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We in America live in a culture where the majority of people that are looked up to are white. Sure, there’s Oprah, along with a bunch of sports figures and a few movies stars here and there. But often when kids look around, they do not see lots of African Americans to admire. And when looking at history books, the dearth of African American role models is even more apparent.
When we were waiting for our first Ethiopian daughter to come home, my husband and I found a really neat book called, “Extraordinary African Americans: From Colonial To Contemporary Times”. The book was published in 2001 by Chlidren’s Press, and at the moment there are quite a few copies available used on Amazon for a reasonable price if you don’t want to pay the full new price.
The Amazon page for this book includes this quote from the School Library Journal:
Grades 5-8–A revision of a 1989 title (Children’s) with 36 new people added. It profiles more than 100 African-American achievers, including writers, artists, musicians, athletes, activists, politicians, and others who have made headlines.It also includes descriptions of important periods in African-American history, including the Harlem Renaissance, Reconstruction, the Great Northern Migration, and the civil rights movement.
Arranged chronologically, the book is well organized and well written, and presents each life simply and clearly. Each sketch includes a black-and-white photograph or drawing of the subject. Students looking for basic biographical information on a wide variety of African Americans would do well to consult this volume.
One thing that I really like about this book is that the sketches of the various people are complete without being terribly long. Most are only two pages long, and all include pictures, making it a very approachable book for elementary-aged kids, and a great one to suggest to a child who needs to write a book report about a famous person.
Mary thanks for the recommendation! I am so buying this book!