One-Click or the 2,000-employee fulfillment center one county over (which I visited — witness the addiction). The speedy delivery is alluring, addictive even. I’ve pondered using a site-blocking app to force alignment of my indie spirit and my buying habits, but Amazon’s mammoth selection of obscure titles by diverse authors is something I can’t part with.
Still, the indie book shops beat Amazon on two things I really value–building local literary community and making it easy to discover less-known local authors. Amazon’s advanced search is great if you know author names already, but you’re in the lurch if you’re looking for an author who writes from a particular locale. By contrast, local booksellers and librarians often have homegrown authors on the tips of their tongues.
Continue reading “Can Reading Local Cure My Amazon Addiction?”
Here’s my confession. I buy 90% of my books from Amazon (gulp!), even as I diligently link to Indiebound.org on my blog to spur readers to shop indie. I have not been walking the walk. Blame it on Prime or One-Click or the 2,000-employee fulfillment center one county over (which I visited — witness the addiction). The speedy delivery is alluring, addictive even. I’ve pondered using a site-blocking app to force alignment of my indie spirit and my buying habits, but Amazon’s mammoth selection of obscure titles by diverse authors is something I can’t part with.
Still, the indie book shops beat Amazon on two things I really value–building local literary community and making it easy to discover less-known local authors. Amazon’s advanced search is great if you know author names already, but you’re in the lurch if you’re looking for an author who writes from a particular locale. By contrast, local booksellers and librarians often have homegrown authors on the tips of their tongues.
Continue reading “Can Reading Local Cure My Amazon Addiction?”
Vote Smart in the 2015 Infiniti Coaches’ Charity Challenge. Shaka has again selected FRIENDS Association for Children as his partner agency, and your support could generate $100,000!
Vote now and come back every day––Round 1 ends January 25!
Vote Smart in the 2015 Infiniti Coaches’ Charity Challenge. Shaka has again selected FRIENDS Association for Children as his partner agency, and your support could generate $100,000!
Vote now and come back every day––Round 1 ends January 25!
I think books need some cheerleading these days as gift options for kids. They aren’t (usually) shiny, they don’t (hopefully) make noise and they require some work to enjoy. Nevertheless, books are homerun gift picks because they position literacy as something to be treasured.
We recently attended a toddler birthday party where the parents distributed books as party favors instead of the usual candy/toy mix. My three-year-old daughter Zora has pretend-read “Curious George’s Birthday Surprise” every day since. She narrates the pictures and drags her finger along the text as if reading. Something about getting a wrapped book tied with a balloon captured her attention. She’s not yet reading, but the groundwork for it has been laid in her literacy-rich home and reinforced at school and among friends. She’s well on her way. Every child should be so lucky.
I think books need some cheerleading these days as gift options for kids. They aren’t (usually) shiny, they don’t (hopefully) make noise and they require some work to enjoy. Nevertheless, books are homerun gift picks because they position literacy as something to be treasured.
We recently attended a toddler birthday party where the parents distributed books as party favors instead of the usual candy/toy mix. My three-year-old daughter Zora has pretend-read “Curious George’s Birthday Surprise” every day since. She narrates the pictures and drags her finger along the text as if reading. Something about getting a wrapped book tied with a balloon captured her attention. She’s not yet reading, but the groundwork for it has been laid in her literacy-rich home and reinforced at school and among friends. She’s well on her way. Every child should be so lucky.
She wrote consistently, press releases and such, but not in the format or for the audience she preferred. Caught in a cycle of “almost writing,” it was her reading life that nudged her to go pro with the kind of writing she loved. Observing other authors telling Latino stories gave her inspiration and confidence to tell some of her own. Ten years later, she’s the award-winning author of four books for children and young adults, with a fifth on the way.
Continue reading “Meg Medina on Building The Courage to Write”
She wrote consistently, press releases and such, but not in the format or for the audience she preferred. Caught in a cycle of “almost writing,” it was her reading life that nudged her to go pro with the kind of writing she loved. Observing other authors telling Latino stories gave her inspiration and confidence to tell some of her own. Ten years later, she’s the award-winning author of four books for children and young adults, with a fifth on the way.
