Visitors
to this blog who are in the teaching and reading professions know—better than
I—of the movement among literacy experts to give children more so-called
“risky” texts to read, listen to, and discuss. By definition, risky texts raise
difficult issues, and these educators say that kids can handle them, when the
books are age-appropriate.
Risky
texts might raise feelings of sadness, guilt, or anger, even among young
readers. That’s the risky part.
But
in my view, and the view of many others, the benefits can far outweigh the
drawbacks. Quoting an academic paper I read recently: risky texts “can help
students learn about . . . injustices, make connections to their own lives and
broader social contexts, and consider potential actions to redress these
injustices.” They also promote empathy and a moral sensibility to the
sufferings of others.
I
didn’t set out to write a “risky book” when I wrote We Shall Overcome: The Story of a Song, a picture book about how voices
upon voices over years upon years built up this famous song like a collage. The
book describes how this song came to be and how it helped the people who sang
it while they fought against injustice—and how it still helps people today.
The
book starts like this:
Back in slavery
times—
when enslaved
people worked long days
with no pay and
no say,
no freedom, no
fairness,
no choice and
no chance—
the people
sang.
They suffered,
yet they sang—
to soothe the
hurt,
to fight the
cruelty,
to declare
that—yes!—they were human beings.
Each
spread has lyrics from the song, or precursor of the song. The book travels
through different historical events and times in which the song evolved and played
a part.
I
didn’t think of it as a risky book.
But
this past August I received a letter about the book—about this page:
The
text, if you can’t read it in the image, reads as follows:
It took a
war—the Civil War—to end slavery.
But even after,
white people
treated black people
as less than
fully human,
excluding them,
ignoring them,
blaming them,
even attacking
them,
all because of
the color of their skin.
Black people
were no longer slaves,
it was true.
But they were
not truly free.
Still they
believed things would get better.
Still they
sang.
As
I said, I received a letter.
“Hello,”
the letter began, “at work we had a book fair, and I purchased your book We
Shall Overcome. My mouth dropped on page 7, and I had to put the book down! . .
. Why didn’t it just say, after the civil war, ‘people’ still had a hard time
getting along or understanding. Why did you have to be so . . . I don’t have
words. . . . I thought the book would be shocking to read to my grandson.”
Now,
I wouldn’t want to take the approach this letter-writer wanted: to suggest that
the problem after the Civil War was that people had a hard time getting along.
The problem was racism, and although this book doesn’t use –ism words, I wanted
readers to know that white-on-black prejudice was the problem. It wasn’t a
matter of simply not getting along.
Reasonable
minds can certainly differ on what a particular child should read. And, of
course, a grandmother should choose what she’s comfortable reading to her
grandchild. But I do want children to know and to face truths, even
uncomfortable ones. I think they are capable. And I think that facing truths is
something that goes on, and should go on, in our schools. Which brings me to
using this book in the classroom—both as part of social justice education and
to get kids writing about how to respond to injustice.
In
my own interactions with young students around this book, I’ve found that they
don’t necessarily grasp the notion of racial bigotry at first. (Not a bad form
of ignorance!) But we do need to introduce them to this part of our history,
which, as we adults know, isn’t really a thing of the past.
So,
with the younger students, I like to begin by talking about unfairness, with
some “what if?” questions. What if you couldn’t go to your favorite park
because of your hair color? Had to sit apart in school or on bus or in movies
because you go to a different church—or don’t go to church? Couldn’t go to the
place where they serve the best ice cream in town because only blue people can
and you are orange?
They
giggle, but they get it. And then I talk about how, not so long ago,
restaurants could refuse to serve you a meal if you were African American. I
explain that, in those days, if you were African American, if you were Mexican
American—you could not drink out of the same water fountains as white people in
some parts of the country. (I share photographs of these and other
segregationist practices. They are easy to find on the Internet.)
So,
I ask the kids, what’s unfair about all this? Write a letter to persuade the people in charge—the owner of a
restaurant or theater or ice cream parlor, the superintendent of a county park,
the president of the bus company—to allow equal access to these places.
And
I ask: if you were being treated so unfairly, or if someone you loved were, how
would you feel? Write a diary entry
about this.
We
can agree that being treating this unfairly could make you so angry and
frustrated that you might want to fight. But fighting with your fists could
create even more problems for you and it probably wouldn’t get you what you
wanted.
So, I ask the students, how can you fight
with your brain? This is a good question to discuss in a group. And it’s a good
question to lead into reading my book, because the story of the song “We Shall
Overcome” is in part the story of the ways people in the civil rights movement thoughtfully
fought against race discrimination.
After reading the book
and after singing the song, I ask: why was singing part of the fight against
unfairness? (I have my answers. Singing shows the people who
are treating you unfairly that you are strong, that you are a human being, and
that you will be heard. And singing can give you courage and can lift your spirits—especially
if you’re singing with others. But I want to know what the students think.)
Two
more writing activities after reading the book:
Write a journal entry from the point of
view of a person who lived through one of the time periods in the story and
timeline. It can be someone who participated in the struggle. It can be
someone on the sidelines. Someone black, someone white.
Finally:
Write your own new verses for the song,
verses that respond to problems you see in your or community today. (Bullying
comes to mind. Social shaming, too. But let’s see what’s on the students’
minds!)
This
last activity is my favorite. The song’s structure is simplicity itself, so everyone
can succeed at this. I like encouraging the idea that everyone can author his
or own lyrics about fighting injustice. And the lyrics can lead to a discussion
of these difficult issues. The new verses, like “We will stand with you,” or
“We are on your side,” are among the rewards for taking on a “risky” subject.
Debbie Levy is the author of more
than twenty books of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for young people,
including the Jane Addams Award Honor book, We
Shall Overcome: The Story of a Song, and the Sydney Taylor Notable book, The
Year of Goodbyes. Visit http://debbielevybooks.com/
