Tag Archives: society

I Never Noticed How Racist So Many Children’s #Books Are Until I Started #Reading to My #Kids [Opinion] | Vox #diversity #racism #culture

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What happened to Little Black Sambo? As a white girl growing up in West Virginia in the 1970s, I remember it on my childhood bookshelf. It was on my friends’ shelves too. It may also have been in the dentist’s office, along with Highlights for Children and Joseph and His Coat of Many Colors.

It was not on the shelves of the local day care, a center run by an entrepreneurial black woman who saw a business opportunity in the droves of young white mothers who were socialized in the 1950s and ’60s to be housewives and then dumped into the workforce by the 1970s economy.

I remember the story primarily for its description of the tigers chasing one another round and round a tree until they melt into butter, butter that Sambo’s mother uses for a stack of crispy pancakes. In the 35 intervening years, I knew the book had been relegated to the dustbin of racist cultural artifacts, but I didn’t remember it well enough to know why. READ MORE: I never noticed how racist so many children’s books are until I started reading to my kids | Vox.

Build #STEM Skills, but Don’t Neglect the #Humanities | HBR #STEMMA @HarvardBiz

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Snip

Instead of just STEM, we should perhaps be promoting STEMMA — raising a new generation that also has greater capacities for managing collective human endeavors and appreciating the arts. Management education – the new “M” in the acronym – has not always been infused with humanistic thinking, but it must become more so. Our goal must be to cultivate the thoughtful enterprise leaders of the future. Meanwhile, regarding the “A,” how could it be beneficial to the future to deemphasize the arts, which inform our knowledge of beauty and meaning in human affairs? All the brilliant discoveries of STEM will not solve the grand challenges of today’s world — ignorance, poverty, intolerance, and political conflict – without the practical wisdom of humanities-trained leaders.

READ MORE: Build STEM Skills, but Don’t Neglect the Humanities | HBR

The Future Of #Museums Is Reaching Way Beyond Their Walls | Co.Exist #AMNH

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The American Museum of Natural History has always been one of the most popular destinations in New York City. With about 5 million visitors a year, an increase from 3 million in the 1990s, it—along with the nearby Metropolitan Museum of Art—is among the top 10 most-visited museums in the world.

Even with this influx of people coming to its doorstep, however, the museum is now equally focused on drawing a crowd beyond its campus.

“In the old days, a visit to a museum like ours would be a one-off. You come, you visit you go home,” says Futter. “Now people have a relationships with us very often before they get here. They come, and [their visit] is like a giant exclamation point—and then they return home and continue to engage with us wherever they are.”

AMNH today is a sprawling outreach institution that is using apps, social media, and educational programs to slowly grow its reach. READ MORE: The Future Of Museums Is Reaching Way Beyond Their Walls | Co.Exist | ideas + impact.

Must Read: New ‘Walk-In Comic Book’ Uses Augmented Reality to Show Sexual Assault Survivors as Heroes | Mashable #genderequality #comics #augmentedreality

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Watch the video!!

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When a young woman in New Delhi, India, was brutally gang-raped on a bus in December 2012, making international headlines, Ram Devineni wasn’t going to stay silent. The filmmaker and artist marched in the streets alongside other protesters, calling for swift justice and systemic change to the all-too-common violence against women that plagues the country.

When he asked a Delhi police officer what he thought about the young woman’s assault, the officer told him, “No good girl walks home alone at night,” implying that she either provoked the rape or, worse, deserved it. His words reflected the misguided, patriarchal view that permeates much of Indian society, silencing women even further with social stigma.

“I realized at that moment that this was not a legal issue, but a cultural problem,” Devineni tells Mashable. “As a filmmaker and as an artist, I wanted to really address this in a cultural context.”

That’s why, two years later, he created and directed the transmedia comic book Priya’s Shakti — a story about the titular Priya, a gang-rape survivor-turned-superhero who partners with a Hindu goddess to fight sexual violence and challenge the patriarchy.