Continue reading “Meg Medina on Building The Courage to Write”
Sometimes the best thing an emergency room doctor can give a kid is a book. In a world where low-income children hear 30 million fewer words than more affluent peers, literacy’s the true life-saver. Sutures and IVs can do only so much to address the aftermath of poverty—violence, drugs and abuse—that accounts for so many ER visits.
Just ask Dr. Robin Foster, chief of pediatric emergency services at VCU Medical Center, who says she makes as much impact with social engagement as with medical intervention. Foster helped found in-hospital programs dedicated to child advocacy, youth violence prevention and literacy–all with the goal of reducing the need for emergency services by nipping issues before they reach crisis levels.
Read on to see how Foster and her colleagues promote early literacy and school readiness as a site of Reach Out and Read, a national program that integrates children’s books and parental advice into medical visits.
Continue reading “When Books Are the Best Medicine: Fostering Literacy in the ER”
Sometimes the best thing an emergency room doctor can give a kid is a book. In a world where low-income children hear 30 million fewer words than more affluent peers, literacy’s the true life-saver. Sutures and IVs can do only so much to address the aftermath of poverty—violence, drugs and abuse—that accounts for so many ER visits.
Just ask Dr. Robin Foster, chief of pediatric emergency services at VCU Medical Center, who says she makes as much impact with social engagement as with medical intervention. Foster helped found in-hospital programs dedicated to child advocacy, youth violence prevention and literacy–all with the goal of reducing the need for emergency services by nipping issues before they reach crisis levels.
Read on to see how Foster and her colleagues promote early literacy and school readiness as a site of Reach Out and Read, a national program that integrates children’s books and parental advice into medical visits.
Continue reading “When Books Are the Best Medicine: Fostering Literacy in the ER”
Instead, I found the same old, same old: an overwhelmingly white and male list. It featured just three women authors — Harper Lee, Margaret Atwoood, L.M. Montgomery. Haruki Murakami and Alexandre Dumas the lone people of color.
Irritated, I replied: “I hope this is a first draft and you plan to do some soul searching about the bias you just put on blast.” I wrongly assumed that the whitewashed list, like so many others every year, was a sole author’s creation. Turns out, the real origin was more interesting. Time reprinted a Business Insider article summarizing a Reddit thread that asked, “What is a book that everyone needs to read at least once in their life?”
A. Reddit. Thread. Continue reading “On Protesting Whitewashed Reading Lists”
Instead, I found the same old, same old: an overwhelmingly white and male list. It featured just three women authors — Harper Lee, Margaret Atwoood, L.M. Montgomery. Haruki Murakami and Alexandre Dumas the lone people of color.
Irritated, I replied: “I hope this is a first draft and you plan to do some soul searching about the bias you just put on blast.” I wrongly assumed that the whitewashed list, like so many others every year, was a sole author’s creation. Turns out, the real origin was more interesting. Time reprinted a Business Insider article summarizing a Reddit thread that asked, “What is a book that everyone needs to read at least once in their life?”
A. Reddit. Thread. Continue reading “On Protesting Whitewashed Reading Lists”
The conversation in this case centered around a single misleading caption in a high school geography text, but the issue is much more widespread. So many wonderful points were made by host Nancy Redd and my fellow panelists Roni Dean-Burren and Mark Anthony Neal that I wanted to share the full text of our discussion in addition to the video. Scroll down for the transcript. Continue reading “How To Address Misleading History in Texas Textbooks”
The conversation in this case centered around a single misleading caption in a high school geography text, but the issue is much more widespread. So many wonderful points were made by host Nancy Redd and my fellow panelists Roni Dean-Burren and Mark Anthony Neal that I wanted to share the full text of our discussion in addition to the video. Scroll down for the transcript. Continue reading “How To Address Misleading History in Texas Textbooks”
Here’s the speech:
My family and I moved here in May–with 3,000 other folks. We’re part of the influx of people primed to relocate by all of the Best Places lists that Austin tops. You know, the ones that say Austin is best for young professionals and retirees. That it’s tech-savvy, green, musical, safe, educated, weird. And somehow also manages to be the best place for barbecue, burgers and vegetarians.
