One school year, I was excited because it was an adoption year for a new literature curriculum. I was hoping for some options that included more authors of color. To my surprise, there was an option. The English department had to vote, and the curriculum that had the most votes would be adopted. Only one other person voted for the curriculum I chose. I was the only Black person in my department. All my other white colleagues voted for a different curriculum, which was eventually adopted. Although they acknowledged that the curriculum I chose did provide some options we did not have, the counterargument for why they could not choose the option I chose was, “That curriculum eliminated too many classic texts.” In other words, “Too many white authors were not included.”
I would hear statements like, “I couldn’t imagine students never being exposed to Mark Twain.” You could replace Twain with Emily Dickinson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Washington Irving, Charles Dickens, etc. At the end of the day, you are not teaching the novel; you are using the novel to teach literacy skills. That means you don’t have to use a classic text.
I have done enough complaining about this matter, so it was time to take action to help others. I know what it is like to spend hours beyond your contract hours supplementing the school curriculum with texts from diverse authors to engage students. I wanted to help bring more diverse authors to children and teachers. That’s why my husband and I created Brave Brothers Books.
In June 2019, our company released our first book, called My Family’s Great Smoky Mountains Adventure, written by my son Jeremiah J. Barnes. As a former English teacher, I know students need exposure to nonfiction texts. I also remember using texts from the curriculum to meet this expectation that students didn’t like. Now, I have a text to suggest to teachers.
Our second book will be released in October 2019. It is a fictional chapter book called Ghost Text written by my son, James J. Barnes. My favorite part about Ghost Text is that the characters are black. It’s a mystery involving three black boys and a ghost. I wish I had books like that to read when I was a kid.
I’m also in the middle of writing two books: a Greek mythology book featuring a Black protagonist and a gardening recipe book.
What I’m most excited about is that we have a writer (who is not related to us) contracted to release a book with us by the end of 2020, and we are looking for more writers who are willing to join our cause.
This quote from Toni Morrison really drives my work: “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”
I am looking for diverse authors willing to fill the gap in books that haven’t been written yet, so children of color can see themselves in literature and in the curriculum in their classrooms.
If you or someone you know has a complete children’s manuscript you would like to submit to Brave Brothers Books, click here.