Wonderful!

Krenice Roseman went birthday shopping for her niece in a Chicago-area bookstore two years ago. She was in a hurry, scanning book covers, but couldn't find any that reflected who her niece, an African American girl, is.

The attorney, who's an avid reader, went online instead and found a couple of books with Black characters. She bought them for her niece -- and donated some more to local community centers.

"I became frustrated and decided I wanted to do something about it," Roseman told CNN of the dearth of Black title characters in children's literature.

She told her future husband about her experience. "He had a bigger vision for what we can do," the 36-year-old said.

The couple filed paperwork to start a nonprofit. Six weeks later, Young, Black & Lit was born.

Making an Impact, One Child at a Time

Young, Black & Lit provides free books that feature Black main characters to children. The organization has distributed more than 5,000 books in the Chicago-land area through book fairs, community groups and schools.

"When a child sees themselves reflected in the books that they read, when the books are a mirror to them, they feel valued," said Roseman.

Eleven percent of children's books had Black main characters last year, according to the Cooperative Children's Book Center at the School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Representation has been growing: In 2015, just 7% of books featured Black characters.

For Roseman, a bigger problem is this: 60% of students in low-income communities don't have any books at all in their homes.

"That speaks to a lack of libraries, a lack of books within libraries, also money within the community to support buying books," she said.

A Department of Education study backs that up. It found 2.5 million children are enrolled in school districts where there are no libraries at all -- a huge problem since, the report finds, students who have books in their homes perform better academically.

"It's not only about seeing yourself in the books that you read, but being able to take a peek into the world of other children, who look different than you and experience life different than you," Roseman said
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A Sense of Pride

Amir Wilson's parents tried to find books with Black characters before the nonprofit came along, but "it was just always a challenge finding the ones for his age," said his father, Kareem Wilson. Amir's third grade class received books from Young, Black & Lit last school year.

"(The nonprofit) made me keenly aware that there were books out there like this," Wilson said. "I had no idea."

The 8-year-old said he loved reading "Hidden Figures" about the Black women and NASA mathematicians who helped the US win the space race.

"Other people say they can't do stuff, and they prove them wrong," Amir told CNN. But his favorite genre is superheroes, so bringing home "Miles Morales: Spider-Man" was thrilling.
"It's the best Spider-Man ever," the young reader told CNN.

"He thinks he's Spider-Man," added Amir's dad. "To have Black characters gives a sense of pride in who one is."

[cnn.com]