Co-written by Vikas K. Menon with artwork by Dan Goldman, the comic book is the first of its kind to use augmented reality and image recognition, using various media to tell the story of fighting back against sexual assault.

READ MORE: New ‘walk-in comic book’ uses augmented reality to show sexual assault survivors as heroes | Mashable

32 Essential Asian-American Writers You Need To Be Reading | BuzzFeed Books #books #reading #diversity

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READ: 32 Essential Asian-American Writers You Need To Be Reading | BuzzFeed Books

I recommend Vincent Lam as an Asian-Canadian writer you need to be reading!

Stories For All (Diversity & Inclusion) | First Book #diversity #books

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Although the First Book Marketplace is for educators (to purchase books and educational materials at low prices for children in need), the resource highlights books for children and youth that showcase topics of diversity and inclusion. You can explore books by themes that include African American Interest, Asian American & Pacific Islander, Global Stories, Immigrant Experience, Latino Interest, LGBTQ, Muslim American, Native American, Religion and Special Needs & Abilities. Browse the themes to discover books within each interest area. There are also resources recommended for other topics and themes such as STEM and Me & My Feelings, etc. 

“Through the Stories for All Project™ First Book strives to provide all kids with diverse books that act as mirrors and windows. Kids feel valued and validated when they see their own experiences reflected on the pages of books, and they develop curiosity and empathy when they read about experiences different from their own. To help your kids grow as both readers and global citizens, [view] our ever-expanding selection of diverse books.”

The 10 Most Controversial Books of the Year | BookBub Blog #bannedbooks

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As part of National Library Week, the American Library Association just released its annual State of America’s Libraries Report analyzing the shifting role libraries play in today’s society. The full report is interesting in and of itself, but it also includes one of the most fascinating book lists of the year — the most frequently challenged books of the year.

In 2014, the ALA received 311 requests to ban books from schools and libraries. [Here] are the top 10 books that caused the most controversy over the past year, including the reasons they were challenged, as well as each book’s publisher description. READ: The 10 Most Controversial Books of the Year | BookBub Blog

50 Comic Books That Explain Comic Books Today | Vox

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Flip open any comic book and you’ll find a story of overcoming the odds. Whether it’s a web-slinger seeking to make his way in the world, a caped crusader intent on making his city a better place, or a mutant who has to deal with human hate, comic books have always been a beacon of hope for the underdogs of this world. But perhaps the greatest comic book story ever told is that of the books themselves…

…Today, comic books command a seat at pop culture’s table. They rule the box office and television screens. But most of all, from Superman to Sex Criminals, they’re still places where the greatest stories are being told. Here are 50 comic books that explain the vast history, how certain books shaped the medium, and the state of comics today…READ MORE: 50 comic books that explain comic books today | Vox

The 12 Weirdest Reasons For Banning Science Fiction and Fantasy Books | io9

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The 12 Weirdest Reasons For Banning Science Fiction and Fantasy Books | io9

An African Reading List | BOOK RIOT

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If you’re like me and are trying to diversify your reading, then you know that discoverability is an issue. I want to start reading more books by non-U.S. and UK authors, but where do I start? Well, if you’re interested in African authors, here’s what I’ve got.

Through extensive Googling and suggestions from fellow Rioters, I’ve compiled the following list. These are fiction books by African authors, sorted by country. Not every African country is represented here, though I did my best. All of these books are available for purchase in the U.S. If an author has written multiple books such as Achebe or Adichie, I listed just one so you’d have the author’s name. I also did not have any sort of genre/format restriction, so though most of these are adult literary fiction, not all of them are.

I can’t necessarily recommend these books one way or another because many of them I haven’t read though I have read a good number, but hopefully this list will get you started. I absolutely know I missed books on this list, so please feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments, as well as provide recommendations if you have read some of these books.

SEE THE LIST: An African Reading List | BOOK RIOT