Written by Tamera Shaw and Priscilla Weddle

Overview of Symposium

Priscilla Weddle, the Children’s Peace Formation Organizer, and Tamera Shaw, one of the Racial Justice Organizers, attended the The White Symposium Iowa 2020 this year. It was held on November 6-7 via Zoom. The symposium was founded and is owned by Dr. Eddie Moore Jr; it centers on antiracism, equity, liberation, and justice. This year, there were 30 engaging workshops offered and four keynotes: Bettina Love, Wade Antonio-Colwell and Benjie Howard, Jane K. Fernandez, and Jennifer Harvey. Earlier this year, Priscilla and Tamera led a Raising Race Conscious Kids Webinar with Grace Cook-Huffman, Racial Justice Organizer, and Laura Hay, Youth and Young Adult Organizer that was based off of Jennifer Harvey’s Raising White Kids. They were both excited to hear her speak during this symposium. 

For this blog series, I have been focusing on the importance of books in developing children’s peace skills. However, movies and tv shows can also play a significant role in teaching children skills. I wanted to create a list of documentaries and docuseries that both children and adults would enjoy watching. The documentaries and docuseries I chose are about peace, courage and justice. Here are my recommendations:

On October 22nd, I attended an Embrace Race webinar called “Using Books to Engage Young Children in Talk about Race and Justice.” Savitha Moorthy, Sara Rizik-Baer, and Aija Simmons of Tandem Bay Area were the guest speakers. Tandem is a nonprofit organization that has a mission of “engaging the whole community to ensure all families have the resources, skills, and confidence they need to support their children’s kindergarten readiness” (Tandem, 2019). Moorthy, Rizik-Baer, and Simmons were invited to speak by Embrace Race to talk about their new StoryCycles program. The StoryCycles program “provides families with the access they need to high-quality children’s books and also provides information to parents and educators on how to make the most of each book-sharing opportunity” (Tandem, 2019). 

The Read Aloud Project was created by Priscilla Weddle and Marie Benner-Rhoades to provide homeschooling resources in peace and justice during the pandemic. For October, the project highlighted books about peace skills and Hispanic culture. In November, the project will highlight books about Native American culture to celebrate Native American Heritage Month. If you are interested in recording a video for the project, please email Priscilla at [email protected]. Here are the books that were read for the project in October:

Mama’s Nightingale:A Story of Immigration and Separation by Edwidge Danticat, Illustrated by Leslie Staub

Summary: “After Saya’s mother is sent to an immigration detention center, Saya finds comfort in listening to her mother’s warm greeting on their answering machine. To ease the distance between them while she is in jail, Mama begins sending Saya bedtime stories inspired by Haitian folklore on cassette tape. Moved by her mother’s tales and her father’s attempts to reunite their family, Saya writes a story of her own—one that just might bring her mother home for good.”

Reflective Question: If you have any friends or family who are immigrants, what are some ways you can support them? How can you be a friend and support immigrants in your community?

Worksheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_AZEHFe-Vxwhvof28o4kYqNz5apdwY5-7K6PDjxagLY/edit?usp=sharing

In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. and members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference began their campaign to desegregate Birmingham, Alabama. Birmingham was viewed as one of the most segregated cities in the country and demonstrations were outlawed. King would later be arrested for being involved in a non-violent demonstration, which led him to write “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” The story of King’s arrest and letter is well-known, however, many may not know about the vital role children played in the Birmingham Campaign. Thousands of children joined the Children’s Crusade to protest segregation and were met with force by Birmingham’s police force. Even though they were being attacked, the children continued to march. Many children ended up being arrested and stories of their march made headlines around the country. Their courageous actions pushed officials in Birmingham to meet with civil rights leaders and desegregate the city.  I wanted to create a list of books about the Children's Crusade to show children that they can be actively engaged in social justice and make a difference in the world. Here is the list:

Grades: Kindergarten-5

The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, A Young Civil Rights Activist  by Cynthia Levinson

Nine-year-old Audrey Faye Hendricks intended to go places and do things like anybody else. So when she heard grown-ups talk about wiping out Birmingham’s segregation laws, she spoke up. As she listened to the preacher’s words, smooth as glass, she sat up tall. And when she heard the plan—picket those white stores! March to protest those unfair laws! Fill the jails!—she stepped right up and said, I’ll do it! She was going to j-a-a-il! Audrey Faye Hendricks was confident and bold and brave as can be, and hers is the remarkable and inspiring story of one child’s role in the Civil Rights Movement.