The National Day of Racial Healing is a time to contemplate our shared values and create the blueprint together for #HowWeHeal from the effects of racism. Observed annually on the Tuesday after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, this annual observance asks us to get to know our neighbors, cultivate relationships where we remain curious, and explore the cultures that make up our community.
This book list is meant to support National Day of Racial Healing and provide resources within our Pittsburgh community and beyond. This list is made up of non-fiction and fiction titles for kids and teens.
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This urgent book explores the roots of racism and its legacy in modern day, all while empowering young people with actionable ways they can help foster a better world and become antiracists.
You can also check out this title as an eAudio on Hoopla.
Active anti-racism means learning, doing, and undoing. Educator and activist Tiffany Jewell guides you through 20 activities to spark anti-racism in your life and grow your knowledge of social identities, the history of racism, historical and current oppression, and paths of hope. You can also check out this title as eBook on OverDrive/Libby. This title is also available as an eBook or eAudio on Hoopla.
On October 16, 1968, during the medal ceremony at the Mexico City Olympics, Tommie Smith, the gold medal winner in the 200-meter sprint, and John Carlos, the bronze medal winner, stood on the podium in black socks and raised their black-gloved fists to protest racial injustice inflicted upon African Americans. In his first-ever memoir for young readers, Tommie Smith looks back on his childhood growing up in rural Texas through to his stellar athletic career, culminating in his historic victory and Olympic podium protest.
You can also check out this title as eBook on OverDrive/Libby.
Saddened by her classmates’ and teacher’s mispronunciations of her name, a girl is empowered by her discovery that names are like songs when she and her mom celebrate the musicality of African, Asian, Black-American, Latinx, and Middle Eastern names. You can also check out this title as eBook on Hoopla.
A lyrical, heart-lifting love letter to Black and Brown children everywhere reminds them how much they matter, that they have always mattered and they always will.
You can also check out this title as eBook on OverDrive/Libby or as eAudio on OverDrive/Libby. This title is also available as an eAudio on Hoopla.
Shares a story of loving who you are, respecting others and being kind to one another. You can also check out this title as an eAudio on OverDrive/Libby or as eBook on OverDrive/Libby. This title is also available as an eAudio on Hoopla.
An age-appropriate introduction to the concepts of race, gender, consent and body positivity.
Adapted from the award-winning, bestselling Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, this book takes readers on a journey from present to past and back again. Kids will discover where racist ideas came from, identify how they impact America today, and meet those who have fought racism with antiracism. Along the way, they’ll learn how to identify and stamp out racist thoughts in their own lives.
You can also check out this title as eBook on OverDrive/Libby or as eAudio on OverDrive/Libby.
As children all over the world get ready for bed, the moon watches over them. The moon knows that when we sleep, we dream. And when we dream, we imagine what is possible and what the world can be. “Goodnight Racism” delivers important messages about antiracism, justice, and equality in an easy-to-read format that empowers readers both big and small.
Why? distills the conversations many children and adults are having about race, injustice, and anger in communities throughout our country, and gives them context that young readers can connect with.
Eleven-year-old Makeda dreams of meeting her African American mother, while coping with serious problems in her white adopted family, a cross-country move, and being homeschooled. You can also check out this title as eAudio on OverDrive/Libby or as eBook on OverDrive/Libby.
Anything his friends can do, Stephen should be able to do too, right? So when they dare each other to sneak into an abandoned building, he doesn’t think it’s his lane, but he goes. Here’s the thing, though- Can he do everything his friends can? Lately, he’s not so sure. As a mixed kid, he feels like he’s living in two worlds with different rules–and he’s been noticing that strangers treat him differently than his white friends . . .
You can also check out this title as eAudio on OverDrive/Libby.
What is racism? What is antiracism? Why are both important to learn about? In this book, systemic racism and the antiracist tools to fight it are easily accessible to young readers.
Since the earliest days of slavery, African Americans have called on their religious faith in the struggle against oppression. In this book, the Beatitudes — from Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount — form the backdrop for Carole Boston Weatherford’s powerful free-verse poem that traces the African American journey from slavery to civil rights.
You can also check out this title as an eBook on Hoopla.