Highlighting African American Authors

February is Black History Month. One of the goals that I set for myself is to share as many African American authors' voices with my Creative Writing students over the next 28 days.

Yesterday, I began with Jason Reynolds. He's one of my favorite young-adult authors. His writing is real, it's "mundane," and it has the potential to really connect with young people. I showed this video, where Jason talks about the need for diverse books to be both mirrors and windows for all young people.

Today, I plan to introduce Kekla Magoon to students. In this video, she talks about the powerful situation that young people are in. Their voices are important. Their words matter. And we can situate them to use their language for hope and change.

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Handwritten Cue Cards in the 21st Century

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