Austin shows really well in TV specials and glossy magazines.
But when you move here and see it up close, it loses a bit of its sheen. You see firsthand that Austin has excellent homes, schools, and lifestyles–for some. But it also has incredible segregation that divides people by income, education, and class, not to mention race and ethnicity, in ways that perpetuate poverty and cripple educational attainment for far too many children. Continue reading “Nonprofit Spotlight: Why I Support Breakthrough Austin”
Here’s the speech:
My family and I moved here in May–with 3,000 other folks. We’re part of the influx of people primed to relocate by all of the Best Places lists that Austin tops. You know, the ones that say Austin is best for young professionals and retirees. That it’s tech-savvy, green, musical, safe, educated, weird. And somehow also manages to be the best place for barbecue, burgers and vegetarians.
Austin shows really well in TV specials and glossy magazines.
But when you move here and see it up close, it loses a bit of its sheen. You see firsthand that Austin has excellent homes, schools, and lifestyles–for some. But it also has incredible segregation that divides people by income, education, and class, not to mention race and ethnicity, in ways that perpetuate poverty and cripple educational attainment for far too many children. Continue reading “Nonprofit Spotlight: Why I Support Breakthrough Austin”
Set in 1987, it maps Angie Mackenzie’s fraught journey to retrace her deceased sister Ella’s steps from Detroit to Lagos, and bring a sense of closure to her mourning. Since Ella’s death, Angie had been stuck–unable to forge her own identity. She’s lived instead “as a kind of caretaker to the obsessions Ella left behind, an executor of her sister’s Afrocentric politics, new age beliefs, Fela Kuti devotion.”
But by 1987, four years after Ella’s death, times had changed. The African Liberation Day celebration in Detroit had shriveled, Fela was strung out, and Angie sporting her dead sister’s caftan and haunting her grave was long-past worrisome. She set off for Lagos Island, Ikeja and Surulera on a “hajj of some sort, yearn[ing] to return more certain of who she was, of what she could do in the world. Figure out what type of black person to be.”
Author Bridgett Davis makes a risky choice in telling this story through Angie, a thin, grasping imitation of Ella. It mutes the book’s most lively character and reduces Ella’s charisma and many compelling experiences to plot points along Angie’s quest for resolution. The effect is to dampen the urgency of some of the book’s best material. Pivotal moments in Ella’s life become, in Angie’s mind, mere explanations for her ultimate demise, making the tale a bit too pat and tidy.
Davis references a great deal of African-American history–the family’s migration north, Jim Crow, “black firsts” (the first black woman jockey, the first black woman congresswoman…), the Black Power movement. It provides important context for Angie’s journey and a counterpoint to what she learns of African current events, illuminating the dramatic personal, social and cultural change sweeping through countries on two continents.
Occasionally, though, the historical references to coups and crack, apartheid and AIDS feel forced into a story that’s principally about grieving, not racial consciousness. That Ella was “deep into the struggle, a dedicated Pan-Africanist” feels less important than that she was dynamic, loved, and greatly missed.
Stalking Ella’s memory proves to be extremely dangerous for a single woman in Nigeria, and naive Angie belatedly realizes that Ella didn’t make her journeys to Africa alone. Big sis was always a part of a delegation or with her on-again-off-again boyfriend Nigel. Davis hits her stride in the latter part of the book when she vividly describes Nigeria in all its poverty and prosperity, with many shades of lifestyle, identity, and culture in between. It’s a much more textured depiction than the one offered of Detroit, which is principally set in stores or in front of television sets.
Like the “go-slow” in Lagos for which the book is named–its notorious traffic–the novel’s direction is clear from the outset, but so dense with characters and activity that you don’t know when you’ll arrive. Be forewarned. It’s quite a ride and the destination may not warrant the travel.
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