We Celebrate the life of Our Great Statesman John R. Lewis

John R. Lewis
February 21, 1940 - July 17, 2020

While young people take to the streets in protest, one of the iconic leaders of the Civil Rights Movement has passed away. John R. Lewis became an activist for Civil Rights as a young teenager with the same zeal as some of the young people today. He was beaten and clubbed for standing up for his rights but he paved the way for the generations to come.  Young readers can learn more about his life and the Civil Rights Movement in his graphic novel trilogy, March. He has left us his legacy and shared  his wisdom and encouragement in his words and actions. Please be sure to share his wisdom with our children and young people.

"Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble."
— A tweet from June 2018

"Freedom is not a state; it is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau where we can finally sit down and rest. Freedom is the continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society.”
— From his 2017 memoir, "Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America"

"You are a light. You are the light. Never let anyone — any person or any force — dampen, dim or diminish your light. Study the path of others to make your way easier and more abundant."
— From his 2017 memoir, "Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America"

“My dear friends: Your vote is precious, almost sacred. It is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have to create a more perfect union.”
— A 2012 speech in Charlotte, North Carolina

Marvel Announces New Graphic Novel featuring Black Panther's Suri

Young readers will be able to follow the Marvel character, Suri in a series of graphic novels next year when Marvel Entertainment expands its partnership with Scholastic.  Marvel had already begun publishing diverse picture books which included prose title, Shuri: A Black Panther Novel, written by New York Times bestselling author Nic Stone. The graphic novels, however, will be written by another New York Times best-selling author Roseanne A. Brown. Brown’s previous works include the mystical young adult novel A Song of Wraiths and Ruin. The illustrator and story line will be announced at a later date.

The first book to be released as part of the new deal between Marvel and Scholastic will be Miles Morales: Shock Waves by Justin A. Reynolds and Pablo Leon, in which Morales has to solve the mystery of an apparent kidnapping and its potential connection to a fundraiser Morales himself is running in the wake of a natural disaster. 

Descendants of Frederick Douglas Read Excerpts of His "Fourth of July Speech"

The U.S. celebrates this Independence Day amid nationwide protests and calls for systemic reforms. In this short film, five young descendants of Frederick Douglass read and respond to excerpts of his famous speech, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" which asks all of us to consider America's long history of denying equal rights to Black Americans.

On July 4, people gather throughout Massachusetts and other parts of the country to read this famous speech.  Read the whole speech here.

Juneteenth with 20/20 Vision

Juneteenth 2020 is like no other.  This is the year of 20/20 vision, where new insight and changes are coming hard and fast.  Of course, the first Juneteenth celebrated in 1865 cannot compare. That year the slaves learn for the first time that they were free. This information had been kept from them by slave masters for two years so one can imagine how they felt when they learned that they were finally free. Happy and also angry?  We are not sure how they celebrated but I think  they probably didn't know exactly what to do as this new reality set in. We know that for many the first thing on their mind was to look for family.  So Juneteenth has always been a time of bringing family and friends together. This was a time of healing, of thanking God and praying, and finally being able to share their love with their family. There probably was also a lot of anger, and a hope for justice.  Freedom meant something different to everyone, some packed up to leave and some stayed.  After emancipation there were stories of newly freed slaves moving across the nation, building  new families and creating new communities. While the significance of the first Juneteenth will always be etched in our minds, this Juneteenth is also one to remember. Today new alliance are being formed and new truths revealed. Change is in the air and there is no turning back.

Every year Juneteenth is celebrated not because Black people have enjoyed  the fruits of freedom but because they are resilient and determined in spite of racism, financial hardships and the inability to achieve the American dream. Black people celebrate their survival. This is their way of being resilient and carrying on. They celebrate their culture, their music, food, dance and traditions. Most important they celebrate that they are still here despite the fact America has never lived up to the true freedom promised in the Emancipation Proclamation.

Happy Juneteenth!

Juneteenth Google Doodle by Black woman artist Loveis Wise with music by producer Elijah Jamal.

Today’s video Google Doodle, illustrated by Los Angeles-based guest artist Loveis Wise and narrated by actor and activist LeVar Burton, honors the 155th anni...

Happy Juneteenth!

Lift Every Voice and Sing – often called “The Black National Anthem” – was written as a poem by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) and then set to music by his brother John Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954) in 1899. 



Lift Every Voice and Sing
James Weldon Johnson


Lift ev'ry voice and sing
'Til earth and heaven ring
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the list'ning skies
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun
Let us march on 'til victory is won
Stony the road we trod
Bitter the chastening rod
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died
Yet with a steady beat
Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered
Out from the gloomy past
'Til now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of…

Ayesha Curry debuts Sweet July Magazine

Magazines have played an important role in influencing pop culture but now with competition from social media, sales of magazine have dwindled.  In spite of dire predictions for print media, Ayesha Curry, author, TV host and wife to the Golden State Warriors player, Steph Curry  believes this is the right time to debut her new lifestyle magazine, Sweet July.  It will embody the Currys’ lifestyle and will incorporate topics such as family, friendship, food, community and home. The premiere issue, devoted to Being Present, encompasses four key areas: Community, Taste, Impact, and Self-Care, where Ayesha shares her guidance on finding gratitude in the everyday, practicing beauty rituals, feeling peace through time with family and friends, the joy of family dinners, throwing an epic lady's brunch, easy style, and much more. As everyone hankers down in quarantine, a new magazine might be just the right novelty to catch the eye.

“As the pandemic continues to affect the lives of our readers and their loved ones,” Doug Olson, president of Meredith Magazines thinks that “Sweet July’s uplifting approach to family, food and community creates a strengthened sense of togetherness that is needed right now.”

“As a woman of color, it’s important to me that media reflects real, relatable women, and I’m excited to create an outlet for young men and women that celebrates diversity and inclusivity,” explains Ayesha Curry.

The name, Sweet July was inspired by Ayesha’s strong connection to the month (she got married in July and each of her three kids has a birthday in the month). Sweet July is published under PEOPLE’s parent company, Meredith Corporation. It is available on newsstands nationwide now for $9.99, and at Meredith’s Magazine Store here. Beginning April 24, Sweet July will also be available via Amazon, Apple News+, Zinio, and the Barnes & Noble Nook.

Strictly Germ-Proof

April is Poetry Month and we definitely need a poem that puts a smile on our face.

         Strictly Germ-Proof

The Antiseptic Baby and the Prophylactic Pup
Were playing in the garden when the Bunny gamboled up;
They looked upon the Creature with a loathing undisguised;—
It wasn't Disinfected and it wasn't sterilized.

They said it was a Microbe and a Hotbed of Disease;
They steamed it in a vapor of a thousand-odd degrees;
They froze it in a freezer that was cold as Banished Hope
And washed it in permanganate with carbolated soap.

In sulphurated hydrogen they steeped its wiggly ears;

They trimmed its frisky whiskers with a pair of hard-boiled shears;
They donned their rubber mittens and they took it by the hand
And elected it a member of the Fumigated Band.

There's not a Micrococcus in the garden where they play;
They bathe in pure iodoform a dozen times a day;
And each imbibes his rations from a Hygienic Cup—
The Bunny and the Baby and the Prophylactic Pup.

Arthur Guiterman